Ambitious Delicious(ness)

Happy Independence Day! A special thanks to all those who sacrificed for our freedom. Hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend with family and friends!

Puttanesca is an Italian dish that I’ve always enjoyed but never tried making at home. This dish is begins with some garlic and diced onions, then includes a harmonious blend of flavors from anchovies, capers, and tomatoes. It’s a great alternative regular tomato based sauces, and has a ton of flavor!

My friend J and I made this dish together for dinner, then had dessert wine and brownies.

I used real tomatoes, but that canned diced tomatoes may actually work better in this case. I also added kale as a way of incorporating some greens into the dish. If you are a fan of dark greens like kale, you should definitely give this a try!

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Lately, for whatever reason, my palette has been attracted to the sweet + sour + salty combination found in Southeast Asian dishes. This dish combines the same elements as my last eggplant entry – fish sauce, rice wine, chili sauce – but this time, it adds the sweetness of fresh mangoes!

I love mangoes! I’ve only actually seen Irwin and Kent varieties while growing up in New York City. I never knew that there were so many different kinds of mangoes until recently. In Haiti, I tasted some of the best mangoes I’ve ever had. They are the yellow kind and they are called Madame Francis mangoes. I love mangoes so much that I don’t even mind having to floss after eating one!

I realized that I never actually cook with mangoes, so I thought I’d give this dish a try. I’ve had it numerous times at Malaysian restaurants, and often found it to be too sweet, so I used a little bit of honey. It was a refreshing combination of sweet and sour, and went wonderfully with brown rice.

What are your favorite mango dishes?

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This has got to be one of my favorite eggplant dishes, whenever I go to a Sichuan (Szechwan, Szechuan) restaurant, which is not very often.

I had a craving for this specific dish the other day and remembered that I had bookmarked this recipe from the lovely folks at Choosey Beggars a while ago. I included a handful of chilies, as well as extra spicy sauce, which was way to spicy for my liking. It’s been adjusted in the recipe below, so feel free to add more if you want more of a kick! The color is also darker than I’d like, because I went a little crazy with the dark soy sauce. OOPS.

For some reason, I expected this dish to be super complex, but it’s actually super easy to make! It actually tasted even better on the next day, so feel free to make extra to enjoy for a couple of days.

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Last night, I had the privilege of compete in a bakeoff for a fundraiser for The Lamp. The event was held at Double Windsor bar in Brooklyn. Many gathered on a rainy Wednesday night to taste the following desserts:

• Mocha Brownies by Katy Atlas of Sugarlaws
• Seasonal strawberry cheesecake by Jen Bernstein of Local Appetite NY
• Salty butterscotch chocolate chip cookies by Emily Hanhan from (non) adventures of an amateur
• Salted turtle cashew cupcakes by Anna Markow of Very Small Anna
• Asian rice crispy treats by Rachel Mount from Best Part of the Day

The following judges were also present:

• Chef James Briscione: 2-time Food Network Chopped! Champion and cookbook author (also major hottie, just sayin’)
• Giulia Melucci: Author of I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti
• Divya Gugnani: Behind the Burner host & NBC personality

Everyone got a chance to taste all of the delicious desserts and pick their favorite. There were two categories – an audience favorite and a judges’ favorite. I had the honor of being named the audience favorite, while Jen’s delicious strawberry cheesecake was a clear winner among the judges! As our winning prize, we were both mentioned in this NY Daily News column!

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Pa Jeon (pa jun, paejon) is a simple pancake consisting of scallions, onions, zucchini and usually, seafood or meat. It’s a popular appetizer dish that is often shared at the table. This entry is an update to my earlier post. While the old recipe is fine, I wanted to update and share with you what I’ve learned since then.

When making Pa Jeon, I like to aim for two things: chewiness and crispness. I’ve had many unsuccessful attempts at achieving a chewy pancake when using just flour and eggs. It had a strange doughy aftertaste that I didn’t care for. As you know, it wasn’t until I attended this event that I found out what the secret ingredient was.

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If you’re anything like me, you probably subscribe to a lot of food blogs. Interestingly, in the last two weeks, I felt like I entered this alternative universe where “ramps” were in every recipe I came across! Ramps are a member of the onion family,  also known as wild leek, or spring onion.

What’s so special about ramps? Why did it make food bloggers go gaga? Could all of these people be wrong?

According to this article in Time magazine:

“What makes ramps ramps is not their flavor, you see, but their cultural value. The Food Snob’s Dictionary, offers this explanation to Time: “The ramp is not a salad green, but it is a green vegetable, and it is the first legitimately green thing that appears from the ground in April, a month that, in terms of farm yield, is otherwise an extension of winter. For food snobs, therefore, David Kamp, the author of ramps are overcelebrated and overly scrutinized, like the first ballgame played in April, even with 161 more games ahead.”

So what did I think of them? Read below to find out.

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As promised in my Kkan poong shrimp post, here’s a recipe for Jja Jang Myun, aka, noodles in black bean sauce. Hope you enjoy this recipe, Silvett!

While traditional Korean dishes have been widespread, such as kimchi or marinated meats, there is a whole other cuisine that also deserves some attention! Chinese style Korean food was born when Chinese immigrants settled in Korea in the 19th century, and 2005 marked the 100th anniversary of this popular dish, according to wikipedia. I’ve also seen Chinese versions of this dish, called Dan Dan noodles, but have yet to give it a try.

Growing up in Korea, I have early memories of eating Jja Jang Myun. It was a ubiquitous dish, not to mention cheap! Whenever we’d order it for delivery, the men would carry the food in a big tin box with handles, on a motorcycle. The noodles came in actual bowls, so we’d have to put the dirty dishes outside, so that the delivery men could come back for it later. I assume this is no longer the case.

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We had torrential downpour of rain and high winds for about three days straight. I thought I was going to lose it. I’ve realized that it’s not good to be so weather dependent, but I reaaaally need sun! It’s been 60′s and sunny for the past two days though. YES!

I’ve always enjoyed ordering Thai iced tea at restaurants. Thai tea is black tea mixed with orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind seed or red and yellow food coloring. It is usually mixed with condensed milk, giving it a sweet, milky contrast to the bitterness of the tea.

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“I’m buying these because I hate them,” I said, as I bagged up a pound of Brussels sprouts at Wegman’s (aka best grocery store ever but not in NYC). “Not sure what I’m going to do with them but wish me luck!”

I’m not sure why I never had a taste for this small, cabbage-like vegetable. But I never liked them.

Not too long ago, while dining at Recette with Robyn, and there were 5 Brussels sprouts on my plate. I could only stomach 2 of them before giving the rest to her, since there is no point in wasting food.

So what made me give Brussels sprouts another chance?

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Here’s another quick recipe for you. The truth is – I’ve been busy lately, and find myself having to make dinner solely based on the ingredients I have on hand. It’s like a self-imposed Top Chef quick-fire challenge. Except my meals are not fancy, Padma is not here, and of course, there are no judges except for my starving belly.

This dish contains ginger, some fresh herbs that I had frozen from my CSA share, along with a hint of sesame oil. I found imitation crab legs in my freezer, so I threw them in there for color and protein. And if you did not know that topping off any dish with a well-cooked white and a slightly undercooked yolk equals a happenin’ party in your mouth – well, now you know. Looking at this picture makes me want to make this again tonight!

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