quote:

Originally posted by zataar

For those who love vietnamese food: I experienced a 7 course beef tasting in St.Paul recently that was quite fabulous.
Course # 1: grilled beef and cabbage salad with lime vinaigrette
#2 beef simmered in vinegar and onion fondue at the table with greens, rice paper wrappers and herbs
#3 marinated sliced beef with ginger, garlic and soy, grilled at the table with more rice paper wrappers, lettuce, etc
#4 steamed beef and glass noodles, mushrooms and fish sauce
#5 grilled aromatic beef meatballs with peanut sauce
#6 minced beef and lemongrass wrapped in grape leaves, then grilled
#7 the most fabulous ginger beef and rice soup, the perfect ending to an incredible meal. None of the portions were so large as to be unmanagable. Just small quantities of each perfectly prepared course.

We ate at a place like that in Anaheim ( or Garden Grove) in February 2001. We took the kids to Disneyland and after the day at the park, started driving around looking for place to eat. Well, we ended up in a "Little Saigon" type neighborhood and went into this restaurant that had a "7 courses of beef" sign. We were the only non- Asians there, always a good sign. When the waiter came over to us, I said "I guess you don’t get much of the Disney crowd" and he just cracked up.

The food was great- I can always go for vietnamese food.

Hey, I just noticed, I’m a cheeseburger!

I haven’t had much luck preserving holy basil. One way to freeze it for stir frying is to puree it with a little canola oil and freeze it in small portions right away. It can be thawed and stir into curries as an acceptable ( to some people, myself included) way to get that wonderful flavor in December if you live where I do. I generally just enjoy growing it and using it until the first frost, then buy it at my favorite asian market until time to plant it again. Some things are just meant to be used fresh. Try the puree though, it’s really pretty good for chicken with chiles and basil and other southeast asian stir fries. Especially is you don’t have easy access to an excellent asian market.

I am making myriad stir-frys with holy basil. Any suggestions for other dishes with this sublime herb? How does it freeze?

For those who love vietnamese food: I experienced a 7 course beef tasting in St.Paul recently that was quite fabulous.
Course # 1: grilled beef and cabbage salad with lime vinaigrette
#2 beef simmered in vinegar and onion fondue at the table with greens, rice paper wrappers and herbs
#3 marinated sliced beef with ginger, garlic and soy, grilled at the table with more rice paper wrappers, lettuce, etc
#4 steamed beef and glass noodles, mushrooms and fish sauce
#5 grilled aromatic beef meatballs with peanut sauce
#6 minced beef and lemongrass wrapped in grape leaves, then grilled
#7 the most fabulous ginger beef and rice soup, the perfect ending to an incredible meal. None of the portions were so large as to be unmanagable. Just small quantities of each perfectly prepared course.

We’re going to the twin cities this week and will be going to a vietnamese restaurant that does a special "Beef 7 Heavenly Ways" or something that translates closely to that. I’ll post the results after trying it. It sounds great. Every course has a small amount of beef prepared a different way for each course. Our daughter said it is fabulous and we must experience it.

One of our dear friend’s daughter married a young man from Viet Nam.
His family is all here in the US now. His sisters helped prepare some of the dishes for the reception. The food was wonderful. Then later, we visited in the young couple’s home and had some more of the wonderful tasting food. We don’t have any Restaurants in our area that I know of that specializes in the cooking though.

Oh, I do love Vietnamese food and have spent years learning to make it as well at home as at some of the restaurants in our area. I’m still learning! Thanks for the link.

Just had a great `combo’ banh mi for lunch. That was some good!! [8D]