Bibimbap

Posted on by aurorameyer

Bibimbap

 

Yum

Bibimbap

We've tried a number of bibimbap recipes and this one from My Korean Kitchen is hands down our favorite. It's easy enough for a weeknight meal and can be loaded with a ton of veggies. Plus it makes more than enough for lunch the next day! We had to make a few tweaks because we had trouble finding all of the ingredients regularly, but even with the modifications, this dish is filling and delicious!
Print Recipe
Cuisine Asian
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

Meat and meat sauce

  • 1 pound ground beef we like 80/20 for this - you need the fat!
  • Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp sugar – we went with the original recommendation of brown sugar and decided dark brown sugar tastes best!
  • 1/4 tsp minced garlic

Bibimbap sauce

  • The original recipe suggested this sauce might be only enough for 3 servings if you like eating it spicy and it holds true!
  • 2 pinch Tbsp gochujang (in awe've used Sriracha sauce not the same
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 3 small carrots
  • 1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds
  • 1 Tbsp sugar we use brown again here
  • 1 tsp vinegar I'm partial to this addition!
  • 1 tsp minced garlic

Vegetables and other

  • Couple of handfuls spinach we use one handful per person
  • Bag of bean sprouts (f you can find them. If not don't go with canned, it isn't worth it!)
  • 1 package shiitake mushrooms sliced
  • 2 peppers we use a mix of red and green or whatever we have on hand
  • 1 small onion sliced
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt 1/4each will be used when cooking shiitake mushroom and carrots, You can also use Kosher
  • 3 to 4 serving portions of steamed rice
  • 3 or 4 eggs depending on the serving portion
  • Some cooking oil to cook the meat mushroom, carrots and eggs (We use sesame oil)
  • 1 Tbsp sugar we use brown again here
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp vinegar I'm partial to this addition!
  • 1 tsp minced garlic

Instructions
 

  • For meat, mix the ground beef with the meat sauce ingredients. Marinate the meat for at least 30 minutes while you are working on the other ingredients. We usually make the meat mixture first and let it sit while we chop the veggies.
  • Then chop the veggies into julienned strips. We usually combine the carrots, peppers and onion but leave the spinach and mushrooms to their own pans.
  • Mix the Bibimbap sauce ingredients in a bowl.
  • Add some sesame oil and 1/4 tsp of fine sea salt in a pan and cook the carrots, peppers and onion on medium-high to high heat for 2 to 3 minutes or longer if you liked them more caramelized.
  • Remove the carrots, peppers and onion from the pan and place on a plate. Add some more sesame oil, another dash of salt and a bit of garlic and saute the spinach and mushrooms.
  • Cook until the spinach is wilted.
  • Remove from the pan and add to the plate with the other veggies.
  • In the same pan, add some more sesame oil and cook the meat on medium-high to high heat. It takes about 5 to 8 minutes to thoroughly cook it. When the moisture has evaporated and the meat is cooked through, remove from heat and drain.
  • In another pan (trust me on this one do not try to reuse the same pan you sauteed the mean in!) make fried eggs. (As the original recipe stats and is spot on: "While sunny side up is common, you can make them per your preference.")
  • Ladle the rice into bowls and add the vegetables, meat and egg. Cover with the sauce!

Notes

My opinion:
I've eaten this dish three days in a row and I'm still not sick of it! You can also substitute ground pork or chicken for the beef. If you plan to use ground chicken, make sure you get ground chicken thighs. The ground chicken breast is too dry.
p.s. even our toddler likes this without the spicy "sauca."
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Pan-Roasted Chicken With Leeks

Posted on by aurorameyer

Pan roasted chicken and leeks
Now that we’re getting more comfortable with the No Six Diet restrictions, we are also getting a little more adventurous with adapting recipes. J bought some leeks for another recipe we scrapped and we weren’t entirely sure what to do with them. Luckily, my mom was visiting and suggested a chicken and leeks dish that she’s made several times. It turned out perfectly!

