Bibimbap

One of the highlights of our trip to South Korea is the food! Super duper good!

For Glenn's birthday, I cooked 4 Korean dishes - Bibimbap, Japchae, Bulgogi and Kalbi-jim. All (ok except for Kalbi-Jim.. hehehe!) received good reviews. :-) Too bad that I didn't take photos of those dishes but I'll try to post them as I cook them again.

Everyday and almost every meal we had in Korea, Bibimbap was part of our orders. So, whenever I want to re-live the fun conversations and the non-stop eating, I cook this dish. Hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did!

Oh... and make sure to buy the stone bowl. That makes the rice crispy. There are two major Korean groceries in Makati ave. area. Wang Mart at #37 Polaris St (in front of P&P Tatoo shop) and another one is near Hap Chan Restaurant, I forgot the name.

Ingredients:

Steamed white rice

Bulgogi (for some strips of beef)

1 carrot, julieneed

Cooked bean sprouts, sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

Cooked spinach, sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

4 shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced, sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

1 egg, cooked over easy

1 tbsp sesame seed

1 tbsp dark sesame oil

strips of nori (japanese sea weed)

soy sauce to taste

Gochuchang paste (you can buy this from the Korean grocery too)

Directions:

1. Put cooked rice in a hot stone pot.

2. Place bulgogi (with juices from cooked meat) and veggies on top of rice but place seperately so you can see each ingredient beautifully placed on rice.

3. Put egg on top

4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce

When ready to eat, mix all ingredients together with some gochuchang paste to taste. The bibimbap should be moist and not dry. Add more sesame oil and gochuchang paste to taste.

Italian Chicken Burger

I've been buying Yummy Magazine since they released their first issue. I enjoy browsing through the pages and experimenting with the different recipes every month. Lots of women read fashion magazines on their free time, I browse through Yummy magazines. :-)

This is my first attempt in documenting my monthly cooking experiment using recipes from that magazine.

Mamang (Glenn's mom) gave me a meat grinder and I was so excited to use it. I found a perfect recipe on the front page of the January/ February 2011 issue. These burgers are a great alternative to the fatty beef burgers but it takes some getting used to also because it's herby. I didn't cook the french fries anymore.

Makes: 6 burgers

Preparation time: 1 hour and 45 minutes (including meat grinding, and 1 hour chilling time)

Total cooking time: 7 minutes

3 tbsps fresh rosemary

1 cup button mushrooms

1/4 cup white onion

1 tbsp Dijon Mustard

2 heads roasted garlic roasted, mashed into a paste with 1 tbsp salt

freshly ground pepper

1 kilo chicken thigh fillet - remove the skin

olive oil for frying

1. Grind the thigh fillet using the meat grinder. You can also buy ground chicken meat already. Place in a large bowl.

2. Put rosemary, mushrooms, white onion, mustard, ground pepper into a food processor until chopped and blended

3. Mix garlic paste into the rosemary mixture

4. Add rosemary mixture into the meat. Mix well until all ingredients are well blended. Using hands to mix is the best way to blend everything together.

5. Form into burger patties and chill for an hour to let the flavor settle and blend together.

6. Fry in a nonstick pan over medium heat with 1 tbsp olive oil or until the juices run clear, about 2 minutes on each side. (I cooked mine in a George Foreman grill. Its less juicier but lesser fat too)

I'm not a fan of burger buns so I made garlic mayonnaise, spread it on whole wheat bread, placed cheese, burger and pressed it in a panini maker.

Pretty ok... not something I will cook often but it was a good try.

Oatmeal and Buttermilk Muffins

Super yummy and health for breakfast. You can even prepare it a day or two in advance and pop it in the oven on a busy morning before going to work.

Makes 12 muffins:

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup buttermilk (if you can't find buttermilk, you can substitute this with 1 cup milk and 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice and let stand for 10 minutes)

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed firmly

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/4 cup walnuts or raisins (optional)

1. In a bowl, combine the oats and buttermilk and leave to soak for 1 hour (I leave mine for 45 minutes)

2. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan

3. Preheat the oven 400F

4. With an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

5. Beat in the egg

6. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt

7. Stir into the butter mixture, alternate with the oat mixture. Fold in the raisins/ walnuts. Do not overmix.

8. Flll the prepared cups 2/3 full.

9. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, around 20 to 25 minutes.

10. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Deep Fried Bean Curd with Savoury Sauce

Just cooked this tonight and was a big hit! The ginger and sesame oil makes this dish so tasty. Try it!

Ingredients:
4 pcs. bean curd
1/8 kg. ground beef
2 small stalk spring onion
1/4 cup ginger
2 dried shitake mushrooms
2 oyster mushrooms
1/2 cup corn starch

Marinade:
1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil

Seasoning:
1/2 cup stock
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsps. soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce

1. Cut bean curd into 4 thin layers. Dry with paper towels.
2. Soak mushrooms.
3. Using the marinade mixture, marinade the ground beef for 20 minutes
3. Mince the ginger, spring onions and mushrooms
4. Combine minced ingredients with ground beef.
5. Coat bean curd with corn starch.
6. With 4 tbsp. oil, fry the beef mixture until brown.
7. Fry bean curd until both sides are golden brown in the same pan you fried the beef.
8. Remove bean curd from pan and put the beef mixture on top
9. Return the bean curd with beef to the same pan. Add Seasoning and bring to a boil.
10. Dish up and serve.

