Ambitious Deliciousness – Dont Eat Lazy.

One of the challenges of having a food blog is coming up with new recipes to write about. Thankfully, I don’t think I’ll ever run out of ideas, due to the number of bloggers who continue to inspire me with their cooking. As I was contemplating what to make for Mother’s Day, I consulted my ever-growing list of recipes that I had saved.

Lucky for me, I had bookmarked is from Chef Julie Yoon, whose blog consists of delicious recipes and photos. I love seeing pictures of her cooking lessons, because I’d like to try hosting classes one day, when I’m all grown up and have some more kitchen space (whichever comes first).

My Mother’s Day dinner menu started with shrimp cocktail with cocktail sauce, followed by chicken marsala (recipe to come) and orzo salad as the side dish. As a last minute dessert, we grabbed some banana cream pie – random, yes, but nobody complained.

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What’s your favorite comfort food?

I’d bet that for a large number of you, lasagna is the perfect comfort food! Though I’m a fan of lasagna, it’s not something my mom made for me while growing up. If anything, I would say my version of comfort food would definitely be a Korean stew.

Dan and I were in Woodbridge, New Jersey a couple of weekends ago to run an errand. Being a New Yorker, I’m always making some sort of joke about New Jersey (snicker snicker). But not on this day. We ate Chick-Fil-A (yes, I know NYU has one) and stopped by Wegman’s to get groceries! Is it possible to be obsessed with a grocery store? Why, that is a resounding yes! Wegman’s reminds me of my college days in upstate New York and I will always have fond thoughts when it comes to Wegman’s.

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Bibimbap, a classic Korean dish consisting of sauteed vegetables over rice, has consistently been one of my favorite dishes growing up.  When the vegetables are mixed with gochujang, and sesame oil, the flavors complement each other wonderfully!

Dolsot, which means “stone pot,” allows the egg and the rice to cook, creating a nice crunch. It’s one of the greatest ways to enjoy bibimbap. When you go to restaurants, it usually costs an extra $2-$3 for the stone bowl.

But, I learned from Dan that his mom makes Dolsot bibimap at home! It’s such a great idea; I’m sad that I realize I could do this sooner! It turns out, the small pot that I already have for Korean stews can be used as a hot stone. It’s a win win situation!

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Remember my cheesecake post? This post is from the same night. My humble kitchen was transformed into a photo studio, complete with a gigantic tripod, two light diffusers and a humongous camera! It was awesome!

Photo by Edmond H. Lee*

Since this dinner recipe is pretty long, I’m going to post about the rest of it later. Having Cate and Edmond in the kitchen with me was so much fun! C was in charge of stirring the risotto. She stirred and stirred and stirred…her arm was about to fall off! Thank you for your dedication, C! You made a really yummy risotto!

While this was going on, E was running around trying to get action shots. I really liked having company in the kitchen because all I had to do was pay attention to the food, instead of stirring and trying to take pictures at the same time. Hope you enjoy E’s photos!

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How is it Wednesday already? I’m embarrassed to say that this is only my first post for the week. But this is a very comprehensive post so I hope you will forgive me. Why don’t I just entice you with a photo?

Am I forgiven now?

Bibimbap literally means “mixed rice” in Korean. It is a delicious way to eat rice and vegetables. There are a traditional bunch of vegetables that go into this dish (root vegetables), but I’ve seen a lot of variety as well. It’s basically a bunch of side dishes rolled into one, with a spicy sauce.

When I was growing up, my mom made this a lot and I looooved it. I was completely happy with eating it for 3 days straight! I will always associate great memories with this dish. My mom used to add grilled onions which I skipped, because I just think it overpowers the other flavors, and cold onions are gross to me.

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