Yesterday I ate like garbage, so I wanted to eat something fresh and homemade today. We had a 400 gram pack of spinach in the fridge so I got to work. I wanted to make something like creamed spinach, minus the cream. I was inspired by the idea of carbonara, so I wanted to try using eggs and Parmesan to thicken the sauce. And I wanted to keep some texture to the spinach, so I didn't parboil or chop it. Here's what I came up with.
"Cabonara" Creamy Spinach
Ingredients:
400 g spinach, washed and drained
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 red chili pepper, chopped
400 mL plain soy milk
1 small spoon yuja preserves (usually used to make yuja tea)
1 egg + 1 yolk
parmesan cheese
olive and grapeseed oils for frying
Procedure:
1) sweat the garlic, onion, and pepper in a pan over low heat
2) when translucent, add spinach and turn heat to medium high
3) put lid on, cook until spinach reduces in volume
4) season with salt/pepper
5) add the yuja preserves
6) add the soy milk
7) bring to a light boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes
8) in a bowl, beat the egg and yolk
9) turn off the heat, then ladle some of the soy liquid into the egg to prevent scrambling
10) return the egg-milk mixture to the pot and combine, adding parmesan cheese to taste
Yum!
You can also use this to make a rocking spinach soup. Just use a hand mixer, then strain to get out any stringy spinach bits and you've got a lovely soup.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Monday, March 12, 2012
Rabbit Food: Day 1
After watching the documentary "Forks Over Knives", I decided to go meatless for a month. It's a decision I never thought I'd make. With the exception of some intestinal bits, I enjoy all meats equally and have been known to poke fun at the few vegetarians I know. But after watching the film the decision nearly made itself, with little contemplation. And so my meatless month begins.
Initially, I considered eliminating even eggs, milk, and cheese from my diet. And though I plan to head that direction, for the sake of using what's already in my fridge and making a more gradual transition, I'll be eating milk and eggs until I finish what I've already got in the fridge.
Rather than recounting everything I ate today, as if reporting to a weight-loss counselor, I'll just document the meal I actually cooked, using recipes from this massive book that I've bought to help me with my quest.
So, for tonight's dinner: balsamic-braised winter squash with rosemary, soy-ginger cucumber salad, and chive with carrot pancake (the last item was made without a recipe.) Everything was filling and tasty enough, but I think I need to work a bit more on the art of composing a vegetarian meal. Spaghetti, green beans, salad and garlic bread -- that's a meal. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts -- that's a meal. There was just nothing that really tied the meal together. But no fretting here, I'm still feeling good about the decision.
I had to scale down the recipes and substitute a few things (white onions for red ones, dried rosemary for fresh, agave syrup for sugar) but below are the original versions (with simplification from the interesting, but wordy instructions), from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian."
Cucumber Salad with Soy and Ginger
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes, largely unattended
3 medium cucumbers
salt and pepper
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
A 1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
fresh cilantro for garnish
1) Peel, cut in half, then seed and slice the cucumbers. Put in a colander and sprinkle with salt and then toss to coat. Let sit for 10 to 20 minutes. Rinse, drain and pat dry.
2) Toss the cucumbers with the remaining ingredients, then taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
Braised Winter Squash in Caramel Sauce with Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary
Makes: 4 Servings
Time: 30 minutes
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1.5-2 lbs. winter squash, cleaned and cut into 1 inch cubes (about 4 cups)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary leaves
1) Put a large, deep skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat and add the sugar and a tablespoon or two of water. Cook, gently shaking the pan occasionally, until the sugar liquefies and begins to bubble, about 10 minutes. Cook for another minute or so, until the melted sugar darkens; turn off the heat. Mix the vinegar with 1/2 cup water; carefully add the liquid and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring constantly, until the caramel melts into the liquid, about 2 minutes.
2) Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften, about 5 minutes. Add the squash, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir to coat.
3) Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes. Uncover the pan, stir, and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the squash can be pierced easily with a fork, about 10 minutes. Stir in the rosemary. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Initially, I considered eliminating even eggs, milk, and cheese from my diet. And though I plan to head that direction, for the sake of using what's already in my fridge and making a more gradual transition, I'll be eating milk and eggs until I finish what I've already got in the fridge.
Rather than recounting everything I ate today, as if reporting to a weight-loss counselor, I'll just document the meal I actually cooked, using recipes from this massive book that I've bought to help me with my quest.
So, for tonight's dinner: balsamic-braised winter squash with rosemary, soy-ginger cucumber salad, and chive with carrot pancake (the last item was made without a recipe.) Everything was filling and tasty enough, but I think I need to work a bit more on the art of composing a vegetarian meal. Spaghetti, green beans, salad and garlic bread -- that's a meal. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts -- that's a meal. There was just nothing that really tied the meal together. But no fretting here, I'm still feeling good about the decision.
I had to scale down the recipes and substitute a few things (white onions for red ones, dried rosemary for fresh, agave syrup for sugar) but below are the original versions (with simplification from the interesting, but wordy instructions), from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian."
Cucumber Salad with Soy and Ginger
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes, largely unattended
3 medium cucumbers
salt and pepper
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
A 1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
fresh cilantro for garnish
1) Peel, cut in half, then seed and slice the cucumbers. Put in a colander and sprinkle with salt and then toss to coat. Let sit for 10 to 20 minutes. Rinse, drain and pat dry.
2) Toss the cucumbers with the remaining ingredients, then taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
Braised Winter Squash in Caramel Sauce with Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary
Makes: 4 Servings
Time: 30 minutes
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1.5-2 lbs. winter squash, cleaned and cut into 1 inch cubes (about 4 cups)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary leaves
1) Put a large, deep skillet with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat and add the sugar and a tablespoon or two of water. Cook, gently shaking the pan occasionally, until the sugar liquefies and begins to bubble, about 10 minutes. Cook for another minute or so, until the melted sugar darkens; turn off the heat. Mix the vinegar with 1/2 cup water; carefully add the liquid and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring constantly, until the caramel melts into the liquid, about 2 minutes.
2) Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften, about 5 minutes. Add the squash, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir to coat.
3) Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes. Uncover the pan, stir, and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the squash can be pierced easily with a fork, about 10 minutes. Stir in the rosemary. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Itaewon Turkish Surprise
Saturday was sunny and chilly. We headed to Itaewon because I'd been meaning to go to High Street Market to pick up some ingredients. Once we got there, though, I ended up talking myself out of a lot of things, deciding I could actually buy them elsewhere.
After we left, we were walking around Itaewon looking for something "cheap and really delicious." Then we saw a sign for a Turkish restaurant. After wandering through a car driveway and up a set of stairs that had a slightly smoky smell, we found Kervan. Only a few weeks old, it's basically just one wide-open room. The decor felt Turkish enough to me, but Jinho keenly noted that it sort of felt like a public bath. On one wall there's the open kitchen and on the opposite wall, there's a wide-screen tv that shows the brick oven and chefs' work area.
They're running a lunch set menu (less than 10,000 won per person), but once we started looking at it the waiter informed us that it's only available on weekends. For lunch, it wasn't cheap but it was delicious and pricewise, it's pretty on-par with most foreign food in Seoul.
We started with Haydari, a yogurt-based item on the appetizer menu. When it arrived alone, my immediate reaction was to wonder where the bread was. It was vinegary and minty and strange. Jinho quite liked it, and after I got some bread, I didn't mind it too much, either.
Our main dish was the "Mixed Grill." It was a nice assortment of chicken kebab, doner kebab, and some other meat kebabs whose names I forgot to make note of. It just came with a few pieces of bread below, some steamed veggies, a baked potato, and a small salad. It was nice to have those non-meat things to accompany the flavorful and juicy meat. It was enough to satisfy two people lunch.
We finished with Turkish ice cream and Baklava. Both very nice, although Turkish ice cream isn't really my thing. Its gelatin texture feels almost viscous to me. I suppose I am just too used to creamy ice cream. The Baklava, was rich, and the pistachios had a nice pronounced flavor. Overall, a nice surprise and a good meal.
