Bindaedduk (Korean Mung Bean Pancake)

This dreary weather makes me crave comfort foods. Another one...

Adapted from Chang Sun-Young's A Korean Mother's Cooking Notes

1 cup skinned mung beans
1 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1/2 pound) beef or pork (tenderloin)

(A)
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. ginger juice
1 cup thin green onion

1/2 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup mung bean sprouts
1 cup kimchi
1 tsp. sesame oil

(B)
1 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. ginger
1 tb. sesame oil
1 tb. sesame salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Wash & soak 1 cup skinned mung beans in water for about a day at room temperature, or about 2 days in the refrigerator. One cup dried mung beans will become 2 cups when well soaked.

2. Cut meat into thin strips and season with (A) ingredients.

3. Cut kimchi into thin strips and squeeze juice out (not too much though!). You should have about 1/2 cup of kimchi after squeezing. Mix with 1 tsp. sesame oil.

4. Cut green onion into 2-inch-long pieces. Slice onion into thin strips. Wash mung bean sprouts.

5. To the seasoned meat, add kimchi, green onion, onion, and season with (B) ingredients.

6. Add 1 cup water to soaked mung beans and grind in a blender to make a thick batter. Add 1/2 tsp. salt for taste. Put all of the seasoned ingredients into the batter and mix well.

7. Drop the batter by spoonfuls onto a hot oiled pan. Fry until golden brown and turn once.

Lemon Sorbet

I got this amazing icecream book from Anne and had the pleasure of trying this recipe over the weekend. Tastes extra good with a drip of rum! Perfect and fresh for the warmer weather.

From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Makes about 1 quart

2.5 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 lemons
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 5-6 lemons)

In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, mix 1/2 cup of the water and the sugar. Grate the zest of the 2 lemons directly into the saucepan. Heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and ad the remaining 2 cups water; then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Stir the lemon juice into the sugar syrup, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Pesto

Adapted from Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life book

2 cups tightly packed basil leaves, washed and dried well
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbs. pine nuts
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano

Put basil leaves in a heavy duty Ziploc bag. Press all the air from the bag and seal. Put bag on countertop or floor and using rolling pin, pound bag until all leaves are bruised.

Put the pounded basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, salt in a blender and process until you reach a smooth creamy consistency. Stop once or twice to scrape down the blender with a rubber spatula. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the parmigiano-reggiano. Great with long noodles and vegetables and sausage but can also be eaten with toasted bread.

Pear Walnut Salad

*Note: Walnuts are replaced with dried cranberries in this version. I prefer walnuts because it gives a nice balance between the savory and sweet flavors of the salad.*

Dressing:

½ cup oil

¼ cup sugar

3 Tbsp. vinegar

¼ tsp. Salt

Salad:

10 cups of mixed greens lettuce (i.e. romaine, spinach)

1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

9 oz. crumbled blue cheese

3 pears peeled and sliced into approximately 1 inch flat squares

Directions:

1. Combine salad ingredients (walnuts can be toasted in a toaster oven).
2. Make dressing separately.
3. Mix dressing well (so the sugar is spread evenly throughout the dressing) and toss together with salad.
4. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Green Bean and Bacon Salad

Great salad during the summer. I usually leave out the shallot and parsley... but I'm sure it's better with it.

Adapted from Tyler Florence's recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/green-bean-and-bacon-salad-recipe/index.html

1 pound green beans, stems trimmed
1/4 pound thick-cut bacon, cut in 1/4-inch pieces
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 cup walnut halves and pieces, toasted
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 tablespoon hot water
Pinch sugar
1 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch the green beans for 4 minutes, or until they are just crisp-tender. Drain the beans, transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking, and drain well. Put the green beans in a mixing bowl.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, until crispy. Transfer the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. Add the bacon to the green beans, along with the shallot, walnuts, and parsley.

In a jar, combine the mustard, water, sugar, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle in the oil, put the cap on, and shake vigorously to emulsify. If planning to eat the salad right away, pour the dressing over the green bean salad and serve. If taking on a picnic, put the salad in a sealable plastic container and pack the dressing separately until ready to serve.

Chocolate & Caramel Tart

The first time I had this via a friend, I could not stop thinking about it.

Adapted from: http://cookingwithrockstars.com/recipes/chocolate-caramel-tart-sea-salt

Ingredients

Chocolate cookie crust

• 2 cups crushed chocolate cookies (i.e. chocolate Teddy Grahams)
• 3/4 cup melted butter

Caramel filling

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 2/3 cup whipping cream
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Chocolate filling

• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Instructions

Cookie crust

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Combine the cookie crumbs and butter in a medium bowl and mix well. Press the crumb and butter mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie or tart pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Set aside and cool before filling.

Caramel filling

1. Stir the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a heavy medium saucepan over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. Increase the heat and boil until the syrup is an amber color – swirling the pan occasionally and brushing down the sides with a wet pastry brush – about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Add the cream, butter, vanilla and salt (the mixture will bubble up).
4. Return the pan to very low heat; stir until the caramel is smooth and the color deepens, about 5 minutes. Refrigerate the caramel uncovered until cold but not firm – about 20 minutes – before pouring into the crust to fill it a little more than halfway.

Chocolate filling

1. Bring the cream to boil in a heavy small saucepan. Add the chocolate and whisk together until smooth.
2. Fill the rest of the pie or tart crust with the chocolate filling. In the end, you want slightly more caramel than chocolate in the tart.

Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes.

Just before you serve the tart, sprinkle the top of it with a dusting of sea salt to taste."

My go-to Kimchi Fried Rice Recipe (Bokkeumbap)

14 meals to eat a week. I probably end up planning/cooking 9-10 of them. Going to start posting them up here to keep track and remind myself when I'm tired & hungry after work (not a good combo), and trying to scratch my brain for ideas. Sorry, I'll try to post photos once in awhile but I can't guarantee I won't gulf my food down first! First, one of my favorite comfort foods...

And trust me on the peanut butter. I tried it once and I will never go back.

Adapted from: http://koreancooking.xanga.com/396949194/item/

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups old kimchi

Approx. 1/4 cup of kimchi juice

2 cups of spam (about 1/2 can), diced

1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 tablespoon of "secret ingredient" - peanut butter

2 tablespoons of sesame oil

Approx. 3 small bowls of rice

1-2 eggs (optional)

Directions:

1. Put spam in heated pan over medium/medium high heat.
   
2. Add in olive oil.
3. When spam goes from light pink to a dark pink, add kimchi.
4. Add in peanut butter, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Mix in well with spam & kimchi.
5. Add in rice. If there isn't enough "sauce" to coat the rice, add in kimchi juice
6. Fry eggs sunny side, over-easy or well done (your choice) and place it on top of your yummy kimchi fried rice.