Un-pho-gettable

This past Friday Mr. Pie and I hosted dinner at our house with some very dear friends of ours - TamTam, Mr. & Mrs. Sasa , Mr. & Mrs. H and their adorable baby, Baby H. I made pho, which was delish, and I didn't take pictures! Dang - it must have been the soup steam in my eyes. Besides the food, the conversations and friendships were awesome. We have all known each other since high school and the comraderie never misses a beat when we are together. TamTam had to fly back to NYC which is always sad but I loved that we got to hang out with her. Heck, I think I spend more time with her now then when we lived across the street from each other!

Here's the pho recipe:
http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/bookshelf/articles/pho_SJM.htm#recipe

My variations & tips:
- The 5-6 lbs beef bones can purchased at most Asian markets - already assembled in bags and labeled for you. Seems daunting but it really isn't.
- For the 1/2 pound of raw sirloin or eye of round that have to be cut into thin slices - most really nice Asian butchers will do this for you on the machine, just smile and look pretty (it doesn't hurt to wink either - haha).
- At the Asian market, I usually pick up pho beef bouillons and canned chicken and beef broth. I add all of these to the pho while it's simmering to add more richness and flavor. There are also bags of pho seasonings that I add. Usually 3 cans of chicken broth and 2 cans of beef will do.
- To skim the fat, I make the pho the day before, refrigerate the entire pot and when I take it out, the fat rose to the top, making for easing scooping.

This is what it looks like - delicious!


Shout out to my Momma Pie for always making this dish when I was young!