Gracie Eat World

Happy Lovey Dovey Day

2012-02-14T09:22:00.001-05:00

I just finished a great Valentine's Day dinner with my baby. The Sauteed Swiss Chard was awesome!

Gracie's Sauteed Swiss Chard

Wash and cut the Swiss Chard by splitting the stem in half and cutting up the leaves. Put aside.

Sautee onions, sliced garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Add mushrooms and lemon zest. Add swiss chard. Turn up heat when water forms. Sautee till done, adding salt and pepper and lemon juice at the end. Enjoy! Eat on!

Kalgooksoo and Mando

2012-02-13T09:02:00.001-05:00

I went to a hole in the wall noodle shop in Jeonju over the weekend while visiting my parents. My mom loves this place and I have to admit that it's good. I thought I would share some pictures! Eat On!

Bacon Olives

2012-02-13T08:55:00.001-05:00

You would think that living in Korea would put a cramp on my Euro food style, but oddly enough there are so many European products I have never seen before. Take for example, Spanish Bacon Olives! How awesome is that? Great for a tapas night. Some might think these sound gross but are so very good. The bacon flavor is not the crappy greasy American kind, but subtle in flavor and smokey. They would be great with a sangria or a sweet wine.

I used them as an ingredient for a salad. Use a basic salad and add some green peas, feta, tuna and these olives sliced. Toss with a red wine vinegar based dressing (mine had salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, honey and Greek olive oil).

They have many flavors, so pick up a can and Eat On!

Chocolates and Love

2012-02-12T23:04:00.001-05:00

Valentine's Day is tomorrow and in Korea, girls give guys chocolates. Men return the favor by giving candies the next month on White Day.

So I spent all morning malking chocolates for my boyfriend. I think they turned out nice!

I hope that everyone has a day full of love and gets to Eat On!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

2012-02-12T06:48:00.001-05:00

I love Spaghetti and Meatballs, so I made some! It's super easy and it just uses what you already have.

Gracie's Meatballs

Ground Beef (you can use half pork, but I didn't have any)
Panko Breadcrumbs (They just work better)
Grated Parmesan
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
Dried Parsley
Minced Garlic
Onion Powder
Salt
Pepper
Ground Chili Pepper Flakes
Egg

Mush together. Roll into balls (I did mini ones) and cook in the oven at 350F or 190C for 15-20 minutes depending on size. Add to already made sauce and cook once through. Eat On!

Chinese Takeout Dinner

2012-02-07T08:58:00.001-05:00

I was craving American Chinese Takeout, but no such thing exists in Korea. Well, not in my area, so I made it! A sweet and sour type chicken and tofu with a side of beef chow mein! And the brownies I made earlier with ice cream and strawberries. My bf and our best couple friends loved it! It was a great welcome back dinner after they experienced the earthquake in Cebu. Thank God they were ok!

Let's keep the others in our prayers and hope they can Eat On!

Brownies

2012-02-07T00:05:00.001-05:00

My cousin loves brownies so I made some to take to Jeonju tomorrow. But I spiced them up a little. A trio of Brownies is easy to make because all you do is add extras to your favorite basic brownie recipe.

For this trio, I made the following:
1. Coconut and Walnut Brownies with Toasted Coconut on top
2. Simple Chocolate and Walnut Brownies
3. Walnut and Kahlua Brownies

The possibilites are endless. Add other liquors, candies, nuts, chocolate chips, toffee, green tea powder, chili powder, or coffee powders. Just adjust the recipe when adding extra wet or dry ingredients.

These are great as gifts or use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes and use the brownie as a dessert. Eat on!

* Warning: Making brownies from scratch is very messy. Chocolate gets every where! But it's worth it! Just be prepared to scrub a lot. This is worse if you live in Korea because the floors are heated and chocolate melts on them. Prepare a workspace and put down newspapers on the table. This helps to catch the crumbs, chocolate melted goo, and cocoa powder. Especially if you do it all by hand like me. The results are well worth the mess!

Best Girlfriend Ever

2012-02-05T09:14:00.001-05:00

I made dinner for my boyfriend. This is how I make a Korean dinner. My boyfriend is really lucky! Eat on!

* Side note: I can't do captions on here from my iPhone, but I did them right on the photo.

Jalapeno and Jack Cheese Foccacia

2012-02-05T09:07:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I made it. Take your regular Foccacia recipe and add grated Pepper Jack Cheese and chopped up pickled jalapenos before the second rise.

It's so good. I bet it would be extra good with a bowl of Chili!

Bake on and Eat on!

Super Bowl

2012-02-05T09:03:00.001-05:00

I know everyone is going nuts getting ready for the Super Bowl. I will be up at 8am Korea time to watch the game. So for those last minute food freakouts, let me share an easy dip recipe that's great for veggies and chips.

Gracie's Spicy Dip
Siracha plus Ranch Dressing
It's that easy. Go light on the Siracha at first. Add to taste. This dip is so good you will want more! It's also good on fajitas!

Here is a hint. The Siracha with a cock on it is the best company! I also love Hidden Valley. Don't go light, it's the Super Bowl!

Let's go NY and let's eat on!

Agidashi Tofu

2012-02-05T01:52:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite Japanese dishes is Agidashi Tofu, but they don't have it around a lot of Korea. So, why would I let the restaurants keep me from enjoying it? I won't! You don't have to either!

Gracie's Agidashi Tofu

Tofu (silken, not firm. In Korea, it's the soup one) Pat dry with a paper towel. I let it rest for a couple of minutes on paper towels. Cut into rectangular pieces.

Dredge the pieces of tofu in cornstarch and fry on med/low. Let it set before turning. Drain on some paper towels.

Sauce:
Make it in advance so the tofu doesn't get soggy.

Dashi Stock (I made my own by boiling bonito flakes, dashima pieces or Kombu in Japan, onion piece, garlic cloves, and a part of a spicy pepper)
Soy Sauce (Add a teaspoon at a time to taste)
Sugar (Add to taste)
Saki and Mirin (Optional)

The dashi stock is the main part. Add only a little soysauce and sugar. Also mirin and saki. Like a cup and a half of stock to two teaspoons of soysauce with one teaspoon of sugar and a dash of mirin and saki. But really it's to taste. Keep in mind the flavors get stronger as you cook it together so taste while cooking. I make mine less salty and slighly sweeter. It's all up to your taste buds.

Heat up together on low heat. Let it slightly bubble till it gets melded together, like 5-10 min? Then done!

Toppings:
Traditionally, grated dikon radish, green onions, and bonito flakes. I added shallot slices and bonito flakes for this one. You can add anything, baby greens, nori slivers, sesame seeds, a squidge of wasabi, or even omlete slices. It's your food, do what you like, just make sure it tastes good.

Put tofu on curved plate or bowl. Add toppings. Pour sauce around the bottom. Serve immediatly and eat on!

Going Home to Your Goh-yang

2012-01-26T00:51:00.000-05:00

SulNal is the biggest holiday of the year in Korea. You might know it as Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year, but I don’t like the latter because so many other countries celebrate the Lunar New Year. In China, they celebrate it for 15 days and it is called the Spring Festival, but in Korea it’s called SulNal and it usually lasts for about a couple of days, depending on where it falls on the solar calendar. For example, this year, SulNal fell on a Monday, so we got the weekend and the following Tuesday off.

SulNal is a time for people to go back to their hometowns or goh-yang, and even though times have changed, traditionally you go to the house of the husband’s oldest male family memeber. This is always a tough time for me because I am not sure where my goh-yang is. I was born in Seoul, but my father’s family was from Mooju Goochungdong. They moved to Seoul when he was younger. He spent his summers and winters though in the country, back at his mother’s family’s house. I moved to the States when I was 3, and grew up in Northern Virginia, in the DC Metropolitan area. When I was old enough, I moved around, trying to find where I belonged and one day I picked up and moved to back to Korea, a couple of years after my parents had already gone back to the motherland for good. But even that couldn’t keep me still, so I moved to NYC and then back to VA and then back to Korea, where I have been for the last 2 years. It has been the first time I have lived in a place for more than a year in over five years.

SulNal has been tough for me because even my parents don’t have a place to go anymore. My grandparents are long gone and my parents live in Jeonju, which is in the same province as Mojoo but still an hour away. I live in Masan, a place where none of my family has ever lived, and my other family members live near Seoul, in Incheon and Ilsan. The traffic during SulNal is so intense in Korea that trying to drive far is not even an option. This year, everyone met at my father’s younger brother’s house in Incheon, but with my mother was sick, so we were not able to go. My father apologetically called his brother to promise a time for our whole family to meet, three generations of Kwon’s, still relatively strangers to each other. My father gave up the right to have the family come to him, being the oldest, because he left for America so long ago. His younger brother became the center of our family. Being in this position, my uncle accepted my father’s apology and my father started to make plans to go up in February. I sat in the corner wondering how much money this family reunion will cost him.

This was the first year in three years that I was in Korea to celebrate the New Year with my family. They year before I was in Hong Kong with my best girlfriends, eating and eating and watching fireworks and eating some more. They year before that, I was in Vietnam, eating and eating and watching fireworks and eating some more there. I vaguely remember sometime before then being in the house of my uncle, eating Dduk Gook and meeting my pregnant cousin. Now they are on their third child.

This year I made it a point to be with my parents, knowing that it was important for me to spend time with them before we all got too old or too busy with our own lives. I went down to Jeonju by bus and prayed for no traffic. I knew if I left early on Saturday morning that the traffic would not be as bad until we got into the city. I called my father half an hour before we were to arrive to make sure he was getting ready to leave, and again as soon as we got off the highway. I patiently waited for the passengers to get off at the Paris Baguette stop, and watched the bustling shoppers as we passed Morae Market. I waited for my father to come and pick me up in front of the Dunkin Doughnuts across the street from the bus station so he wouldn’t have to turn the car around to get me. Though this wasn’t my goh-yang, I had already become accustomed to the workings of Jeonju life.

As soon as I get to Jeonju, there are too many things to do. I am hungry so we go to a Tofu restaurant where they make their own tofu and tofu type foods. We order the traditional Soondoobu soup, the soft tofu drowning in a spicy broth. The whole tofu steamed with a side of soy sauce dip and a tofu Donkatsu are a perfect accompaniment to the meal.

I love plastic foods

More plastic foods

Kimchi, the fresh kind is best with Tofu

The restaurant in semi-cafeteria style

This place is well known in Jeonju

Fresh Steamed Tofu

Soondooboo Soup, Soft Tofu Soup

A Vegetarian treat, Tofu Donkatusu

Inside is tofu and veggies

Even a Tofu Donut for dessert

After we eat, we go to the market to buy food supplies for the upcoming holiday. It’s crowded, and I can hardly move. The stalls are filled to the brim with vegetables, fruits in boxes, and side dishes in large metal vats. I am literally shoved from table to table, people complaining that I’m taking pictures. This is when I use my English because they would forgive a foreigner, not a food blogger.

Lots of Greens

Vegetables

Korean Delights

Buying at a market is cheaper and helps small farms

So crowded!

