We tried a few new things this week for meals. One was a roaring success & the other not so much.
Our food success was Pho Bo or a traditional Vietnamese Beef Soup. The recipe was courtesy of Chad & Tammy & Gourmet Magazine. Here’s the recipe with my changes.
Pho Bo (Hanoi Beef Noodle Soup)
Recipe Courtesy of Gourmet Magazine
6 cups beef broth
1 (1/4-inch thick) slice ginger
2 whole star anise* (Can use 1/4t ground Anise)
1 cinnamon stick (used 1tsp Vietnamese Cinnamon instead. It makes the broth a little cloudy but doesn’t alter the taste)
1/2 pound piece boneless beef sirloin, trimmed of any fat
3ounces dried flat rice noodles* (we used bean threads since we don’t have a specialty food store in the area. They worked fine, they’re just not authentic)
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce* (didn’t use)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
1/8 cup minced scallions
1/4 cup fresh cilantro sprigs, washed and finely chopped (didn’t use these because Jason doesn’t like cilantro)
1 small thin fresh red or green Asian chilie, sliced very thin (we did not use)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
Lime wedges for garnish
*Available at Asian Markets
All spices are available at Penzey’s & possibly your grocery store, but Penzey’s spices are better. 
In a 2 quart saucepan bring broth, ginger, star anise, and cinnamon to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. With a very sharp knife cut sirloin across the grain into very thin slices. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain noodles in a colander. Set aside. Strain broth into saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in fish sauce, salt and pepper. Add sirloin and sprouts and cook 30 to 45 seconds, or until sirloin changes color. Skim any froth from soup. To serve, divide noodles into 4 bowls. Ladle soup over noodles. Sprinkle scallion greens, cilantro, chilies and basil over soup and serve with lime wedges.
We didn’t push our luck with chopsticks but the boys loved the soup. Tova loved the bean sprouts. We’ll definitely be making this again. If you’re local & want to try it, I have lots of Star Anise & Sliced Ginger so drop me an email & I’ll be happy to share.
Our not so good dining experience was tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings. I doubt we’ll be eating there again. BW3’s (as it was known at the U) is brand new in Rural City. They opened maybe 2 weeks ago. We packed up the kids about 6 & headed out. We were seated & ordered by 6:15. Our food didn’t arrive until after 7. That’s over 45 minutes of waiting with 3 hungry kids. Can you say torture? When we finally got our food it really wasn’t that good. We all had chicken of some sort. Mine was a little on the dry side & Jason’s was a little on the burnt side. Thankfully they comped the meal because of the wait. Even if they get the wait time down, the food wasn’t good enough to bring us back. At least we can say we tried it. For whatever that’s worth. ;-p The funny thing was Gavin kept calling the Buffalo on the logo a Bison. Apparently my NDSU family members must be rubbing off on him.
Tomorrow we start back into our routine with a few additions. Ethan heads back to school tomorrow & Gavin starts swimming lessons. Ethan’s lessons start on Tuesday. The boys were trying to one up on that too. Gavin’s lessons are first but Ethan’s are longer, blah, blah, blah. I’m so tired of the constant competing.
Also tomorrow Jason & I are heading to the Courthouse to witness the adoption of two wonderful little boys by our friends C~ & N~. The boys have been in their care since the Fall of ‘06 & all the legal hurdles have been cleared & tomorrow M~ & G~ will be legally members of their family. We’re so excited for all of them. Anyone who says “why didn’t you choose a foster kid?” has clearly never adopted through foster care. C~& N~’s process was longer than ours & it was a relatively clear cut case. Anyway, Congratulations C~, N~ & kids!
K~
