tasty

Dwaeji Bulgogi & Tteokbokki (Korean Spicy Marinated Pork & Spicy Korean Rice Cake Stew)

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I often wonder why there are not more Korean restaurants around here, given the wide variety of Korean foods which should appeal to most westerners, especially the grilled dishes such as Galbi, Bulgogi and Dak Galbi. Also much liked by me are a number of pasta dishes, most of all Chap Chae, Bibim-naengmyeon and of course Tteokbokki, which appears below. A tougher sale for the uninitiated diner might be the omnipresent Kimchi, which is no doubt an acquired taste (but then, once acquired……. 🙂
So , as is so often the case when a craving for special food comes knocking, I had to start my own fires to cook the food I was longing for 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Dwaeji Bulgogi

Tteokbokki

Dwaeji Bulgogi, Tteokbokki And Kimchi

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Preparation :
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: 1,5 lbs fresh bacon, thinly sliced and 1,5 lbs pork loin, thinly sliced

: fresh bacon, porkloin, onion, scallion

: marinade overnight with 3 tablespoons Korean red chili pepper paste (gochujang) 1 tablespoon Korean red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru) 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons rice wine (or mirin)2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon garlic paste, 1 tablespoon grated ginger

: soak sliced ricecake for 15 minutes in cold water, drain

: cook rice cakes in lightly salted water until done, about 15 minutes, drain, rinse

: saute finely sliced onions, garlic paste, gochujang and grated ginger in peanut oil, add soy sauce, a bit of sugar, a dash of rice vinegar, sesame oil and water

: simmer for one minute, add rice cakes, simmer for another minute, check / adjust seasoning

: grill marinated meat on very high heat

: when most of the meat is done, grill the vegetables

: done grilling……..

: Dwaeji Bulgogi, Tteokbokki And Kimchi

: Dwaeji Bulgogi, Tteokbokki And Kimchi

: Dwaeji Bulgogi

: Tteokbokki

: Kimchi

: Bella dining on Dwaeji Bulgogi

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Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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The question might be, was this a salad or was it a sandwich? I am not so sure, probably it was both, rolled into one blissful lunch. One thing however I am sure of – it was absolutely delicious.
While devouring it I was reminded of the old custom of soaking up the salad dressing with a good, hearty bread. Most folks don’t do this anymore because it’s not very elegant or cool.
However, it is a great custom if you put enjoying good food first and appearances second 🙂
Just make sure that you cut your bread into thick slices and toast it so it will stand up to the moisture of the salad. And if you are not a great fan of octopus, replace it with shrimp or even chicken and you will be just as happy as I was with the octopus version.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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Preparation :
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: Toast THICK CUT sour dough bread

: cut octopus into bite size pieces

: add tomatoes, onions, scallions, cucumbers, garlic paste, raspberry vinegar, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and a spritz of maggi seasoning

: plate bread on serving dish

: top with lettuce

: top with octopus salad

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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Pied De Cochon

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ANYTHING sounds better in french ?! 🙂
I used to call my wife “Mon Petit Chou”, which sounds perfectly sweet and romantic in french. Translated, it’s “My Little Cabbage” :-(. Not as sweet and romantic, no doubt.
Same with my dinner today : “Pied De Cochon – which translates into “Pig’s Trotters”, one of my all time favorite second cuts.
Pigs trotters are very versatile, they are great fried, steamed, braised, and pickled.
The following dish was created today in my kitchen and, I must say, it was absolutely delicious (and pretty to look at, to boost).
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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More “Pig’s Goodies” on ChefsOpinion
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Wiki on Pigs Trotters
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More about Pigs Trotters
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Pied De Cochon

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Preparation :
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: poach pigs feet in salted water, drain, rinse, cover with salted water, simmer until very tender but NOT falling apart (about two hours)

: meanwhile, blanch baby bok choy

: shock in ice water

: drain

: after 1 1/2 hours, add kosher salt, chili paste, garlic paste, grated ginger, sliced onions to the soup

