Fizzy Raspberry Lemonade

Looking for a summer cooler, I tried vodka-lemonade after reviewing recipes at Epicurious.

1 pkg frozen raspberries
1 can frozen lemonade
3/4 C. Vodka (for a lightly alcoholic drink, 1 1/2 C. for a stronger drink)
mineral water

In a blender, puree the raspberries with the lemonade and add the vodka. If it is too sour, add up to a 1/4 C. sugar. Strain to get the seeds out.

To make the drink, pour an inch or so of the syrup and add mineral water to fill the glass.

The first batch I made I was adding the vodka and the mineral water, but it is easier to just put the vodka in the syrup.



Verdict: B+
Credits: Epicurious Fizzy Sour Cherry Lemonade
Leftovers? Yes. Keep the syrup in the freezer.

Korean Supper

Inspired by a Korean picnic menu, I tried two beef dishes for dinner last weekend: a barbecued steak (bulgogi) and a cold noodle soup dish.

First, the shopping list:
1 1/2 lb of sirloin steak
1 lb other steak
ginger
garlic
scallions
cucumber
soba

Simple, eh? I had everything else on hand. I actually bought a 2 lb roast and sliced it into the two steaks.

Bulgogi

First get the steak marinating:

1 1/2 lb. sirloin steak
6 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 T. finely chopped peeled ginger
3 T. soy sauce
1 T. rice vinegar
2 tsp. ground toasted sesame seeds
1 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 t. sugar
ground black pepper

For the ground toasted sesame seeds, toast 1/4 C. seeds in a dry non-stick skillet. Grind in mortar with salt (1 t. or so).



Score steak deeply (nearly through to the other side) in a 1-inch crisscross diamond pattern. Turn over and score the other side. Cover with plastic wrap and pound lightly with a heavy pan to tenderize.

In a shallow dish large enough to hold the steak, combine remaining ingredients. Add the stak and turn to coat with marinade. Cover and marinade in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or up to 8, turning from time to time.



Now get the broth started for the noodles.

Naengmyon

1 lb. beef for boiling (pot roast or round steak)
2 C. vegetable broth
3 T. soy sauce
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. ground toasted sesame seeds (see above)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
6 T. rice or cider vinegar
2 T. pepper vinegar (recipe calls for kimchi juice)
1 T. sugar
salt to taste
1 lb. buckwheat noodles (soba)
2 hard cooked eggs, peeled and sliced

Cover the beef in broth, plus a quart of water and bring to a boil. Skim the surface, then reduce heat, cover and simmer beef until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Then, allow the meat to cool in the broth.



Once the broth is going, you have THREE HOURS before you eat. Make some Lettuce Wraps for an appetizer.

Now, make the other things that go on the noodles.

Hard cook the eggs: cover with cold water; bring to a boil for 5 minutes; turn off heat, cover pan and let sit for 20 minutes; rinse with cold water and let sit in cold water for 5 minutes before peeling.

Vinegar Mustard sauce:

3 T. soy sauce
4 1/2 t. rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard

Mix together in a small bowl. I used dijon instead of dry mustard, because I didn't have any. I am sure it changed the texture, but it was good.

Marinated cucumbers:

1 T. salt
1 cucumber, cut lengthwise and sliced
1 T. rice vinegar
1 T. pepper vinegar
1 1/2 t. sugar
1/4 t. crushed red pepper

In a bowl, sprinkle the salt on the cucumber slices, then cover with water. Let sit for 20 minutes, then drain and rinse and squeeze out excess moisture. In a small bowl or tupperware combine the cucumbers, vinegars, sugar and red pepper. Refrigerate until serving.

When the broth is cooled, remove the beef, trim off any fat and thinly slice. In a small bowl, combine the sliced beef with soy sauce, sesame seeds, garlic and a generous grinding of black pepper.

Mix the broth with the vinegars, sugar and salt. Cool in refrigerator.

Prepare the noodles, drain and rinse in cold water.

To serve, put noodles in a bowl and add broth mixture to cover noodle halfway. Top with sliced egg, beef, cukes and mustard sauce. Set the beef, cukes and mustard out to be added individually. In this picture, the sliced bulgogi is on the left and the steak for the noodles is on the right.



Heat the skinny grill. Cook the steak 4-5 minutes on each side, to medium rare. Slice and serve.





