Soon Dubu Jjigae (Friday May 28, 2010)

I'm feeling a bit sick... so I made spicy tofu & seafood soup.

It was a much better batch than my last one. I think I've figured out how to make this one!

Spam & Kimchi (Thursday May 27, 2010)

We had leftover rice salad with kimchi and spam. Yum!

Rice Salad (Wednesday, May 26, 2010)

Great for a very hot and humid day.  Ethan used basmati rice and added feta cheese and capers in case you can't see from the photos.

This was a great wine with a cost of around $13

Shin Ramen and Leftover Spaghetti (Tuesday, May 25, 2010)

I went for a run after work today so I didn't get home until after 8pm and Ethan spent the day at a conference called Games for Change.  Dinner was a bit of an afterthought tonight.

I made shin ramen for dinner and Ethan had leftover spaghetti and meatballs.

Piper's Kilt (Monday, May 24, 2010)

We ate bacon cheeseburger's for dinner tonight.  For dessert we picked up ice cream from the neighborhood bodega.  I picked up my favorite Ben & Jerry's AmeriCone Dream and Ethan tried a new Haagan Daz flavor, Bananas Foster.

Spaghetti and Meatballs (Sunday, May 23, 2010)

Luckily we didn't hit too much traffic heading back home so we had a little time to stop at the Whole Foods in Edge Water, NJ. We picked up some ingredients to make dinner at home.

The sausage meatballs were baked in the oven

Broccoli with garlic 

Sea Scallop Salad (Saturday, May 22, 2010)

We started off the evening with appetizers of cheese, bread, hummus, tzatziki, cherries, and olives - what a beautiful variety of food.  The bread was from Atwater's in Belvedere Square near Mary Lou's (Ethan's mom and my mother-in-law).

For dinner we had a seared sea scallop salad with bacon, avocado, cherry tomatoes and a mustard vinaigrette.

For dessert we had fresh coconut.  I saw some fresh coconut in the grocery store months ago and we thought it would be fun to drink the juice au naturel.  Little did I know that it's a complete pain to break the coconut apart without making a complete mess.  This time, Ethan bought a green coconut, thinking it would be easier to drink, but it was just as difficult.  The coconut milk was really good and sweet but who actually wants to go through all the trouble for a few sips of juice?  If it takes, a hammer, screw driver, AND a knife to eat dessert, it's just not worth it...for me. 

For more dessert, Mary Lou picked up some mini cupcakes that were so good and pretty too!  The flavors included coconut and lemon. 

Roy Rogers along the New Jersey Turnpike (Friday, May 21, 2010)

Yuck! We were driving down to Baltimore for the weekend and we left NYC after work, around 6pm.  Surprisingly we didn't hit any traffic!

There is nothing along the way between NYC and Baltimore other than the nasty service stations along the NJ Turnpike.  If you know of a good place to stop for food along this route, please let me know!

We ate burgers at Roy Rogers.  When we saw the sign, Ethan thought that they might have good burgers so we pulled in.  As soon as he saw the Roy Rogers counter, he realized he was thinking of Carl's Jr....not Roy Rogers.  Oh well, now we know...

Han Bat (Thursday, May 20, 2010)

We met Yumi for dinner at Han Bat.  I ordered my usual, Gop Dol Bi Bim Bap and Ethan tried a new dish here called Soon Du Bu Jigae.  He's had this dish many times, but it was the first time trying it at Han Bat.  He thought this was just okay and probably wouldn't order again next time he eats here.  We also ordered Pajun.

I LOVE this place!!!

No Meal (Wednesday, May 19, 2010)

Ethan had some art friends over for an art group to discuss grants.  They meet once every few months and they rotate to different apartments.

Ethan served cheese and crackers, grapes, nuts, rugelach, and steamed some veggie dumplings.

Panzanella Salad (Tuesday, May 18, 2010)

Ethan made my favorite salad with the french bread I picked up the other day.  What a great way to use stale bread.

Spaghetti Carbonara (Sunday, May 17, 2010)

Ethan made Spaghetti Carbonara tonight with a salad.  I took the leftovers to work the next day.

Pork Tenderloin & Banana Pudding (Saturday May 16, 2010)

We had a few friends over for dinner and Janet made a feast!

She made some crab mushroom appetizers. They were good, but not exactly what she had in mind. Janet wanted to recreate a mushroom dish that Maro, our sister-in-law, made--but it turns out we had the wrong recipe.

We have decided to try to buy all our meats from local farmers. This is the first dish we've made using meat from Lewis-Waite Farm (which we get through our Community Supported Agriculture group).

Janet marinated a pork tenderloin using Ina Garten's recipe. It was so good!

I made some mashed potatoes and asparagus (which Janet picked up at our farmers' market) to go along with the pork.

Janet also made the most amazing banana pudding using the recipe from the Magnolia Bakery. She reduced the cream from 3 cups to 2, but I couldn't tell the difference from the original. It is so delicious!

Korean and Indian Leftovers (Friday, May 14, 2010)

We had a combination of Indian and Korean leftovers plus a new tofu dish.  I reheated the curried cauliflower, the vegetables from the Indian chicken dish (I ate all the chicken), chickpeas, and we also had Ethan's homemade kimchi, dried seaweed, salad.

Here's my plate with food piled on.

Piper's Kilt (Thursday, May 13, 2010)

We ate burgers at Piper's Kilt in the neighborhood tonight.  Always a good standby, local burger joint in the hood.

Chickpeas with spinach (Wednesday May 12, 2010)

Tonight we had beer with orange slices:

With chickpeas, spinach, and sun dried tomatoes

And leftover pumpkin jook.

