A few weeks ago, I got to try pho for the first time.  The first thing I thought about it was: I love this!  The second thing I thought was: I’m going to have to try to replicate this.  Unfortunately, all the pho recipes I found online were highly complex.  They required too much time and effort for me.  In addition, they required ingredients that would be difficult for me to find.  (Especially since I keep a kosher kitchen.)

Luckily, while browsing the supermarket shelves, I stumbled upon Pacific Foods’ mushroom broth.  Now pho isn’t usually made with a mushroom broth, but the vegetarian pho recipes I read mentioned cooking the broth with mushrooms before straining them (and some of the other ingredients) out.

I decided to come up with a quick and easy pho recipe.  Now, I know this isn’t traditional pho.  That’s why I like calling it Faux Pho.  (That and I’m a big fan of alliteration thanks to years of watching Good Eats with Alton Brown.)

First, we start with our ingredients:

For the record, that’s 1 package of broccoli florets (around 12 oz), 2 packages of mushroom broth (64 fluid oz total), rice noodles (16oz), snow peas (about a big handful), and onions.  (In my case, I selected 2 small Vidalia onions thinking they’re sweeter and my kids might be more likely to eat them.)

First, I cooked the rice noodles according to the package directions (boil water, toss in noodles, cook for 4-5 minutes, drain and rinse),

Next, I trimmed the snow peas, sliced the onions into rings, and then sliced those rings in half.  Quick tip: to avoid the "onion cry", freeze your onions for a bit before slicing.  Not so much that you’re trying to cut into a frozen-solid onion, mind you, but just enough that the enzymes that make you cry don’t get released as much.

After that, I sautéed the onions in a little olive oil.  (I remade this yesterday and added some garlic too just because everything tastes better when cooked with garlic.)

When the onions began to caramelize, I tossed in the broth and increased the heat.

After the broth began to boil, I turned the heat down and tossed in the broccoli.

Two minutes later, I tossed in the snow peas.

A minute later, I removed the soup from the heat entirely and pho was ready to be served.

To assemble the pho, first put some rice noodles in a bowl.

Next, add some veggies from the soup pot.

Finally, top off with broth.

Serve with hoisin sauce and/or Sriracha sauce or neither if you prefer.  You could also toss some bean sprouts and/or jalapenos in just before serving depending on how you like your pho.

So how does it taste?  Well, it won’t ever replace real pho, that’s for sure.  Don’t make this and expect that you’re going to get the same pho that you’d get in a good Vietnamese restaurant.  (If they made pho this way, they wouldn’t be a good Vietnamese restaurant.)  Still, it’s a decent facsimile especially if you only have a short time to prepare dinner, are craving some pho, and can’t go to a Vietnamese restaurant to get some.

Passover is rough on JSL.  Most of the foods he likes eating aren’t allowed so he becomes even more restricted than normal.  Given that one of the foods that he loves are matzoh balls, I figured we’d make some.

First you start off with your ingredients: 1 cup matzoh meal, 2 teaspoons of salt, 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 4 eggs, and 4 tablespoons of broth or water.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl.

Stir well.

Then refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Next, roll into balls and drop into boiling water (or broth).

Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, drain, and your matzoh balls will be ready to eat.

Freshly made matzoh balls are delicious and really take minimal effort.  Given that we have a lot of matzoh meal left over, I think we’ll be making many more batches in the future.

Last year, I wrote about how I turned frozen bananas and dark chocolate peanut butter into a wonder ice cream.  I’ve made it quite a few times since then.  Anytime our bananas were looking too ripe, I’d peel them, break them into chunks, and toss them into the freezer.  Recently, I realized I had a problem.  We had too many bags of bananas in the freezer and not enough space to store a batch of ice cream.  What to do?

I thought over the problem and wondered if I could make it into a smoothie instead.  Only when I was done, I didn’t have a smoothie.  I had a milkshake.  What a wonderful surprise!

First, gather your ingredients.  You’ll need frozen bananas, milk, and dark chocolate peanut butter.  (I prefer Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter.)

Get your blender and toss in your bananas, milk, and dark chocolate peanut butter.

I put in one heaping spoonful of peanut butter for every 2 bananas, but didn’t measure the milk out.  Use your judgment.

