The Traveling Taste Bud

Pandebono (Colombian cheese bread)

2011-09-12T05:51:00.000+09:00

Ever since trying Colombian Pandebono a few months ago, I've been trying to replicate the recipe. I've tried several different ones. Some have been chewy whereas others have been light and springy. Some cheesy and salty and others more sweet and less cheesy. I've figured out one important thing in my quest: Don't substitute ingredients. Since pandebono is made with a minimal number of ingredients, it's crucial to get the right ones in the right proportion and using the right technique. I learned this the hard way and ended up with hard pandebono. No more. For this savory cheese bread, you will need Queso Fresco, a crumbly and dry cheese from Latin America.

Also you will need Masarepa, a cooked corn flour, and not regular fine milled cornmeal. Also, the yuca or tapioca starch is crucial for the success of this recipe, giving the bread it's springiness. Here is the last recipe I tried from Pachi's blog: http://www.creativeculinary.net/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=324:pandebono&catid=36:secrets-of-colombian-cooking&Itemid=8

2 cups (3/4 pound) Queso Fresco
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch (Yuca flour)
2 Tbsp Masarepa (cooked cornmeal)
2 tsp sugar
1tsp salt
1 egg

1. Finely grate the cheese. Transfer it to a food processer and process until finely ground.

2. Add the tapioca starch, masarepa, sugar and salt. Process. Then add the edd and process for about two minutes, until the mixture forms a ball. The texture of the mass should be very fine.

3. Grease a baking sheet with butter and preheat oven to 425 F. Make balls out of the dough and place 1 1/2-2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet on top of another baking sheet or pan to prevent the pandebono from browning too much on the bottom.

4. Place the double pans in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes. Mine took 20 minutes so monitor your pandebono to see when it is done. It should be puffed up and light golden brown when it's ready.

I like the way these came out. They're very pillowy soft on the inside. They have a cheesy and salty taste. However, next time, I'll try adding more tapioca starch, masarepa and sugar. I'll also add less cheese and possibly salt to make the pandebono more chewy and sweet. Looking forward to testing the possibilities!

3 Bean Salad, Ddeokboggi, Italian sausage pasta and Ecuadorian food

2011-06-13T04:14:00.001+09:00

An improvement on the bean salad I made previously. I added chick peas. Beans, beans, they're good for your heart...

Ddeokboggi thanks to Maangchi's recipe: http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/ddukbokkie. I added cabbage, onion and vegetalble fishcake for added flavor and texture. I would add the higher amount of gojuchang to make it spicy hot. I also didn't have the dried anchovies so I used anchovy paste imported from Spain. Make sure you boil the ddeok and cabbage long enough to make them soft. The onion and green onion don't need as much time. Also, boiling helps reduce and thicken the liquid for added flavor density.

Italian sausage pasta with the following ingredients: 7 ounces of whole wheat spaghettini, 3 hot Italian sausages, fried and diced, 2 cups of baby spinach, about 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley, 2-3 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 can chicken broth, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sliced Kalamatta olives, salt and a generous amount of freshly cracked pepper.

Spanish/Ecuadorian food at an Ecuadorian restaurant in Queens. Too much to consume in one sitting.

Bean Salad and Veggie Burgers

2011-06-06T03:29:00.003+09:00

Today's lunch: A veggie burger with mayo, ketchup, pickle, avocado, tomato and spinach. And a bean salad to go with it. The bean salad is easy and delicious. One can each of kidney beans and black beans, drained and rinsed, 2 stalks of finely chopped green onion, 1/2 small diced green pepper, some finely chopped parsley, 1 finely chopped garlic clove, 2 Tbsp of Balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp of olive oil, and a pinch of pepper, cumin and cayenne to round it out. The best summer lunch ever minus the grill!

Moist 'n Fluffy Pancakes, Banana Coconut Rum Bread, a Spinach Bake and Japanese Ramen

2011-03-28T01:18:00.000+09:00

All my cooking is based on the fact that I have a leftover ingredient in the fridge that begs to be used up. I'm often in this situation because it can't be avoided when you cook a lot. Recently, it was buttermilk, fresh spinach and over ripe bananas. To find out what I made with each ingredient, keep on reading.

With the buttermilk, I made the best buttermilk pancakes. Really...the best. I ususally make them from the mix but these are beyond compare to any commercial brand. The buttermilk acts as a leavening agent in addition to the baking soda, making for a very light and airy pancake and adding so much moisture to the pancakes. I made the pancakes with sliced apples too and they were delicious that way too

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 1/8 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
1.Preheat and lightly grease a large skillet or electric griddle.
2.Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl. Add the egg, buttermilk, and butter; stir together lightly, but keep it lumpy. The batter should look thick, spongy, and puffy.
3.Drop 1/3 cup of the batter onto the cooking surface, spreading lightly with the bottom of the cup. Cook until lightly-browned on each side, 1 to 2 minutes per side.

With the bananas, I made banana bread. Only mine is low-fat and has shredded coconut, raisins, pecans and a touch of rum. It was extremely moist but not greasy which I love. Try it.

Banana Coconut Rum Bread
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large or 3 small eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons dark rum or 1/2 tsp rum extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/3 cup raisins, soaked in hot water
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
Cooking spray or butter to grease pan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place sugars and butter in a large bowl. Beat until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum extract, and vanilla. Beat until blended.
4. Add flour mixture to wet mixture. Beat just until moist. Stir in the coconut, raisins and nuts.
5. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray or butter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack completely and then remove from pan, if desired.

Then there was a spinach casserole. It used a lot of spinach which is what I was looking for. It has a nice crispy crust and spinachy goodness within.

Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds spinach

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese or goat cheese
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart baking dish.

Clean spinach thoroughly. Remove all excess water. Chop spinach. Arrange spinach and flour in layers, nestle beaten eggs about midway between the layers.

Combine cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in optional parsley, if desired. Sprinkle over top of spinach. Mix butter or margarine, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes to one hour.

And finally, my Japanese ramen with bean sprouts, pickled root vegetable and green onion. Delicious and warming since I've been sick lately.

Tasty baked falafels

2011-03-14T04:08:00.000+09:00

My cravings come in waves. The current wave I'm riding is the falafel wave. I love putting some on a fresh pita with some rich hummus and leafy greens. I decided to make mine healthier by frying them in a shallow amount of oil rather than submerging them. The results are still great and any lack of oil on the outside is compensated for with the richness of flavor on the inside.

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 (15 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 small eggs, beaten

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions
1.Wrap onion in cheese cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Set aside.

2. Place chickpeas, parsley, cilantro garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, and baking soda in a food processor. Process until the mixture is coarsely pureed. As an alternative, you can mash the mixture with a potato masher.

3. Mix the chickpea mixture and onion together in a bowl. Stir in the flour, eggs and lemon juice. Put mixture in refrigerator and let rest for at least 1/2 hour.

4. Take mixture ouf of refrigerator and shape into small round patties.

5.Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the patties in the skillet, turning them over to brown evenly. on all sides.

6. Serve in a warm pita with hummus, Greek yogurt mixed with mint and lemon juice and lettuce.

One type of pasta and one type of cheese, made two ways

2011-02-28T01:27:00.001+09:00

Since starting this new diet of mine, I've become increasingly interested in making pasta salads of all types. I normally don't eat much pasta but it's a dish that's easy to make and won't have me slaving in the kitchen for long, not to mention the varieties are endless. It's also easy to incorporate leftovers into pasta salads and make a meal out of it. So as part of my new pasta obsession, I was faced with a few ingredients making an overdue stay in my fridge and cabinet--Orechiette pasta, some red peppers and ricotta cheese. I decided to make two types of sauces from these ingredients since I often can't eat 1 pound of pasta with the same sauce for a whole week.

First, for the lemon ricotta pasta...I got this recipe by doing my standard internet search: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/pasta/recipe-lemony-ricotta-pasta-with-basil-057215 With a few minor modifications, I made it. I added broccoli because pasta without veggies or meat is too boring, heavy and non-filling to me. I also didn't have basil so I used the parsley I had instead. Here's the recipe.

Lemon Ricotta Pasta (serves 3)

250 grams/1/2 pound of Orrechiette pasta or any type you prefer

1 cup (1/2 pound) ricotta cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

grated zest of 1 small lemon

juice from 1/2 small lemon

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup finely chopped parsley

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup steamed chopped broccoli

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until it's the texture you desire. It took 12 minutes for my Orechiette to be cooked al dente but yours might take less. Drain the pasta with cold water and set aside, covered.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and incorporate the pasta.

3. Serve at room temperature or warm with some more parsley sprinkled on top.

Next was the roasted red pepper pasta. Again, I found a recipe on-line that sounded and looked good. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/pasta-with-roasted-red-pepper-sauce-groan/ Again, I needed veggies or meat in my pasta so I added the other half of my broccoli. Since the red pepper has a sweet flavor, I wanted to veer away from veggies that are sweet. I also added almonds instead of the pine nuts since I didn't have any pine nuts around. I think this pasta would also go well with some diced chicken though I had none on hand. Here's the recipe:

Red Pepper Ricotta Pasta (serves 3)

3 medium red peppers, broiled

2 Tbsp almonds

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup (1/2 pound) ricotta cheese

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup steamed chopped broccoli

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

1. Broil red peppers in oven until skin is blackened on top. Remove and cover until they cool. Remove the skin. The skin separated easily so it shouldn't be too tough a task.

2. When all the peppers have had their skins removed, cut them in half and remove all the seeds, washing them off your hands, if necessary.

3. Put the peppers in a blender and puree until smooth. Add the almonds in and puree again until smooth.

4. In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and saute the onion until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and saute until it becomes fragrant. Add the red pepper puree, salt, pepper, ricotta, parsley and broccoli. Stir in the pasta.

5. Serve warm with more chopped parsley on top.

On an aside, here's my onion sprouting on my utility rack while my herbs are dying. Oh well, at least something's growing!

Greek pasta salad, German apple cheesecake and a fruity salad

2011-02-23T13:09:00.001+09:00

I'm having some digestive problems lately so I have to watch what I eat and not eat foods that are on my no-no list for now at least. That doesn't mean though that I'm going to sacrifice taste for some boring diet. For lunch, I had a wonderful salad of chopped spinach, sliced Granny Smith apples, dried cranberries, crumbled goat cheese, almonds and raspberry vinaigrette. It's wintertime now but this would be awesome in the summer to share with others. I thoroughly enjoyed it for its sweet, tangy, crunchy goodness.

I also made a cheesecake with apples I started getting a craving for after getting flashbacks of the wonderful Apfel Kasekuchen I had in Germany. It was manufactured under the name "Belbake" and it was tangy and light unlike American cheesecakes which are very heavy and fatty. Unfortunately, I didn't have the German quark cheese that's needed to make this cake so I made it with some non-fat ricotta I had in my fridge. It came out good but I think a tangy cheese would go better with the sweetness of the crust and apples. Oh, well, next time! It is still delicious nonetheless. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

Dough

2 cups flour

1/3 cup softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

Cheese filling

1 pound of dessert cheese like ricotta, twarog, quark, farmer, etc.

1/2 cup sugar

1 package vanilla sugar

3 eggs, separated

pinch salt

2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, quartered and cut in this slices

Directions
1. For the dough, soften the butter and cream it with the egg and sugar. Add the flour gradually and make into a soft dough, mixing it just enough for it to come together and not stick to your hands. Cover and refrigerate.

2. For the cheese filling, cream the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla sugar. Combine with the cheese and a pinch of salt. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until it holds stiff peaks and is white. Set aside.