Then we go home, a roasted duck in hand, to celebrate my mother’s birthday.

Korean Style Roasted and then Fried Duck

Wrap with water Kimchi and Lettuce

The next day, we go to Pastor Bae’s house, a close friend of the family’s, to make Jun (explained further in the next post). I spend the whole day cooking, side by side with my mother and Samoneem (Pastor Bae’s wife). We taste each type to make sure the seasoning is right before passing a plate to the men who are seated at the couch talking about God. This is one time I am glad to be a woman, shooed into the role of a cook. Then we eat dinner, the food we have just cooked being the center piece of the meal. We celebrate Inul and my mom’s birthday, because they are on the same day and I am home for the holidays, and so is Inul, Pastor Bae’s son.

Making Jun

Completed Jun

Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday Inul and Mom

The family

Then another pastor’s family comes over, gifts in hand, and the kids go off the Baskin Robbins for some ice cream leaving the adults to their adult talk. After a long night, we finally go home just in time to watch Manchester United play Arsenal.

We ate this much ice cream

It's bigger than Shinnul's head

The next day, we wake up and eat Dduk Gook because it is the actual day of SulNal and it’s tradition. The sticky ricecakes are supposed to make luck stick to you. My father made this year’s Dduk Gook because my mother was sick. He had prepared the broth a week in advanced, boiling beef bones for days outside on the fire pit, the soup forming in the giant iron pot the way our grandmother’s had years ago. The process took all night, waking up each hour to stir the broth and help the marrow seep out of the bones. The milky white soup finished a day later. We ate this meal with Kalbi which had been marinated for days; the sweet soy sauce based liquid had made its way down to the bone. You could literally suck out the flavor from the bone after it was cooked. Add some side dishes, and the breakfast was complete. What an amazing way to start out the New Year.

Dduk Gook a la Dad

Kalbi

Breakfast is served

Jun from the day before

Moomalangee, one of my favorite banchan

Looking back on it now, all the food, the family traditions, the way we cooked was passed down generation to generation. Though my grandparents are long gone, their spirits were with us in our preparation, our celebration, and our way of life. From the Jun to the Dduk Gook, every part of this holiday was indeed given to me from someone who long ago stood over the same iron pot, stirring the same bones, giving the same thanks. And maybe my grandmother thought for a moment, that one day she might show her granddaughter how to cook, when she came back home to her goh-yang. I may not have a place I call my ancestors home, but wherever I go, they go with me. My goh-yang lives in my heart, not with a piece of land.

And one day, I will start my own family. Then I will take them to Jeonju, where my parents live, and create for them a place to go home to, a place to learn, a place to cook, a place to honor our traditions. This place will then become their goh-yang, and they will always have a place to go back to, when the city life becomes too hard and cold, when life beats them down, they will have the comfort of knowing they can always go back to where we began.

This New Year, I hope we can all find that place to go back to, to call home, and a place to Eat On. Happy New Years!

Happy Birthday Mommy

2012-01-19T22:24:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to my mommy! This picture has some weird shadow thing going on, but the original is back home so I have to make due.

Growing up in the States was hard. We were poor and seven people crammed into a small townhouse was not an ideal situation. I shared a small bedroom with my sister and my cousin and we would fight constantly. We could only afford one car, which my father needed for work, so on grocery days, my mother and I would walk through the woods lugging overly stuffed plastic bags with us. Sometimes we would have the same thing to eat, rice and kimchi, for days.

But the times I remember the most were when I would draw pictures in my notebook, sitting on the kitchen floor, watching my mother cook up my favorite foods. On special occassions, I would get to help her stuff the mandoo skins with the meat and tofu mixture, folding each dumpling into the shape of a fan. I watched and learned to cook just by being near her. Even now, I carefully make each side dish remembering what my mother told me to do, not too much soy sauce on the fishcakes, keep the squash moving, don't add the sesame oil till the last moment.

Now that I'm older, those memories start to fade into the back of my mind, my childhood is mashed together with my vivid imagination. Now, I'm not sure what is fiction and what actually happened. But everytime I cook, everytime I remember my mother's instructions, a memory will come to me and for a brief moment I am five years old again, on the floor of the kitchen, my broken crayons scattered around me, watching my mother cook.

Happy Birthday Mommy. You are the inspiration for my love of food and life.

Happy Holidays

2012-01-19T20:56:00.001-05:00

I've been a little busy lately getting ready for the biggest holiday of the year, SulNal or as others know it, Lunar New Year. Tomorrow, I will have to wake up at 6:00am to go and fight for a space on the bus to get home for the weekend. Last year, I stood up for 4 hours on a bus in heels. This year, I'm being smart about it. No heels, push over grandmothers (because they will crush you), and grab a seat before putting my bags away. But all of this is worth it because of the food. Oh, that delicious food! So, I promise to update this weekend (since I can only take so much of my parents).

I leave you with a picture of me saying Happy SulNal and Eat On!

Lunch Time

2012-01-15T22:47:00.001-05:00

I made Thai red curry, and this new curry paste I used was intense. I will now have heartburn for seven days, but it was so good. H-Eat On!

Diary Day and New Restaurants

2012-01-14T05:55:00.001-05:00

My boyfriend and I decided to celebrate all the 14th holidays for Korean couples. In Korea, there is a couples holiday in the 14th of every month. January 14th is Diary Day, so we are exchanging planners we bought in which we labled our important dates. Cheesy I know, but I love it.

Also to celebrate Diary Day, we are going to the next city over, Jinhae, to eat and hangout somewhere new.

Now, neither of us have spent much time in Jinhae, so I decided to do some blog research and I found the perfect place (a Japanese Style beef bbq place), but more on that after I go.

While doing this research, I started to save a list of places and websites so I could have a bunch of places handy when I want to try something new. Then I thought, why not do this with my own city, Masan?

So since I am recovering from a long night out, I put together a list for Masan as well. Who knew there were so many places to try?

I am ashamed I hadn't thought of this earlier. Well, now my boyfriend and I can try something new!

Even if you don't live in Masan or Jinhae, you can still look at the pictures and drool! Eat On!

Gracie's List of Restaurants to Try in Masan and Jinhae that I Haven't Been To

Restaurants to Try

Noodles 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60141271022

밥상 Korean sides and soup Jinhae
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=smy7379&logNo=140135423268

Scallops 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=sannamur04&logNo=20124381754&categoryNo=27

Pig Kalbi Jinhae
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60152329468

Makali and soup/pajun 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=mirkjy435&logNo=50109467826

Soondae 순대 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=smy7379&logNo=140134283959

Samgaetang 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60133162074

Fish Fry Dinner Jinhae
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=sannamur04&logNo=20140934132

Gamjatang Jinhae
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=pinkloving2&logNo=90094790720

Hanjungshik Jinhae
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=sannamur04&logNo=20128202917&categoryNo=27

Beef Place 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60145214617

Hanshik bibimbab old style jinhae
http://jobdahan.net/photogallery_food/856886

Kimchi jigae jinhae
http://food.allain.co.kr/board/contentsView.php?idx=316311

전주 style food 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=karoline_&logNo=30102466226

Duck 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60146579432

Pig 갈비 진해
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostList.nhn?blogId=star2alswn

갈비찜 마산
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=kiyome24&logNo=100147834550

정식 마산
http://bobgun.tistory.com/m/448

롤/수시 집 마산 sushi and rolls
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120140271564

Pizza Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120140074854

Steak Billy wine and steak masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60139887629

Outdoor meat night place masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=mirkjy435&logNo=50107059583&categoryNo=49

Nice beef place masan special
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60149731315

Samggyupsal outdoor place masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=yayagjgj1&logNo=50123707447

Dwangjang jigae masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=cooljangyang&logNo=70096417893

공나물 국밥 마산
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=sen_rv&logNo=80140559466

Drinking place
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=foodnreview&logNo=140140638777

떡보끼 마산 dduk Bokki
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120140559147&categoryNo=9

Cute pasta place
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=leejs11208&logNo=50119251933&categoryNo=19

Bulgogi 불고기 마산
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=cooljangyang&logNo=70104073080

비빔밥 마산
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=lushiwha&logNo=30104324816

Outdoor art cafe
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60144124756

Small Japanese place Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=sannamur04&logNo=20126863609

Makali and Pajeon Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=hjelove1004&logNo=40098712448

Salted Pork Gui Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=ary0619&logNo=50128832330

Japanese Tuna Masan
http://m.blog.daum.net/_blog/_m/articleView.do?blogid=0T51a&articleno=6

짬뽕 마산
http://m.blog.daum.net/_blog/_m/articleView.do?blogid=0Nf8S&articleno=853

보리밥 마산
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=yunjoo48&logNo=30112289481

Group Japanese Drinks and Skewers Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=hobaktoon&logNo=20106235635&categoryNo=98

Pricy Course Sushi masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120142904512

Whole duck/ duck soup masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=star2alswn&logNo=60152156503

Cute Drinking Place
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=titicaca999&logNo=120141642526

정가불떡 masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=kiyome24&logNo=100129457564

Pasta Masan
http://m.blog.daum.net/_blog/_m/articleView.do?blogid=0Nf8S&articleno=857

Jjambbong place Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120138072272&categoryNo=9

시골밥상 마산
http://m.blog.daum.net/_blog/_m/articleView.do?blogid=0Nf8S&articleno=815

Cheesy Pearl Cafe Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=jsmh913&logNo=20145827105

Marinaded Pork (been here) masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=blueymy&logNo=100126235262&categoryNo=26

Maru Sushi Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=else21&logNo=140130695935

Italian Place Looks Good Changwon
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=sannamur04&logNo=20131163027

모밀 마산
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120125273732&categoryNo=9

Steak and Lobster masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=make_memory&logNo=50107090619

Pizza Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=rlfdk45&logNo=70117283677

Japanese Ramen Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120144485532

떡뽁끼 마산
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=titicaca999&logNo=120147975419

Fast Food Thin Pizza Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120138417959

Quick Lunch (heard it was good) Masan
http://m.blog.daum.net/_blog/_m/articleView.do?blogid=0Nf8S&articleno=964

Donkatsu Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=suya_suya&logNo=120146962016

Old Fashioned Korean Food Masan
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=magicnmagic&logNo=90088487955

냉면 마산
http://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=finedom&logNo=60131231029

Donkatsu Shinsaegae Masan
http://lushiwha.tistory.com/m/91

밥상 마산
http://m.blog.daum.net/_blog/_m/articleView.do?blogid=0UtxZ&articleno=675

Chusuk and Jeonju

2012-01-12T21:56:00.001-05:00

I went home for Chusuk (Korean Thanksgiving) to Jeonju (전주), to visit the 'rents. This was last year but I thought I would atleast upload the photos, even if it's way late! Enjoy and Eat On!

Baby Gracie

2012-01-12T21:25:00.001-05:00

Even at a young age, I loved pretending to cook. I wasn't so good at the cleaning up part though!

Little ones, Eat On!

Newover: Dalk Bulgogi Noodles

2012-01-12T21:00:00.001-05:00

I hate the word leftover, because it sounds so unpleasent, like someone forcing you to eat expired food. But what was once delicious doesn't have to be drab the next day.

