Spicy Red Lentil Soup with Turkey Kielbasa, Escarole, Carrot May 29, 2008

My new project (which in fact is my delayed New Year’s project) is to use up things that have been sitting around my pantry. One of those items is red lentils which I initially bought for hor d’oeuvre presentation purposes a while back. I think a whiiiile back. It’s been used in a few dishes – crispy lentil and burrata salad, dal and… as pie weights. I think that’s it! Wow two dishes. Not very impressive.

I would have loved to make the crispy lentil salad again except having eaten many fatty dishes lately the deep fried treat didn’t seem so appealing, waist-wise that is. So I went with an everyday idea – soup. Seemed easy enough. I sauteed chopped turkey kielbasa in olive oil for a few minutes and when llightly browned I fished them out. A touch of olive oil more to the pot then sweated a chopped onion and shredded carrot (leftover from the preshredded bag sold in markets) and a few chopped garlic cloves. I added chicken stock and water to the pot and added rinsed lentils, paprika, cayenne, and red pepper flakes and brought it to a boil. I added back the turkey kielbasa and chopped escarole.

I did good by using up pantry lie-arounds, but then I was left with a huge pot of soup! The lentils really blew up. Yup, not too used to making lentils. A jar of soup went into the freezer for one of those in-a-hurry days.

Chicken Slaw with Nuoc Chom, Cilantro & Peanuts May 28, 2008

Once the work week started it was time to gather the leftovers in my fridge and put together a decent work lunch. I had a few leftover items in the fridge – a cup and a half of shredded roasted chicken breast, a bag shredded carrot, about 1/4 head of shredded red cabbage, and buttermilk. My first thought was buttermilk cole slaw with the shredded chicken added in. Then I saw some old limes and decided to go on a more Vietnamese turn with a nuoc chom dressing. I combined the red cabbage, carrot, chicken and thinly sliced red onion with fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and garlic. I couldn’t find any chilies in the fridge so I added a generous dollop of chile-garlic sauce to the salad. I topped the salad with cilantro and toasted peanuts. Crunchy, refreshing and satisfying. I love citrus. A healthy lunch that uses up my a leftovers? I’m all over that.

First Real BBQ May 27, 2008

Some of you are wondering what the hell I’ve been doing this whole time. I haven’t been completely non-cooking though. I went through a rough patch with trying to make all sorts of different types of savory brioche, a few turning out successful enough to gift to my French food loving friend Kimi. I made fried chicken last week for the first time. They came out too dark which is why I didn’t take any pictures but were quite tasty cold the next day. I even tried my hand at jelly doughnuts. Man they were adorable but the dough came out chewy! Yes things were going down in my kitchen but all the mishaps had left me sort of hopeless. But the past weekend though I got fired up about one of my favorite foods ever, bbq. Specifically bbq baby back ribs, one of the pinnacle achievements of American society.

Sure I’ve made ribs plenty of times, brined, in the oven, dry-rubbed, grilled, sauced, etc. But this time I was going to try my hand at properly made ribs. That is, low and slow, and smoked. I even bought my first chimney charcoal starter and bag of hickory chips which was exciting. I looked like a kid who had just left the candy store when I bought that. I used Steve Raichlen’s Memphis-Style Ribs recipe which calls for a dry rub and a final sprinkling of spices when the ribs are done. No sauce here which was fine by me. I basted the ribs with the cider vinegar-yellow mustard mop sauce. I raised the internal grill temperature to 50 degrees higher and cut down the cooking time considerably (to prevent diner riots) but the ribs still came out so delicious. I served this with a refreshing cole slaw of red cabbage, green cabbage, red onion, and buttermilk-mayo dressing. It was a perfect Memorial Day weekend meal. Sorry no pics of ribs though. Just imagine them! Tender, juicy and perfectly spiced.

Can’t wait to get a smoker some day. Then it’s really on!

Grillin Days May 13, 2008

Grillin season is in full force. Here’s a little burger I made a while back. Fat patties (too fat apparently) of angus beef seasoned simply with salt and black pepper and grilled over charcoal. Roasted shallots, sharp cheddar and microgreens assist the meat.

What have you been grillin up?

