Happy New Year Post!

A warm Happy New Year to all of you foodies out there. Cheers to all that 2009 has in store for us, may it all be delicious!

As for me, culinary school is swimming along and the tension is mounting, which is strange, considering no one is actually competing for anything, except center stage. Speaking of which, last night I performed at my very first storytelling event at The Creek in Long Island City, Queens. Storytelling is kind of like doing stand-up but there is no requirement to be funny. But I was and it was really fun. The theme was “2008″ and I told the story of how I quit my life to start over as a chef. I didn’t make it too well-known in advance that I was actually doing this until I was sure I could… actually do it. The place was packed and I left a room full of strangers entertained. Thanks to Brad and Cindy! 

The Gourmand & I will be spending this evening in the best way we know how – eating beef bulgogi & cheetos and drinking Pain Killers and cava and setting the alarm for midnight to get up and watch the ball drop. Perfect.

The painkiller was our specialty cocktail at our wedding and has a long story behind it that I’ll tell you someday. In the meantime, the recipe consists of good quality dark rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, sweetened cream of coconut, shaken and poured with crushed ice and served with a hefty grating of fresh nutmeg.

Cheers!

Beef Bulgogi

I had my first experiences with Korean food at a friend’s house as a kid in Rochester, New York. Home cooked meals, served family-style in the Hauser house, had a strong influence on my love of food. Recently, when I was craving Bulgogi, instead of looking up a generic recipe, I phoned Mr. Hauser and he passed along the following:

For the Beef:

2 pounds of sirloin steak sliced very thin across the bias
4 scallions, sliced
¼ c sugar
5 cloves garlic, chopped
5 T soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
2 T sherry, vermouth, or similar
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
a dash of hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

Side Dish:

Enoki Mushrooms
1 clove garlic, chopped
olive oil
Fresh pea shoots
Rice vinegar

To serve:

Cooked rice (Choose your favorite. We used a wild blend.)
Whole bib lettuce leaves
Kimchi
Chili paste

Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Cover tightly. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. In this time the above ingredients transform into something much more wonderful than the individual parts.

After 24 hours, and when you are just about ready to eat, start cooking the rice. We use a rice cooker, which takes most of the guesswork and all of the burning out of the equation.

The beef can be grilled, broiled, baked, or sautéed. I cooked the beef in a blazing hot, cast iron skillet. Put the beef in the skillet and resist the temptation to move it around so that some carmelization can take place. Once the meat is cooked more than half way, about five minutes. Flip it and cook, unmoved for another minute or two. Let the beef remain juicy and not overcooked.

For the side dish, cook the mushrooms with a clove of chopped garlic and a splash of olive oil over high heat. When the mushrooms start to brown, add the pea shoots a bit of rice vinegar. Toss, and turn off the heat. The idea is that the some of the pea shoots wilt and the rest remain unaffected by the heat, keeping their crunch.

To serve an authentic Korean meal, put kimchi out on the table. Spicy fermented vegetables might take some getting used to if you have never tried it, but it is worth the time to get to know.  Also try to get some Korean chili paste or Gochujang.

The spread should be all of the above in individual serving dishes. Bolgogi, rice, a bowl of bib lettuce leaves, kimchi, Korean chili paste, and the side dish of enoki and pea shoots.

Make a wrap, using a lettuce leaf, a tablespoon or so of rice, a piece of bulgogi, kimchi and chili paste. You will get a bit messy but it is entirely worth it so dig in and enjoy.

Serve the mushrooms and pea shoots on the side.

Stay tuned for the a Korean pork barbeque, another big hit from the Hauser house that with the Mr. Hauser’s blessing, we will experiment with before long.

Sometimes you have to make two dinners

When you are cooking, there are some basic rules of thumb.

 

1: Don’t let the gas run if the burner isn’t lit.

2: If in doubt, throw it out.

3: Marinading should be done for at least 24 hours.

Practicing #1 and #3, we got a great recipe for Beef Bulgogi from our friend’s Asian-scholar father and he tells us it will be much better if the beef can marinate for at least 24 hours.  Just preparing the marinade made me, The Gourmand, exited for tomorrow’s dinner.

So The Peasant & I made a simple pasta dish to hold us over.  I have been experimenting with frozen vegetables until farmer’s market season.  So simple pasta primavera, no cream involved, as per the request of The Peasant:
1 pound spaghetti

1 box or small bag frozen mixed veg

3 scallions sliced (left over from the bulgogi marinade)

4 cloves of garlic chopped

good olive oil (I used unfiltered extra virgin)

grated cheese*

lots of black pepper

Set the pasta to boil according to package directions. In a hot pan, sautée the garlic in some of the olive oil, then add the frozen veg and cook until the veg begins to dry and the colors are bright.  Drain the spaghetti and mix with the contents of the pan.  Add more olive oil at this point for the uncooked flavor of the olives. Grate a hefty amount of black pepper and stir.  Serve with grated cheese heaped on top.

Stay tuned for the results of the Bulgogi.

*As much as we hate to admit it, we know that you expect honesty. So, in this recipe, by “grated cheese” we mean Ronzoni Parmesan Grated Cheese, which we affectionally refer to as “Shakey Cheese.” We know it isn’t asiago, or grana padano, BUT is cheap, salty, and the ingredients cite parmesan cheese as number one ingredient of four. So we aren’t apologizing. Hope you still love us! Confess in the comments if you too have a dirty little culinary secret.