Coconut Quinoa

This is a great South Asian inspired way to make quinoa. I served it with fish and it was really tasty. Takes about half an hour and is a great side. It also made good leftovers for lunch prompting a few "that smells great"s at the office. The coconut makes it creamy and steeping it with lemongrass and habanero gives it extra flavor and a little heat. 

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk (I used light)

1 stalk lemon grass

1 habanero

A few strips of lime zest

2 crushed garlic cloves

1/2 tsp sugar

Big pinch salt

1 tsp fish sauce

1 cup quinoa

1 tbsp coconut oil

Handful of cilantro, chopped

2 small scallions, thinly sliced

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 tsp minced jalapeño or serano pepper

Fried Rice-Style Quinoa

I was marinating flank steak the other night and asked Jamie what he wanted as a side. He requested peas. The flank steak was marinating in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, etc (Asian-style), so I was trying to think of an Asiany way to make peas - fried rice! I had just bought a bag of quinoa, so I figured I'd make it as if it were fried rice. It was delicious (and cheap and easy). Jamie loved it, and it even tasted great the next day.

Momofuku Fried Chicken Dinner

Yum!!! I don't know if you've been to Bonchon or tried Korean fried chicken, but man, the Momofuku Fried Chicken Dinner is fabulous. My friend Alice made the reservation about a month ago (you have to, they fill up fast) and we went for dinner last night. It's $100 for 4-8 people - definitely get a group of 8 because it's plenty of food. It's also great because you get to avoid the extremely long line. One draw back is that the times are a little weird - our reservation was at 6pm. But having an early dinner is nice because even if you go out after, you'll probably be home by 10.

Fatty Cue Style Ribs

After an amazing dinner at the new Fatty Cue in the West Village, I couldn't wait to have another savory and sweet rib. I tweeted about it the next day asking for a recipe and was directed here. I'd already bought some baby back ribs from Faicco's that morning, so I decided to adapt the recipe to baby backs. I had a trip to Kalustyan's for the more exotic ingredients. They were a big hit! So juicy and tender, and the meat really shines through, so make sure to get some meaty ribs. (If you live in Manhattan, it's worth a trip to Faicco's - their baby back ribs are the meatiest and juiciest I've ever had.) Don't be scared of all the fish sauce - you really don't notice it in the final product. It just gives the ribs a great umami flavor.

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
2 racks of baby back ribs
2 cups fish sauce
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 medium shallot, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sugar

Banh Mi Hot Dogs

I had a few recipes in the cue to put up before this, but this one just needed to be posted. After sampling Asia Dog's delectable "Vinh" banh mi style hot dog a few weeks ago, I've been craving another. Since the banh mi ingredients aren't terribly hard to come by, I figured I'd try it myself. I made these for dinner and they were amazing. So flavorful with a great heat and much fresher tasting than a classic dog, and infinitely more interesting. Jamie scarfed two down and wanted a third, but settled for taking another for lunch (they're actually pretty filling!). We both can't wait to try this out for a big group BBQ. So unique, and really not too hard! I looked up a few regular banh mi recipes and mixed and matched a little, adapting them to hot dogs. Try this at your next backyard BBQ, or even just having a few people over to watch baseball or True Blood or something. Yum yum yum!

Ingredients:
(serves 2-4)
2 super thinly sliced carrots (using a mandolin, or you can grate)
2-3 super thinly slice radishes
3 tbsp sugar
1.5 tsbp kosher salt
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
4 hot dogs