Pan-Roasted Chicken With Leeks

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 3 slices bacon cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 4-6 in chicken breasts cuthalf
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to season the chicken
  • 3 teaspoon cloves garlic smashed or aand a half of minced garlic
  • 1 bunch leeks white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
  • 6 ounces sliced button mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  • Put the bacon in a large heavy-bottomed ovenproof skillet (we used out cast iron dutch oven) and cook over medium-high heat until some of the fat renders about 5 minutes.
  • Push the bacon to the side of the pan.
  • Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then add it to the pan and cook, turning once, until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes.
  • Remove the chicken from the pan.
  • Stir in the garlic and leeks, then arrange the chicken on top of the bacon-leek mixture.
  • Whisk in the cornstarch in the chicken stock.
  • Add the stock and wine to the pot.
  • Transfer to the oven.
  • Set the timer for about 20 to 25 minutes.
  • Check the chicken and if the broth has mostly evaporated, add more stock to keep everything moist.
  • Cook for another 15 to 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Serve over rice.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

My opinion:
I couldn’t get enough of this dish! I wished there was more!

p.s. Summer 2016 update: Our toddler likes this dish! If we’re making it to eat with her, we use a little more chicken broth and a little less wine. 

Langlois Stuffed French toast

Posted on by aurorameyer

Finished stuffed french toast
This is another recipe J and I learned to make while at the amazing Langlois Culinary Crossroads. It is perfect for a new year’s day breakfast or brunch. While it looks complicated, it’s actually pretty easy. The hardest part os stuffing the brioche!

Langlois Stuffed French toast

Print Recipe
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients
  

Bread and filling ingredients:

  • loaf Brioche stale is better!
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 lemon zested and juiced we've also used an orange and it is delicious!

Custard ingredients:

  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 cups and 1/2whole milk (for extra richness use heavy whipping cream or half and half)
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (if using salted omit the salt above)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (if using salted omit the salt above)

Instructions
 

  • Cut the Brioche into about 6 2 by 2 rectangular pieces. Using a skewer precut the hole for the filling. You will have to turn it around to make a hole larger than the skewer. This is where slightly stale bread comes in handy.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon zest and juice together on medium speed until well blended.
  • Put the filling into a ziptop bag. Cut off the corner. Pipe into the skewer holes.
  • If this doesn't work, you can make a sandwich by making a pocket (think pita pocket), just make sure to only cut through one side of the bread or it will be more difficult to brown. Set this aside.
  • In another medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Dip each piece of stuffed bread into the custard and turn once to completely coat. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes (overnight is better!) but no longer than 24 hours.
  • When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a large skillet melt the butter over medium to medium-high temperature.
  • Brown each piece of stuffed bread on all sides. Do not move it around. Do not check and see if it's browning.
  • Let it sit longer than you think it needs to. About 5 minutes per side.
  • Place the browned pieces into a casserole dish and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes. Garnish as you please and serve.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

My opinion:
Sometimes we cover this in powdered sugar, other times maple syrup. It’s just as good alone though. We’ve served this to friends and family and everyone has raved about it each time.

Langlois Crusty Bread

Posted on by aurorameyer

 

In case you haven’t guessed, I love bread. I especially love fresh from the oven, homemade bread. While at Langlois Culinary Crossroads in New Orleans for cooking school, I learned just how easy it is to make delicious, wonderful bread at home. From scratch. Even though it officially takes two days, I promise it is really worth it. 

Note: The most important ingredient is a clay or cast iron dutch oven or clay pot with a tight-fitting lid. We found this one from Lodge on sale and couldn’t be happier.

Langlois Crusty Bread

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings 8 slices

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon and 3/4 Kosher salt (this is key. If you use regular iodized salt it will be salty.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon yeast I used one packet
  • 1 and 1/2 cups water

Instructions
 

  • Wish together the flour, salt and yeast in your favorite mixing bowl.
  • Add the water and mix until a "shaggy mixture" forms.
  • As Chef Matt said when showing us how to make this, it should look like a wet dog.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 12 hours or overnight. Longer in this case is better.
  • The next day (or 12 hours later) place the dutch oven and lid in a 450-degree oven so the pot and the oven are heating at the same time.
  • Turn out the dough on a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.
  • When the oven (and the dutch oven) reach 450 degrees, place the dough in the center of a piece of parchment paper and put the whole thing in the dutch oven with the parchment paper side down.
  • Cover with the lid and either return to the oven, or slide the wire rack back in and close the oven door (I find the second way to be the easiest rather than trying to lift the super hot dutch oven in and out of the oven more than once).
  • Cook covered for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, remove the lid and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
  • Bake for an additional 30 minutes.
  • Remove the bread from the oven and place on a cooling rack. (This means take it out of the dutch oven.)
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

My opinion:
There are directions for stuffed bread, but I haven’t tried it yet. I want to get the basics down first. In my first few trials (and errors!) I learned valuable lessons, like the difference between iodized and kosher salt, that sometimes the times are off and it is ok to cook bread a little longer to get a more golden crust. If you do accidentally use iodized salt and the bread is a bit on the salty side, treat it like a bagel and just don’t salt the eggs for the bagel, egg and cheese sandwich (it evens out in the end). It’s been hard not to make this every single weekend since we returned!

