Cravings

I remember my friend raving about this cornbread pudding a couple years ago - she's one of those people who make you hungry just by her words (some people have that gift ya know?). And you can always trust her judgment when it comes to food. So there I was many years later and the craving hit me - sharp - and have I had it before? No. But I remembered her words, and it seemed like just what I wanted.

So I made it, we dined, and it was wonderful. It's just the right mix of sweet and salty, gooey but bready, hearty and tasty, and definitely substantial. Think of the crisp sweetness of cornbread but hot and goopy. Another friend called it addictive and I guess it's kind of Thanksgiving-esque. And the best part is, it can all be made in one dish. I'm all for any one-bowl, one-pot cooking! Anything to save me from those dreaded dishes piling up in the sink. Enjoy:

1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (15 ounce) can cream style corn
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 (8.5 ounce) package dry cornbread mix

Optional toppings:

shredded cheddar cheese

chopped red bell pepper
sliced jalapeno peppers

*This makes about 12 servings so feel free to cut the recipe in half or whatever you want.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a 2-quart casserole dish, mix together the whole kernel corn, cream style corn, margarine/butter, sour cream, and corn bread mix. Optional: scatter toppings evenly over dish.

3. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (might need to cook longer depending on your oven).

Passing the one-year mark

It was one of those days where I had a deep intense craving for rich dense chocolate cake. Ever have those? The tired workday called for a little chocolate pick-me-up and I pondered where I could get ahold of such goodies. And then I remembered. Wedding. Cake. In. freezer. YES!

Earlier this month, T & I had celebrated our 1-year anniversary but in the busyness of the day, we failed to carry out the tradition of eating our wedding cake leftovers. Now I know some people don't end up liking their wedding cake, but T & I absolutely adored it. The cake is layers of dense sweet rich chocolate and yellow cake, layered with strawberry and almond buttercream frosting. I didn't really have a chance to appreciate it on said wedding day (when camera flashes are popping all around you, and suddenly you get a forkful of cake coming at you, it's hard to concentrate on cake), but was overjoyed to find that the caterers had packed away the top for us.


I found myself nibbling away at its cake slices in the few months afterward (sorry, couldn't wait till the 1 year). And sometime come Spring, told myself I'd save the rest for the one-year. I've heard sad sad stories of freezer burn and disappointment, and feared the worst as I pulled it out from the back of the freezer. Much to my surprise, the cake tasted exactly the same! Much praise to T's idea of slicing up the cake and divying it up into freezer Ziploc storage bags and then stashing those away in tupperware. GENIUS. Freezer Ziploc bags - YES it does really work!

It's quite amazing - how here we are past our 1-year mark, and every day our marriage grows sweeter. Cheers to 1 year of growing old and up together! Cheers to God for His gracious providence and mercy! I am so blessed and humbled.

I cannot also make note of our first anniversary without mentioning this - my sweet old landlord passed away last week suddenly from cardiac arrest on Inauguration Day. It's ironic that when the majority of America was celebrating a new start to history, his ended. To us, he was more than just a landlord who fixed leaky faucets and collected rent checks. He was our next door neighbor, who never failed to sit down on our couch and tell us stories of his hometown, Italian heritage, and family with a gleam of pride in his eyes. We live in the house he bought next door for his grown-up children, and overtime he inched his way into our life as a grandfather figure I never had. T & I always felt blessed to have started off our marriage with such a nice landlord, and he indelibly left imprints on our first year.

I mean, the moment we first met him, T & I looked at each other and had the same anxious thought - is he going to last? It was evident that after prior serious heart problems, his body was frail and about to give way anytime. But his heart was always joyful, with a twinkle in his eyes he'd joke around with us, and answer the phone with a cheery "Hello!" and reply with an "Okidoke!" It almost fooled us. So as it does, we were still shocked when our fear became a reality.

I'm still having trouble with the fact that I will never see or talk to him again. And that his wife of 53 years now sits alone in the grand house he built himself where they once raised 6 kids. I am helpless being hit with the fact that life on Earth is fleeting, and God is sovereign. And really, I have no control.

How could I not

post this film??


"Sweet Dreams" (2007) from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

Genius!

