Pho Cuon Ha Noi (Vietnamese Rice Noodle Rolls Hanoi-Style)

For the second time, my friend Don said he wished it was 2005 again.

I teased him yet again about how meeting me was the highlight of his life? :P

"I mean, sure you met me, but I'm still in your life?" I told him.

"Haha. Of course, chi (Vietnamese term of respect for older female)," he said.

Good answer! :P

Anyway, a few concerned IMs later and we briefly reminisced about our summer in Vietnam. Which led me to remember another memory from that summer and another tangential recipe I've had sitting in the queue.

This incident doesn't concern Don, but another friend.

We were circling Truc Bach Lake, trying to find a restaurant that served pho cuon (Vietnamese rice noodle rolls). We were on the right side of the lake -- the north, but the taxi driver kept driving around and around. We couldn't find the exact restaurant we were looking for so we finally just got out at a random pho cuon restaurant.

French Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Beef, Fennel, and Rice

I love fennel and happily eat it plain, in a salad, in a gratin, or in a quiche. But that's the bulb, and while I might toss in a few fennel fronds for appearances, the anise flavor is too strong to use much of them. So, the fennel fronds often end up chucked into the compost pile.

When I saw a stuffed cabbage recipe on Tongue in Cheek utilizing fennel fronds, I knew I had to try it. I added ground beef to my version, although I think keeping it vegetarian would be just fine since the tomato sauce and onions add plenty of flavor. Of course, I had to scale down the recipe because using six cups of olive oil and two pounds of rice seemed a bit much for one person. As it was, I still made a bunch of cabbage rolls and ended up freezing the filling to later liven up some vegetable soups.

I boiled these French Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Beef, Fennel, and Rice and ate them plain, but I think a light tomato sauce would work nicely too.

French Chicken with Mushrooms in Madeira Cream Sauce

I bought a small stewing chicken at the grocery store and was in the mood for a nice braise. Even though summer isn't necessarily the best time to be cooking anything at length on the stove. Ah, but at midnight, when the temperature has cooled and the world is silent, a comforting stew of French Chicken with Mushrooms in Madeira Cream Sauce served with mashed potatoes seemed just the thing.

This recipe is the cheaper version of chicken with morels from Ina Garten/the Barefoot Contessa, which I stumbled upon via Alicia of Posie Gets Cozy. I used a combination of portobello and crimini mushrooms, although if you can afford morels, by all means use them. I substituted a few dollops of sour cream for the creme fraiche, although yogurt would work too if you wanted to lighten up the recipe. Because let's face it, a recipe that calls for butter, cream, and creme fraiche is way too rich and heavy for me. A lightened up version was much better for my pocketbook and my tastebuds.