i made this :: PHOMG

It's no secret after this and this post that I am a phonatic.  Hunter and I found a good pho restaurant in Bremerton last summer but other than that, we kind of took some time away from the pho.  I know, I can hardly believe it as I type it either.  A few weeks ago on a rainy afternoon Hunter and I had a lunch date at Noodles and More { one of my favorite restaurants in Steamboat } and ordered tofu + veggie pho for lunch for the first time in several months.  Since that day, the pho cravings are back...and they are back in full force.

Classic Beth: I found a way to get back to Noodles at least once a week, a lot of the time, twice a week.  It quickly turned into a situation where I never even had to order with the waiter as they knew when they saw me walk in what I would be ordering.  This was really { really, really } good for my happy stomach, but really { really, really } bad for my { assumed } MSG intake and my wallet.  Like a gift from the We Want You to Keep Eating Pho but Also Want to Help You Save Money Gods, this blog post entered my life, and I knew what I had to do.

I had to make the pho at home.  I just had to.

For all intents and purposes, this recipe came together in a snap.  Hunter and I went for a hike after work last night and when we got home, I got to cookin'.  

I have this awful habit of omitting ingredients in the recipe if I don't have it, don't feel like buying it and/or don't trust their flavors.  That being said, I had a few changes to the recipe; I left out the fennel, cardamom pods and coriander seeds. The main reason for leaving these out was having just moved we had quite a few unexpected expenses in trying to build our pantry back up and the cheap Beth just didn't have it in me to spend an additional $10+ dollars on those 3 ingredients.  I'm thrilled to say that even without those flavors in soup, the broth turned out exceptionally well.  I was stunned.  Stunned!  My friend and I Phil often talk about the risk of star anise and cloves overwhelming the broth.  The first step in the broth recipe calls for dry roasting the cinnamon sticks + anise + cloves until they were aromatic.  It smelled fantastic but a little voice in the back of my head kept nagging about how this whole broth was going to end up being a clove broth and I was wasting all this time, energy and ingredients for a clove broth.  In the end, the broth was lovely and not clovey at all.

At the very end I threw in some thinly sliced carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, cilantro and some roasted tofu into the broth pot to lightly steam before serving the soup over some brown rice noodles.  We topped with bean sprouts, basil and jalapeño and used hoisin sauce and sriracha to spice things up.  Being the Humble Chef I am { ha! }, all throughout  dinner I couldn't/wouldn't stop exclaiming how amazing dinner was.    It was so good that next time I think I will do without the tofu, which is basically unheard of for me.  Phil had the idea to make a huge batch of the broth to freeze in small batches to pull out for individual meals which I think is brilliant and most certainly something I will do in the near future.

I was so excited/hungry that I didn't get a close up of the bowls, but just trust that it was off the charts.  Now, all we have to do is find our pho spoons from storage and our home pho experience will be 100% complete!

I'm off to publish this post and go home to my beautiful pho leftovers.  #phobsessed

DKY:

>> In the past week and a half, I bet I've ate close to 100 tangerines?  Hashtag: can'tstopwon'tstop
>> While living on top of a mountain, in the dead middle of winter in WYOMING, Hunter and I still keep our window open in our room day/night?
>> I washed my hair today for the first time in 9 days?
>> Every single person living with us up at Snowy has a flu/cold of some sort?  Yeah, we are more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  
>> My beautiful cousin has been married for a year this week?  { Srsly, how has it been a year already that we were infusing gummy bears with vodka for you, Beck? }
>> I'm making poor man's pho tonight and am embarrassingly excited about the tofu I'm pressing as we speak?
>> In the past week, I've had two people really close to me tell me the exact same sentence of "You worry too much." and I've been actively working towards un-worrying about things?
>> Since I started writing this blog post, I've already ate 6 cuties?
>> I returned from my spectacular NH trip with three new bruises, one sizing bigger than a softball?
>> I first sat down to recap said spectacular NH trip but my head is too loud { aka I have a headache }, to properly think, so I'm doing my fallback list posts?
>> I just found a website I wish I had known about for roughly 10 months now?  http://www.happycow.net
>> I'm going to sign off to lay down and read/drink tea/attempt to nap and get rid of my headache?

