Domestic Ordeals: Eating at Home With Loved Ones

Smoothies (strawberry, mango, sapodilla, and yogurt)

Mexican Lunch

Homemade guacamole (avocado and lime) and salsa (tomatoes, limes, garlic and chili peppers) to spread over homemade tortillas filled with rice, refried beans, and cheese.

Take out Vegetarian grub from Com Chay 27.

Black Cat delivered to our door step.

Kitten Veggie Burger

Margarita pizza

Paris Sandwich

A weeks worth of homemade dinners in our house:

Cous-cous and lentil salad over greens

More than 60% of the caloric intake of the Vietnamese diet consists of rice.  We also wholeheartedly embrace this fine grain.

Rice bowl with egg tofu, squash, and cherry tomatoes

Rice bowl with tofu, cherry tomatoes and bok choy

Rice bowl with egg tofu, bak choy and cherry tomatoes topped with a heaping spoonful of chili sauce

Rice pudding

The average Italian consumes 28 kg of pasta per year.  We also eat a lot of pasta.   

Spaghetti with cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and Parmesan cheese

Homemade Pesto

Pesto, a verdant splotch of green to brighten your day and amplify your pasta.

Acquire about one cup of basil leaves and pluck them from their stems... rinse.

Chop coarsely.  Depending on the level of technology employed in your domicile, either toss the leaves in a mortar to later crush with a pestle or chuck them errantly into a food processor / high speed blender.

Add three or four cloves of fresh garlic.

A few tablespoons of olive oil.

A few pinches of pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.

Make sure and put some pine nuts aside to add to the pesto once blended.

Blend together for a few moments until you have a delightful, creamy texture.  Mix in the additional pine nuts and store in an air-tight container.  On this occasion, I didn't get around to using my pesto until the next day - but it's quite alright as it keeps well and can even be frozen for long term storage.

Cook some pasta until al dente in lightly salted water.  Drain and put the noodles back in the pot.  Mix more olive oil into the pesto to help the sauce and noodles fully embrace each other.  Then, pour the pesto on top of the pasta...

... and mix together thoroughly until all the noodles are coated.

Serve topped with Parmesan cheese and pine nuts.

Enjoy your creation.

Sun-Dried Tomato Spaghetti

Although I spent last summer practically living within the confines of my in-laws' longstanding Italian restaurant, Luciano's, my most memorable meal was surprisingly not eaten in that delectable locale.  Gavin's father Luciano, a chef originally hailing from Bologna, would whip up some unforgettable pasta dishes at home on warm Reno summer nights.  Scavenging through the kitchen, I would watch him make magic from simple, easy-to-obtain ingredients and little effort.  One of my all-time favorites was when he would add a few scoops of imported sun-dried tomato paste and some extra virgin olive oil to hot spaghetti, stir vigorously, and bombastically toss fresh Parmesan over the steaming pile.  We would enjoy our heaps of pasta with an unbeatable ambiance to boot.  I can still vividly picture the mild summer nights on their verdant back patio, sitting under a gnarled apple tree with the wet noses of their Samoyed pups pressed up against our feet. 

When we purchased a new high-speed blender a few months ago, I immediately set upon recreating Luciano's dish.  If you would like to do the same, here are some instructions:

Fill a large pot with water cleared of micro-organisms.  Add several pinches of salt and heat to a boil.

While the water is heating, prepare your sauce.  You'll need a jar of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (preferably imported from some balmy, Mediterranean coastline), fresh cloves of garlic, and extra-virgin olive oil.  Add about a cup of the sun-dried tomatoes, four peeled garlic cloves (add at your own discretion), and a tablespoon of the oil to your high-speed blender or food processor.

Blend it all together until it becomes a paste.  If the texture looks too dry, be liberal with the oil.  Simultaneously (you have two arms for a reason), chop three juicy, fresh Roma tomatoes and set them aside for the time being.

Once your water has boiled, add one package of spaghetti.  I usually use Barilla or DeCecco (solid brands found in most supermarkets around this blue world), but any package of noodles should suffice.  Although a watched pot rarely boils, keep an eye on the process.  In only a few minutes, you should have perfectly al dente noodles.

When your spaghetti is cooked, pull the noodles from their watery grave, drain, and put them back in the pot.  Next add your home-made sauce and fresh tomatoes.  Stir well to spread the flavor and heat up the sauces.  If your pesto is too clumpy - again add a bit more oil.  (If you are using quality olive oil there is no reason to be bashful!)

Once combined and mingled, you are ready to plate up.  Add fresh Parmesan cheese and serve alongside an eclectic, green salad tossed with balsamic and olive oil.  Remember: splurging a bit for better and fresher ingredients will bring your pasta to new heights.  Eschew those jars of pre-made marinara sauce and start getting creative!

Hanoi: Mediterraneo Italian Restaurant

After the previously discussed ordeal at the Italian embassy, we had worked up a sizable appetite and were ready for some pizza and pasta.  Luckily, I had anticipated the need for some authentic Italian and, with a rare burst of foresight, did some research before leaving Saigon.  My search brought me to Mediterraneo, located near our hotel at 23 Nha Tho in the heart of Hoan Kiem District.

To be exceedingly charming in a city bursting with charm can prove to be difficult,  but it was hard not to be taken aback by the quaint beauty of Nha Tho Street.  It's lined with boutique eateries and cute shops filled with high-end hand-made goods and is a perfect locale for a languid afternoon spent window shopping.  The end of the street runs into the courtyard of the towering Saint Joseph's Cathedral.  Mediterraneo is pretty hard to miss with it's bright blue sea-faring exterior and cozy open-air second-floor balcony complete with traditional bleach-white furniture.  (The facade is a tad more Ionian than Adriatic, but that can be excused).

Upon sitting down and ordering a carafe of house red wine and our meals, we were brought a lovely basket of freshly baked bread-sticks, flat bread, and rolls.  Especially unique and delicious was the Sardinian-style crispy flat bread baked with rocks of sea salt and fresh rosemary. 

I ordered a classic Mediterranean ensalata to start with.  Fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, boiled eggs, potatoes, and leafy greens - all slathered in a homemade honey dijon dressing - made for a hearty sheepherders' delight.  Gavin prefers simple salads and was bemused by the inclusion of potatoes and egg, but I found it to be a perfect choice for a brisk afternoon with an oaky red wine as a complement.

I ordered one of the several vegetarian pizzas on the menu with eggplant, spinach, zucchini and plenty of cheese.  I drizzled liberal quantities of chili oil over mine and enjoyed every mouth-watering bite.  The crust was razor thin, yet remained crisp under the thick layer of toppings.  A proper wood-burning oven can clearly work wonders under competent hands in Hanoi's temperate climate. It was the best pizza I've had since we were last in Italy.

Gavin appropriately celebrated with a Northern standard from his family's hometown - the classic Tagliatelle Bolognese.  The homemade pasta was pitch-perfect and the meat sauce had a light, whimsical character that enhanced the fresh noodles rather than drowning them in acidity.

Our meals were superb.  The only problem was that our swollen abdomens let out a surly groan at the very thought of dessert!  However; we managed to fit in an espresso before heading back out into the chilly elements.  Props to this spot - I am going to gingerly amble out onto a flimsy limb and say it was the best Italian I have had (and may possibly ever have) in Asia.