Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Easy Slow Cooker Pho with Tofu and Vegetables

pho in the slow cooker| dailywaffle Growing up not far from Little Saigon, pho shops all had numbers -- Pho 79, Pho 84, but somewhere along the line pho went mainstream and so did the names of the shops.  So let's get the jokes and gimmicky names out of the way upfront. "What the Pho?" -- Kids in my class were using this one as far back as junior high -- in the late '80s. Now, it's a noodle shop in Bellevue, WA. "9-0-2-1-Pho" -- This is real. And yes, it's in Beverly Hills. "Jenny Pho"  -- Also real. In Issaquah, WA. And of course, the king of all Pho shops...well, there's an, um, king and he don't serve burgers. Creating a good pho broth takes hours, but there's no reason you can't do it. Put aside your worries about leaving a pot simmering on the stove unattended overnight, because you can make a good traditional pho broth in the slow cooker.  I never would have thought of it, and then a lightbulb flicked on over my head when I saw the recipe on Serious Eats.

Read more

Don’t Fear the Pho

chicken pho ga |dailywaffle

Is it possible to fear chicken soup? If it wasn’t fear holding me back from making pho at home, it must have been laziness, or the sheer number of pho shops in Seattle. Yeah, that’s it, there was no reason to make pho at home, when you can get it anywhere, even out here in the ‘burbs. Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup, most often made with beef broth, has always seemed like a dish to leave to the experts.  You char the spices and ginger and the broth needs to simmer for hours to fully develop its flavor. Then Taylor Hoang of Pho Cyclo made pho ga, chicken pho, at TDCamp and it was so easy and so delicious I knew I had to make it at home.

Read more

Easy Peasy > Gemelli w/ Sausage & Cherry Tomatoes

  This wasn't supposed to be a blog post, just dinner on Monday night.  There are no photos of cherry tomatoes casually rolling toward the edge of the counter, or a scatter of pasta strategically positioned behind the bowl. There's not even a fork, just a quick snapshot because I was texting it to Wolf to get him to hurry up on home.  Then, I was pleasantly surprised by how fast and delicious it actually was, so, well, here we are. Gemelli con salsiccia e pomodorini…which sounds fancy, no? Gemelli with sausage and cherry tomatoes. Let’s go.

Read more

Mushroom Ragu with Fettuccine

I’m tiptoeing into Fall. The last few mornings there’s been more of a chill in the air, but the afternoons are still warm. I'm still wearing flip-flops, but with long sleeve t-shirts. My cherry tomato in a hanging pot is in its second wind. This is when we keep our fingers crossed for one last push. Last night’s pasta carried that forward. Summer's Lite Brite punches of heirloom tomato and basil were left behind, making way  for the earthiness of mushroom.  We (er, I)  haven’t quite given ourselves (read: myself) over entirely to the autumn, but this mushroom ragu was a first tentative step.

Read more

Ba Bar – Vietnamese Street Food in Capitol Hill

From the outside, Ba Bar (yes, Ba. Bar. Not the elephant.) looks like a coffee place. Its big windows face the street, and even as you step inside, the espresso bar with a few baked items is on your right. The floors are acid washed concrete. Walk into the main dining space and off to one side, there's an enormous, typical Pacific Northwest-looking wood bar. You might take it for a gastropub. But sit down and the menu in front of you is...Vietnamese street food.

Read more

Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese

Have you ever stood in the pasta aisle at your grocery store and noticed they carry 4-5 different brands of spaghetti or farfalle? Then they've got capellini, fettuccini, linguine, orecchiette, penne, orzo, and then you get down to the bottom shelf and there are the egg noodles. But where are the large elbow macaroni? Small elbows, check. Large elbows? Nope. When did the large elbow fall out of favor? Did it get pushed out by the whole wheat and rice pasta?

Read more