3. Roll out refrigerated dough using a roll a pin on a board, adding a small bit of flour, if necessary. Line a baking pan with the dough, making sure to fill it to the edges.

4. Peel, quarter and core apples. Cut into thin slices and lay out evenly on top of the dough in the pan.

5. Take the whipped egg whites and fold them in quickly and gently into the cheese/yolk mixture. Pour and spread it evenly over the apples in the pan.

6. Place cake into preheated 325 degree oven and back 50-60 minutes until it starts to brown. Cool and regrigerate. Serve cold.

Because of my digestive problems, I've been getting into eating different foods which, I might add, is pretty fun. I'm on a pasta salad kick and since I can't have my Greek salad with tomatoes and all that vinegary dressing, I decided to use my feta and make a pasta salad. This is by far one of the best pasta salads I've ever eaten and I'm not just saying that because I made it. Maybe it's because I love feta's salty and rich goodness so much. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

Ingredients
1 pound pasta, such as penne rigate (I made it with whole wheat pasta), cooked al dente
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large shallots or 1 medium onion, finely diced
4 cups of fresh spinach, chopped into bite-size pieces
24 Kalamatta olives, diced
8 ounces of crumbled feta cheese
1/4-1/2 cup fresh minced mint, and/or parsley
salt & crushed black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Saute the garlic and onion in the oil until onions turn transparent, adding a pinch of salt during the cooking process. Add the spinach and cook until just beginning to wilt.

2. Add pasta and sautee all ingredients until heated through. Add mint and turn off heat.

3. Put pasta on a plate and top with some olives and feta cheese. Enjoy!

Some oldies but goodies

2011-02-13T01:26:00.002+09:00

I have some old recipes I haven't made in a while so I'm reposting them so I won't forget them. They're taken from my old blog from Korea so that explains the odd references to you...

For dinner tonight, I defrosted some food that is probably one of the best recipes I've ever cooked. I took a photo although it may not be the most beautiful photo though I guarantee the food is delicious. It's an African Chicken Stew from Sierra Leone. Slightly spicy though I guess to others, it might be moreso since I think eating all the hot and spicy food I do, I probably killed some spicy food taste buds already.

Here's the recipe just because it's too good not to share. The ingredients can be modified according to taste:

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (3 pound) roasting chicken, cut into bite size pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 large potato, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken, and brown quickly. Remove chicken from pan. Reduce heat to medium low, and add garlic, onion and potato to the pan; saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with cumin, coriander, black pepper, red pepper and salt. Do not let garlic brown.

2. Mix in water and browned chicken, and any accumulated juices. Place lid on skillet and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Remove lid, and stir in the peanut butter and garbanzo beans. Make sure the peanut butter is blended in. Replace lid to simmer for 10 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, adjust seasoning, and serve over rice.

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I had never made cheesecake with tofu but it essentially tastes like a dry white cheese although it has a bit of a different aftertaste. It's also quite smooth and creamy. Since my mom makes Polish cheesecake with a dry white cheese then I thought tofu would work. Well, it did. With some minor modifications, I made a great cheesecake! Instead of a graham cracker crust, I used nutty Korean cookies with black sesame seeds that I crumbled and made into a crust. I also made my cake filling with raisins and orange marmalade like my mom makes it. I have to say it came out great! Here's the pic! And the best part is, it's much healthier than regular cheesecake. I did some calculations and for 8 average size servings, it's 244 calories per serving and for 6 large servings, it's 325 calories per serving. Tofu is low in fat so the cheesecake is low in fat too though I don't have the exact numbers. Since I prefer to eat healthy, this works out really well. Here's a couple of pictures both with and without flash...because I'm so proud of my Korean fusion cheesecake. Voila!

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Here's my green supper...an open face sandwich with avocado, cucumber and scallion with a side of green tea I might add. It was delicious! So delicious that I had to take a couple of bites before I took a photo.

A day in the life of Eva and her food

2011-02-09T10:58:00.000+09:00

A common breakfast...toasted whole wheat ciabbata. One side has a half avocado with salt and crushed pepper and the other side has butter with smoked salmon. Normally, I don't have smoked salmon but cheese spread with tomato and ham instead. It's my favorite breakfast in the world!

Today's dinner was a turkey burger with the fixins and sweet potato fries seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika baked in the oven. Mmm, mmm good and mmm mmm healthy.

Pudina Pulao (Indian Mint Rice)

2011-02-05T23:33:00.003+09:00

This is my pride and joy...My herb garden/spice rack/fruit and veggie display. It's symbolic of my love of cooking...and eating. When it's well stocked, I eat well.

Unfortunately, the basil and mint have since withered. Maybe it's because they're away from the window and they don't get any direct sun. The reason for that is that the window sill is too cold and they die from cold over there. I guess I should stop trying to grow them through the coldest and snowiest winter in New York and just wait for spring to hit to make my next attempt. Meanwhile, I can just buy fresh mind and basil at the grocery store.

But to get to the cooking part, recently, I bought a whole refrigerator full of vegetables and herbs which resulted in a lot of leftovers. Most notably, I had a bunch of wonderful mint that I didn't want to go to waste but didn't know what to do with. So I searched online for a mint recipe and found one that sounded good. Pudina Pulao, or Indian mint rice would go well with the Madras curry powder and dried chickpeas I had sitting in my cupboard. So I thought I could make some vegetarian curry with a side of aromatic rice. I sauteed some onions and added the curry powder, water and chickpeas to them. I would recommend adding other vegetables like potatoes and carrots. It makes for a delicious and satisfying meal and it came out great if you don't mind me saying so!

Pudina Pulao
Ingredients
2 cups basmati rice
2 cups fresh mint leaves (pudina), lightly packed
1 onion, chopped fine
3 to 4 green chilis
¼ cup grated coconut
1 tbsp fresh ginger or 1 tsp powdered ginger
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 whole cloves or 1/4 tsp clove powder
4 green cardamom pods
1" piece of cinnamon
1 star anise or 1/4 tsp anise seeds + 1 tsp fennel seeds
4 bay leaves
1 tbsp butter or oil
1 tsp salt

12 roasted cashews for garnishing (optional)

Directions
1. Soak the rice in 4 cups water for half an hour and cook in pressure cooker or on stovetop. Let iit cool without clumping.

2. Grind the mint leaves with the coconut, green chillies and ginger and garlic (if using fresh) to a paste.

3. Heat oil or butter in a pan and roast the cashews until golden brown (if using) and drain. Add the spices (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and star anise or anise seed/fennel seed) and saute for about a minute, taking care not to burn them. (I actually grinded mine with a mortar and pestle one time and left them whole the other time but it's up to you how you do it) then add the chopped onions and saute unil it turns transparent.

4. Add the ground mint paste to the pan and fry for about 2 to 3 minutes until it turns fragrant. Again, take care not to burn. Add salt.

5. Mix in the cooled rice without breaking it too much. Garnish with the roasted cashews and serve with a side dish of your choice. I made Madras vegetable curry with chick peas and some leftover potato and carrot.

Larb (Thai salad) & Tom Yum (Hot & Sour Thai Soup)

2011-01-25T08:38:00.007+09:00

I got a serious craving for Thai food recently. I'm not sure why but I think it was because my friend who lives in Korea visited Thailand recently and wrote about all the great Thai food she ate there for really cheap on Facebook. And today, a supervisor of mine just came back from Thailand after being there for business for a week. It seems like everyone's going to Thailand except for me! Well, maybe not but it feels like it since I've been wanting to go back there for a while now. I have to admit it's mainly for the food. I just didn't have enough time in 5 days to sample all the food. But I do distinctly remember two foods that I really liked...Larb and Tom Yum.

Larb is Thai minced meat salad that's packed with flavor but not calories. It's the additions of mint, cilantro, lime juice, lime zest and lemongrass that give it its addicting flavor. Toasted crushed rice and peanuts add a good bite and flavor to it. You can use chicken, pork or beef but I prefer the chicken in dark meat since it's more flavorful. I can't say enough good things about it. And Tom Yum is a spicy/sour/salty soup that refreshes all your senses. Try both and you'll have a Thai meal as good as in Thailand or your favorite Thai restaurant.

Larb Ingredients
1-2 red chilis. sliced
1 stalk lemongrass, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-1 1/4 lb raw ground chicken, preferably dark meat
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp or more Sriracha chili sauce
2 shallots, sliced
zest of 1 large lime
juice of 1 large lime, separated in half
1/4 cup coriander/cilantro, minced
1/4 cup mint, minced
1 tablespoon white rice, toasted until golden in a frying pan
1 1/2 tablespoons raw peanuts, toasted until golden either in a frying pan or oven
lettuce to serve

Directions

1. Using a mortar and pestle, or spice grinder, grind the rice to a rough powder. Set aside. Roughly chop or crush the peanuts.

2. Heat a frying pan over high heat and add about 2 tbsp of water. Saute the garlic and chili for 20 seconds, then brown the chicken and add half the lime juice, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid has evaporated. This should take about 4-5 minutes. Add the shallots and lemongrass and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Turn off heat.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the fish sauce, chili sauce, lime zest and lime juice.

4. Combine the cooked chicken, sauce, rice, nuts and chopped herbs and toss. Serve on a bed of lettuce.

Tom Yum Ingredients
2 quarts chicken broth
2 stalks fresh lemongrass, sliced on a bias in 2-inch pieces
4 kaffir lime leaves or 2 tsp lime zest
1-inch piece fresh galangal or ginger, sliced or 1 tsp ginger powder
2 small red or green chiles, sliced
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 pound large shrimp, peeled with tails on
2 limes, juiced
2 green onions, sliced
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions
1. Bring the stock to the boil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves.lime zest, galangal/ginger, and chilies. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes to let the spices infuse the broth.

2. Uncover and add the fish sauce, sugar, and mushrooms. Simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Toss in the shrimp and cook for about 8 minutes until they turn pink.

4. Remove from the heat and add the lime juice, green onions, and cilantro. Taste for salt and spices; you should have an equal balance of spicy, salty, and sour. Pour over some rice noodles.

*The lemongrass, chili and lime leaves are for flavor only and should be avoided when eating the soup.

Random cooking: Polish Potato Pancakes, Polish Pickle Soup (yes!) and Indian Gajar Matar (carrots and peas)

2011-01-20T11:04:00.000+09:00

I went over my mom's house this past weekend and she cooked up some traditional Polish fare I grew up on. She told me she doesn't cook much these days but I'm glad she does every once in a while so I can be reminded of her food and recipes. Below, you will see her potato pancakes and pickle soup, and the pickles she proudly displayed to me as being the secret to her pickle soup recipe. My mom uses simple recipes with few ingredients and the results are simply...delicious!

For the potato pancakes, all that's needed is potatoes, egg, salt, pepper and oil for frying. Just grate the potatoes coarsely and pour out any excess liquid. Add an egg or 2 eggs depending on how many potatoes you grate, and salt and pepper to taste. Fry in hot oil until light brown and crisp on the edges.

In my family, we usually eat potato pancakes with sour cream and/or sugar on top, or plain. Other people eat them differently but I can't imagine them any other way. They're comforting and delicious.

For the pickle soup, my mother makes a stock using chicken parts like drumsticks and thighs. Then she adds roughly grated carrots half sour pickles. She lets the soup cook until the chicken, carrots and pickles are soft. She then thickens it with a mixture of flour and water, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Served with a dollop of sour cream on top, it's rich, pleasing and creamy.

Last but not least, I made Indian food today. I made a vegetable dish of carrots and peas from Manjula's Kitchen with some basmati rice and and Rogan Josh curry.

