Grilled Sirloin Steak Recipe

When you have a good quality cut of beef, such as sirloin steak (called faux-filet or entrecôte in French), you don't want to overpower the flavor of the meat. That goal is accomplished in this recipe by keeping the prep work simple. I season the steaks with pepper, garlic and thyme. C'est tout! ("That's it"). The steaks are seared and grilled to create a crust, and then they're transferred to the oven to bring them to a perfect medium-rare. Once out of the oven, finish the meat with a sprinkling of sea salt. I wait to add the salt till after the beef is cooked so it doesn't draw moisture out of the meat.

I live in a house full of vegetarians, so I haven't had a tender, juicy steak in a while. It was quite a treat to be able to go to the store and get some premium cuts of beef (entrecôte) to make this dish. Good quality meat should be red and shiny, and the texture should be firm and elastic, with a very subtle scent. I found a couple of nice steaks and had fun cooking them up with my little munchkin, who is the only other meat eater in our house. She approved, and I imagine that if you make this dish in your home, your family will as well.

Soybean Sprouts with Black Bean Sauce

Stir fried soybean sprouts make a healthy, yet tasty side dish if you're planning a quick and easy Asian meal. The bean sprouts are seasoned with black bean sauce and soy sauce. Baby spinach is added for a nice contrast in color.

Soybean sprouts are a lot harder to get than regular mung bean sprouts. The sprouts are much larger and have a yellow color, whereas mung bean sprouts are green. I buy mine at a local Korean store. It's definitely worth the effort to find them though, because soybean sprouts give the dish an extra dimension of flavor.

Vietnamese Asparagus Crab Soup (Sup Mang Cua Recipe)

Súp măng tây nấu cua (white asparagus crab soup) was always a festive dish when I was a child. We would have it whenever my parents had non-Vietnamese friends to our house for dinner. I would help with cracking the crab and gathering the crab meat. Corn starch, used as a thickening agent, gives the velvety, thick broth gives the dish a unique texture. While white asparagus doesn't provide a lot of color contrast to the crab, it does complement the flavor quite well.

The authentic version of this soup requires shark fin, but given how expensive it is, crab alone is used instead. The dish still has a luxurious quality, and as such, white asparagus crab soup often appears on the menu at Vietnamese weddings. Now you don't have to crash a Vietnamese wedding to try this dish; make it the next time you throw a dinner party, and I guarantee it will be the highlight of the meal.

Lavender Creme Brulee Recipe

I've been waiting for the lavender in my garden to blossom to be able to make my own Herbes de Provence mix. I had so much extra lavender that I thought I'd make our family's favorite dessert. Yes, crème brulée strikes again! Lavender has a strong floral taste, so a little bit goes a long way. To enhance the lavender aroma, I added lavender extract that I bought at Sur La Table store in Palo Alto. I really thought that the unusual flavor would turn off the kids but my little munchkin loved the lavender dessert the most and kept saying "It tastes like a flower, I love it!"

It's the third season we're planting lavender in our garden and I've learned that the variety most commonly used for cooking is English lavender, not French! So be on the look-out English lavender the next time you stop at the nursery.

If you're searching for a fancy French dessert for your next dinner party, try this recipe! On the practical side, you can make the cup dessert 'way in advance and create the sugar crust at the last minute. That way you can focus on your guests instead of dessert while still serving something fabulous. Your guests will be in awe.

Spinach Moong Dal Recipe

Moong dal, also known as split mung beans, is a very common ingredient in both Indian and Vietnamese cuisines. In this particular savory dish, the lentils serve as a complementary protein to the spinach. When paired with rice, it's a complete meal in and of itself.

There is a wide range of dals used in Indian cuisine, far more than you may find at an Indian restaurant buffet. Check out my other Indian dal recipes such as toor dal, kali dal, urad dal or masoor dal if you're feeling adventurous.