My apologies...

My dear friends.
I have been absent not only from posting, but from reading and commenting on your posts. Forgive me!

Thailand was memorable... in some ways good, and in some ways not-so-good. Overall, the food was good, but sadly not as exciting as I had expected. There were some things I was afraid to eat (i.e. uncooked veggies/fruits, anything from street vendors), and other things that were no better or different from Thai restaurants here in the U.S.

Here are some highlights!

May I say, first, that during our layover in Tokyo, we were pleasantly surprised at the delicious airport food! We Americans are so accustomed to airport meals that are tasteless, pre-frozen, and un-appetizing. But those Japanese, man do they know how to do airport food!! We had ramen, una-don, and tuna-don. Just delightful!! Especially a nice break from airplane food.


Several nights, we stayed with the family of a good friend of ours, and they were so good to us in the food department. The first meal upon our arrival around midnight was simple, but so wonderful and tasty... satay, crab fried rice, and of course, Thai Coca-cola.


There were also many fresh seasonal fruits, like these rombutan (I think that's what they're called)... I loved these sweet little things!!!


Our first breakfast was nothing like an American breakfast (where's the oatmeal?). It was a DELICIOUS green papaya salad (I MEAN, REALLY DELICIOUS), rotisserie chicken, beef satay, broiled fish, fresh squeezed orange juice, STICKY RICE!! It was a delicious, albiet heavy, way to start the day.


We also had some iced coffee and tea at our friend's cousin's coffee shop, and I just loved how they put their drinks in these little paper bags. Maybe for the condensation? It is VERY hot and humid there. The best part -- these drinks were no more than 35 baht each... about US$1!!


We went to a great outdoor (translation: mosquitoes) seafood restaurant one night, and although I was a little anxious about having seafood in Thailand, it was really great!! We had really tasty shellfish, fried whole fish, and the list goes on and on.


But no, we did not have any of this:



We also went down to the small island of Koh Tao. I only took one food picture here (gasp!), but it was really great! D had this grilled whole fish (fresh red snapper), and they put this interesting sauce on it... but it was mighty tasty!!


Other than food... here are some snaps from the trip...




More food later!

Thailand!

So, I'll be out of the country for about 1.5 weeks... off to Thailand for a friend's wedding, and vacation! I'll be back with some food adventure stories and photos...

Thanks to all of you for your kindness and support of my blog. I really appreciate it, and I always look forward to reading up on your blogs, too!

Soon Doo Boo Jigae -- Attempt #2

I am re-visiting an old friend... I attempted making this for the first time earlier this year, and it did NOT turn out so good. It looked good, but it just didn't taste so great. It was missing something, a key layer of flavor was missing. Thankfully, it looks like I got it all figured out!

Soon dooboo jigae is my go-to absolute favorite #1 Korean dish. It exudes comfort to me, and makes my insides warm and cozy. It's spicy and seafoody and delicious! After reading many reader's suggestions for making this dish, and after reading several other recipes online, I realized that I was missing two key components: 1. sae-woo jut (salted little shrimpies), and 2. making a good fishy broth with dried anchovies.

I started with about 15 or so dried anchovies, put them in a pot with about 5 cups of water, and some quartered shitake mushrooms. I let this come to a boil, then simmer until I was ready to use it.


Here is the sae-woo jut I was talking about... it is STINKY, but I realize that this really contributes to that depth of flavor I was looking for!


In a large stockpot, I started with some minced garlic and about a tablespoon of the sae-woo jut.


I then added 1/4 cup of gochu garu (Korean red pepper flakes)... you can add more or less based on your ability to handle spice. I would say 1/4 cups equates to about 4 "chilis" (out of five) on the hotness scale.


After letting that cook for a few minutes, allowing all the oils to come out, I added the fishy stock I made (after taking out the mushrooms). You can add more water if it does not look like enough, but be aware that the tofu releases some water.


Then, I added some silken tofu. It is important that you use the correct kind of tofu for this dish! Sometimes, it comes in tubes, but the kind I got came in a big tub.


The tub contained 6 squares; I used just 5. Don't ask me why, it just felt right.


After breaking up the tofu with a wooden spoon, I let this simmer for a few minutes. Then I added about 2 cups of mixed frozen seafood. I used the kind from Trader Joe's, which contains shrimp, scallops, and squid. Yummmy! If you have clams, you can add those too.