I made the veggies from scratch but the curry I made with cubed chicken cooked in a pre-made curry sauce. I'm trying to cut down on the number of things I cook from scratch since it's not always necessary and since I'm not good enough at Indian curry to cook it from scratch! However, the veggie dish came out really good though I made some slight modifications to Manjula's recipe. I made the dish because I have a big bag of carrots sitting in my fridge and I needed to use them up. At the same time, I found a new favorite recipe. It came out great!

Gajar Matar (Indian carrots and peas) 4 servings
2 cups carrots diced in about 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup potato cubed in about ½ inch pieces
1 cup frozen or fresh green peas
1-2 Tbsp oil
1 teaspoon thyme seeds (the recipe calls for carom seeds (ajwain) but I didn't have them so this close)
1 large chili, cut into pieces
1 Tbsp coriander powder (dhania)
1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

Directions
1.Heat the oil in a saucepan, on medium heat. Add thyme seeds. The oil should NOT be very hot as the carom seeds will burn and lose their flavor.
2.Add chili and turmeric and stir for a few seconds.
3.Add carrots, potatoes, green peas, coriander powder, and salt. Mix well.
4.Cover the pan and let it cook on medium heat for 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally. Turn off the heat when done.
5.Add the lemon juice and stir.
6.Serve hot as a side dish.

Tabouleh/Turkish Bulgur Salad (Kisir)

2011-01-16T23:46:00.002+09:00

I teach ESL for a living and one of my Turkish students brought in her mother's version of Turkish Bulgur Salad for my class's Halloween party potluck. I loved it and wanted to recreate it. I don't remember her instructions as she gave them to me that day but I do remember that her Kisir had parsley AND dill AND mint, resulting in a very aromatic salad. So I merged what I know of her recipe with some Tabouleh recipes on-line.

So while my bulgur salad is probably not exactly like my student's, I think it comes close. I can see myself tweaking it as time goes on, perhaps adding some garlic, pomegranate syrup, green onion and Turkish red pepper paste (Ajvar). The result would probably be very similar though--a light, refreshing salad that can be eaten alone as a light meal or with some delicious lemon chicken. One serving of the salad (1/4 of the recipe) yields 15 grams of protein so you'd be getting a good dose of protein even if you skip on meat or chicken. Sounds like a great meal to me...

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups bulgur wheat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 medium cucumber, diced
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 green onion, diced
1 small bunch parsley, minced
1 small bunch dill, minced
1 small bunch mint, minced
1-1 1/2 tsp salt (as you prefer)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
pinch pepper
4 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil

Directions
1. Soak bulgur wheat in hot water until the water is completely absorbed, about 2 hours.
2. Mix all the chopped vegetables and herbs together in a bowl. Add the bulgur.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the vegetable, herb and bulgur mixture. Mix well and refrigerate, covered, for at least an hour so that all the flavors can meld.
4. Serve and eat within a couple of days while still fresh. I like mine with a side of freshly toasted pita wedges and hummus or with a side of lemon chicken. Mmm mmm good!

Israeli Hazelnut Crescents

2011-01-15T23:30:00.000+09:00

I made these cookies for Christmas with my brother and his wife's family. It's not a Polish or an American recipe. I actually got it years ago from my aunt's Israeli cookbook. No, I don't read Hebrew but she translated for me! I've loved them ever since and I think they're real bakery quality cookies...not too sweet but with plenty of flavor and flaky texture. The powdered sugar on top adds the right amount of sweetness and they taste home-made.

I've added raspberry jam before for added flavor and you might want to experiment with that. They will taste very similar to rugelach if you do though you have to make sure that the jam is properly encased or it will make a mess of your baking sheet. In any case, here is my recipe for Hazelnut Cresents:

Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oil (I used sunflower)
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt (optional)
7 ounces (200 grams) ground hazelnuts
3/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch allspice
1 egg
1 cup powdered sugar

powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions
1. Mix oil with water. Add sifted flour and baking powder. Mix well and knead well on flat surface until mixture is smooth and not wet, adding flour if necessary.
2. Separate into 2 parts and roll each half very thin. Cut into 3 inch squares and discard the rest of the dough as it will be too tough to handle again.
3. For filling, mix the rest of the ingredients. Fill the squares with about 1 tbsp of filling and roll up crescent style, turning each in slightly at the ends.
4. Place crescents on ungreased baking sheet or parchment paper and bake in a preheated 325 degree oven until light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.
5. Place the crescents on a serving dish and sprinkle generously with sifted powdered sugar.

Jamaican Rice and Peas with Vegetables

2010-10-19T07:15:00.007+09:00

I recently discovered the wonders of Jamaican rice and peas. Where have I been, right? Well, I guess I never bothered trying them because I ate Spanish rice and beans before and I wasn't crazy about them. Foolish of me to assume they were the same, I tried them at what is touted to be the best Caribbean restaurant in New York, called The Islands. My friend suggested that we lunch there and from that point on, I was hooked (that point on being less than a month so far).

After asking my friend to pick up some rice and peas and jerk chicken for me since she's in the neighborhood, I decided to make my own rice and peas so I could have it on hand whenever a craving hits. It was so easy to make and tastes just as good. The flavor is great and I will be making it again and again if my happy taste buds are any indication. I could do without the jerk chicken but the carb junkie that I am craves the rice and peas!

2 cups of rice (I prefer basmati for this recipe)
1 cup of dried red peas aka kidney beans
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 stalk of green onion
1 scotch bonnet hot pepper
1 tin of coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of dried thyme
dash of pepper

1/2 small head of cabbage, sliced fine
1 tbsp. oil
1 can or frozen package of mixed vegetables (with green beans, carrots, corn, etc.)

Soak beans in 3 cups of water overnight. Drain.

Place beans in 3 cups of water along with garlic and boil for 45 minutes or until soft. Drain.

Add the rice, green onion, scotch bonnet pepper, coconut milk, salt, thyme, pepper and 1 1/2 cups of water. Simmer over very low heat until mixture is thick. Turn off heat and let rice and beans stand.

Serve with sauteed cabbage and mixed vegetables on the side.

Pad Thai...home made and the real deal!

2010-06-15T13:35:00.005+09:00

I often start off my posts saying "This was my first try at (insert food) and it came out (insert excited word plus exclamation mark).: D Well, this time, I decided to tackle a dish I've tried making before that didn't turn out good ever before...Pad Thai. My failed attempts at Pad Thai must have kept me from cooking it fo so long because I hadn't made it in 2 years in spite of my love for it.

Maybe it was the ingredients or recipes I was using previously (not authentic). I've learned through time that quality of ingredients really is a deal breaker when it comes to making a dish authentic. If you don't have that down, it doesn't matter how good your technique is. And with Pad Thai, I find that techinique is crucial too so there are many ways you can botch Pad Thai. You're dealing with a lot of ingredients in small amounts and a short amount of time to cook them to perfection.

This time, I made sure I got all the right ingredients and I followed my recipe very accurately. The Pad Thai didn't come out exactly how I wanted but it came out pretty close and much closer than it ever had before. Maybe trying Pad Thai in Thailand made me understand better how it should be? I'm pretty sure I'll get it more how I want it next time but still (not to brag) YES, my picky family actually ate it...and admitted they liked it! So it had to be good!

Here's the ingredients not in the amounts I used them but in the amounts I'd recommend for next time:

Ingredients
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp cornstartch

4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 pound chicken breast, sliced into 1 inch long strips

1 large shallot, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup extra firm tofu

1 (16 ounce) package wide Thai rice noodles
1/2 cup crushed roasted peanuts

4 Tbsp of tamarind or 4 tsp of tamarind concentrate plus 3 Tbsp water
5 Tbsp palm sugar, crushed
3 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 teaspoon ground dried chili pepper
pinch of ground white pepper
2 Tbsp salted preserved turnip, chopped fine

2 eggs
3 cups of Chinese chives
3 cups bean sprouts, divided in half
1 lime, juice squeezed

2/3 cup carrots, grated into long strips
2/3 cup cabbage, finely sliced

Directions
Mix the cornstarch with the soy sauce and place the chopped chicken it the mixture. Refrigerate to have the meat marinade a few minutes.

Soak the dry noodles in warm water while preparing the other ingredients, for 5-10 minutes. The noodles should be pliable but definitely not soft and they shouldn't expand in the water. Drain them in a collander.

Julienne the tofu and cut into 1 inch long matchsticks. When cut, the extra firm tofu should have a mozzarella cheese consistency. Cut up Chinese chives into 1 inch long pieces. Rinse the bean sprouts and save half for serving fresh.

Use a wok. Heat it up on high heat and pour 2 Tbsp of oil in it. Add the chicken and cook quickly until it it is no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the wok and clean the wok.

Add 2 Tbsp of oil to the wok. Add shallot, garlic and tofu and stir them until they start to brown. Add the noodles to the wok followed by 1/4 cup of peanuts. Stir quickly to keep everything from sticking.

Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper, white pepper and preserved turnip. Stir. The heat should remain high. If your wok is not hot enough, you will see a lot of juice in the wok at this point. Turn up the heat if it is the case.

Make room for the eggs by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the eggs onto the wok and scramble them until they're almost cooked. Fold the eggs into the noodles. Add the chicken and stir. Add the bean sprouts and chives. Pour the lime juice in. Stir a few more times. The noodles should be soft and very tangled. Add more water if this is not the case. Otherwise, the Pad Thai's done.

To serve, place some bean sprouts, carrots and cabbage on the side of the plate. Place the Pad Thai mixture in the middle and sprinkle some peanuts on top. Season with more lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chili pepper powder, if desired. You can also use Sriracha sauce.

Enjoy the light and tropical flavors and imagine being in beautiful Thailand!

P.S. Here's me enjoying Pad Thai...and other delectable goodies...in Thailand this December.: )

Watermelon Raspberry Mint Salad

2010-06-14T05:30:00.000+09:00

My mother's garden has a huge bunch of mint growing in it and she has a raspberry bush that's just starting to bear fruit. She also bought a whole watermelon today. Being that it's almost summer and I love putting what's around to use, I thought I'd make a light summer fruit salad incorporating those ingredients. I also had some limes in my fridge for the Thai food I'll make tomorrow so everything was set!

When making this salad, make sure the watermelon is very ripe and sweet and feel free to adjust the proportions of the fruits as you desire or based on what you have available. I would've added more raspberries but the bush is just beginning to bear fruit hence there's not that much fruit available yet. Here's my recipe:

Ingredients
4 cups of sweet and ripe seeded and cubed watermelon
1/3 c minced fresh mint
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lime juice

Directions
Put the watermelon cubes in a large bowl and sprinkle with half the minced mint. Top with raspberries and sprinkle with remaining mint. In a small bowl, mix honey and lime juice with a fork and drizzle over the melon and berries.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for fruit to marinade and serve cold. Add additional lime juice and mint, if desired. Enjoy!

Almond and Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti

2010-06-10T08:20:00.004+09:00

This was my first shot at biscotti and they came out hearty, crunchy and full of flavor! I wasn't expecting such great results but Giada's recipe from Food Network really impressed. I love the lemony aroma coupled with the nuttiness of the cornmeal. Even my very picky parents loved them. They taste great with a cup of hot green Jasmine tea or even better...apple mint tea imported from Poland. The combination of delicate scents is truly a delight to the senses. Try them today!

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons grated lemon zest (from about 3 to 4 lemons)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped whole almonds

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

In another large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixture until pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Mix in the lemon zest and then the flour, and beat until just blended. (The dough will be sticky). Stir in the almonds. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal mounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. With moist hands, space the dough evenly apart and form into 2 (9 by-3-inch) logs.

Bake for 35 minutes until lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes.

Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet.

Bake until the cookies are pale golden, about 25 minutes.

Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoying Good Southeast Asian cuisine in NYC

2010-06-08T21:31:00.001+09:00

If you've never had Malaysian/Indian Mee Goreng, you're missing out. It's what Pad Thai is to Thailand...a complex concocion of egg noodles, bean sprouts, fried tofu, shrimp fritters, tomato, fried eggs, shallots and a sweet/spicy chili sauce. I had mine with chicken last night at a restaurant named Laut around Union Square...a lesser known but excellent Malaysian/Singaporean/Thai eatery. I was so not disappointed and ate every last morsel with my wooden chopsticks. I loved it that they didn't bring out the fork for me. I forgot my camera at home but this shot looks similar to what I ate.

A few days before that I went to Republic nearby--a Pan-Asian restaurant--and had the Seared Lemongrass Marinated Salmon with the curried cracked rice with raisins and pickled daikon and carrots. The flavors are so wonderful. The restaurant claims to be a blend of Vietnamese, Malaysian, Chinese, Thai, and Japanese cuisines. I'm not sure where my dish fell but I'm guessing closest to Vietnam. I found a similar recipe on-line that may unlock the secret to this tasty fish: Ca Nuong Xa http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2009/09/crisp-lemongrass-salmon-recipe-ca-nuong-xa.html. I only wish I had a better photo but it was dark so it didn't come out that good. But it was totally awesome, as usual! Next time, I'll have the Curried Duck Noodles, another great Republic Concoction.

Lemon Meringue Pie

2010-06-03T06:27:00.000+09:00

Lemon Meringue Pie is one of my favorite desserts of all time. I love it for hotter days for a refreshing kick. This pie I made for my younger brother's birthday for a change from the ordinary birthday cake. Who says you can't have pie for your birthday? Everybody loved it!

Ingredients

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked until golden brown
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
6 tbsp cornstarch
3 beaten egg yolks
1/3 cup lemon juice (1 1/2 large lemons, squeezed), drained through a fine sieve
2 teaspoons grated or finely chopped lemon zest
3 tablespoons butter
2 egg whites
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

On top of a double broiler, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add water gradually. Stir and cook over hot water for 8-12 minutes, or until thick. Cover and cook 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove mixture from heat. Pour a little over the egg yolks and beat together. Return to double broiler, cooking and stirring gently for 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and beat in butter, lemon juice, and lemon rind.

For the merigue, whip egg whites until stiff and the meringue holds its shape. Beat in sugar 1/2 tbsp at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.

To assemble the pie, pour the cooled custard into the cold pie shell. Cover with the meringue, spreading evenly.

Bake the pie in a preheated 325F degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

Healthy Hummus

2010-05-11T19:04:00.003+09:00

I'm leaving for the U.S. in a couple of days and trying to use up all the ingredients I've accumulated in the fridge and cabinets. I was reading about a falafel restaurant in NYC I plan on going to this coming weekend when I came upon the mention of the word hummus...and instantly, my mouth started watering! I hadn't eaten hummus much in the last 1 1/2 years I've been away from the U.S. so I thought I might as well make some of my own being that I happened to have all the ingredients in my possession. Here is the end result:

I served the tasty hummus with German Knäcke or Crispbread with sesame seeds and a side or roasted red peppers. Delicious! As usual, my recipe is on the healthier side, using less fat.

Ingredients

1 large 16 ounce can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans with 1/4 cup liquid reserved

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tbsp lemon juice

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp tahini

1/2 tsp salt

Blend all the ingredients in a blender until the mixture is a smooth paste (about 3-5 minutes). Serve with crispbread, toasted pita bread, roasted red peppers, olives, veggies or anything else you desire. Here's how the roasted red peppers look like. They go really well with the hummus:

Lasagna

2010-05-10T17:42:00.001+09:00

Just some lasagna I made using home made meat sauce (tomato paste, pureed tomatoes, garlic cloves, shallots, olive oil, ground beef, sugar, salt, Italian seasoning, fresh parsley), really wonderful thin lasagna egg noodles imported from Italy and German cheeses (quark, grated Edam, Gouda and Ementaler, an egg, fresh parsley and salt) . I didn't have ricotta so I had to use quark which is on the tart side. I topped the noodles with olive oil to keep them from drying out and with grated Grada Padano cheese. In the end, the lasagna tasted great and got rave reviews. Now it's just a question of finishing it. Maybe you can't tell but the pan is huge!

Eggs Benedict

2010-05-01T15:21:00.000+09:00

I had always heard of Eggs Benedict but had never tried it. I was never curious to try it because I heard it required making a Hollandaise sauce from scratch, and I didn't like the complicated instructions for this sauce. Here in Germany, though, you can find prepared Hollandaise sauce in the supermarket so I thought, hey, why not? I wanted to find out what all the hype is with this dish.

And here is the final result. Looks good, huh?

I used a recipe I found on the Allrecipes website and modified it: http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Making-Eggs-Benedict/Detail.aspx

Here's my recipe:

Ingredients for 1 person

a soft roll, split

4 thin slices of ham (I used lachschinken which I believe is smoked and resembles smoked salmon in texture)

2 eggs

Hollandaise sauce

Instructions

Begin by poaching the eggs. Crack the egg first into a separate container, and then boil water with a tablespoon or two of vinegar added. Now stir the water in a wide circle and add the whole egg. The slightly acidulated water will set the eggs quickly, while the whirlpool of water will keep the egg in a ball. Poach at a simmer for four to five minutes for set whites and soft yolks.

Place ham on each side of the split roll.

Place an egg on each piece of bread.

This is my store bought Hollandaise sauce...with reduced fat. Hollandaise sauce is normally soooo fatty from the egg yolks and butter.

The finished product. Looks good, huh?

After trying it, I can say that it was good but perhaps didn't live up to all the hype given to it. It looks French and fancy so maybe that adds to its appeal. Perhaps it's because I'm not a fan of rich and creamy sauces but for someone who is, I'm sure they'd be quite happy with it.

Delicious yogurt dressing mixed salad and a Roasted Stuffed Chicken Thanksgiving style

2010-04-26T02:51:00.005+09:00

I made a green salad with loose lettuce, chicory, a chopped yellow pepper, yellow corn, tomato, some ham and white picant cheese. Then I took a small container of full fat plain yogurt and mixed it with a small packet of garden herb salad dressing mix. I tossed it all together and it was as satisfying as a full meal.

I had a whole chicken in the freezer so I looked for a recipe with stuffing I could make. I was a bit critical of the stuffing ingredients but was pleasantly surprised with the results. The stuffing was flavorful and the chicken came out very juicy due to the low cooking temperature and long cooking time.

Ingredients:
1 roaster chicken, about 4 pounds
salt
chicken seasoning (like Vegeta)
dried thyme

Stuffing:
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme, crumbled
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 cups soft bread crumbs
1 beaten egg
enough milk or water to moisten mixture
chicken seasoning (like Vegeta)
salt and pepper

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

mashed potatoes
pepper sauce or any kind of gravy you prefer

Preparation:

Rub chicken on the inside and outside with salt, chicken seasoning and thyme. Let sit.

In a skillet, melt butter over low heat; saute chopped onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add thyme, parsley, and bread crumbs. Stir in egg and enough milk or water to make dressing moist. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon stuffing into cavity of chicken; close by sewing, with toothpicks or with a piece of foil. Place chicken breast side up on rack in a shallow roasting pan.

Roast stuffed chicken at 325° for about 2 1/2-3 hours, until golden brown, basting several times. About 45 minutes before baking is done, spread chopped carrots on bottom of pan. Let chicken stand for about 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy you make with the sauce drippings or from a mix.

These are the cakes of my life

2010-04-21T15:59:00.000+09:00

Since arriving in Germany, I've been eating cake constantly and have at least three different types in my fridge lately. Can you blame me? They're delicious!

A cheese coffee cake...for when I want something substantial but not fatty.

An apple cheesecake for my fruit and cheese cravings. German cheesecakes use quark cheese which is much leaner than cream cheese but still creamy and satisfying. I like!

My birthday cake. A packaged, store bought sponge layer cake with strawberry whipped cream, strawberries in gelatin, almonds and a sweet cookie type wafer bottom. I love the bottom part. Delicious and not too sweet!

A chocolate orange pound cake with a dark chocolate glaze and pieces of candied orange peel mixed into the cake. Better than brownies!

Mandeltorte or Amond cake. I first ate this at an IKEA a few years ago and have been trying to find it ever since. It's creamy and delicious but kinda sinful.

Doner Kebab in Germany

2010-04-12T00:32:00.000+09:00

Kebab places aka Doner in Germany are extremely popular. They're what the pizzeria is to the U.S. I ate this food in New York though it's been a while since I'd been living in Korea for the last 1 1/2 years. Korea's kebabs are tiny compared to kebabs in Germany but that's probably because Koreans have smaller appetites and eat far less meat than Germans. I once saw a Korean couple splitting a kebab the size of a large soft taco!

In any case, I had doner yesterday and unfortunately, I got the kind with the solid lamb. Yes, I said unfortunately because I find the ground lamb more flavorful. Whatever they add to it, it tastes good! I had some in Spain last weekend and it was to die for. In the future, I will be looking out for kebabs made with ground lamb and that requires some investigation of the huge chunk of rotating lamb on the premises!

Loving German food so much

2010-04-09T04:58:00.001+09:00

I have to say I'm loving German food in Germany. Loving every minute of it! But when it comes to foreign food, I'm a bit disappointed but I guess that's to be expected. I found out the same thing in Korea after all.

In Korea, it was foreign food prepared with a Korean twist and vital things like good bread, good cheese and good meats missing from my life. Well, I have all those in Germany now (thank god!). Any given week, I eat smoked salmon, raisin bread with orange peels in it and fine cheeses like German Gouda, Edam, Ementaler, etc. Also, the yogurt here is superior--not the sour and watery tasting stuff that passes for yogurt in the U.S. The yogurt here looks and tastes like cream but without all the fat. It never gets that puddle of water on top that I've found elsewhere and maintains its thick consistency. Eaten with muesli or other crispies, it's a wonderful snack in between meals and has become my new favorite food.

But the main food disappointments I've faced so far in Germany are bagels that are shaped like bagels but that don't have the dense, chewy texture that make bagels what they are...and the spaghetti sauce. I bought a jar of sauce thinking it would be good for a plate of spaghetti but it tasted like something I'd eaten in a frozen microwavable chicken parmesan On-Cor meal. Now, I love that stuff but when it comes to spaghetti, I like a sauce with tang and bite. So I had to make my own sauce using the canned stuff and my own additions: onion, garlic and green pepper fried in olive oil, tomato puree, tomato paste, ground beef, mustard (for tang) and a touch of sugar. I topped it off with grated cheese and chopped basil leaves I removed from my basil plant (You can but potted herbs in the supermarkets here for under 1 1/2 Euros!).

I have to say I was impressed with my Spaghetti Bolognese as was my boyfriend!

But onto German food I love...too much to list so I'll start out by saying the breads and desserts are wonderful. Below is a roll I got at the supermarket nearby to where I take my German language course. There's supermarkets every couple of blocks in Frankfurt and they sell some of the most delicious fresh breads. This roll has a dense crust of sunflowers seeds on one side and sesame and poppy seeds on the other. It then has pumpkin seeds, millet and flax seeds inside. It's got a crisp crust on the outside and it's chewy on the inside. I ate one buttered with eggs and dijonnaise salad dressing on the side and I'm addicted!

