Pork Bone Soup a la Maangchi

Maangchi - I've spent hours analyzing her blog, her korean dishes, her videos,  her Gamjatang - Pork Bone Soup hits a craving cord.  Struck was I in wanting to try her recipe.  Struck was I, who lived no where near a korean grocery.  Struck was I who waited so long to be able to make her recipe.  Struck was I who one time went into H-Mart (korean grocery) and found they ran out of pork bones!!  Sadden and depleted, I waited and waited for another few weeks.  Until finally, upon another trip to H-Mart, they had full stock of pork bones! I strucked gold!! The excitement I felt running around the grocery, piling our basket full of ingredients needed to make Gamjatang!. Sesame leaves! Sprouts! Perilla powder! Oh the fun I was going to have the next day making this!

I remember this day clearly.  It was a Friday night.  A night where I am usually exhausted from a full week's of work and commuting, I was exhilarated! Just before we left to go out for dinner, I soaked those pork bones in water, letting time extracted the unwanted, irony blood. 
After we came back from dinner, I  rolled up my sleeves, cleaned all ingredients  and followed Maangchi's instructions step by step.
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/gamjatang

Now imagine my excitement throughout this making of Gamjatang to realize in the end, when my Mr. tried it, I made it too spicy!!!  It still tasted like Pork Bone Soup mind you but apparently it was too spicy to really enjoy the flavour of the soup! Let's clarify this point, amongst our friends, ppl we know, we can tolerate alot of spice as compared to them, so when I say this soup was too spicy... it was too spicy!  But we ate it regardless! 

After analyzing what I must have done differently than Maangchi, I realized several things.  I brought the wrong soybean paste, (i brought the seasoned soybean paste instead of the regular, straight up soybean paste) add more red pepper power than asked for, add extra dried chili in stock.  I've learnt my lesson.  Never under estimate Maangchi.  :)
The following are my photos as I attempted the Gamjatang.

Vegetables - washed and cut up

Prep for stock base

Ingredients needed to make paste

Paste and Maangchi :)

Stock simmering

Pasted added to stock

Vegetables added to stock

Final dish ! (spicy!)

The Ultimate no beans Chili Stew

         Yes I have been neglectful of this blog. Its been two months since the last post and I absolutely have no excuses.  I mean, I've been cooking day after day. I have been taking really rough photos as I go along.  See, THAT's the easy part! But having to archive dishes onto this blog, requires extra time.. which lets face it.....not alot of us have! So, for the sake of time, I shall post up several dishes today.
        I delicate this post to all those chili lovers who constantly complain there are way too much beans in chili stews.  Guilty has charged, my mr. and I are the complainers.  Yes, we know beans are relatively inexpensive, mostly used as a filler to extend the stew for extra health benefits, but there is only so much beans we can take in one sitting!  We've had many chili stews from restaurants, fast food chains and consistently, there is a 6:1 ratio of beans to meat.  Lets face it, its the MEAT that provides the flavour of the stew! So after some research, I've settle on a recipe I found through a blogger "Lick My Spoon."  After the first time following her recipe, I have altered the recipe to make it spicier and of course, I omitted the beans.:)

Chili Stew after simmering.

The no beans Chili Stew
Ingredients:
3.5 - 4 pounds of ground meat; beef & spicy Italian sausage without casing (your choice to mix other meats too:)
10-13slices of applewood bacon - diced
1 & 1/2 carrot, 1 large Spanish onion - grated
6-7 cloves of garlic - diced
4 roasted sweet red peppers (I used the ones in store brought jars for convenience)
7 whole roasted jalapenos
1 796ml can of tomatoes (san la marazano brand:))
1 796ml can of homemade tomato sauce (you can find a recipe of the homemade italian tomato sauce on my blog, just omit the meatballs)
approximately 1/4cup ketchup
2 tsp of chili powder (optional)
3-4tbsp of sugar, worcestershire sauce, sriracha hot sauce & dark melted chocolate
if you just happen to have some rind of parmesan cheese left, throw it into the pot, if not, don't sweat it :)

Directions:
1.  Have a large pot where you will be stewing the chili ready.  In a separate pan, on medium heat, cook your meats separately until brown.  Place cooked, brown meat into large pot.
2.  While your meat is cooking, roasted your jalapenos and set aside.  grate your carrots, onions; set aside.
3.  Once all the meat has been cooked, saute your carrots, onions and garlic separately until almost cooked.  By cooking each item separately before combining into a huge pot is that the flavour will retain itself and add dimension to the overall dish. (Something I learnt from Korean cooking.:) )
4.  Once all items above are combined into the large pot, cut off the stems of the jalapenos and puree in the food processor along with the roasted red peppers.  Add this paste into the large pot and mix everything together.
5.  Now to heat to medium high and begin to add the tomato sauce, can of tomatoes, sugar, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, sriracha hot sauce, melted dark chocolate & the optional chili powder and or parmesan rind
6.  Mix well add a little bit of water if necessary.  Once stew begins to bubble, turn down heat to low and simmer for 4hrs.

