Taming of the Spoon

Eat everything {in moderation}

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Vietnamese Shaking Beef (Bò Lúc Lắc)

There are some dishes that I will always connect with my childhood. Vietnamese Shaking Beef is one of those dishes. Until recently, I had never made it before. Shaking beef (or bò lúc lắc as I have always called it) was a dish only my father made. My mother, who did the large majority of the cooking when I was growing up, had a huge repertoire of …
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Vietnamese Egg Quiche

When my husband and I were first dating and I started cooking Vietnamese dishes for him, I would preface every meal with, "this dish is kinda ethnic so you may not like it." No matter how mainstream the dish was, it got the "it's kinda ethnic" introduction. I no longer introduce every Vietnamese recipe this way but every once in awhile I …
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Chicken and Veggie Pad Thai

I love recipes where veggies are automatically included in the the main part of the meal and I don't have to think about cooking a side dish. Bonus points if the recipe is easy. Delicious, of course, goes without saying. It's for all those reasons and more that I love this chicken and veggie pad thai recipe. You get everything you need in one …
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Fried Quail with Caramelized Onions and Parmesan + Dinner with Little Kitchen HTX

Last weekend, my husband and I hosted a dinner party for 8 of our friends. Thirty minutes before the guests were scheduled to arrive, I was still figuring out what to wear. Now, you may be thinking this story is about how stressed out I was trying to host a dinner party while panicking over all the last minute party details. However, the exact …
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Banh Mi Hot Dogs

I fully admit I'm not a big fan of standard hot dogs but hand me a quality frank with creative toppings and I'll savor it just as much as a good hamburger. Cue the banh mi hot dogs. There's a restaurant in town called Good Dog Houston that serves quality hot dogs with an array of creative toppings. I have my favorite combinations that I order …
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Spice-Rubbed Grilled Flap Steak with Parsley Garlic Lemon Butter

I'm back with more food from the grill. Ever since my husband got a fancy new grill last year for Fathers Day, I've been trying to improve my grilling skills. I have to confess that cooking where there's fire and smoke involved scares me a little. However, like so much in life, practice and experience has helped tremendously. And, also knowing my …
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Asian Marinated Chicken with Green Mango and Carrot Salad

I have never been able to figure out why some blog posts are so much harder to produce than others. Even after three years of blogging, I still haven't found the magic formula that ensures each post will make it to publication smoothly. Let's take today's post for instance. It has felt like a monumental effort. It is a delicious recipe for Asian …
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Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Vermicelli Bowls with Garlic Hoisin Sauce

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post and I don't even have a good reason as to why I've been away. I was still cooking and eating lots. However, no new recipes were really lighting me up which is very frustrating (and a little bit scary) when you write a food blog. Fortunately, a good friend convinced me to check out a local Vietnamese …
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Vietnamese Pork Chops

I didn't even know I was looking for a Vietnamese pork chop recipe until I found this one. I was flipping through a Vietnamese cookbook at my library called An: To Eat: Recipes and Stories from a Vietnamese Family Kitchen and these pork chops spoke to me. The caramelized glaze made with Vietnamese umami stars like hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and …
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Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Creamy Madeira Sauce

When you need an easy, tasty, weeknight-doable, family-friendly meal, nothing beats the convenience of sautéed chicken breasts. And when you happen to have sautéed chicken AND sun-dried tomatoes in a creamy Madeira sauce, you've got something special. Special doesn't have to mean decadent though. In this case, the creamy sauce is made without any …
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