Korean Fish egg stew. Agi Jhim Korean

Spicy fish eggs with lots of veggies.

Tomato Pie

Inspired by Chaiwalla cafe in Salisbury CT.  This is a delicious and unusual savory pie.Buttery biscuit crust with cheese and tomato filling. 

Crust
2 c flour
1/2 c butter (1 stick) Very cold.
4 t baking powder
3/4 c milk (adjust for biscuit-dough consistency) Very cold

Mix in food processor or by hand. Divide in half, for bottom and top crusts.
Chill in the refridgerator for 30 minuetes or more.
Filling
2 pounds fresh roma tomatoes, peeled and sliced
(squeeze all excess liquid from the tomatoes then let the water drain in a colindar, also ad 1tsp of salt
to help more draw out more liquid)
chopped basil, chives, or scallions
1 1/2 c sharp cheddar
1/3 c mayonnaise
2 T lemon juice

Roll bottom crust on floured surface and line 9" pie plate.
Mix all the ingredients less 1/3 of the cheese.  pour in to the crust and top with remaining cheese.

Roll out remaining crust. Cover pie and pinch the edges to seal. Cut steam vents.
Bake at 400 for about 30 to 40 minutes. Just want to make sure the crust is golden and the filling warm.  If not serving directly from the oven, re-heat before serving to melt the cheese.

Eric Ripert and Laurent Tourondel

Not too long ago I had a rare opportunity to photograph 2 great chefs of NYC, if not the world.

Eric Ripert and Laurent Tourondel.  It was a blind tasting, where the chef's had to guess each others ingredients.  Their palates were truly amazing and precise.  Here are some photos.

Chef Eric Ripert's creation.

Chef Laurent Tourondel's creation

Photographed at Le Bernardin. 

Pot sticker maker.

This would have come in handy. Next time I will definetly use this.

Mandoo, Korean pot stickers

I got this fabulous recipe from my cousin SuJin. Super healthy snacks you can keep in the freezer.
I made mine with fish sauce but if you substitute with salt, it will be vegan.
It's better than restaurant or store-bought pot stickers.
This recipe makes about 40 dumplings.  You can freeze them and eat them steamed, fried or
add to soups.  The hard part is folding the dumplings and make 'em pretty.

Ingredients

7 oz. firm tofu (1/2 package of tofu)

 * cubed and wrapped in cloth and all the liquid squeezed out.  It should be dry crumbly.

5 dried shitaki mushrooms, soaked and chopped (any mushroom is fine)

1 1/2 cup of chopped Asian chives

1/2 cup of chopped scallions

1 cup of chopped and cooked bean thread (optional)

 * available in most grocery stores in Asian section.

2 tbsp of fish sauce (substitute 1 tbsp salt for vegan)

1 tbsp of sugar

2 cloves of garlic

Black pepper to taste

Package of wonton wrappers (round ones) 

Dipping sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
pinch of black pepper

Chop tofu into cubes and put it in a clean kitchen cloth.

Wrap it tightly and squeeze all the water out.  Put in a large bowl.

Put all the ingredients except for the bean thread in food processor and puree until

everything is finely chopped.

Add fish sauce and sugar, pulse 4 or 5 times.

Put into the bowl with tofu.

Add the bean thread and tofu mix well.

Making mandoo

Wet the edges of wonton wrapper with wet finger and add 1 tbsp of the stuffing.

Wet the edges of the wrapper with water or egg wash and seal tightly (pushing the air out with your fingers).  Cover with damp towel until you are done.

Your mandoo will become prettier as you get used to folding and squeezing.

You can freeze them or eat 'em right away.  Steam, pan fry or add to soup.

Freezing tip.  Line them up on a tray without touching for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes you can bag them up and freeze them.

Tips for frying.  Fry mandoo till golden brown, add splash of water and closed lid for 2 minutes.

This gives it soft texture that is another way to eat them.

Vegetarian Chili Rellenos

This is a follow-up to my black bean filling.
I just wanted to show recipe's versatility.
Just roast a poblano chili and stuff it with the black bean filling.
Top it with cheese and bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
Serve with sour cream and salsa.
Or you can get fancy and add 2 chipotle peppers and 1 tbsp of the chipotle sauce to
1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of yogurt.  Blend till smooth.
Makes a delicious topping.  Pictured here.

Roast the poblano chili on an open flame, like your gas stove or in the broiler.  (If using the broiler
keep you eyes on it.)
Make sure it's completely charred.  Wrap it lightly with a paper towel or tea cloth let it steam
for 3-5 minutes.  Scrape off the skin with a spoon and also take all the seeds out.

Vegetarian Mexican Black Bean

I am a huge fan of Mexican food. The more I learn about Mexican cuisine, I find there are
endless opportunities to eat healthy and hearty meals.
This is something I made up years ago trying to cut out meat in my diet.
It can be a dip, filling for burritos/enchiladas or eat it with rice.
Extremely versatile recipe.  Also cheap and mostly from the pantry.
Also roughly 220 calories per serving, it's a winner.

Serves 4.
Ingredients.
1 15 oz can of black beans or red beans with the liquid from the can.
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
2 cups of frozen corn
1 chipotle pepper from can + 1 tbsp of sauce
1/2 med. onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
cilantro for garnish
1 tbsp oil
1 bay leaf
1 tsp of oregano
1 tsp of cumin
1 chili powder
salt and pepper to taste.

Directions.
In a med sauce pan heat oil and add onion and saute till tender.
Add garlic and oregano, cumin and chili powder, stir and saute till well incorporated.
add chipotle, beans, tomato sauce, and bay leaf.
Stir and let in come up to simmer.
Add Frozen corn and simmer for 10 minutes.
Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Your choice of chips, rice, tortillas.
Also top it with cheese, sour cream.

*If you want to add more heat, try adding chopped jalapenos to the recipe.

Duk Guk, New Year Day Soup.

Duk Guk soup is a rice cake soup traditionally eaten on New Years day in Korea.
It's a hearty and delicious soup, great for cold winter days.
It's made with oval shaped rice cake in beef broth served with scallions, eggs and roasted nori as
garnish.  I didn't add the nori because I ran out.

















Easy to make, hard part is getting the ingredients.

Ingredients, serves 2
*2 cups of rice cake
*1/3 of dried anchovies  (optional)
1/2 pound of beef brisket thinly sliced.
3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup of scallion, diced
3 eggs, 2 of the eggs yolks separated, whip both.
3 Tbsp of fish sauce.
6 cups of water
1 sheet of nori (roasted seaweed used for wrapping sushi)
6 cups of water

* Available in Korean markets.

Soak rice cakes in cold water.  Enough water to cover the rice cakes.
In a large pot bring 6 cups of water to boil.

Prepare eggs.   ( yolk only)

1. On a medium heat, add 1 tbsp vegetable oil or cooking spray on a non-stick pan.
2. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the pan and spread it thinly. Flip cook both sides.  Like making a crepe.  
3. Transfer to cutting board let it cool and slice thinly.  Julienne. Set it aside.

For Nori.
     1.  roast 2 sheets of nori on gas burner lights.  crush in to small pieces and set it aside,

Soup

In a pot with boiling water, add sliced beef brisket and cook for 30 minutes.
Add garlic, fish sauce and drained rice cakes.
Simmer for until rice cakes are floating.  taste the rice cake to chewy but silky smooth texture.
Add green onions and drizzle remaining egg mixture in to boiling soup.  Do not stir the eggs.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve in a large bowl and garnish with sliced egg yolk and crushed nori.

(Beef brisket is very lean meat and there wont be any fat to skim)