Caprese Salad w/ Sourdough Bread

I also made my favorite Caprese salad.. So simple yet so flavorful and delicious ^_^

Ingredients

• 2 vine-ripe tomatoes, 1/4-inch thick slices
• fresh mozzarella, 1/4-inch thick slices
• fresh basil leaves
  
• Extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
• salt and pepper
• sourdough bread loaf
  

Directions

Layer alternating slices of tomatoes and mozzarella, adding a basil leaf between each, on a large, shallow platter. Drizzle the salad with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper to taste. Cut pieces of the sourdough bread loaf and serve.

Crab & "Original" Stuffed Mushrooms

[Photo: "Original" Stuffed Mushroom on the left, and Crab Stuffed Mushroom on the right]

I made two different types of stuffed mushrooms tonight for dinner... Crab stuffed mushrooms, and I'll call the other style "the Original stuffed mushroom".

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms:

- Fresh oversized mushrooms
- 1/2 a cup of crabmeat
- 2 green onions / scallions
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (i used mayo made with olive oil)
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, combine crabmeat, green onions, spice and pepper. Mix in mayonnaise and the grated Parmesan cheese until well combined. Refrigerate filling until ready for use.
3. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp towel. Remove stems (Save the stems, I used it for the next recipe) Fill the mushroom caps with rounded teaspoonfuls of filing, and place them in an ungreased shallow baking dish. Sprinkle tops with parmesan.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, Remove from oven, and serve immediately.

"Original" Stuffed Mushrooms:

- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 red onion
- Oversized mushrooms
- 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Mint leaves
- Basil leaves
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used a loaf of sourdough bread and hand grated it)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Grease the pan with some olive oil
3. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, red onion and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.
5. When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in parmesan cheese, basil leaves, mint leaves, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.

Lychee Martini!!

one of my favorite martinis. it's so tasty and simple.

- 2 parts lychee syrup (you can get it at any Asian market)
- 2 parts vodka (i used absolut)

shake with ice. pour in glass. add lychees as an edible garnish.

Bibimbap!

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice
• bean sprouts
• a bunch of spinach
• 2 small size of zucchinis
• 1/2 a pound of bulgogi (marinated thinly sliced rib-eye beef)
• 1 small carrot
• eggs
• soy sauce
• hot pepper paste
• garlic
• sesame oil

Recipe:
Arrange everything on a platter.

1. Cook rice. You can use a rice cooker or a stainless pot.
   
2. Next, you need to prepare a large platter to put all your ingredients on. Rinse your bean sprouts 3 times and put them in a pot with a cup of water. Add 1 ts of salt and cook for 15 minutes. Drain water and mix it with 1 clove of minced garlic, sesame oil and a pinch of salt.
   Put it on the platter.
3. Put your spinach in a pot of boiling water and stir it for a minute. Then rinse it in cold water a few times and squeeze it lightly. Mix it with a pinch of salt, 1 ts of soy sauce, 1 clove of minced garlic and sesame oil. Put it on the platter
4. Cut 2 small size zucchinis into thin strips, sprinkle them with a pinch of salt, and then mix them together. A few minutes later, sauté them in a pan over high heat. When it’s cooked, it will look a little translucent. Put it on the platter
5. On a heated pan, put some oil and 200 grams of thinly sliced rib-eye (bulgogi) and stir it. Add 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tbs of soy sauce, 1/2 tbs of sugar, a little grounded black pepper, and sesame oil.
   Put it on the platter.
6. Cut a carrot into strips, sauté it for 30 seconds and put it on the platter.
7. prepare eggs with sunny side up.
8. Put your rice In a big bowl, and attractively display all your vegetables and meat. Place the sunny side up egg on the center.
9. Serve it with sesame oil and hot pepper paste.
10. Lastly, mix it up and eat!

(Tak Toritang) Korean Spicy Chicken and Potato Stew

I made this awesomely authentic Korean dish for dinner tonight.. and it was unbelievable how easy and delicious it was! Is definitely one of my favorite dishes.. I love Korean food so much ^_^

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds chicken drumettes (I used Nature's Choice! Hormone and Steroid Free:)
  
• 3 red potatoes, cut into large chunks
• 2 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 large onion, cut into 8 pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 tablespoons hot pepper paste (gojijjang)
• 1-2 Hot chili peppers
  

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, mix the chicken, potatoes, carrots, onion, sugar, and garlic. Pour in water and soy sauce, and stir in sugar and hot pepper paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes, until chicken juices run clear, vegetables are tender, and liquid has thickened. Add cut hot chili peppers on top.
   
2. Serve with white rice.
   

오이 냉국 "Oi naengguk" - Cold Cucumber Soup

Oi naengguk is another simple but popular Korean side dish, perfect for summer. The seasoning in this recipe could be changed a little according to your taste, more sugar if you like it sweeter, or more chili peppers if you like it spicier. (I went for more red hot chili pepper)

Ingredients: Cucumber, garlic, green chili pepper, red hot chili pepper, green onion , 1½ tbs vinegar, 1 ts salt, 1 ts fish sauce, 1 ts sugar, 1½ cup of cold water (purified or boiled and cooled down), and 3 ice cubes.