I made Dalk Bulgogi the other day, but I wanted something different today. So, I added a fusion twist and made noodles.

Gracie's Dalk Bulgogi Noodles

Mix somyun noodles, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds, lettuce jullianned, red onion slivers, salt and pepper. Top with steamed bok choy and dalk bulgogi pieces. Toss and Eat On!

Korean Sandwiches

2012-01-12T19:53:00.001-05:00

Korean's love adding potato salad or egg salad to already completed sandwiches. This will also include corn (future post!). I think this is because ham or deli meats are expensive and not widely avaliable and they need something to fill in the missing quantity of meat. So what to do? Add a layer or potato salad!

The American side of me is disgusted by this practice, but the Korean side of me loves it! Guilty pleasure?

It's like adding cheetos, potato chip, and cheese itz to my sandwiched during school lunches. Squeeze some ketchup on it, a dash of tabasco and you got lunch! Gross, but amazing to a 10 year old. So who is to say potato salad needs to be a side?

Since I over did the potato salad from my ribs dinner, I recycled it into a new lunch idea, a Korean sandwich. Eat On!

Spicy Korean Chicken

2012-01-12T19:42:00.001-05:00

Dalk boolgogi, spicy Korean chicken, is misleading because it doesn't have a boolgogi marinade. It's made with a spicy pepper paste called gochoojang.

I am not a huge fan of chicken in Korean food because I think beef and pork are done better, but once in a while I'll crave this dish. It's easy because it uses what every Korean family has in the fridge and pantry to make the marinade. For those who have to purchase all the ingredients, it maybe easier to just go buy it at a restaurant. However, I promise you, my recipe is Kick Ass!

Just a note, I don't do measurements. I learned to cook like most Korean girls, by getting a list of ingredients from mom, watching mom, and experimenting. Korean cooking, or cooking in general, is by taste. If you want it more spicy, add more spice. If you like it sweet, add more honey. I literally just estimate and mix and taste, add more and taste. So it's up to you to try exact amounts, I'm playing mom and giving you a list of ingredients!

Gracie's Dalk Bookgogi

For the Marinade

* Grate 1/4 peeled apple with microplane
* Same grating action with 1/4 onion
* Chopped green onion
* Finely minced Korean Pepper (ChungYang is best)
* Korean red pepper flakes (gochoo gahroo)
* Minced garlic
* Sesame seeds split with fingers
* Salt and Pepper
* Strawberry preserves (just a small spoon) mash large strawberry pieces
* Squidge of honey
* Small spoon brown sugar, like a coffee spoon
* Small spoon soy sauce
* If you have some white wine, sake, chungjoo, soju, add a little.

Mix together and let it sit so the pepper flakes desolves into the liquid. This will be about 5 min.

Then add red pepper paste (gochoojang). Don't add too much, just enough to still have the other ingredients 1/3 of the mix. Add sesame seed oil.

* Now, if you want to keep this marinade to use later, it will keep for a day or two, then do not add the sesame oil. Wait and add it right before adding the chicken. Sesame oil makes thing go bad faster. I don't know why, this is just what mom's tell me.

Time to taste and add anything missing before adding the chicken. Do not taste the marinade with raw chicken in there! You will die.

At this point, my mom's trick is to put a little marinade aside and put one or two chicken pieces in there and cook it first to test the cooked flavor. I recommend doing this when you are making a lot for guests for a full proof marinade.

Slice chicken into pieces, try for round and 1/4 inch thick. If it's too thin it will dry out. Too think and the inside won't cook well.

Toss with marinade. It should be enough for four large chicken breasts sliced up. You want to make sure each piece gets a good coating.

Wrap it and put in the fridge to marinade for an hour or overnight. The longer, the better, but not over 48 hours because the marinade acids will cook the chicken. Better to eat it the next day.

Cook on a fry pan, grill, oven, anything but the microwave! It's traditionally grilled so a grill pan on the stove is great! You can also take these to Bbqs but cook it on foil because it sticks.

Now, you might have noticed a lot of different types of sugars going in. I will explain them.

Apple: the acid softens the meat and adds a subtle friut flavor. Grated pears and apples are used a lot with meats to break down the fibers and to kill the meaty smell (this does not translate well).

Stawberry Preserves: what?!? Yes, my secret ingredient! I use preserves, organic or homemade, to add another depth of flavor to gochoojang based foods like spicy noodle sauce or samjang. Try different ones like blackberry or my favorite loganberry. I have even tried cranberry! Gochoojang and fruit preserves love each other!

Honey and Brown Sugar: usually one or the other will be used, but I used both because honey burns faster but gives a cleaner flavor. Brown sugar tastes like sugar, but gives a cleaner glaze. Thus, I used both.

Don't add too much sugars. The marinade needs have an underlying taste of it though.

For an anjoo (accompaniment to alcohol), I grilled it on skewers and served with my leftover potato salad from the other day.

Eat On!

Side note: I forgot to add that you can do this with pork too! Just let the pork rest in a little wine or chungjoo first to kill the pork taste. My mom uses Manichevitz (spelling? The Jewish wine because it is sweet. Just a little though).

Also, this type of meat pairs well with rice and Korean style potato salad or mac salad (future recipe).

Wrapping it with lettuce is the more traditional way, but a lot of KAs just eats it as a bbq dish at church functions or home gatherings.

A Winter BBQ

2012-01-11T09:18:00.001-05:00

During the cold winter months all I can think about is the summer. When I get depressed from the cold, icy season, I like to cook something that reminds me that the hotter months are just around the corner. And what is mote summery than BBQ?

Tonight, I introduced my boyfriend to an American style BBQ and sides. It was his first time experiencing bbq ribs, baked beans and a potato salad. I made the potatoes in a Belize style fusioned with Korean style and made the dressing in an American way.

Gracie's Ameri-Belizorean Potato Salad

Chopped Cooked Potatoes
Blanched Frozen Peas
Cooked Chopped Frozen Carrots
Apple Pieces Chopped
Egg Whites of a Hard Boiled Egg Chopped
Red Onions Chopped
Green Onions Chopped
Red and Yellow Bell Pepper Chopped

Sauce:
Mayo
Dijon Mustard
Wholegrain Mustard
Yolks from Hardboiled Eggs
Salt/pepper
Apple Cider Vinegar
Relish
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

Toss the salad ingredients. Mix the sauce. Mix carefully together. Eat On!

Crispy Quesadilla

2012-01-07T20:08:00.001-05:00

Wanna know the secret to a great quesadilla? The crispy, crispy skin! And how do we get that? Throw it in the oven!

I heat up my tortillas a little on a pan so it's plyable (if you heat it on a hot pan till it's slightly bubbly, you get an even better crust) and then stuff it with whatever you have. Then throw it into an oven (about 150-160c) and wait till it's crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. It took me about 10-15 minutes.

Another hint, toss all the ingredients together, including the shredded cheese, before stuffing. This makes sure you have cheese evenly distributed. It also ensures a tight seal.

This one is a chicken tossed in chili powder and has green onions and cheddar cheese. I topped it with my homemade salsa.

So forget the soggy crusted quesadillas you get at bars and try a crispy delight! Eat On!

Potato Soup

2012-01-07T19:44:00.001-05:00

Turkey, broccoli, potato, cheese soup. Good for cold nights.

Eat On!

Thai Food

2012-01-07T04:59:00.001-05:00

There are no Thai restaurants here, so I have been making my own. Since I haven't figured out how to do the captions for photos from my phone, I'm going to have to list them here.

1. Tofu Pad Thai
2. Chicken Drunken Noodle
3. Beef Pad See Eew
4. Thai Red Chicken Curry with Rice
5. Thai style Cucumber Salad
6. Tum Yum Gai Soup

So for those of you who can't get Thai food, just make your own and Eat On!

Taco Salad Thursdays

2012-01-06T23:59:00.001-05:00

I met a guy the other day and it turns out he went to my high school! How weird is it to meet someone halfway across the world from where you grew up that went to the same high school as you?

So in honor of Brian, Robinson Secondary School, and our general dislike for high school (we were both nerds), I thought I would make the one thing I did like about my school: Taco Salad Thursdays!

At our school, students would line up for an hour to walk through the taco salad lines. A small container would be given to you on a styrofoam tray and you could mound on the veggies at the salad bar, throw on a heap of chili on top and grab a bag of nacho chips. Use the chips like a scoop and enjoy! However, the school started losing money and Taco Salad Thursdays became pay by weight and too expensive. Overtime, it lost it's appeal and eventually it was taken away. The last I heard, they tried to bring it back but it was too late, Taco Salad Thursdays was far beyond reviving.

But do not fear! You don't have to go back to high school or to Wendy's, you can make your own at home. Here is what I put in mine.

* Salad mix tossed in Ranch Dressing
* Cilantro
* Bolivian Style Salsa I made
* Jalapeno Slices
* Texas Style Steak Chili
* Chopped onion
* Cheddar Cheese (shredded)
* Sour Cream

So forget those horrible kids who picked on you growing up (they are working at Wendy's) and remember, high school had good things too. Eat On!

Hungover

2012-01-06T23:32:00.001-05:00

I'm hungover like crazy, and so I was craving something salty, noodley and soupy. So? Sho? Shoyu Ramen!

This is easy to make because I just bought the pack with the ramen noodles and soup base together. You can get this at a Japanese grocery store, I've seen them at three Japanese grocery stores in New York and at a couple of places in LA and Seattle. I've also seem them at some Korean stores. You can find these and fresh noodles all over Korea and of course, Japan.

So traditionally there would be some pork belly slices, bamboo shoots, a seasoned boiled egg, and seaweed lever. However, you can put pretty much any veggies and meats you like.

Shoyu is a salty pork and soy sauce based soup, but if you want, add some miso and make it a miso ramen!

I would recommend adding more water then suggested because it can be salty. Of course this won't be as good as Ippudo or making you own broth, but it's a great quick hangover cure.

In my ramen I put bok choy, napa cabbage, scallions, tofu, onions and topped it with some jangjjorim (beef marinaded in soy sauce) and I poached an egg on top. Nice!

So next time you are hungover, be Sho-yu try something new. Eat On!

Sushi Me

2012-01-03T03:13:00.001-05:00

I'm in the mood for good sushi, so here are pictures of my favorite sushi roll place in Seoul.

Eat Sushi, Eat On!

New Years Eve Dinner

2012-01-03T03:07:00.001-05:00

I stayed in for the first time since I was 16 and made a special dinner for two for my boyfriend.

