Apricosa

Ratatouille Open-faced Sandwiches

2012-01-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

I confess, whenever I think of "ratatouille," the first thing that comes into my mind is the movie, rather than this delicious dish. Is it the same for you? I can't help it, being that I didn't even know what ratatouille truly was until well after seeing the film. But now that this dish of sauteed eggplant, bell pepper, onion, zucchini, and tomato is growing on me, visions of animated chefs are thankfully receding and my mind tends more towards thoughts of Provence, from whence ratatouille hails.

Each ingredient is sauteed separately, consistent with French "Chef of the Century" Joël Robuchon's recommendation, ensuring that the vegetables retain their distinct flavors and characteristics. They are then combined and simmered together until they meld into one united dish.

Ratatouille can be eaten as a side dish, or it can be the main part of a delightful vegetarian meal, serving it over pasta, potatoes, or bread. And it's a great way to eat your vegetables! My family and I enjoyed it very much for a simple lunch recently, spooned over crusty slices of toasted baguette and a smear of soft brie cheese.

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These ratatouille open-faced sandwiches would make a fantastic addition to a spread of appetizers, or a savory part of a brunch. Just thinking about the sweet and tangy, soft vegetables over some good, crunchy bread is making me hungry for more!

Ratatouille
Makes 6 servings

3 cups diced eggplant

2 tsp. sea salt

2 cups diced zucchini

2 cups diced yellow bell pepper

1 ½ cups diced mushroom

1 cup thinly sliced onion

1 cup white wine

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes

½ tsp. dried thyme

½ tsp. dried basil

Salt and pepper

1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

Olive oil, for cooking

Place diced eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt. Let drain for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, working in batches, prepare the vegetables: heat a few tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the diced zucchini, then the bell pepper, then the diced mushroom, transferring cooked vegetables to a work bowl to keep warm, and adding more olive oil in between batches as needed.

Sauté the sliced onion, and when onion is soft, add the minced garlic and cook for about a minute. Deglaze the pan with white wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and then add the diced tomatoes and herbs. Stir the sauce to combine the ingredients well and bring to a boil, then gently fold in all the sautéed vegetables and cover pan. Lower heat and simmer vegetables for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow flavors to meld. Season with balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

As a serving suggestion, thickly cut French bread and toast the slices. Spread toasted slices with a soft cheese such as brie or chevre and spoon ratatouille over. Makes a delicious open-faced sandwich for lunch or snack!

Apple Pandowdy with Tangerine Cream

2012-01-23T23:41:00.000-08:00

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Winter in Southern California is pretty sweet. Sunbathing at the end of December? Check. Navel oranges and tangerines hanging ripe on the trees in January? Of course. How could I ever want to move away from here! (Sigh, yes, sometimes I do think about it, especially since I'll be needing to find a job this coming June....)

Stepping out of the house right now, I can pick a bowlful of fresh fruit from trees mere paces away. One of my favorites are the sweet and tart little tangerines that we have. They're cute and cheery, easily peeled snacks that are packed with Vitamin C. My sister and I would eat them all the time when we played outside as kids, pretending we were foraging and living off the land in some wild country. As we did then, we still eat these guys just as they are, segment by segment. But over the years I've been collecting interesting recipes that use them in creative ways.

Going through my recipe clippings a couple weeks ago, I came across this one for tangerine cream from Ford's Filling Station. Actually, the focus was more on the pear buckle, which was finished off with a dollop of cream, but for me, it was the tangerine-scented cream that really stood out. The rest of the recipe, with its oodles of butter and sugar, left me more than a little aghast.

With the inspiration in place, however, it was easy to make some tweaks and I ended up with this delectable apple pandowdy. What is a pandowdy, you ask? Well, I didn't know this myself until I delved into the mysteries of cobblers versus crisps versus grunts versus buckles, but a pandowdy is a baked dessert in which a bottom layer of fruit is topped by a rolled-out crust. Here, slices of Golden Delicious and Fuji apples soften and start to caramelize while a rich crust, fragrant with cardamom (yes I'm on an apple-cardamom kick!), sits golden and crunchy on top.

You can bake these up in individual ramekins for quick and easy serving, or, if you'd rather save time on the preparation end of things, simply assemble in a single shallow baking dish. The tangerine cream is absolutely marvelous, so be sure you have a couple of tangerines on hand!

Apple Pandowdy with Tangerine Cream
Inspired by Ford's Filling Station, in Bon Appetit October 2010
Serves 8-10

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup flour

3 pounds apples (Golden Delicious and Fuji)
2 Tbs. cornstarch
2 Tbs. (packed) brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. vanilla extract

for the tangerine cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. superfine sugar
1 tsp. finely grated tangerine zest
2 Tbs. tangerine juice

Beat together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, cardamom, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly mix in the flour until well incorporated and dough clumps together, but do not over mix. Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour to overnight.

Peel, core, and slice apples into 1/4-inch slices. Toss with cornstarch, brown sugar, ginger, and vanilla and spread evenly in an 8 x 10-inch pan.

Roll the dough out to fit the pan and place over the apples. Cut about a dozen 1-inch steam vents over the surface of the dough, and bake in a preheated oven at 400 F for 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown and apples are soft. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes.

While pandowdy is cooling, whip heavy cream together with sugar, tangerine zest, and tangerine juice until soft peaks form. Scoop servings of pandowdy into dessert bowls and top with freshly whipped tangerine cream.

Cardamom Custard Puffed Apple Pancake

2012-01-16T23:39:00.000-08:00

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With my sister and my sweet nephew Teo visiting from across the country this week, I wanted to make a special breakfast for them. And this lovely Cardamom Custard Puffed Apple Pancake really fit the occasion. I've made puffed pancakes before, and they are perfect for a family breakfast. It all gets baked up in one dish, so you're not stuck flipping pancakes at the stove. It was so nice to simply whisk it up and pop it in the oven, and then when it was done, getting to sit down to breakfast with the rest of the crowd.

Nothing is so exciting for a three-year-old boy as seeing explosions, so I had a lot of fun with Teo peeking through the oven window as our pancake puffed and swelled like a souffle during baking. He got such a kick out of watching it grow! And he was even more excited when it came time to eat it. He must've been the biggest eater at the breakfast table this morning, eating two servings and mooching off his mama's plate too!

Thin slices of Golden Delicious apples are first slightly caramelized in the baking dish, and then the batter is poured over and baked until it rises into a glorious puff (sadly the pancake deflates once you take it out of the oven...ah well). I love how the edges of the pancake get nice and crusty while at the center of the pan it stays soft and custardy. And the scent of vanilla and cardamom is heavenly! My conclusion? This is a no-fuss breakfast that's great for everyone in the family: fancy enough to get oohs and ahs from my mother, satisfying enough for my father, and tasty enough to be devoured by my nephew. It's low in fat, low in sugar (don't want the little guy crashing off of a sugar high!), a good source of protein, and it has fruit in it too. My family fueled up on this and then headed out for a leisurely morning walk along the beach. It was fantastic being together, watching Teo's antics and letting our own inner kids come out, having some family fun in the brisk January sunshine.

Cardamom Custard Puffed Apple Pancake

Makes 4-5 Servings

2 Tbs. salted butter

2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
4 large eggs

3 Tbs. sugar

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. ground cardamom

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place butter in a 9 x 13 - inch baking dish and place dish in oven until hot and butter has melted. Fan apple slices over the surface of the melted butter and return to oven for 10 minutes, until apples are softened and the edges of the dish are beginning to brown.

In a deep bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar, then whisk in milk, vanilla, salt, and cardamom. Fold in flour and then blend with an immersion stick blender until completely smooth. (Alternatively, mix all ingredients in a blender.)

Pour batter over the softened apples in the baking dish and return to the oven. Bake until pancake is puffed and deep golden brown along the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Wine Cakes with Red Grapes

2012-01-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

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With my aunt and uncle from Germany in town, I thought I'd bake some of these individual wine cakes with grapes for a family Kaffeetrinken one recent winter afternoon. It's a recipe that I've been meaning to try out ever since I read it in an issue of Gourmet two years ago--it sounded marvelous--but then I don't know what happened, and here I am two years later, finally getting around to it. Actually, I know what happened. My stacks and stacks of dog-eared and book-marked Gourmet magazines attest loudly that I was facing an onslaught of too many interesting recipes to try and not enough time. Isn't that how it often goes? With hard copies of Gourmet no longer being produced (sadness!), I now at least have some respite from a monthly subscription to catch up on the cooking. (I've also vowed not to buy any cookbooks--at least until I try every single one of those marked recipes!)

If anyone remembers the January 2009 issue, it was a stunningly beautiful spread of Italian dishes, from gorgeous spaghetti and meatballs to sauteed broccoli rabe and risottos. Included was a recipe for these cakelets, a perfect, not-too-sweet ending to an Italian meal. It sounded like it would be just the thing for a German Kaffeetrinken as well. And it was! Though it originally calls for vin santo (an Italian dessert wine), this recipe also works wonderfully with a nice sweet moscato, something that is more easily found in stores around here (and is more affordable, to boot).

