Directions
Place the meat cubes on a baking pan so they don't touch, and freeze for about 30 minutes. Pulse them in about three batches in a good processor. Spread the ground beef out and remove any large chunks of meat or gristle. Add a small amount of oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add the diced onion and spread out. Don't stir; let the onions begin to char, a few minutes. Stir and let sit for a couple more minutes. Add the garlic and a pat of butter and stir. Turn heat down to medium and keep stirring occasionally for a few more minutes. Reduce to low and let saute for a while.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add a small amount of oil. When hot, add the meat and brown. When the meat is browned, remove with a slotted spoon, drain the skillet, and wipe it out with a paper towel.

Put the skillet back on medium-high heat and add back the meat. Add in the onion and garlic mixture and stir. While stirring, add the tomatoes, beans, and corn. Fill the tomato can with water and add about half of it. Stir in the chili powders, oregano, cumin, and coriander to taste. Let it begin to bubble then turn down to medium-low and simmer with the top off for at least 20 minutes (the longer the better). You can add more of the water and then let it cook down again; cook it down until you like the thickness and take it off the stove. Serve with grated cheese and fresh chopped scallions.

Verdict
Pretty good. The texture is good, and the flavor is pretty good. It has a bit too much of an afterburn, but at the same time is missing a little depth of flavor. A little less of the chipotle powder and, I'm thinking, something with a little smokiness in it might be good. Smoked pepper? Bacon? I tried a little smoked paprike sprinkled on toward the end, but that didn't seem to make much difference. I also didn't freeze the meat quite long enough (I did 25 min) and it ended up pretty mushed together, like store ground beef. I was going for a looser effect, though this was fine. I'll try that too, though obviously this recipe would be fine with ground beef from the store (or, say, ground ostrich which is healthy and wouldn't require that you drain the grease but would still be beefier than ground chicken or turkey).

Directions
Place beef chunks on a baking sheet, leaving space around each chunk. Freeze 15-25 minutes until starting to harden but still pliable. Place half of meat in food processor and pulse until coarsely ground, 10-15 1-second pulses, stopping and redistributing meat around bowl as necessary to ensure even ground. Transfer meat to baking sheet, overturning bowl and without directly touching meat. Repeat with remaining meat. Spread meat over sheet and inspect, discarding any long strands of gristle or large chunks of meat or fat.

Gently separate into 4 equal mounds. Without picking meat up, shape each mound into a loose patty 1/2" thick and 4" in diameter, leaving edges and surface ragged. Season top of each patty with salt and pepper. Using spatula, flip patties and season other side. Refrigerate while toasting buns.

Melt 1/2 tsp butter in heavy-bottomed 12" skillet over medium heat until foaming. Add bun tops, cut side down, and toast until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Repeat with more butter and bun bottoms. Set buns aside and wipe out skilled with paper towels.

Return skillet to high heat; add oil and heat until just smoking. Using spatula, transfer burgers to skillet and cook without moving for 3 minutes. Using spatula, flip burgers over and cook for 1 minute. Top each patty with slice of cheese and continue to cook until cheese is melted, about 1 minute longer.

Transfer patties to bun bottoms and top with onion. Add condiments, cover, and serve.

Directions
Dissolve the salt, 1/4 c sugar, and molasses in the water. Add the chicken breasts, cover, and brine for about thirty minutes. Meanwhile, mix some hoisin, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and ginger to make a medium-thick paste. Heat up the grill to medium-high, top closed (should be around 375 degrees). When the chicken's brined, rub some of the hoisin mixture under the skin as much as possible and brush on the outside of the chicken. Lay on the grill, skin side up, and close grill again. Brush the tops with additional sauce after 10-15 minutes, but don't turn over. Finish the chicken with the lid down (about 25 minutes total, depending; the meat should be at about 165 degrees). Serve and enjoy! It's good with fresh corn on the cob and tomato-mozzarella salad.

Verdict
Surprisingly good! I've grilled a lot of chicken and usually find it very hard to get it to take on any flavor in any significant way. But the combination of the smoky grill effect and the flavors of the sauce managed to pervade the meat pretty well, and the result was really good. And it comes out a beautiful golden brown, with a touch of charred skin.

Directions
1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well blended. Beat in 3 tablespoons water and the vanilla until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
2. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir or beat into butter mixture until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans, if using.
3. Drop dough in 1-tablespoon portions, 2 inches apart, onto buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.
4. Bake in a 300° oven until edges of cookies are browned, but an area about 1-inch wide in the center is still pale, about 14 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking.
5. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool. If hot cookies start to break, slide a thin spatula under them to release; let stand on pan to firm up, 2 to 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Directions
Heat olive oil and a little butter on medium heat. Add the shallot and 2 of the garlic cloves. Saute for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and jalapeno and stir fry on medium-high until soft, about 8 minutes. Mix the soy, sugar, and maple syrup and add about 1 tbsp to the mix, a little at a time, tossing the mushrooms to coat with the soy mixture. Add the bok choy and the rest of the garlic, toss with the mushrooms until mixed thoroughly. Add a bit more soy mixture over the bok choy and let simmer on high until wilted, 2-3 minutes. Serve over rice.