: after 2 hours, add fresh shiitake mushrooms

: also add blanched, rinsed sliced rice cakes and blanched, sliced lotus roots

: simmer slowly until pigs feed are done,, check / adjust seasoning

: add bok choy and chili paste (optional) to serving plate

: add pigs feet, rice cake and lotus roots

: ladle soup over all ingredients

: Pied De Cochon

: Pied De Cochon

: Pied De Cochon

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Jamaican Jerk Chicken

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While there are a million and one jerk chicken recipes out there, the basic seasoning is usually brown sugar or molasses, all spice, garlic, cinnamon, scotch bonnets (as much as you can handle), ginger, thyme, nutmeg and salt. Most folks I know also add soy sauce and scallions (I do).
Then, if you have a wood burning grill, grill very slowly, covered until the chicken is charred on the outside and juicy on the inside. Since I don’t presently have a proper grill, I started my jerk chicken in a cast iron grill pan and after a light char developed, covered it and finished cooking it in the oven. The result was a very tasty, very juicy, close to perfection jerk chicken 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is good !
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P.S.
As I was cooking this inside the house, I used all dry herbs and spices.
However, for a more authentic experience, if cooking outside on a wood grill, you want to use fresh spices and herbs, minced and mixed with the soy sauce to a paste and rubbed into the chicken and its cuts. Cooking this on a covered grill will develop the flavorful smoky taste associated with authentic jerk chicken.
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Jamaican Jerk Chicken

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Preparation :
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: cut a fresh chicken in half

: make a few incisions all the way to the bones

: grill chicken on both sides, set on a few chopped scallions, cover

: bake in oven at 350 F until cooked through but still juicy

: Jamaican Jerk Chicken

: Jamaican Jerk Chicken

: Jamaican Jerk Chicken

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Shrimp Sliders

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After having a monstrous burger with all the trimmings at Fuddrucker for lunch, dinner was a bit more quaint.
The attraction of these sliders is the flavorful butter in which the shrimps are sauteed. Lots of garlic paste, horseradish and sriracha make these sliders exceptional and extraordinary.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Shrimp Sliders

Casarecce Gorgonzola

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I was going to make a quick salami and gorgonzola sandwich, when I realized that I felt I had to treat myself to a better lunch than a simple sandwich, so I checked the larder for a few available goodies and the following is what I came up with. By the time the pasta was cooked al dente, I had all the other ingredients prepped and it took only about another five minutes to complete the dish. While I love a good sandwich, this dish was a far more rewarding lunch and it took only slightly more time to prepare.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Casarecce Gorgonzola

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Preparation :
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: saute onions, salame, chillies and garlic paste in olive oil

: add gorgonzola cheese

: add heavy cream, simmer until gorgonzola is melted

: add quartered artichoke hearts

: add freshly ground black pepper and scallions

: add casarecce pasta

: mix until pasta is well coated with gorgonzola sauce, if sauce is too thick, add a bit of the cooking liquid from the pasta, check / adjust seasoning

: Casarecce Gorgonzola

: Casarecce Gorgonzola

: Casarecce Gorgonzola

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Chicken Tostada

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I used to eat tostadas two or even three times a week when I was living in Cancun.
There was this small bar/restaurant on the beach of the lagoon across from where I lived, about a five minute walk away. (I believe it was on Blvd. Kukulcán KM 21 – I wonder if the place still exists?) On one side of the road is the ocean, on the other side, less than five hundred yards across the street, was this tiny place on the beach of the lagoon with a wooden pier protruding about thirty yards into the lake. Many a night I gave the waiter a small tip to set up a table for me at the end of the pier, to enjoy the night and a few drinks and snacks all by myself, usually while on the phone for a while with Maria who was back in Miami, taking care of things there. On most nights I had shrimp or chicken tostadas and a few “Negra Modelo” .
Happy times ! Aaahhhh, the memories 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Live is Good !
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Link to Salsa Mexicana
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Link to Guacamole
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Link to Tostadas De Camarones
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Chicken Tostadas

flour tostadas, chicken in chipotle, salsa mexicana, tomato/onion salad, sour cream, guacamole, pickled chili

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: marinade chicken drumsticks with pureed chipotle and kosher salt

: saute in olive oil until golden

: add chicken stock, cover, simmer until done

: chicken should be soft enough to be easily removed from bones

: boneless chicken, cilantro added

: make sure you eat enough veggies 🙂

: tomato, red onion, cilantro, olive oil, garlic paste, white vinegar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper

: flour tostadas, chicken in chipotle, salsa mexicana, tomato/onion salad, sour cream, guacamole, pickled chili

: Chicken Tostadas

: Chicken Tostadas

: Chicken Tostadas

: Chicken Tostadas

: Chicken Tostadas

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Mushrooms And Udon Noodles In Oyster Sauce

