I came back to an empty house, famished, from my 3.5 mile walk back up to Altadena from my studio. (7 miles round trip!) The girls are out, so dad made a full gringo KBBQ spread all for himself. And on H-Mart tableware no less! I made everything from scratch except the kimchi, which was from a jar. Drank a German beer with it though… had to leave that to the champs. Call it fusion!
This all took about an hour to cook, while listening to Charlie Parker. Korean food really is a dream to cook and to eat. I feel lucky to know so many generous Korean people in my native LA who have shared with me their favorite foods and tips on how to make them. It’s one of the world’s great and unique cuisines. So very comforting and cozy but also extremely healthful and nourishing. That’s a hard line to straddle.
Oh! There’s the girls back from school. Time to switch from Charlie to K-pop…until next time!
Sesame and soy glazed pork belly
Kimchi
Bean sprouts with chili flakes, garlic, salt and green onion
Cucumbers in sesame oil, sugar, salt, and furikake
Rice
Roasted Seaweed
Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen
Made gyoza restaurant style with the crispy bottoms. I was prepared to fail miserably, but it worked! First try! Thanks to one of my new favorite cooking accounts, @cocolarkincooks for the tip!
This was fantastic. The most iconic item on this IG page, my simple roasted chicken (salt cured for 24 hours). Threw a couple garden zucchinis and sun golds into the pan while the chicken was resting with some garlic and shallot. Let them soften a bit. Added seasoned basmati rice (ghee, salt, pepper, turmeric, whole cumin seeds, paprika, garlic) to the pan and mixed it all up. Carved the chicken, and served it on top. God, it was good. And so comforting. I will have to make this again soon. Would be good with some kind of spicy tzatziki type sauce…
Scenes of summer: simple pastas in various tomato based sauces, roasted vegetables simply seasoned, fresh garden tomatoes drowned in good olive oil. People often ask “what’s your favorite thing to cook?” This.
Late summer means one of my favorite appetizers, Grilled Shishitos! Coated in soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar, they are blackened and sprinkled generously with furikake. Dipped in a creamy soy and sesame yogurt dip.
In the Burger Lab yesterday. I’ve almost perfected my burger recipe. It is:
- Hickory smoked all beef butter patty
- Burger sauce: Mayo, Ketchup, Mustard, sweet relish, diced onion, salt, pepper
- Kraft Deli Deluxe Single
- HOMEMADE Fermented “Sanders Trash Can Dill Pickles” See my grandfather’s illustration (image 2) in our family cookbook
- iceberg lettuce Wedge
- thinly sliced onion (might omit next time)
- warmed brioche bun
As I said, it is ALMOST perfect. Always room for improvement!
Eggplant stir fry with egg, bell pepper, Thai basil from the garden. Served alongside grilled Ribeye marinated in lime, soy and fish sauce. Lots of jasmine rice. Summer Family Dinner in the garden.
Tonight’s Dinner, featuring many fresh zucchini and garden herbs. Zucchini soup with mint, basil, heavy cream, and parmesan. Spaghetti and julienned zucchini in simple tomato sauce with capers, oregano and rosemary. As a garnish for both, I fried the zucchini flowers in copious olive oil and a handful of grated parm. I fried it slowly until crispy and then removed them from the pan in one big piece like a Parmesan pancake. To sip: Facia Brutto Centerbe Giallo which is..too…perfect for this dinner.
