Bo Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew)

After an unusually warm and dry year, the cold and rain have finally arrived…which means it is perfect weather for bo kho, Vietnamese beef stew. When I was a kid, I hated cooked carrots, so I would always pick them out and only eat the beef and potatoes. I LOVED dipping the french bread into the broth. Luckily, my very hungry almost 1-year-old LOVES to eat, especially cooked carrots, so I figured this would be a good way to introduce her to more Vietnamese flavors.

My mom used to make this with a combination of stew beef and oxtails, which the butchers at the grocery would give to us for free because nobody ate that stuff back then.  I set out to do the same, but I guess people have finally realized oxtails are delicious and the one store I went to wanted $10.99/lb. I opted for 2 lbs short ribs instead for less than half the price. The end result was delicious but lacked some of the gelatinous variance in texture that oxtail would have added. I highly recommend doing half ox tails and half stew beef or short ribs.

Cauliflower Souffle

Happy new year! I’m not resolving to post more often. This will continue to be an archive for recipes I want to refer back to. My only resolution this year is to brush my daughter’s teeth every night (because we never seem to remember she even has teeth).

Like croquettas, cauliflower souffle is another classic recipe from a beloved family friend. Lighter than a gratin but similarly satisfying, I thought it would go well with my family’s Christmas Eve prime rib dinner. It was a hit! Better yet, it was quick and easy!

Okay, the hardest part was hand-whipping the egg whites, but if you have a larger kitchen than I do and your KitchenAid isn’t tucked into the back of a hard-to-reach cabinet, you could easily use it to whip the egg whites without tiring out your wimpy arm.