The city that never sleeps

For my own memory's sake and if anyone's looking,I set out to write a list of my favorite eating spots. Before I knew it, the list got to be this long! Long live the city that never sleeps and its glorious dining.

japanese:
manhattan-
tenzan (white tuna/double tasty roll)
sharaku (black cod miso)
kanoyama (anything but especially the toro)
zenkichi (black cod miso, duck salad, black sesame mousse)

italian:
manhattan -
angelo's (pizza, arugula salad, and rigatoni dish)
patsy's in e. harlem (pizza - $10/takeout pie)
nick's (arugula salad, pasta dishes, pizza)
carmine's (everything. favs: red clam linguine, calamari, all the desserts)
otto (olive oil gelato coppetta)
gennaro's (pasta)

brooklyn -
anthony's (pizza, meatballs)
totonno's (plain cheese pie)
difara's (square meat pie)
grimaldi's (plain cheese pie)

queens -
trattoria l'incontro

nj -
dante's place (red clam linguine)

greek:
queens -
taverna kyclades (best greek food hands down. favs: grilled quail, calamari, octopus; greek salad)
christos steakhouse

sandwiches:
manhattan -
'wichcraft (grilled cheddar)
mamoun's (falafel, schwarma)
chickpea (falafel)
shorty's (philly cheesesteak, roast pork special)

brooklyn -
press 195 (all sandwiches)

queens -
sal, kris, & charlie's deli (bomb sandwich)

burgers:
manhattan -
5 napkin burger
burger joint (cheeseburger)
shake shack ('shroom burger w/grilled onions, shack burger, all the custards)
ottomanelli bros. (burgers)
corner bistro

queens -
bobby's burger palace
joe's best burgers

thai:
manhattan -
land
charm

brooklyn -
song
sea

queens -
sripraphai

vietnamese:
manhattan -
saigon grill (bun xao, curry, bo luc lac)
bahn mi saigon (vietnamese sandwiches)
lannan (pork chops)

korean:
manhattan -
e-mo kimbap (spicy tuna kimbap)
baden baden (rotisserie fried chicken and fries)
chodanggol (homemade soondooboo)

queens -
hamjibach (best korean overall. sanggyupsahl)
gowasabi (dolsot bibimbop)

nj -
myungdong kalgooksu (kalgooksu)
sohn jjajjang (jjampong, jjajjangmyun, their combo)
gahmeok (sullungtang, bibimbop, kakdukki )

chinese:
manhattan -
shanghai cafe (soup dumplings)
congee village (salty fried squid)

nj -
petit soo chow (soup dumplings)

spanish:
manhattan -
boqueria (tapas)

mexican:
manhattan -
el paso taqueria (burritos)

cuban:
manhattan -
cafe habana (grilled corn)

fries:
manhattan -
pomme frites

brunch/girly places:
manhattan -
alice's teacup
kitchenette (banana pancakes, sausages, biscuits, strawberry butter)

sweets:
manhattan -
jacque torres (chocolate)
crumbs (cupcakes)
yogurtland
red mango
vosges haut chocolat (hot chocolate)
van leeuwen (chocolate icecream)
magnolia bakery (banana pudding)
levain bakery (the biggest chocolate chip cookies i've ever seen)
chinatown icecream factory (black sesame icecream)

halal:
manhattan -
chicken & rice

wine bar:
manhattan -
punch

nj -
daryl's winebar

Stewing over

Someone once recommended to me to pack sandwiches for lunch. Stick to simple and don't overburden myself. I tried this for a couple weeks but quickly developed food envy when seeing my patients and co-workers dipping into hot homecooked meals while I nibbled away at my flat cold measly sandwich not-so-filled with skinny lunchmeat. At mid-day from a stressful workday, that is the last thing I wanted to see! I just couldn't do it. As munching sandwiches became torturous and depressing, I've returned to packing hot meals. It's been difficult as I'm constantly looking for dishes that are not only quick to prepare, but also easily storable, microwaveable, affordable, and exciting (whatever that may be) to eat. With some many pre-req's, it ain't easy (if anyone has any ideas, please do feel free to pass along).

