pho-king great

This makes amazing bone marrow on top of a delicious soup.

2 beef cross cut shins
1/2 of a medium-large apple
1 large yellow onion
2 ounces fresh ginger
2 ½ pieces star anise
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
2 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
1 ½ to 2 tablespoons fish sauce
Sugar, if desired
12 ounces dried narrow rice sticks or pad Thai-style noodles
1 green onions
¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves
Black pepper
Thai basil
lime wedges

Rinse the bones and boneless beef. Peel and cut apple into chunks. Halve the large onion and cut into thick slices. Peel ginger, halve it lengthwise, cut into chunks, then smash each piece with the side of a knife.

Put the star anise, cinnamon and cloves in the Instant Pot. Using the sauté function, toast for several minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant. Add the onion and ginger. Stir and cook for a minute or two. A little browning is O.K. Add 8 cups water.

Add the bones, beef, apple and salt. Lock the lid. Set timer for 30 minutes. After cooking, allow pressure to decrease naturally, about 15 to 20 minutes. When that is done, finish venting and carefully remove lid.

Strain the broth into a pot through a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth or muslin. Discard the remaining solids. (At this point, the broth and beef can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 3 days.) Skim all but about 3 tablespoons of fat from the broth.

Add fish sauce and more salt, if needed. Add a few pinches of sugar and more fish sauce so the broth has a rounded, intense finish that is slightly salty and slightly sweet.

Freeze the raw beef, if using, for 15 to 20 minutes, then slice very thinly across the grain. Cut cooked beef across the grain into very thin slices. Set aside.

Cover the dried noodles in hot tap water and soak for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pliable and opaque. Drain, then rinse to remove starch.

Thinly slice the small onion and soak in water 10 minutes. Slice green onions into thin rings and set aside with chopped cilantro. Arrange any optional add-ins on a plate.

Bring the broth to a simmer over medium heat. At the same time, fill a pot with water and bring to a rolling boil. Dunk the noodles into the boiling water, using a noodle strainer or a mesh sieve, for about 15 to 20 seconds. Remove from water and divide noodles among 4 bowls.

Top each bowl of noodles with cooked and raw beef, arranging the slices flat. Place a mound of onion in the center, then shower with green onion and cilantro. Finish with a sprinkle of black pepper. Give the boiling broth a final taste for seasoning. Ladle about 2 cups broth into each bowl, distributing the hot liquid evenly to warm all the ingredients.

Original recipe from the NY Times

lamb shoulder braise two-ways

Lamb shoulder is a tough cut – and it keeps showing up in my farm share. Fortunately a low and slow cook does wonders.

Red Wine Braised Lamb

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds lamb shoulder chops, or more to taste
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 small yellow onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
half a bag of baby carrots
2 medium potatoes
2 sprigs of oregano
1.5 cups beef broth
1.5 cups red wine
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a dutch over over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper lamb chops. Sear lamb in hot oil until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove chops to a plate to drain, reserving drippings in the skillet.

Saute onion and garlic in reserved drippings until tender, about 4 minutes. Add carrots and potatoes and saute another few minutes.

Add lamb chops and drippings to the dutch oven. Add oregano sprigs on top of lamb. Pour beef broth and red wine over the lamb. Cover dish.

Bake for 3 hours.

Remove lamb to a serving platter.

Did not have enough liquid the first time to do this part: Carefully drain liquid from baking dish into a saucepan and place over medium heat. Beat cornstarch and water together in a bowl using a whisk to assure no lumps remain; stir into the liquid in the saucepan. Add Worcestershire sauce and cook until the liquid thickens into a gravy, about 5 minutes.

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Saba Braised Lamb

4 lamb shanks
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 large onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup saba
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place lamb shanks into a large bowl; drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, cinnamon, and rosemary. Toss the lamb shanks to spread oil and seasonings over the meat.

Spread onion slices and garlic cloves into the bottom of a heavy 9x12-inch baking dish. Lay lamb shanks over onions and garlic.

Bake lamb in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees.

Combine chicken broth and saba in a bowl. Pour mixture over the lamb shanks. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and place baking dish on a baking sheet.

Bake lamb in the oven until a knife pierces the meat easily, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat will be tender but not falling off the bone. Use tongs to turn the shanks over in the pan sauce. Increase temperature to 350 degrees.

Return shanks to oven and bake, uncovered, until meat is fork-tender and the sauce has thickened slightly, 10 to 15 minutes. Turn shanks over in the sauce after 10 minutes and check for tenderness; if still not tender enough, return to oven for 10 to 15 more minutes and test again.

Transfer lamb shanks to a bowl and keep warm. Strain pan juices into a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Skim any excess grease from top of sauce. Taste and season with salt; stir in fresh rosemary. Serve sauce drizzled over lamb shanks.

From AllRecipes.com

ez coconut "ice cream"

Dairy free and delicious. There are a bunch of ways to make this depending on what you're in the mood for: chunky, smooth, or different types of herbs.

1/2 can of full fat coconut milk
1 cup of chopped fruit
a handful of fresh herbs
1 spoonful of sugar

Strawberry & Mint (or Basil)

For chunky:
Slice 1 container of strawberries. Slice mint leaves. Stir both, along with the sugar, in a bowl with the coconut milk.

For smooth:
Cut up 1 container of strawberries. Toss strawberries with mint leaves into single serving blender, along with the sugar and coconut milk. Blend until smooth.

Mango
For smooth:
Cut up 2 mangoes. Toss with coconut milk into single serving blender. Blend until smooth.

bun bowl

The most delicious accident came together from pieces of other recipes and it tasted exactly like a Vietnamese rice bowl. So great!

1 skirt steak
1 cucumber
1 package of bean thread noodles or rice noodles
a handful of peanuts
soy sauce
lime juice
sesame oil
chili garlic sauce
rice vinegar

Make marinade for steak: combine soy sauce, sesame oil and half a teaspoon of chili garlic sauce and add steak. Let steak rest in the marinade for 15-20 minutes.

Slice cucumber thinly, put into bowl. Pour a couple of tablespoons of rice vinegar and lime juice over the cucumber slices and mix to combine. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Boil water and then soak noodles for 20 minutes.

Cook steak: heat oven to 500 degrees with cast iron pan in the oven. Cook steak in cast iron on stove top on high heat 2 minutes per side. Lower temperature in oven to 400. Place cast iron pan in the oven for 2 minutes. Once cooked let steak rest for 10 minutes.

With a mortar and pestle smash peanuts. Add a half tablespoon of chili garlic sauce to the peanuts along with a 1-2 tablespoons of lime and smash further until well combined.

Rinse noodles and cut into smaller pieces and add to bowl. Slice steak and add to bowl. Cut cucumber slices into smaller bites and add to bowl. Top with peanut sauce. Stir to combine.