The best way to eat this is ... if you have any patience... leave it overnight in the fridge.  The next day, heat it up and trust me, it will taste mighty good than if you were to have this right after simmering for 4hrs.   Below are some photos I took along the way. This may help you.! Enjoy!!!

Saute your meats :)

All ingredients in pot:)

vegetables added :)

Homemade sauce

add your can of tomatoes!

melted chocolate yummm.

ALL ingredients mixed prior to simmering.

 

Junior New York Cheesecake

The urge to bake was really brought on by a friend who said, "let's make cheesecake this friday!" Lucky for us, cream cheese just happened to be on sale ! and lucky for me, I didn't have to stress over what to bring to a thanksgiving dinner on sunday.  Cheesecake was it.  Now I didn't want to make the simple no bake cheesecake so I did my research.  In 5 mins, after comparing several recipes, I found the winner!
http://www.momswhothink.com/cheesecake-recipes/juniors-new-york-cheesecake.html
I wanted something complicated and delicious.  This was it! Click on above link for recipe and directions.
Note, because I did not have lemon extract, I simply grated 1/4 of a whole lemon zest.

This is how it looks out of the oven, rested.  :D

And because I had a bar of Lindt 72%dark chocolate bar, I decided to melt it in a double pot simmering method and glaze the cake.  As you can tell, since this is the first time I glazed a cake with chocolate... it did not look very nice.  But I learnt. :D

Top view of cake with chocolate glaze.

Size view of cake.

Tadum! Light and fluffy.

Spicy Beef Marrow Stew

Spicy Beef Marrow Stew

     Months back, we brought these dried serrano peppers from Kensington Market and we've been wacking our brains wondering what to do with them.  Last week, I decided to sit down and do some serious research on mexican/cuban beef stews and I swear, not one single recipe of the same dish is identical.  One used red wine, another used water.  One had sausages, another used only beef chunks.  Some were ready in 30 mins, others were ready in a few hours. Not wanting to follow one particular recipe, I noted down some key ingredients and went off to our local grocer to further inspire me.
    Amazingly, I found these sausages labeled as "Extra Hot Mexican Sausage." (raw) Bingo!  Next, I found beef shank still attached to its marrow! Bingo! Bingo!  This two meats will spend some quality time with my beloved dutch oven pot.  One pot wonder!

Prior to simmering for 2.5hrs.

Ingredients:
3 Sausages (decased) of your choice
1 beef shank with marrow (about 1 large steak size)
5 pieces of dried serrano peppers
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 spanish onion, roughly chopped
1 chicken bouillon
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cup of can tomato with juices
2 potatoes, peeled & chunked
paprika, salt & pepper, chili powder

Prepare beef shank: Pat dry beef, salt & pepper both sides.  Spinkle paprika & chili powder on both sides.  Next, lightly apply all purpose flour on both sides.  This will crisp and brown beef easily.  Set aside.

Directions:
1.  Medium to high heat, brown sausages, cook out most of its juices. I added paprika to meat to cook with.  Your choice to do the same or not. (approx. 5mins) Take it out and set aside.
2.  Sauted onion and garlic with 5 dried serrano peppers. (approx. 5mins)  Take it out and set aside.
3.  In the same pot, brown beef shank with marrow, 2 mins each side.  Take it out and set aside.
4.  By now, your pot should be burnt at the bottom.  Still on medium-high heat, de-glaze pot with red wine, a splash of worcestershire sauce, & chicken bouillon.  Be sure to scrap all the goodness from the bottom of pot.
5.  Once all brown bits from pot has been scraped off, sauce stirred, add your ingredients previously cooked back into same pot, add your potatoes  & 1 1/2 cup of can tomato with juices.
6.  Add stock or water to barely cover ingredients.  I added about 1/4cup of water.  Just to give you an idea.  I also added one stick of celery to stock just because I had it.
7.  Add a dash of paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper for good measure.  Once sauce comes to a simmer, turn heat down to low, cover pot and simmer for 2.5hours.

