My new Green Thumb

I've always wanted to have a veggie garden or mini-farm since my grandfather was such a beautiful farmer. I remember when I was young, I watched him work in his garden tending to his peppers, Korean chives, plum trees and cabbages with such love.  He treated his grandchildren with the same care too.

Before this year, I killed most things that I tried to grow but God and the universe luckily brought a kin spirit into my life many years before in my friend Mary Ann.  We have many life experiences and values in common including a farmer spirit! She has been advising me and holding my hand through most of the process of re-habbing my landscaping and starting a container garden.  She recently received her Master Gardener certification from the city of L.A.!

Below is the progress on my garden which is all in containers since we don't have much soil in the backyard.
Here was the beginning back in April:

Growing a blueberry bush. I learned you have to have at least 2 varieties. I have a  Sharp Blue and Misty variety. These will eventually grow very huge so everyone should collect some blueberries from me!

This was the beginning of two Japanese long eggplants. These grow strong really fast.  I've had to separate them into two containers because they grow so fast and the stem and roots are so strong!

In the back are the beginnings of my Heirloom Tomatoes from seedlings that Mary Ann grew.  In the front were some struggling Bell Peppers (left) and Red Russian Kale (right).

Now the Garden is really in full swing.  After planting the seedlings, they took awhile to get used to the new environment but now they're kicking butt!  I think that my grandfather would be proud!  I sit in my garden, reflect and meditate while talking to the plants and watering the roots thinking about the love that my grandfather had for us and his children.  I hope that these plants will be successful with the love that I'm putting into them too :)

Here is what the garden looks like now in June!

A Yellow Bell Pepper coming out to say hello!

My crazy Red Russian Kale now! I've been cutting off the leaves to eat but they keep growing!

Heirloom Tomatoes getting bigger in the background

The beginning of a Japanese long eggplant! The color of this plant was so beautiful, I had to grow it!

This is the first Heirloom Zucchini that was growing and now it's on it's way to being on my plate!

These are the baby Heirloom Zucchinis on the other plant. The colors are so amazing!

A Purple Sweet Bell Pepper on it's way to being full grown! They start green but it's just starting to turn into the purple color.

Needless to say that I am so excited to see them full grown and share the fruits of my garden with loved ones!

Vietnamese Caramel Sauce

Ever since trying Catfish simmered in Vietnamese Carmel Sauce last year, I've been wanting to try to make it myself.  One of my most favorite cookbooks is Andrea Ngyuen's "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors."  I finally decided to try and make the caramel sauce. Although only 2 ingredients (sugar and water), it is quite a tentative process.  You really have to keep your eye one that sugar or it will turn into a hard caramel.


Here is my adventure in making Caramel Sauce!

This is the beginning where 1 cup of sugar is boiled at medium heat with 1/4 cup of water

It starts to bubble over and turn into a slight champagne color

As you can see, it starts to get darker starting from the sides of the pot inward.

It is starting to reach it's caramel color stage but it's still not time to take it off the heat

After it turns a dark coffee color, you take it off the heat and cool the pot off in a shallow pool of water in the kitchen sink. The pot will sizzle and hiss but it stops the cooking process. Then you add 2/3 cup of water and put it on the stove again over medium heat until all the caramel merges with the water into a sauce consistency.

Take it off the heat to cool. It shouldn't harden but stay liquid. It becomes the consistency of a chocolate sauce.

I cooked it with shrimp and it was amazing!

You can cook any meat (catfish, shrimp, chicken) with about 2 tablespoons of the Caramel Sauce, 1 1/2 tablespoon of Fish Sauce and some Ground Pepper.  Just add scallions and thinly sliced onions after the meat is cooked through and eat with rice. So delicious!

Roasted Squash instead of Rice

Lately, my husband and I have been roasting all the beautiful winter squashes (Kombocha, Spaghetti, Butternut) to eat with our Korean food instead of rice.  We're trying to increase our intake of veggies but also decrease our rice consumption.  Being rice-loving Asians there are some things we just cannot eat without rice BUT if you're cooking a roasted, braised or pan-fried meat dish, it will taste amazing with squash.

 A whole Kombucha squash. Beautiful!

It is difficult to cut into pieces but you just have to use a heavy knife and put your shoulder into it! Just take out all the seeds and cut up into smaller pieces.

Roasted goodness! You can bake it at 400 degrees for between 35-40 minutes depending on how big the squash is.

Spicy Pork bbq and a piece of Kombucha squash wrapped in a Sesame Leaf. Yum!!

Here we roasted some Kombucha squash very lightly sprayed with Olive Oil and a little bit of salt and pepper. You can cook most squash in pieces in the oven at 400 degrees for between 30-45 minutes depending on how large the squash is.  Just keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.


We've been eating it in lettuce wraps with Korean bbq meat and it tastes AMAZING!  My mom actually steams the squash and then throws it into Korean style braised beef ribs and that was ridiculous!  


If you have any recipes for squash of your own, please send them to me!

Fresh Green Pepper Side Dish

Today I went to the Korean market and saw these Korean Green Peppers on sale and had to buy a bag.  I remembered that my mom marinates them and they make a refreshing, spicy and savory side dish.  You can eat it with rice and a fried egg if laying low or serve it alongside grilled meat if you have company.  Here is my quick recipe based on my mom's.


Korean markets put differing English translations or names for some fruits and vegetables. My market called these "Wrinkle Peppers" but I am not sure if that is what they are really called.  They are a medium spicy but it is very easy to remove the seeds and core inside if you just want the fresh pepper taste without the spice.

Fresh Green Pepper Side Dish
Ingredients

• 1 Bag or 2 handfuls of Korean Green Wrinkle Peppers
• 2-3 Green Onions
• 3 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon of Dark Sesame Oil
• 1 Tablespoon of Dried Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 Teaspoons of Sesame Seeds

Instructions

In a large bowl, soak the peppers in water to wash out any remaining dirt.  Shake them around and remove all the water from the bowl.

Remove the stems/tops or tips of the green peppers, cutting them with a knife.  Feel free at this point to remove the seeds inside if you do not want this dish to be spicy.  To do that, after cutting off the stems, use your fingers and rub the peppers disconnecting all the seeds from the sides of the pepper.  Put the peppers with the cut stems into another bowl.

Cut up the Green Onions and add them into the bowl with the peppers.

Then add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and stir it all up with a spoon.  

You can serve it right away but it tastes a little better if you let it all marinate overnight in the fridge. I ate some right away with some soup and rice but put the rest in the fridge.

Chairs, chairs, chairs...

I am beginning to be obsessed with CHAIRS!  For some reason I feel like wherever there is space, I want to put seating.  I finally upholstered a Wingback chair that I bought from Craigslist for $20.  I was able to find a local upholsterer with a reasonable price and bought a Groupon to buy fabric at Diamond Foam & Fabric.  That Groupon really was amazing since upholstery fabric can be super expensive especially if you want something that is sturdy and of good quality.  Keep your eye out for those Groupons!


Anyways, after multiple trips to local fabric stores and deciding between patterns or solids, colors or neutrals, bold or calm... I finally decided on a black and white stripe pattern that looks modern but that I can dress up with colors.  I was very close on choosing a bold color and geometric pattern but I was afraid to commit to that pattern and style for the whole living room.


Just in case you forgot what the chair looked like before... (notice the head sweat stain.. yikes)

This is the chair now!!!  It's so sleek and pretty :)

Recently, I found matching tufted naughahyde chairs that need a little sprucing up.  I think we are going to paint the wood parts Black to give it a higher contrast and more of a regency feel.  They are super comfortable and have those nice high backs.  Here it is before in the picture below... Will post after pictures once we decide what to do with it.  I might actually keep them the way they are but just clean the upholstery and wood. There are some paint stains on them.

