I basically followed the Serious Eats recipe:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/09/traditional-beef-pho-recipe.html
I did wrap the star anise, cloves, cinnamon, etc in cheesecloth to create a bouquet garni, which is that weird white blob floating in the broth at the top of the photo.
I almost forgot that I made enough that I froze a couple portions of broth for future use. I might need to have some pho this week.
Edit: Something I forgot to mention. When doing the initial dump after the first 15 or 20 minutes, so you produce a clear broth, I removed and kept the marrow from the bones. It was refrigerated and it firmed up, very similar to foie gras. I toasted some baguette slices in the oven then sliced the marrow thin, put it on top of the toast points, then broiled it for about a minute. F'in delicious.
They just started carrying Wewalka dough at my local grocery store:
http://wewalka.us/
Got one of each to try:
1. Croissant
2. Puff pastry
3. Bistro pizza dough (thinner crust)
4. Family-style pizza dough (thicker crust)
Neat design...they basically lay out the dough on a piece of parchment paper & then roll it up. All you have to do is unroll & use it! So pizza is basically just adding sauce & toppings and throwing in the oven, croissants is just rolling into shape (just like the Pillsbury pop-cans), and the puff pastry is refrigerated (all of them are, actually), so you don't have to thaw it out like the frozen kind. Looks like I'm having pizza, croissants, and some kind of puff pastry dessert for dinner tonight :awe:
Chipotle. I guess the one they opened in my neighborhood a while back isn't doing as well as they'd like, so they sent out coupons for free burritos/bowls/etc. Apparently quite a few of my neighbors had no interest because they left theirs sitting on the counter near the mailboxes and while someone else(s) must have been collecting them too (they disappeared fast and I was trying not to be a pig by grabbing them all when I did see some), I did manage to snag several, all told.
Despite the fact that I strongly object to quasi-CalMex rice/beans/meat served cold (I truly just do not get that at all), it's acceptable enough for a free late evening meal when I'm getting home late, since it's on my way from subway, open 'til 10pm and it means not having to dig through the freezer for some of the "extra servings" (of various things) I made at some point, froze just for such occasions, but then buried in an already full freezer and promptly forgot about...<sigh>
Ah. Since despite a moderately strong opening, the one around here does not in fact seem to be a wild success (and given the neighborhood's demographics, I really can't tell why they thought it would be), I assumed it was a more targeted thing than it apparently is...regardless of the local success, those are ubiquitous.
Just out of curiosity - seeing as you you list the other fillings in English, why "queso" rather than "cheese"?Inside is rice, ground beef, black beans, lettuce, queso, and corn.
Just out of curiosity - seeing as you you list the other fillings in English, why "queso" rather than "cheese"?
Ah, that's make sense, more or less, at least as far as you're concerned. But one then wonders why "they" listed it on the menu that way... I mean, if they have "Queso Fundido" on the menu, I'd understand that, since "Melted Cheese" might be the correct translation, but doesn't really tell you what you'd actually be served. But just sticking a gratuitous "queso" in a list of burrito fillings seems a little odd...Because "cheese" wasn't listed on the menu?
I wasn't giving you a hard time, I really was just curious. And I find "semantic crap", as you put it, fascinating, so no, I'm not going to cut it.Lets cut the semantic crap.
Pork noodle soup with kelp and pork short rib stock.
Smoked a prime rib (about 6lbs or so). Came out delicious and the perfect doneness for me (medium rare). Had it with pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) and corn on the cob. Yum.