If you want to enjoy this dish at its best, eat it the next day!  The potatoes overnight will thicken the sauce naturally.  Its great with pasta or rice.  Mr. ate 3 plates of this in one sitting. :D

Bolognese Sauce

I truly admire Italian food.  Their complexity of favours made up of a few simple ingredients.  Of course, time plays a major role. It was the episode where Anthony Bourdain travels to Maples, Italy that made me really appreciate true Italian food.  Italians care about their food! They care for their tomatoes! Their wide variety of pasta! Their local ingredients!  They pride themselves in their simple tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella cheese, fine extra olive oil, sprinkle of backyard grown basil, > woodbaked pizza.  Oh, just a note, they don't have pre-grated parmesan cheese that come in plastic bottles ready to spinkle over dishes! True Italians use the freshest of the freshest ingredients.  That's why, as simple as their dish can be, its also quite complex in favour.

So this weekend, with company over, I shall make Italian Bolognese Sauce served overtop of gluten free pasta.  A trip to our locate grocery, a few simple ingredients, a well used, well loved dutch oven pot sitting nicely on the stove, I will attempt to bring Italy to our home.  This recipe is adapted from Chuck William's "William Sonoma - Cooking at Home" with a few twist of my own.

Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
60g of smoked pancetta, diced
1/2 large yellow onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk all diced finely
1 pound of lean ground beef, 1/2 pound of ground veal
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
1 can of top grade Italian plum tomatoes with juice (450g) (I used a bit more tomatoes than 450g since I did add more meat than original recipe)
Salt

Directions:
Over medium heat in a dutch oven pot, heat up olive oil, butter, garlic.  Add in pancetta 1 min later.  Once pancetta renders off some fat, add in onion, carrot and celery and saute until soften.
Next, add beef and veal. Break up meat in pot, stir, mix just until meat is no longer pink.  Do not allow meat to brown or harden.
Add in wine and simmer until it evaporates.  Then add in 3/4cup of milk and nutmeg.  Simmer until the milk is absorbed.
Add can of tomatoes with juice, salt.  Break up tomatoes, stir.  Bring sauce to simmer then turn heat to very low, cover pot and let it simmer for 4hrs.  Stirring occasionally.
In the last 45mins, stir in the remaining milk in 3 additions, to allow the sauce to absorb the milk.
Simmer for another 20mins for extra measure.  Serve over your favourite pasta :D..

Veggies & Meat simmered in milk & wine prior to tomatoes.

Magic happens 4hrs later. :D yumsss.. though I think it was longer than 4hrs .. for good measure :D 

Korean Style Double Fried Chicken

Famous among food bloggers, this cute & adorable, talented Korean lady has MANY followers on her blog "Cooking Korean Food with Maangchi" is by far, one of my favorite food blogger. http://www.maangchi.com/ 

If I could, I would be a stay at home kinda chic fatten up my mr. with Manngchi's Korean recipes.  That's how much I look up to Maangchi.  :D Plus, look up her youtube videos and try not to like her!  She is adorable!

One of mr.'s favorite Korean food is the Korean Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom Tongdak) Super crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.  When I came across Maangchi's recipe, watched her video on how to, I just had to try it.  Just had to!   Click below link for her recipe. 

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangnyeom-tongdak

And here is my attempt of the famous Korean Fried Chicken!

                                           First batch of fried chicken ready for a second bath
                                           of hot oil.

 

                                          I did use honey instead of rice syrup.

                                           Chicken wings deep fried again until golden brown.

                                                                   Tadummmm~!

Filipino style Bola Bola (meatballs)

Oddly enough, you would not find this dish in Filipino restaurants but it is a very common dish of this culture, found in many families kitchen.  Each recipe slightly different from one another but made the same way.  Mr.'s mom made this dish several times and it looked easy enough for me to replicate it.  If you like fried items, you would like this. :D   Crispy outside. Juicy inside. :D

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound of ground pork
1 white onion - finely diced
1 carrot - finely diced
1 - 2 roasted sweet pepper (from the jar) - finely chopped
2-3 stems of green onion - finely chopped
drizzle of soya sauce
white pepper & salt
1tsp of sugar
1/2 cup of cornstarch

Directions:
Combine all ingredients above except for cornstarch together in a big bowl.
Roll into bite size balls then coat each balls with cornstarch.
Heal wok with 1 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in medium heat and begin frying meatballs in batches for 15mins each.
Once golden brown,  place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. 
True to Filipino way of eating, eat with rice :D Spoon and fork way. :D

                                                                        Enjoy!