I let this come to a boil, then simmered it for probably at least 30 minutes. I figured, the longer I let it simmer, the better it will taste! I also added the mushrooms back in (from the fishy stock).


At the end, I added about 3-4 scallions, chopped into 2" pieces, and let it simmer for a bit longer.


Then, it was ready to serve! With a bowl of fresh sticky Korean rice, this is the perfect meal for me. I made quite a bit of soup; it lasted me for days! But I was very very very happy to be eating this everyday. This time around, this dish actually had DEPTH of flavor! A deep, rich seafoody flavor that I was looking for. My tongue approved, my belly approved, my mind approved, and I was comforted in a way that only good Korean food can comfort me. Ahh, bliss.


Soon Doo Boo Jigae
serves maybe 4-6 people

Ingredients:

For the stock:
5 cups water
about 8 shitake mushrooms, quartered
15 dried anchovies

For the stew:
vegetable oil
5-6 minced cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp sae-woo jut (salted shrimp)
1/4 cup gochu garu (Korean red chili powder)
5 cups of stock
5 cubes of silken tofu
2 cups of frozen assorted seafood (shrimp, scallops, squid)
3-4 scallions, chopped into 2" pieces

Directions:
1. Add all ingredients for the stock in a pot. Allow to come to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes, or until you are ready to use it.
2. In a large stockpot, add some vegetable oil. Add the garlic and sae-woo jut. Cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the gochu garu. Cook for a few minutes.
4. Remove the mushrooms from the stock. Add the stock to the pot.
5. Add the tofu, and break it up with a wooden spoon.
6. Add the seafood.
7. Allow to come to a boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes.
8. Add the mushrooms. Add the scallions. Allow to simmer for a few more minutes.
9. Serve with fresh sticky Korean rice, and ENJOY!

Pasta, Tuscan Style!

Ahhh... tis good to be back in the blogosphere, and it's VERY good to have my computer back! I actually made this dish a few weeks ago, and the photos were stuck on my camera until tonight! I rarely make pasta at home, but for some reason, I was crrrraaving it! But, I did try to make it healthi-ER than regular pasta, so I used whole-wheat penne in lieu of plain old pasta. The only not-quite-healthy part is the turkey sausage, but hey, a little dark meat ain't gonna kill you!


I started with one Italian turkey sausage and took the meat out of the casing, and crumbled it up into a pan, along with several minced cloves of garlic.


I added some chopped fresh kale (superfood!)...


...and let it cook down. I am always surprised how much kale cooks down! It always looks like it's going to be too much, but boy, it wilts like crazy.


I added about 1 cup of chopped San Marzano tomatoes...


...as well as about 1 cup of canned cannellini beans.


In the meantime, I cooked up about 6 dry ounces of whole-wheat penne pasta, and added it to the pan when it was cooked and drained. Of course, I had to shower the pasta in freshly grated parm-reg cheese (MY FAAVE), and let it melt all over the pasta.

Oooh it was so simple, yet so tasty! The sausage added just the right amount of fat (i.e. flavaaah!), the white beans added lovely texture (and extra protein/fiber), and the kale provided a nutritional component and color. A perfect weeknight meal that takes just moments to come together!



Tuscan-style Pasta

Ingredients:
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 fresh Italian turkey sausage, casing removed
1/2 to 3/4 bunch kale, trimmed and chopped
1 cup canned San Marzano diced tomatoes
1 cup canned cannellini beans
S&P
6oz whole-wheat penne pasta, cooked and drained
freshly grated parm-reg cheese

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a pan, and add the garlic. Cook until the garlic becomes aromatic.
2. Add the de-cased sausage, break into pieces with wooden spoon, and cook until cooked through.
3. Add the kale, let it cook down.
4. Add tomatoes and beans, stir stir stir.
5. Add cooked pasta, season with S&P, stir stir stir.
6. Grate fresh cheese on top, stir stir stir, ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

Thumbs-down to computer viruses.

I have fallen victim to the dreaded virus. How? Why? This I will never know for sure. What I do know is I was able to salvage the most important things on my hard drive before it was re-formatted. But, my computer is only half-way saved... for some reason, I am unable to use the USB drives (hence, no photo uploads from my camera), nor am I able to transfer the files from my external HD onto my newly formatted computer. Not to mention, I lost ALL my bookmarked recipes from all of you awesome bloggers. Looks like I'll be starting from scratch.

