We've been really bad about taking pictures of our Sunday nite dinners lately. Sometimes we just want to eat and not deal with the photography, especially when dinner is not at our place. It's a pain in the butt to lug around the DSLR and tripod to our friends place and figure out the lighting conditions. After accidentally dropping our point-and-shoot camera on the strip in Vegas (long story), we recently got an ultra-compact Canon SD1100IS, which is great for discrete restaurant shots.

This past Sunday, Hungry Bear and I went over to Jane's place for dinner. It was a perfect opportunity to test out our little camera. For dinner, Howie (who is a much better cook than he lets on) made mapo tofu and stir-fried green beans. Jane and Garry made angel food cake with a lemon glaze and creme brulee. We would have taken pictures of dessert, but Jane and Garry weren't happy with their results. We thought they tasted perfectly good.

The mapo tofu was warm and very satisfying. And Howie completely winged the recipe. He should really make dinner more often!  We couldn't leave you without a recipe, so here's a mapo tofu roundup...

• Mapo Doufu / Mapo Tofu via Appetite for China
• Mapo Tofu by Nook & Pantry
• Recipe: Ma Po Tofu via Rasa Malaysia
• Ma Po Tofu (Chinese Pockmarked Old Lady's Tofu) from Wandering Chopsticks
• Mapo Tofu, Take 2 via Pinoy Cook
• Mapo Tofu (Marpo Doufu) by [No Recipes]

BTW, our white cut chicken picture won the DMBLGIT July 2008 aesthetics category. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

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Our friends, Jerry and Gabriel, are moving to Seattle in a few weeks. To give them a proper send off, we had them over for dinner last night. For SND, actually Monday night dinner, Hungry Bear and I made...

• Curry Cauliflower Soup with Honey
• Roasted Five-Spice Pork Tenderloin
• Cauliflower and Mushroom Sticky Rice Risotto
• Stir-Fried Water Spinach
• Chocolate Bouchons

Well, we didn't actually make the bouchons. We were up in Napa over the weekend and picked up some goodies from Bouchon Bakery. Sometimes it's just easier to pick up dessert than to make it yourself.

We made the roasted five-spice pork tenderloin by modifying a recipe from Susanna Foo. The main changes were adding an habanero pepper and increasing the quantity of Chinese five-spice. Not knowing how much heat Jerry and Gabriel could handle, I only used half an habanero without many seeds. It turns out my heat conservatism was unnecessary. They love really spicy food and added some of my habanero chili garlic sauce to the pork. If I had only known.

The tenderloin was moist and flavorful with the bold fragrance of five-spice. We all enjoyed dinner immensely and the next time Jerry and Gabriel are in town, I'll really crank up the heat for them!

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The SND kitchen is officially open again. We just cooked our first big meal in the new digs. To christen the place, Hungry Bear and I wanted to make a decadent multi-course dinner to celebrate the end of our moving process. We tossed around a few ideas for the main course, including braised pork belly, but went with veal chops with morel mushrooms. I couldn't pass up making the fantastic morel sauce. So, we created the menu as...

Chicken and Duck Mousse with Peppercorns 
with a sweet French baguette and cornichons

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Red Butter Lettuce with Baby Vegetables
carrots, radishes, cherry tomatoes, avocados and lemon Dijon vinaigrette

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Veal Chops with Morel Mushrooms 
served with roasted parsnips purée and sautéed asparagus

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
topped with mini M&Ms, chocolate nibs or crushed pistachios

We picked up the liver mousse last week at the Serramonte Farmers' Market and saved it for this occasion. And this past Saturday, we bought the baby vegetables and some fresh morels at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market. In our first SND post, we made the chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, so I thought it was fitting to make the dessert again.

The veal chops on their own are really good, but they're even better with a morel sauce made with cognac, dijon mustard and coconut cream. Yes, I said wrote coconut cream. Eric Ripert's recipe calls for crème fraîche, but we substituted coconut cream for two reasons. First, we have many cans of coconut milk in our pantry. Second, one of the SNDsters is a little lactose intolerant, so we try to minimize dairy products whenever possible.

Dinner was fabulous and fun. The liver mousse was a great starter and the salad with baby vegetables was much needed with this heavy meal. The veal chops and morels were delicious and no one missed the crème fraîche. The sweet parsnips purée paired well with the rich morel sauce. All in all, it was a very successful Sunday nite dinner. However, we're still getting a feel for the new stove and figuring out where the the best lighting is for photos.

Next up on SND is the recipe for these chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.

SNDsters: Garry, Karen, Jane, Mark, Hungry Bear, Chuck

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Hungry Bear and I are almost done moving. It's been non-stop packing, unpacking, organizing, purging, contractors coming and going, dusting, sweeping, vacuuming and crying... we can't wait to finish so we can finally enjoy the renovated digs. The first SND in the new kitchen is this coming Sunday and we're going to prepare a major feast to celebrate!