It was so nice sitting around the table, reunited after not seeing each other for so long, catching up on how the various cousins and second cousins are doing, getting bits of news from the mother country. Chit-chatting in German about little daily matters and enjoying a restful late afternoon together over cake. Discussing the best way to cook schnitzel, the relative merits of German autos, my cousin's hunt for an apartment in Nürnberg. Times like these come rarely, but when they do, I am all the more grateful for them. They are a welcome break from the daily pattern of Southern California life, reminding me that life is not just about "me," but rather that I belong to a tapestry of family that extends around the world and back into centuries past. Reconnecting with family like this brings back to mind what is important in life. It doesn't hurt that there's cake on the table, either!

Wine Cakes with Grapes
Recipe from Gourmet, January 2009
Makes 6-12 individual cakes, depending on size

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
2/3 cup Moscato or other sweet wine
1 1/4 cups seedless red grapes (7 ounces)

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Generously butter muffin cups (a jumbo pan with 6-8 oz. cups or a regular pan with 12-4 oz. cups) and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

In one bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat butter with 2/3 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in orange zest.

Add flour mixture in 2 batches alternately with wine, beginning and ending with flour and mixing until just incorporated.

Toss grapes with remaining tablespoon flour, then fold into batter.

Divide batter among muffin cups. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Bake until golden and springy to the touch (18-20 minutes for jumbo cups and about 15 minutes for regular cups). Cool in pan 5 minutes, then loosen with a knife and remove. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Kimchi Fried Rice (김치 볶음밥)

2012-01-05T20:47:00.000-08:00

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I simply must share with you one of the easiest go-to meals ever. And the most addictive. It's comfort food like none other, and it probably ranks as one of the most frequently made dishes in the repertoire of Korean bachelors and students. It's kimchi fried rice, or kimchi bokkeumbap (김치 볶음밥).

Visiting Korea last summer, I was so thrilled to get to have kimchi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Now, not everybody in the States has as strong an affinity for this spicy fermented cabbage as I have, but wondrously, cooking kimchi (whether by boiling it in a soup, or frying it up with rice) removes some of the pungent fermented aroma that is so off-putting for many Westerners and transforms it into a downright flavorful vegetable. The savory taste of cooked kimchi is truly delicious.

One of my favorite memories from my time in Korea was sitting down to breakfast with a colleague and his family. His wife had made kimchi bokkeumbap for breakfast, and it was one of the tastiest meals ever. I was delighted when she told me how to make it, and since then, I've made it a number of times, the most recent occasion being a breakfast for me and my brother. We sat down to steaming bowls of rice fried with kimchi and sauteed onions and topped with a sesame-scented fried egg. Ah, it was so delicious, breaking the yolk and stirring the egg into the rice, and eating it by big spoonfuls! I can happily report that this recipe is brother-approved.

Well-fermented kimchi yields the best results, as it provides a depth of flavor not had from freshly-made kimchi. And cold rice yields the best texture (as freshly steamed rice could result in a mushy mash), so this tasty and speedy meal is a convenient use for leftovers. Enjoy!

Kimchi Fried Rice (김치 볶음밥)
Makes 2 servings

sesame oil, for cooking
1 cup diced onion
2 cups cold, cooked rice
1-2 Tbs. gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
1 1/2 cups chopped kimchi (and 1-2 Tbs. juices)
minced green onion for garnish (optional)
2 eggs

In a large non-stick pan, saute onion in a little sesame oil until onions are cooked and translucent. Add the rice and stir to break up any clumps of rice and mix together with the onion. Gochujang burns easily in the pan, so for best preparation, make an even bed of rice in the pan and then scoop the gochujang on top. Add the chopped kimchi and any collected juices on top and use the kimchi to loosen up the gochujang and slowly stir it into the rice.

As rice is cooking, fry up the eggs in some sesame oil in a separate pan. Divide fried rice among serving bowls, sprinkle with green onions, and top with a fried egg.

Let's celebrate!

2011-12-31T11:43:00.000-08:00

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This past year has been absolutely incredible. It's been a year of new adventures and new friendships, a year of learning and growth. I've been listening to my heart more and more through this whole food blogging thing, trying to synthesize my love of food with my passion for building deeper understanding and appreciation between world cultures. I'm so thankful for having you join me here at Apricosa, following my heartfelt joy in the Italian and German flavors of my heritage and cheering me on (or simply tolerating, heh) my growing excitement for Korean and Chinese food. I love sharing these things, and I feel so grateful for you, your kind words and encouragement.

The end of the year is always a time of reflection for me, and it is also a time full of celebration. Celebration of what has been and of what is to come. Then there is Advent, Christmas, and New Year's on our family calendar, as well as a good number of birthdays! When it comes to making the birthday cakes, that project generally falls to me, and it is a lot of fun to brainstorm with the birthday "child," get inspiration from their preferences, and make those cake wishes a reality.

For my brother's birthday, he asked if he could have some sort of cake with fruit. Being that his birthday falls at the end of December, we don't have too many fresh fruits around here other than apples and citrus. Neither of us were really clicking with those options, but then I remembered that some friends of the family had gifted us over the summer with pounds and pounds of exquisite peaches and plums from their farm, and we'd frozen them down to enjoy over the winter. I kept thinking about our beloved German-style sahnetortes, and when I came across a recipe for peach melba cake, my cake plan began to form.

Here, soft and moist vanilla buttermilk cake is layered with peaches and whipped cream and topped with a raspberry sauce. This turned out light and fruity and totally fulfilled my brother's birthday cake dreams. Yay! And as a side note, can I just say how good it is to eat a cake that does not have buttercream frosting all over it? Everyone at the table agreed that this cake really does beat those sugary frosted things hollow. The fluffy peach-scented cream, the peaches and raspberries in beautiful contrast, and the nice soft cake made each bite a delight.

So it's time to celebrate! We've got the cake and candles. Light your sparklers and put on your party clothes. You know it's time! I wish you all a joyful and prosperous 2012. Happy New Year!

Peach Melba Whipped Cream Cake
Inspired by Epicurious
Serves 8

6 Tbs. softened butter (plus more for greasing the pan)
½ cup granulated sugar
2 small eggs, room temperature
¾ tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbs. fresh peach juice*
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¾ cup low-fat buttermilk

2 cups peaches (thawed or canned), sliced*
Whipped Cream Torte Filling (see recipe below)
1 cup frozen raspberries, plus 8 whole raspberries for garnish
1 tsp. sugar

Butter an 8-inch round spring form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla and peach juice.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; add flour to the creamed mixture in two additions, alternating with buttermilk. Mix just until each addition has been incorporated, avoiding over-mixing.

Divide batter into the prepared pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the cake in its pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto the rack, peel off wax paper, and cool completely.

To assemble the cake, first trim the domed top off the cake using a long, thin bread knife. Split cake horizontally, then place one half on a serving platter. Arrange peach slices all over, then spread half of the whipped cream filling over. Place the second cake half on top and press gently to bind. Spread the remaining whipped cream over the top and decorate with whole raspberries. Heat the 1 cup frozen raspberries and sugar until hot and bubbling, then transfer to a serving bowl. Chill cake for 30 minutes, then slice and serve with raspberry sauce.

Whipped Cream Torte Filling
1 ½ tsp. gelatin
¼ cup peach juice*
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs. superfine sugar
2 Tbs. peach juice
1 Tbs. Cointreau
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream, very cold

Stir together the gelatin and ¼ cup peach juice in a microwave-safe bowl and let sit until the gelatin is softened. Whisk in the 1 tablespoon superfine sugar and 2 tablespoons peach juice. Heat in microwave until bubbling, whisking to ensure gelatin and sugar have dissolved. Let cool, then whisk in the egg yolk (to cook the yolk, keeping it smooth and fluid without scrambling it). Mix in Cointreau and let gelatin mixture cool, but do not let gelatin harden.

In a cold bowl, beat heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form, and stream in the gelatin mixture and incorporate thoroughly. If cream appears too fluid for spreading on the cake, chill in the refrigerator or freezer, stirring occasionally, until it sets up.

*Note: I really liked how soft the peaches were after having been frozen down; they paired perfectly with the softness of the whipped cream. And they released a lot of juice that I used all throughout the recipe. If you don't have fresh peaches that have been frozen down, I recommend using canned peaches that are in their own juices (no extra sugar added).

Cranberry Agrodolce and Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

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I just finished making a batch of this absolutely delicious cranberry agrodolce for our Christmas turkey tomorrow. It is sweet, tangy, and savory all in one. It is so so good. It's going to be perfect with our turkey, and it would be fantastic over a nice thick pork chop or alongside some good game meat.