Verdict: B+ for steak, B for noodles. Serve it hot to make it an A.
Credits: Marinated Grilled Beef (Bulgogi) and Cold Buckwheat Noodles (Naengmyon) from Eating Well May/June 1993
Leftovers? Keep the noodle elements separately. The beef is great the next day.

Notes: The noodles are actually better with warm broth. Serve the broth while still warm, or use the broth to cook the noodles. As a warm meal, it still works with cold toppings and gets an A. Beef soup to go with grilled beef is overkill. Save the bulgogi for another meal.

Lettuce Wraps

In a meal of two beef dishes, I could not make this appetizer with ground beef so I tried it with tempeh and extra vegetables. I don't know if it is as good as P.F. Chang's, but it turned out pretty tasty.

1/2 head of Boston lettuce, leaves separated and washed
4 oz. (half package) tempeh, diced small
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. peanut oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced small.
2 stalks celery, diced small
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 T fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. Garlic chili pepper sauce (I use 'A Taste of THAI') or the recipe calls for kochujang
1/4 c. rice wine (mirin)
1 T. pepper vinegar (optional)

Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet and add the tempeh. Cook for a few minutes until it starts to brown. Add the carrot, celery, and half the scallions. Cook 5-10 more minutes, the vegetables should start to soften. Add the ginger and garlic and cook another couple minutes. Add the garlic-chili sauce and the rice wine and vinegar. Cook another 3 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.

Here's the tempeh and vegetables:


Garnish with the remaining scallions and serve with the lettuce leaves.

And here's the assembled Lettuce Wrap ready for a bite. Yum!

Verdict: A-
Credits: Lettuce Bundles with Hot-&-Sweet Meat Filling Eating Well May/June 1993
Leftovers? Yes, but not as good cold.

Notes: I also tried this doubled and it worked out well. It feels like greasy bar appetizers, but it is a vegetarian delight. Don't eat the whole doubled recipe unless you are used to that much fiber. Yowsa.

Memorial Day Grilling

Here it is Memorial Day weekend, the opening of the grilling season. I left my Weber grill in the garage, but I do have my new Le Crueset skinny grill. I got some extra shrimp when shopping for the paella and then went out and found two recipes for citrus-y baked chicken and modified them as grilled chicken with sauce and marinated shrimp.

Shopping list:

1 or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 to 1/2 lb. medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
3 or 4 juicing oranges
1 lemon
4 scallions
1 shallot
1 piece ginger
Ricard or other anise liqueur
fresh rosemary
fresh mint
white wine
lime juice
Tabasco sauce

Prepare the chicken breast:

Chicken breast
1 T. lemon zest
1 T. orange zest
rosemary sprigs
salt and pepper

Slice the chicken breast horizontally, most of the way through. Sprinkle with lemon and orange zest. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the rosemary on the half of chicken breast. Close breast, cover with plastic wrap and pound with a frying pan to flatten. Refrigerate.



Marinate the shrimp:

Juice the oranges, set aside 2/3 C. for the chicken sauce.

3 T. orange juice
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T. lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. dried cilantro
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 T. olive oil
4 dashes Tabasco sauce
1/4 t. salt

Combine everything and cover the shrimp. Refrigerate.



Chicken sauce:

4 scallions, sliced
2 T. minced shallots
1 T. minced fresh mint
olive oil
2/3 C. orange juice
juice of 1/2 lemon
piece of ginger
1 T. Ricard
1/4 C. dry sherry
2 t. sugar
1/2 C. white wine

In a saucepan, cook scallions, shallots and mint in olive oil until soft. Add orange juice, lemon juice, Ricard, dry sherry and sugar. Grate ginger into a sieve and press juice out. Add ginger juice to saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Spoon a little onto the chicken breast.

Add the wine and simmer while grilling, reducing by half (again).

Skewer the shrimp on bamboo skewers, or poke through with the skewer then put the shrimp on rosemary stems. This takes a lot longer, so I only did half on rosemary.

And here I am ready to grill.



The chicken takes about 8 minutes a side. Baste with the sauce occasionally.

The shrimp is much faster, about a minute and a half per side.

Here's the Yucatan Grilled Shrimp Skewers


And the Grilled Chicken in Islands Aromas


I should have made a vegetable side, but I didn't. Served with a side of pasta and a French wine.


Verdict: B
Credits: Chicken Breasts in Islands Aromas in Eating Well May/June 1993 and Chicken Yucatan in Eating Well July/August 1993
Leftovers? Yes, good cold or on a salad

Notes:

Paella rapida

I haven't been cooking much lately, but I wanted to get into the spirit of the summer season and eating for celebration. First stop, paella. This was modified to make it lowfat by taking out the sausage. Of course I added some sausage back in.

