NuM NuM

For Christmas, Santa a.k.a best wifey in the world, gave lobster a Big Green Egg grill. This contraption is supposed to be a fancy shmancy smoker that will permeate our food with that wonderful charcoal taste we all love. I absolutely heart any and all foods cooked on a charcoal grill. I foresee many many meals from this egg. So really, the gift was for MEEEEE :)

Lobster and I had another cook off the day after Christmas for the fam. This time, we cooked ribs. I made Korean marinated baby back ribs while he made his famous ribs glazed with his secret sop. We don't need to talk about who won this competition. Who cares about contests, there are no real winners or losers. All that matters is you're able to spend quality time with your loved ones over a nice meal. Clearly, I was not the winner...stupid contest! It's only fair that he won since this is considered man cooking and I am a woman, therefore he won by default.

I don't have a recipe for lobster's ribs b/c he just wings it with whatever spices he feels like using that day, but they are always dee-lish. The following recipe is a traditional spicy korean rib dish similar to the one my mom makes. It produces a spicy flavored rib so if you want less of a kick, I would reduce the amount of kochujang. I found the recipe on a random website feturing Korean dishes and I was actually quite impressed because the flavors were spot on. I'm excited to try more recipes from this site to see how they compare to my mom's cooking. I'll be the guinea pig and letcha know when they're num num.

Daeji galbi - 6 servings
Adapted from here

• 5 lbs of pork baby back ribs
• 1 (1-inch) piece ginger root, minced
• 2 onions (pureed)
• 4 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 cup kochujang
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp black pepper

Cooking Directions
1. If ribs are not separated, separate by cutting meat between the bones. Place in large bowl.
2. Puree onions in a blender as it is easier to marinade and spread on ribs
3. Combine all ingredients except pork ribs in large bowl.
4. Once ingredients are all mixed consistently, rub marinade generously over meat.
5. Cover and refrigerate 5 hours or preferably overnight.
6. Grill ribs over medium-high heat until done, about 8-10 minutes per side.
7. If cooked in an oven, preheat to 350 degrees. Spray cooking spray onto a baking sheet and place the ribs on it. Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until the meat is so soft that it falls off the bone.

Photo from Cooking Light website

Yield: 16 servings - 1 serving = 309 calories

Ingredients
Cake:
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons fat-free milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Topping:
2/3 cup fat-free caramel apple dip (such as T. Marzetti's)
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, coat bottoms of 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pans); line bottoms with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray; dust with 1 tablespoon flour.

Combine boiling water and cocoa, stirring well with a whisk. Cool completely.

Place granulated sugar, 6 tablespoons butter, and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon 1 2/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1 2/3 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pans; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and 2 tablespoons milk; cook 1 minute or until sugar melts. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Combine butter mixture and 2 teaspoons vanilla in a large bowl. Gradually add powdered sugar; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, beating until spreading consistency.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread top with half of frosting. Place caramel dip in a small zip-top plastic bag. Snip a small hole in 1 corner of bag; drizzle half of caramel dip over frosting. Top with other cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top of cake; drizzle with remaining caramel dip. Sprinkle with pecans.

**Herb-grilled lobster with grilled zucchini and a zucchini fritter

For Christmas Eve, I had lobsters with my lobster :) We had a lobster cook off!! We each cooked two lobster tails however we wanted and then we would decide who's dish reigned supreme. I made my lobsters in a white wine broth while he flavored his with an herb-butter and grilled them on his dalmation outdoor grill. And the winner was...that would be the person writing this blog :) Well, he did come in second though...out of two but who's keeping tabs.


**Lobster in white wine broth

For the zucchini fritter I grated one zucchini and squeezed out all the excess water from it and seasoned with salt and pepper, some feta cheese and green onion. I then sprinkled the top with some flour and one egg white to help bind the whole thing together. I got lazy and made three huge ones so the outsides were crispy but the insides were mushy. Next time I will make them much smaller so it's one even layer and crunchy all the way around.

Lobsters in a White Wine Broth (serves 2)
Adapted loosely from here

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sliced shallots
2 garlic cloves
2 lobster tails
8 ounces chicken stock (1 cup)
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
lemon wedges
salt and pepper to taste
Crusty French bread

Preheat a large pot to medium and add the olive oil and butter. Once the butter has melted, add the sliced shallots, a little salt, and pepper then saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the wine, chicken stock and lobster tails. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side until the shells turn pink and lobster meat feels firm to touch. Remove the lobsters to a serving plate. Add parsley to broth, season with S&P. Serve with a lemon wedge and some crusty French bread.