Pumpkin jook and homemade kimchi (Tuesday May 11, 2010)

Yesterday we made pak chok kimchi. The recipe said that it is meant to be eaten right away, but it was a bit too bitter, so we decided to stick it in a jar and let it ferment a bit.

I added a bit of Thai fish sauce and let it sit out overnight before sticking it in the fridge.

That was enough to get rid of the bitterness and soften it. It tastes like kimchi!  This the first batch I've made (aside from an unfortunate oi [cucumber] kimchi).

The recipe for the kimchi called for much more grated pumpkin than could be possibly correct. So I saved the extra pumpkin and made some pumpkin jook (porridge).

We had it with some gochujong potatoes, leftover skate salad, and fried rice.

And strawberry rhubarb cobbler for dessert.

Skate Salad and Fresh Pak Choi Kimchi

We went shopping at the Korean supermarket the other day, and I picked up a couple of bunches of pak choi to make a fresh kimchi from The Complete Book of Korean Cooking.

While Janet washed the cabbage, I minced kabocha pumpkin...

... ground sunflower seeds (a substitute for pine nuts), and chopped scallions (a substitution for leeks).

The pumpkin, seeds, & scallions are mixed with ground red pepper, ginger, garlic, salt, soy sauce, and sesame seed oil.

The pak choi is stuffed with the mixture.

Along with the kimchi we had fried rice, skate salad (the skate is from the farmers' market), and ojingo (dried squid in gochujong).

It's supposed to be eaten fresh, but the uncooked baby pak choi is a bit bitter for my taste. We stuck it in a jar and will see how it tastes after it ferments a bit.

Han Bat (Friday May 7, 2010)

Don't miss Janet's posting on Out To Eat about her trip to Han Bat!

Chicken and Lentils (Sunday, May 9, 2010)

I tried a new recipe from my Indian cookbook.  The recipe looked easy and the photo looked really good....it wasn't that easy and my dish didn't look anything like the photo.  It turned out pretty good, but I don't know if I have the patience to do it again, plus I would have to modify several steps.  The recipe called for 2 cups of lentils but it really only needs 1 cup at the most.  I would probably add the fresh spinach in the last few minutes so that it keeps it's fresh green color.  The recipe called for 1 lb frozen spinach.  I would probably use a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes instead of peeling 4 fresh ones.  I also used pre-cut chicken thighs instead of cutting up a whole 3 lb chicken since I liked the idea of using dark meat.

I also made Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

The garlic naan is from Trader Joe's.  

Gochujong Bluefish (Saturday May 9, 2010)

We picked up some bluefish & skate from Seatuck at our farmers' market today. This was the first time Janet has had bluefish... she was a little unsure of it (based on me describing it as a strong-flavored fish), but since she likes sardines, herring, and salmon, I was pretty confident she'd like it (and she did!).

I briefly marinated (for maybe 10 minutes) it in a mixture of gochujong, sesame seed oil, mool yut (barley malt syrup), soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and hot pepper. I baked/roasted it at around 400 degree for about 20 minutes.

We had it with leftover rice & broccoli.

Ethan's dinner (Friday May 7, 2010)

While Janet was eating out at Han Bat with a friend, I had some homemade Korean food.  I made fried tofu, broccoli sautéed in sesame oil with garlic and hot pepper, shredded daikon (with salt & mirin), and gaji namul.

Soup for the Sick (Wednesday & Thursday, May 5 & 6, 2010)

Ethan had oral surgery Tuesday afternoon, the same day I went to the Carnegie Hall Performance.  For dinner he ate tofu with soy sauce, yogurt, and ice cream - a lot of ice cream.  I wasn't being a very good wife leaving him alone after surgery...

On Wednesday, I made more kimchi jigae, modified with added carrots, celery and spinach.  I think the soup helped him recover faster.

Ramen: Mei Kui Tei (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)

I went out to dinner with Yumi before going to a performance at Carnegie Hall (Orpheus and Ryu Goto) Tuesday night.  We didn't have a specific place in mind for dinner, but found a Japanese ramen restaurant close enough to Carnegie Hall.  The ramen was good, but nothing great.  I wouldn't go out of my way to come here again, but it was pretty good especially if you're looking for convenience before a show.  It's also near Joe's Shanghai.

Shoyu Ramen (soy sauce flavored noodle soup - 2 pieces roast pork, bean sprout, bamboo shoot, and scallion)

Tonkutsu Ramen (rich pork bone broth noodle soup - 2 pieces of roast pork, bean sprout bamboo shoot, and scallion)

Gyoza

By the way, the performance that night was amazing!  The music by Ryu Goto was beautiful and it might have been the first time music brought me to tears.  It was amazing to find out that Ryu is a college student at Harvard studying quantum physics.  What a memorable evening. 

Mei Kui Tei (map)

60 West 56th Street (between 5th & 6th Ave)

New York, NY 10019

Leftovers (Monday, May 3, 2010)

Leftover kimchi jigae tonight.

Kimchi Jigae (Sunday, May 2, 2010)

We had kimchi that was perfectly ready for kimchi jigae.  As usual, I threw in some duk and mandoo into the pot. It's amazing how so few ingredients makes such a flavorful soup.

Dinner at The Martin's (Saturday, May 1, 2010)

We had spaghetti and meatballs at Jonathan and Nami's house for dinner.  Jonathan even made the pasta from scratch!  Dinner was fabulous as it always is at The Martin's.

Baby Spaghetti

Nami made the perfect dessert, tiramisu: