Brunch with Old Friends – Bacon Potato Hash

M and P came over on Sunday to meet little S for the first time.  We invited them for brunch at our house instead of going out so that we can enjoy the afternoon and not feel rushed to bring little S home.  Little S was very good, letting Auntie M hold her and play with her for a bit!

For brunch, I made a variation a baked frittata, bacon potato hash and fresh cherry crisp for dessert.  The potato hash was something I had never made, but I was pretty happy with the results.  Par cooking the potatoes allowed me to prepare it more quickly in the cast iron skillet when our guests arrived.  I like to smash my potato cubes as they cook to exposed more surface area to the pan to get more of the crispy bits (my favorite part.  So it’s kind of cross between home fries and hash brown consistency.  Yum yum!

BACON POTATO HASH

INGREDIENTS

2 large russett potatoes, cut in half length wise

6 slices of bacon (I like to use the end and pieces from Trader Joe’s)

medium knob of butter

1 very small onion or 2 shallots, diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

Herbs-fresh thyme or dried herbs de Provence

INSTRUCTIONS

Place unpeeled potatoes into a pot of water and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are cooked partially but still firm when pierced with a fork. Dice the potatoes.

In a cast iron skillet, place bacon and turn heat to medium.  Cook slowly, rendering the fat.  Turn bacon over once and remove from pan once cooked.  Drain bacon on paper towels and allow the pan to cool slightly. Cut bacon into 1/2 inch dice

Reserve 2-3 TBSP bacon fat to cook the hash.  Remove the remaining fa from the pan and save for another use.

Return the bacon fat to the pan and add butter.  Turn heat back onto to medium.  Cook onions, peppers and a dash of salt for a few minutes, until softened.

Add potatoes and herbs.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  Mix with the peppers and onions.  Lay over the entire surface of the pan, pressing the potatoes with the spatula.  Allow to cook without stirring for a few minutes.  Be careful not to burn the bottom of the potatoes!  IF they start to burn, turn the heat down and flip the potatoes over.

Once the potatoes are browned on one side, flip the potatoes over and continue to cook until the second side it browned.

Peach Crisp (Revisited) in Ramekins with Oat Nut Topping

Served at C’s engagement party July 2013

Last night, I went back to one of my favorite summertime desserts, peach crisp. I love that the flavor is simply peachy.  I tried a new topping recipe because I wasn’t really satisfied with the one I had been using.  This new recipe incorporates nuts, which I think really add a lot to the recipe.  It also includes oats, which was a must for me.  The topping was crisp and slightly sweet, but you could really taste those nuts!

Another challenge is always making sure that the peaches and topping are neither under- or over-baked.  Cranking up the heat towards the end of the bake time really helped to crisp the topping

In preparation to serving this as individual desserts, I used six 5 ounce ramekins for this recipe.

PEACH CRISP

FILLING INGREDIENTS

4 cups (about 7 small) fresh peaches, blanched for 15sec in simmering water, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 TBSP corn starch (this varies depending on the juiciness.  Mine were pretty juicy and the the peaches were well coated with a slurry)

pinch of cinnamon and salt

1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger (optional)

2 TBSP sugar (optional, depending on the sweetness of your peaches)

TOPPING INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup + 2 TBSP Flour

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

6 TBSP cold butter, cut into cubes

1/4 cup nuts

pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

In a food processor, pulse all of the topping ingredients until the butter is well incorporated.

Slowly add water (about 1 1/ TBSP) until the dough comes together but us still crumbly.  Set aside and work on the fruit filling.

In a medium bowl, combine the filling ingredients.  The peaches should be well coated with cornstarch, like a thin batter.

Fill the buttered ramekins with peach mixture up to the rim, then sprinkle a generous mound (don’t pack) of topping on each ramekin.

Place the ramekins on a foil-lined baking sheet for baking.

Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes, until the juice just begins to bubble

Increase the heat to 400 degrees and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the topping is crisp and golden.