After we left, we were walking around Itaewon looking for something "cheap and really delicious." Then we saw a sign for a Turkish restaurant. After wandering through a car driveway and up a set of stairs that had a slightly smoky smell, we found Kervan. Only a few weeks old, it's basically just one wide-open room. The decor felt Turkish enough to me, but Jinho keenly noted that it sort of felt like a public bath. On one wall there's the open kitchen and on the opposite wall, there's a wide-screen tv that shows the brick oven and chefs' work area.
They're running a lunch set menu (less than 10,000 won per person), but once we started looking at it the waiter informed us that it's only available on weekends. For lunch, it wasn't cheap but it was delicious and pricewise, it's pretty on-par with most foreign food in Seoul.
We started with Haydari, a yogurt-based item on the appetizer menu. When it arrived alone, my immediate reaction was to wonder where the bread was. It was vinegary and minty and strange. Jinho quite liked it, and after I got some bread, I didn't mind it too much, either.
Our main dish was the "Mixed Grill." It was a nice assortment of chicken kebab, doner kebab, and some other meat kebabs whose names I forgot to make note of. It just came with a few pieces of bread below, some steamed veggies, a baked potato, and a small salad. It was nice to have those non-meat things to accompany the flavorful and juicy meat. It was enough to satisfy two people lunch.
We finished with Turkish ice cream and Baklava. Both very nice, although Turkish ice cream isn't really my thing. Its gelatin texture feels almost viscous to me. I suppose I am just too used to creamy ice cream. The Baklava, was rich, and the pistachios had a nice pronounced flavor. Overall, a nice surprise and a good meal.
Friday, December 2, 2011
McMorning
I found out this week that "Louisville contains more McDonald's outposts per capita (39) than any city in the country, according to a Daily Beast/Newsweek report." I haven't figured out what the '39' means, though. I looked for the original report but couldn't find it. Initially, I was thinking, 'there's no way there is one McDonald's for ever 39 people in the city.' I guess it's probably 39 McDonald's in the city. But, I'm curious to know about how the per capita figure compares to other cities...
All this thinking made me hungry this morning, so I decided to contemplate this and other big questions over a bacon egg McMuffin. I'm not sure how many McDonald's are in Seoul, but that doesn't matter because here we have... McDelivery. That's right, call in and get your breakfast delivered. I hardly ever got McDonald's breakfast when I was in the states because I used to wake up at, say, 10:27 and then realize that I had 3 minutes to get to a McDonald's. But in Seoul, that doesn't matter. Because I can call at 10:27 and place my order and get my breakfast! (And they serve breakfast til 11 here, but anyhow.) As you can see from the picture below, the food is exactly like home. (This should be a little off-putting, since it's a reminder that nothing there is fresh and there's some huge McDonald's factory somewhere, but somehow it's a little comforting, in the same way that going to a Starbucks anywhere in the world gives a sense of at-homeness.) Anyway, it's been a good morning. We should be having some higher quality food as the weekend goes on to give me something more interesting to write about.
All this thinking made me hungry this morning, so I decided to contemplate this and other big questions over a bacon egg McMuffin. I'm not sure how many McDonald's are in Seoul, but that doesn't matter because here we have... McDelivery. That's right, call in and get your breakfast delivered. I hardly ever got McDonald's breakfast when I was in the states because I used to wake up at, say, 10:27 and then realize that I had 3 minutes to get to a McDonald's. But in Seoul, that doesn't matter. Because I can call at 10:27 and place my order and get my breakfast! (And they serve breakfast til 11 here, but anyhow.) As you can see from the picture below, the food is exactly like home. (This should be a little off-putting, since it's a reminder that nothing there is fresh and there's some huge McDonald's factory somewhere, but somehow it's a little comforting, in the same way that going to a Starbucks anywhere in the world gives a sense of at-homeness.) Anyway, it's been a good morning. We should be having some higher quality food as the weekend goes on to give me something more interesting to write about.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Fit for a king
In old Korea, one's status determined the number of dishes that were served at a meal. Although rice and soup are the starting point for a meal, the more side dishes indicated a higher status. We went to a restaurant today that had a cutesy traditional look, but was planted in the middle of a busy shopping center. We weren't sure what to expect, but it was a solid meal -- I'd give it to a king. Rice in a stone pot, kimchi jjigae and doenjang (think Korean miso) jjigae were surrounded by vegetables, seafood, and meat dishes.