And lately, with the onset of wickedly cold days, my stomach aches for something hearty, dark, sticky, chewy to gobble into. I have landed upon a couple quick stewy recipes through vast "research" (a.k.a. Google-ing) that have been on repeat. Often days it rather feels like I've been tossing bits of odds and ends into a boiling pot, but I've experimented enough (or the recipe is that simple) that it still comes out pretty tasty. Here's one:

Spicy chicken stew with chunky vegetables (Dakdoritang in Korean)

It's not that spicy, but more on the sweet side, I promise. But I didn't know how else to label something with so much red pepper contents that it just seemed wrong to not put the spicy sticker on it. Unless my memory is failing me (which could be likely), I don't remember ever eating this as a kid, but I recently discovered it and found it to be quite similar to Kalbijjim (Short rib stew). Although it being cheaper and having a shorter cooking time is probably why I make it so often nowadays. It has just the right blend of sweet and spicy, and everything nice. Dive in with a spoon and out comes a wealth of slightly caramelized carrots and potatoes, tender chicken falling apart at just the right places, & warm gooey sauce that'll fill up that stomach in the right places.

2 lbs. chicken (anything works - I usually go for thighs or drumsticks because I find them the tastiest)
1-2 c. water
2-4 potatoes (depending on their size), chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 carrot, peeled & chopped
3 green onions, chopped (optional)

Broth:
2 tbs. Korean hot pepper paste (gochujang)
2 tbs. Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru)
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tb. sugar
2 tsps. sesame oil
1/2 tb. ginger
2 tbs. minced garlic

Prep the chicken and vegetables (peel carrot, onion & potatoes if you wish. I tend to like to keep on my potato skins for texture. Supposedly they are loaded with vitamins too. Skin chicken. Let's be healthy now). Chop all vegetables into chunky big pieces as after stewing away in a pot for several minutes, they will probably disintegrate away into mush if you don't. It's much more flavorful this way too. Heat a pot big enough to hold all of this in its lower half. Throw in the chicken and vegetables and saute for 5 minutes or so until lightly toasted (if your pan tends to cause things to stick, a little bit of oil will do the trick of freeing it up). Cover with enough water to just about cover the chicken & vegetables.

Now toss the broth ingredients into the pot and stir away till well mixed. Then put the lid on the pot, & boil it on medium for 30 minutes. If you desire the scallions, chop them up and add them to the dish afterwards and heat up for another 10 minutes or so. As with most Korean dishes, you have to sort of eye it and adjust to your taste. I often end up keeping it on the heat more if I want the texture to be thicker than it comes out, and will throw in more red pepper paste, soy sauce, or sesame oil to get the broth just about to the taste I want. Then if you ladle it over some hot steaming rice & mix it up a bit, it's just the right comfort for me on those frigid blistery cold shivering Winter days (I do not like the cold).

I made cake

Now what shall I do?

Mister Oliver

By now you might have figured out that this blog is headed toward being a re-hash of Jamie Oliver's website. I am in LOVE with his recipes. At first, I thought they were way too complicated for me. I mean, me - cook gourmet? After a tired day at work? But after some trial and error-ing, I found that Mr. Oliver's gourmet was do-able - a repetition of several key ingredients (aha, I've figured out your secret!) that once our kitchen embraced, good cooking was minutes away.



You should probably save this for a weekend, as it takes a bit of time, but the result is wonderful - a unique blend of sweet & savory, juicy & hearty.

Pot-roasted poussins agro dolce (from Jamie Oliver's "Cook with Jamie" book)

1 orange, quartered
2 cinnamon sticks, broke in half*
6 sprigs of fresh rosemary*
4 poussins (baby chickens) or 1 large chicken
olive oil
2 knobs of butter
2 red onions, peeled & finely sliced
4 sticks of celery, trimmed and finely sliced
1 x 10 oz. jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
3 wineglasses of Chianti
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
a handful of pinenuts
16 slices thinly sliced smoked pancetta or bacon

"Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Stuff a piece of orange, half a cinnamon stick and a rosemary sprig into the cavity of each bird. In a large ovenproof pan in which the poussins will fit snugly side by side, heat a glug of olive oil and a knob of butter. Add the little chickens and color them gently on all sides for 10 min. or until lightly golden all over, then remove them to a place to rest.

Pick the rosemary leaves off the 2 remaining springs. Carefully discard the fat from the pan and add some fresh olive oil and your remaining knob of butter. Over medium heat, add your onion, celery, and rosemary and fry for about 5 min. until softened. While keeping an eye on the pan, throw the sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor with the wine and whiz them up - this will give you an intense, tangy tomato liquor.