All Crabbed out in Hong Kong & Manila

Crabs.

Crabs for lunch.

 Crabs for dinner. 

I say crabs because there were more than several occasions where there were more than 1 crab served for lunch and dinner.  During our 2 and 1/2 week of vacation in Hong Kong & Manila, Mr. and I ate so much crab that by the last week, I said, "I'm soo sick of crab."  Me!! Lover of crabs!!! said, "I don't want to eat any crab for a whie!" Mr. laughed.

After 3 weeks of recovery, I want to share with you foodies some of the best crab dishes we have ever eaten.  Our very first dinner in Hong Kong was by far, hands down, the best crab we ever had.  "Under Bridge Spicy Crab"  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the dish! So the picture below is courtesy of Bruce Foreman/CNNBO.

A perfect union of spices, chili and fried garlic with a enormous crab, pan fried on high heat in a wok. The meat was soft, juicy, & fresh. This, is, finger lickin' good.  Should you go to Hong Kong, this restaurant is a must. Located in Causeway Bay, Shop B, G/F, 401-403 Lockhart Road, Hong Kong. 

In Manila, Mr.'s relatives took us to eat at this popular Singaporean Restaurant that is famous for their chili crab.  Sorry foodies, the location was not noted. 

The meat of this crab tasted exactly like the crab at Under Bridge Spicy Crab. Fresh & juicy.  It was the spicy sauce that made this dish so good. Among the heat of the chili, there was a hint of sweetness, a tang of vinegar.  The restaurant provided us a plate of sweet steamed white buns to eat along side with the sauce.  Must not go to waste.  :D

We were lucky to spend two days at a private beach owned by Mr.s family member. After spending the morning jet skiing, diving for shells, beach lounging, we had a wonderful lunch in the gazebo next to the beach, prepped by the housekeeper.

This time, it was the location that made the crab so delicious.   Nothing beats eating fresh seafood on a private beach.  Now, this is a great way to retire.  Something to look forward to in 35years! Hopefully sooner!

Aside for these crab experiences, the rest of the crab dishes we had overseas was great.  Having been able to visit places close to water really heightens your seafood adventures.  Crab in Asia, crab in Vancouver cannot beat the crabs we get here in Toronto.  So when you do go overseas, go overboard with seafood!  It's worth it!

Loco Moco

Guy Fieri and Adam Richman, we thank the both of you for this dish.  It was watching the both of you eat this calorie filled dish that urged my mr. to say to me, "Let's make LOCO MOCO!"

What is a Loco Moco you ask?  Legend has it that a group of young hungry men in Hawaii went up to a certain restaurant and asked for burgers, fried eggs and gravy served over top of rice.  They named this dish, "Loco Moco."  This dish is extremely popular in Hawaii and has been well loved by others who has tried this dish.  If you are counting your calories, this dish is DEFINITELY not for you. :D

Burgers are from a butcher shop nearby where we live.  I highly recommend buying high quality burger for this dish.  

The ... LOCO MOCO! (for two)

Ingredients:

You choice of burgers

Eggs

Gravy 

Rice

Directions:

1.  Pan fried burgers to your liking, remove from heat.

2.  Using the drippings from the burger, make your gravy from scratch or from pre-packaged.  Your choice!  Set aside.

3.  Pan fried eggs.

4.  Assemble & Eat. :D 

Open Face Egg Salad Sandwich

Bored of the typical egg salad sandwich?  Give this a try!

First of all, a big thank you goes out to mr. for this recipe.  He is an amazing researcher, an avid forum reader and puts his trust on complete stranger's recommendations on pretty much .....anything!  Had he not been so dedicated in finding the best restaurants to go to in LA last year in October, we would not have stumble upon this gem: Euro Pane Bakery, Pasadena, CA.

Amongst all the reviews for this small sit in bakery, their open face egg salad sandwich seemed to be everyone's favorite.

Just look at that! The egg! It's not overboiled! It's yolky to perfection, layered on artisan crusty bread, bedded on fresh arugula & lettuce, dusted with chives, sea salt & pepper!  See that orange spread on the bread? That, my foodies, was what made the sandwich stand out!  We couldn't figure out what the flavour of the orange spread was.  It was that complex!  When this yummy sandwich came to our table, mr. lunged for a bite.  "Not yet!" I said.  "I must take a picture of this!" Can you see that bite he took on the right side? :D  

Of course we decided this must be duplicated in our own kitchen!  How hard can it be? :D

So few months back, I made this for dinner.  Boy, was it yummmmmy!  

