Life of a Paella...

Paella is a traditional Spanish family style or community style dish. Although it's traditionally cooked on an open fire outdoors, we don't always have that luxury or way of cooking it.

Every recipe or dish has certain components but I always like to encourage to cultivate it to make it your own by adding or substituting what you and your friends/family enjoy.

Ideally in a Paella pan OR you can use a cast iron skillet OR a dutch oven, just a sturdy heavier pan. 

Ingredients:
~ 1 pound shrimp (marinade with a seasoning oil - ideally olive oil & maybe a few crushed pepper flakes (about 1 TBSP))
~ a bag of mussels (1-2lbs or to your liking)
~ 1-2 links of chorizo
~ 1 diced onion
~ 1-2 peppers (bell Or hot peppers if you like it spicy)
~ 1 TBSP of smoked paprika
~ 1 TBSP of grated or minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves, or to your liking)
~ 1 teas of salt
~ 1 pinch of saffron (about a teaspoon)
~  1-2 citrus fruits cut into wedges for garnish and flavor.
~ 2 cups of rice (short grain, typically labeled as bomba or paella rice)
(double the amount of liquid per rice) we usually use 2 cups mussel or clam or chicken broth and 2 cups of chunky tomato sauce)  ie: you could do 3 cups broth and 1 cup tomato also.   (If you have 3 cups of rice, you want 6 cups of liquid, just double the amount of liquid, if that makes sense.)

Start by adding 2-3 TBSP of any neutral oil & then adding the garlic, all dry seasonings and the rice (dry) and begin 'toasting' the rice along with onions & chorizo. Once that is all stirred and mixed together, start layering the other liquid ingredients followed by the shrimp, the mussels (or clams if you chose clams) and then the citrus wedges.  Let everything simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the shrimp is cooked through and the rice is cooked all the way.  You will notice a crust on the bottom of your pan forming which is what you want, the 'socarrat' which is the essence of a Paella. That almost burnt toasted crust of a bottom. YUM! The last thing you can add as a garnish if you wish is a handful of chopped parsley or chives or a mixture of both.

Kimchi Jjigae

Kimchi jjigae also known as Kimchi stew ("jjigae")

Although there are many varieties of kimchi jjigae, I often do the one
that has tofu and some pork belly (aka bacon before it's smoked or cured)
for the flavor.

Ingredients:

1-1.5 cups of chopped kimchi (into bite size)
1 cup (optional or to your liking) of pork belly
        (bacon before it's smoked r cured)
1/2 a block (package) of firm tofu if you want to slice into strips or cubes
        (soft or silken) if you want to add the tofu without cutting
2-3 stalk of scallion sliced  (leave about 1/3 as fresh garnishing)
1 small onion diced
2-3 cloves of garlic minced or grated or sliced (to your liking)
small handful of seaweed or kelp (optional)
about 2.5 cups of water to start (you can add 1 more cup if you wish)
1 TBSP of Korean red pepper paste (gochujang)
1 TBSP of soy sauce or 1 teas of salt
1 TBSP of sugar
1 TBSP of toasted sesame oil

add everything into a pot except for the kimchi & tofu
once everything starts to simmer - add the kimchi & tofu

total cook time (about 20-30 minutes) depending on how much
you prefer the kimchi to be cooked (soft or super soft)

we always enjoy kimchi stew with a side of steamed white rice
(optional ingredients that you can also add: an egg, ramen noodles,
sausage instead of pork belly, mushrooms or zucchini)

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Foode Cooking Class Philadelphia        Birthday gift present activity cooking class

Risotto with mixed Mushrooms & Shrimp

 Risotto with mixed Mushrooms & Shrimp~~~

RECIPE:

1.5 cups of arborio rice

(1) quart of shrimp broth/stock (or seafood broth)

(6-7) mushrooms diced (we used white button in class)

1 tsp of salt (we used merlot infused sea salt)

(4) jumbo shrimp (sauteed in 1 tbsp of butter) & 1/2 tsp of garlic chopped added once the shrimp is cooked

(1) TBSP dried Italian herbs

3 oz heavy cream

1-2 TBSP butter

3 oz Madeira wine or any red wine

3 oz shredded parmesan cheese

neutral oil

PROCEDURE:

~ Sauté 2/pp or desired number of shrimp in butter, pull aside once cooked

~ Sauté diced mushrooms in neutral oil (about 3 TBSP) and once mushrooms start dancing in     oil, add arborio rice as you toast the rice (do not pre-rinse the rice), add herbs, add salt and      25% of broth..

