FoodyFoody Posts

Lots of folks have asked for my Thanksgiving/Xmas Pumpkin Curry Soup recipe so I’m happy to share it with you all:

• 1 Can Pumpkin
• Equal parts Vegetable Broth & Water
• Golden Curry Mix (Spicy) (4 -5 “mini blocks”)
• Honey (1/4 -1/2 cup)
• Salt
• Nutmeg (1 tsp)
• Ground Clove (1 tsp)
• Cinnamon (1 tsp)
• Curry Powder (4 tsp)
• Cornstarch
• SourCream and Fresh Chopped Cilantro to Garnish

Again, I don’t really measure things and depending on how much you’re making and your personal tastes, you can always tweak this recipe to your liking.
These are my base ingredients.

First off, I put the vegetable broth & water in a big pot and bring it up to medium/high.

I then chop up the curry mix to make it super quick/easy to dissolve and toss into the water.
Add in the honey, and spices (except the salt) and the cornstarch (dissolved in cold water first, of course).

The baseline consistancy should be of a thin curry … like of a nice creamy tomato soup.

Bring to quick boil and skim off the foam. Bring down to a medium/medium low heat.

Then you crack open and toss in the Pumpkin. Not pie filling, just 100% pure pumpkin.

You go from a funky green/brown color to a beautiful mellow orange.

At this point, taste & tweak the seasoning to add salt, and if necessary, continue to thicken just a little bit. Sweet tooth? A touch more honey. Ideally, you hit a nirvana point of it being more curry spicy and pumpkin rich. The point of the soup by itself is that it *should* be very strong in curry taste. That’s why you don’t serve it by itself.
Right before you serve, you pull out your fresh cilantro and sour cream. Whip up the sour cream just a little bit. Chop roughly your cilantro.
Right before serving, sprinkle your fresh cilantro on the top and add a dollop of sour cream to the center. Serve while toasty warm.

Go Yum.

Here’s my recipe and instructions for making Jjapchae – korean noodles.

There are no measurements because, frankly, I don’t really use them and if you want measurements you can find them in other recipes online.

Ingredients:

1. Cellophane Noodles
2. Onions
3. Garlic
4. Spinach
5. Eggs
6. Carrots
7. Shitake Mushrooms
8. Soy Sauce
9. Sugar
10. Sesame Oil
11. Mirin
12. Garlic Powder
13. Salt & Pepper
14. Sesame Seets

First Steps: Making the Eggs! – Whip them up. Fry in a non stick pan. Salt & Pepper to Taste and cut into thin strips.

Next up: Spinach. Sautte lightly in salt, pepper, & olive oil.

Next up: Carrots. Use a mandolin to cut into as thin slices as possible. Sautte lightly in salt, pepper, & olive oil.

Next up: Mushrooms and Onions: Slice into thin strips. Sauttee together and season with soysauce pepper and little olive oil. I use soysauce instead of salt here as Mushrooms tend to superabsorb flavors and seasonings and I have more control with soy sauce than salt for even distribution of yum.
Yes that’s a lot of olive oil from the sounds of it. But it’s not really. And it’s a healthy oil. So shut the fuck up.

Next up the Noodles. Boil per the directions on the package an then rinse in cold water and drain well. Put the noodles into an everyday pan. I have this one.

Toss and season on medium low heat with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, sugar, pepper, and Mirin.

And then!

OOhhhh

Put it all together.

And toss!

When presenting the final product, sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Ingredients

• 4 Frozen chicken breasts
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Garlic
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/2 Onion
• 1 Cup Organic Vegetable Stock
• 1 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup
• Some Bisquick (Yes, I said Bisquick) & Powdered or Real Milk
• 1/2 Cup of white wine
• Italian herbs & Salt/Pepper to taste
• Serves 4. Or 2 really really hungry people.
• Recommended Bev: Pinot Noir
• Recommended side: Small salad of tossed spinach leaves w/ peeled & chopped oranges & almond slivers.

Instructions

1. Toss sliced onion & garlic into the largets sauce pan you got with Olive Oil and cook on medium until the onions are transparent and the garlic stinks up your kitchen something awesome.
2. No fear on the dethaw of the chicken. Toss it in with the balsamic vinegar, 1/4 of the Vegetable stock & maple syrup. Cook on medium low for 15 minutes. Make sure that chicken breasts are amptly covered in the liquid. Sauce should reduce by about 1/3rd.
3. Remove chicken breasts, toss herbs & salt/pepper to the top to taste. If you’ve done your job right, you will not need any flavoring to add on it. Move them breasts, now totally cooked and ultra juicy, from the pan and put on a plate and kept to warm
4. Make up some dumplings per the recipe on the Bisquick box. No, seriously.
5. To the sauce, add 1 cup water and remaining 3/4 cup veggie stock. Also, half cup of white wine.
6. Cook up them dumplings in liquid
7. Wisk any remaining dumpling bits/starch from the pan into the liquid and reduce to a lovely lumpy awesomelish gravy.
8. Eat. Eat some more. Eat. Eat. Eat.

That someday bacon would do me right.

News article worth clicking. Seriously.

Hattip to Oliver.

French Vanilla Organic yogurt + Apple Butter = Guilt Free YUM!

Give me two bowls please and feel free to put the cereal on top.

Or not.

A bacon recipe blog.

I think I’m in love.

Bacon w/ Brown Rice

Originally uploaded by minjungkim.

An Ode to Last Night’s Meal

Bacon crisp and sweet
My tongue is delirious
Brown rice for my heart

Bacon inside.

