Cooking for 2

Been seeing a lot of post about acquaintances and friends going to Saigon lately. Makes me reminisce about the Saigon-Phnom Penh trip I took with my mom last year.

Rodney and I should come here soon. He’d love the food there for sure!

All photos taken by me.

Peach Banana Crêpe

Rodney loves crêpe! It’s almost always his dessert of choice whenever we are at a buffet. If he has to pick over a cake or crepe, he would instantly choose crepe. This is great for me since I love desserts and he doesn’t and crepe is one of the only sweets we agree on.

The Good Housekeeping Dessert recipe book he bought me years ago has an easy to follow basic crepe recipe. This is what I always use for my crepe batter recipe. It’s fairly easy to do!

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
• a dash of salt

Fillings:

• 3 slices canned peaches
• 1 large banana
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• a swig of vodka (optional)
• whipped cream

1. Blend egg, milk, 1 tablespoon butter, flour and salt til smooth. Consistency of batter shouldn’t be too thick. If it’s too think, add a little milk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour (or overnight if you are not using it immediately) to allow flour to absorb liquid. 
2. Prepare your fillings. You can use any fruits, or jam or just plain nutella or peanut butter. In this case, I’m using banana and canned peaches.
3. In a pan, put in a bit of the peach juice from the bottle or mix sugar with water. Bring to a light boil and add banana and sliced peaches. Add a swig of vodka if desired. I added a bit for extra kick! ;) Mix a little. Make sure your fruits are not too soggy then transfer it to a container. Let cool.
4. To prepare the crepe, heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Brush bottom of skillet with remaining butter. Blend the batter well with a wire whisk. Pour a bit of the batter into the skillet. Do not put too much, just enough so you can whirl it to cover the pan in thin batter. Cook crepe until top is set and underside is slightly browned. 
5. With heat safe rubber spatula, loosen edge of crepe and turn. Cook until other side is browned (20-30 seconds). 
6. Once cooked, slip into a plate and place your fillings. Fold all sides. Put vanilla ice cream on top if available.
7. Eat and enjoy!

Yields 4-5 medium crepes or 2-3 big crepes.

Chicken Chop

Rodney just cooked the BEST.CHICKEN.EVER.

Bánh mì

I’ve been craving for Banh mi since I’ve had it on my first visit in Saigon last year. It’s usually sold in the morning as breakfast or in the afternoon as snack by street vendors.

From Wikipedia:

Bánh mì or bánh mỳ (English pronunciation: /ˈbʌn ˌmiː/, Vietnamese pronunciation: [ɓǎɲ mî]) is a Vietnamese term for all kinds of bread. Bread, or more specifically the baguette, was introduced by the French during its colonial period. The bread most commonly found in Vietnam is single serve and resembles a torpedo, therefore the term bánh mì is synonymous with this type of bread. The bánh mì is usually more airy than its western counterpart, so as a result, has a thinner crust.

The sandwich made from bánh mì include meat and soy fillings such as steamed, pan-roasted or oven-roasted seasoned pork belly,Vietnamese sausage, grilled pork, grilled pork patties, spreadable pork liver pâté, pork floss, grilled chicken, chicken floss, canned sardines in tomato sauce, soft pork meatballs in tomato sauce, head cheese, fried eggs, and tofu. Accompanying vegetables include fresh cucumber slices, cilantro and pickled carrots and daikon in shredded form. Spicy chili sauce is normally found in bánh mì sold by vendors in Vietnam. In western countries, especially the U.S., the chili sauce has been replaced with sliced jalapeños, a type of chili pepper that is not grown and consumed in Vietnam. In southern Vietnam, homemade mayonnaise is commonly added to the sandwich. Laughing Cow cheese is also a popular filling in Vietnam.

Banh mi is included in Pho Hoa’s menu, but whenever I order it, they seem to be always missing some ingredient to allow them to sell it to me, so I’ve never had one from one of our local Vietnamese restaurants.

That’s why I was so ecstatic when I saw a stall selling banh mi at last night’s Midnight Mercato. I’ve already consumed a Pink salmon from 1 stall (it was really good by the way!), but when I saw those fillings, I just can’t resist so Rodney and I ordered the large banh mi for sharing (Php150). The fillings for this sandwich are home-made mayo, liver pate (a must for this sandwich), carrots, cucumber, chicken, roast pork and topped with celery.

The verdict? Although it lacks the saltiness and that certain taste I’ve been looking for which attributed to the liver pate, the banh mi from Midnight Mercato was really filling and so so good! It’s a great alternative from the oily food that are usually sold there. And Rodney loved it so much he wants to go to Saigon now to try the real thing!

No-bake Peanut Butter Crumble Pie

We had just bought a big jar of peanut butter and I am craving for sweets. So I came up with this simple recipe for a personal peanut butter crumble pie. No need to bake it, just chill in the fridge to set.

You will need:

Left-over cookies or graham crackers (I used leftover walnut cookies, 4 individual packets)

3 spoonful peanut butter

2 tablespoon butter

powdered sugar or condensed milk

1. Unwrap the cookies or graham cracker and crush it finely.

2. Place the butter in the bowl and mix in with the crumbs.

3. I used about 2-3 spoons of condensed milk in the mixture to bind the crumbs together.

4. Layer half of the crumbs mixture into your container. Then layer the peanut butter on top of it. Place the remaining crumbs mixture on top.

5. Refrigerate to set.

   Top with whipped cream.

Eat!