Vegetable Bulgogi
This is by no means authentic and was inspired by a number of posts and pins on social media.
Let’s start with the sauce:
- 2 Tbl brown sugar
- 3 Tbl tamari or soy sauce
- 1 Tbl rice vinegar
- 1 Tbl sriracha
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp perilla oil or sesame
- 1-2 tsp Korean red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp ginger—I used 1/2 tsp powdered
Mix them all up and put aside until needed
For the veg (for about 3-4 servings):
- 2-3 carrots chopped into cubes (i quartered the thick sections and halved the thinner)
- 1 onion chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms chopped
- 1 eggplant (I used 1 graffiti eggplant and I think that was perfect)
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts
- 1 clove garlic
In 1 tsp coconut oil I sautéed the carrot, onion and garlic until the carrot was somewhat soft
After sauté it gets removed from heat
Then in 2-3 TBL olive oil (you could certainly use something more neutral but that’s what I had on hand when I realized the coconut oil I used wouldn’t be enough), sauté the eggplant until the cubes are semi soft then add the mushrooms and walnuts and sauté until mushrooms are cooked and eggplant is fairly soft and add back in the carrot and onion.
Give that a quick mix and stir in the sauce and I turned off the heat and let it sit covered for about 10 minutes so the veg had time to absorb the flavor
On the side I had a cucumber salad, kimchi and soy sauce sprouts. The green beans are blanched and splashed with rice vinegar, lemon juice and a little soy paste.
Korean Sauna Deviled Eggs
I have loved Korean saunas since my friend introduced me to one in 2011. It happened to be WiSpa at the edge of KTown on LA. I was hooked. Sadly there are none here in the desert so we have been deprived since moving. In a random recipe search for something else I found Korean Sauna Eggs which apparently are common snack at the cafes in the saunas that I had missed out on.
I started a batch last night using data from all the recipes I found rolled into one. The trick with these guys is that they are pressure cooked for 1, 2, 3, or 4 hours depending on level of brown nutty good ness you want. I had these blue eggs on hand which I put in the instapot for 2 hours on pressure and let the pot naturally release when done and then just through them into the fridge. With the eggs in the instant pot you need two cups of water and 2 tsp salt
If you have never made eggs in your instapot, one of the joys is the ease in peeling.
Yep. These aren’t bad. This is how they turn out. they peel like a dream and have a brown color with nice nutty flavor.
I decided these would turn into deviled eggs that I would flavor based on their heritage.
Korean red pepper flakes (just a dash), some seasoned soy paste (1/2 tsp), and about 1TBl kimchi. Mix it all up.
Fill your eggs and chill. I garnished with a tiny piece of kimchi and a dab of sriracha.
This were so much better than I planned. The nuttiness of the egg and the soy paste marry perfectly.
I’m making these again
Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls and Beet Salad
I knew I had a head of cabbage and half of another on the fridge so I was pondering that and struck on this idea.
I’m gonna give a shout out to a couple of my favorite brands here—just because the products are always here.
Penzey’s Revolution. I used this in the cabbage
Eden Organica Kimchi Sauerkraut I used this in the cabbage.
Stonehouse Olive Oil OMG spice This was perfect on the beets
The rest is brand neutral.
Beets
- Beets, I had five small baby beets that I roasted and peeled at 350 for like 30 minutes
- Carrot, radish, daikon…I thought I had carrot for the cabbage but instead had three small daikon so the salad got half and the cabbage got the other half—about 1/2 cup
- Onions, 1/2 small onion chopped
- Garlic, 3-4 cloves chopped
- Pickles, Dill, 2 Tablespoons chopped
- Olive oil, about 1/2 tablespoon
- Vinegar, just a splash
- Pickle juice, about 2 Tablespoons
- OMG spice liberally – so you can add a mix of similar types of seasonings
- Dill, chopped to serve
Just mix it all up!!
Cabbage
- Cabbage, 1/2 head
- Protein—hamburger, soy curls, tvp. I used 1/2 bag of butlers soy curls.
- Carrot, 1/2-3/4 cup. I subbed daikon
- Celery, 1/2-3/4 cup.
- Tomatoes, 1 can chopped
- Sauerkraut, 1/2 cup. I used kimchi kraut
- Penzey’s Revolution, liberal shaking
- Garlic, about 5 chopped cloves
- Worcestershire, splash on soy curls
- Smoked paprika, to help add some Smokey meatiness. Just a few shakes
- Chives, chopped to garnish for serving. Mine looked bad so I used micro greens
- Sour cream for serving
Sauté the soy curls in two swirls of olive oil just to fry out a bit and then add feelers garlic onions and carrots
Once it’s softening up some add the can of tomatoes
Let that cook a bit and add the cabbage
That cooks until everything is not raw crisp and the juice has been released. Then I add the sauerkraut and turn off the heat so it gets incorporated and heated but you don’t kill the probiotics.
Serve it with a dollop sour cream.