Olympic Kalgooksoo May 7, 2008

Kalgooksoo, or “knife cut noodles” is one of my favorite comfort dishes. When I need a fix I only need to drive for a minute to Olympic Kalgooksoo which specializes in this delicious fresh wheat noodle soup. I always order the chicken kalgooksoo which graces the table in a ginormous metal bowl filled high with soft fresh noodles, tender shredded chicken and comforting delicious chicken broth. I take each bite with a piece of their delicious gut churi (unripened kimchi). It’s not adorned as much as Ma Dang Gook Soo’s but trust me it hits the spot. I can’t say which ones better though since I don’t recall having the noodles at Ma Dang in recent years.

When you get your big bowl of noodles you can flavor with these two seasonings. One is a scallion, soy sauce and sesame oil mixture. The other is dadaegi which is a red chili -garlic-scallion seasoning paste.

Variety was the name of the game that day so I also ordered a tray of jjin mandu (steamed dumplings). My goodness their steamed dumplings are so delicious. I believe the dumpling mixture is made with both beef and pork. So tender and juicy are these little parcels!

Their kongnamul bap (bean sprout rice) is also a hit. It is served exactly like a bibimbap in a clay pot all sizzling away. Bean sprouts, shredded nori and bits of beef all to be mashed up together with a dollop of spicy gochujang and sesame oil. If you’ve ever had dolsot bibimbap you know the best part is the crusted rice on the bottom of the pot. Serious eats right there. You can get this to go and it will be packed mixed with the fixins. Although minus the toastiness it is still quite delicious.

Can’t forget about the accompaniments now. One the left is their dongchimi (pickled daikon). It’s a tad bit too sweet but it provides a nice bite in between all the hot savory foods. And on the right their very popular gut churi. It’s the perfect punch to a mild comforting bowl of kalgooksoo. I’m always so occupied with the chicken kalgooksoo I rarely give myself a chance to try other dishes. There’s a few more noodles to try and when I do I’ll update you! Meanwhile go give these a try if you need a little comfort in your day.

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4008 W Olympic Blvd

Los Angeles, CA, 90019

(323) 931-0007

Girls’ Dine In May 5, 2008

Opportunities to host dinner tend to be few and far between since I live at home with my parents. But just my luck, the past weekend my folks were off to a wedding up north and I would have the place all to myself. So I snatched up this chance to have a little dinner gathering with my girl friends. I kept the menu quite simple and assigned each girl to match a wine to the course of their choice to make things little more interesting.

We started off with the romesco queso fundido which was basically a base of romesco sauce, a layer of smoked gouda, pepper jack, gruyere, and lastly a topping of sauteed peppers and onions all blasted together in the hot oven until the cheese was bubbling beautifully. This was an adaptation of Rick Bayless’s queso fundido con rajas y chorizo – melted cheese with roasted peppers and chorizo. We scooped up this cheesy goodness with French baguette toasts and accompanied it with a glass of refreshing prosecco provided by Han Nah.

Next up was a farmer’s market salad of baby chard, baby romaine, frisee, radicchio, baby spinach, toasted hazelnuts, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and parmigiano reggiano. I dressed it simply with lemon juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil. This salad satisfied my vegetable needs. I could have eaten another plate of this nutritious goodness. Natasha matched this salad nicely with a Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Marlborough. This wine was great – light, fruity and nicely acidic. The palate descriptions on the website state that it is “a full flavored, medium-bodied wine, with an abundance of archetypal currant and gooseberry flavours, that linger on the dry, clean finish.”

I recently got a manual pasta roller so I finally got to try my hand at fresh pasta. This was my first batch so I gave a fair warning to the girls beforehand but the noodles actually came out edible and dinner disaster was averted. I made fresh pasta with white asparagus, black truffle butter and fines herbs. It was finished with a beautiful shower of parmigiano reggiano. Yum. I paired this with a 2005 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, a DOC designated medium-bodied ancient vine Italian red. The flavors of this wine are described as violet, lychee, berry, and rose. Honestly all I remember is that it was delicious and that I will be looking for another bottle soon.

We finished the meal with homemade ice yogurt and macerated strawberries. We sipped on Lindeman’s Framboise while enjoying the sweet juicy strawberries and the tart and cold ice yogurt (aka frozen yogurt). It was a nice relaxing time eating some good food and gabbin it up with the girls. What’s better than the combination of good company and good food?