Ambitious Deliciousness – Dont Eat Lazy.

Happy New Year!! I’m so excited to announce that I was able to reach my goal of having 500 fans on Facebook! I’m overwhelmed by your support and would like to thank you for reading! It’s not too late, so if you’d like to join, feel free to go here.

And after many many many hours of toying with the look of the site, I decided that it’s now or never. I’ll be honest and say that there are some kinks that I’ll need to fix, but I’m glad to say that I now have a new logo and a new tagline. FINALLY! (If don’t see the new site, please make sure you clear your cache.)

I’d like to share a recipe for a traditional Korean soup that is eaten on New Year’s Day. When I was younger, people used to say that you’d have to eat this soup in order to be another year older. It was a rite of passage to being another year older. Whether you want to be another year older or not,this is a MUST have dish on New Year’s Day!

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This recipe is an example of a classic Korean soup that is easily made at home yet not fancy enough to be in restaurant menus. My ancestors have been using Napa cabbage not only for kimchi, but also boiling it in soup for its refreshing, deep flavor. Though this soup is traditionally only made with Napa cabbage, adding bok choy brought on another layer of flavor and more vibrant green to the soup.

My aunt made this for us the day after our giant Thanksgiving meal. It was so delicious that I had to come home and give it a try. =) I’ll be adding this soup to my list of Korean soups to rotate try!

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Happy Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and memorable start to 2010! I’m humbled and honored that people want to read about my recipes. Thank you so much for reading this site!

I’ve been fortunate enough to receive a Dutch oven (aka French oven) for Christmas! I wanted to buy one for a while, as they are perfect for braising and cooking stews- something my stainless steel pots can’t handle. Modern dutch ovens are made of ceramic that is coated in enamel, distributing heat evenly once the lid is closed. It comes in handy for making wonderfully warm soups for bitterly cold winter days (like today).

After some research, I decided to go with a 5-quart Fontignac oven, from the same makers of Staub (since 1929!). I considered going with a Le Creuset, especially because of the lifetime warranty, but I think I’ll just wait to get that a little bit later.

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Dwen jang jjigae is a classic Korean dish. Jjigae means stew in Korean. The stew is made with fermented soy beans, veggies and tofu. My family loves eating this stew, especially on a very cold day. There’s almost a nutty flavor to the broth, not to mention delicous! Something to note: it’s much healthier to make this at home, since all the restaurants use MSG or artificial beef flavoring to make the broth.

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