This literally was a last-minute idea, and thankfully all the ingredients I needed were hanging out in the pantry. So if you're looking for that extra-something on your table for tomorrow, this might be it!

Agrodolce, literally meaning "sour-sweet," is an Italian sauce that can be as simple as a vinegar-sugar glaze. In my version, I balance the tart flavors of fresh cranberries and balsamic vinegar with the complex sweetness of dried berries, golden raisins, brown sugar, and red wine. And with a savory base of sauteed onions and garlic, this agrodolce makes for a beautiful match with poultry and meats.

I'm so excited to eat it tomorrow...actually everybody in the house is, after I gave them little spoonfuls to taste-test today. We're getting ready around here to celebrate in style, and I want to wish you all a very happy Christmas! May you be surrounded with good company, be regaled with good food, and be filled with the even greater hope and joy that is ours this season!

Cranberry Agrodolce

Makes about 3 ½ cups

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 cup diced onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups fresh cranberries

1 cup medley of dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries, and golden raisins

6 Tbs. (packed) brown sugar

½ cup cranberry juice

½ cup red wine

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. coarsely-ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

Saute onions with olive oil in a 2-quart sauce pan over medium-high heat, stirring regularly to prevent browning. When onions are nearly done, add minced garlic and continue cooking until garlic and onions are soft and translucent.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring regularly, until cranberries have burst and sauce thickens. Serve warm or cooled.

Five Spice-Scented Pizzelle

2011-12-17T11:43:00.000-08:00

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Christmas is just around the corner, and tasty goodies have suddenly sprung up everywhere around here! First I baked up these pizzelle, then a shipment of Stollen and Lebkuchen arrived from Germany, and now my mom has been baking batches of biscotti. Good thing we have family coming into town to help us eat our way through it all!

It’s this time of year that really gets me digging back into my heritage—thinking back on who I am and where I’ve come from and celebrating German family traditions that have taken on an Italian American twist. And it’s amazing how something as simple as cookies can so powerfully evoke memories and reinforce tradition.

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It was over 20 years ago that I first had pizzelle, a Christmas gift from a dear family friend (and fellow German expat!) who used to live here in Santa Barbara near us. As little girls, my sister and I loved going over to spend a day with Dorle, or “Chickadee,” as we called her, getting to go through her boxes of dress-up clothes, playing in her garden, having tea parties in her RV, and spending hours looking through her books, records, and curios. It wasn’t just that we could do so many fun and interesting things at her house that was the attraction; it was that we knew there we could also share in our common German heritage together. It was comforting and restful to be with her. With time, she became our surrogate German grandmother in California. Happy memories hang thickly when I think back on our times with her.

I know we owned a pizzelle maker even before moving to Santa Barbara, but we never actually made our own until we tasted Dorle’s cookies and inherited a recipe from her. Knowing that Germans have long had huge enthusiasm for Italy—well, the food, wine, and vacation homes there, to be exact—I suppose it was not such a huge surprise that a German woman would be making these traditionally Italian Christmas cookies. And for my German-Italian home, pizzelle fit right in.

Made on an iron as waffles are made, pizzelle turn out thin, crisp, and buttery. If you catch them while they’re still soft, you can roll them into tubes and fill them like cannoli, or shape them into cups, as I did here. The pizzelle cups are fantastic for a nice scoop of ice cream, like butter pecan or vanilla.

This year I was excited to have some five-spice powder on hand, and so I added a little to my pizzelle batter for a more nuanced aroma. Traditionally used in Chinese cooking, five-spice powder is a lovely blend of fennel, anise, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves—perfect for Christmas baking and these pizzelle!

Whether you choose to roll and fill with cream, fold and top with ice cream, or simply nibble on one while savoring a cup of hot coffee or tea, pizzelle make for a delicious treat. I hope you have a chance to make some for yourself this Christmas. Buon natale!

Five-Spice Scented Pizelle

Makes about 4 ½ dozen cookies

6 eggs

1½ cups sugar

1 cup butter, melted and cooled

2 Tbs. vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. five-spice powder

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat eggs until well mixed. Add the sugar, and then beat on high speed until foamy. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract and whisk to incorporate. In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and five-spice powder until well-mixed. Add flour mixture to eggs and mix together.

Turn on the pizelle iron and lightly brush with oil. When iron is hot, put 1 Tbs. batter on each circle and bake according to manufacturer’s directions. When done, turn out and cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an air-tight container.

Note: To shape ice cream cups, tuck pizelle into small ramekins immediately upon removal from iron. The pizelle harden extremely quickly.

Bibimbap (비빔밥)

2011-12-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

Anything with an egg on top has got to be good, right? Yeah, pretty much. Still trying (and meeting with very little success so far) to convert my parents into Korean food enthusiasts, I decided to prepare for them this bibimbap, which has got to be one of the more accessible Korean dishes for the Western palate.

Bibimbap is just downright delicious, and it's hard for me to see how anyone couldn't love it. It's a big bowl of steamed rice covered with an arrangement of blanched and sesame-seasoned vegetables, bits of beef bulgogi, and topped with a nice fried egg. Finish it off with a big dollop of the spicy-sweet-sour chili sauce cho-gochujang, mix it all up in your bowl, and go at it with a spoon. Yum.

Such a simple dish, easily transforming leftover banchan into a square meal, I could eat it all the time. Thankfully my parents didn't flip out when they tasted this. I count that as a major success. To top it off, my mom even said it was tasty. Well, I think we've taken a good step in the right direction!

Bibimbap (비빔밥)

Steamed rice
An assortment of banchan and fresh vegetables*
Bulgogi
Fried egg
Cho-gochujang

For each serving, scoop a cup of steamed rice into a large bowl. Arrange an assortment of your favorite banchan on top of the rice and place a little bulgogi at the center. Top with a fried egg and serve with plenty of cho-gochujang. Mix well before eating.

* Here I used, clockwise from top: blanched julienned carrots, siguemchi namul (시금치 나물), kongnamul (콩나물), musaengchae (무생채), shredded lettuce, shredded green cabbage, gosari (고사리). Some of these I had purchased pre-made, making things a lot easier! For a more thorough guide to bibimbap preparation, I recommend this post.

Congee with Preserved Duck Egg

2011-12-05T23:07:00.000-08:00

I've recently been enjoying some lovely preserved duck eggs. They are stunners. Peel them and you reveal gem-like eggs, with firm, amber egg whites and grey-blue creamy yolks. I love how sunlight, shining through the crystal-clear, golden-brown yolks turns the eggs into glowing treasures--totally breathtaking and inspiring. For as much as I already love eggs in general, the striking beauty of these "1000 year old eggs" makes me see eggs in a whole new light. Think about how fun it would be to use these marvelously-colored eggs to reinvent classic egg dishes, infusing them with an element of surprise!

These eggs make for good comfort food--good and nourishing food--with unexpected newness.

Preserved eggs are a favorite in Chinese cuisine, made by curing duck, quail, or chicken eggs in a salty, highly basic (i.e. high pH) mixture. Traditionally, this mixture was made from clay, wood ash, quicklime, and salt, but today it is more common to preserve eggs in a salty brine made with calcium hydroxide and sodium carbonate.

Pídàn (皮蛋), translated as "thousand-year old eggs" or "preserved eggs," but also referred to as "century eggs" or "millenium eggs" in English, come ready to eat as-is and are used in Chinese cooking in a variety of ways, all of which I've not explored. But one very delicious way to enjoy them is as a part of a rice porridge congee (粥, zhōu) made with lean pork (瘦肉, shòuròu). This congee is eaten as a breakfast dish and is often served at dim sum restaurants.

I remember going to brunch in Cupertino Village with some college friends one Sunday years ago and my roommate being decidedly firm about us ordering congee. It wasn't just her excitement as a Taiwanese American over eating something homey and familiar that convinced us to get it; no, when Christine tells you to order something, you do it, because experience has proven she knows what she's talking about when it comes to food. And let me tell you, that first time I tried congee, I was once again glad I'd listened. It was delicious.

One of the most comforting of foods, congee is as cozy as a nice warm blanket wrapping all around you--like a nice big hug. It has such a velvety, creamy texture that gets you licking the spoon and ahem, even the bowl. It's just so tasty you don't want to miss one drop of it. And this recipe here--lean pork and rice congee--becomes even more delicious when you swirl in the creamy yolks of the preserved egg slices garnishing each serving.

This recipe is so easy, and it is such a great way to use up leftover rice. If you don't have leftover cooked rice on hand, though, start with one cup dry, uncooked white rice. Wash uncooked grains in several changes of water until water is clear, drain, and cover with 1 1/4 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and steam until tender. Continue by adding the minced pork and broth and following the rest of the recipe as written.