Clay Pot Bean Curd

Got this recipe from the book Egg and Bean Curd. There are a number of really good recipes in this book and I've been trying each and everyone of them. One thing that I really enjoy about Chinese cooking is that you can easily modify the recipe to your liking and it still will give you your desired flavor.

For this recipe, make sure that you have a clay pot ready. It's amazing how cooking with this pot actually enhances the flavor of the dish!

Ingredients:
1 pack of fried bean curd (for Phil. residents, I was able to get this from SM Makati) or 1 long bean curd fried til golden brown
3 dried shitake mushrooms
1/2 carrot (I sometimes take this out... not really our favorite veggie)
4 pcs. chicken
2 stalks spring onion
4 pcs. dried oyster mushrooms
1/4 cup button mushrooms


Marinade:
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp of corn starch dissolved in 1/2 tbsp of water

Seasoning:
2 tbsps oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
pinch of pepper
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 tbsp of corn starch dissolved in 1/2 tbsp of water

1. Marinade chicken using the marinade mix for 30 minutes.
2. Soak shitake and oyster mushrooms until soft. Remove stem.
3. Boil carrot until done and slice.
4. Section spring onion
5. Heat 2 tbsps of oil. Stir fry shitake, oyster and button mushrooms. Add the chicken until it turns whittish. You can sprinkle some salt and pepper if you wish.
6. Add in carrot and Seasoning mixture.
7. Return bean curd to the wok and cook until the flavor of the sauce us absorbed.
8. When the sauce is reduced by half, pour the food into a claypot, add sectioned spring onion.
9. Reboil and serve with freshly cooked rice.

Note: You can also add vermicelli noodles but make sure there are double the amount of sauce. The noodles will absorb the sauce and will make the dish dry.

ENJOY!

Yogurt Honey Muffins

BAKING! I realized that I have been baking since I was 15 years old! Judging by the recipes that I have in my parents house and the loads of baking materials that are kept in the cabinets... unused of course, I've been baking inedible cookies and breads half of my life already. :-)

I've been experimenting with different cookies and muffins lately. Some successful, some of them met my trash can early enough. One of my favorites is the Yogurt Honey Muffins I made a couple of weeks ago. They are soft inside and healthy. You can make them into big muffins or make loads of mini muffins. Plus, you can put cream cheese (not the healthiest but completely yummy!) and some marmalade to make it the perfect breakfast or snack.

Got this recipe from an old recipe book I have given by my friend Yannie.

Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
4 tbsps butter
5 tbsps thin honey
1 cup plain yogurt
1 large egg, at room temperature
grated rind of 1 lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsps. baking soda
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

Procedure:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375F. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or use paper liners. (I used paper liners but when I bake these again, I will just grease the pan and flour it a bit.)
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter and honey. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, lemon rind and juice. Add the butter and honey mixture. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. (Whole wheat flour can't be sifted well, I just make sure that other than the wheat, all lumps are crushed).
5. Fold the dry ingredients into the yogurt mixture just to blend. Don't overmix.
6. Fill the prepared cups 2/3 full. Bake until the tops spring back when touched lightly, 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before unmolding. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: if you are using a 6 muffin pan, bake for 10 to 15 minutes. For mini muffin pans, 5 to 8 minutes.

Mushroom Patties

Since I have not eaten a burger for a year now, I've been wanting to make my own mushroom patty so I have searched the web for a recipe that will suit my liking. Unfortunately, nothing came close. So, I've decided to make my own and I'm loving it... of course Edgar loved it too. :-) It's healthy and yummy! What more can you ask for?

Ingredients:
3 cups of different kinds of mushrooms (shitake, oysters and button mushrooms) chopped
1/4 cup butter
3 tsps mushroom seasoning
1 medium sized carrots diced to small pieces
3 tbsps spring onions chopped
1 medium sized onions chopped
8 cloves of garlic diced
1 cup of spinach leaves
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3 tsps of soy sauce
2 large eggs
1 cup of breadcrumbs
salt and pepper


Procedure:
1. Saute the chopped mushrooms in melted butter until tender. Add mushroom seasoning for flavor.
2. Remove from fire and let cool.
3. Combine carrots, onions, spring onions, garlic, spinach and parmesan cheese in one bowl. Mix well.
4. Pour in the mushrooms to your carrots mixture.
4. Add in the soy sauce, eggs and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Mix until the mixture is thick enough to be made into a patty.
5. Form into burger patties. Fry or grill and enjoy with your favorite hamburger buns. :-)

I made a lot already so I can just put them in the freezer and grill or fry as I want them