Pho at home!

...cont from yesterday's pho rant...

A few weeks ago when I was housesitting for Jon, I was in the maximum stage of moving/job ending/friend leaving overwhelmed stage and was desperate for a quiet night in.  What else could I have asked for than Jon's beautiful house, the two pups, classical music and an entire kitchen to myself for a better pho round 2 making opportunity?!

First I cut up all these little friends.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.  That's a lie.  First, I mixed up this friend:

whiskey + ginger beer + a few cherries = happy beth

THEN I cut up my veggie friends and let them go swimming in about 6 cups of veggie broth.  { Sadly this time I just used bullion cubes, though my next attempt, I'm making my own veggie broth similar to how Hunter and I did our first shot at homemade pho! }

While the broth + veggies were simmering, I baked up my tofu using this very simple recipe using the marinate of soy sauce plus some red chili paste.  { I must shamelessly admit, for a Carnivore Beth who before would eat truly anything that was put in front of her, I'm learning very quickly how particular Vegan Beth is on how her tofu is prepared.  After two failed tofu dinning experiences out this weekend, I'm nearly giving up on ordering it from a restaurant.  That is why I was beyond thrilled when my baked tofu below turned out, and turned out amazingly!!!  I have a block of tofu at home that I want to try this same method with, just sans the marinade to make it more versatile. }

Prepared the noodles.

the noodles are in there, i swear.  note to self: never use white bowls for photographing white noodles

And introduced everyone for a big old fashioned pho party!!

Mmm...just looking at the above picture makes me excited about attempting at cooking it again.  I will say that I learned a few things on what not to do { don't use purple cabbage, rather green so your broth doesn't turn funky colors, and also boil the veggies separate then add them into the broth in the final 5'ish minutes }, but I also learned a few things on what to do { get more creative with veggies in the soup than our first attempt, and always, always buy bean sprouts even if you have somehow talked yourself out of them. }  I have a good feeling my next go at this delicious bowl of love will be the perfect love child of our first and second shot at mastering the pho.  

Phobsessed.

If I would have to summarize Fall of 2012 into one meal, it would without question be The Meal of The Pho.  Anyone...and I really do mean anyone within arms reach of me the past few months knows exactly what I'm referring to.  I talk pho, crave pho, eat pho, make horrible pho puns con.stan.tly.  I was first introduced to pho right around a year ago from a dear friend, Phu.  { Try saying "I had Pho with Phu on Federal" 5 times fast and I'll buy your next bowl of pho. }, and really never looked back.

And by never looked back, I mean am completely, 100%, hopelessly obsessed.

 Full disclosure  if I had a photo for every time I ate pho, I could show you guys at least 1 new photo of pho a week...most times 2.  

be lucky i got a new phone a  month ago.  on my old phone's photo feed there was triple the amount of pho pix!

I introduced Hunter to it, and even though it may be hard to believe { it's not }...he never looked back either.

My favorite coworkers and I have even dubbed our lunch pho dates as TGIP!  Then you enter in the appropriate day of the week.  TGIPhoriday, TGIPuesday, TGIPhursday.  You get the jist.  I would be remiss to mention we plan a pho date at least once a week, and tend to talk about when our next pho date will be as the waiter is clearing our plates...

hi phil!

Remember my attempt at using up everything in my pantry/fridge before moving a few months back?...yeah, I made a poor man's pho out of veggie broth, rice noodles and a few veggies.

I even introduced Mary to it!  Just a side note: eating a pho picnic in the park with your BFF is really, anyway you spin it, the best way to live life.

Hunter and I tried our hand in making it for his birthday festivities, and even though it turned out good....like really good, I'm determined to make it top notch, Pho Duy/Pho 78 good.

Though my plan for this post was simply to share my most recent cooking attempt at pho, it quickly spiraled into more than just a recipe post.  I'll share that tomorrow, but for now just bask in the above beautiful pho'tos while you quickly google the nearest pho restaurant.  I know I am!