Lean Pork Congee with 1,000-Year-Old Egg

(皮蛋瘦肉粥, pídàn shòuròu zhōu)

Makes 4-6 servings

Adapted from 飲茶食譜 "Chinese Dim Sum"

3 cups cooked white short-grained rice

112g (1/4 lb.) lean pork, minced

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or stock

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons chopped green onion

3 1,000-year-old preserved eggs, cut into eighths*

Place cooked rice, pork, and broth into a medium pot. Cover pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until rice is very soft and congee has thickened, about 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid burning the bottom. Season with salt and sesame oil to taste. Ladle congee into individual bowls and garnish with chopped green onion and slices of preserved egg.

*Note: if 1000-year-old eggs are not available in your markets, substitute eggs that are cooked just barely to the hard-cooked stage. As of December 2011, these eggs were available at the Oriental Market here in town.

Shrimp Scampi on Couscous

2011-11-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

This year I've had so much to give thanks for. Opportunities for learning new languages, traveling to Taiwan and South Korea this summer, spending time with dear friends, and experiencing personal growth. This has been a good year, and I was thrilled to be able to celebrate and give thanks with family and friends this past weekend. I've especially enjoyed getting to spend some time with my brother, who was home from grad school for the holiday, sharing inside jokes and getting excited together about the things we both get so excited about.

One of the things that always reminds me of my brother is this dish, scampi on couscous. I've made it for him over the years, and he loves it so much that he's even learned to make it for himself away at grad school now. I couldn't contain my excitement and pride when I found out he had made it on his own!

An absolute family favorite in my home, this shrimp scampi on couscous is a light yet satisfying meal. Though we certainly enjoy this meal year-round, I think the clean flavors and textures of the dish, plus the ease of preparation and the figure-friendly calorie count, make this a dream of a meal for the post-Thanksgiving exhaustion that might be beleaguering some cooks (and eaters) right about now.

Mounds of fluffy couscous cooked in tomato broth are topped with spicy, garlicky scampi and finished with bright notes from lemon juice and parsley. The tomato broth can be made (and frozen) weeks or days in advance, and the couscous and scampi cooks up in just a few minutes. This is ideal not just for days when you feel too tired to cook much, but also for effortless entertaining.

Consider making this a part of one of your holiday menus, either as a simple main course, serving it up with some crusty bread and a green salad, or as a first course as a part of a more elaborate meal!

Scampi on Couscous
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
Makes 4 Servings

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato purée or crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup water
sea salt, to taste
2 cups plain couscous
1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes, to taste
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 garlic cloves minced
1 lemon, juiced
Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish
Lemon wedges, for serving

In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. When oil is fragrant, add onion, carrot and 2 cloves smashed garlic and saute until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato purée, chicken broth, and white wine. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes, uncovered.

Remove sauce from heat and blend until smooth with an immersion stick blender. Check for seasoning, adding salt to taste.

Stir in 1 cup of water to the sauce and bring to a boil. Remove pot from heat and add 2 cups couscous. Cover pot and let rest for 10 minutes, allowing the couscous to absorb all the liquid. Fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper.

In a large sauté pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil with the red pepper. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp and the 2 cloves of minced garlic. Stirring occasionally, cook the shrimp until they start to turn pink, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp or they will become tough. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Check for seasoning.

To serve, mound the couscous in the center of a platter and top with the shrimp. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.

Garlic Tutorial

2011-11-12T10:35:00.000-08:00

Today I'm taking a break from my usual recipe posting to share with you something that has absolutely revolutionized my world: a new way to peel garlic! The claim? Peel a whole bulb of garlic in 10 seconds flat.

Growing up, I learned the family trick of crushing garlic cloves with the tines of a fork to loosen the skin and then removing all the skins by hand. I later modifed this technique by switching over to using the flat of a chef's knife instead of a fork. What I love about this method is that it is a great way to start the mincing process. This isn't based on any rigorous testing or anything, but I feel like the minced garlic somehow tastes better if it's crushed versus chopped. Maybe it's similar to tearing lettuce leaves instead of chopping them? But anyway, what I do NOT like about this process is that the garlic juices, released upon crushing, cause the papery layers of the clove to stick all over the place...on my knife, my cutting board, my fingers. And I always have to check over each smashed clove to make sure I don't have any of the dry skins mixed up with the garlic.

So when I saw this technique, demonstrated by the folks at Saveur, I was intrigued. Could it be? Can you really peel a whole clove, nay, a whole BULB of garlic in 10 seconds? Truly removing all those pesky, papery garlic skins? And in such record-breaking time? When I first watched this tutorial, I was a bit skeptical--you never know what goes on when there's a cut in a video. Could they possibly have slipped in some peeled garlic cloves to make this technique look successful? So I tried it out last night, and yes indeed folks, it is true.

1. Smash a whole head of garlic with the heel of your hand to separate the cloves.
2. Place all the cloves into a lightweight metal bowl.
3. Invert a second bowl over the first bowl.
4. Hold the bowls tightly together and shake vigorously for 10 seconds.
5. That's it! Now you'll have whole cloves of garlic that are completely peeled.

My life is pretty much forever changed. Peeling garlic this way totally works! And by the way, when I tried this, my bowls weren't as big as the ones shown in the tutorial, nor were they a pair of bowls exactly the same size as each other. Just as long as you hold the bowls tightly together to keep your garlic from flying out, it should be fine. Getting at that beloved garlic has just become all that much easier!

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.

Gewürzter Kürbiskuchen: Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Ginger-Pecan Streusel

2011-11-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

With some very warm weather during October, summer almost seemed to have been making a comeback in southern California. But this weekend, with rain and cold coming through the state, it feels like Fall is finally settling in. And when chilly weather comes, there's often nothing nicer than cooking with fragrant spices like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake, or Gewürzter Kürbiskuchen, came into being as a result of my recent pumpkin mode intersecting with dreams of last month's Zwetschgenkuchen (Italian Prune Plum Cake). I love the super dense cake base--almost verges on what you might call a crust--that my Opa's recipe yields, and though the fresh prune plum filling is an absolute classic, I think my Spiced Pumpkin Cake, containing creamy pumpkin custard and a spicy candied ginger-pecan streusel, is perfect for this time of year.

This recipe makes more than my family and I can eat in one weekend, so I've frozen away a lot of it for enjoyment in the coming weeks. And cutting up the cake into individual servings before freezing makes it super easy to pull out a piece any time I want a nice sweet snack. I have come to love eating it still partially frozen--the pumpkin custard makes this cake just like an ice cream sandwich treat!

Gewürzter Kürbiskuchen
Adapted from Gerhard Sommermann

150 g (11 Tbs.) butter, room-temperature

170g (¾ cup plus 2 Tbs.) sugar

1 egg, room temperature

400g (3 cups sifted) flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. salt

100ml (scant ½ cup) milk, room temperature

Cream butter and sugar, then add the egg and beat until smooth. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and incorporate into creamed mixture, along with the milk. Dough keeps 1 week in the refrigerator. Spread dough into the bottom of an ungreased 11 x 17 –inch cake pan. To build the sides of the cake, push the dough up the sides of the pan and create a ¼ -inch rim.

Spread pumpkin filling over top and then sprinkle with Spiced Streusel. Bake at 350°F for 45-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream that has been sweetened with vanilla and sugar.

Pumpkin Filling

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1 cup drained candied yams (or sweet potatoes)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. fine-grained salt

For the pumpkin filling, blend together the sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and vanilla. In a the large bowl of a food processor, combine the pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and blend until it forms a smooth mixture. With the processor running, add the condensed milk mixture in a slow stream and process until fully incorporated.

Spiced Streusel:

100g (1/2 cup) sugar

100g (7 ½ Tbs.) butter

180g (1 1/3 cups sifted) flour

¼ cup minced crystallized ginger

60g (½ cup) coarsely chopped pecan pieces

Banh Mi Party Sliders

2011-10-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the opportunity to get together with some dear friends in celebration of a birthday, and everyone was asked to bring an appetizer along. For some reason I got thinking about making sliders, perfect little party bites with a nice meaty center and refreshing vegetable slaw on soft sweet Hawaiian rolls. I got inspired by the idea of giving these sliders a banh mi twist, seasoning the patties with green onions, garlic, fish sauce, and sriracha. They turn out so savory and delicious, it's hard to eat just one of these.

These Banh Mi Sliders really lend themselves to make-ahead preparation, and they are a great appetizer for a party or a fun way to change things up on your weekly burger night. Seeing how quickly they disappeared, I'm confident they'll be a hit at any party!

For a little extra kick, I sprinkled slivered jalapenos inside some of the sliders, and to let party-goers know which ones were extra spicy, I pinned a slice of jalapeno on top with the toothpicks. So cute, and so tasty!