Homemade Paseo Caribbean roast

Posted on by aurorameyer

You may have noticed that whenever we take a vacation, we come back with a recipe. Our recent jaunt to Key West was no different. While we could have come back with a recipe for traditional Key Lime Pie (we did) and the best lime slush (also have that), we really wanted to recreate our favorite lunch at Paseao (which apparently is also in Seattle, who knew?).

Here’s a picture of the original sandwich.

Paseao Caribbean roast

We found a pretty easy to follow recipe and with a few tweaks got our version really close. Finding the mango juice was the hardest part. We ended up finding Mango Puree in the natural food section of our favorite grocer.

Pork Ingredients:
1 cup Mango juice
2 cups orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice (Key West is best, but if you can’t find it regular lime juice is just as good)
2 tablespoons fresh, chopped garlic
1 teaspoon fresh, chopped oregano
sprinkle (about 1/2 teaspoon each) kosher salt and black pepper
1 shot of rum (splurge a little and get a good dark, non-spiced rum)
3 pounds pork shoulder
tablespoon or two vegetable oil

Onion ingredients:
2 yellow onions

Garlic Aioli ingredients:
1 cup of mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice

Additional ingredients:
good, crusty baguette (bigger than a french loaf)
Fresh Romaine lettuce
fresh cilantro
pickled jalapeños

Directions:
Combine the pork ingredients in a large Tupperware container. Add pork. Seal. Shake. Leave it in the refrigerator for at least 4  hours, the longer the better. We left it in overnight.
Caribbean Roast Marinade

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees or set the sauté function on your Instant Pot to heat. Remove the pork from marinade, but don’t discard! Sear the pork in a lightly oiled pan or skillet (save that pan for later!) on all sides.

If using the instant pot sear on all sides in sauté mode.

It will lose all the marinade at first and get really bubbly. Don’t worry. Just let it get crispy on all sides. The juices will evaporate.
Caribbean Roast sear

Place the pork in a roasting pan and pour the marinade on.

If using the Instant Pot, pour the marinade over the pork.

Tent the roasting pan with foil to seal in the steam. Place the roasting pan into the oven and cook for 45 minutes. Then uncover and cook for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes, basting as needed and flipping the meat over half way through. We ended up cooking it for a little over two hours. The longer the better. Let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Instant Pot directions: turn off sauté mode. Close and seal the lid. Cook on medium pressure for 60 minutes. Natural release. Check for doneness. Pork should read at least 130 degrees. If the pork isn’t cooked through and shreds easily, put it back in for 15-30 minutes.

When you put the pork in the oven or instant pot, you can prepare garlic mayo by peeling 8 cloves of garlic (we left them whole, even though the original recipe called to chop the garlic). Put the garlic in an oven proof custard dish and pour about 2 tablespoons of lime juice on top of the garlic. Add to the oven with the pork and cook for about 30 to 45 minutes or  until the garlic is soft and roasted. Add this to 1 cup of mayonnaise. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lime juice and stir. The original recipe called for relish, but we left that out.

Caribbean Roast Garlic Aioli

While the meat is roasting, cut up the onions yellow onions into wedges. We went with strips in the food processor and it wasn’t quite right. Place in the same pan that you seared the pork shoulder in and set to medium high heat. Cook for about 10 minutes or until onions are caramelized and have picked up all of the fond.

Cut bread in half. Slather garlic mayo on both sides and place in toaster oven till the mayo puffs up a bit and the bread slightly browns.

Last step, assemble the sandwich by adding a little more mayo on the bread, topped with romaine leaves, onions, pork, a few pickled jalapeños and some cilantro.

Caribbean Roast Sandwich

My opinion:
Three pounds of pork made five sandwiches the first night. We opted to freeze the rest, which will make at least four more sandwiches. Plan for a feast. It’s just as tasty cold the next day. I only wish I’d had a few more pickled jalapeños to add a bit more heat.