* Herb, Lemon, Butter Roasted Chicken
* Broccoli Sauteed with Garlic, Olive Oil and Parmesan
* Roasted Potatoes, Onions, Garlic and Lemon tossed with Rosemary Olive Oil
* Wild Greens Salad with Honey Lemon Vinegrette

Dduk, Dduk, Gook

2012-01-03T00:55:00.000-05:00

Koreans have two New Years. There is the western New Year, or Solar New Year, which is on January 1. However, in the East, there is a New Years which is even more important, because it follows the lunar calender (technically the original calender) which has been used for centuries before the solar one even existed. Since the lunar calender follows the lunar cycle, the holidays celebrated with it are not always on the same day every year. Instead, you have to figure it out looking at the periods of the moon. Most of the calenders in Korea will have a moon cycle on the bottom of each day and the holidays already figured out by someone who can do math way better than me. However, nowadays, a lot of people have started to celebrate both holidays and January first has become a time to party with your friends, where as SulNal (Lunar New Year's) is a time to go back to one's family hometown.

Traditionally on New Years, Koreans eat Dduk Gook (Rice Cake Soup) because the rice cakes sticky consistency is supposed to cause luck to stick to you. It's usually made with a beef based broth (you can also make an anchovy based broth) and has pieces of sliced rice cake in it. Top it off with some scallions and egg slices and you have a basic Dduk Gook. Of course the recipes then vary with family and region. I make mine with a beef bone based soup broth and add cooked beef slivers I marinated with garlic, scallions, chili powder, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and soy sauce on top. Others go for a more clear broth. My aunt likes to make her broth very flavorful so you don't need any added soy sauce based topping. Where ever you go, you will be surprised at the variety of Dduk Gooks you can find.

A basic Dduk Gook

This is a recipe for my Dduk Gook which requires a lot more work, so I only make it on New Years. The Lunar New Year Dduk Gook will be made by my mother when I go home for SulNal. I'll let you know how hers compares to mine!

Gracie's Dduk, Dduk, Gook

The Soup:

Beef and Bone Marrow Soup Stock
This stock is the kind you use for gomtang or sullungtang. If you are in Korea you can purchase this from your favorite beef soup restaurant.

It's the same as Sullungtang soup

Dduk/Rice Cakes
Buy the fresh made rice cakes from a local rice cake shop. Make sure it is made from rice flour and NOT wheat flour. The ones mixed with chapsal (sweet sticky rice) are good too. Fresh rice cakes will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do NOT freeze the rice cake because it really loses the texture. I would not recommend buying prepackaged ones from the grocery store. Rice cakes are the main star, so use good ones. They have different colors too, try mixing and matching.

Soup Flavoring
Add salt, minced garlic, and pepper to taste

The Meat/Meat Topping

Jangjjorim Meat
I like to add jangjjorim meat. I have no idea what it is called in English (some type of flank steak) but if you go to any Korean grocery store even in the US, it is called Jangjjorim meat. Just get a small chunk and let it soak in cold water for 20-30 min. Yucky blood stuff will come out. Then throw out the water, wash off the meat and put it into a pot with clean water. Bring it up to a boil. As soon as the frothy stuff appears, throw out the water and clean the pot. Wash off the beef. Put it back into a pot and add water (from the point where the water covers the meat, double the water), a couple of springs of green onion, half an onion, 5 whole peppercorns and whole garlic cloves. Boil the meat and stock for 40-60 minutes depending on size. I usually let it boil until the stock is half gone (down to barely covering the meat).

If you want, you can save the stock and mix it in with the beef bone stock to make it more clear soup-ish.

Take out the beef and let it rest becaus eit will be too hot to handle. After about 15 minutes, split the beef in half. With the first half, peel the meat into strips (it's like string cheese!) and put that half aside. Take the other half and peel into strips. This is for your marinated beef topping.

Marinated Beef Topping
Take the half of the stripped beef and mix it with some chopped garlic, chopped scallions, salt, pepper, Korean red chili pepper powder, sesame seeds, a little soy sauce (a little goes a long way, so add a couple of drops and mix with your fingers, taste and then add more if needed), and before you serve it, add some sesame oil (not a lot, Americans tend to go overboard with the oil, you only need a couple of drops for the background flavor). Mixing with fingers is important. A spoon does not spread the marinade. Wrap with plastic and let it sit in a cool area (like the fridge) for at least 2 hours.

Other Toppings:

Seaweed Lever
Cut seaweed lever (the non salted and fried kind) into thin strips. I use sushi nori because it has no added salt and it doesn't clump up in the soup. Cut the lever piece into 4 long strips with kitchen sheers. Then cut the short width into thin slices. You can buy this premade at most Japanese Supermarkets in the States, but it's not as fresh tasting.

Egg
Separate the yolk and the whites of 3 eggs. Put some of the egg white into the yolk bowl to make the yolk smoother. Mix each separately, but do not over mix the white because it can make bubbles in the omelet. Make a thin omelet with the egg whites first on low heat. As soon as it comes together, flip it over and turn off the heat. You don't want to burn the egg whites. Move the omelet to a cutting board and turn the heat back on and cook the yolk omelet the same way. While the yellow one is heating up, fold over the egg white omelet several times and julliene the omelet to make long thin strips. This works better with a sharp moist knife. Do the same with the yellow omelet. You should get long thin strips.

Mushrooms
Any mushrooms will do, but I like the long straw mushrooms or the ones that are like brown straw mushrooms. Just saute them lightly in sesame seed oil, salt and pepper.

Scallions
Chop up some scallions. I think the diagonal slices look nicer.

Red Chili Pepper
For more color, some diagonal slices of fresh red chili pepper would be nice! I didn't add it because I got my red color from my marinated beef.

Now you are ready to assemble! You can prep all off this a day in advance and then just make the food in 15 minutes.

Since you must eat this soup right away or the dduk will swell up and go limp, make sure all your guest are ready to eat before you cook.

Cooking the Soup:

1. Cook the broth. You can have it boiling in advance.
2. Add the meat (non marinated) that you had set aside. Add the Dduk.
3. Add the soup seasoning, tasting as you go along.
4. When the dduk rises to the top, it's done!

Assemble the toppings:
1. When you pour the soup, try to put the dduk in a mound in the middle and pour the soup around so the toppings have an anchor.
2. Korean food is based on the elements of nature and the 5 colors: Green, Red, Yellow, Black and White. Since your dduk gook needs to represent that, make sure you have each color showing on the top. Think of the topping as a wheel. The seaweed nori and the meat marinade will go in the middle, so the scallions (green), egg whites (white), yolk (yellow), mushrooms (just because), and red chili pepper (red) will go around in a circle. Then put the marinated meat (I made mine a little more spicy so I used it as my red) int he middle, and the nori (black) on top of the meat.

The final product

Now all that is left is to EAT ON! Happy Solar New Year!

New Year Blogger Resolutions

2012-01-02T22:49:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year’s everyone! All six of my fellow subscribers! Thank you for being so loyal. Since this is a new year and as tradition requires, it is only right that I write a list of things I would like to do, but will never accomplish due to laziness. This year, instead of a list of things to improve my life, which no one really cares about, I will make food blog resolutions.

1. I will update at least 2 times a week. I would like to aim for three.

2. For Joe Oppa: I will write more about Korean food in Korea.

3. I will learn how to post videos.

4. I will incorporate more travel and food pieces.

5. I will add more of my own recipes.

6. I will add food culture pieces.

7. I will try and find better photoshop applications for my phone.

8. I will eat on!

So I hope I can stick to these. I figure the first 4 shouldn’t be too hard! So let’s start off this New Year right and let’s EAT ON!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:47:00.001-05:00

As tradition does not call for, my family is eating nengmyun and kalbi. Hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crack

2011-12-13T20:22:00.001-05:00

When Christmas starts to creep up on us, something happens to me. I start thinking that green and red actually look good together, I bake cookies and banana nut bread just for the smell, and I listen to the Glee Christmas album like an obsessed elf. It's like the spirit of Christmas is a drug that gets rid of all common sense and instead is replaced by jolly, holly, jelly, belly shaking joy.

Since I have been taken over by the Christmas crack, I have been making foods that remind me of Christmas, but since I can't live off of candy canes and fruit cake, I have gone into color mode! Red and green foods!

So what's on today's menu? A Blitzen BLT!

Toast
Mustard
Bacon
Gouda Slices
Tomato Slices
Lettuce (I used organic romaine)
Red Onion Slices
Mayo
Toast

Let's celebrate the holidays with festivaly colored foods and EAT ON!

Steak Dinner

2011-12-12T05:20:00.001-05:00

I was craving red meat so I decided to do a Bolivian style dinner. Steak and potatoes topped with a sauce I learned to make from a Bolivian chef friend. Take well rippened tomatoes, spicy peppers, onions and cilantro. Pulse in a blender. Add salt to taste at the end and you got a great topper for meats and veggies. It's even good on salads! So try something new and eat on!

A Light Fish Dinner

2011-12-11T05:33:00.001-05:00

Tonight I was feeling a bit heavy from the pizza I had the day before, so I made a quick light dinner.

Blackened Cajun Tilapia with a Lemon Salad

I used a frozen/thawed tilapia since we don't get fresh ones here. Cover in a thin layer of olive oil and sprinkle with a good layer of cajun seasoning. Let it rest for a moment to form a paste on the fish. Grill on a grill pan at med-high heat. It only takes ten minutes to finish, depending on the thickness.

Put the fish ontop of a salad. I made a lemon dressing to freshen it up. Mix together lemon zest, salt, minced garlic and whole grain mustard. Try and use the abrasiveness of the salt and whole grain mustard to paste the lemon zest and garlic. Add lemon juice and honey. Mix in olive oil and you got a great low fat dressing.

Let's eat light and eat on!

Udon and Oh-Deng!

2011-12-09T23:21:00.001-05:00

One of the easiest and most delicious noodle dishes is the Japanese Udon Noodles. These fat white chewy noodles are served in a broth made from Benito flakes or dried anchovies. Throw in some veggies and some fish cakes and you got a complete meal.

Since I am sick today, I thought I would make something hot and filling. It's easy to make Udon because instead of taking the time to make the soup base, we can just buy a good premade set. The set comes with noodles, the soup base, dried veggies and even some Benito flakes. Then buy a small package of Japanese fishcakes, ohdeng (the Korean ones don't really work well here because they are softer) and add some veggies like dikon radish, carrots cut into flower shapes, onion slices, green onions, shitaki mushrooms and some spinach. The spinach adds an amazingly clean flavor that matches well with the dikon. Top with a hard boiled egg and you got a great meal. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce to dip the fishcakes.

Some hints:

1. You can buy all of these things at your local Asian/Korean Grocery Store.

2. Buy the Udon in the refridgerated section. The ones in the bags with two servings taste the best. Don't buy the frozen ones, the noodles are mushy and fall apart.

3. Buy the Japanese fishcakes. They usually come in a small tray with a variety of kinds like tube shaped, colorful ones, ones with veggies in it and more. Do not buy the ones on a stick, that's for soups only.

4. Rinse off the fishcakes before you use them. They have a lot of grease and preservatives that can ruin the broth flavor.

5. Fishcakes cook in no time. If you over cook them they will be too chewy or get mushy. Put them in last.

6. I cook the noodles seperate from soup and veggies to get any excess grease off the noodles. Add the finished broth, veggies and fishcakes over the noodles.

7. This is a Koreanish version. I don't know what the exact Japanese version is but I'm guessing it's pretty much the same thing.