Banh Mi Sliders
Makes 16 sliders

Meat Patties
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 green onions, finely chopped
2 Tbs. fish sauce
2 Tbs. sriracha
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. finely ground sea salt

Vegetable Slaw
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated carrots
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated daikon
1 1/2 cup finely sliced savoy cabbage
1 cup finely sliced purple cabbage
1 cup (loosely packed) cilantro leaves
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. finely ground sea salt
2 Tbs. mayonnaise

16 King's Hawaiian sweet rolls
Thinly sliced jalapeno chilies
16 large toothpicks

Place ground pork and beef together in a large bowl and sprinkle remaining meat patty ingredients evenly over the surface. Gently mix ingredients together, avoiding overworking the mixture. Chill 30 minutes, covered. Portion meat mixture out in 1/2-cup scoops, forming patties with a slight indentation in the center. Place evenly on baking trays. Broil patties until cooked through (about 5-10 minutes, depending on heat of broiler). Transfer patties to paper toweling to drain fat. (Can be made ahead. Reheat before assembling sliders.)

For the slaw, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Place grated daikon and carrot in separate containers and divide the vinegar mixture over them. (Use a food processor with grater attachment, if you have one, for prepping the carrots and daikon.) Toss to coat evenly and let marinate at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. (I marinate these separately so that the orange liquid from the carrots doesn't turn the rest of the slaw an overall orange color. I think it also helps draw out some of the spiciness of the daikon. Can be done 1 day ahead. Cover and keep in refrigerator.) To finish the slaw, toss all the vegetables together with the mayonnaise until vegetables are well coated with the dressing.

To assemble the sliders, toast the individual sweet rolls and then split them in half. Mound a few tablespoons of slaw on the bottom half, followed by a meat patty, a sprinkling of slivered jalapeno, and then the top half of the roll. Secure sliders with a toothpick and serve.

Sonntags Müsli

2011-10-22T00:17:00.000-07:00

Ah, Sonntagsmüsli, a breakfast that by its name alone invokes thoughts of a dreamy, leisurely weekend breakfast. Müsli (often spelled "muesli" in America), a healthy, energy-packed breakfast food developed by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner around 1900, is popular in many central European countries today. I loved eating Birchermüsli while living in Germany, especially the Schokomüsli, which contains the addition of chunks of real chocolate. Kind of decadent for a "healthy breakfast," but I guess it was okay since I usually only had this kind at dessert time.

But I digress. Sonntag, meaning "Sunday" in Germany, was always a real day of rest for me and my family in Bavaria. It was the one day of the week in which the bakery was closed, allowing the grateful bakers a chance to actually sleep until sunrise instead of waking up five hours before. Mornings, we'd walk across the village, summoned by the church bells, and attend worship services together, singing hymns set to ancient melodies that have been sung through the centuries. Returning home from church, we'd sit down to a traditional meal with a roast of some sort like Sauerbraten with Kartoffelklösse (potato dumplings). Afternoons would be devoted to napping (for the bakers) or long walks through the surrounding meadows and forests (for me).

So when I talk about a Sonntagsmüsli, this is a müsli that is special: nutritious yet belonging to a day of profound rest and a broader sense of well-being. Not your ordinary müsli, this one shows a little extra love, with a variety of fruits, nuts, and grains all mixed together in creamy yogurt.

While most müslis are oat-based, this one uses buckwheat (which is not related to wheat at all) as the primary grain. If you are interested in the nutrition data, 1 ounce (28g) of buckwheat groats has absolutely no fat, cholesterol, or sodium, and with 20g carbohydrates (of which 3g are fiber and 11g are sugars) and 1g protein, comes to a total of 80 calories. (It also provides 2% of your daily Vitamins A, C, Calcium, and 4% of iron.) Set the groats to soak in water the night before, and then whip together the rest of the ingredients the next morning. I've taken a few other liberties with the traditional Bircher recipe, adding in orange zest since we have oranges on hand in the garden right now, and adding pears leftover from our garden's pear harvest. And using 0% Fage Greek yogurt, this breakfast is low in fat and high in protein while still decadently creamy. Sonntagsmüsli certainly was a favorite of mine at family holiday brunches in Germany, and I'm glad to enjoy the memories while savoring this müsli here now. Happy weekend everyone!

Sonntags Müsli
Makes 4 servings

6 Tbs. (70g) buckwheat
¼ cup quick oats
2 Tbs. finely chopped toasted hazelnuts (husks removed)
2 Tbs. dried shredded coconut
½ cup milk
1 cup 0% Fage Greek yogurt
1 small apple, peeled and coarsely grated
1 small pear, peeled and cut into small pieces
1 small banana, mashed
1/8 tsp. finely grated orange zest
Agave nectar or honey, to taste

The night before, place the buckwheat groats in a medium bowl and cover with about 3 times as much water. Cover loosely to prevent dust from entering and soak the buckwheat at room temperature overnight.

The next morning, strain the buckwheat and thoroughly rinse with fresh water. Drain well, then place buckwheat in a large mixing bowl and add the oats, hazelnuts, coconut, milk, yogurt, fruit, and orange zest. Mix well and then check flavor, sweetening as desired with a bit of agave nectar or honey.

As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway

Opa's Italian prune plum cake

2011-10-15T00:38:00.000-07:00

Once a year, for only about one week each fall, Italian prune plums, known to me as Zwetschgen, make an appearance in the local produce markets. You have to be ready and watching, because once the limited offering of plums hit the stores, it gets all snapped up. It's always exciting to see the crate of fresh prune plums, partly because my prolonged anticipation is finally fulfilled, partly because I know I didn't lose out to other customers on my 3 pounds-worth, and partly because I know I've got a very good cake coming my way soon.

A very good cake. Rich in memories and lovely in flavor, this cake comes straight from my Opa's recipe files. I remember eating this Zwetschgenkuchen over and over as a little girl on my visits with Opa and Oma in Germany. With a dollop of lightly-sweetened, freshly-whipped cream, and a cup of coffee, this is a quintessential Kaffeetrinken treat.

Kaffeetrinken, one of the important meals in the German day, is enjoyed around 4pm every day. It is a time for an afternoon coffee pick-me-up, and cakes and pastries are generally eaten alongside the coffee. In a baker's family, you can be sure we had many tasty options to choose from! And what I like about most German baked things is that they are not overly sweet, and as a result, they pair excellently with Kaffee.

Since getting this recipe from Opa over a decade ago, I think I've made this cake pretty much every year. Living on different continents, we didn't get to see each other much while he was alive, but I've always loved getting to have a part of him with me through his recipes. And I'm so happy to get to share this one with you!

As I was able to get some of these plums recently, I indulged once again in my yearly tradition. I made a nice big tray of Zwetschgenkuchen, packing some of it up for a picnic with friends in the Santa Barbara Sunken Gardens one sunny weekend, and freezing away the rest to enjoy on another occasion.

The kuchen tasted so good, as it always does. Its base is a very dense cake made of Mürbteig batter that gets covered by a layer of plums and then topped with chunks of streusel (which, by the way, should be pronounced "stroy-sel," not "stroo-sel"). As they bake, the Italian prune plums melt into a slightly sour fruity layer, which is complemented well by the slightly-sweet streusel. It freezes away quite nicely, and though the streusel loses its crunch, the Mürbteig layer actually takes on a somewhat cheese cake-like characteristic.

The classic accompaniment for this is lightly-sweetened whipped cream. And though I'm not a real coffee drinker, I have to say, this is one of the few things in life that screams out "drink a coffee while eating me!"

As a professional baker in Germany, my Opa developed all his recipes in grams and milliliters. I've included both the original measurements here as well as the American conversions.

And as I write this, I'm struck by how fitting a cake this is for Apricosa...a German cake featuring Italian plums. Ah, if a cake could be a metaphor for my life, would this be it?

Zwetschgenkuchen (Italian prune plum cake)
Recipe from Gerhard Sommermann

150g (11 Tbs.) butter, room-temperature
170g (¾ cup plus 2 Tbs.) sugar
Lemon zest from half a lemon
1 egg, room temperature
400g (3 cups sifted) flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
100ml (scant ½ cup) milk, room temperature
3 lbs. Italian prune plums, pitted and cut into sixths
Streusel topping (recipe follows)

Cream butter, sugar, and lemon zest, then add the egg. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and incorporate into the creamed mixture, along with the milk. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. (Dough keeps 1 week in the refrigerator.)

Roll dough out on a floured surface and place on the bottom of an ungreased 11x17-inch cake pan (or a round pan of your choice), pressingly slightly at the edges to build up the sides of the cake.

Layer plum pieces to evenly cover the Mürbteig base. Sprinkle streusel over top, and then bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes, depending on the moistness and thickness of your cake and toppings. Serve with plenty of whipped cream that has been sweetened with vanilla and sugar.

Streusel:

100g (1/2 cup) sugar

100g (7 ½ Tbs.) butter

200g (1 ½ cups sifted) flour

pinch of salt

Cream together sugar and butter, then mix in flour and salt. Streusel can be stored in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to one week. Press handfuls of the mixture together to form clumps of streusel before scattering over the cake.

