Fernando's Kimchee Bokeumbop (Fried Rice)

It's been a rough week.
Yesterday, we didn't even really eat dinner. Even after Fernando came home after a 15+ hour day with a post-work running workout with his urban crew.
I on the other hand, I'm not totally sure what I did or said for most of the past 5 days.

So yep. It's been rough.

But there are few things better than wrapping up a whirlwind, mostly upsetting week with a Friday night dinner at home in our pajamas, wine, and Fernando's kimchee bokeumbop. It's like he knew even better than I did that this is really what we needed to feel okay today. Here's the rundown.

Ingredients: 

• 1.5 cups of short-grained, white rice (dry) 
• 2 cups of water for the rice
• OR use 3 cups of yesterday's rice that you have leftover
• 1 cup of sliced cabbage kimchee (we use the Chongga brand)   
• 2 Tbsp of butter 
• 1/2 can of Spam, thinly sliced into 1" strips
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 Tbsp of Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
• 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil 
• 2 eggs
• lots of love and patience 

Steps: 

1. Set up the rice to cook first - this will take the longest. (~20 minutes or so, if you have one of those nifty rice cookers. Ours is around 30 years old and still chugging.)
2. In a 10" skillet, add 1 Tbsp of butter over low heat. 
3. Once the butter is melted, add the minced garlic. And let it heat up without burning it. 
4. Add in the sliced kimchee and let that sautee until some of the juices release. You'll know this happens when you notice the kimchee loses it's reddish coloring. 
5. Add in the Spam to cook in all the kimchee juicy goodness. Cook that til the Spam pieces start getting a nice crust. 
6. Add the Gochujang and stir until it's fully incorporated into the mixture of buttery kimchee and Spam. 
7. Add the second tablespoon of butter and add in the 3 cups of rice (if it's ready). 
8. Mix in thoroughly until the rice itself turns the kimchee red. Fernando's trick is to press down on the rice for a nice even layer up top and a crunchy rice bottom we Koreans call nurungji, similar to the socarrat in paella or the Persian tahdig. 
9. While the rice gets a crispy bottom, fry up an egg per person with the olive oil or if you're Stacy, in more butter. See, we had 2 in this recipe to feed 2 adults. But read the note at the bottom. (Fernando would like to note, if you're Stacy, multiply all calls for butter by 5.) 
10. Fernando likes to top his bowl of bokeumbop with the fried egg, so he can mix in the runny yolk. An excellent choice. 

This will feed 2 very hungry adults, or more reasonably, 3 adults. 

- From Fernando, written by Stacy 

Korean Pork Belly from Stacy's mom

http://recipesfromiris.blogspot.com/2015/12/pork-belly-samgyupsal.html?view=sidebar

Here's an abridged version (read: lazier version) of my mom's pork belly recipe. It's lazier because the stuffing is the most time-consuming and skill-heavy part of the dish. With low amounts of either, I opted for pickled radish wraps with store-bought, yet pre/self-verified solid, kimchee.

The pork belly is really no frills - just smother with the fermented soy bean paste and let it cook in a covered pan for an hour. This will make your kitchen, house, shoebox new york apartment smell like delicious delicious pork for at least the next 24 hours.

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb of fresh pork belly 
• 5 tbsp of water
• 3 tbsp of Korean soy bean paste (Doenjang- 된장)
• 8 dried red peppers 
• 1 oz of ginger, sliced 1/4 inch thick 
• pickled radish slices for wrappers (optional) 

Steps: 

1. Slice the pork belly in to 3 - 4 inch long chunks. 
2. Heat a medium pan over high heat and sear the pork belly on all sides to a golden brown color. Each side should take about 2 minutes. 
3. Add 5 tablespoons of water. 
4. Spread 3 tablespoons of soybean pasted over each piece of pork. Add ginger slices and and hot peppers to the pan. 
5. Cover and cook over low heat for about an hour. 

The full spread - we also opted for some white rice and other condiments we picked up from our local HMart (Korean supermarket). What you see there are salted shrimp - (Saeujeot - 새우젓), marinated anchovies, and marinated spicy shrimps. 

And a close-up.

Tortilla soup a-la-Slee

The first time I had tortilla soup was in Mexico on a family trip. We had just arrived at our hotel Baja Mar and were starving from the long roadtrip (we drove from home in Los Angeles). We ate at the hotel restaurant, and my mom ordered the tortilla soup. It was in one word, magical. We still reminisce about that tortilla soup to this day, and I think I've told Fernando about it a million times too, but I never tried to reproduce it for fear of disappointment.

A few months ago, Fernando and I decided to try out "vegan-before-6", which means we followed a vegan diet until 6pm when all bets were off, and I would go nuts on the dairy. For a while though, we were able to cut down on the meat and dairy, and this is one of the recipes that came out of that time we relied on beans and lots of spices. It's not as magical as the one that started it all, but it's pretty damn good.

