more food porn

last night, i tried the new Vietnamese cookbook for the first time. i made grilled chicken brochettes with lemongrass noodles, which was absolutely divine. the chicken was marinated in lemongrass, lemon juice, garlic, and brown sugar and grilled with sweet soy sauce; the noodles were served with a dressing of nuoc cham (a chili-garlic dipping sauce with a fish sauce base), lemon juice, and thinly sliced lemongrass, with the leftover dressing as a dip for the chicken.

tonight i will try cha-ca monkfish with turmeric, dill, and onion, and either sticky rice or stir-fried ginger noodles, depending on how energetic i'm feeling. alas, i was going to make a veggie polenta casserole for cyan_blue's birthday party, but i've got a horrible cold still and don't want to pass it along. (but grinding chilies, garlic, and lemongrass together in large quantities in the kitchen sure did clear my sinuses!)

on the up side, the effexor seems to be kicking in -- either that or i'm still excited over the Beethoven thing. and i talked to Shirley next door yesterday, and she says she's feeling great only a week after her latest surgery, which was nice to hear. speaking of which, how did yours go, 2wanda?