Chicken with Broccoli Stems

Recipe adapted from Iron Chef Chen Kenichi's Stir-fried Chicken with Green Asparagus

No asparagus at the farmer's market today.  Whenever I make an unintentional mistake at work and start having a panic attack, my boss tells me there's always another way to resolve the issue.  No asapragus?  Yes broccoli stems!

I'll put up the recipe later this week.

P E S T O

I used most of the leaves from my basil plant.  It's looking somewhat naked and sad now.

Recipe from Food Network

yield: 1 cup
Ingredients
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese

Directions
Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.
If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

:(

Yaki-Onigiri with Spicy Cod Roe

$1.50 onigiri mold

brown rice onigiri brushed with soy sauce + sesame oil

top'd with spicy cod roe, nori, and green onions

Tasty Hayashi Rice

tomorrow's lunch: leftover hayashi sauce over udon noodles

serves 8

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb onions

1 lb meat

2 tablespoon cooking oil

3 cups water

1 box Tasty Hayashi Rice Sauce Mix

Directions

1. Cut meat and onions into thin slices.

2. Heat oil in a pot, cook meat and onions over high/medium heat for 5-7 minutes.

3. Add water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, break the sauce mix and put into mixture.  Stir until completely melted.  Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Serve over rice or udon noodles.  (I added carrots and beech/shimeji mushrooms to the sauce.)

my very first etsy purchase arrived today :-)

Labor Day Weekend

Gunmo, he turned 14 in April.  He's like a little brother I never wanted.  I have a love/hate relationship with him.

Hint of autumn.

Mr Spider

Drawing #2

NY strip steak with brussel sprouts.  (Gunmo got a slice.)

Spicy Eggplant

Same recipe as Chicken with Basil but with eggplant and pork.

First food drawing.  My mom got that cute rice bowl for me over the weekend. :-)

Tofu Steak

Recipe adapted from Everyday Harumi

serves 4

Ingredients
1 lbs 5 oz soft tofu
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 oz fresh ginger, grated
2 scallions , finely sliced
4-5 tablespoons all-purpose flour - for coating
3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
katsuobushi to garnish
soy sauce

Directions
1. Drain the tofu and cut into four pieces.  Wife off any excess water with paper towel.
2. Season the tofu on both sides with salt and pepper adn then spread with the minced garlic.
3. Lightly coat the tofu pieces in flour.
4. Heat a little oil in a skillet and when hot add the tofu, cooking until it is crspy and browned on both sides.
5. Serve with the grated ginger, scallions, and katsuobushi on top.  Finish by dressing with soy sauce

Cucumber & Seaweed Salad

Recipe adapted from Everyday Harumi

serves 4

Ingredients

1/4 oz dried wakame seaweed

2 Japanese cucumbers

2/3 cup of rice vinegar, seasoned

grated fresh ginger - to taste

Directions

1. Wash and soak the seaweed for 10 minutes, then cute into bite-size pieces.

2. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and slice diagonally into pieces.

3. Place in a bowl, spinkle some salt over the slices, lave for 10 minutes.  Then squeeze firmly and place in a clean bowl.

4. Combine a pinch of salt and seasoned vinegar in a bowl and mix well, then add the cucumber and seaweed and leave in the refrigerator to chill.

5. Serve in small dishes with a pat of grated ginger on top.

H O T

Record high temperature in San Francisco today.

homemade popsicle - pineapple, peach, & mango juice with blueberries.

Green

It is H-O-T in San Francisco, for once! Stop'd by at one of my favorite spots in SF, Aqua Forest Aquarium in Japan town.  I brought something green home...

Hemianthus Callitricoides (Dwarf baby tears)

Los Angeles

Last minute trip to LA to visit bro...

Thursday dinner - pork fat rules!

Ddukboki and soondae @ School Food

Kimbap Combo @ School Food
My favorite was the one with small anchovies and kimchi.  Drool.

Korean rice wine @ Saekdongjugori

Redondo Beach Crab

Hmmm...can't go wrong with spaghetti with meat sauce.

Last meal -suhlungtang @ Jinjoo Gomtang

Old Photos

I think this picture was taken back in the early 80's in Chicago.  That's my grandma on the right...guess she came to visit us from Korea.  (I bought the photo frame at Goodwill for $1.75)

Left: One of my favorite photos of my brother, mom and me taken at our house in Seoul.  
Right: Grandma and mom.
Hmm..where is my dad? He was probably the photographer? ;-) 

Outside Lands 2010

The Temper Trap - my favorite song is "Sweet Disposition"
(..and of course, I was in the bathroom line when they played this song. sad.)

Spaghetti with Avocado

Recipe from 'it will stop raining'. 

serves 1
Ingredients
1 serving of cooked spaghetti
1/4 mashed avocado
1/2 diced avocado
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
toasted seaweed

Directions
Toss pasta with mashed avocado, lemon juice, ginger, and soy sauce.  Sprinkle sesame seeds and toasted seaweed before serving.

Deconstructed Samgyetang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samgyetang (Korean pronunciation: [samɡjetʰaŋ]) is a variety of guk or Korean soup, which primarily consists of a whole young chicken and Korean ginseng. The dish's name literally translates as "'ginseng chicken soup" in English.[1] Samgyetang is traditionally served in the summer for its supposed nutrients, which replaces those lost through excessive sweating and physical exertion during the hot summers in Korea.To make samgyetang, a whole young chicken is stuffed with glutinous rice and boiled in a broth of Korean ginseng, dried seeded jujube fruits, garlic, and ginger. Depending on the recipe, other medicinal herbs such as wolfberry (gugija), Codonopsis pilosula (dangsam), and Angelica sinensis (danggwi) may also be added.[2]