This is a great nutty, healthy tasting dip. It contains absolutely no oil, fat, or butter and it is still delicious. Since it's the holidays we have been consuming too many rich, fattening foods so I thought I would make something healthy. Plus, we need to save room for our cinnamon rolls tomorrow :) I had completely forgotten about this recipe until my friend reminded me about it the other day. Now I will be making it more often.

This dips consistency is similar to a baba ganoush. It is nutty, creamy and just the tiniest bit spicy. However, you can adjust the heat level to however hot you'd like to. The lime juice gives the dip some freshness as well. If you want to try something different for your next potluck party this would be a great dip to try.

Yucatecan Pumpkin Seed Dip
Adapted from here
Ha Si Kil Pac
Makes 1 1/2 cups, enough for about 4 as a snack

Ingredients
1 cup of hulled pumpkin seeds
3 ripe plum tomatoes
2 tbs red onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbs finely chopped parsley
Cayenne or chili powder
1/2 of a finely grated garlic
The juice of 1 lime
Salt

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350F. Spread seeds in one layer on a baking sheet and check after a 3-4 minutes. When you hear the first one pops, stir constantly until all have popped from flat to round, about 5 minutes. Don't let them darken past golden or the dip will taste bitter. Pour into a food processor, let cool, then grind to as smooth a paste as possible, scraping down the sides several times to ensure even grinding.

2. Roast the tomatoes. Spread the tomatoes on a baking sheet and place 4 inches below a very hot broiler. Roast until splotchy-black and thoroughly soft, about 6 minutes per side. Cool. Peel and chop into 1/4-inch pieces.

3. Finish the dip. In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, onion and parsley. Stir in enough lime juice to give the mixture a dip-like consistency. Taste and season with salt and chili powder (usually about a scant teaspoon)

Since Christmas is tomorrow I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies for Santa :) Alright, I'm not that much of a dweeb. I really made these for lobster's grandparents. But since I was baking the cookies anyway, I took the opportunity for a cute photo-op too.

These cookies are gargantuan!!! Gargantuan and yummy. To get the full effect of how large these cookies really are, I will show you:


**I told you they were LARGA!!

Although they are frighteningly large, they taste GOOD!! The recipe is from cook's illustrated and they took about 13 minutes to cook. The edges were set but the middle of the cookie still looked raw so when I took them out of the oven I left them on the baking sheet for another five more minutes. The end result were crispy edges and a soft gooey middle of yummyness. If you like a crispy cookie, I would suggest cooking them until only one inch of the middle looks raw.

Since I like my cookies to be of a normal size, I saved half of the batter and put it in the fridge to cook for later. I used one heaping tablespoon for measurement and I enjoyed the consistency of the cookie much more. Hope you likey!!

Cook's Illustrated Chocolate Chip Cookies - 8 GARGANTUAN cookies
¾ plus 2 tbs cup all-purpose flour
1/4 t baking soda
7 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
¼ plus 2 tbs cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 t table salt
1 t vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks (I used dark)
¼ cup plus 2 tbs chopped pecans or walnuts

Whisk flour, baking soda together and set aside. Heat 5 tablespoons of butter in skillet. Cook while swirling pan constantly until butter is dark brown and nutty. You'll see little brown specks throughout. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl, Add remaining 2 T of butter and stir until completely melted. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg. Whisk until mixture is smooth with no lumps remaining. Let mixture stand for 3 mins, then whisk for 30 secs. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using spatula or wood spoon add flours mix until just combined, about 1 min. Add chocolate chips and nuts. This recipe makes 8 large cookies. With ice cream scoop, scoop 8 mounds of dough on to baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone pad. Bake at 350 for 10-14 minutes.

WINNER, WINNER, Soon Dubu dinner!!!!

Holy mole, this was actually pretty good if I do say so myself. I can't believe I actually made my first Korean meal today-without any mommy supervision. Sigh...such a disgrace I am. I've blogged about forty American recipes and finally made one from my motherland tonight. Well, at least now I can play catch up! :D

Although my mom is the best Korean cook I know, she never made us soon dubu while we were growing up. Therefore, I had to concede and search the Internet for a recipe. As you can imagine, there are a ton of different recipes for soon dubu with a ton of different variations. Some of the photos didn't look like the right consistency, some were too light in color and some just looked plain scary. Finally my search ended when I found this website. It helped that there was a video too.

After making the soon dubu, this recipe seems more of a method then anything. I found I had to adjust and eyeball the seasoning and amount of broth to the way I like it. Lobster can't handle spicy food...clearly he is not Korean...so I had to tone down the amount of red pepper used. I also increased the amount of fish sauce too. The fish sauce really seemed to help this jigae give it that "Korean" taste. This was my first time using fish sauce, I bought "Three Crabs Viet Huong" brand and it flavored the broth nicely. All in all, for my first time making soon dubu I would say it was a success.