Savoring and being thankful

2011-10-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days, spent with friends visiting from out of town, have been a wonderful mini-vacation for me right here at home. Warm and sunny Santa Barbara skies. Leisurely meals. Entertaining conversation. And trips around town to take in a couple of our annual food festivals. For the past few years in October, Santa Barbara bursts forth with a month-long celebration of its rich agricultural bounty and thriving foodie scene in a series of festivals and events under the umbrella of EpicureSB.

At the Harbor Seafood Festival, we got to sample the freshest uni ever, with live red sea urchins being cracked, cleaned, and handed to us literally in under a minute right there on the pier. We spooned the orange and creamy uni straight out of the shell, enjoying it simply with a sauce of ponzu, wasabi, and lime juice and a sprinkling of sea salt and green onions...absolutely heavenly! Other treats were seared sesame-crusted ahi and a paella plentiful with chunks of crab, fish, mussels, and clams.

At Carpinteria's annual Avocado Festival, I met up with more friends and tried out some of the special concoctions like avocado cream pie, a cheesecake-like filling with a hint of lime on a bed of graham cracker crust.

Then, of course, there was the avocado ice cream. Subtle in flavor, I'd describe it as a vanilla ice cream with overtones of avocado.

The locally-grown flowers and produce were just so pretty! My friends and I had a fun time playing with our cameras and capturing some of the essence of the day.

Such a refreshing weekend, a taste of what life should be like. Connecting with friends. Tasting good food. Seeing throngs of people coming together in celebration. Slowing down to watch the sunset. Hearing the crashing of the waves on the beach. Being thankful. In the midst of this busy season, I'm so grateful for these reminders that point to life's real beauty.

Epicure SB will continue on all through the month, so there's still time to come and participate in the celebration of our local cuisine, wines, and culture. Check out the website for a full listing of upcoming culinary events!

Hobakjeon: Pan-Fried Pumpkin Side Dish

2011-09-26T22:58:00.000-07:00

Walking along the Devereux Slough at sunset and seeing birds gliding across the peaceful surface of the water, a swan ruffling its wings off in the distance, and a lone egret fishing for supper, it is easy to slip into a deep and restful sense of well-being. Some friends of mine are lucky enough to have a generous garden plot along the banks of this slough, and here, with the blue Pacific ocean in view beyond the slough, my friend Katy likes to relax with a book or simply sit and enjoy the calm beauty as her husband TG tends the garden with care. With all of nature smiling on and with the attention of a careful gardener, it's no surprise their garden flourishes as it does, bursting with tomatoes, squash, and corn that grow bigger and tastier there than in any other garden I've seen.

TG, not only a great gardener but also a fantastic cook, once shared with me some Chinese pork, cucumber, and corn soup that he'd made using produce from the garden. The flavor and texture of the corn, still on the cob, were wonderful; each kernel, separating easily from the cob, had remarkable roasted flavor and pleasing, hearty chewiness.

On another occasion I was the delighted recipient of one of their Chinese-style pumpkins--pale, speckled green skin on the exterior and deep golden-yellow flesh inside. Part of the giant pumpkin I used in making a pot of doenjang jjigae. After simmering in doenjang broth, the chunks of pumpkin became melt-in-your-mouth jewels, seriously so much better than any squash or pumpkin I've had before.

Pumpkin. Isn't it that time of year again? Time to pull out the pumpkin recipes, like pancakes and cinnamon rolls and goulash and pie... and now these great pan-fried pumpkin slices.

With more of TG's fresh pumpkin left on hand, I was inspired to prepare some of it as hobakjeon sometimes is: thinly sliced, dredged in flour and beaten egg, and then pan-fried until soft in the center and lightly crispy on the exterior. Dipped into a salty-sour sauce, it was an absolutely delicious side dish for dinner one evening, and leftovers made a great snack the next day. If you're getting in the mood for Fall and buying pumpkins and squash, why not try making this tasty pumpkin dish!

Hobakjeon (호박전) Pan-Fried Pumpkin Side Dish

Squash or pumpkin, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thin (if you don't have garden-fresh Chinese pumpkin, try Korean hobak or butternut squash)
all-purpose flour, for dredging
beaten egg
vegetable oil, for frying

Coat the bottom of a large non-stick skillet with a few tablespoons of vegetable oil and heat over medium-high heat. Dredge slices of pumpkin in flour, shake off excess flour, then dip in beaten egg to coat thoroughly. Place immediately in hot oil and fry until golden, turning once to cook both sides. Remove cooked pumpkin from pan and place on paper toweling to blot oil. Repeat with remaining pumpkin slices, adding more oil to the pan as needed. Serve warm with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 green onion (green parts only), finely sliced
1 tsp. Korean red chili powder (고추가루/gochugaru), optional

A German Brotzeit in California

2011-09-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the September sunset in Santa Barbara yesterday evening, Germany started to be on my mind. Thoughts of my grandmother, who loves flowers and lays out a well-planned flower bed in her garden every year, of my uncle and his bakery already in the midst of their Christmas baking season (those Lebkuchen are in high demand when the weather turns cool!), and as I returned from my walk, sat down at my computer, and started looking over my collection of recipes on Apricosa, I realized that the German side of me has not been getting as much attention here.

Granted, my culinary obsession now centers on the flavors of the Mediterranean with a healthy does of Korean cuisine, but I'd have to say that my first inspiration for getting into the kitchen and making something to eat came from the days I'd spend as a little girl playing around in my grandfather's Backstube, watching him and his apprentices turning out huge loaves of rye bread and light, crispy white rolls in the wee hours of the morning, and standing at my uncle's elbow as he put together delicious Sahnetorte creations of exquisite beauty.

With callouses from much physical work and constant handling of hot bread, my Opa (grandfather) would often slide loaves out of the hot ovens into large wicker baskets using his bare hands. I remember him laughing one time when I tried it myself and ended up surprised over how hot it was to touch. I think I was quickly consoled, however, getting set on one of his wooden stools tucked off to the side of all the activity in the bakery and being handed a fresh, steaming roll to munch on.

We're always lucky when my uncle and his family come to visit in Santa Barbara, bringing with them loaves of real German rye bread. There's nothing like it to be found in the United States, as far as I've been able to find: dense crumb and hearty crust, based on a mix of wheat and rye flours and a starter from leftover loaves of bread.

The small crisp white rolls, cut in half and eaten with butter and homemade jam or Bavarian honey, or a slice of cheese and ham, are lovely breakfast treats, but the big loaves of Roggenbrot or Mischbrot are more of the staple. Eaten at breakfast, used for snacks (my mom used to pack me Mischbrot and Lyoner sandwiches for my mid-morning break when I was a school student in Heidelberg), and the basis for evening Brotzeit (supper, literally meaning "bread time").

At traditional German suppers, it's always fun to put together different combinations of open-faced sandwiches: maybe salami, cheese and pickles on one, and butter and tomatoes and hardboiled egg slices on another. I remember discovering what is now one of my absolute favorite combination at a bread restaurant-cafe in downtown München. It was a large slice of this hearty bread, with a slathering of Quark, a generous sprinkling of chives or green onions, and slices of tomato sprinkled with a little salt. Absolutely divine to sink my teeth into the soft yogurt-like cheese supported by the sturdy slice of bread, flavored with juicy tomato and hints of onion flavor.

So whenever a loaf of German bread gets into my hands these days, I am always sure to have a few slices topped in this way. With the discovery of 0% Fage Greek yogurt, I have been able to get a pretty decent substitute for the traditional Quark, and green onions (or chives), with tomatoes from the garden, finish off this wonderful breakfast, lunch, or supper. And I'm also enjoying the addition of thinly-sliced cucumber as well these days!

See how you like this combination: thick, spreadable Greek yogurt on a slice of hearty bread. You can go the savory route with these great veggies, or perhaps add a bit of jam or honey, if you prefer something sweet!

Chinese Water Spinach (Kong Xin Cai)

2011-09-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Traveling is good, but it ruins you for home. I fell so in love with Taiwan that I started missing it even when just packing my bags to return to the States. The people, the way of life, the constant excitement of learning a new language, the food, the fruit... So you can be sure that the first thing I did after stepping foot on US soil was to persuade my dad, who had come to pick me up, to swing by a 99 Ranch Market on the way home to Santa Barbara so I could search for some comforts.

No lychee-flavored beer to be found, alas, and after the traditional produce markets of Kaohsiung, that LA supermarket was a sad place to be. However, I totally brightened up when I spotted big, beautiful bunches of kōng xīn cài (空心菜). The familiar stalks and leaves gave me a glimmer of hope that yes, in the midst of this reverse-culture shock, life will be okay, I can get through this, all is well.

