Yummies4Dummies

Happy Lunar New Year!!!

2012-01-17T13:32:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! I can’t believe it is already 2012! Where has the time gone? In exactly 6 days from today will be Lunar New Year (the year of the Dragon). Vietnamese lunar New Year is known as Tết. It is time when my family and I prepare by decorating the house with New Year Tree and flowers, cleaning up our home and cooking special foods. One of my favorite Tết dishes is thịt kho tàu which is caramelized braised pork and eggs served with hot steam rice and pickled vegetables. Watch how I make it HERE.

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Mission Impossible 4- Ghost Protocol -Parody Trailer- Bánh Bột Chiên (How to make Fried Rice Flour Cake)

2011-12-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! For this holiday season, I made a special video for all of you. It is something a little different from what I usually do. I hope you guys enjoy watching it as much as I have enjoyed making it!

View the video HERE

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Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T22:12:00.000-08:00

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Vietnamese Chicken Curry

2011-11-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

Can't decide what to make for dinner? Don't worry! Make some Curry! Vietnamese Chicken Curry that is...

Click HERE and find out how!

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Magnolia Cake

2011-10-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Truffle Cake with Truffle Filling

Food Hopping in the City!

2011-10-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

I love to explore new foods and get ideas on what to make at home. This is why I love to food hop! I would try little servings of the best items at a restaurant, bakery or eatery and then try to make the same item when I get home and add my own touch to it. It really gets my creative juices flowing and my imagination goes wild!!!!! I guess that is why they call it “food porn.” LOL!

Here are some items that I tried while eating out in New York City and will be experimenting in my kitchen to see what I can come up with. I ate at these places on several different occasions:

These are the BEST lobster rolls I have ever eaten and Luke Lobsters makes it. The lobster tastes so fresh and succulent! Pair it up with a ginger soda and you are good to go!

Here, take a bite and find out for yourself.

This is the Matcha Latte that I had at Cha-An Japanese Tea House. It is basically authentic Japanese green tea that is served cold with a small scoop of sweetened red beans. Very refreshing and full of antioxidants!!!

You can also drink the green tea warm with a side of the sweetened red beans and mochi pieces.

Let’s not forget K-Town. They make the BEST shaved ice.

I tried the red bean and green tea flavor. The ice is shaved so tiny, like snowflakes. And look at all that fresh fruit!!! <3 it!

I forgot what flavor I had but these cupcakes were so good. They were just baked fresh out of the oven. I grabbed them at Magnolia’s at Grand Central Station when I was heading towards that way.

Shoes and handbags as cookies!!!!!

And nothing beats New York pizza!!!!!! I wish I can share some of my pizza with you guys!

Whether you are a local or coming to NYC for a vacation, you have some dining ideas now. Enjoy!

Chè Ba Màu

2011-09-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

For this video, click HERE

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Phở Gà

2011-08-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

Click HERE to learn how to make this!

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Sizzling Vietnamese Crepes!!!!

2011-08-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

Bánh Xèo

Click HERE for the recipe video!

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If you build it, they will YUM!

2011-08-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

What am I building you ask? I am building a “once in a blue moon” slider for this summer’s burger bash! This is a tiny flavorful blue cheese burger slider that includes crispy mini onion rings, turkey bacon strips, lettuce, tomato and avocado moon-shaped wedges! You may be wondering where I got the idea to build such massive, yet tiny slider. Well, let me give you a tiny little clue with the following riddle:

What do you get when you cross a Smurf with a cow? Bleu Cheese!

Yes, one of my favorite childhood cartoon characters inspired me to make these tiny little blue cheese sliders, since sliders are tiny and blue cheese came from this cutie little riddle. I saw the Smurfs 3D movie this weekend and it was SMURFTASTIC!!! I hope you guys enjoy my SMURFLICIOUS blue cheese sliders as I hum that loveable Smurf tune! La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

Blue Moon Sliders

With Avocadoes, Bacon and Onion rings

Servings: 4

Ingredients

Burger

2 pounds ground chuck

2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 small shallot, minced

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

8 mini hamburger buns

Toppings

Crispy onion rings (see recipe)

Crispy turkey bacon strips

Avocado wedges

Green lettuce leaves

Vine ripe tomato slices

Ketchup, for serving

Crispy onion rings

5 cups vegetable oil

½ cup sliced yellow onions

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add the turkey bacon. Cook until crisp, 3 minutes on each side, remove to plate.

In a large bowl, combine chuck, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, shallot, blue cheese, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix all of the ingredients together to combine them, but be careful not to over mix. Divide mixture into 4 patties and then divide each quarter in half to create 8 mini burger patties.