Over the last few months, we've had many great Sunday nite dinners. Sometimes I took pictures and other times I just wanted to eat and not bother with documenting the meal. Who wants to carry around camera equipment, a tripod and a lighting rig all the time? I'm kidding about the lighting. Although, I would bring my own lights if it weren't such a hassle.

In the slideshow, you'll see a roundup of SND meals going back to January. For some reason (waiting for recipes, bad lighting, awful photographer... me) or other, I haven't shared these meals until now.

Mexican at Deb and Brennan's  (January 7)

• Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
• Caesar Salad with Chili-Cilantro Dressing
• Turkey Enchiladas
• Crème Caramel

Chinese Hot Pot at Jane and Mark's  (January 27)

• Chinese Hot Pot (beef, lamb, chicken, tofu, meatballs, spinach, mushrooms, etc.)
• Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Hawaiian at Tracie and Eric's (February 16)

• Japanese/Hawaiian-Style Potato Salad
• Salmon Tofu Salad - tofu, salmon, onions, tomatoes, watercress, and bean sprouts with a soy sauce-based sauce
• Broiled Sushi - crab, mayo, plain yogurt wrapped with nori
• Steamed Dungeness Crabs
• Clams
• Lemon Cream Napoleon
• Butter Mochi with Coconut Milk

Simple Sardines at Jane and Mark's (March 2)

• Grilled Sardines with a French baguette
• Mixed Green Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes

Sorry for not including any recipes. I'm hoping to get back on a normal posting routine shortly. I'll leave you with a picture of our new range. The next Sunday nite dinner has to take advantage of all the new features (pot filler, wok grate, griddle, savory oven and sweet oven). We're thinking a pasta course, a stir-fry, a big roast and a baked dessert. Any suggestions on what to make?

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Growing up in Allentown, PA, my family would take trips down to Washington, DC to visit my great aunt and uncle. As an active kid, I always dreaded going down to DC because I had to spend most of the time cooped up inside my great aunt and uncle's apartment. The highlights of the trips were the amazing home cooked Vietnamese meals prepared by my great aunt. Her roasted chicken (ga ro ti) and sticky rice were my favorite dishes.

It's been over two decades since I had ga ro ti. I never see it at restaurants (at least in San Francisco), as most Viet places serve grilled chicken (ga nuong) with five spice. So last week, I decided to make Vietnamese roasted chicken. I called up my parents to get advice. Unfortunately, neither of my parents make the dish and my great aunt passed away several years ago. My dad said, "marinate it in soy, fish sauce, garlic and a little sugar"...like every other Viet dish, not much help there. I was on my own with this one.

I remember my great aunt pan fried her chicken low and slow. I believe this "roasting" method was used because traditional ovens weren't available in Vietnam back in the day, unless you were wealthy. My great aunt's chicken had an extra crispy skin and the meat was shreddable by hand, almost like a confit. To get this texture, the chicken needs to be cooked longer than normal.

I tried the pan frying technique and produced a good ga ro ti, but it required a lot of time and flipping of the chicken (props to my great aunt!). I debated covering the chicken, but was afraid the skin would get soft from the moist heat. Next, I tried browning the chicken in an oven-proof skillet and then finishing it off in the oven. I liked this method best. It produced a nice crispy skin and I didn't have to stand by the stove top. If you are thinking, why don't you skip the pan frying and just roast it in the oven, then my answer is... I have more control over browning with a skillet and the brown bits in the pan can be de-glazed to make a flavorful dirty sticky rice with scallions.

Hungry Bear and I enjoyed the ga ro ti so much, we made it again for Sunday night dinner along with the dirty sticky rice, stir-fried hollow greens and a light carrot cake for dessert. The chicken had a nice salty, garlicky flavor with a crackling skin. I never eat all of my chicken skin. I usually try a little and then pass the rest to Jane, who likes everything full fat. But the skin on this roasted chicken was so good, I wasn't sharing it with anyone! The perfect complement to the chicken was the dirty sticky rice, which has scallions and all the wonderful flavors from the de-glazed frying pan!

My great aunt's ga ro ti will always be number one in my heart. I may not have re-created her roasted chicken exactly, but I got pretty damn close!

SNDsters: Jane, Mark, Hungry Bear, Chuck

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Sometimes the simplest food is the best food. It doesn't get any easier than fried eggs and shrimp (trung chien tom). Throughout my childhood, my mom made this dish, serving it with steamed rice. It was so simple, yet so satisfying.