Meet kōng xīn cài (空心菜), or "water spinach," as it's known in English. This will quickly become one of your new favorite vegetables, if it isn't one already. What struck me first about these greens is that the stem is hollow, thus the very appropriate Chinese name literally meaning "hollow heart vegetable." The novelty of the stems intrigued me, and while living in Taiwan this past summer, I kept getting drawn to these veggies over and over again--the sauteed leaves so soft and succulent, the textural contrast of the tender, crunchy hollow stems, and the delicious flavor of greens and garlic all had me hooked.

And thanks to some tips from a couple of Taiwanese American friends who were in Kaohsiung with me, I have been able to recreate the yummy dish of kōng xīn cài cooked right here at home! I'm so excited, I've got to share it with you all too.

Garlic-braised kōng xīn cài (空心菜)
Serves 2-4

1 lb. kōng xīn cài (空心菜)
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
salt to taste
1 Tbs. Chinese rice wine

Wash kōng xīn cài and shake lightly (no need to dry thoroughly). Trim and discard the brown tips from the bottom of the stems, then, keeping the bunch together, cut kōng xīn cài into 2 to 3-inch long pieces.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan or seasoned wok over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add garlic and cook for a few seconds, being careful not to brown the garlic, then add stems of kōng xīn cài and cook for a few minutes, stirring to coat stems with oil and garlic. Add leafy tops, sprinkle with salt, and then add 1/4 cup water to the pan. Continue cooking over medium-high heat, tossing vegetables frequently, until leaves are wilted but still bright green.

To finish, add a splash of Chinese rice wine and then adjust seasoning with a little more salt as desired. Serve warm.

My lunchbox (도시락/Dosirak)

2011-09-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

With leftover banchan from some Korean dishes I made over the weekend, today's lunchbox was pretty fun for me...both in putting together and in eating. I decided to make another one for tomorrow! Will I succumb to the dosirak/bento-box craze? Probably not. Is my lunchbox artistry anywhere near those of some of the masters (see here and here for examples)? No. But I certainly enjoyed the pretty colors, the variety of flavors, and the complementary textures in my own humble lunchbox.

I love my little lunchbox: three separate containers that keep the food organized, and if you want to heat up only some of the dishes, you can easily lift out whichever dish you choose before popping the rest in the microwave. The lid snaps on and has a great seal.

Here I was able to fit kale namul, kong namul (seasoned soybean sprouts), eomuk bokkeum (spicy fried fish cakes), ogokbap, and tofu with green onions. Not pictured, but oh so delicious with this lunch, were my oisobagi (stuffed cucumber kimchi), Napa cabbage kimchi, and musaengchae. The cool and spicy, pungent and salty kimchi was the perfect complement to the lunchbox. Yum!

Sesame Citrus Noodle Salad with Baby Bok Choy and Grilled Chicken

2011-09-01T02:20:00.000-07:00

We've been having some great Santa Barbara weather recently. Sunny, clear skies, warm temperatures, and low humidity. It's weather like this that makes me glad to be alive, that makes me feel more alive, and that pulls me into a place of relaxation.

On these lazy end-of-summer evenings, all I want to dig into for supper is something simple, light, and fresh, like this cool sesame citrus noodle salad with grilled chicken. Juice from our garden's navel oranges and green onions from the remains of last season's vegetable garden add fun bursts of flavor, and the array of greens, from the dark red leaf lettuce to the bright baby bok choy, gives visual interest.

In this California fusion dish, I use one of my favorite ingredients, doenjang (Korean fermented bean paste), but you could substitute miso paste if that is more readily available.

A delicious and cooling entrée for a warm summery evening!

Sesame Citrus Noodle Salad with Baby Bok Choy and Grilled Chicken

Makes 4 servings

½ lb. linguine

1 Tbs. sesame oil

1 Tbs. roasted sesame seeds

2 large chicken breasts

Sea salt

3 heads baby bok choy, finely sliced (about 3 cups)

3 cups finely sliced or shredded green cabbage

1 cup green onion (green parts only), cut into 2-inch pieces

1 cup English (hothouse) cucumber in ½-moon slices

4 cups red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces

¼ cup freshly-squeezed orange juice

1 ½ Tbs. doenjang (Korean fermented bean paste)

1 Tbs. rice vinegar

Bring a large pot of salted water to a full boil, then break linguine pieces in half and cook according to package directions. Drain linguine and rinse with cold water to cool, then drain thoroughly and transfer noodles to a large mixing bowl. Toss linguine with sesame oil and sesame seeds to coat all strands.

Place chicken breasts between pieces of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until flattened to uniform thickness; sprinkle each side with sea salt. Grill chicken over high heat, turning once, about 4 minutes per side (more or less depending on thickness of the meat). Transfer chicken to a platter and cover with foil, letting rest at least 5 minutes. After the chicken has rested, slice into ½-inch slices. (Can be made several days ahead and kept refrigerated; return to room temperature before continuing.)

Add the bok choy, cabbage, green onions, cucumber, and lettuce to the sesame noodles. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, doenjang, and rice vinegar, then drizzle over salad. Toss salad thoroughly to combine all ingredients, adjusting seasoning with more sea salt to taste.

Divide salad among four plates and arrange half of a sliced chicken breast over each. Pass extra dressing at the table.

A cup of happiness

2011-08-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

Taiwan is the place to go for fruit. Really good fruit. The pineapples, the mangoes, so much sweeter and flavorful than anything I've had before. The passionfruit and lychees so fresh. The wax apples (蓮霧, liánwù) and guava (芭樂, bālè). The gigantic watermelons (seriously, the size of two huge American watermelons put together).

And with so much good fruit, it naturally follows that there are amazing fruit drinks. Fresh-pressed juices and fruit-infused teas at shops two to every block. Stop in and for 25 to 35 NTD (about $1 USD) you get a huge 24-ounce cup of happiness, tucked into a small handled plastic bag along with a straw.

These fruit drinks--and the people I was with when enjoying them--are something I miss terribly. Don't you love how happy times with friends brings out the best flavor in life? Thankfully, even when life takes away your lemons and you can't make lemonade, you can still at least make papaya milk...or something like that! ^^ Papaya milk (木瓜牛乳 mùguā niúrǔ, or 木瓜牛奶 mùguā niúnǎi) is a popular Taiwanese drink, essentially consisting of blended fruit and milk. I remember the first time I had this...I was hanging out at the Dream Mall, East Asia's largest mall, which just so happens to be located right in my summer hometown of Kaohsiung. After wandering through countless floors and corridors in this huge mall, the papaya milk was a perfect refreshment, such a smooth and creamy fruit drink that slid down so easily!

Now if you're a purist, you could just go for the fruit and milk combination. But depending on how sweet your papaya is to begin with (and on how sweet you like your drinks), you might want to add a little simple syrup. I know the papayas here in Santa Barbara are not as sweet as the ones in Taiwan! Those drinks are mighty good, and besides the great fruit, it's my suspicion that they use whole-fat milk in Taiwan. Nothing wrong with whole milk, but if you're like me and want a healthier version, you'll be happy to know that low-fat milk will also yield a wonderful velvety finish.

I'm just so glad that even back here in Santa Barbara, when I take a very ripe papaya and blend it up, close my eyes and take a sip, I'm back in Taiwan for a few minutes. Yum. Really, for your own sake, go find a papaya and some milk and treat yourself right.

Papaya Milk (木瓜牛乳, mùguā niúrǔ)
Makes one serving

150 ml (5 fluid oz.) puree of fresh, ripe papaya
150 ml (5 fluid oz.) milk
2 Tbs. simple syrup or water

Before starting, make sure all ingredients are well-chilled. (To make a simple syrup, dissolve 1 part sugar in 2 parts warm water, then chill well.)

Blend papaya puree and milk together in a blender until smooth and creamy. With blender running, add simple syrup or water until desired sweetness and consistency is reached. Serve while still nice and cool.

Hello again.

2011-08-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

So, I'm officially back from my travels in Asia, at home in Santa Barbara (though my time abroad has me questioning the whole concept of what "home" is), and I think I'm finally over jet lag (wow, it was really tough this time, coming eastward!).

With all the new food experiences I've had, I'm filled with inspiration and excited to be back around my kitchen--and my good camera, which was a little too bulky to come along for the ride this summer. All this to say, I think you'll be hearing from me a little more often these days, and I'm really looking forward to getting to share some of the things I've come to love during my time overseas.

My parents were so sweet and threw me a welcome home party, and they served up a great Italian-themed menu. One of the appetizers, these olive-mushroom crostini, really stood out to me. Super in taste and simplicity, just some olives and mushrooms thrown together and served over little slices of baguette.

They make a great snack or even the better part of a light meal. You'll love the savory combination of olives and mushrooms, each bite fragrant with oregano and olive oil.