Brush or drizzle burgers with extra-virgin olive oil and grill on indoor electric grill preheated to high for about 4-6 minutes on each side. On an outdoor grill, cook 5 minutes on each side 6 inches from hot coals or over medium high gas flame with the grill lid closed. For preparation with no additional oil, broil 4 inches from broiler 5 minutes on each side.

For the onion rings, preheat oil in a large pan on high heat. Whisk 2 eggs and set them aside. Have flour on a large plate and set that aside. Spread the onion slices out and sprinkle them with salt. Pour all of the seasoned onions in the eggs and then remove them from the eggs and dredge them in the flour. Place onions rings into the hot oil in batches and fry until golden brown and crispy.

Serve sliders on mini hamburger buns with lettuce, tomato, avocado slices, onion rings, bacon strips and ketchup.

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When life throws you lemons….

2011-07-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Make some limonade! That’s right; I said limonade; no misspellings or typos there. I am talking about a perfectly tart and sweet treat that will quench any summertime thirst. The lime makes it a little different from the traditional plain lemonade but it is refreshing and lip smacking good. Now go try this recipe before the temperature get above 200 degrees!

Summertime Limonade

Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup water (for the simple syrup)

½ cup lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons)

½ cup lime juice (about 2-3 limes)

3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

1. To make simple syrup, simmer sugar and water in a small pot until sugar is completely dissolved. Then chill in refrigerator.

2. In the meantime, use a juicer to extract the lemon and lime juice from the lemons and limes, just enough for ½ cup each.

3. Add the lemon and lime juice, simple syrup and cold water into a large pitcher. Refrigerate for 30-40 minutes and then adjust the sweetness by adding additional sugar or tartness by adding additional lemon and lime juice as needed.

4. Serve with ice, lemon and lime slices.

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Harry Potter

2011-07-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I cannot wait for Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows part 2 to come out; it is coming out Friday the 15th and to get into the mood for this movie, I made a video HERE.

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Shake it here, shake it there, shake it shake it everywhere!!!

2011-07-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

What am I shaking? Shaking beef, of course! But it does not stop there, I have an easy watercress salad and tomato fried rice to go with that. This is an easy go to meal you can make any night of the week. What I like to do is marinate a large batch of the beef and cook it right when I am ready to eat. It takes a few seconds to around a minute to cook the beef! Then all you have to do is heat up the fried rice and toss your vegetables in the vinaigrette and you got yourself a full meal!

Funny story: when I first learned how to make this dish and attempted to shake the beef in the cooking pan, I had a few pieces of beef fly across the room! It takes a little practice to shake the beef but once you got it, you got it! I hope you guys try this dish and enjoy!

Watch Bò Lúc Lắc HERE!

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It’s a Meringue Tang Lemon Thang…

2011-06-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

I was in the mood for a slice of lemon meringue pie and was looking for a good recipe to satisfy my craving. During my search, I came across a Lemon Meringue Cupcake recipe that caught my eye. It was from Martha Stewart’s (or as my mother- in- law says in her Vietnamese accent, Marta Tewurt) cupcake book. I was reading the directions on how to make each part of the cupcake and adjusted the recipe a little bit to make it faster and easier for myself and for all of you guys who would like to try it at home. I used store bought lemon curd instead of making it from scratch and made my cupcakes without buttermilk since I found that buttermilk can make the cupcakes too tangy. Hope you guys try this and enjoy!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcake

6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups unbleached cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
3/4 cup store bought lemon curd

Directions

1) To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place cupcake liners in 12 cups of a muffin pan and position on oven rack in the middle of the oven.
2) Beat together the oil, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and lemon zest until light in color, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed.
3) Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until the mixture lightens in color, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed.
4) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
5) At low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter in three additions, alternating with two additions of the milk; mix until blended, about 30 seconds.
6) Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
7) Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 16 to 20 minutes; the cakes will remain quite pale.
8) Remove from the oven, and after 5 minutes transfer to a rack to cool.

Ingredients for the meringue

4 egg whites
¼ cup tablespoons sugar

Directions

1)  In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar and the egg whites. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bowl, and heat just until the sugar dissolves, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form.
2)   Spread 1 tablespoon of lemon curd onto middle of each cupcake. Fill pastry bag with fitted open star tip with meringue frosting. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake, swirling tip slightly and releasing as you pull up to form a peak.
3)   Hold a small kitchen torch 3-4 inches from surface of frosting and wave it back and forth until frosting is lightly brown all over. Serve immediately.

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My most popular recipe request...

2011-06-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

Bún bò Huế...click HERE to see how I make it.

Please support my new channel by subscribing, and sharing my videos with your family, friends and everybody you know. It will really motivate me to make more videos of all the recipes you guys love. Also, giving a thumbs up wouldn't hurt either. =)

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Introducing...Pham's Clams!!!