Verdict
Good! I think I'd probably do it again with a little rice vinegar instead of the soy sauce, to let the garlic and shallots be the strongest flavor.

Directions
Mix together the marinating ingredients, and marinate the pork for at least two hours, covered, in the refrigerator. Remove the pork from the marinade and lay on a hot grill. Brush with the grilling glaze. Grill for about 8 minutes or until done, flipping halfway through and brushing again with the glaze. Remove from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes, tented with foil. Mix the chopped lettuce and mint together and spread on plates. Slice the pork the long way, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick and lay slices on top of the lettuce. Top with a spoonful of the relish. Serve with additional nuoc cham and relish for dressing to diners' taste.

Verdict
Awesome. There are some obvious variations, like adding carrots, red cabbage, or cucumber to the salad base. Variations on the relish idea would be good, like cucumber and shallots in place of carrots and red onion, for a somewhat cooler taste and color. The meat could of course be almost anything, though pork seems the most natural to me. Shrimp would be good.

Directions
Finely dice or food-process the carrots, onion, and radishes. Toss with nuoc cham and sesame oil, in amounts to taste. Let stand for 20-30 minutes, to let the vegetables soak up the sauce (which will also mellow the onion somewhat). Meanwhile, clean and dry the food processor and grind the peanuts until it varies from small pieces to near-powder size. Just before serving, toss with the peanuts, then the mint.

Verdict
Surprisingly good! Something about the balance of flavors works for me. The radishes were a recent addition and seem to work well. I'm sure sweet onions or shallots could be substituted for the red onion, and other vegetables could be tried as complements (cucumber, celery, ...).

Directions
mix everything together. let stand for a while before using.

soup
rice stick noodles
thin-sliced beef
white onion, sliced thin
white mushrooms, stemmed, halved and sliced thin
basil, mint, thai basil, and/or cilantro
sliced red jalapenos, pickled jalapenos, pickled garlic
lime wedges
fresh bean sprouts

Directions
making the broth
Char the ginger, shallots, and onion on the grill, whole and unpeeled, as well as the beef bones, on an open grill on high, for about 15 minutes, until charred in places, turning every few minutes. Meanwhile fill a stockpot with enough water to cover the bones and heat on high. Put the bones in the water and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes, then remove the bones and rinse in a collander (this will make the broth much clearer without losing any flavor). Empty and clean the pot, then replace the bones and add the 5 quarts of water and put back on high heat. (NB: you can also start the 5Q in a second stock pot, and then just rinse and transfer the bones). Meanwhile, peel the skin, ends, and any charred bits off the ginger, shallots, and onion, and chop or smash a little. Bring the water to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and add the ginger, shallots, and onion, as well as all the other ingredients. Simmer uncovered at medium-low (not boiling, but there should be movement) for about three hours. Remove and let cool briefly. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate (ideally overnight). Once the fat has solidified on the top, remove and discard.

preparing the soup
bring water to a boil. add rice-stick noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes. drain, rinse, and put in bowls. add beef, onion, mushrooms, and green onions. bring broth to a boil and pour over the noodles. add lime juice, bean sprouts, basil, etc to taste.

Verdict
good, better than the last time, but still not quite there. the broth tasted a little too much of cinnamon/anise and not enough of meat. I think next time I will increase the amount of water and meat bones (maybe adding a piece of meat, as some recipes suggest) and maintain or decrease the amount of star anise etc, then simmer for longer and reduce it further. still, it made for an excellent christmas morning breakfast,

Directions
Put the water, lemongrass, and ginger in a large saucepan on high, and bring to a boil. Add the sweet potato pieces. Turn down to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the onion, shallot, and jalapeno, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, soy sauce, fish sauce, and spices and continue to simmer, to reduce to a thicker consistency. When it's almost to the consistency you want, turn the heat up and add the shrimp. Let it simmer away until the shrimp are done, a few minutes. Serve over rice.

Verdict
The flavor was good, though not strongly lemongrassy -- the ginger and jalapeno probably had something to do with that. I'll try it again with just lemongrass for a more focused dish. I think the flavor could have been a bit more intense, and I would have liked the dish to be a bit darker -- it was mostly light tomato red. I'm not sure how much the annatto and lemongrass powder added; I added the annatto mostly to intensify the color. I think stir-frying the onion and shallot first would probably also intensify the flavor. Or maybe the best route is to do what I usually do with soup: first saute the flavorful stuff in a little oil, then add the water and proceed from there. I like the general technique though, and will probably do more dishes along these lines.