So get yourself some noodles and fishcake and eat on!

Cafe Time

2011-12-09T07:57:00.001-05:00

Thought I would try my first post from my iphone. It's a cold night and I'm snuggled in a cute cafe with my best friend. She won't allow me to take pictures of her so I'm going to show you guys the food and drinks which are both great, especially for being in Masan, South Korea. Enjoy a cold night and eat on!

Breakfast

2011-12-09T05:42:00.000-05:00

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I usually just quickly eat a cup of yogurt on my way out, but when I have the time, I like to indulge in something more decadent and of course, time consuming. By the time I am done, it ends up being an early lunch, but it the beauty of breakfast foods is that it can be eaten for brunch, dinner or a late night snack.

Now, I know that other people have also wondered, like me, what other people eat in other countries for breakfast. I think it's so neat that eggs and bacon could mean something else entirely to someone else. For those of you who are as curious as me, here is a comparison of American Breakfast Foods to Korean ones.

American Breakfast Foods

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Melon

Over Easy Egg, Asparagus Wrapped in Ham,
Tomato/Roasted Red Pepper/Feta Salad and Apple Slices

Eggs Benedict: Spinach, Ham, Poached Egg on a
Baguette Slice Topped with Hollandaise Tabasco Sauce
with a Side of Heirloom Tomatoes and a Peach Yogurt

A Korean Breakfast

A Childhood Favorite: Veggie Cream Soup and Buttered Toast

An Elaborate Breakfast: Rice, Spinach Soup, Kimchi, Egg Omelet,
Fish Cakes, Boolgogi, More Kimchi, Lettuce and Bean Paste

A Birthday Breakfast: Seaweed Soup, Rice, Egg Fry,
Seaweed Lever, Kimchi and Grilled Cod

Grinder? Hoggie? Sub?

2011-12-09T04:18:00.000-05:00

Ginder? Hoagie? Hero? Sub? I don't care what you call it, I only care if it tastes good. Well, I do care if you call it a grinder, the word doesn't really give me a happy food feeling. Makes me think of the dentist and coffee, two things I am not really a fan of. I do love a good Italian Hoagie though.

When I was younger, I would go with my father down to the country house in Fredericksburg on the weekends and he would always stop by Sports Cheesesteak and Hoagie Shop on 123 in Woodbridge, across from the Marina. It was a small sandwich shop with barely enough tables to sit at in a small brick building that screamed 1960's. We had found it by accident the first time. I was hungry, as always, and my dad stopped by the 7-11 next door in order to get me to shut up. But the hot dogs and nachos that used to call to me (still a guilty pleasure) didn't appeal to me. Instead, I was glued to the windowed front of the deli, staring at the lady behind the counter making the longest and fattest sandwich I had ever seen. I begged my father to buy me a hoagie and reluctantly my father agreed because the prices seemed a little ridiculous for the condition the shop was in.

I picked the Italian hoagie because it had everything in it. Salami, Soppressata, Mortadella, Provolone, ham, lettuce, onions, pickles, tomatoes all spilling out of a crusty Italian loaf, the vinegar and oil making the whole thing a little too messy. But that taste, that flavor, I will never forget. The salty, the tangy, the freshness from the veggies, the crunch from the bread, all of it was a perfect combination of heaven in my mouth. Even my father could not complain, it was well worth the price.

After that day, we were there all the time. I cherish those moments when my father and I could finally spend some time together away from my mother's nagging and my sister's whining. Sometimes we would take our sandwich down to the marina and watch the boat float up and down on the waves as we enjoyed a part of America that Korean Americans at the time rarely did. We looked out of place, our Asian faces being stuffed with a classic American sandwich watching other people get onto their yachts and speed away.

Years later, I would introduce my boyfriend at the time to this wonderful find and he being "a true Italian" told me why it was so good. It was the ingredients. The quality of the deli meat was impressive, the oil and vinegar was a family secret, the bread was fresh. However, the Italian Hoagie isn't really Italian. It's American, put together by the Italian immigrants on the Northern East Coast. It was like me, half American, half something else.

That would be the last time I would visit the Sports Cheesesteak and Hoagie shop, it closed down a couple of weeks later. The area became overrun with immigrants who were being pushed out of Fairfax County to the more affordable Prince William's County and it made this shop just as foreign to them as I was to it. This place that used to connect me to America and at the same time reminded me how different I was had itself become the stranger, the other. To the new immigrants, there was no place for this sandwich shop. To a newly gentrified America, obsessed with new gourmet international foods, there was no place for the old. But to me, a girl who didn't really fit into America, it was always nice to have a part of America in me. Well, in my belly.

So in honor of the Sport's Deli, I made a hoagie. Enjoy the pictures and remember to Eat On!

The Side View

Salami, Soppresseta, Mortadella, Munster, Lettuce,
Onions, Cherry Peppers on a Baguette

Beautiful

Pho-king Good

2011-12-09T03:06:00.000-05:00

If you don't know what Pho is, then click off this site right now. You do not deserve my mouthwatering pictures. But since everyone and their mom knows what it is, this should not happen. Just incase though, I will give you a hint. Vietnam+Noodles+Meat+Hoisen Sauce+Siracha= Pho, well the basic gist of it.

I used to eat Pho almost everyday. In college, we would flock to Eden Center (Northern Virginia's Little Saigon) and down these noodle bowls like someone had been starving us for days. The large size was literally the size of a large mixing bowl, and we would each add what we liked (I am a huge Hoisen Sauce, Cilantro, Bean Sprouts, Siracha, and spicy peppers girl). Sometimes we would try to see who could make the spiciest mixture and we would be sweating profusely from the heat. After we were done, a cup of ice coffee would cool us down and we would be ready for the afternoon classes.

During our college years was when the big Pho boom hit NoVA. Suddenly there were a million Pho places popping up like Starbucks, and each offering a different tasting soup, combination, even sauces to add. It became an addiction, especially for the Koreans in the neighborhood who loved the filling cheap meals. Soon, the smell which was hated by so many before, would make people drool. If you didn't like Pho, someone would try to convert you, and they would not take no for an answer. It was a cult and everyone needed to belong.

The wave hit the Korean American community so strongly, mothers started to worry about their children after a report in the Local Korean Newspaper warned the public that Pho might contain a cocaine like substance which caused the "Pho Craze." Children snuck out secretly to eat it, and parents would freak out after smelling the pungent odor on them. It was like we were all doing something illegal, sneaking off to eat our drug noodles. We were bad, and in an upper middle class suburbia we would take what we could get even if there was no validity to the story.

I mean could there be drugs in there? I watched my friend's mothers spend countless hours brewing up the broth and not once did I see anything out of the ordinary. Sure, the star shaped Annis was new and the cilantro was something I was still getting used, but could these smells put me into a trance? Could it make me see thing? Could I crave it so bad I would claw out my eyes to have it? Sure, but only in Vietnam.

Last February, I spent two weeks in Vietnam and got to eat some of the best Pho I ever had in my life. The broth was so clear and it didn't smell. Not overly strong and cling to your clothes kind of smell. It was clean, smooth, perfect. There had to be drugs in that soup, right?

Now the Pho craze has hit Korea. Even outside of the big cities, you can find at least one Pho place. You can even buy the noodles and the soup base at major grocery stores now. However, other than a handfull of places, most of what you get in Korea is a watered down version of what Pho is supposed to be. It's supposed to be flavorful, Annisey, pungent, and make you smell for days.

So I made my own Pho. What I used to get homemade back home and in Vietnam gave me a snooty appreciation for what good, real Pho is supposed to taste like. Though I could not find all the ingredients, I decided to do the best I could to make Pho Ga (Chicken Pho). Enjoy the pictures and when you get a chance, fly to Vietnam and try the real thing. Eat On!

Noodles, Chicken, Onions, Thai Peppers,
and Lemon Slices (No Limes in Korea)

Add Some Broth

Add Some Sauce

Bean Sprouts and Eat On!

Welcome Back

2011-12-08T23:37:00.001-05:00

I’m back, again. Like the prodigal son, my return was eminent but for me I didn’t run out of money, I just got some more time on my hands. Yay for the end of yet another semester.

So I was thinking, what would be the perfect entry to welcome me back to the world of blogging? Well, looking back on the last six months, I had to ask myself, what was the most exciting thing that has happened to me? Hmmm, well there was the breakup which lead to depression which oddly enough lead to meeting a new guy who is amazing, there was the start of a new semester, there were dinners and friends visiting, but the one thing that stands out? My new oven! Yes folks, I have finally paid up and got myself a nice oven.

As I have said before, Korean apartments don’t come with ovens because to be honest, until lately, they never used them. Korean cooking was originally fire based and the large iron pots would cook, steam, boil and stew. The grilling was done on a separate coal based grill and there you have it, dinner! The newer apartments now come with an oven or have the option for one, but my place is not brand new, so no oven. Instead, I went and bought a beautiful Samsung Zipel. The truth is I can’t afford this model on a normal basis, because it’s like four to five hundred dollars and I am not insane. However, because I bought the display, I got it for half the cost. I don’t know why, but I am very proud of the fact that I got it for so cheap.

My New Oven

So what have I done with this oven so far? Well, I have been baking, broiling and even microwaving because it includes all of these things. It supposedly also steams, but I haven’t tried that yet. The only down fall is that you have to remove all of the pans and the microwave rotation glass before you can use the oven, but it’s a small price to pay for the following:

Oven Roasted Lemon and Herb Chicken with Roasted Veggies

Tilapia with Bok Choy, Lemongrass, Cilantro, Lemons and Red Onions in a Foil Packet

Oven Roaster Potatoes and Onions with Chicken Piccata

Thanksgiving Dinner: Roasted Chicken, Gravy, Stuffing with Apples and Onions,
Mash Potataoes, Corn and Baked Mac and Cheese

Banana Nut Bread

So everyone with an oven rejoice and for those of you without one, go make a friend who does. Either way, enjoy it and eat on!

Chicken Foil Packet

2011-04-20T23:49:00.000-04:00

I am really into cooking with a foil packet because it's such easy clean up. So here is another idea for a foil packet.

Steaming in the foil

I layered the bottom with onions, Korean Spinach, Bok Choy and sprinkled it with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Then I added the Chicken Tenders and topped it with a sauce made from soy sauce, palm sugar, lime juice, garlic, scallions, sesame seeds, Korean chili pepper powder, chopped peppers, fish sauce, garlic powder, onion powder and sesame oil. A splash of white wine completes it before I roll it up and cook it on a covered grill pan for 10 minutes. Then I let it sit for a couple of minutes to let the juices reabsorb.

Lunch time

This one produces a lot of juice so it would be great ontop of some white rice.

I am cutting out the carbs so I think this was great with a lot of veggies and the chicken tenders came out nice and moist due to the steaming. I would recommend you try this at home with whatever you find in your kitchen. All you need are some veggies, some meat, some spices, and some sort of liquid (white wine, chicken stock, water). The more inventive the better and it's a healthier way to Eat On!