This past Sunday night, I made fried eggs and shrimp for the SNDsters and Hungry Bear baked a carrot cake. We'll share the carrot cake recipe next time. In my family, we served trung chien tom on a bed of greens and tomatoes. Then we dunked it all in Vietnamese dipping sauce (nuoc cham) and ate it with jasmine rice. I'm not sure how normal it is to eat it this way, but it's ingrained in me and I'm sticking with it. Does anyone else eat it like this?

The meal has a nice combination of sweet, salty and slightly bitter from the watercress. The greens and tomatoes cut down the richness and makes it a little healthier. Fried eggs and shrimp is such a comforting Vietnamese dish for me. It's super easy to make and is absolutely delicious!

SNDsters: Jane, Mark, Hungry Bear, Chuck

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After last month's declaration that my mom's spicy lemongrass chicken was the dish I would eat for the rest of my life if I had to choose one item, Hungry Bear was a little sad. I had told her previously that her Hawaiian marinated seared chicken was my favorite chicken dish. Doh, how do you choose between your mom's cooking and your girlfriend's? It's a no win situation.

Despite my faux pas, Hungry Bear still made her Hawaiian chicken this past week. We hadn't seen some SNDsters for awhile and had a midweek "Sunday night dinner." We served the chicken over rice with a side of stir-fried vegetables. For dessert, we made a fantastic blueberry kuchen.

The chicken is very flavorful and tender, because it's marinated overnight in a citrus marinade. The marinade is a blend of strong flavors, particularly the Chinese five spice, fresh mint and mustard. I think the best part is the sauce created by deglazing the frying pan with some reserved marinade. The sauce contains all the caramelized bits left in the pan, and it's wonderful on the chicken and rice.

We have prepared the chicken two other ways — pan seared then finished in the oven, and barbecued on the grill. Both methods worked out fine and I really liked grilling the chicken, but Hungry Bear determined the best approach is just to pan fry the chicken thighs until they are done. The benefit is extra caramelized bits for deglazing!

The chicken was absolutely delicious. I just want to state for the record that my mom's spicy lemongrass chicken is my favorite Vietnamese chicken and Hungry Bear's Hawaiian chicken is my favorite non-Vietnamese chicken dish. I hope this latest declaration makes everyone happy and keeps me out of potential trouble.

SNDsters: Howie, Mark, Jane, Hungry Bear, Chuck

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Dungeness crab season started late this year in San Francisco because of the terrible oil spill in the bay. We were lucky that the spill wasn't worse, and Dungeness crab season was only delayed for a few weeks. Still, I was worried that we wouldn't have crab for Sunday night dinner before all of us left for the holidays.

My parents came to the rescue by sending Jane and Mark a Christmas gift, crab crackers and forks. I had no idea they were sending them a gift, and Jane was especially surprised and happy. Jane wanted to christen the crab tools with a dinner of Dungeness crabs. Way to go Mom and Dad!

On Sunday, Jane picked up crabs at Sun Fat Seafood Company, where they quartered and removed the gills for her. The crabs were a reasonable $3.99 a pound. With the dismantled crab, Garry made stir-fried garlic crab. It's a really simple recipe with a lot of garlic... think garlic fries. We used three heads of garlic for four Dungeness crabs.

The crabs were served with a side of brussels sprouts with Chinese sausage and jasmine rice. The olive oil and garlic from the crabs were great mixed in with the plain white rice. To enhance the sweet crab meat, we dipped the chunks in a salt, black pepper and lime juice mix.

Dinner was delicious and was literally finger licking good. It's definitely a meal you eat with close friends who don't care about table etiquette. We really enjoyed eating with our hands and making a mess. I was particularly elated each time I was able to pull out a big hunk of crab meat from a claw.

Thanks again, Má and Ba, for sending the gift and motivating us to make garlic Dungeness crabs!

SNDsters: Karen, Garry, Mark, Jane, Hungry Bear, Chuck

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Jane and Mark love braised oxtail, as do I. Every very few months, we get a major craving for oxtail, so I made it for Sunday night dinner this past week. The last time I braised oxtails, I used a Ming Tsai recipe, which had too many ingredients. Sometimes I love his East meets West fusion food, but this dish was not one of them.

I wanted a more traditional Chinese recipe and stumbled upon an aromatic Chinese oxtail stew recipe by Jennifer McLagan. The ingredient list was simple, and I really liked how the sauce is refrigerated overnight, which makes removing the fat easier. The orange zest and juice were the only things I didn't like in the recipe. I think this stems from my aversion to orange beef.

Of course, I had to screw around with the recipe and incorporate other ingredients. For ideas, I immediately thought of my favorite Vietnamese noodle soup, bún bò Hue, which uses oxtails and lemongrass. Instead of the orange in McLagan's recipe, I replaced it with lemongrass and a lime. I also increased the amount of star anise, added whole cloves, shiitake mushrooms and Thai chili peppers for some much needed heat!