I couldn't be bothered standing up to get the whole table in the picture.
One of my favorites "gae jang" (crabs in soy sauce) is a simple but delicious way of serving whole raw crabs. After sucking the meat out of the shell, the left over sauce and roe is perfect when soaked up with rice. Another seafood dish, jellyfish, was also well-prepared. It was mixed with a wasabi-ish sauce and served with fresh pear, cucumber, crab and tomato slices. The land meats included bulgogi and bo-ssam (steamed pork eaten wrapped in lettuce and topped with spicy kimchi.) The vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, and green tomatoes were nice to eat in between the other heavier foods.
Gae-jang -- note the yummy orange roe. MMMMMmm...
Jellyfish
Steamed pork
Friday, November 25, 2011
Toast
When I think of toast I think of sliced bread that is inserted vertically into an electric box and then pops out with brown-black lines that mirror the heating coils inside the machine. But here, toast means something different. It refers to an entire sandwich, actually. This morning I had one for breakfast. It's better than McDonald's since it contains only fresh ingredients, but it still satisfies my Saturday-morning craving for something other than the cereal or fruit or nothing I have for breakfast during the week.
In Busan, the toast shop near my house sold these amazing sandwiches with three pieces of bread and a tangy, mildly spicy sauce (like barbecue sauce but mellower.) Here, though, the toast has only two pieces of bread and a mayo sauce. It tasted like either the cabbage, the sauce, or both were laced with sugar though because some bites tasted like candy. Even still, it didn't deter me from eating it. I had the most basic "Vegetable Cheese Toast" which has a scrambled egg, pickles, cabbage, and cheese on it. Other options add things like bacon, ham, beef(?) or all of them to make it a bit bulkier.
Not bad for a five-minute walk to get a two-buck breakfast.
In Busan, the toast shop near my house sold these amazing sandwiches with three pieces of bread and a tangy, mildly spicy sauce (like barbecue sauce but mellower.) Here, though, the toast has only two pieces of bread and a mayo sauce. It tasted like either the cabbage, the sauce, or both were laced with sugar though because some bites tasted like candy. Even still, it didn't deter me from eating it. I had the most basic "Vegetable Cheese Toast" which has a scrambled egg, pickles, cabbage, and cheese on it. Other options add things like bacon, ham, beef(?) or all of them to make it a bit bulkier.
Not bad for a five-minute walk to get a two-buck breakfast.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving in Korea really doesn't feel the same. But that probably could have gone without saying. I still like to do something anyhow. I didn't really have time to plan anything this year. So Jino and I just got some delivery chicken and then threw together a few "side dishes" using stuff we had in the fridge. The resulting menu: barbecue and grilled chicken, garlicky 'stuffing' (bread squares toasted in garlic butter), corn salad (corn, sliced olives, sliced peppers, vinegar, and cumin), fruit salad (apples, pears, persimmons in a mayo sauce), and kimchi. It wasn't the best ever, but it was easy and fun and yummy enough for a Thursday night dinner.
Oh, and yesterday, a delivery man (think UPS) knocked on the door and handed me this:
It's a box of Jeju Island mandarin oranges. They're sooo yummy but I am wondering how/whether we'll be able to eat them all before they go bad. I think Jino's parents sent it.
Oh, and yesterday, a delivery man (think UPS) knocked on the door and handed me this:
It's a box of Jeju Island mandarin oranges. They're sooo yummy but I am wondering how/whether we'll be able to eat them all before they go bad. I think Jino's parents sent it.
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