Egg-cellent Ideas for Easter

2011-04-20T22:20:00.002-04:00

Easter time is here and what better way to celebrate it then with my favorite Hard Boiled Eggs! But skip the boring tacky colored overcooked eggs and try something new. Here are some Egg-cellent ideas for a twist on Easter.

One of my favorite 반찬/banchan (Korean side dish) is 메추리알 장조림/Quail Egg Jangjjorim. They are small and so easy to eat. However, for a snack, they can be too salty and you would have to eat many of them to get the same amount of protein as one chicken egg. So instead, I made myself a snack by stewing eggs in dashi, soy sauce, garlic, onions and sugar. I used less soy sauce then you are supposed too because I wanted mine to eat as a snack or topped on an Asian style salad. I think it came out nice and they are a more flavorful alternative to Tea Eggs (another one of my favorites).

JangJjorim Eggs

Another great thing to do with them is to take some of the liquid, take one egg and mix it with rice. Throw in some washed, chopped kimchi and you have a childhood favorite.

Make sure to store them in the sauce

Originally, this recipe is made with shredded beef and the eggs are just an add on, but I always loved the eggs more than the beef. Since beef is so expensive, you can still get the basic flavors without having to break the bank.

Thit Heo Kho Trung: Taken from WhiteonRice

Another alternative is Thit Heo Kho Trung/Caramelized Braised Pork and Eggs. This is a Vietnamese dish and something I fell in love with in Vietnam. It is more on the sweet side where as JangJjorim is on the salty side, but is just as good mixed with rice and the juices. It's about the same amount of work as JangJjorim so there is no reason not to try it out!

Tea Eggs: Taken from SteamyKitchen

The Chinese version of these are Tea Eggs. They are not salty or sweet, but a bit bitter. They don't involve any soy sauce so it's slightly different, but the tea that is used in place of the soy gives these eggs a lighter flavor. They also come out looking beautiful and this same method can also be done with JangJjjorim Eggs as well (but they will have less flavor).

Here is a hint on how to cook perfectly boiled eggs. Put the eggs into a pot and fill it up with cold water. Bring it to a boil and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and wait for about 10-15 minutes before peeling. You can just leave them in the water till it even cools down, but they will always be perfectly cooked without the green layer.

So the next time you are going to boil up some eggs, try these new ideas from the East and make your East-er Egg-cellent! Eat on!

DanHana

2011-04-20T01:53:00.002-04:00

Since most Korean apartments do not come with an oven, and the small toaster type ovens are super expensive, most of us just buy our cakes at bakeries. However, the joy of decorating your own cake has been lost. But do not fear, there is a solution! I have discovered this new cake place that has opened up down the street called DanHana. They are a chain so you can find them anywhere.

Dan Hana has premade cakes that are covered in one layer of frosting (buttercream). You can purchase other toppings, like chocolate pieces, sprinkles, fruit and you decorate the cakes however you want. There are even different types of piping creams to use.

So of course I had to go and make some cakes! Here are two that I made:

The inside is chocolate so I tried to make this one a simple white and brown theme

This one is to celebrate the Cherry Blossom Trees our area is famous for

So the next time you are craving a cake, go and make one! The cakes and ingredients will cost you less than 20,000 won, which is cheaper than going to Paris Baguette. So decorate it and EAT ON!

Hong Kong and Macau, Yet Again

2011-04-20T01:31:00.001-04:00

So for Lunar New Year's, my friends and I headed off to Hong Kong and Macau again. Here are some pictures from our trip (all food of course).

Hong Kong Nights

I love hanging poultry

Intestines anyone?

I have missed this so much

Peach, my favorite (at Incheon Airport)

Chinese fast food at Beijing Airport

Chicken stirfry, Chinese greens and rice

A thousand year old egg?!?

Hong Kong Airport

(Notice my Popeyes!)

Chicken and Gailan

Sweet and Sour Pork

What I was waiting for: Pork Wonton Noodle Soup with Gailan

Sesame Bun filled with Black Bean

Crispy BBQ Pork Pastry

This filling was amazing, sweet and savory

A large tropical drink

Pork Pan Fried Noodles, one of my favorites

Tofu with Crab in a Spicy Sauce

Unfortunatly, I could not eat this because of my allergies

Another one of my favorites, Shangahi style dumplings

Filled with pork and soup

Can't forget the Snow Pea Leaves

An Indonesian Restaurant? You know I have to try it!

So many things to choose from

What could this be?

It was filled with chicken and veggies, very good

This Veggie only one was even better!

One of my favorite dim sum dishes,

filled with beef and water chestnuts

And of course, more snow pea leaves

More Street Food

Looks like Korean Jun

Our "First Class Meal" on the boat to Macau

Trust me, it did not taste "First Class"

What is going on here? Could it be? I am back again!

Oh delicious Pork Bun! I never thought I would see you again!

(Check out my 2nd Entry on this blog)

And of course I have missed you too, Portugese Egg Tart

Good Bye Hong Kong, Stay well and Eat On!

Food Therapy

2011-04-20T00:28:00.002-04:00

So I have recently been through yet another breakup. With it fresh on my mind and in my heart, I have decided to lock myself up in my house and be depressed. But shutting yourself away only leads to thoughts of what could have been and delusional hope that could lead to even more outlandish ideas such as calling up your ex or drinking yourself to tears.

I found one of the best ways to help a hurting heart is to do something nice for yourself, and what better thing to do than to make a fabulous meal? Now, I am no scientist and I am pretty bad at anything connected to math or memorization. However, if I were a scientist, I would wholly agree that food can make us happier and that cooking is therapy. I mean, think about it, you make a grocery list, go outside and walk to the store, walk around the isles with the living, and then come home and treat yourself to something nice. How could that be worse than shutting yourself away to rot in your apartment until a concerned friend finally breaks down the door and drags you out to get drunk, dance, and regret waking up next to some strange body?

So in my effort to keep myself from writing that drunken email I swore I would not write; I followed the following steps to Grace’s Food Therapy.

Gracie's Steps to Food Therapy

Step 1: Stop crying and get on the internet. And no, it is not to sign up for a dating service or watch porn. Find yourself a recipe you would like. You will be surprised at how therapeutic just surfing through recipes and pictures can be. Before you know it, you will have spent hours not thinking about your problems and that alone will help you return to sanity.

Step 2: Pick a recipe involving cooking with wine. Nothing is better than cooking with a cup of white wine and drinking the rest of the bottle.

I picked a recipe from Giada's page

Step 3: Now that you have the recipe in hand and some of your sanity has returned, take that much needed shower and go shopping. Now, if it is possible, I recommend walking to the store to get some fresh air. But if not, even the car drive can be therapeutic. Remember to take your shopping bags because helping the environment will make you feel better about yourself and you can curse your ex for being a bad person for not using one.

Step 4: Shop. Guys and girls alike LOVE to shop when we are depressed. It makes us feel like we are improving our lives without having to actually make some effort. But walking into that jewelry or electronic store will only leave us even more devastated. Instead, stick to your list and at the end of the trip you will have gotten your shopping fix and feel proud of yourself for not have spending your entire paycheck on useless junk. And don’t forget that bottle of wine.

Step 5: Go home and clean. There is nothing more therapeutic than cleaning your home. And do you really want to cook when your place looks like a pigsty of half eaten Chinese food, empty alcohol bottles, and shreds of your ex’s pictures? My mother always said a clean house leads to a clean heart, so cleaning is the best way to help you move on. Plus it will make cooking more enjoyable when you don’t have rats running around eating your leftovers.

Step 6: Get cooking. Take your time to prep. Usually we are in a hurry to get dinner done because people are waiting on you, but today is about YOU. Take the time to cut each veggie piece evenly, soak those beans for the proper amount of time, and cut the tomatoes into roses. The act of chopping is not only soothing, but it gets all the physical rage of wanting to stab your ex right out and keeps you from going to jail.

Step 7: While cooking, pop open that bottle of wine and have a glass. This not only prepares your pallet for the flavors to come and helps you think of even more flavors to add, but it will give you that nice light buzz you deserve.

Step 8: Improvise. How boring is it to stick to the recipe? This is your dish, your time, your tongue. Do what you want with it. Remember how you used to leave out the garlic because you ex was allergic? Well forget him! You can put whatever you desire into your dish and forget what he wants, likes or could possibly die from. This dish is just for you.

Taken from Giada's recipe, but improvised with garlic, rosemary infused olive oil,

more wine and lemon juice, onions and Korean spinach like greens I found at the market

Step 8: Cook. Just cook.

Wrapped up in a foil packet and heated in a grill pan on the stove

since I do not have a BBQ Grill

Step 9: Take pictures of your achievement. Post them up on Facebook in place of all those couple pictures you deleted. Your friends will compliment you and you will feel awesome.

Open up the steaming packet for a nice surprise, save the juices

Step 10: Enjoy your meal. Put on some relaxing music (no emo stuff), light some candles, pour a big glass of wine and eat. Just focus on your food and yourself. By this time you will have realized that things could be worse. You could have to eat bad food. Or possibly have no food at all. This time you might cry, but only about how stupid you have been. There are people out there who may never get to taste how beautiful life can be. You will survive, you will grow stronger and you will EAT ON.

Now that is food therapy

The final product, don't forget the wine

A Year in Food

2011-02-15T23:15:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has already been one year since I last updated my food blog. Bad Gracie. So to my faithful readers out there, all four of you (two are family members), I will review the year in food photos and catch you up. We will start with where I left off, in NYC.

NYC

Best Wings Ever: Atomic Wings at Costals on the UES

Irish Car Bombs at the Stumble Inn, UES

Milk Buble Tea at St. Alps in St. Marks

Seafood at Samantha's, UES (Closed Down)

Scallops at Samantha's, UES (Closed Down)

Japanese Croquettes at Mitzuah in North Bergen, NJ

Cuury Katstu at Mitzuah in North Bergen, NJ

Soup Dumplings at Joe Shanghai's in Chinatown

Dinner at Home, Chadolbegi and Korean Sides

Best Onion Rings, Stumble Inn, UES

Pasta Dinner at Home Made From Chelsea Market Ingredients

Pinkberry, My Favorite Add Ons, Strawberries, Mochi and Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Pizza at Sandy's House, Dough from Delizia's, UES

Purim's Mom's Cooking Show, Lower West Side

After Cooking Show Foods

Sangria at Home

Best Cupcakes, Two Little Red Hens Bakery, UES

Best Sullungtang, Gombawoo, Ktown

Fruit Tarts and Milk Tea

Watermelon Soju from Pocha, Ktown

A Chicken Dinner at Home

Sushi at Home

Cinqo de Mayo Mexican Food, Somewhere on the UES

Mongolian Meat on a Stick, Flushing, Queens

Choongmoo Kimbab at Home

Easter Cupcakes

Easter Eggs

Sandy and JG Melon Burgers and Fries, UES

Galbi at Madangsui in Ktown

Leftovers at a Jjahjangmyun Place in Ktown

S'mores at MaxBrenner's

Mochi and Saki IceCream with Green Tea Sauce and Red Bean Jelly at Cha-An's, East Village