1. Get a bowl ready, one that can hold more than 2 cups.
   
2. Put about 1¼ cups of cucumber, cut into thin strips (julienne style), into the bowl.
3. Mince one clove of garlic, chop up half a green onion, and cut up 1 or 2 ts worth of green chili pepper (depending on how hot you like it). Add them to the cucumber strips in the bowl.
4. Add 1 ts of salt, 1 ts of fish sauce, 1 ½ tbs of vinegar, 1 ts of sugar to the bowl and mix it well with a spoon.
5. Pour 1½ cup of cold water (purified or boiled and cooled down) to the bowl and mix it.
6. Add 6 ice cubes.
7. Cut some red hot chili pepper to garnish and sprinkle on the top of the soup.
8. Serve it with rice.

Cucumber / Avocado Roll

Sorry for the picture quality, I took it with my iphone :P

This was surprisingly quick and easy because I already had rice made!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sushi rice
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of sugar
• 2 sheets of nori (dry seaweed)
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted and sliced
• Ginger
• Wasabi
• Soy Sauce
  

1. Add the vinegar, salt and sugar to the warm sushi rice and make cutting motions in the rice to mix.
2. Cover a bamboo sushi mat with plastic wrap to keep the rice from sticking. Place a sheet of seaweed over the plastic. Use your hands to spread the rice evenly onto the sheet, leaving about 1/2 inch of seaweed empty at the bottom. Arrange strips of cucumber and avocado across the center of the rice. Lift the mat and roll over the vegetables once and press down. Unroll, then roll again towards the exposed end of the seaweed sheet to make a long roll. You may moisten with a little water to help seal. Set aside and continue with remaining nori sheets, rice and fillings.
3. Use a sharp wet knife to slice the rolls into 5 or 6 slices. Serve cut side up with your favorite sushi condiments. (I used ginger and seaweed salad)

Panfried tofu with spicy sauce (Dubu buchim yangnyumjang)

A spicy Korean vegetarian dish that is yummy in the tummy.

Ingredients:

• Package of tofu (about 15oz) [I prefer soft tofu over firm so I went for the soft]
• soy sauce
• hot pepper flakes
• sugar
• green onion
• garlic
• sesame oil

1. Slice the tofu into bite size pieces (¼ inch thick rectangles). You should get 10 pieces. Towel off each piece with a paper towel.
2. Heat a pan with 1 to 2 tbs of vegetable oil. Add the tofu and lower the heat. Cook over low heat about 5-7 minutes.
3. When the bottom of the tofu looks golden brown, turn it over and cook another 5 minutes.
4. Transfer the cooked tofu to a serving plate.
5. Make your sauce in a small bowl by mixing these ingredients:
   1 clove of minced garlic, 1 chopped green onion, 1 ts hot pepper flakes, 1 ts sugar (or honey), 2 tbs soy sauce, and 2 ts sesame oil
6. Spoon the sauce evenly over the tofu.
7. Serve with rice as a side dish

Garlic Lime Salmon

I need to work on my food photography..

Garlic Lime Salmon
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lime peel
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- lime slices
- 2-3 salmon fillets (i got Alaskan open-range salmon fillets)


1. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the first five ingredients; shake well.
2. Broil salmon, skin side down, 4-6 inches from the heat for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork, basting every 5 minutes with lime mixture. Garnish with lime slices.

Mashed Potatoes:
1. Peel and wash potatoes, then cut into 1-2 inch blocks
2. Put the potatoes in boiling water, adding salt to taste. Cook until soft.
3. Drain potatoes.
4. Mash the potatoes, add I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and black pepper to taste.

Parmigiano-Reggiano Mushroom Chicken Pasta

(i got impatient cutting the chicken, hence the huge block of chicken on top :P)

I lived with Italians for a while and learned lots of good pasta sauces made from scratch. Here is an easy, tasty, hearty pasta dish that takes you back to Italy.

Ingredients:
- Half a bundle of fresh parsley
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (essential and key!)
- 1/2 pint of whole foods organic light cream
- Extra virgin olive oil
- mushrooms
- white chicken breast (I used 2 Perdue Perfect Portion Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts)
- 3/4 box of spaghetti noodles (Barilla) (Serves 4 people)

Recipe:
1. Boil water, add salt to taste, add pasta and cook for exactly however long it says to on the box for al dente.
2. Add the minced garlic and olive oil into a sauce pan on high heat. Put the cut chicken in the pan and cook until white, adding salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add cut mushrooms and saute them with the chicken
3. Lower the heat to medium and add the cream and let it simmer to a light boil.
4. After 3-4 minutes of letting the sauce thicken, add the grated parmigiano reggiano cheese and stir.
5. Add the chopped parsley, and cook for 30 more seconds.
6. Mix the pasta and the sauce. Add more grated parmigiano reggiano cheese on top and sprinkle with black pepper.

Buon appetito!