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It seems to me that the biggest return (culinary bliss and satisfaction) for the smallest investment (time, money and work) was, is and always will be, the preparation of food.
While there are of course very expensive, time-consuming, complicated and labor intensive dishes to be had, the majority of great food can be prepared in a snap. The following is just one of these dishes. All ingredients can be had for a few bucks and the actual prep and cooking time is only about 15 minutes.
So folks, please don’t say you don’t have time to cook. Just face your demon’s and admit that you don’t like to cook 🙂 😦 .
On the other hand, if you don’t know how to cook, that’s a whole different story. For you I have a simple solution to that malady : Follow my blog and get inspiration for simple dishes and instructions how to prepare them- this will be the first step to help you overcome the biggest hurdle, because most of the instructions on ChefsOpinion are dead-simple and require only the most basic culinary knowledge to produce great results.
First step – start trying………. 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! You Can Do It !!!
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More Udon dishes on ChefsOpinion
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Mushrooms And Udon Noodles In Oyster Sauce

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Mushrooms And Udon Noodles In Oyster Sauce

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
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: cook udon noodles in salted water, drain, coat lightly with sesame oil

: prepare a slurry of cornstarch and water

: stir fry sliced onions and fresh, quartered shiitake mushrooms until onions lightly caramelized

: add oyster mushrooms, saute another minute, add oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic paste, grated ginger, chili sauce and a bit of chicken stock or water

: stir-in slurry

: simmer a few seconds

: add seafood mushrooms, remove from heat, mix well, check / adjust seasoning

: 🙂

: plate udon noodles

: top with mushrooms

: for a bit of crunch, top with scallions and mung bean sprouts

: Mushrooms And Udon Noodles In Oyster Sauce

: Mushrooms And Udon Noodles In Oyster Sauce

: Mushrooms And Udon Noodles In Oyster Sauce

: Mushrooms And Udon Noodles In Oyster Sauce

: Mushrooms And Udon Noodles In Oyster Sauce

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Tandoory Style Cod Filet With Potato-Onion Mash

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When you first lay your eyes on the pictures of this dish you might think that the cod filet is the star of the show. While this might be so for some folks, for me the star was the potato-onion mash. Seldom have I experienced a richer, tastier and more scrumptious potato dish than this one. Even by itself it would have completely satisfied my requirements for an excellent lunch. Of course, adding the salad and fish made it just more perfect and rounded out the meal. Great lunch experience and one which I will definitely repeat soon.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
Looks like lettuce with honey/mustard dressing has become my go-to green side dish.
(Could be worse) 🙂
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Tandoory Style Cod Filet With Potato-Onion Mash

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Preparation :
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: bake potatoes and onions until soft

: let potatoes and onions cool a bit to be able to handle them, then remove peel

: add plenty of butter, sriracha, garlic paste, greek yogurt and kosher salt to potatoes

: add onions, mash lightly

: combine everything, check / adjust seasoning, cover, keep hot

: meanwhile, marinade cod filet in a paste of ghee, garam masala, cumin, allspice, lemon juice, yogurt, paprika, cinnamon, grated ginger, garlic paste, black pepper and kosher salt

: cook without fat in a very hot cast iron pan

: plate a bed of lettuce dressed with your favorite vinaigrette

: top lettuce with potatoes, top potatoes with cod filet

: Tandoory Style Cod Filet With Potato-Onion Mash

: Tandoory Style Cod Filet With Potato-Onion Mash

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Filet Au Poivre Avec Pommes De Terre Lyonnaise

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The plan was to prepare a traditional pepper steak when I realized that I had no demi glace in the freezer for a proper pepper sauce. I usually have demi glace, tomato sauce and curry base/sauce in the freezer, but today I was out of luck with the demi glace. So there were four options to choose from :

– sit down and cry,
– prep a new batch of demi glace which will take a couple of hours
– use the curry sauce,
– use the tomato sauce.

I decided to go with the tomato sauce and the result was excellent. Very little different from the demi glace version, just as creamy and tasty as a “proper”, traditional pepper sauce. Great lunch in no time 🙂

(Have to prepare a batch of demi glace now )
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Traditional Pepper Steak (Steak Au Poivre)
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More Steak @ ChefsOpinion
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Filet Au Poivre Avec Pommes De Terre Lyonnaise

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Preparation :
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: Season a 8 oz beef tenderloin steak with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, saute in garlic oil until rare, remove from pan and let rest (carry-over heat will continue to cook the meat until medium rare)

: saute sliced blanched potatoes in duck fat until golden, add sliced onion, garlic paste, kosher salt and cayenne pepper, continue sauteeing until onions caramelize