Odeng Soup at Home

Chicken Thai Green Curry at Sandy's

Steak with Horseradish Sauce at Sandy's House

Breakfast, Ham in Country Style Gravy with Herb Eggs

I Had to Add This

Vietnam:

The "Korean Breakfast" at the InterContinental Residence in HCM

Miyuk Gook, Tasted Like Pho

Grilled Salmon

Tropical Fruits

Soju and Gamja Tang in Vietnam

Chinese Restaurant at the InterContinental

Jelly Fish Decoration for New Years

Duck and Sweet Pork

Vietnamese Heinz Ketchup

Refreshing Sorbet

Northern Virginia (NoVA):

Boodaejige at ARA in Annandale

Roasted Pollo at Lariol Plaza in DC

California Style Salad at Lariol Plaza in DC

Roasted Half Young Chicken at SweetWater Tavern in Centreville, VA

Drunken Ribeye Steak at SweetWater Tavern in Centreville, VA

Teaching Theresa How to Make Kimbab, Fairfax, VA

Miso Soup to Go with the Kimbab

Kimchi Bokem at Home

Kimchi Fried Rice at Home

The YoYo Roll From Arigato Sushi in Fairfax, VA

Cream Cheese and Chives Dumplings and Gyoza from Arigato Sushi, Fairfax, VA

White Wine, Veggies, Jarlsburg and Crackers Outside in Vienna, VA

Hibachi at Sakura in Fair Lakes, VA

I Love the Volcano

Best Thai Chicken Red Curry Tong Thai in University Mall, Fairfax, VA

Thai Wonton Soup at Cee in Fairfax, VA

Tom Yum Gai at Cee in Fairfax, VA

Thai Roll at Cee in Fairfax, VA

Vietnamese Jelly Drink at VietHouse in Fairax, VA

Baltimore:

The Famous Chaps Pit Beef Sandwich in Baltimore, MD

Smoked Ribs at Chaps Pit BBQ in Baltimore, MD

Mac Salad, Mac and Cheese, and Baked Beans at Chap's

Agi Dashi Tofu at Edo Sushi in The Inner Harbor, Baltimore

Spicy Tuna Roll at Edo Sushi in The Inner Harbor, Baltimore

Saki with Cucumbers at Edo

Whole Royal Dorade at Kali's Court Restaurant at Fell's Point, Baltimore

"Surf and Turf" at Kali's Court Restaurant in Fell's Point, Baltimore

Presents from Kali's for Being So Beautiful, Cookies

Korea:

Masan is Known For Their Agoojim, Masan, South Korea

BBQ Sangyupsal in Changwon, South Korea

The Onions and the Sauce Complete the Dish

A Giant Banana Milk at COEX in Seoul, South Korea

Mix Soju and BekSaju and Make 50% at Hotsun in Gangnam, Seoul

The Sides at Hotsun in Gangnam, Seoul

Fishcake Soup at Hotsun in Gangnam, Seoul

Happy Face

My Birthday Cake in Changwon, South Korea

A Korean Melon Called Chamhae at My Parent's House, Jeonju, South Korea

Cooking for One

2010-01-25T13:25:00.006-05:00

Somehow cooking for one has gotten a bad rap. Like eating alone, people look at you with sympathetic eyes laced with the idea that you will possibly go home, drink a bottle of wine, and kill yourself. And they know who we are. In the grocery stores we buy smaller sizes of tuna, even though it costs more. We get a quarter pound of deli meat instead of a full or even a half pound. We go into grocery stores more often because we are cooking based on what we want that day and not necessarily what is available at home. Our local wine shop is our stop on the way to our apartments.

Now that I am living in NYC, cooking for one has almost become a way of life. We are so busy and living so far apart from our friends, getting together is usually for a restaurant or a bar. Rarely is it possible to go to someone’s house for dinner, because we get too lazy to go the 20 blocks when we can just stay home. So there are many nights where eating alone is more convenient. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing, cooking for one can actually be more freeing.

Think of it this way, when you cook for your friends you tend to create a budget so you don’t go overboard. The cost of four nice steaks can add up and by the time you add on the sides, you might as well have gone out. The quality also can fall to the same line of thought, and you end up with cheap meat. But what if you were just making yourself a steak? Then you would go to the local butcher and invest in that hand fed, messaged daily, kissed and hugged hunk of cow. Get a smaller piece, save half the money, now that is nice.

Another benefit to cooking for one is that you can control the flavor and ingredients. You don’t have to care that Jeff is a vegan, Mindy is allergic to blue fruits, Tom likes his meats cut into small pieces, Wendy is gluten free, germ free, sanity free… all you have to care about is the person who matters the most, you. You don’t like spinach, leave it out. You want the extra cheese on top, put it right on. You like your sauce a little more spicy, add more spice. It is all about you, and you are the master of your own food.

Now there is one trick to cooking for one, and that is portion control. It is easy to overcook, and dissatisfying to undercook. Most people would rather have too much and not enough, but then a lot of time things go to waste or you have to eat the same thing for three days and you can’t enjoy it the way you did the first time. Then in the long run it becomes easier to take out that taco on the way home and food starts to become more of a necessity than something to enjoy in life. Then you start to lose your faith in the food Gods, start pumping your body full of frozen, ready to eat dinners that come in plastic bowls, and become the quintessential dinner for one person that will drink too much wine and then jump off their overpriced apartment building. This should NEVER happen. You do not want to be a future Law and Order episode where they tell everyone it is not based on actual events but they use your neighborhood and your family members as extras.

The first thing you should do to avoid this is to buy basic ingredients and jazz it up with one or two “special” ingredients. For example, if I always have chicken tenders (the breasts are too dry for me), some veggies, eggs, rice, cheese, pasta and frozen spinach, I am able to make a thousand different dishes from an Italian based pasta dish to Chinese style stir-fry, to a Zimbabwean chicken and peanut butter spinach side. The key is to buy the basics that can be a part of any meal and then buy those one or two extra ingredients you need on the way home from work (mainly those perishable items like Greek yogurt or Crème Fresh).

Another thing to do is to stick to recipes that do not call for 1,000 different ingredients you will only use once. For example, I love Indian food, but it is not an ideal situation for me to buy 20 different spices to make a dish once when I can go down the street and there are a thousand places to eat it better. You need to pick and choose what is worth making at home and what is not. Now I live in a city full of ethnic foods, and my sister lives in Minneapolis, so our situations would be different. Her restaurants are not going to give her a variety of choices like mine will, so for her, making Indian food at home is probably better than paying for it at some shabby hole in the wall. In that case, try to use a prepackaged mix. You will be surprised at how good a lot of the spice mixes have gotten. You can order them online or travel to the area where ethnic stores are available and pick up the premeasured packs. Now, the best case scenario for this would be to find an Indian grocery store where they have the fresh spices they mix up themselves, but in most cases you can find even in an everyday store the spice pastes from companies like Asian Home Gourmet. Now, they are not going to be the best, but they are better than expected because it is just the spice mix; you have to add the meat, beans, veggies, yogurt and canned tomatoes. I survived off of these and Thai curry pastes while living in Korea. The down side is that they will yield three to four servings, but it is better to buy a $2.00 pack than waste $10-20 to buy the spices fresh.

Indian Spices

Paste Packets

You should also think about adding on or changeable dishes. Sometimes your leftovers can be created into totally new meals. I love this recipe from Dave Lieberman that takes chicken and roasts it in apricot preserves and prunes. The only thing is that it is hard to make it in small batches. So, I make a larger portion and use the left over to make other meals. One of my favorite meals is taking the chicken and making a sandwich with a mayo that I cream with the cooked prunes and garlic. Another idea, take your leftover couscous and throw it on a salad the next day. Left over mash potatoes? Make some potato cakes with spinach and ham, or use it as a binder for meatloaf. The more you challenge your cooking experience, the more rewarding it will be and leftovers will become a new meal.

So put down that bottle of wine and get in the kitchen. Cooking for one is the new cooking for two.

Eat on.

Wow, Your Lucy is Juicy

2009-10-27T14:53:00.001-04:00

The other day they had a Man v. Food marathon on the Travel Channel and there was an episode on Minneapolis. I was interested in this because my little sister lives there now and I wanted to see what kinds of foods they had in this cold, God forsaken place. Now every major city has its own burger place that they are known for. Seattle has Dick’s, LA has In&Out, DC has Ray’s Hell Burger and Five Guys, and Minnesota has the Juicy Lucy burger. The Juicy Lucy is a burger with cheese inside of it and according to Man v. Food, the two places to go get it are the 5.8 Club and Matt’s. Though I cannot judge the burgers myself until I can brave the cold and get my butt up to the Midwest to go try it, my cousin and I thought, “Hey, why not make our own?”

So we got all of our stuff at the market and decided to make our own version. According to the cooks at both restaurants, you need to start off with two thin patties and place folded up cheese (Matt’s only uses American slices, but we went for cheddar) and crimp the edges shut. Now the downside of this cheese in the middle is that you have to cook the burgers medium well to melt the cheese and I am a big believer in my beef being nothing above medium. So, to fix the problem of having a dried out burger, I added some Asian influenced flavors to keep the burger moist.

Gracie’s Makeshift Asian Flavor
Finely chopped onion
Finely minced garlic
Soy sauce
Montreal Steak Seasoning (McCormic)

My Version of the Juicy Lucy

So I made the burger and it was good, but I do have to say that I prefer my cheese on top, because you get a little in each bite rather than a lot in the middle and none on the side. I can’t wait to try the real thing.

Eat on!

Raviolli Salad

2009-10-25T17:13:00.001-04:00

Here is something great for the warm Autumn days:

Chicken and Spinach Raviolli (Cooked and Drained)
Red and Yellow Bell Peppers
Slivers of Onion
Slices of Apples
Chunks of Tomatoes
Spinach
Slices of Crisp Turkey Bacon
Vadalia Onion Dressing
Slices of Peperoncini
Parmesan Cheese

Chop Up Veggies

Add Bacon, Raviolli, and Parmesan Cheese

Toss with Dressing

Hook in Georgetown

2009-10-24T14:40:00.006-04:00

Even though restaurant week has been over for quite some time now, I forgot to add my two cents, so here it is. My two choices were Mio and Hook, and refuse to talk about Mio because the food was horrible. I don’t understand how basic food can go so wrong. The sauce on the pork was salty, the salad was overly dressed and tasted like old anchovies, and the dessert (Mojito Sorbet) tasted like toothpaste. I will never go there again.

But Hook was different. I am not really a fish person. I used to love it, but then in my late teens something changed. It could be that I started dating a boy whose father was a fish monger and used to scare me with stories on how most places do not handle fish properly and that Flounder contained worms. I used to have nightmares of Cantonese restaurants serving a whole fried fish that I would open up and find little red maggots crawling around. That, and the general distrust I have of people’s ability to keep themselves clean, lead me to become afraid of anything with a fin. It’s not that hard to avoid fish in the States, you can just eat meat or something else. But try living on a peninsula and having all of your relatives shoving anything from the sea down your throat. It is almost impossible to avoid seafood in Korea and I am lucky it was.