2 C. chicken stock + 3 cubes
1 T. olive oil
1/2 lb. medium shrimp
1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast sliced into 1/2" pieces
1/2 lb. hot Italian sausage, sliced
salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/8 t. red pepper flakes
1 1/2 C. arborio rice
1 jar of artichoke hearts
1 C. frozen peas
1/3 C. bottled roasted red peppers, sliced thin

Warm the chicken stock in a saucepan, set aside.

In a skillet, cook the shrimp in 1 t. of oil for 3 minutes. Set aside in a bowl. Brown the chicken and sausage in the skillet, for about five minutes. Remove from the pan and set a side in a bowl.

In another 1 t. of oil, cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Cook for a couple minutes. Stir in the rice.



Add the chicken stock. Stir, bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.



Stir in artichokes, red peppers, and peas. Add the chicken, sausage, and shrimp. Cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.



Serve with an inexpense but old (1999) Spanish wine.

Verdict: A
Credits: Paella Rapida in Eating Well May/June 1993
Leftovers? Yes, delicious.

Notes: The original recipe had a a 14 oz can of tomatoes. I had a larger can, so I used 1 1/2 C. of rice (instead of 1 C.) and then added a couple of extra cubes of broth. (I froze a bunch of chicken stock in ice cube trays.) It worked out great.

Chicken Salad with Bow Ties and Mustard-Sesame Dressing

Another potluck dish. This chicken and pasta salad is fresh and easy.

I don't know what consists fair use, but I think this one recipe over ten years old from a defunct magazine is okay. I repeat it here since I followed it pretty closely.

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 T. sesame seeds
1 4-inch piece of ginger
3 T. dijon mustard
2 T. rice-wine vinegar
1 T. sesame oil
1 1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. soy sauce
1/2 lb. snow peas
1 lb. bow tie pasta (farfalle)
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 red bell pepper, roasted and sliced into thin strips
2 scallions, green part, thinly sliced

Poach the chicken breast: in a skillet, cover the chicken breast with cold water. Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, turn over the chicken, cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Slice the chicken breast thinly and set aside in the refrigerator.

In a small skillet, toast sesame seeds over medium heat. Set aside in a small dish.

Finely grate ginger into a sieve over a small bowl. Firmly press liquid out with the back of a spoon (should be 1 1/2 T. of liquid). Add mustard, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and soy sauce to the ginger juice and whisk until creamy.

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Blanch snow peas in boiling water for 1 minutes. Remove with a spoon or tongs to a colander and rinse under cold water. Return water to a boil and cook pasta. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a large bowl, combine celery, red peppers, scallions and the chicken, snow peas and pasta. Add dressing and toss to coat. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the toasted sessame seeds.



Verdict: B
Credits: Chicken Salad with Bow Ties and Mustard-Sesame Dressing in Eating Well March/April 1994
Leftovers? Good, but not this time. The crowd ate it up.

Notes: I ended up making a little more dressing because I was afraid the pasta would soak it up before the salad was served at the potluck. I stirred a spoonful of mustard into a couple tablespoons of vinegar and a splash of soy sauce and added it to the salad. It worked out great.

Vegetable Breakfast

I have been making a vegetable egg scramble for breakfast this week.

1 whole egg + 2 whites basil and parsely, sliced in fine ribbons 1 poblano pepper, thinly sliced 1 green chilli, thinly sliced 1 clove garlic, crushed and minced 1/3 vidalia onion, sliced 3/4 C. broccoli, chopped 1 tortilla parmesan cheese Olive oil, Salt and pepper

I boil several days worth of broccoli to pre-cook, since it takes the longest. Heat the oil in a skillet and brown the garlic, then saute the peppers and onions until the onion is translucent. Beat the egg and whites with a couple teaspoons of water and the herbs and a little salt and pepper. Add the cooked broccoli to the skillet, allow a few minutes to reheat if it was cold. Stir in the eggs and the cheese. Cook a minute or two until eggs are set and the cheese is melting. Serve with salsa on a warm tortilla.

And the finished product:



Verdict: B, but dependent on the quality of the salsa and cheese
Leftovers? No.

Notes: Of course this changes with the contents of my refrigerator. Pepper jack is the best cheese for this meal.