Olive-Mushroom Crostini

10 black olives

10 green olives

2 large white mushrooms

2 Tbs. olive oil

¼ tsp. dried oregano

Sliced baguette

Finely chop olives and mushrooms and place in a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle with olive oil and oregano and toss to thoroughly combine. (Make ahead note: keeps up to several days, refrigerated.)

Top thin slices of baguette with a tablespoon of the olive mixture and serve immediately.

From a Korean kitchen: Gungjung ddeokbokki (궁중떡볶이)

2011-08-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

If you were to ask me what ddeokbokki is, my first reaction would be to describe a dish of wonderfully chewy rice cakes coated with red, spicy gochujang sauce. However, this kind of ddeokbokki, now a delicious and popular street snack in Korea, is actually a newer version of the original gungjung ddeokbokki.

While I was in Korea this summer, I had the opportunity to learn how to make gungjung ddeokbokki from a friend in Seoul. Gungjung ddeokbokki, or "Palace ddeokbokki," is a non-spicy dish of chewy rice cakes cooked with assorted vegetables and beef, originating from the royal court cuisine of the Joseon Dynasty.

Rice cakes (떡, ddeok) come in various shapes and sizes, and on this day my friend Ashley introduced me to 조랭이떡 (joraengi ddeok), cute little rice cakes shaped liked unshelled peanuts or twisted cocoons, a specialty of the Kaesong region in present-day North Korea. Another ingredient I learned about for the first time was 부추 (buchu), which translates to "Korean leek." It looks like chives, but after sampling some raw stems, I found the onion flavor is actually quite faint. I'm still pondering what might be a suitable substitution for buchu, now that I'm back in California and don't have ready access to fresh Korean produce! I suppose spring onions or chives would be a good alternative, but given their stronger flavor, you may want to cut back on the amount you use.

If you are curious about Korean cuisine but are not a fan of spicy food, this would be a great dish to try. Ashley shared that this gungjung ddeokbokki is a popular snack (or even a meal) for little kids since they're not as comfortable with the spicy version. Plus, it is a great way to feed kids their vegetables! You'll notice that this is a vegetarian version (we didn't have beef in the house on the day we made this), but I've included directions for how to easily incorporate the beef if you like. Using leftover 불고기 (bulgogi) would be delicious here!

Palace ddeokbokki (궁중떡볶이, gungjung ddeokbokki)
Recipe courtesy Ashley Seo
Makes about 8 snack portions

500g Korean rice cake (떡, ddeok) (조랭이 or other shape)
1-2 Tbs. minced garlic
4 Tbs. soy sauce (양조간장, yangjo kanjang) plus more
2 Tbs. sugar or corn syrup
freshly-ground black pepper
1 Tbs. sesame oil
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 medium onion (양파, yangpa), sliced into strips
2 sweet bell peppers (paprika), cut into strips
2 whole king oyster mushrooms (새송이버섯, saesongi beoseot), sliced
2 cups Korean leeks (부추, buchu), cut into 3-inch pieces
2 Tbs. roasted sesame seeds

If using frozen ddeok, rinse it a couple times and let it sit submerged in water to thaw. Meanwhile, mix together the garlic, soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, and sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and saute onion for a few minutes. Add bell pepper slices and continue to saute a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup water and cook until vegetables are soft.

Next, add drained ddeok to the pan along with 1-2 cups water and the prepared sauce. (If you like, at this point you could also add about 1/2 cup of cooked ground beef as well.) Cook until ddeok is soft and chewy (cooking time will depend on your ddeok). A few minutes before ddeok is done, stir in mushrooms. Check seasoning and add more soy sauce and freshly-ground black pepper as needed. Stir in 1 tablespoon sesame seeds and remove from heat.

Divide ddeokbokki among plates and sprinkle each serving with a little of the remaining sesame seeds.

Hanguk-eumshik makes me happy!

2011-08-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well friends, I did it. I've gone and been to Korea! And thanks to some wonderful people there, I got hooked up with the most amazing Korean food (한국 음식/hanguk eumshik) and can die happy now. Except I need to go eat some more before that!

A few highlights from the trip:

1. My camera died on the first day (this just about killed me...so all photos here are courtesy of my friends.)
2. I discovered 순대 (sundae), and I absolutely love it!!
3. I was reassured that yes, my doenjangjjigae and kimchi do taste like the "real" thing.
4. I ate so much. But I could've kept eating.
5. I learned how to eat 게장 (kejang, a.k.a. raw crab...it is SO good, salty and reminds me of uni), sampled 머리고기편육 (meorikogi pyeonyook, a.k.a. pressed pig's head that's sliced and eaten cold dipped in ssamjang...and wouldn't you know you actually eat the bone running through the meorikogi pyeonyook?!), but I drew the line at eating 번데기 (beondegi)
6. I bought myself a pair of Hyun Bin socks (if Gil Ra Im liked Oska enough to wear Oska socks, I should at least get some Hyun Bin socks, right? Anyone seen Secret Garden and understand what I'm talking about?)
7. I had the most delicious 육회 (yook-hoe, raw beef) and the most soft and tender 낙지볶음 (nakji bokkeum, stir-fried octopus in gochujang sauce) ever, a credit to the chefs at the Blue Ribbon-winning 역전회관 Restaurant in Seoul.
8. I got to spend time with some really special people.
9. I dipped my toes into Cheonggyecheon.
10. One hot afternoon, while browsing through a traditional market, I had some really refreshing 식혜 (sikhye, a sweet rice drink).
11. I got to wear a hanbok and frolic about the Korean Folk Village.
12. I ate a meal where there were more banchan than I could possibly have imagined could fit on the table.
13. I got to eat kimchi at every meal of the day!!
14. I realized I seriously need to learn Korean--my food vocabulary is a good start, but it just doesn't cut it!

And now, dear readers, a few glimpses of the food....

Lunch at 사리원 (Sa-ri-won) Restaurant:

만두전골 (mandu jeon-gol = Korean dumpling stew, "before" pictured above)
깍두기 (kkakdugi)
열무김치 (yeolmu kimchi = green radish tops with hot green pepper slices in juice and shaved ice over the top)

만두전골 (mandu jeon-gol) looking about ready to eat....

Dinner at Hanbang Samgyetang Restaurant:

삼계탕 (samgyetang)

Lunch at 두부마을 (Tofu Village):

콩국수 (kong-guksu = noodles in a cold soybean milk). This milk was specially made from dark soybeans, giving it a grey/blue color.

김치두부 (kimchi tofu)

Lunch in Yongin (restaurant name unknown):

토종순대 (to-jong sun-dae = traditional-style sundae)

In this dish (which turned out to be one of my favorite new eats from this trip), casings of pig intestine are stuffed with cabbage, kkaenip (perilla leaves), 당면 (dangmyeon/starch noodles), and blood, then steamed (I think) and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It has such a soft and luscious texture, a rich and satisfying flavor, and with all the iron in this dish, the Korean girls I was eating with explained that it is great for people with anemia! Delicious and good for you too!

The food was amazing, and I know I'll have to go back. Korean food has got to be some of the best food in the world!

And now, off to Korea!

2011-07-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how quickly this summer has flown by. Here I've been in Taiwan for 6 weeks now, and my time is rapidly coming to a close. I can say without reservation that I am exactly where I should be at exactly the right time. It feels really, really good to be so settled-feeling, so happy. I just don't want it to end, though, and I can't say how sad I am to be leaving a place that has so quickly become home for me.

Having wrapped up my stint as a teacher here, I now have my long-awaited Korea trip before me. In just a few days, I will be reveling in the motherland of one of my favorite cuisines, hopefully getting some samgyetang, gamjatang, and patbingsu in somewhere along the way!

In honor of this upcoming trip, I want to post a recipe for the classic Korean dish kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew). This jjigae is incredibly easy to whip up...and the flavors are rich and exciting. Moreover (and this is what earns it high marks in my book), it is extremely healthy, low-fat with great fiber and protein levels from all that yummy cabbage kimchi and tofu. I used a nice lean pork sirloin tip roast, but pork belly (samgyeopsal) would be a tasty, richer alternative.

Kimchi jjigae (Kimchi Stew) 김치찌개,

Serves 3-4, Adapted from Maangchi

4 cups chopped kimchi

2/3 lb. (300g) pork meat, diced

½ medium white onion, sliced

2-3 green onions, sliced on the bias

1 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)

1 Tbs. hot pepper paste (gochujang)

~2 cups water

14 oz. (400g) tofu

1 Tbs. sesame oil

Place kimchi, pork, both types of onion, sugar, pepper flakes, and pepper paste in a medium pot. Add more water as needed to submerge all ingredients and stir to combine.

Cover pot and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and cook at a lively simmer for 20 minutes. Cut the tofu into large bite-size chunks add to the jjigae; continue cooking for 5 minutes more until tofu has heated through. Check seasoning and add salt to taste, then drizzle with sesame oil. Serve with steamed rice.