Also to die for is this Marzipan and Möhn (poppy seed) marble cake with a chocolate glaze. I got a nice sized loaf for 1 Euro in the supermarket...1 Euro for gourmet type cake! I'm addicted too. If I wasn't such a portion watcher, I'd get in trouble here in Germany but luckily, I'm more into savoring flavors than stuffing my face. Here's to happy eating in Germany!

Food bites in Madrid, Spain

2010-04-05T22:32:00.001+09:00

I went to Madrid, Spain for Easter weekend and had a chance to try the local fare that Spain is known for. The Spanish don't seem to be big on eating healthy so 2 days of greasy food is all my body could take! But it was so delicious at the same time so I'm still salivating over it!

I had the classic seafood paella-Paella del Señorito.

Seafood paella with noodles-Seafood Fideua. Not as good as the original I think.

The large paella menu--standard in Madrid restaurants.

I had churros with chocolate. You dip them into a chocolate mixture that tastes like a cross between melted chocolate and chocolate pudding.

I had empanadas at an empanada store. One was classic meat and baked and the other was tuna and cheese in a french pastry dough. Both were delicious!

While enjoying some outdoor flea shopping, I came upon a Spanish toast stand. Everyone was flocking toward it and bringing out these tasty looking morsels. I had to try some. I had the smoked salmon with asparagus and my boyfriend had shrimp with worm shaped morsels made of shrimp. His tasted good but I couldn't get past the look. Both had butter on them and then oil drizzled on top. They definitely were not healthy but I'm only in Madrid once, right?

Pad Thai in Germany

2010-04-01T20:54:00.000+09:00

I went out last night to a Thai restaurant last night with a friend to satiate the Pad Thai craving I've been having since my last Pad Thai meal...this Sunday. I really need to learn how to cook Pad Thai myself!

I'm so glad that there's authentic Thai restaurants here run by Thai unlike in Korea. In any case, the plate was huge! Enough for 2 servings.

So I was glad the waitress didn't make a face when I asked her to doggy bag half of it. I heard that in Germany, they don't really doggy bag. But I figure if you're going to serve up colossal portions of food, you can't expect everybody to eat it all. I guess eating big is something that is not unique to the U.S.

Rose marmalade and poppy seed aromatic buns

2010-03-30T16:42:00.002+09:00

I wanted to recreate the flavor of Polish Pączki, aromatic donuts fried in lard, without using lard or additional fat. So I made a plan to make the dough for these delicious goodies and bake swirl rolls using it and a couple of popular Polish dessert fillings--rose scented mamalade and poppy seed filling, called mohn in German. Here's the end result:

Here's the recipe:

DOUGH:
750 grams flour (approximately)
50 grams fresh yeast
3 egg yolks, beaten
50 grams butter, melted
50 grams sugar
1/2 packet (8 grams) vanilla sugar
250 ml
rum extract, a few drops
pinch salt
orange rind from 1/2 an orange, grated

FILLINGS:
rose scented marmalade
hot water

poppy seeds, ground
sugar
1 egg white
milk
sultanas or raisins
rum extract
orange rind from 1/2 an orange,grated

butter to grease pans
powdered sugar

Combine warm water, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp flour and all of yeast in a bowl. Cover with a cloth and let sit in a warm place to rise, about 10-15 minutes.

Add remaining dough ingredients and work into an elastic dough in a big bowl, about 5 minutes, kneading well. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place, about 45 minutes.

To make marmalade filling, whisk together the hard marmalade with hot water for easier spreading.

For the poppy seed filling, combine poppy seeds with enough sugar to your taste, add egg white and enough milk to make the filling into a paste. Add a handful of sultanas, a few drops of rum extract and the orange rind.

After the dough has finished rising, punch it down, cut half off and roll it into an oblong rectangle. Spread one of the fillings evenly and to the edges of the dough. Roll up and cut into 1 1/2 inch rolls, spacing them and inch apart in a baking pan. Repeat with the other filling.

Bake the rolls in a preheated 200 degree C oven until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Separate the rolls and dust them with powdered sugar. Eat with hot tea or coffee.

Homemade (frozen) pizzas

2010-03-28T00:55:00.000+09:00

My boyfriend and I have home made pizza every weekend it seems. We just buy ordinary frozen Margherita pizzas and add our own toppings. I also bought a basil plant that I pick leaves off of for cooking. Potted herbs are so cheap here! These pizzas we make are the tastiest I've ever eaten...so crusty but moist and juicy with all those toppings!

I had one with onion, yellow peppers, mushrooms, salami, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and German cheddar.

My boyfriend had the same toppings minus the tomatoes plus hot dogs! He loved it though.

Here they are together. Aren't they cute?

Gołąmbki aka Polish Stuffed Cabbage

2010-03-27T05:40:00.000+09:00

One of the main Polish traditional dishes, gołąmbki is a dish that satisfies. It's a great winter food. I make it the way my mother taught me using raw rice as a filling and boiling the whole head of cabbage. Other recipes might call for cooked rice which yields a fluffier consistency and looser rolls but its hard for me to change my ways so I'm sticking to what I've always known. Try it and see what you've been missing out on!

Ingredients
1 medium head of cabbage

1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, diced
500 grams ground beef
375 grams rice, uncooked
1 egg
2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Vegeta, to taste
water to cover gołąmbki

1 tbsp oil
300 grams tomato puree
1/3 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
pinch salt
pinch Vegeta

Boil head of cabbage in water until leaves are no longer green but yellowish. Turn the cabbage over often to cook evenly. Remove from pot and let cool a few minutes. Then remove at least 10 leaves, cutting the vein on the inside edge so that it's not as thick.

Fry onions in 1 tbsp of oil until golden brown. Place in bowl with ground beef, rice, egg, salt, pepper and Vegeta. Stir mixture thoroughly with hand.

Place a few cabbage leaves on the bottom of a big pot.

Take an mixture the size of a small lemon into your hand and place it at the thick edge of a cabbage leaf. Roll up and tuck the sides into the roll, poking a small hole on each side to keep the leaf closed. Place cabbage roll in the pot. Repeat with the rest of the mixture until all of it is used up, making for 10-12 cabbage rolls. Pack the cabbage rolls in tightly so that they don't float up during cooking. Pour water into the pot until the cabbage rolls are just covered. Cook cabbage rolls over medium heat until the water is halfway gone and cabbage rolls look plump.

Meanwhile, heat the 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add the tomato sauce. Stir in flour, sugar and salt and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Pour in water from cabbage roll pot and combine, bringing to a boil again. Pour entire mixture into pot and allow it all to come to a boil again, cooking about 3-5 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy.

Geschnetzeltes aka German Mushroom & Pork Casserole

2010-03-25T03:16:00.001+09:00

I made this delicious dish using a prepackaged sauce mix I bought in my local supermarket. The dish was pretty easy to make. I didn't rinse the pasta under water because I wanted it to absorb the sauce better.

250 grams chopped pork (about 3 pork chops)

150 grams fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon oil

300 ml water

sauce mix

250 grams cooked pasta, drained but not rinsed

Fry pork in oil until golden brown in a deep saucepan. Add water and scrape bottom of pan of juices. Stir in sauce mix and whisk until mixture comes to boil. Let cook about 2 minutes.

Add mushrooms to saucepan and cook until no longer raw but not too wilted. Add pasta to mixture and let set a few minutes.

Serve with candied carrots or some other side dish. Delicious!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mushroom and Cheese filling

2010-03-23T00:28:00.002+09:00

This is yet another recipe I learned to make while I was staying with my family in Poland. It's similar to Chicken Cordon Bleu but with a Polish flair. I have to say the results were delicious and my boyfriend actually ate two pieces!

Make sure to choose a cheese that gives way to easy melting and is soft--not a very hard cheese that's very gummy when melted. Also make sure to cook the chicken slowly and from every angle since it's a thick piece of meat and can turn out raw inside if cooked too quickly. Other than that, enjoy the meal!

1 small onion, diced
4 large button mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped fine
salt
oil
4 chicken breasts
2 ounces of melting cheese like Gouda, Edam or Ementaler
1 egg, beaten
pepper
bread crumbs
toothpicks

Pound chicken breasts flat or cut pocket in each piece of chicken so it resembles a butterfly. Rub some salt on inside and outside of chicken breasts.

Fry onion over medium heat in small bit of oil until just cllear, adding adding some salt. Add garlic and mushrooms and fry until starting to brown, adding salt as well.

Put some onion-mushroom mixture inside chicken breast with 1/2 ounce of cheese. Close up chicken breast with toothpicks. Dip chicken in a beaten egg mixed with some salt and pepper. Then coat the chicken with bread crumbs. Repeat with other chicken pieces.

Warm some oil over medium heat in frying pan and fry the chicken on all sides until golden brown.

Serve with mashed potatoes mixed with butter or with sour cream and fresh dill. I added roasted, marinated red peppers and pickled celeriac as side dishes.

Cherry Crumble

2010-03-21T17:01:00.004+09:00

I'm living in Germany now and baking goodies are much more available here than they were in Korea. My boyfriend bought a jar of sour cherries (Sauerkirschen) that were just sitting in the fridge, waiting to be eaten in a yummy dessert. I wanted to make a dessert that makes the sour cherries the centerpiece so I thought a simple cherry crumble would do the trick. I also had some delicious toasted coconutchips from Thailand waiting to be eaten. The result is fabulous...sweet/tart cherries with a crunchy sweet coconut-y crumb topping. Served with vanilla ice cream, it's fabulous!

Just be advised that some of the cherries may not all be pitted so if you come upon a cherry pit, spit it out! My boyfriend found something hard in the crumble and I told him it might be the coconut. It turns out it was a cherry pit. The pained look on his face after biting into a cherry pit said it all!

1 large jar of sour cherries (350 grams without liquid)
100 grams butter, softened
200 grams flour
100 grams sugar
1/2 (16 gram) packet vanilla sugar
pinch salt
30 grams coconut flakes
vanilla ice cream

Combine flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl. Add butter and whisk together until fine crumbs form. Then add coconut.

Grease a medium size baking pan with some butter and spread out drained cherries on the bottom. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over cherries.

Bake in 175 degree C oven for about 30-35 minutes.

Let cool a little bit and serve with vanilla ice cream. Mmm!

Ukrainian Borscht aka Ukrainski Barszcz

2010-03-19T18:40:00.001+09:00

I ate this soup during my stay in Poland at my aunt's house. It's a change from the usual barszch I grew up eating which was composed mainly of beets and potatoes. This barszcz has more complexity to it while still retaining its sweet and tangy beet flavor. I used whatever was on hand so the measurements are approximate and can be adjusted. The result is a soup that is rich in flavor and comforting to the stomach!

2 liters of water

pork, beef or chicken bones

2 tsp boullion seasoning

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

3 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 large can of pickled beets, chopped

1 can kidney beans in own liquid

1/4 head of cabbage, chopped

1/3 cup tomato concentrate

1 tbsp oil

1/3 cup flour

allspice, about 10 pieces

dill boullion

Put water and bones into a pot and bring to a boil, removing the cooked residue on the surface. Reduce heat and add bollion seasoning. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Next, add potatoes and carrots to a pot and bring back to a slow boil. Cook another 10 minutes.

Add cabbage, cook for 5 minutes and then add kidney beans, pickled beets, tomato concentrate and dill seasoning.

In a separate saucepan, warm oil over low/medium heat and stir in flour, adding some liquid from the soup pot. Cook a few minutes. Incorporate mixture in saucepan to pot and bring to a boil again, cooking for about 3 minutes.

Serve as is or with yogurt or sour cream.