~ Continue stirring rice & mushrooms while continuing to add broth as needed until rice cooks     to just shy of being done (about 85-90%)

~ Once arborio rice is cooked to about 90-95%, add remaining butter, heavy cream and top         with sautéed shrimp and enjoy

Drunken Thai Noodles

Drunken Thai Noodles - often referred to eating as a hangover noodle dish or simply the idea of the rice noodles being cooked 'drunken' in the sauce

Ingredients:
~ 1 pack of flat wide rice noodles.  (bags come in 1 lb bags typically)
(soak the noodles for 20-30 minutes in warm water prior to cooking)
~ 2 TBSP of oyster sauce (2 drizzles across)
~ 2 TBSP of soy sauce (2 drizzles across)
~ 1 TBSP of fish sauce
~ 1 TBSP of rice vinegar
~ 1 TBSP of sugar
~  1-2 teaspoon of chili paste (or to your liking of spice level)
~ 1 teaspoon of grated ginger 
~ 2-3 cloves of grated or minced garlic (or 1 teaspoon of garlic powder) 
~ 1-2 eggs  
~ veggies can be whatever left over veggies you have 
(some common ones are carrots, broccoli, spinach, kale, chives, cabbage, swiss chard, bell peppers, bok choy, scallions etc...)(I typically mix 2-3 veggies)
~ optional to use beef, shrimp or chicken as protein, (if using a protein, add the protein when you're adding your veggies.


Procedure:
Once you have all your ingredients out and ready;
1. use a neutral oil to add to your pan
2. add your veggies, garlic and ginger; toss around to mix
3. after the veggies have sauteed for about 2-3 minutes, add the noodles
4. add the oyster, soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and chili paste on top of the noodles to season  (add more soy sauce if the noodles are coated in seasoning after initial toss/mix)
5. once noodles have been mixed with the veggies/herbs and have started to cook down
(about 3-4 minutes)  create a 'well' in the center and add about a TBSP more of oil and crack 1-2 eggs in the center; let it cook for about a minute until it starts to coagulate and look like the start of scrambled eggs. 
6. Give a final mix with the egg

Plate and enjoy! 

Vegetable Dumplings

Ingredients:
1/2 of a head of cabbage (Savoy is often preferred) 
3-4 carrots shredded
1 large onion diced
1 medium zucchini (optional)
1 eggs separated
salt, pepper & garlic powder (to your liking, optional)
wonton or dumpling wrappers

Procedure:
1. saute the vegetables, add salt/pepper/garlic powder to season to your liking
2. separate egg & place egg white in a separate bowl
mix the raw egg yolks into veggie filling mixture to help bind
3. dip 1/2 of wrapper in egg white bowl (gluing agent)
4. add spoonful of mix into wrapper (not too much, do not overstuff)
fold in 1/2 leaving no openings
5. fry in a deep fryer or with some neutral oil in a small sauce pan or deep fryer   

Pull Apart Bread

Pull apart bread. So easy. So cheesy. So delicious.

There are many combinations or things that you can stuff in bread.
You can take the savory route or the sweet dessert route.

You want to start with a loaf bread that is not sliced but the whole loaf.
You can bake the loaf of bread yourself or purchase already made.
(Whatever fits your time and life style will determine that)

Here are the most relished combinations that you can stuff your pull apart bread.

~ Buffalo chicken
~ Philly cheesesteak style
~ Spinach and artichoke
~ Roasted garlic and mixed cheeses
~ Mixed mushroom and provolone
~ Scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage
~ Eggs, peppers and onions
~ Mashed bananas and diced sauteed apples + nutella
~ Mac and cheese stuffed pull apart bread
~ French onion style (a play of french onion soup)
~ Roasted veggies diced small with desired herbs
~ Strawberry basil and balsamic vinegrette
~ Brie cheese and cranberry

Below are some pictures of different types.
Cut the bread into cube pieces (without going all the way down)
You want the loaf bread to have cubed pieces that eventually pull apart
once it is ready to eat.  Drizzle a little olive, grape seed or veggie oil
on the bread and crevices, stuff your bread along with any cheese/s
and then bake in the oven on 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.
(until the cheese melts and top of the bread is toasted to your preference.

Zestfully,  private party chef Yoon

Orange Cinnamon infused Tea

 Orange Cinnamon infused tea.... tasty!

Make pitcher or carafe of tea chilled or brewed with black or green tea.  For gallon quantity, we use 4-6 tea bags and let sit in cold water while stirring in 1-2 TBSP of honey and 4-5 sticks of cinnamon and 1 whole orange sliced. 

Let all the contents sit in the pitcher for about 2 days for best flavor. Before enjoying or serving, carefully remove the tea bags so they don't break up into your tea.