Persian Meatballs...

Sorry for the lack of updates again. We've been eating out almost every day this week. I haven't stepped into the kitchen except to make Munchkin some grilled cheese sandwiches. We're going grocery shopping tomorrow, so hopefully I will think of a new post for next week.

Until then....

I will cheat by recycling another post on my other blog~



Get 1 LB. of ground beef and add generous amounts of parsley, mint (lots), cilantro (just a little), garlic and onions. Season it with a dash of salt and pepper. Sorry there are no exact measurements. Just add enough of everything to give the meatballs color like shown above.



Form into little meatballs about an inch in diameter.



Heat a skillet with minimal oil since there will be oil coming from the fat of the meat...



And just cook until done.



Plate it with basmati rice, lavash (flat bread), and some yummy cucumber yogurt!

Cucumber yogurt: Just get plain yogurt and chop some Persian cucumbers and squeeze out all the excess juice. Add it to the yogurt and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I actually added some chopped parsley into the yogurt too and it came out yummy. Next time I'm going to make yogurt with shallots and garlic.

Basmati rice: I like to sautee the rice in LOADS of butter and I add small bits of onion and brown everything. Then I add water (2:1 ratio. 2 parts water to 1 part rice. I use about 1.5 cups rice to 3 cups water) and let boil...when the water is almost all gone, reduce the heat to LOW and cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes until the rice is done. You can even season it with saffron water...which I didn't have the time to do tonight.

Spicy Chicken Drummettes - Korean Style - (매운 닭날개)

I finally went to the grocery store today! It was my first time going without the MR since the whole cancer thing. Of course Munchkin joined me today so I took the time to stop by the mall and do some shopping as well. Things are slowly going back to normal...

I try and only serve fried foods once every two months or so. I figured it's been a while, so I went out and bought some chicken wings for both Munchkin and the MR.

Things needed:

• 2 lbs. chicken wings (at the K-market, they sell only the drummette portion which I like to get)
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 cup tempura powder
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 TSP pepper, 1 TSP onion powder, 1 TSP ginger powder
• Sauce: 2 TB rice wine, 1.5 TB vinegar, 1 TB red pepper oil, 1 TB pure honey, 2 TB gook ganjang, 2 TB red pepper paste, 2 TB sugar, 2 TB corn syrup

In a bowl add 1/2 cup corn starch, 1/2 cup tempura powder, and 3/4 cup water.



Mix it well and add 1 TSP black pepper, 1 TSP ginger powder, and 1 TSP onion powder.



Meanwhile wash and clean the chicken wings.



Add the mixture to the chicken and coat each piece thoroughly like so.



Heat a pot of oil. I just let it sit on high heat for about 20 minutes. MAKE SURE IT'S HOT!



Add however many chicken wings will fit in at a time and let it fry. I ended up having to do four separate batches.



Fry it until it's nice and golden brown and then set the chicken pieces on a baking sheet.



Get the sauce mixture ready. Mix together the following: 2 TB rice wine, 1.5 TB vinegar, 1 TB red pepper oil, 1 TB pure honey, 2 TB gook ganjang, 2 TB red pepper paste, 2 TB sugar, 2 TB corn syrup



After you're done frying all the chicken pieces and they have cooled down a bit...



Throw the chicken into the mixture and make sure to coat each piece really well.



Place them back onto the baking pan and pop it into the oven at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. About halfway through, make sure to flip over the chicken pieces to ensure even cooking.



You're now ready to serve and enjoy!!! I know I should not have eaten it, but I had to do a taste test on ONE piece. =P

Chicken Gizzard Stir-fry - Dak Ddong Jjip - (닭똥집 볶음)

Our lives have been so busy these last two weeks now that Munchkin is officially a Kindergartener. I know it’s such a cliché, but it seriously seems like just yesterday that he was born and look at him now - all grown up and going to school to LEARN. Munchkin has been in preschool since he was 2.5 years old, so this adjustment has been pretty easy for him…so far. He’s bringing home homework, making new friends and just growing up at lightening speed.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 CUP chicken gizzard
• 1 TB sesame oil
• 1 TB mince garlic
• dash of salt and pepper
• 1/2 onion, 1 jalapeno, and 2 whole garlic bulbs (or a handful of cloves)

The MR and I happened to be at Seafood City today and I saw that the chicken gizzards looked pretty fresh, so I picked up a package and was determined to make dak-ddong-jip for the MR. This dish is more of an *appetizer* for beer or soju than it is an entree. This package was about 1.5 LBS and I divided it up and froze the portions I wasn’t going to use. Only the MR and I would eat this, so I only used about 1 CUP of chicken gizzard.