Bigos

2010-03-15T16:54:00.001+09:00

After going to Poland, I recalled the foods I used to love and relearned how to cook them. Among them is bigos, a sauerkraut stew with various types of meat cooked over a long time. Below is the recipe I made though recipes vary widely. Read Anya's take on it for more info: http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/1870352-Anya-s-Bigos

1 kg. sauerkraut

1/2 head cabbage, sliced thin

1 tbsp oil

1/2 pound kielbasa, cut into cubes

1/2 pound pork meat, cut into cubes

1 small onion, diced

4 small tomatoes, diced

4 tsp packaged bigos seasoning

1 tbsp sugar

salt

pepper

Cook sauerkraut with cabbage, adding tomatoes, until all is cooked through and soft.

Fry pork meat in oil until no longer pink, adding salt. Add onion and fry until clear. Add kielbasa and cook until browned.

Add meat/onion mixture to cabbage, scraping off browned bits with the addition of water to the pan, if necessary. Add bigos seasoning, sugar and pepper.

Simmer on lowest heat until pork meat is soft and tomatoes are disintegrated, at least 2 hours. Add additional seasonings throughout cooking time, if necessary.

Serve bigos with boiled potatoes or some hearty rye/brown bread.

You can refrigerate or freeze the bigos for later eating.

Chicken pasta with light cream sauce and veggies and an Oatmeal Apple Crisp

2010-02-23T15:39:00.000+09:00

For my going away giveaway party recently, I took a recipe for a baked chicken pasta on-line and modified it to fit my ingredient needs. Basically, I had some cooked chicken, pasta, yogurt and leftover cheeses in my refrigerator and cabinets that I wanted to use up before my move. I always follow recipes very closely but this time, I decided to improvise since I heard it actually works! It turned out better than I expected.

Chicken Pasta with Light Cream Sauce and Veggies

Recipe Ingredients

precooked chicken, about 1 pound
1 pound
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper & 1/2 orange or yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 cups yogurt
3 slices meltable cheese (any kind you prefer)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup water (or more depending on consistency)
1/2 tsp dried oregano, to taste
1 tbsp chicken flavoring
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Add pasta gradually to saucepan of boiling water, boil rapidly uncovered for 10mins or until tender. Drain, rinse under cold waterl.

Heat oil in large fying pan, add onion and cook until soft. Add chicken, red peppers and orange peppers, cooking until a the peppers begin to soften. Add mushrooms water, and chicken flavoring to pan and cook over heat for 5 mins.

Drain solids from pan and place with pasta. Keep liquid in the pan and add yogurt, cheeses and oregano. Whisk for smoothness.

Pour liquid into pasta and chicken mixture and cook until evenly distributed and heated through, adding more water and chicken flavoring if necessary.

Serve with a side of steamed vegetables and you've got a great meal!
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I also had some apples, oatmeal, baking ingredients and ice cream I wanted to use up so I found a recipe for an apple crisp that sounded great. It also turned out really good!

Oatmeal Apple Crisp

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
5 or 6 crisp apples like Rome Jonathan
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup raisins
ice cream, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat bottom and sides of square baking dish lightly with butter.

Combine sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg in medium bowl and mix well.

Peel and slice apples to about 7 cups. Add apples and raisins to sugar mixture and toss to coat. Spoon into baking dish.

Combine oats, brown sugar, flour and salt in a medium bowl and mix well. Add butter, stir with a fork or with hands until mixture is crumbly. Sread over apples.

Bake until browned and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Spoon warm apple crisp into dessert bowls with a side of ice cream. I used walnut ice cream and all tasted heavenly together!

Goulash with kopytki and pickled beet salad

2010-02-10T18:02:00.001+09:00

Below is a photo of something I didn't realize I missed much until now. Pillowy soft kopytki with pork goulash and a pickled beet salad...a standard meal when I was growing up.

The goulash was quick and easy to make. I first fried half a large chopped onion in some oil in a small pot. I added some salt and 4 halved garlic cloves. When the onion it was translucent and golden, I added about 250 grams of chopped cubed pork, frying until no longer pink. I then sprinkled the entire mixture with a generous helping of paprika and Vegeta, Eastern Europe's answer to boullion cubes. I covered the entire mixture in water and had it come to a boil, reducing to a slow simmer and letting it cook about an hour. Finally, I thickened the whole mixture with about 3 tbsp. of flour dissolved in some water.

As for the kopytki, they were frozen from the last time I cooked them. When I took them out of the freezer, their texture didn't seem right but once I reheated them in the microwave they were pillowy, soft and comforting just as before!

And the pickled beet salad was made with a medium cooked and shredded beet mixed with a few tbsp. of chopped onion and the following all to taste: sugar, white or rice vinegar and salt.

The result was one hearty and satisfying meal!

Tofu spinach pasta

2010-02-02T22:54:00.004+09:00

I haven't seen any ricotta or cottage cheese in Korea but had used tofu in a cheesecake and baked ziti recipe, both of which came out wonderful. So it seemed logical to me to make a mock lasagna (mock because of the lack of cheeses as well as lasagna noodles here). It came out pretty good and tasty! Best of all, you can't even tell I used tofu. Tofu has a great ability to take on the flavor of other ingredients as it did this time.

First, I mixed half a pound of pasta shells with half a jar of spaghetti sauce. I bought the "hot & spicy" kind thinking it was the same "pimento" flavor I usually buy. Not! It was much hotter and hot even according to Korean standards. Thus I used it sparingly.

Then I sauteed a chopped green pepper in some olive oil, adding half a bunch of young spinach leaves, and sprinking with salt. Once the lettuce leaves began to wilt, I turned off the heat.

Then I mashed a 340 gram package of firm tofu with 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 egg, pepper and salt to taste.

I put a thin layer of spaghetti sauce to keep the pasta from sticking.

I then layered half of the pasta mixture followed by half of the spinach mixture.

Next it was half of the tofu-cheese mixture followed by a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

I baked the entire thing in a 350 degree oven until it just started to brown, about 1 hour.

It was delicious. The only thing I would change is not use hot & spicy spaghetti sauce. It seems to overpower the mildness of the other ingredients.

Eating healthy in Seoul

2010-01-28T16:15:00.001+09:00

Dinner at Outback Steakhouse in Seoul...salmon with mushroom shrimp cream sauce and veggies.

Dinner at "Gorilla in the Kitchen," a healthy food restaurtant. This wasn't my dish but my table mate's...Squid ink risotto with squid and shrimp. Tasty according to people at my table who tried it but personally, I couldn't get past the appearance to actually enjoy the flavor.

My dish was delicious! Cajun orange chicken salad with potatoes.

The tiramisu.

Blueberry cheesecake.

This is how I used to eat before I came to Korea

2010-01-22T18:59:00.000+09:00

Living in Korea has really made me appreciate Western food. Buttered noodles with Parmesan, ground pork patties and candied peas and carrots never tasted so good!

Going green

2010-01-21T17:40:00.001+09:00

In Korea, going green is often synonymous with green tea. In this case, it's eating a green tea pastry. I had to try it. It's delicious, whatever it is!

Chicken Parmesan and Turkish Lentil Soup

2010-01-18T20:10:00.001+09:00

I made Chicken Parmesan the other day. It was delicious and all I had to do was dip thinly sliced chicken breast halves in egg, fry them lightly on each side and bake them in a bed of spaghetti sauce with mozzarella cheese on top. With a side of garlicy sauteed spinach and nice helping of Parmesan cheese over spaghetti, my meal was complete. So delicious!

Krispy Kreme donuts to go with the meal. The green one is Green Tea.:)

And a Turkish Lentil Soup recipe I got off of this site: http://verbalprivilege.blogspot.com/2005/08/mercimek-orbas-turkish-lentil-soup_03.html

I didn't have mint on hand so I used marjoram instead. It's in the same family of herbs. I also didn't have tomatoes so I added carrots instead and no cumin to be found either. It turned out great nonetheless!

Spinach Bacon Pasta & Mocha Buns

2010-01-11T21:52:00.000+09:00

My new obsession...mocha buns aka Roti buns. A tender butter filled center with a cripsy mocha crust...heavenly!

And the other day, I made a list of all the raw ingredients I have in my cabinets, fridge and freezer to figure out what I could make with them. I'm trying to clear everything out once and for all. I searched for a recipe using pasta and mushrooms and found the following. I had some bacon on hand and only needed to buy the fresh veggies. Below is a photo with the recipe I modified from cooks.com.

PASTA WITH SPINACH, BACON AND MUSHROOMS

1/2 lb. bacon, cut into 1/2 inch squares
2 tbsp. butter
1 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. sweet red pepper, diced
1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 bouillon cube in 1 cup hot water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. pasta
10 oz. fresh, washed spinach (about 4 c.)
1 c. grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Cook bacon until crisp in skillet. Discard fat. Place bacon on paper towels. Add butter to same skillet (do not wash). Saute onions and peppers for 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, saute for 1 minute.

Over high heat, stir in broth. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper. In a large pot, cook, then drain pasta well. Return pasta to pasta pot.

Add the vegetable sauce and spinach. Toss over medium heat until spinach is wilted and most of the sauce is absorbed. Top with bacon and Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Chocolate Beet Cake

2010-01-03T14:23:00.002+09:00

The other day's lunch: Bibim naengmyon with galbi. Also known as chewy noodles with icy broth and hot pepper sauce with a side of grilled sweet marinated pork. You wrap the pork in the noodles and yum!

I also baked what I intended to be a red velvet cake but it turned out more chocolatey looking. It was supposed to be more healthy than the real thing by using beets but I should have known the high amount of cocoa would tone down the beets' vibrant hue. In any case, it came out moist, dense and delicious and best of all, it doesn't taste like beets. Here's the recipe I found online that I modified due to inaccessability to all the ingredients:

Low Fat Chocolate Beet Cake

•1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
•1-1/4 cups white sugar
•3/4 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa
•2 tsp. baking powder
•1/2 tsp. baking soda
•1-1/3 cups plain yogurt
•1/2 cup butter, softened
•3/4 cup eggs (4 small/medium or 3 large)
•2 tsp. vanilla
•2 cups beets, peeled and shredded

extras:
-rum
-orange marmalade
-whipping cream
-powdered or superfine sugar
-almond extract
-cinnamon
-slivered almonds

1- Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 x 9 square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2- In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.
3- Whisk in yogurt. Beat in butter, egg substitute and vanilla. Add beets.
4- Pour in prepared cake pan. Bake 45 minutes.
5- Cool, cut into halves and sprinkle some rum or similar alcohol on the bottom inside layer.
6- Top the bottom layer with a thin layer of orange marmalade. Put the two halves together.
7- Frost with whipped cream flavored with a small amount of powdered or superfine sugar, about a teaspoon of almond extract and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
8- Add a border of slivered almonds to the sides and refrigerate before serving.

Polish Potrawka

2009-12-01T18:53:00.000+09:00

Here is one of my favorite Poish dishes...something my mom plainly calls "potrawka." Potrawka, in the Polish online dictionary means "gotowane mięso, podawane we własnym sosie, przyprawionym i zabielonym." To translate, cooked meat, served in its own juices, seasoned and whitened." Not sure if the translation helps any but I tried! Whatever the case, my mother's potrawka has always been a lemon raisin cream sauce served over a bed of chicken rice with chicken. And yes, the juices from the chicken are used in the sauce and rice which makes the flavors work wonderfully together.