2011-06-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all!!! How is everyone doing out there? I was in the mood for some Italian food and I had some angel hair wheat pasta in the pantry, some canned clams along with a few fresh clams. So….I made this dish for dinner:

Angel Hair Pasta with Clams

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 pound whole wheat angel hair pasta

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped shallots

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

½ pound clams, scrubbed clean

½ pound canned clams, juice included

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Freshly grated lemon zest from 1 lemon

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add in pasta and cook until tender but still a little firm on the inside, about 6-7 minutes.

2. In the meantime, place a large sauté pan on medium high heat and add in olive oil. When the pan gets hot, add in shallots and sauté for about 3 minutes, until fragrant. Then add in garlic and sauté until lightly golden brown, about 3 minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic because it can taste bitter if you do.

3. Then add in the canned clams with juice, fresh clams, wine, 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley, sugar, salt, and pepper. Cover the pan with a lid and allow clams to simmer in juice on a low heat until fresh clams are slightly opened, about 5 minutes. Make sure to discard any clams that do not open. Whisk in butter to thicken the sauce.

4. Drain the pasta and toss it with the clam sauce until every strand is coated with the sauce. Add extra pasta liquid to moisten pasta if needed.

5. Transfer pasta into a large serving bowl and garnish with lemon zest and remaining parsley. Serve immediately.

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Summer…Summer…Summertime

2011-06-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

Awww yeahhhh! It’s summertime!!! The sun is out, school’s out but refreshing summer drinks are in! Get ready for some outdoor picnics, BBQ’s, pool parties, and beach gatherings! For this summer get together, make sure you and all of your guests have one of these:

Wild Watermelon Mojitos

Servings: 6 drinks

Ingredients

30 large fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish
4-5 thick slices fresh watermelon, seedless and rinds removed

¾ cup of your favorite light rum

½ cup simple syrup

7 tablespoons freshly squeeze lime juice (about 3 limes)

Ice cubes

Directions

1. Make simple syrup by simmering water and sugar in a small pot until sugar dissolves completely.Then chill in refrigerator.

2. In a blender, puree watermelon, fresh lime juice and mint in batches until smooth.

3. Strain into a pitcher. Mix in rum and simple syrup.

4. Serve in glasses filled with ice and garnish with mint leaves.

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My meal is complete!

2011-05-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Here is another easy 4 step recipe:

Canh Chua, Cá Kho Tộ , and steamy white rice!!!! Mmmmmmmmmmmm....

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Do you like buns?

2011-05-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Cinnamon Buns that is....

I have eaten at many places that serve cinnamon buns, but I have to say, the buns you are about to see will blow your mind away….

If you follow this recipe, you will die and go to cinnamon bun heaven:

Raisin Cinnamon Buns

Servings: 6 buns

Ingredients

Buns
3 cup of unbleached bread flour
6 tbsp butter (room temperature)
2 large eggs
½ cup milk (warm)
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp water

Spice mix

3 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 stick butter- 8 tbsp (room temperature)

1 cup raisins

Glaze:

4 tbsp butter (room temperature)
1 cup confectioner sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Egg wash
1 egg
3 tbsp water

Directions

Spice mix

Mix together all the ingredients.

Buns

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and cover bowl for 15 minutes or until expands 3 times its size. In a stand mixer with hook attachment, add flour, eggs, butter, milk, sugar, and salt and yeast mixture and knead with 2 speed for about 3-4 minutes. In a separate bowl, buttered or oiled, put dough in and cover. Leave in covered bowl for about 4 hours or until dough rises 3 times its size.

When dough triple its size, turn dough onto a flour surface. With a rolling pin, roll dough out into large rectangle.

Brush spice mix all over surface of rolled out dough. Roll up cinnamon roll and cut in 3 inch pieces.

Place in glass oven tray and cover with towel and allow to rise double its size for 2-3 hours. (If you press gently with your finger on a bun it should bounce back but your fingerprint should remain a bit.)

Brush buns with egg wash (made by whisking eggs and water together). Preheat oven 350 degrees. Bake for 15-20 minutes on 350 degrees until golden brown. While buns are baking, make glaze by mixing butter, vanilla, sugar and maple syrup together by whisking until smooth. Once buns are out of oven, brush with glaze right away!

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Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! This is my very first blog video and what better time to have one then for Mother’s Day! My mother-in-law Pam actually taught me how to make this and what a coincidence that my friend Florence is a mother to be, who needs to eat healthy for her baby and has a vegetarian husband! So with that, I dedicate this recipe for all the mothers and mothers to be out there! Happy Mother’s Day!