Originally uploaded by minjungkim.

For those of you who thought I exagerated slightly re: my affinity for Bacon, I present to you my most current purchase, delivered here at work.

1 lb. of each: Original Country, Old Fashioned, Original City(mild flavored), and Pepper Coated City Bacon.

From Burger’s Smokehouse

YES. THAT’S 4 LBS of BACON!

Runs on bacon

Originally uploaded by factoryjoe.

I so want this.

Yes. Pretty pretty please?

Who else is in?

Cook for them.

Shish ka bobs.

Beautiful gorgeous shish ka bobs.

People will follow you around and want to suckle the sweet marinade off your fingers.

Or at least point out that you have charred little onion bits mixed into the mushroom and tomato guts on your face from having inhaled the bits in a rabid frenzy.

It’s oh so sexy. I mean seriously.

Key tips re: Shish Kabobing.

#1. Soak your skewers in water. As long as you can have the foresight for this. Otherwise you will cry. Bitterly.

#2. Buy a variety of colorful vegs that don’t behave bitterly under the flame. This evening I went with onions, cherry tomatoes, red and orange bell peppers, squash, pineapple, and mushrooms. I eschew green peppers. They get too bitter for me. Red onion and white onions add a nice snap. When selecting mushrooms choose in order of priority firmness, color, and balance with the other sized bits going on your skewer. Funny how less than $65 worth of ingredients can make about 50 kabobs and turn you into BBQ superhero. Alton Brown would be so proud of me. I bought just under 2Lbs of beef that I had the butcher select and cut fresh for me before we headed over. A quick 20 minute Korean style marinade of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, rice wine, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds with fresh black pepper and chopped chives.

#3. A quick marinade either homemade vinaigrette or bottle of salad dressing always is a nice zing for the veg’s. I like the Girard champaign salad dressing. Marvy, quick, simple, and damn tasty. Extra garlic or garlicky powder and fresh black pepper are good zing it up a touch as well. Mushrooms go in last into the marinade as they absorb the flavors the quickest. Squash and peppers should go first. Don’t even bother with the tomatoes. They get plenty enough flavor just over flame.

#4. Poke your friends in the ribs and make them help. You have sharp pointy sticks. (Those skewers) If they are not motivated to help you, poke them with said sharp pointy stick. Wow! It works!

#5. Have lots of large platters: ie: 1 veggie uncooked platter of kabobs =>1 veggie cooked platter of kabobs + 1 platter of meaty tasty uncooked kabobs => 1 platter of meaty tasty perfectly medium rare kabobs.

#6. Make sure that whoever’s Manning the grill RESERVES enough of your labor of love for you to eat. By the time I got done with the laughing squid party this evening, there were scarcely 3 of my lovely tasty meaty kabobs left. I shared with my cohorts. But man, I could have had at least 1 more.

All I can say is…. Damn. I’m good.

I am eating

* Home-made white pepper/white cornmeal polenta

with

* Home-made Alfredo sauce souped up with a dash of Soju, some peas, and home roasted ham.

And this would be my slumming on the couch eats.

I think I rock.

I’m so professional.

Most professional moment of the day?
Eating sloppy black bean sauce noodles at my desk (Instant Jja Jjang Mien) out of a Shwag Giftbasket bowl that used to hold cookies and popcorn.

And being caught slurping loudly while on a conference call.

Nice.

Lunch: Bacon Cheeseburger w/ Fries
Dinner: Sino/Korean deepfried feast
* Deepfried potstickers
* Tang Soo Yok (Sino/Korean sweet & sour pork)
* Gham Ppoongi (Sino/Korean sweet ginger/garlic chicken wings)
* Loads of little panchan (veggie side dishes and kimchi’s)

Care of the amazing Two Sisters Restaurant on 5th between Clement and Geary.
I ordered take out and was amazed with their generosity in little panchan!
3 types of kimchi, soybeans, broccoli, radish root, dried anchovies, more vegetables and….
Oh.My.Gawd. – Raw white onion. And a little tub of black bean paste.

In sino/korean OG school fashion,
I am chomping on slices of raw onion
splashed with strong white vinegar
and then dipped into a salty dense flavored black bean paste.

I’m in heaven.

The white onion is actually quite mild and when splashed with the vinegar, almost sweet and crunches like a slice of apple or celery.
Seriously. And it cuts through the black bean paste to a near overwhelming delight in taste.

To you, perhaps it sounds weird. To me: hurray.

Sino0Korean cuisine as I call it, is neither traditional pure Korean cuisine nor is it your typical Chinese cuisine. It’s something totally other. I don’t know if it’s what Chinese people think is Korean food or what Korean folks think is Chinese food but if you’re lucky to find a place that does JjaJjang Myun (mien), Ggham poongi, or Tang soo yok, then bless your stars. You’re in for a treat.

I quit smoking now 2 weeks ago. I figure I’m allowed to eat whatever the hell I want until I get over this hump of detox.Today has got to be my most unhealthy but tasty eating indulgence day *ever*. After another week I’ll be ready to move onto a normal diet again and moderate excercise. Walked nearly 30 blocks yesterday. That actually felt pretty awesome.

I have really cool blackbean onion vinegar breath right now. Who wants a kiss?

Ok,.

If after a beer at home. and it’s like… 1:30 am,
and you decide it’s a good time to start cooking Kimchi Jjigeh…
and you’re like .. slicing up very spicy green peppers…

DO NOT accidentally lick your fingers.

Holy SHIT are my lips hot right now.

(ba dum bum)