Ingredients: 

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tsp of cumin
• 1 tbsp of paprika
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• 6 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 2 cups of beef broth 
• 1 chipotle pepper + 3 tbsp of sauce 
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• dash of salt
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar
• 1.5 tbsp of tomato paste
• a large dollop of black refried beans (optional)
• a handful of blue corn fritos and sliced avocado to garnish (optional)

Steps: 

1. In a large soup pot, sautee the onion and green pepper in olive oil until softened. Then add the garlic. 
2. Mix in the spice blend until aromatic. 
3. Add in the copped fresh tomatoes and cook off some of the liquid. 
4. Pour in the beef broth and mix well. Simmer over medium-high heat. 
5. Add the tomato paste and chipotle pepper and sauce to the pot. 
6. Add salt to taste and the brown sugar. 
7. Puree the soup and add a dollop of refried beans for protein. 
8. Garnish with blue corn fritos and avocado slices. 

German Olive Oil and Fennel Cookies that may not be German

I have a German coworker who loves to bake. She often brings to the office on Monday mornings a huge bowl of cookies that she baked over the weekend to share with the team. One of these cookies in particular make me uncharacteristically hoard a few to gobble at my desk. I love these cookies so much that she often brings me my own bag full of them, which I end up eating within the hour to her horror. I love these cookies so much that I asked for the recipe. Here it is.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cup of flour 
• 1 tbsp of crushed fennel seeds
• a little over 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 pinches of salt
• 1/2 cup of olive oil 

The dough for these cookies feels like to me what shortbread dough must feel like before adding the delicious lard. It's very low moisture and quite crumbly so be careful when handling. It's worth it, I promise. 

Steps: 

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. 
2. Pour the olive oil into the dry mix to form a dough. 
3. Put the dough in the refrigerator for about an hour to set. 
4. Roll out after chilling and cut into fun shapes - I often do whimsical circles. 
5. Bake at 356 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes. 

They don't change color much while/after baking, so try one after 20 minutes to see if it's done. I made the mistake of waiting for them to brown on my first batch and ended up with burnt dough :( 

Homemade Lasagna to freeze and eat forever

I sometimes get these cravings for these big homestyle meals, and instead of making a reasonable amount for 2, I'll make enough to feed an army. This is one of those recipes for when I had a hankering for lasagna, ended up freezing most of it and gratefully turning to it on those weeknights I didn't want to cook and delivery would take too long.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp of olive oil 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic chopped
• 1 lb of ground beef or turkey 
• 14.5 oz can of chopped tomatoes
• 6 oz can of tomato paste
• 8 oz of tomato sauce 
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups of fat free cottage cheese or ricotta cheese 
• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan 
• 2 tsp of chopped parsley 
• 8 oz of mozzarella, shredded
• 8 oz of sharp cheddar, shredded 
• 8 oz no boil lasagna noodles (these make a big difference - if you can't find them, boil regular noodles until al dente)

Steps:

Let's start with the meat sauce.

1. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil on medium-high heat. Sautee the chopped onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. 
2. Remove the cooked onions and garlic from the skillet and set aside in a bowl. 
3. Add the ground beef or turkey into the skillet on medium-high heat and brown. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper! 
4. Once the meat is browned, add back to the skillet the onions and garlic and let the flavors mix for a few minutes. 
5. Lower the skillet to low-medium heat and add the chopped tomatoes, the tomato paste and tomato sauce and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. 

Let's start the cheese layer.

1. In a large mixing bowl, crack the two eggs and lightly beat as if to make a scramble. 
2. Add in the cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, the shredded mozzarella and the shredded sharp cheddar. 
3. Season with salt and pepper and add in the grated fresh parmesan. 
4. Mix everything together to create a chunky cheese mixture. 

Let's start layering it all up in a 13" x 9" baking dish.  

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. The first layer is the meat sauce. 
3. Then layer with no boil lasagna sheets - I like to shingle them. 
4. Then layer with the cheese mixture. 
5. Then add another layer of meat sauce. 
6. Keep layering until you run out, but make sure you have enough space with the depth of the dish! (meat sauce, pasta, cheese mixture, meat sauce, pasta, etc.) 
7. The top layer should be meat sauce with some more grated parmesan or more shredded mozzarella if you prefer that. 
8. I prefer the low and slow, longer cook, so I lower the temperature to 200 degrees Fahrenheit before popping in the lasagna and let it bake for about an hour and 20 minutes. Then I crank up the heat to 350 degrees for a final 15 minutes to let the top really crisp up. You can also keep the oven at 350 degrees the whole time and bake for 45 minutes. 
9. Allow the lasagna to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into it, so the layers don't sway all over the place. 

 

The delicious cheese mixture. 

Shingling the first layer of pasta.

