April 13, 2013

Korean BBQ- an easy take on it.

Korean BBQ is an awesome way of eating BBQ.
Especially if you have a grill or griddle type of cookery.
When we think of BBQ- we might often think of the southern style of BBQ
with ribs, coleslaw, biscuits, corn, and so much more which is also finger "lickin" good
but what's extra fun with Korean BBQ is that it's often interactive where you can
cook at the table while assembling lettuce wraps with your freshly cooked meat
right at the table!  You know it's yummy when the meat hits the hot pan and you
hear that sizzle and smell the smokey, flavorful scent of sweet, sweet and spicy BBQ.

Some of the side condiments can be
Roasted Garlic~~
An easy way to roast garlic is to take the whole head and slice the top off
so that the cloves are exposed--drizzle a little olive oil on top and wrap them
in aluminum foil and simply place them in muffin tins on bake in the oven
on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
You can do the same on an outside grill as well.
(If you are roast/grilling them outside- you don't need the muffin tin-just wrap them in foil)


Shredded Scallions~~
You can purchase a tool to shred scallions or simply just cut them with your knife
in long strands.  You can drizzle a teaspoon of soy sauce rather than salt.
You can also add a sprinkle of sesame seeds and pepper powder flakes as well.


When choosing which meat to BBQ for Korean BBQ---
the most common meats are:

Bulgogi which is thinly sliced rib-eye
(which is often the same cut of meat in really good cheese steaks)

Kal-bi which is Korean for short ribs-
You can purchase the ones with or without the bone for Kal-bi.
(this cut of meat will be the most expensive but worth the taste)

Pork Belly (thick cuts of bacon) are also a popular cut of meat when
BBQ-ing.  The sauce/marinade for the pork is often spicy.

The marinades are very similar but you can change it up by adding your desired
degree of spiciness to your friends and families comfort level.


Bulgogi (ribeye-not spicy)
ingredients:
sliced rib-eye, slices of onions, scallions, carrots, sliced mushrooms (optional) sesame seeds.
---marinade: soy sauce (enough to coat the meat but not have a puddle in your mixing bowl)
---sugar (about 1 TBSP per pound of meat)
---sesame oil (a few drops - about 1 teas)
---rice vinegar (any vinegar is ok-rice vinegar is often associated with Asian cuisine)
    (about 1 TBSP-equal parts with the sugar)
---grate in 1/4 Asian pear or apple (optional) - (natural sugar and a natural tenderizer)

You can use the same marinade for the Kalbi (short ribs).
Carrots and mushrooms are not used for the short rib recipe.


ingredients: pork belly, slices of onions, scallions,  sesame seeds (optional)
---marinade: soy sauce (enough to coat the meat but not have a puddle in your mixing bowl)
---3 TBSP of pepper paste (or more to your spiciness liking)
---grate in 1/4 Asian pear or apple (optional) - natural sugar and a natural tenderizer)
---grate about an inch of ginger (the ginger helps take away the smell of pork)
---sugar (about 1 TBSP per pound of meat)
---sesame oil (a few drops - about 1 teas)
---rice vinegar (any vinegar is ok-rice vinegar is often associated with Asian cuisine)
    (about 1 TBSP-equal parts with the sugar)


Lastly,  the best way to enjoy your Korean BBQ is to have some red leaf lettuce 
and wrap your freshly cooked meat wrapped in lettuce with rice- (optional),
the roasted garlic, the shredded scallions, spicy cucumber (optional) and 
of the course the yummy, delicious paste.

The paste is simply made from equal parts of Korean red pepper paste and miso paste.
a few drops of sesame oil, rice vinegar and  sesame seeds to garnish. 

Your friends and family will surely enjoy this BBQ feast that you can create with them...
as long as they are not vegetarians.
The Korean BBQ menu is surely for meat lovers!



Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food


March 25, 2013

Baked Veggie Chips

In the world of attempting to eat healthier, drink healthier and simply just BE healthier...
it just made sense to make some veggie chips.
I certainly like healthy food but I'm not a super health fanatic either. 


I decided to take a sweet potato, some parsnips (carrots's cousin with a kick) and some beets
and bake some veggie chips.


I simply took my hand dandy mandoline and sliced the veggies on the thin slice setting.
I laid them out on a paper towel to soak up any extra moisture and then brushed on some
olive oil with some sea salt. I then laid them on a cookie rack in the oven on bake at 350 degrees.
It took about 35-40 minutes. 









They were pretty tasty. The sea salt gave the chips that extra salty flavor everyone enjoys in a chip.
The negative is that I'm not quite convinced yet that baking veggies whether it be sweet potatoes, beets
or even Kale is worth the 40+ minutes of time to eat a small bowl of veggies.
But! nonetheless... these veggie chips were pretty tasty!


Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

March 20, 2013

THANK YOU!

Thank you.

Although I started my food journey and venture years and years ago... (too long to count)
I started a food blog that has turned into a food blog/website exactly 2 years ago in March.

It has certainly been an adventure and a venture for sure!
From co-deciding whether to expand a restaurant or to sell it and once the decision
was made to sell it... being sold in 10 days FLAT!     (2005)

---to making food for friends and families especially some crazy yet AWESOME cakes
(6 layered Rainbow cakes to "Pumpples" and "Blupples" where pies are being baked inside
of cakes, to everything on the menu being skewered bridal showers, 30 birthday cupcakes in the shape
of the number 30 to doing restaurant consulting where restaurants asked for what I thought
of this or that (confidential)... to Charity dinners to teaching cooking classes at local high schools and
township organizations to In Home Cooking Classes.

Meeting all the different people I have met so far has been truly humbling and an
awesome experience.

At this point- almost every other day I get an email requesting if I can make food for a party
or teach a cooking class of some sort for this or that...
even companies requesting to write food posts for them along with...
oh yeah-- and being sold at an auction!
How many people can say they were sold at an auction especially for a great cause.

some stats I'd like to share simply because I actually can't believe it myself...
50,000+ page views
8000+ followers in the US
Blog visitors from 131 different countries  (I can't even name that many countries!)
309 blog posts... wait, 310 including this one! haha

Thank you to all the people who read and follow what I have to share and post about.
It's really not all that exciting what I have to say... it's the people that actually read it
that are cool and awesome for taking a few minutes out of their day to see what I wrote.

Again, THANK YOU!




Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food



March 18, 2013

Avocados

Did you know that avocados grow on trees?  Ok, so you already knew that.
Did you know that they don't ripen on the tree like the way most fruit do?


Avocados are purposely harvested prior to ripening.
So, almost like the way florists have to plan for their event arrangements as far as
carefully considering how long it will take the flowers to come to full bloom or not full bloom
depending on the occasion and style... chefs have to do that as well when it comes to
the produce being just right!

When I go to the supermarket... I will search the produce items carefully through the bins.
When I want that perfect avocado I want one that is not green but black. I also
feel them gently pressing on them to see if there is one that is soft. I also want one that has no
cracks or sunken spots for those will be areas that are going to be black and going bad.
For those of you that feel like you have to shake everything--
if you happen to shake your avocado and you hear rattling... don't get that one for if you hear
rattling it means that the pit has pulled away from the flesh and it will be waaaay over ripe.

If you don't need your avocado right away and want to ripen it at home---
make sure you don't put it in the refrigerator because they will never ripen in cold temperature.
Place it in a brown bag so that the gas that is released that helps it to ripen basically gets trapped.
This should take about 4-6 days.
If you want to naturally ripen it even faster... you can throw an apple, banana or tomato
in the brown bag with the avocado and it should take anywhere from 1-3 days depending on
room temperature etc..

You can refrigerate avocados but only when they are finished ripening.
They should last up to 5 days in the refrigerator after they are ripened.


Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food


March 6, 2013

Strawberry Iced Tea with Basil

Boil  a kettle of water and steep 8-10 green tea bags.
Add 1 pound of strawberries hulled and halved.
Cut leaves off basil stems (about 1 cup)
Add 1/2 cup agave nectar or liking of sweetness
Lastly, add a cup of cold water and a cup of ice.

(good to freeze some strawberries with a little tea in the ice trays to serve with)


      


Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food


February 28, 2013

Cilantro is Coriander

Cilantro.... it seems that people either love it or hate it.

Cilantro is an herb with flat,
wide lacy green leaves and of course that strong flavor.
The seed of the cilantro plant is known as coriander.
Although cilantro and coriander come from the same plant, their flavors
are very different and shouldn't really be substituted for each other.

Coriander was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians.
The Bible actually mentions coriander in Exodus 16:31
"The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like
coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey."


Coriander, like many spices, contains antioxidants and is
used for herbal medicines along with soup broths, salsas,
wraps, tacos, bread, dips, garnishes & so much more!


Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food


February 27, 2013

Coleslaw

The word "coleslaw" comes from the Dutch word, "koolsla", "kool"
meaning cabbage and sla, meaning salad.

This recipe will serve about 3-5 people as a side dish.
If you're looking for an easy and DELICIOUS coleslaw recipe... this is it!

Ingredients:

1 bag coleslaw mix (found in the produce section already shredded)
1/4 - 1/3 of medium sized red onion diced up really small - (almost minced)
1/3 cup (maybe 5-6 heaping Tbs) of Mayonnaise
drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1.5 Tbs of Agave Nectar or sub 4-5 Tbs white sugar or grate in half an apple
if you're staying away from sugar
1 .5 tsp white vinegar
sprinkle of salt (sea salt for best flavor)
sprinkle of poppy seeds (optional)


Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food