Note: I didn't like the consistency of the soup so I thickened it with a bit of cornstarch. I put one tablespoon of cornstarch and added a little water to help dilute it, then added half a cup of water. I then added it to the soup one tablespoon at a time until it reached the right consistency, which took about four tablespoons. I probably could have done more but I was too chicken and thought it might thicken too much.

**After just eating this I noticed it starts to taste better the longer is sits b/c the flavors start to meld together. If you have time try to make it a few hours ahead.

Soon Dubu Jigae - 2 large servings
12 dried anchovies
1/3 cup of kelp, half onion, 5 cloves of garlic, 3 shiitake mushrooms
100 grams of beef, 1 cup of mixed seafood, 3 shrimp
2 green onions, 1 green chili pepper
2-5 tbs of hot pepper flakes
olive oil, sesame oil, 2 tubes of soon du bu
2 tbs of fish sauce, and 2 eggs

Prepare stock to make tasty Soon du bu:
Pour 5 cups of water into a pot and add 12 dried anchovies after removing intestine part. Add half onion, some dried kelp (about 1/3 cup), 3 dried shiitake mushrooms, 5 cloves of garlic and boil it over high heat.
Approximately 10 minutes later, lower the heat to low medium heat and boil it for another 20 minutes.

Set aside the stock and take out the mushrooms and chop them into small pieces.
Heat your earthen ware (or ceramic pot) on the stove and put 2 ts of olive oil.
Chop 100 grams of beef and put it into the pot and stir it.
Add the chopped shiitake mushroom and stir it.
Add 2 tbs – 5 tbs (1/4 cup) of hot pepper flakes and keep stirring for 1 minute.
*tip:
2 tbs—mild
3 tbs—medium
4 tbs—hot
5 tbs (1/4 cup)—suicidal hot ! : )
Pour 2 cups of the stock you made. It will be sizzling. Add 1 cup of mixed seafood and 3 shrimp.
Add 2 tbs of fish sauce.
Cut the 2 tubes of Soon du bu (soft Tofu) in half and squeeze it out into the pot and break the tofu with a spoon several times in the pot.
When it boils, add 2 chopped green onions and 1 green chili pepper.
Crack eggs and drizzle some sesame oil before serving.
**I did not use any seafood or egg and it was still nummm


Khong Na Mul (Korean bean sprouts side dish)

I used a 8 inch skillet and covered the entire bottom of the pan with bean sprouts. I then added about half a cup of water and sprinkled some salt. Make sure you are not completely submerging the bean sprouts in water, just a little water underneath them is good to help them steam. Let the water come to a boil then put a cover on it and let it steam for about 3 minutes. If the bean sprouts have a distinct "smell" still then they are not ready and need to cook some more. Check to see if the bean sprouts have turned opaque, if not then bring water back to boil and steam for another minute or so. Bean sprouts should still retain some crunch and not be mushy. Season with S&P, finely minced/grated garlic, korean hot red pepper and a dash of sesame oil. Sorry I can't give you exact measurements, but taste as you go. When adding the red pepper the bean sprouts should turn a nice light red hue. Enjoy!!!

**If you would like to make the recipe for the spinach, you can find the recipe here. I forgot to note in the recipe that I also added finely minced garlic too.

Ooooh, I just made a delicious breakfast for myself. Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've made eggs. This was sort of a "kitchen sink" attempt at making them b/c I just threw everything I had in the fridge into them. Since I was just cooking for myself, I didn't make much of a dent with the leftovers we have in our refrigerator, but it was GOOD. I first sprayed pam and a little bit of "I can't believe it's not butter" into the skillet, diced up a tiny bit of shallot, threw in one finely diced mushroom along with two grape tomatoes (seasoned with S&P) and then three egg whites. (seasoned a tiny bit more with just salt) When the eggs were about 3/4 of the way done, I stirred in a little bit of fresh thyme until fragrant and then dotted the top with laughing cow's "french onion" cheese and scrambled the eggs some more until they looked done. Then voila, my masterpiece was finished. It was the perfect consistency-not too dry or runny. Next time though I will take the seeds out of the tomatoes to ensure the eggs will not be runny. I then finished off the meal with a fuyu persimmon. It was a yummy, quick, balanced, and healthy breakfast. Such a big change from the normal cereal I have for breakfast. I was a happy girl :) It's amazing what brings a smile to my face