PICKLED CARROTS AND DAIKON RADISH

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Even before the work safe/stay at home order was issued, my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Thien An, closed.  I held out hope that it would reopen, and happily, it did the first week in June.  But I sure missed the restaurant’s vermicelli bowls (and banh mi, and egg rolls, and pho) in the interim.  To satisfy my cravings, I tried my hand at making vermicelli bowls, and was happy to learn that it’s not difficult at all.  With temperatures rising, this is a cool, quick, and satisfying main course meal — think of it as a noodle salad — that we’ll be making frequently this summer.

A little advance planning makes this dish easy to pull together. To simplify things, I’m posting the recipe for the pickled vegetables today, the recipe for the “sauce” tomorrow, and directions for assembling the bowls the third day along with a great recipe for Vietnamese Grilled Pork.

Let’s get started!  Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish add crunch and brightness against the blandness of the noodles.  They’re easy to make, and don’t require cooking. If you don’t have a julienne peeler, I recommend getting one.

Although the pickled carrots and daikon can be used an hour after you make them, they’re even better if you can make them a day in advance.  They’ll keep in the refrigerator about a week.

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PICKLED CARROTS AND DAIKON RADISH
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Ingredients
  • 1 pound carrots, peeled and julienned
  • 1 pound daikon radish, peeled and julienned
  • 2 red chiles arbol (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons plus ½ cup sugar (divided use)
  • 1-1/4 cups distilled white vinegar
  • 1 cup lukewarm water
Instructions
  1. Place carrot and daikon in a medium bowl and sprinkle with salt and 2 teaspoons sugar. Massage the vegetables between your fingers for a few minutes until they have reduced in volume by about ¼th (this will release some of the water in them). Transfer to a colander, rinse under cold water, and press down on vegetables to release extra water. Pack the vegetables into a large glass jar. Tuck chiles into jar, if using,
  2. In a small bowl, combine ½ cup sugar, vinegar, and water, and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Pour over vegetables. Store in refrigerator (refrigerate at least one hour before using).

 

CUSTOM PORTRAIT COOKIES

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My daughter has an adorable little corgi named Izze.  Only one of her ears popped up, which we all think is hilarious, and with her sassy little attitude, she attracts attention wherever she goes.
For my daughter’s birthday, I surprised her with Izze cookies.  I purchased the 3D-printed cookie cutter from Baker’s Street Cutters (I ordered through Etsy here), who makes cutters of people, animals, Frida Kahlo (?), whatever.  The owner, Ivan, was great to work with, and tweaked the image until it was a good representation of Izze:

You can use any sugar cookie recipe you’d like, but unless it’s specifically a no-chill dough, you need to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour in order for the cookie to retain its shape.  For best results, roll the dough between sheets of parchment paper, no more than 1/4″ thick.  Be sure to press down firmly and evenly on the cutter.

The recipe I used was a no-chill one, which I’ve posted below, and I found it easy to work with, although it wasn’t quite sweet enough for my tastes, and is really meant to be iced.  If I weren’t shipping the cookies, I might have dipped the backs in melted chocolate — now that would have been delicious!

I thought the cookies needed a little embellishment, so I used a small paintbrush to paint the eyes and nose with black food coloring.  For the tongue, I mixed some pink luster dust with a few drops of vodka and brushed it on.  These touches really brought the cookies to life.

These cookies were fun to make, and apparently even more fun to receive.

If you’ve got a favorite pet or someone special you want to celebrate, these cookie cutters are a fun way to do so.  Tell Ivan I sent you!  🙂

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NO-CHILL SUGAR COOKIES
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Ingredients
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups flour
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place butter and sugar in a large bowl, and using an electric mixer, beat until fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Beat in baking powder and salt. Mix in flour until thoroughly combined.
  3. Roll dough to ¼" thick between sheets of parchment (about ¼th of dough at a time). Cut out cookies and transfer to baking sheet. Bake until just beginning to lightly brown on bottoms, approximately 11 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Decorate as desired.