The lasagna pre-bake. Still needs that last grating of parmesan. 

Out of the oven. We didn't let it wait because we're animals.

Nicoise Salad a-la-fescamillion

I'm always bummed when I see the price of Nicoise salads on restaurant menus, so here's our slightly more pickled version without skimping on the quality.

Ingredients: 

• salad greens 
• boiled potatoes
• vinegar-infused beets
• hard-boiled eggs
• kumato tomatoes  
• pickled, spicy green beans 
• red onion
• olive oil
• Vinagre de Jerez
• really good tuna in jar/can in water 

Waiting-for-the-roast-but-I'm-starving-now salad

This was one of those times that we had a roast going in the oven and just couldn't hold out any longer. The fried egg and dainty greens are just filling and light enough to satisfy without ruining the appetite. This also makes a pretty great meal if you bulk it up a bit with more greens, tomatoes and maybe add some avocado and sliced red onion.

Ingredients for 1 delicate serving:

• a handful of arugula or mache rosettes 
• 1 fried egg (I like to leave the yolk a little runny) 
• sprinkle of porcini sea salt on the egg
• dressing: 
• 1 tsp of olive oil 
• fresh cracked pepper
• 1 tsp of balsamic glaze
• a few baby tomatoes 

That apple pie Stacy often makes because Fernando loves apple pie

Fernando loves apple pie - the more sour, the better. So much so, that I try to make one and keep it in the fridge at least once a month. This is a recent phenomenon (my baking an apple pie monthly), and Fernando is an avid runner.

I wanted to add this first because it's been a few weeks since my last apple pie, and tomorrow is Valentine's day, so I thought it would be a romantic gift for him to celebrate with his beloved apple pie.

Here's a recipe that's been a pretty solid go to because it's no frills and requires very few ingredients.

Ingredients:

• ~ 6 tart, medium-sized apples (something like the classic Granny Smith) 
• 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
• 2/3 cup of sugar 
• 1/4 cup of unsalted butter 
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 2 pie crusts 
• 1 large egg (for brushing on the covering pie crust)

Sometimes Fernando prefers a crumble on top, in which case instead of 2 pie crusts, you'll only need 1 for the base and the crumble ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 12 tbsp of butter
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• dash of cinnamon 
• dash of salt 

Either topper, the instructions for the filling are the same. 

Steps:

1. Peel, halve and core the apples. You can slice the apples however thin you'd like, but I usually go for about 1/4 inch thick. 
2. In a medium mixing bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice. Then add the sugar and combine to coat the apples evenly. 
3. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat and add the apples until the sugar dissolves. 
4. Cover the skillet and reduce the heat to a medium-low and cook the apples until they soften and release most of their juices for about 7 minutes. 
5. Strain the apples in a colander but make sure to save the juice. Return to the juice to the skillet and simmer over medium heat until it's thick and caramelized for about 10 minutes. 
6. In that medium mixing bowl toss the strained apples with the reduced juice and spices. You'll need to set this aside to cool completely. 
7. When the filling is cooled down, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 
8. Get your pie crust base down in a pie plate and pour in the apple filling, mounded slightly in the center. 
9. Place the topper pie crust over the filling and brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Don't forget to pierce the topper to allow for steam to escape. 
10. Bake the pie for about 50 minutes and allow to cool before serving. 

A few pies past:

A great visual resource: http://i.imgur.com/hEySxi4.jpg

Why we started this blog

Fernando and I have known each other for nearly 7 years now. We met in Boston while in college and bonded over our shared academics into Middle Eastern history and our love for each other's cultural cuisine both having grown up in Los Angeles - his being Mexican and mine being Korean.

We ended up dating and moving to NYC together to start our lives as yuppies first in the grungier East Village and Chinatown and have since moved closer to the greener pastures of Central Park in the UWS. We both work for tech startups and have typical-ish 20-something 9am - 7pm jobs, and we try to eat dinner together almost every night. While we can't boast cooking all of our meals, we cook enough to fill up various notebooks and our (at least mine) phone's photo albums with screenshots of recipes and photos of our attempts.

We wanted a place not only to compile these recipes for easier searchability when making grocery runs but also to remember their inception and to share our favorite go to's. Many of these recipes are not our own but borrowed and adapted to our tastes and whatever we had in our pantry at the time.

Whether you intended on arriving at this blog or came here by accident, I hope you'll find a story or recipe that makes you happy.

- Stacy

And a few introductory photos from the past year:

Watching our first Yankees game. 

Frolicking in Central Park around the Jackie O reservoir.  

Celebrating Fernando's birthday at where else but a steakhouse. 

Fernando was super excited to find this Star Wars game in an arcade in Vegas. 

Trying not to squish the squirmy kitten. 

Kayaking in December in LA because we can kayak in December there and not in NYC. 

Getting ready to bring in the New Year with a 5K in Central Park.