If you have suggestions or thoughts, please post in the comments!

Happy 2011! Mom's Rice Cake Soup (Dduk Gook)

Happy New Year!

For my family, we celebrate two new years according to the lunar and anglo calendar.  For each of our new years celebrations there are some traditional foods.  The main staple at the Korean new year table is Dduk Gook (Rice Cake Soup).  My mom makes a beef broth with a beef topping marinated in soy sauce, garlic, salt and pepper.  This year was the first year that I made it all by myself.  I am trying to learn my mom's recipes and also share that bond with her.

Luckily, I can share this recipe with you.  Of course my mom doesn't use measuring devices so I am approximating.

My Mom's Rice Cake Soup
Recipe can be for 4-5 people so multiply as needed.
Ingredients:

• 4-5 lbs. of Beef Brisket (unsliced)
• 1 bunch of Green Onions
• 2 bunches/packets of Shitake or Maitake Mushrooms
• 1 Bulb of Garlic (crushed and minced)
• 2 tablespoons of Salt
• 2 tablespoons of Pepper
• 1/4 cup of Soy Sauce
• 2 packets of Flat Rice Cakes/Dduk (these come frozen, dry or fresh--I use either dry or fresh)
• 1 packet of dried and seasoned Seaweed

Directions:

The Night Before prepare the Beef Stock---Boil the Beef Brisket in a large pot and fill with water.  As the water starts to boil, there will be some bubbles and a layer of gunky beef fat/blood that rises to the surface.  When this happens, turn the temperature down to medium-low.  Take a big spoon and small bowl to scoop up the gunky layer. Try not to pick up too much soup though!  Continue to low boil/simmer the beef in the water for an hour.  After the hour, let the pot cool and then put into the fridge overnight.

I have more beef than in the recipe.

Day of---Take the Beef Stock out of the fridge.  You will see that the fat has hardened into solid circles.  This makes it easier for us to lift the fat out of the broth. Take a spoon and remove all the solidified fat and dispose of in a plastic bag.  Leave the stock on the stove as you prepare the Beef Topping and Rice Cakes.

This is after I took out the bigger solidified fat circles.

These are the solidified fat circles that I removed.

Rice Cakes--Take the Rice Cakes out of the bag and put in a bowl of cold water to soak. Most of them are stuck together so pull them apart while they soak.

Beef Topping--Take out the Beef Brisket from the stock pot, thinly slice against the grain and put into a large bowl.  Take the Green Onions and shred/julienne them and throw them into the same bowl with the beef.  Then slice or gently pull apart the mushrooms into strips and add them to the bowl.  Finally, add the garlic, soy sauce, salt and pepper.  Use your hands or put on temporary plastic gloves then mix it all up with your hands!  Set aside and let it marinate in the fridge until you are ready to plate up.

Beautiful green onions and organic maitake mushrooms.

Shredded Green Onions.

Onions and Cold Beef together.

Complete Beef Topping.

About 15 minutes before you're ready to serve, boil the beef stock and make sure it gets piping hot!  While boiling, drain all the water from the bowl of rice cakes and then add them into the boiling stock.  Reduce the temperature to medium-low until rice cakes are cooked which should take about 5 minutes. They should be soft but not too soft or they will get mushy.  Remove the Rice Cakes and put them into enough bowls for your party.  Let the stock keep boiling on the stove.  Take each bowl of cooked rice cakes and add a little handful (maybe 1/2 cup) or the Beef Topping.  Then add the hot Beef Stock to the bowl, ladling the soup over the topping.  Before serving, add thin strips of the seaweed for garnish.  Sorry, we ate it so fast I didn't take a picture of the final bowl.... but I guess that is a good thing, right?

Serve with Kimchi and enjoy!  You can also make this all year round but instead of rice cakes, use cooked rice.