Pasta Puttanesca
This is the first dish I cooked for my partner 25 years ago. It’s relatively inexpensive and usually I can pull it together with pantry staples. There are countless variations but this is the one that I can make from memory and has served me well for over 2 decades.
- Olive Oil, 2 1/2 times around the pan
- Garlic, 4-5 cloves or more or less to your taste
- Anchovies, 1 can flat
- Red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp or a touch more if you like
- Tomatoes, 2 cand, whole or sliced ideally but chopped work. Crushed would be last choice
- Olives, about 1/4 cup sliced kalamata, oil cured, or similar
- Capers, 1-2 tablespoons to taste
- Parsley, flat leaf, 1/4-1/2 cup chopped
- Pasta of your choice. Long thin is the best like spaghetti. Fettuccini works well too. In these pictures I have a gluten free fresh fettuccine.
Sauté the olive oil, garlic, anchovies and red pepper until the anchovies melt into the oil.
Add the tomatoes and stir periodically while cooking over medium heat
Cook and stir until most the liquid is gone and the oil clearly starts to separate
Add in the olives and reduce more of the liquid until mostly gone
Turn off the heat and add in capers
Stir in the pasta and plate. Topping with the parsley.
Simple salad dressed with olive oil, white pepper and lemon juice.
Gotta have a cocktail…this is my version of a Pomtini that includes grand marnier, home Meade citrus vodka, lime juice, pomegranate and grey goose.
Day 2. Carrots
We had carrots on day two because I had an ugly bunch that came in my produce box just waiting to be used.
Simple. Oven roasted in olive oil and acid leagues vegetable balsamic with a sprinkling of Penzey’s seasons salt. Covered in fouls and roasted at 375 for an hour
A veggie a day…day one. Corn.
For the month of May, I’m going to make a different vegetable every day. This was inspired by an article in Food Network Magazine.
Day 1 was corn as I have corn as I had some on the cob that needed used up.
I was inspired by an epicurious or bon appetit email for a recipes using some crispy fried garbanzos with some sautéed poblano and corn on it with an egg on top.
My version was made with black beans.
I sautéed 1 can of rinsed black beans with 1/2 poblano and 1/2 onion and mashed the beans with my spoon a little to make them chunky. I played those and placed in a warm oven.
Then I cut the corn off of two cobs and sautéed that with poblano and onion until the pepper and onion were soft.
Plated it
I had a sautéed salmon filet that I laid on top
Pierogi Lasagna
Shared a video for his recipe I found on Facebook a while back. I got a Facebook memory of it last week and I had to share again saying I still hadn’t tried it….se I did.
Overall this is really simply except it’s not juicy enough to do the no-boil option for the noodles.
First you need to boil your noodles—I used jovial gluten free noodles. i used the whole package of 12 as I was making 4 layers. I placed three as the bottom layer on a greased pan.
For my bottom layer I used mashed potatoes—mine were made from scratch with a little butter and some sour cream, but you can use your favorite recipe or even instant. I made about 1/2 layer.
The potatoes are topped with a layer off noodles.
The next layer was cottage cheese, egg and Parmesan. I mixed 16 ounces of full fat cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 cup parmesan.
The cottage cheese is topped with another layer of noodles.
I then added a layer of sauerkraut and mu herons. This was a fresh caraway kraut but you can use your favorite and vary amount to your liking. This was about 8 ounces. You don’t need to drain it perfectly because a little liquid in this dish is okay. i used a small can of sliced mushrooms and scattered those drained mushrooms on the sauerkraut.
Then we add the final layer of noodles. And cover with cheese of choice.
Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes
Let it rest and eat it!
Arepas de Maiz
On my Amazon wish list for my birthday I always have cookbooks as that’s an easy option for friends and family. This year I noticed Provecho by Edgar Castrejon and added it and it was as purchased for me by my sister. This is a very fun book that will be loved by those that abode gluten and meat. I’m making arepas inspired by his recipe in that book.
1 1/2 cups masa—-I use Tres Latino masa
3 Tbl nutritional heat
Salt to taste
Corn…canned sweet corn. 15 ounces
Water to adjust for the right texture
The arepas should come together like this
For the green salsa…I toasted the ingredients below and gave them a whir and now they simmer a bit.
For the red sauce…
Roasted tomato, shallot, jalapeño, with garlic, rehydrated California peppers and Mexican oregano.
The two sauces
For the beans…
The beans are leftover “refried” pintos from another post. I added roasted jalapeño and some Chile soaking liquid to simmer and blend.
Other sides…
My curtido is crazy good after the extra fermentation time. Sadly, this is her last appearance.
I wanted something extra so I grabbed some salad shrimp that got dressed up with chili and some lime juice
Then I just loaded them up as a vehicle for the toppings
51st birthday cake
Over the Rainbow Deserts is where jim got my cake this year—the do gluten free cakes so I had previously ordered him one for his birthday we celebrated here.
We had the Palm Springs Citrus. With little succulents in too.
Three layers of different citrus on this cake!
Thanks honey!
Brian and Jim Eat 