Ingredients
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup raisins
1 egg
1 3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 lemon, squeezed
salt to taste
1 1/3 cups uncooked long grain rice
2 2/3 cups chicken stock

whole cooked chicken, broken into parts with skin removed (from chicken stock)
1 egg
salt & pepper to taste
bread crumbs
cooking oil

Directions
For starters & for chicken
1-Make chicken stock with 1 whole chicken, carrot, onion, celery, chicken seasoning and salt
2-Remove chicken from stock, break nto pieces (drumsticks, thighs, breasts & wings) and remove skin.
3-Dip chicken pieces in beaten egg mixed with salt and pepper.
4-Dip into bread crumbs.
5-Fry chicken pieces on low/medium heat until golden brown on all sides.

For sauce
1-Put 3/4 cup of chicken stock in saucepan over medium heat. Add raisins
2-In separate bowl, beat egg, flour, and milk together until smooth.
3-When chicken stock comes to a boil, mix in the milk mixture and allow to come to slow boil. After boiling for about 1 minute, remove from heat.
4-Add sugar, lemon juice and salt to taste.

For rice
1-Cook rice in covered pot with 2 2/3 cups of chicken stock until mixture comes to boil. Set heat to low and simmer until most of liquid is absorbed, adding salt if necessary.

Serve the sauce spooned over the rice and with the chicken on the side.

The next recipe I have for you is a cinnamon cake I tried on a whim. I wanted cinnamon buns but they're too much work, especially considering I have a toaster oven and not a full sized oven. So I decided to make a cinnamon batter cake in mini cake tins. It came out wonderful. The only thing I would change is add raisins to the batter next time. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup milk

Directions
1-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease two small Bundt or cake pans. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside.

2-In another bowl, beat eggs, butter, brown and white sugars and lemon rind until light and fluffy. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3-Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool in pans completely before removing.
4-Serve warm with baked apple pieces with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. Enjoy!

2009-11-26T19:33:00.000+09:00

I have been horrible about cooking and eating out lately. I haven't done much of either lately! I hope that will change soon. So here's a photo of home made pizza at my friend Vicky's house for a girls' night pig out.

And some sausages I fried up over a bed of fried onions. I know, not that impressive but I hope to be back in the kitchen soon!

Cheap & good Korean eats and experiments in the kitchen

2009-11-04T19:23:00.002+09:00

Bachan or side dishes at a traditional Korean Bibimbap restaurant. I love banchan!

My dolsot bibimbap.

Home made mushroom soup I made with meaty mushrooms, carrots, onions and dill among other ingredients. I think the recipe is Hungarian. I ate it with some yogurt swirled in.

Jjolmyun---Korean chewy noodles with a spicy/sour/sweet sauce, lots of veggies and an egg to top it all off. So refreshing!

Home-made Haemul Pajeon or Korean seafood pancake I made from the recipe on Maangchi's blog site. I increased the flour to 1 cup and added plenty of shrimp and oyster! It was good!

Jjampong ramyeon--Ramen noodles in a hot seafood soup.

Sundae or Korean blood/noodle sausage. Similar to kaszanka in Poland except more gelatinous. It came with some liver and kidney slices. You dip the pieces into salt mixed with a bit of hot pepper. Mmmm!

Lunch for two...Tuna kimbap, cheese kimbap, Jjampong ramyeon and sundae. Such a great and cheap feast!

Samgyetang, pajeon, stuffed cabbage and bigos, oh my!

2009-11-02T20:30:00.000+09:00

Rotisserie chickens at a famous resaurant in Seoul--Tosokchon.

The dish the Tosokchon in known for--Samgyetang or Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup. A small whole chicken is stuffed with rice, chestnut, jujube, ginseng and pine nuts among other ingredients, and cooked until tender.

Haemul pajeon or Korean seafood pancake with shrimp and squid, one of my favorite dishes. It's crispy around the edges and tastes great dipped in soy sauce.

I made golambki or Polish stuffed cabbage. Unforunately, I only have the before photo and the rest was eaten before I could take photos.

To make, I boiled one medium head of cabbage until it just went past the bright green point. Removing the leaves and cutting off the thick stem from the leaves, I got ready my filling. I made a mixture of 20 ounces of pork, 1 medium sauteed onion, 1 egg, 1 2/3 cups of long grain rice, salt to taste and pepper to taste. I then layered some parboiled cabbage leaves at the bottom of the pot and sides. I made the cabbage envelopes with about 3 tbsp of meat/rice mixture in each. I then placed the cabbage rolls tightly in the pot and poured enough water over the rolls with about 1 inch of water covering them. I simmered the whole thing on low heat until the cabbage was tender and soft. Before that, I combined 1 large can of tomato paste, 2 tbsp sugar, 6 tbsp of flour and a pinch of salt in a frying pan to make a roux. I added the mixture to the pot and stirred it in well, simmering until the sauce thickened. I let the cabbage rolls cool down a bit before I served them.

A couple of days later, I used the leftover cabbage from the stuffed cabbage to make some bigos. Since I didn't have sauerkraut, I combined thinly sliced cabbage and kimchi to make it. I also added one small thinly sliced onion, half a medium can of tomato sauce, about 8 ounces of sauteed sliced pork, 5 bay leaves, and salt and pepper taste. I simmered everything until soft and tender. When it was all said and done, I discovered that kimchi is a great substitute for sauerkraut!

Cheap eats in Korea

2009-10-23T09:28:00.000+09:00

My dinner the other night...

Omurice or Korean omelet with fried rice inside drizzled with gravy

And goon mandu or fried dumplings with jjolmyun or chewy nooles with a hot, sweet & sour sauce with cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, carrots & other veggies...delicious!

Eating something other than Korean food

2009-10-20T21:29:00.001+09:00

Chinese food in Korea thought I would really call it Korean-Chinese fusion...

Mushrooms over noodles...

Jampong or hot seafood (aka squid) soup

And making Polish food when I've got Korean ingredients handy...

Bigos aka Polish pork, cabbage and sauerkraut stew made with kimchi instead of sauerkraut. Don't know if a Polish person could tell the difference even.

2009-10-18T21:07:00.007+09:00

Due to my own clumsiness, I was without a computer for the last couple of weeks hence the break in my posts. However, I have photos and recipes galore to share from that time. In the next few days, I will post recipes for Polish cabbage slaw, Korean Jajjang and Polish stuffed cabbage (golambki). In the meantime, here's some good food...

Haemul Pajeon or Korean seafood & scallion pancake

Korean fried oysters

Side dishes on a trip to Busan, a coastal city in South Korea

Whole fried fish in Busan

Home made ramen with Busan (vegetable) fishcake, onion, scallion and dried seaweed.

Bungeoppang or Korean fish turnovers with sweet red bean filling.

And Korean delivery...Delivered in a box, ready to eat and then leave the box and dishes by your front door for pick up.

Whew, that was a lot of eating I had to do!

Picnic food

2009-09-28T16:42:00.000+09:00

Went hiking yesterday and brought this for lunch...BLT's

And had a seafood salad sandwich with shrimp, crab and salmon today leftover from yesterday's hike yesterday and a cucumber and tomato salad in vinaigrette.

Mushroom Patties and Mizeria

2009-09-25T13:57:00.003+09:00

This is a recipe I thought up myself thanks to a little research into the proper way to make a veggie patty. On a whim, I bought a bunch of huge, firm mushrooms on sale at the supermarket across the street and was trying to figure out what to make with them. I had been wanting to make pickled mushrooms but didn't have the jars, peppercorns or the right vinegar type to make them. I needed white or wine vinegar and I don't have a clue where to find them in Korea nor do I care to search that far. So I thought a little harder and came up with mushroom patties.

I had probably over a pound of mushrooms so I needed to make something that would be a main dish and use them all up in the process. Since I wasn't sure what the proper way to make them was, I did a search on-line. I came across some Indian mushroom patty recipes but since I'm not adept at Indian cooking, I'm not sure if I'd like the final result enough to eat them all. So I found a Russian recipe, a cuisine I'm much more familiar with. I tweaked it a little but here it is. Please note I cook to taste. The measurements I give are approximations and can be modified according to your taste.

1 1/2 pounds of mushrooms
1 medium onion or 1/2 large onion, julienned & sauteed until golden brown
2 slices of firm bread, soaked in water and them squeezed of excess liquid
1 egg, beaten
salt
pepper
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp marjoram
bread crumbs
olive oil

1- Put the first three ingredients in a food processor and grind so there's still some chunks left. Add the next four ingredients, to taste.
2- Shape into patties and dip both sides in bread crumbs. Fry on low heat in the olive oil on both sides until golden brown.

Serve burger style on white bread with lettuce, cheese and ketchup or serve with a side of buttered and salted millet and a dollop of sour cream.

A good side dish for these patties is a Polish salad called "mizeria" or "misery." I always wondered why my mom called such a good dish by such a miserable name and after doing some research on About.com (I love that site!), I found out that this dish was created by peasants who were referred to as "the miserable ones" in Poland by those with greater wealth. Here's a photo of the dish...

For this recipe, I used:

2 large long cucumbers, peeled and slice thin

salt

1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream*

1 tbsp sugar (optional)

1 tsp vinegar (optional)

pinch salt

fresh chopped dill** (optional)

*I used thick regular fat yogurt instead of sour cream because sour cream is nowhere to be found in Korea except perhaps in Costco where they sell it in a jumbo size. I just don't need that. But sour cream is preferable since it's less sour and more rich than yogurt. Therefore, if you use sour cream, you may want to use less sugar.

**I only recommend fresh dill. It has the strong aroma that's needed. Dried dill doesn't come close and since I can't find fresh dill in Korea, I left this ingredient out of my dish. It's not a necessary component but adds another dimension of flavor to the dish.

1- Put the sliced cucumbers in a collander over a bowl and salt them generously. Leave them in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 an hour so that all the liquids drip down. This will prevent your mizeria from becoming too runny.

2- Take the cucumbers out of the refrigerator, pour the excess liquid out of the bowl and place the cucumbers in the bowl.

3- Mix in the yogurt or sour cream, sugar, vinegar and a pinch of salt. My mother doesn't use sugar and vinegar but you can use it if you so choose, as I did.

Mizeria is a great accompaniment to many Eastern European dishes and especially in the summertime since it's so cooling.

Hold the hot peppers on my Korean food please!

2009-09-23T19:31:00.001+09:00

It feels somewhat strange to eat a Korean dish without hot peppers but I did yesterday for dinner. The dishes of choice were kalguksu

and steamed mandu (meat dumplings). Hey, they rhyme!

More Seoul Eats

2009-09-20T22:24:00.001+09:00

Today's yummy dinner. A spicy soy sauce chicken stew I ate in Myeongdong, Seoul. Wish I remembered the name.

Bibimbap Seoul style

2009-09-19T20:38:00.001+09:00

Today's lunch at the Seoul National University campus. My own "9 Delicacies Bibimbap."

And my friend's "Spicy Squid Bibimbap."

Kopytki aka Polish Potato Dumplings

2009-09-19T10:55:00.004+09:00

The more I live outside the U.S. and outside my parents' home, the more I forget the recipes I grew up with. When my mom used to cook them for the family, I took them for granted but now, I'm starting to crave them...a lot. So my mission now is to recreate all the recipes my mom taught me how to cook or that I watched her cooking so that I never ever forget them. My mother's cuisine is Polish with some Hungarian and Ukrainian elements thrown in.

One of the dishes I've been really craving is kopytki which are small Polish potato dumplings. The word "kopytki" means "hooves" as in on a horse or cow. I guess their shape is what gives them that name. They're similar to gnocchi except less like pasta and more potato-ey and doughy. No two are alike...very rustic. That's the best term to describe Polish cooking. It's not refined or gourmet type food...just hearty and filling.