Ingredients:

4 large eggs room temp. 

2 artisan buns/bread of YOUR choice!

salt & pepper

1 &1/2 tbsp of mayo 

paprika pepper

chili pepper (optional)

arugula

chives

a sprinkle of finely diced red onion 

1/2 a lemon

Directions:

1.  Boil a small pot of water, once it is to boiling point, add the eggs in carefully

2.  Leave the eggs at boiling point for NO MORE THAN 1 MINUTE!!

3.  Turn off the heat entirely, cover the pot and let the eggs sit in for 8-9mins

4.  De-shell eggs and place in a clean bowl

5.  Add your mayo, a sprinkle of each: paprika, sea salt, freshly grind pepper, red onion, the zest of 1/2 a lemon, lemon juice of 1/2 a lemon & chili pepper (optional) 

6. Mix it up and taste test! add more salt IF you wish

7.  Toast your choice of bread/bun, add a spread if you wish (we only had garlic butter spread :P)  add the arugula leaves, egg salad then top with a gentle grind of fresh cracked pepper, sea salt and chives.

The typical egg salad sandwich can't stand a chance now!  

Homemade Italian Tomato Sauce with Meatballs

My obsession to make the perfect Italian tomato sauce came when mr. & I ate at this local Italian restuarant "Fellini's Italian Eatery" located in Richmond Hill, ON.  Their homemade tomato sauce was top notch.  Simple. Clean. Full of Robust Favour.  Served overtop their spaghetti.  A splash of chili flakes.  A twist of one fork.  Perfect simplicity.  So I brought a jar of their homemade sauce (expensive!!!) to figure out each individual ingredient.  Was it worth the full $10? Yes.  But I was determine to put that $10 back in my wallet by making my own sauce.  Only problem was, you can't just use any kind of fresh tomatoes, not just any kind canned tomatoes.  It had to be just right.  Not acidic, sour or overly sweet.  No thanks to Costco, we found magic. 

According to some forums we read, San Marzano is the best brand for canned tomatoes.  Their tomatoes, grown in Italy, are naturally sweeter than the ones grown here in Ontario, or the States.  Their tomato flavour much more robust, hence the reason why my homemade Italian Tomato sauce became such a success.  The meatballs are from Costco as well and surprisely, they are amazing! Flavourful, not dried, Tender. A perfect pairing to the sauce. Now, I made variations of this sauce, one with fresh basils, and another with dried basils.  As it turns out, the one with dried basil had better dimension than the one with fresh basils.  So the choice is up to you.

Ingredients:
1 can of the above canned tomatoes
1 cup of water
1 & 1/2 large spanish onion - diced
5-6 cloves of garlic - roughly chopped
2tbsp of tomato paste
2-3tbsp of sweet roasted pepper - I buy the ones in glass jars.. mixed sweet peppers ;D
2-3tbsp of dried oregano
2-3tbsp of dried basil or alternatively - 15 leaves of fresh basil
1tbsp of dried chili flakes
1tbsp of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1.  In a slow cooking pot - turn to medium-high heat.
2.  Add a big splash of olive oil - Add garlic and onion - heat through for 2-3 mins.
3.  Should you use fresh basil, add at this point - heat for 1 min. If using dried basil, skip this step.
4.  Add tomato paste - stir
5.  Add can of tomato, sweet roasted pepper and begin to puncture the plum tomatoes to let juices out
6. Add water, dried oregano, sugar and should you choose to use the dried basil, add at this point, stir until well blend.
7.  Heat until you see small bubbles then immediately turn the heat to low and cover pot completely and let it simmer for 1 to 1&1/2 hr.
8.  Turn off heat to allow to cool.
9.  Transfer sauce to a blender to make sauce smoother.  If you have an imersion blender, even better.
10. Return sauce to pot, at time point, add your choice of meatballs, chili flakes and simmer for another 1/2hr. Add salt and pepper to taste.  If you feel more sugar is needed, add a pinch more.

The key to this recipe is SLOW simmering.  A secret to all good italian tomato sauce. 

The Meatball Sandwich is born as well. :D  Simple.
Carmelized onions - red onion - provolone cheese - your meatball tomato sauce.  A hearty meal.

Make the sauce over the weekend! It makes great and FAST meals during your busy weekdays.  Enjoy!