Fried Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry

1 cup of chopped daikon

1 cup chopped chayote (Plei xu xu)

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup green beans

1 cup white button mushrooms

1 cup pineapple chunks

1 cup fried tofu

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp minced shallots

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp mushroom seasonings

1.   Cut all vegetables in 1 inch chunks and make sure that green beans are trimmed at both   ends and cut into 1 inch pieces.
2.   Boil 5 cups of water on high heat and add in daikon, chayote, carrots, and green beans, into the boiling water. Cook vegetables for about 2-3 minutes or until they are slightly soften. Then drain all the vegetables and set them aside.
3.   In a large pan, pour some oil into the pan and add minced shallots or any type of onions. Sautee shallots until fragrant, then add in mushrooms and fried tofu and cook for another minute.
4.   Finally add in the boiled vegetables, pineapples, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, and mushroom seasonings. Cook for about 5-7 more minutes while mixing ingredients together. Serve with a side of white rice.

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Half An Hour Sour Soup!

2011-05-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

If you want to eat your veggies, this is an easy and nutritious and delicious recipe that is sure to please. Check it out HERE!

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Gougère

2011-05-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

For your next cocktail party or get together, you can serve these tiny fancy treats! In French, it is called gougère or cheese puffs. Pay close attention to the technique in this recipe, because if you get it right, you can make cream puffs, éclairs, and many other French treats!

Gougère

Servings: 40 puffs

Ingredients

1 cup milk

4 ounces unsalted butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Pinch ground nutmeg

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

¾ cup grated Gruyère cheese, plus a little extra for sprinkling on top

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a small pan, heat milk, butter, salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg over medium high heat until butter is completely melted in the milk.

3. Add the flour in the milk mixture and beat it vigorously with a wooden spoon on low heat for about 2 minutes until it turns into dough.

4. Then transfer the dough into a stand mixer bowl and starting mixing the dough with eggs and cheese until mixture is smooth and thick

5. Spoon the dough into a large gallon-sized plastic bag (or piping bag.) Use your hands to squeeze dough towards the bottom corner. With kitchen scissors, snip off just the tip of the bag, about 1/4" of the tip. Pipe onto a baking sheet into little puffs, keeping the puffs 2-inches apart. With your finger, press down the peaks because they can burn.

6. Brush the top of each puff lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with a pinch of Gruyère cheese.

7. Bake at 450F for 15 minutes or until golden brown outside but still soft inside.

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My New Youtube Video

2011-04-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hey guys:

I just uploaded a new youtube recipe video for bún riêu. I have gotten so many requests for this recipe so what better than to make it my first recipe on my Youtube page. Watch the video HERE.

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A Wake Up Treat!!!

2011-04-25T17:37:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my new food blog! This is going to be where I share my recipes, cooking techniques and all my experiences with food and cooking. I would love to hear your input on what you would like to see on this blog so that we can share experiences and learn from one another. To start this blog off, I will show you guys how to make a dessert that will perk any tired sleepy head up…and yes that even means you can eat this dessert for breakfast. I will be show you guys how to make Espresso Flan and it is unbelievably simple!!!

Espresso Flan

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Flan Mixture:

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1 cup caramel, recipe follows

Pinch of salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter

6 tablespoons hot brewed espresso

Caramel:

2 cups of sugar

1 lemon wedge

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and egg yolks. While whisking add the sugar slowly until fully dissolved. Add vanilla, cinnamon, heavy cream, espresso, milk, and salt and continue to whisk. In order to get rid of air bubbles in mixture, transfer to large bowl through a fine strainer. Then set this mixture to the side.

2. To prepare the caramel, preheat a saucepan over medium heat, add sugar in pan and stir until caramel turns a golden brown color (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat and squeeze a little bit of lemon on the caramel to prevent it from hardening too soon.

3. Brush the insides of 6 ramekin bowls with melted butter to ensure it falls out easily after setting. Pour about 2 tablespoons of caramel on the bottom of the ramekin bowls. When all 6 ramekins have caramel at the bottom, fill each ramekin with the flan mixture, slowly to avoid air bubbles, until about 2/3 full.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

5. Place almost full ramekins in shallow baking pan and then fill the pan with boiling water. The hot water bath will allow the flan cups to cook evenly in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes.

6. When removing pan from oven, allow the ramekins to remain cooling in their original water bath, overnight if necessary.

7. Before serving, place ramekins in another shallow pan of warm water to loosen the custard. Run a thin knife around the inside edge of cup to further loosen, place a plate on top of ramekin and flip onto plate to serve. Garnish with some espresso beans on top.

I hope you guys enjoy this dessert. It is a great way to enjoy your sweets and wake you up a little bit in the morning or after your supper!

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