Let cool till slightly warm or room temperature.  Serve with vanilla ice cream

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Chops with Green Onion Oil

For Father’s Day Dinner, we took out one of our Vietnamese cookbooks that B gave me as a gift last year to make pork chops seasoned with lemongrass, one of our favorite ingredients.  I love the smell-citrusy, earthy and slightly sweet.  We ate the chops with white rice garnished with green onion oil and served with a side of green leaf lettuce, raw cucumber and seasoned fish sauce.

VIETNAMESE PORK CHOPS

INGREDIENTS

3 pork loin chops about 1 inch thick

2 TBSP oyster sauce

2 TBSP fish sauce

2 tsp honey

2 tsp sugar

2 small stalks of lemongrass, finely minced

2 cloves garlic

4 green onions cut into 1/4 inch pieces

5 TBSP oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and let sit over night before grilling

GREEN ONION OIL

In an 8 inch fry pan, heat 1/3 cup oil with about 4 green onions, cut into thin rounds on medium heat.  Heat gently to allow the onions to infuse into the oil for a few minutes.  Leftovers can be kept for a later time.

First Father’s Day

This weekend was B’s first Father’s Day!  He has been such a wonderful partner and is so wonderful with little S  She is the world to him and I know that the feeling is mutual.  While I went out to run some errands, B stayed home with little S.  When I came home, I found them napping together.  So sweet I had to snap a picture!

On Sunday, little S revealed her first art project:  a poster with picture of her with her daddy and her footprints at 10 weeks old.  I think daddy liked it.  It’s hanging on the best wall real estate in our house-above the kitchen fireplace mantle:)

What did daddy want to do on Father’s Day?  Shop?!  So we went shopping!  S did very well being out all afternoon.  She even let us dress her up for a family photo when we got home.

Beef & Tomato

This ingredient combination doesn’t seem to scream Asian entree….I don’t even know if his is remotely authentic to any region of China.  But I think I was introduced to this dish by my college roommate who was from Taiwan.  We weren’t that close, so I never tried his version, but I was pretty happy with the results of mine, inspired by the lone tomato sitting on my counter, left over from the weekend’s BBQ.

I decided to try roasting the tomatoes first to caramelize them.  This is not a traditional cooking method in Chinese cuisine.  Although they were good, I didn’t really get that caramelized flavor I was conjuring up in my head.  I wanted them to be concentrated and slightly charred.  The processed was hastened a bit since B came home earlier than expected.  Next time, I’ll try roasting them longer, then put them under the broiler.

I like flank steak for stir frying.  It’s tender and flavorful and does well when quick-cooked.  Ginger is a key ingredient which compliments beef so well.

BEEF & TOMATO

Ingredients

6 oz flank steak, cut into thin strips against the grain

2 large tomatoes, cut into thick wedges

1 onion thinly sliced

6 slices of fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic

Enough Soy sauce to marinate meat and to taste

2 TBSP Ketchup

splash of rice wine vinegar

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

1/3 c beef broth

oil for stir-frying

black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Roast tomatoes with a little bit of oil, cut side up in a 350 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours till the juices are reduced and tomatoes are slightly charred.  May want to try the broiler at the end to brown the tomatoes.

Take the sliced beef and coat with enough soy sauce and oil to coat. Add the corn starch.  Toss together and let sit.

Once the the tomatoes are done, heat a wok on medium high heat and add oil (about 1 tablespoon)

Once oil is heated, add ginger and stir fry until fragrant. Add minced garlic and allow to cook until fragrant.  Before the garlic burns, add the sliced onions.  Cook for a few minutes before adding a bit of salt.  Cook until softened, adding beef broth if the wok gets a little dry before the onions are done.

Add the tomatoes to the onions along with the ketchup, brown sugar.  Add soy sauce and pepper to taste.  Add a bit of beef broth to create a sauce.  Allow the sauce to simmer.  Then pour the sauce out of the wok.

In the same work, increase the heat to high and add the beef and stir fry until the beef is almost fully cooked.  Then re-introduce the sauce.  Bring to a simmer to allow the sauce to thicken.  Add vinegar.  Season with pepper and  soy sauce to taste.

Serve with white rice

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