There is a difference between good fish and bad fish. The worms could be an indicator, but also the freshness is directly related to what is local and what has been dragged out of the sea just hours before. It made sense that I used to love fish because my father, an obsessed fisherman, used to bring home Croakers, Trout, Blue, Catfish, and Flounders in his small blue cooler ready for my mom to clean, salt and fry. The crispy skin and the flesh flakey and soft melted into my mouth. The left over parts went into spicy stews filled with Dikon radish and bean sprouts. Sometimes my mother would marinade and caramelized the fish in its own juces, the meat barely hanging onto the bone. This is when fish was at its best.

But the years went on and I was forced to go out into the world on my own and fish was the last thing I wanted to eat. Coupled with the fear I developed thanks to my ex, I vowed that I would never put another piece into my mouth. I was going to be a fish-aterian. But living in Korea changed my mind. The fish is brought in fresh every day, it is part of every meal and along with my aunts beating me with rice ladles for being picky; I had to eat it. Eat it or starve. I chose to live.

Though it is far from watching someone take a live fish they just caught outside and start Sashimi-ing it in front of you, Hook had some good quality fish. You can just tell by the color and the flavor that this fish was bought over as well as it could have been from the coast of some South American country. But there is a difference between good quality and good preparation. The fish is cooked so that they can hold their own flavors, but what their paired with does not work with the original ingredient.

Take for example my dish, a Mahi Mahi served with blackeyed peas. Mahi Mahi is a flakey fish, it is dense and full of flavor and putting it together with beans for me was a big no-no, it needed something lighter to not be too rich, thick and overly filling.

Mahi Mahi with Blackeyed Peas

My friend Pete’s dish was a Blackened Trout with a curried peas and rice. The peas were delicious, but the trout had nothing to bring the flavor together. It was like meeting two strangers that sat awkwardly next to each other and made you wonder who thought they would be good friends.

Blackened Trout with Curried Peas

The Tuna Tartar was good, too much ginger but very good quality tuna. I am not into foam, it looks like spit up on the plate, so that was a turn off. My friend’s Prosciutto and Melon Salad was over dressed and tasted like lemons. The dessert was good, the Panna Cotta was by far the best, but it was dessert and I wanted more from the main dish.

Tuna Tartar

What I think is going on is that since the patron is paying for the quality of the fish, the rest of the dish goes downhill. If you are more concerned with having a good piece of fish, this is somewhere you would want to try. But if you want a complete dish, this place will leave you wanting more and the bill will leave you feeling slightly sick. No matter how good the fish is, if it is not worth the money, it won’t settle well in the tummy.

Panna Cotta

I Am Back, Again

2009-10-24T13:34:00.005-04:00

I am the worst kind of food blogger, I am lazy, I am more concerned with eating then sharing, and I am inconsistent. Shame on me. But I do have one thing going for me, I am constantly eating and I keep coming back, even if it is after a couple of months. I do not give up! It’s more of a need to keep on going, an urge to share with the world the food that I have discovered, and to make everyone hungry with my food pics. I love making my friend’s mouths water, especially around noon when their stuck in the office in front of the computer, the bright colors of fresh food staring back at them and they’re wondering how the best way to kill me would be. But despite your uncontrollable hunger, you enjoy it, you crave it, you need it.

That is how I feel about farmer’s markets. I know how beautiful the produce is, the smells of fresh bread and local coffee beaneries floating through the crisp autumn morning air, the tempting tastings being served by the ice creamery and that strange bohemian girl hawking her irresistible salsa and red pepper hummus. It’s an exciting blend of colors, tastes, and local farmers who are both rude and slightly insane all at once. I mean you would have to be right? Who would wake up at the crack of dawn to sell tomatoes? How much could you possibly make? And even worse, who are these crazy people waking up on a Saturday morning to go slumping through the dizzily rain for those tomatoes? Why are they not hung over like normal people? My friend Theresa, that is who, and I suppose me, still slightly intoxicated from the night before and wondering how the hell I got into this mess. Payback is a bitch.

After Theresa downs four cups of coffee, we are off to the biggest farmer’s market in our area; down by old Falls Church behind The Original Pancake House (if you do not know the Pancake House then you need to go know it). It is Seattle weather, the kind of nonstop drizzle that makes you damp, cold, and smells slightly like wet dog. The kind of weather that makes one understand why Seattle has such a high suicide rate. That is how I feel here shivering and walking from stall to stall. I wish I could be those “farmer’s market” people who want to save the earth and believe in local everything. The kind that saves their leftover veggies and makes compost out of it. The kind of people who appreciate the simple, uncomplicated things in life. The truth is I am probably the earth’s worst enemy. I use plastic Ziploc bags for everything, I like the fact I can dump everything in a trashcan and not have to separate my apple core from my water bottles, and I have killed every plant I have ever tried to raise. Nature hates me, and to be honest, I am not that fond of nature either. It has weeds, allergies, ticks and bugs. But I have to give nature one thing, it sure makes some good ingredients. Nothing beats locally grown produce, hand raised meats, and a small dairy specializing in cheese. And when you put all of these things together you get a farmer’s market.

For anyone who likes to cook or eat, I can guarantee that there is a huge difference between the stuff you get at the store and the things that are grown by people who don’t think pesticides are natural. I am lucky enough to have family members who take the time and care to grow a lot of vegetable, herbs, and fruit down at the country house in Fredericksburg, so I am constantly getting fresh ingredients to play around with. But not everyone is so lucky, so they wake themselves up and drag their bodies to the farmer’s market. But what do you buy? I took forty dollars with me and it was gone in less than half an hour. It is costly to eat good, but I think what people forget to do is only buy what you will eat raw or use only a few ingredients to maximize the flavors you are investing in. For example, tomatoes are definitely the best farmer’s market pick. They are succulent, sweet, and juicy and you can totally tell the difference, even between the vine ripened ones you see at more gourmet stores. But I wouldn’t cook with them if I am paying four dollars for a small carton of cherry tomatoes. I am going to let them hold their own. So when it comes to fresh vegetables and fruits you are not going to cook with, you should defiantly pick them up locally. But there really isn’t much of a huge difference between the live basil at Wegman’s and the picked basil from the farmer’s market except two to three dollars. The key is to taste all the samples and pick what is in season.

My picks at the Falls Church Farmer’s Market:

• Fresh pasta made by a small company down in Richmond

• Cherry tomatoes from a local grower (ask to taste the tomato first)

• Honey Crisp apples from a local grower in Shenandoah (go for apples that you cannot purchase anywhere else)

• A small block of sharp cheddar cheese from Gracie Farms (I had to try it, it had my name)

• A baguette from a French bakery (go to the back of the market, it has a huge line, it is worth it)

• A small jar of red pepper jelly from The Jam Jar

• Salsa from some Bohemian chick that was wearing hemp but can make some bad ass Salsa

So I took all of these amazing finds and I went over to my friend Angie’s house where I prepared dinner.

• Spinach Ravioli with a lemon butter sauce sprinkled with basil

• Caprese Salad with cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil

• French Bread with Italian style dipping oil

• Apples and Cheddar Cheese

• Edna Valley Chardonnay and a red blend from Argentina

The point was not to overpower any of the natural flavors from the market, but to accentuate them slightly by pairing them with mild flavors. What I learned from this experience is that sometimes it is worth getting up early on a Saturday to go play with the tree huggers and pick up something good. I have the pictures to prove it. Feel free to drool. Please don’t kill me.

Cheers

Are You Hungry Yet?

DC Restaurant Week - 2009

2009-08-26T07:32:00.009-04:00

Yes, boys and girls, it is that time again. The time to beg, bribe, or kill to get reservations at your favorite restaurant so you can take that person you love to eat a meal you can't afford any other week.

So you are probably making reservations for 9:00pm because you forgot to RSVP in time, but it is not too late to get in on the race. To help you sort through all of the restaurant avaliable, here are Gracie's picks for this year. At the top of the list is the restaurant I have been dying to try for a long time: 2941.

2941's Exterior

Though located humbly in Falls Church, there is nothing humble about their head chef Betrand Chemel and his inovated yet classic dishes.

Sashimi (taken from 2941's website)

This year's Restaurant Week only serves lunch, but that menu is a reflection of the crisp, clean, and vibrant flavors that we have come to expect from this amazing chef. (http://www.2941.com/menu-2009.php)

Figs (taken from 2941's website)

My pick would be the Hawaiian Red Snapper Carpaccio with a citrus gelle and heart of palm, the Grimaud Farms Guinea Hen Duo with crostini rillette and Jerusalem artichokes, and Pennsylvania Raspberry Parfait.

Surf and Turf (taken from 2941's website)

My other restaurant choices are:
Adour: http://www.adour-washingtondc.com/
Juniper: http://www.fairmont.com/washington/GuestServices/Restaurants
Ilmulino: http://www.ilmulino.com/menu.html
Hook: http://www.hookdc.com/dinner.php
Willow: http://www.willowva.com/dinner.html
Zola: http://www.zoladc.com/dinner.php
Urbana: http://www.urbanadc.com/menus/urbana_dinner_menu.pdf
Teatro Goldoni: http://www.teatrogoldoni.com/?realm=menu
Mio: http://miorestaurant.com/mio-menus/restaurant-month-dinner-2nd-week/

So I hope you can enjoy what is left of this year's Restaurant Week and as always, Eat On!

Macau: The Pork Chop Bun

2009-08-25T11:55:00.003-04:00

It was exactly what I thought an Asian island local eatery should look like: crowded, outdoor plastic tables, food being flung from one customer to another and loud. There were people cramped, arms fighting for space in the steamy heat, and that one food dish that everyone came for. On the small street in Macau, it was the pork bun that every sweaty patron had in their hands, and it was this that I knew I had to try.

Cafe Tai Lei

We came upon Cafe Tai Lei by accident (we were actually on our way to another restaurant) but after doing some research, it turns out that we went to what other bloggers refer to as the "best" place for the Pork Chop Bun. When we got to the "other" restaurant and found it closed, we back-tracked to the crowded stand and ordered the Pork Chop on Toast.

Pork Chop Bun

I can't even begin to tell you how good that Pork Chop Bun was. That first bite, the sweet glaze of the pork, the soft, slightly chewy texture, the crunch of the toasted white bread, it was is if my mouth had just been kissed by Brad Pitt after he had just sucked on a Pork Chop Bun. The contrasting textures and the suprisingly sweet and salty meat was one of the two best pork chops I had ever had (the second one was a smoked pork chop one of my ex's had made for me). It was so good, all I could talk about for the next two days was the Pork Chop Bun, but we were unable to go back to the otherside of the island to go and get it. So I am left to dream about it, to rack my brain trying to figure out what is in the marinade, and to plan my next trip to Macau where I will smuggle them back, greasy brown paper bag and all.

That is the look of true bliss

Food: What Else Is There?

2009-08-25T10:26:00.000-04:00

"You know I love to talk about food I am going to eat while I'm already eating." Grace (Will & Grace)

So that should be enough explanation to why I am trying to start yet another food blog.

Eat on =)