Take your cup of chicken gizzard and begin by cutting away the little white parts. You don’t *HAVE* to do this, but that part is pretty tough and I prefer to just remove it. I also like cutting up the gizzards into smaller pieces because I want them to be extra crispy when fried later.

After you’ve cut up the gizzards, throw in a handful of flour and salt and scrub away. My mom tells me this is to get rid of all the gunk in the gizzards. Afterwards, make sure to rinse numerous times under cool water.

Rinse the gizzards until the water runs CLEAR and bring a pot of water to a boil…

While waiting for the water to boil, go and grab your garlic bulbs and start peeling away.

When the water boils, add the gizzards and let it boil for about 5-7 minutes. This will help rid of the impurities.

While the gizzard is boiling, ready the remainder of your vegetables. Slice up half an onion and one jalapeno.

When the gizzards are done boiling, rinse it under cool water and then drain all the excess liquid. Then marinate the gizzards in: 1 TB of minced garlic, 1/2 TB of sesame oil, and a dash of salt and pepper.

Mix it thoroughly and let it sit for a bit.

Drizzle some oil on a pan and let it get piping hot. First add your vegetables and stir away.

After a few minutes, add the gizzards and keep frying until the garlic gloves start to brown.

Voila! You’re almost ready to serve!

Plate it and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top right before serving.

I personally like dipping mine in a soy sauce/vinegar/wasabi mix. The MR, on the other hand, prefers the good old-fashioned sesame oil with salt and pepper.

Enjoy! Like I said at the start of this entry. This is more of an *an-joo* which is an *appetizer* served at sool-jips (bars). The MR ate his with an ice cold Bud. =)

P.S. This is the first time I took food pictures with my G11 versus my 50D. My 50D was in my car and I was too lazy to go and get it so I decided to experiment with the G11 instead. Not bad at all for a P&S. =P

Spicy Chicken BBQ – Dak Galbi – 닭 갈비

I had all the ingredients for Dak Galbi conveniently on hand, so I decided to give it a go tonight. I was going to save this post for later, but decided what the heck - I’ve been on a blogging binge eh? =P

Ingredients Needed:

• 2 small chicken breasts - I buy the thin breast filets at Ralphs and saran wrap each individual breast and store them in bags in the freezer – I will take a picture one day.
• 1/2 onion – you can use a whole onion, I just had half an onion lying around. =)
• 1 small sweet potato
• 1 CUP of dduk
• handful of mushrooms
• 1 jalapeno
• handful of garlic cloves
• handful of chopped green onions
• 1 CUP of noodles (optional)
• sauce mixture: 1/2 CAN of chicken broth (save the leftover broth for later), 2 TB soy sauce, 1 TB minced garlic, 2 TB red pepper powder, 2 TB gochujang, 1 TB honey powder (or substitute with sugar), 1 TB rice wine(purely optional), 2 TB ketchup

I had an old bag of jjol-myun lurking in my cupboards, so I decided to use it up for this recipe. If you don’t have noodles, no worries. Just skip this part. I like boiling my noodles separately so that I can wash the starch away before adding it into the main meal. You can totally just add the uncooked noodles straight to the dak galbi if you want though. No biggie.

Next, ready your veggies and dduk. I used 1 small sweet potato, 1/2 onion, 1 large mushroom, handful of garlic cloves, 1/2 head of cabbage, and a cupful of dduk. Feel free to add any other veggies you might have such as carrots or squash.

In a small bowl mix together the following:

• 1/2 CAN of chicken broth (save the leftover broth for later)
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 1 TB minced garlic
• 2 TB red pepper powder
• 2 TB red pepper paste (gochujang)
• 1 TB honey powder (or substitute with sugar)
• 1 TB rice wine (purely optional)
• 2 TB ketchup

If you have any questions about any of the ingredients, please take a look at KOREAN COOKING 101. I often get questions about certain recipe ingredients, and if I don’t reply (sorry!) – it’s probably already on Korean Cooking 101. =P

First add the sauce and veggies into a pot (I have a jungol pot, but I was too lazy to bring it out today) and let it cook for a little bit.

Add your cut up chicken breasts next and then mix everything thoroughly.

Meanwhile, cut up a jalapeno and throw it in there as well with some green onions.

At this point, I poured in more chicken broth. I probably could have gotten away with only a little more, but I hate wasting things so I poured in the rest of the can. =P It was probably a bit too much, but oh wells. Anyhow, at this point throw in your noodles! Your noodles are already cooked, so just let everything simmer together for about five minutes and you’re ready to serve.

Voila~ The MR and Munchkin both devoured this tonight and it was a nice change from our normal routine. I hope you enjoy it as well! Whew, I’ve been on a posting rampage today.

It must be time for another scan soon. ;)