To make the kopytki (about 5-6 servings), you will need:
4 large potatoes, boiled, mashed and left in the refrigerator overnight*
2 cups all purpose flour
1 egg
1 tsp salt

With the mashed potatoes in a bowl, add the egg and salt and work in the flour a bit at a time until the mixture is firm enough to handle but still very moist. Depending on the moisture in the potatoes and the air, you may require different amounts of flour. You want to use enough to make a soft dough that doesn't stick to your hands and doesn't resemble mashed potatoes. It should not be dry or tough.

Turn the mass of dough out on a slab and knead it until it's smooth and doesn't stick to your hands. Cut it into 4 equal pieces and working with one piece at a time, put the others under an overturned bowl. Keeping the slab lightly coated with flour, make a long rope from the dough and when it's about 1/2-3/4 inch thick (depending on how bit you like your kopytki), cut the dough into 1 inch long pieces diagonally. They will resemble little hoofs.

Sprinkle some flour underneath them and on top to prevent them from sticking. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough and throw about half of the kopytki into a big pot full of boiling salted water. When they float up and stay afloat for about 1-2 minutes, remove them from the pot and drain under cold running water.

*As my mother stresses, it's important to leave the potatoes in the refrigerator overnight because this will deplete them of some of their moisture and you will require less flour. The more flour, the more dense and tough the kopytki, and we want our kopytki to be fluffy and soft.

For toppings, my favorite is toasted bread crumbs. Very simple but surprisingly, very delicious. The crispiness of the bread crumbs contrasts nicely with the chewiness of the kopytki. To make this, saute 1 cup of bread crumbs in 2 tbsp of oil over low heat until golden brown.

Toss the kopytki in the bread crumbs.

An alternative albeit more cholesterol laden topping is bacon in its own fat. You might scream out "cholesterol alert!" upon reading this but eaten in moderation, nothing is that bad for you. To make the bacon topping, just saute some finely chopped bacon in a pan and pour the entire thing over the kopytki. You can opt to fry the kopytki in the pan too to make them golden brown and crispy (photo coming soon!) It's quite delicious.

The third topping type I like is a meal of "klopsy w mlekiem" or meatballs in milk sauce. I grew up with this dish and love it but to somebody non-Polish or non-Eastern European, it may sound unusual. In any case, I'll show how to make it very soon!

Leftovers are what great meals are made of!

2009-09-14T21:36:00.003+09:00

I'm the kind of person who likes to use up what I have at home and make something great from it...well, ideally that's the way it should turn out! This is probably compounded by the fact that I always have so many raw ingredients lying around that I'm constantly running out of refrigerator and cabinet space! So looking through my fridge and cabinets yesterday, I found that I had a bunch of random veggies in my fridge, some rice in my freezer and some leftover salmon from the other day's sushi. I also had some Korean rice seasoning, pictured below, which contains tiny pieces of shrimp, anchovies and seaweed. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to make vegetable seafood fried rice!

I like my food with a lot of veggies so I added more than the usual amount you find in most fried rices and I just threw together what I had handy so by all means, modify the recipe according to your preferences and what you have on hand. Fried rice is something that is hard to go wrong on it seems. I also didn't want chunks of seafood but just a hint of flavor so I used very little fish. In order to make my seafood vegetable fried rice, I used the following ingredients:

2 tbsp oil
1/3-1/2 cup each of diced carrots, diced onion, diced green pepper, diced Korean squash (like zucchini only firmer and sweeter w/less seeds), sweet canned corn, chopped green onion and sliced mushrooms
4 sesame leaves, chopped fine
2 packets rice seasoning
2-3 ounces salmon, chopped fine
3-4 cups rice (I used Korean mixed rice)
2 eggs, beaten
salt
pepper

I first heated the oil in a deep skillet over medium heat and added the carrots, onions and green peppers, seasoning with some salt and sauteeing for about 4 minutes or until the onion was sweet but not browned.

I then added the salmon and rice seasoning and cooked for another 2 minutes or until the salmon was cooked through.

Next, I added the remaining vegetables--mushrooms, corn, Korean squash, green onions and sesame leaves, cooking for another 4 minutes and seasoning with more salt and some pepper.

After that, I added the rice and mixed it in well with a bit more salt once again.

For my last step, I pushed some of the fried rice mixture to the side of the pan and poured in the beaten eggs, concentrating the heat on the part of the pan that had the eggs. I cooked them scrambled egg style until they started firming up and then incorporated them into the rest of the rice.

This is the finished product!

I prepared a lunch with the fried rice, some breaded pork chops I had frozen a couple of weeks back and some red and orange cherry tomatoes, and I plan to eat it tomorrow. It makes for a delicious meal!

If I can make sushi, so can you!

2009-09-13T00:05:00.040+09:00

I originally started making sushi in Seoul because I couldn't find my favorite maki rolls in any of the sushi establishments I visited. The sushi I tried here was mostly Korean style with Korean style ingredients which I'm not a fan of. Then there's the slice of raw fish over rice they sell here which isn't bad but what I was really craving was American style sushi. Specifically, I love the spicy rolls...spicy salmon, tuna, yellowtail, crab...you name it.

So in an attempt to satisfy my cravings, I started doing some research on-line and compiled everything I learned to make my own sushi so it's just the way I like it. I've gotten consistently great results with my spicy salmon roll. It's hard to achieve beautiful looking rolls but the flavor is to die for so I decided to share my recipe with you!

To start off, you'll need the following important ingredients...
3 cups of cooked rice (Japanese or Korean)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
12 ounces fresh raw salmon, chopped coarsely
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp hot pepper powder
6 sesame leaves, chopped fine
6 pieces of nori in Japanese or laver in Korean (seaweed wrapper)
black sesame seeds
soy sauce
wasabi

Pictured below are some of the ingredients. I used microwavable rice for its convenience. You just pop it in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes and it's ready! However, if you make the rice from scratch, follow the package directions. The Korean hot pepper powder I used because I can't find the Thai Sriracha sauce that's usually called for without paying a hefty sum. Korean ingredients are just plain cheap in Korea so it's better for me to use them. The last picture is the seaweed wrapper that's required for sushi making.

Making sushi works in steps and the first step is preparing the seasoning for the rice, the sushi vinegar. Sushi is actually the Japanese name for the rice used in making said product and thereby, a vital ingredient. To make the sushi rice, you'll need the cooked rice, rice vinegar, sugar and salt. The amounts I gave will be enough sushi rice for 6 rolls. The rice needs to be either Japanese or Korean because both these types are short grain and very sticky. You cannot make sushi with fluffy rice like regular long grain, Jasmine, Thai, Basmati, etc. because it will not stick together.

Put the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pot and heat over low heat on the stove until all the sugar is dissolved and then cool to room temperature. Fold the mixture into the hot rice, making sure not to crush the rice grains. Cool to room temperature. You can make less rice (1 cup for 2 rolls for example) and just refrigerate the rest of the sushi vinegar. You'll need about 2 tbsp of sushi vinegar for 1 cup of rice.

After the rice is done cooling, you can start making the spicy salmon filling for the sushi. You'll need the salmon, mayonnaise, hot pepper powder, sesame leaves and sesame oil. The proportions I give in the ingredient list are the proportions I particularly like but by all means, feel free to make the sushi according to your taste. I like my rolls spicy so I add at least 1 1/2 tsp of hot pepper powder though this may be too much for sensitive tongues. I use low fat mayo because it tastes just as good to me without being too greasy. I don't have access to Japanese Kewpie mayo which is usually called for in sushi recipes and which contains rice vinegar. The sesame leaves I tried on a whim because I had no green onions lying around which are usually called for in spicy rolls as well. I actually love the results with sesame leaves and plan to make my sushi rolls that way from now on. So basically, you mix all the ingredients above together. This is how the mixture looks like...

The next step is assembling the sushi. I work with the whole sheet of seaweed and then cut off any extra length after I'm done. I will explain how to make a regular roll with the seaweed on the outside and an inside out roll with it on the inside. The inside out roll is for those who don't like the way that the seaweed looks which is usually the Western consumer. The regular type roll is the classic Japanese style roll.

First, for the regular hand roll, put the seaweed on a sushi mat, rough side up. Spread about 1/2 cup of rice as thinly as possible, starting from one edge and working your way out. Make sure to keep your hands moist to avoid the rice from sticking. Using your hands works best so I don't bother with spoons. Here's a photo of how the rice should look...

After that, spread 1/6 of the salmon mixture if you're preparing the whole recipe or about 2 ounces in a an elongated arrangement down the center of the sushi rice, as pictured.

Next, roll up the entire roll as tightly as possible from the side with the rice on the edge. Make sure you have enough rice to seal the roll so that none of the salmon filling seeps out and if necessary, moisten the seaweed with some water to keep the roll closed. Cut off the extra seaweed and discard. This is for the regular roll.

For the inside out roll, after spreading the rice on the seaweed, put a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the rice and flip the entire thing over. The plastic wrap should now be touching the sushi mat. Place the salmon down the middle as described above and also roll up the entire thing as tightly as possible. There should be a bit more rice on an inside out roll because the outer edge should seal the roll closed with that extra bit of rice. We don't want the seaweed sticking out of the roll in an inside out roll. Make sure to cut off as much excess seaweed as possible because of this. When you're done, roll the entire roll in some black sesame seeds.

The two finished rolls should look like this... Then put the rolls on a chopping board and with a large moistened, non-serrated knife, start cutting the rolls into 3/4 inch slices. Keeping the knife and your hands moist with water will prevent the rice from sticking and making a mess of the sushi. This is very important. Arrange the sushi on your sushi plate as pictured below and shape it with your knife to make it look more symmetrical since raw fish usually is very soft. Dip the sushi in a mixture of soy sauce and wasabi. Last but not least, savor it and enjoy!

First shot at Fusion cooking...sort of

2009-09-08T20:41:00.009+09:00

My life in Seoul has gotten me in contact with foods I've never eaten before and the more I eat them, the more they grow on me. My current favorite is the sesame leaf which by the way has no relation to the sesame seed. It's so aromatic and is supposed to be part of the mint family though its smell and aroma is all its own! According to Wikipedia, sesame leaves are immune system stimulants so all the more reason to eat them in bunches. They're popular in Asian cuisine but it seems that in Korea, they're almost a staple.

To the left are bunches of sesame leaves I bought at the supermarket across the street for 990 won. That's less than a dollar for at least 50 invidividual leaves! I have no clue what I'll do with them all but I can't find them in smaller amounts. They seem to go so well with meat, fish and soup so my gears are currently turning! Hmmm...

I especially love sesame leaves in tuna kimbap. Called chamchi kimbap in Korean, it's Korea's answer to sushi except bigger, heartier and cheaper. Here's a photo of some chamchi kimbap made with sesame leaves I get for 2,000 won at one of my favorite eateries in my neighborhood. As is customary in Korea, the soup and kimchi are free as are refills. The
chamchi kimbap inspired me to make an Asian fusion dish of sorts. After all, living in Korea, there's just some ingredients that are hard to come by that I could otherwise easily find in the U.S. So it makes perfect sense to use what you can get and make new, slightly altered dishes from that. Besides, the idea of making fusion food brings out the chef in all of us!

So I decided to start out small with a fusion dish simply titled "Sesame Leaf Tuna Salad." Nothing complicated. Just mix up...
1-6 ounce can of chunk light tuna in oil or water, drained
2-3 tbsp of chopped green pepper
2-3 tbsp canned corn
3 sesame leaves, chopped coarsely
a splash of rice vinegar
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
salt to taste
pepper to taste

It's tasty eaten on an open sesame leaf with a slice of Italian style sliced bread. I really loved the simplicity of it and especially the aroma of the sesame leaves permeating the through the salad and my mouth as I ate it! Here's a photo and I hope you try it and see for yourself!