Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup - Mi Ga

To say Shaun and I love Vietnamese food is an understatement.  We would happily eat Vietnamese food for almost ever meal.  We almost always have a supply of home made Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) broth on hand and have an entire drawer in the freezer devoted to the supplies for making it.  But man (and woman!) cannot live on Pho alone so when I saw The Ravenous Couple's recipe for Mi Ga (a Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) I knew I'd have to try it.  Mi Ga is different from Pho (and even Pho Ga) in that the broth is flavoured with dried squid rather than aromatic spices and it used egg noodles rather than rice noodles.  Steaming bowls are then topped with fresh bean sprouts, and crisp onion.  Try this soup as a break from the usual chicken noodle!

I found dried squid easily at a large Asian supermarket.  If you cannot find it, you can substitute a few tbsp fish sauce or leave it out.  The variety of egg noodles is up to you.  I found egg based chow mein noodles and simmered them briefly before adding to bowls.  If you visit The Ravenous Couple's blog you will see they've used a different variety.  Check your local Asian, or well-stocked supermarket for different types and find one you like!

Shredded Beef Pot Roast with Orange and Thyme

Hints of thyme and orange zest flavour this long-simmered beef roast.  The meat is then shredded and served with pan juices over warm, creamy, garlic mashed potatoes.

As said above, I served shredded and beef over garlic mashed potatoes but this subtly flavoured beef could be served a multitude of ways - on a crusty bun with cheese and onion, over rice or even stuffed into tacos!  Don't let the long cooking time dissuade you, once the ingredients are in the pot there is nothing to do for hours until the meat is cooked.

I used inside round roast for this recipe but any beef roast (barring a very lean cut like tenderloin) would work for this recipe - if the cut you use has bones, remove while shredding meat.  Also, to save on cooking time you can cut your roast in large chunks before searing.

This recipe is easily adapted to the slow cooker as well, simply follow recipe instructions until all ingredients are placed back into the dutch oven at step 3, and cook on high for six hours, low for ten then resume recipe steps at step 5!

Slow Cooker Beef Phở

Phở is a delicious, long simmering Vietnamese beef soup with a rich, flavourful broth and light rice noodles.  Often garnished with fresh herbs, onions, and crisp bean sprouts, the complex but light broth is flavoured with cinnamon, star anise, cloves and cardamom

The slow cooker makes the process of simmering this soup much easier.  Simply add all ingredients to the slow cooker and allow it to do all the work for you!  

Top your bowl with thin sliced beef, meatballs, fresh herbs and onions before serving and enjoy a warm bowl of traditional Vietnamese comfort food!