When the ingredients are in, close the lid and puree them until smooth.

Now just pour into a glass…

… and drink …

… until it is all gone.

This is so quick and easy that I think the kids will be begging for it often.  I might mix this up and use regular peanut butter and add some strawberries (also sitting in the freezer) for a non-chocolaty version.

I’ve been averting my eyes and trying to shut out the truth, but I don’t think I can do it anymore.  The leaves are already starting to change.  The temperatures have dropped, meaning that pants are worn instead of shorts.  I’ve even had to get out my (*gasp*) jacket.  And, as the final nail in the coffin, it will soon be time to switch the calendar from September to October.  It’s time to face the facts: Summer is over and Fall is here.

While the pool-time fun might be over for the next eight or nine months, and while I can’t sit outside anymore in shorts and a T-shirt, basking in the sun’s rays – at least without shivering in the chilly breeze, autumn fun is just around the corner.

Soon the leaves will fall off the trees making for fun walks.  (I’m not sure why, but I’ve always loves the crunching sound of fall leaves under my feet.)  Halloween is coming up as well.  (NHL might go as Harry Potter this year.)  Best of all, though, is the fact that the Oven Ban has been lifted.

During the summer months, when we’re fighting to keep the temperature in the house under 80, the last thing we want is a 400 degree oven pumping heat into our rooms.  So from about mid-May through September, the oven goes mostly unused.  We will bake occasionally, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

During the fall (and winter) months, though, I get free reign to use the oven.  When it is 70 (or less) in the house, pumping in more heat isn’t as big of a deal.  In fact, on some days, it’s downright desirable.  (Everyone knows the adage "A watched pot never boils", but few know "An oven that is constantly opened to ‘check the temperature’ when the person is really trying to warm up won’t preheat quickly."  I guess it doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily even if it is true.)

With the oven ready to use, I’m chomping at the bit to use it to it’s fullest.  Here come the homemade pizzas, the roasted veggies, the baked lasagnas, and more.

What do you like cooking in your oven?

NOTE: The leaf image above is "Fall Leaves" from Gerald_G.  It is available via OpenClipArt.org.

Cookie dough has a special place in our hearts.  We all love eating cookies and have been known to sneak the occasional cookie dough nibble.  Of course, any food safety expert could tell you that this is a no-no.  Cookie dough invariably contains eggs and eating eggs without cooking them is basically putting a giant welcome mat in front of your insides for salmonella to enter.  So the lure of the cookie dough is always tempered by the knowledge that one heavenly bite now could lead to days of pain and suffering later.

Enter The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook: Cookies, Cakes, Candies, and More by Lindsay Landis (aka LoveAndOliveOil).  Now, I haven’t actually read this book (yet), so don’t consider this a review.  However, Lindsay has released a few of her recipes via her blog and other blogs that were giving away copies of her book.  I tried the Cookie Dough S’mores recipe.  Minus the S’mores part.  So just cookie dough.  Delicious, salmonella-risk-free cookie dough!

First you gather your ingredients:

That’s milk, brown sugar, white sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, and flour.  First, you put the butter (at room temperature) and the sugars in a bowl together.  Use an electric mixer to combine them.  NOTE: I forgot the brown sugar at this point, I realized my mistake after the next step and added it then.  Fortunately, the recipe seems very flexible to minor mistakes.

Once the butter and sugars are creamed, add in the milk and vanilla and mix that in.  Next, add the flour and salt and mix this together.

Now for the final ingredient.  For those of you keeping track, you’ll notice that I’ve used all of the ingredients.  However, I left out one very important secret ingredient.

Mini-chocolate chips!

Add these to your batter and stir to combine.

At this point, you could use this cookie dough in any of a dozen different ways.  Or, if you are like my family, you can channel your inner Cookie Monster, shout "Cooooookie dough!" and devour it! (Om nom nom nom nom.)

Want some?  Here’s a spoonful.

What’s that? You can’t eat cookie dough through a computer screen?  Oh well, more for me!

We will definitely be purchasing Lindsay’s book at which time I will prepare so many cookie dough recipes that even my kids will be sick of cookie dough!  (Ok, let’s be honest, they’ll never get sick of cookie dough!)