By this time the onion and celery should be soft and nicely colored, so put your chickens back into the pan and turn up the heat. Add vinegar. Shake the pan around a bit, and add the tomato liquor. Continue cooking until the liquid has reduced slightly, then put the pan in the preheated oven with a lid on and cook for 30 minutes, turning the birds in the juices a couple of times. Remove the pan from the oven, take the lid off and turn the chickens once more in all the juices. Lay them breast side up and sprinkle the pinenuts over them, then lay your slices of pancetta or bacon over them and cook in the oven for a further 10 minutes until crisp and golden. Allow the poussins to rest in the pan for 10 min. while you get your guests to the table."

*we found that typically expensive ingredients such as fresh herbs and cinnamon sticks could be found cheap at nearby Korean or Indian grocery stores. $1 for a large bundle of rosemary. $2 for a big pack of cinnamon sticks.

And we had the joy of meeting Mr. Oliver in Long Island this past November, thanks to our mischievously-planning friends, the P's :)

As you can see, Mr. Oliver was as excited as us to meet up.

Pizza Time

What would a Kangblog be without a post on pizza? Before I met T, my favorite pizza joint was Papa John's. I was shocked to find out T did not feel the same! (How can you not love their buckets of butter so you can dip your crusts?) But I soon found out why after T introduced me to his wealth of knowledge on all things pizza.

My top picks so far:

1. Frank Pepe's Pizzeria in New Haven, CT. - their rustic clam pizza has the most GINORMOUS clams I've ever seen! Think red clam linguine on a pizza! I would show you a photo but I gobbled it up before I could.

2. Di Fara's in Brooklyn, NY - love their meat pie. Fresh herbs, imported cheese and sauce, straight out of the oven. Their plain pie is pretty good too. My words cannot do it justice but these come pretty close.
3. Totonno's in Brooklyn, NY - My vote for best pizza crust. Pillowy, fluffy, doughy... T & I wish we could switch DiFara's crust for this one.
4. NY Pizza Suprema (near Penn Station) - A decent pizza if you're craving a slice on the go.


With near proximity to the finest foods, T & I have started a hobby of trying to recreate restaurant dishes at home. Here's our version of pizza & how we got there.

pizza with egg, prosciutto, artichokes, olives, mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil (Jamie Oliver)

• 6 tablespoons tomato sauce
• 2 baby artichokes (use good jarred ones)
• 3 slices of prosciutto
• a small handful of good olives, stones removed
• 1 small egg, preferably organic
• 85g/3oz mozzarella
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Smear the tomato sauce evenly over the pizza base. Tear the artichokes into quarters and scatter over the pizza. Lay over the prosciutto slices and sprinkle the olives over. Crack over the egg and place little torn-up pieces of mozzarella in the gaps. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with pepper and a tiny bit of salt. Cook until crisp and golden.

Hello World

T always says he won my heart with good food. We had our first date over it (the buttery Black Cod Miso at Sharaku for half the price of that at Nobu but just as delicious), and our dating period ensued with introductions to other scrumptious finds in the city (all at a budget saavy price, mind you).

This blog emerges from two desires. One - to give people a peek into our little humble 'hood.' And two - as a family trying to brainstorm for 7 days worth of meals, I've found myself at a (for lack of a better word) brain fart many a times after work for what dinners + lunches should be. Thus I hope this becomes an avenue where we share our love for food with others. So please, feel free to post your suggestions or recipe ideas in the 'Comments' section! I always welcome new ideas for yummy (and key: time efficient) dishes.

I'll start off first with an introduction to the heavenly dessert that swept me off my feet: Otto's Olive Oil Coppetta, a luxurious layer of olive oil gelato, blood oranges, and candied clementines sprinkled with sea salt (fruits change seasonally). As weird as it sounds at first, this exotic combination had me ooh-ing and ahh-ing for more. Or maybe it came out more like "OH MY GOSH!!" The sea salt sprinkles sound odd but it's just enough to highlight the beauty of the rich olive oil flavor.



Now T & I have tried to mimic the gelato at home to not so much success (although if you wish to try, the Babbo Cookbook recipe is here), but I discovered a less laborious method in Jamie Oliver's "Jamie's Italy" cookbook (key: time-efficient!):

Gelato con olio e sale
"I was served this dish many years ago and was shocked but it was bloody gorgeous! It can only be made successfully if you use half-decent vanilla ice cream and the best olive oil you can get your hands on. Put a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream into your bowls. Drizzle over some very-good-quality extra virgin olive oil, preferably one with a nice grassy, flowery flavor and sprinkle a tiny pinch of sea salt on top. I can't explain what it's like - you'll just have to try it!"

Cheers!
S