My additions make the ingredient list seem long, but the dish was easy to prepare because there's hardly any chopping. Once the oxtails were simmering in the oven, the aromas were simply heavenly! The smell reminded me of Vietnamese pho from the star anise and cloves. After three hours of braising, the oxtails were very tender and the meat was falling off the bone. It was hard not to eat them immediately, but the sauce was on the greasy side and the fat needed to be removed, so begrudgingly, I strained the sauce and threw it all in the fridge.

The next day, I skimmed the layer of fat that collected on top of the gelatinous sauce. It's not a pretty process, but it makes the dish healthier. This is my way of rationalizing that it's okay to eat oxtail on regular basis. Once the sauce was re-heated, I poured it over the oxtails and added the shiitake mushrooms.

After an agonizing hour of braising, the oxtails were finally ready and were covered in a thick, dark sauce. We served them over jasmine rice and a side of bok choy. The oxtails were garnished with diced scallions and a squeeze of lime juice. They were fantastic and flavorful from the soy and aromatics. The sour lime juice was a nice addition and cut the richness of the meat and sauce.

The savory sauce was wonderfully soaked up by the plain rice. The shiitakes gave the sauce an earthy taste and a strong mushroom fragrance. We really enjoyed the added flavor and texture of the shiitakes, but they are completely optional. I called my recipe Chinese braised oxtail stew, and while the flavors are predominately Chinese, it's really a melting pot of Asian flavors, which "live together in perfect harmony."

For dessert, we intended to make something light with fruit, but somehow ended up serving root beer floats. What's that quote? "The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry." That pretty much sums up our dessert choice.

After all the rich and heavy meals recently, Hungry Bear and I agreed to cook lighter for a little bit. Let's see how quickly my love for braised hunks of meat foils this pact.

SNDsters: Karen, Garry, Mark, Jane, Hungry Bear, Chuck

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A few weeks ago, I had a major craving for pulled pork after seeing this pulled pork sandwich from Simply Recipes. I love any big hunk of meat that is slow-cooked or braised. But after looking at the ingredients in the recipe, I was hesitant to make it because it seemed too vinegary.

I have a low tart tolerance and generally dislike anything with a lot of vinegar. And I have major issues with BBQ sauce, Tabasco and other vinegar sauces that dare call themselves hot sauces, but that's a sore subject for another time. When I have barbecued meat, I make sure the BBQ sauce is on the side. I want to taste the meat first and the sauce second!

Instead of making pulled pork with a traditional vinegar or tomato based sauce, I decided to create a Vietnamese pulled pork with my favorite Vietnamese ingredients. I used the flavors from my mom's braised chicken in caramel sauce with lemongrass and chili peppers (ga kho xa ot) as the inspiration for my pulled pork. My mom's ga kho xa ot is my favorite Vietnamese dish and it's the first thing I eat when I visit my parents.

I decided to make the pulled pork in the oven, since I don't have a reliable outdoor grill. My first attempt at making pulled pork turned out well and the SNDsters enjoyed it. I was pleased with the flavors from the dry rub, caramel sauce, lemongrass, chili peppers and fish sauce. However, I used bad cooking directions from a Food Network chef, who shall remain nameless. But let's just say, the results were far from "ultimate."

After searching for better roasting directions, I found a great article on pork butt selection and preparation. I learned the ideal cooking temperature was 225 to 250 degrees F and the target internal pork temperature was 190 to 205 degrees F.

Using these directions, my second attempt at pulled pork was a bigger success. I was extremely pleased with the texture of the pork and how easily it pulled apart. I oven-roasted a 7.5 lb pork butt at 250 degrees F to an internal temp of 195 degrees F and it took 9 1/2 hours. Yes it's a long time, but it's easy work and definitely worth the wait.

During the roasting process, the fragrance of Chinese five spice, which was used in the dry rub, filled my entire place. The pork developed a nice bark, primarily from the brown sugar in the rub. The pulled pork had a great five spice flavor on its own, but it was even more delicious after the lemongrass caramel sauce was mixed in.

I was extremely happy with the flavors of my pulled pork. There was a nice combination of sweetness and heat from the caramel sauce and fresh chili peppers. The saltiness of the pork comes from the kosher salt in the dry rub and fish sauce. The flavors are rounded out by the citrus of the lemongrass.

The pulled pork was served as a sandwich with a side of Vietnamese slaw (goi bap cai). Dinner was completed with an amazing sticky date pudding from Bakesale Betty. The slaw and date pudding will be written up in future posts, so I'll hold off describing them for now.

I created Vietnamese pulled pork to satisfy my desire for pulled pork without a heavy, vinegar based BBQ sauce. "Let the pork shine" was my philosophy. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

SNDsters: Eric, Tracy, Mark, Jane, Hungry Bear, Chuck

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