Chuc Mung Nam Moi! (Year of the Dragon)

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới (Happy New Year!)! For Vietnamese and many Asian people, tomorrow will be Tết, the beginning of the Year of the Dragon.

If you'd like to celebrate, here are a few Asian dishes I cooked and shared on the website throughout the year. The weather isn't that great in the Bay Area, so I probably won't step outside (i still haven't lost the baby weight so I don't think I would fit in an ao dai -traditional Vietnamese dress). I hope this year brings you a lot of joyful moments, good health and of course great food!

Lemon Poppyseed Cookies

I'm delighted to have Joanne from Eats Well with Others share with us her delicious lemon poppyseed cookie recipe. Joanne is a busy gal; she's a med student in NYC, a marathoner (just like my brother-in-law) and is an avid (and extraordinarily talented) baker. I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot but I think I've told you on numerous occasions that our family loves sweets. In addition to this, we always have guests over, especially for tea time, so having Joanne guest-post a sweet treat seems doubly fitting!

Confession.

I used to be a Costco muffin inhaler.

Have you ever had one? They're big...huge, really...about the size of your face.

And they're strangely reminiscent of narcotic drugs in their addiction-inducing qualities. I mean, you KNOW you should only have half. But you have a pulse and therefore restraining yourself at all whatsoever is but a mere pipe dream. It's okay. We've all been there.

My favorite flavor was the lemon poppyseed.

It was infused with almond extract and was smothered in tangy sweet lemon glaze.

In fact, I may or may not have chosen which muffin I wanted based on the glaze:muffin top
ratio. Higher OBVIOUSLY being better.

(See ladies, muffin tops don't look good on anyone. Not even muffins.*)

*(Unless they have glaze on them.)

Anyway, eventually I grew up and realized just how much hydrogenated fat was in those muffins and how many miles it would take me to burn off just half of one. And so I gave them up. Cold turkey.

(By which I mean I moved out of my parents' house and had the muffins forcibly pried out of my hands upon exiting. Same thing.)

But a lemon poppyseed-less existence is really just too sad of a thought to entertain for even one second let alone an entire lifetime. Which is where these cookies come in.

They have all the same delicious lemon almond overtones of the muffins. (And the glaze. That heavenly glaze...) But without all the heft and heaviness.

Perfect for getting your Costco muffin fix or, if you weren't previously a lemon poppyseed "user", just for dipping into a warm cup of tea. Win/win no matter what your circumstance is.

Ginger Citrus Rib-Eye Steak Soft Tacos (Steak Taco Recipe)

My husband Lulu is a huge 49ers fan. Being French, I've had to start from scratch and learn a lot about American football. I've actually started enjoying watching the games, though I wish they wouldn't hit each other so hard! We watched the incredible playoff game last weekend and Lulu was screaming for joy when Alex Smith connected with Vernon Davis for the winning touchdown. The 49ers face the New York Giants in the NFC Championship this weekend, and Lulu is looking forward to watching the Niners advance to the Super Bowl.

We're having some people over to watch the game, so I created a meal that would fit the party, but with my own personal touch. For the main course, I made small plates of rib-eye steak soft tacos. To start, I seared the steaks after applying a ginger citrus rub. Once the steaks have a good crust, I glazed the meat with a spicy peach chutney. The soft tacos itself is layered with peach chutney, pickled mushrooms, sliced beef steak, shrimp and sour cream. The flavors were amazing and making this dish gave me plenty of ideas for what to serve for the Super Bowl when Lulu has all his buddies (and wives) over. I'll share some of the dishes I come up with over the next couple of weeks.

I used La Cense Beef in this dish, and if you want to recreate it for your own Super Bowl party, La Cense is offering a special deal to Pham Fatale readers. You can get $20 off 8 10-ounce Ribeye Steaks, plus 1 lb of free meatballs, all with free shipping ($157.48)! If that's too much meat for you, La Cense is also offering $10 off 4 10-ounce Ribeye Steaks ($71.24). La Cense Beef is 100% grass fed, with no hormones or antibiotics. I've had the privilege of trying their Prime Rib Roast as well as the Ribeye, and the flavor is out of this world. It's truly nothing like the beef you get from your local supermarket. So if you're planning to do something special for the Super Bowl, or if you just want to have a really nice steak dinner, definitely take advantage of this deal.

Indian Pizza Recipe: Tomato Chutney Pizza

Since I had my daughter, I haven't had a lot of time to cook so I got some ready-made pizza dough from Trader Joe's. instead of using regular tomato sauce I used indian tomato chutney to make the dish more flavorful. I topped it with fried paneer, smoked goat cheddar cheese, mozzarella and parmesan. This is not your average four-cheese pizza! 

Tau Hu Chung: Vietnamese Vegetarian Pate Recipe

Tàu hũ chưng is one of the many vegetarian equivalents you can find to Vietnamese meat dishes. As I mentioned last week, Tết is coming soon (January 23rd), and you're supposed to eat vegetarian for the days just before and after the Asian New Year. Usually, I would make mắm chưng thịt (Vietnamese-style meatloaf). This dish is similar, using ingredients such as mushrooms, bean thread noodles and cilantro, but paired with mashed tofu.

The mixture is first steamed, then baked for a few minutes in the oven so the top is slightly golden and dried out. It's almost like a tofu pâté that can be enjoyed with rice and a bowl of canh (soup) on the side.