I hate technology.

Bananananana Bread

Life is busy. Busy, I tell you! I'm working and going to school... so far at work, I havn't killed anyone. Yet. But I have successfully started a few IV's! I'm feeling more and more like a nurse everyday.

I had a few bananas lying around, that I decided to allow to ripen fully. I put them in the freezer until I used them today so they wouldn't get moldy. Then I just defrosted them in the fridge before I used them. Then I thought, "What delicious baked good can I make with these lovely ripened bananas?" Banananana bread!


I used a fantastic banana bread recipe from Kristin at The Kitchen Sink Recipes, which I particularly appreciate because it uses egg whites, sour cream, and not a whole lot of butter. I didn't have sour cream, so I decided to use an equivalent amount of greek yogurt; I didn't have buttermilk, so I used regular 1% milk. Other than those changes, everything else is the same as her original recipe.


I also used whole-wheat flour, so it makes me feel like this banana bread is kind of somewhat healthier than regular banana bread. Am I fooling myself? Maybe....


Anyway, this banana bread turned out just lovely and delicious! I expected it to come out somewhat dense and chewy, with the whole-wheat flour, but it really came out light and fluffy and cakey and delicious! I am so very pleased with this recipe and how it came out. If you're looking for a healthiER banana bread recipe, this one is it!! Give it a try. You won't regret it.




Banana Bread
from The Kitchen Sink Recipes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
heaping 1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinammon


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your loaf pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, egg whites, milk, yogurt, and vanilla.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinammon.
5. Add the banana mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, combine well.
6. Add the dry ingredients to this mixture, and combine well, but don't overmix.
7. Pour into greased loaf pan.
8. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Turn out onto cooling rack.
9. Slice, and enjoy!

Brunch at Simon Pearce

This weekend, we took a short trip to Vermont for a triathlon that D and a couple of his friends did. On the way back, we stopped for brunch at Simon Pearce, which you may already know is renowned for its blown glass and handmade pottery. It's a retail store and a great restaurant. The retail store sells beautiful items that are all hand-made, but very pricey! One wine glass, for example, runs for about $60.



As you can sort-of read above, the restaurant uses dinnerware, stemware, and flatware that they design and produce. They are also known for utilizing local sources of foods. They also recycle their cooking oil by using it to fuel the chef's car! Their food scraps are donated as chicken feed, and their to-go containers are biodegradable. What I think is really cool is they utilize hydroelectric energy from the waterfall below to power up the glass furnace, as well as electricity for the store and restaurant.


The menu was just lovely, I had difficulty choosing what I wanted!!


Here is an example of their hand-made products they use in the restaurant. Isn't this bread plate beautiful?


Here is a hand-made glass centerpiece... beautiful.


They served us their famous brown bread, along with their freshly whipped sweet butter! Oh, delicious.


We got some house-made granola with yogurt and strawberries. What I loved about this is you can see the vanilla bean specks in the yogurt! It was a great way to start the meal.


We got the creme brulee french toast to share at the table, which was amazing, delicious, scrumptious! More more more! It was so incredibly delicious, there truly are few words to describe.


I ordered the poached Atlantic salmon hash with fried eggs and a creamy dill sauce. It was delightful!


And, check out the vibrant yellow yolk! It was such a dark rich yellow color, and it tasted as good as it looked.


D got the special - ham, red pepper, and asparagus quiche. It had such a nice crusty cheesy crust on top, and the eggs were fluffy and perfect. The greens were fresh and crisp, but a little bit over-dressed. Regardless, it was delicious.


After feeling horribly stuffed after our awesome brunch, we went downstairs to see the glass-blowers do their handywork. It was amazing to see how incredibly talented these folks are, watching them make a piece of stemware right before our eyes. It is truly a dying art, but thankfully places like Simon Pearce are keeping it alive.


Here is a pottery demonstration... very "Ghost"-esque.


If you're ever in Vermont, you must stop by Simon Pearce! You will pick up some amazingly well-crafted blown glass and pottery items, have a fantastic meal that is environmentally conscious, and witness the craft of glassblowing and pottery. A fantastic experience I won't soon forget.