깍두기 (ggakdoogi/ spicy Korean radish)

내가 처음만든 깍두기 나름대로 괜친다. 

Sugar

Salt

Radish

Red pepper powder

Garlic

1. Sprinkle sugar and salt. 

2. Sit for 30 min and drain. 

3. Marinate with red pepper powder and garlic. 

Green Curry Chicken (Homecooking)

It's been awhile since I've made green curry. My mother-in-law taught me this recipe. I remember the main ingredients but I can't remember if I'm supposed to add garlic. She's on vacation in Costa Rica so I can't even ask. Times like this reminds me how important it is to take good notes of her recipes. 

Red/yellow/orange peppers

Onion

Green curry (small can)

Coconut Milk (2 cans)

Chicken breast 

1. Sauté peppers and chicken. 

2. Add green curry and coconut milk. 

3. Reduce to desired consistency. 

Easy BBQ Chicken (Crockpot Homecooking)

Bear got home around 10:30pm last night, so I didn't make have to make dinner (hurray!). I also have a cold. When he got home I finally started thinking about lunch the next day but it was too late. So I turned to my trusty slowcooker that can do the work for me while I sleep (double hurray!).

Surprisingly once I gave up trying to make edible pulled pork in this machine, I've actually used it for some delicious meals. When I first bought my crockpot I had dreams that it would prepare all my meals and life would be a breeze. Then reality hit. Food was bland and had the consistency of wet saw dust. For the past two years, this crockpot has seen some terrible times (mostly because I was trying to make pulled pork with recipes off the internet that involved making my own rub and kept adding a mix of ingredients in the hopes it would taste better. It didn't.).

Then, I figured it out - cook on low heat. Since then I have made delicious 갈비탕 (rib bone soup)....and today, BBQ chicken. 

Easy BBQ Chicken (Slow cooker/ Crockpot)

Chicken thighs boneless

Chicken broth

BBQ sauce

1. Emerge chicken in chicken broth until just covered. 

2. Mix in some BBQ to give meat and broth flavour.  

3. Cook low 4 - 4.5 hours. 

4. Drain broth and mix in more BBQ sauce to taste. 

Finally a slow cooker chicken recipe that works. And I didn't have a recipe. I just made it up. I don't know what is more surprising. 

Lunch? No problem! 

Valentine's Day Dinner (Brainstorming)

Bear doesn't like downtown. He doesn't like crowds.

The solution - make Valentine's Day dinner.

I want to try making ribeye steaks + lobster tails. While looking for a good recipe, I came upon this.

And steak university?

Korean Spicy Seafood Fried Rice (Homecooking)

I absolutely love this dish and the recipe is all mine. Whenever I have leftover basmati rice I like to make this dish to pack as lunch for Bear. It's spicy sweet and unlike most fried rice, it only calls for a tablespoon of EVO. It's like a paella but not because it represents Korean flavours.  

Spicy Seafood Fried Rice 

Mixed frozen seafood

EVO

Minced onions

Minced zucchini

Chopped french green beans

Basmati rice 

Salt and pepper to taste

Korean hot pepper paste

Sesame seed oil 

Soy sauce

Mirin

Sugar (or other sweetener)

1. Sauté onions and zucchini in olive oil. 

2. Add seafood and paste. 

3. Add cold leftover basmati rice (works wonderfully if basmati is hard or seems undercooked)

5. Reduce to desired dry-ness of the rice. 

6. Enjoy a big bowl. 

I don't use measurements. You can adjust depending on your taste. I probably make it a little differently everytime but it still turns out satisfyingly good. 

Ikea Swedish Meatballs (Ikea)

I tried this dish for the first time with my sister in New Jersey (pre-horse meat scare) after purchasing a desk for her new place. I don't know why I thought the dish was so tasty back then.

So today, after forgetting to pack my lunch, I was driving around Vaughan looking for a cheap meal to tide me over. (I also lost my debit and credit card so I was low on funds).

On my drive, I noticed Ikea and decided to try the swedish meatballs again.


(not my picture...apparently I paid too much for this meal. Sometimes Ikea offers this dish for a ridiculous price of $1.00. Is it still worth it? Probably not.)

Big mistake #1: Despite being heavily salted, the meatball and mashed potatoes lack flavour. You find yourself dousing the food in an even-saltier sauce to generate some flavour.

But you don't really notice the salt until after the meal.. and then it hits you with a - Bang!

I can still taste the salt in the back of my throat two hours after lunch and downing a bottle of water. This is what happens when you consume 1820 mg of sodium in one dish, when it is recommended that people over the age of 14 should eat no more than 2300 mg of sodium per day (people over the age of one don't need any more sodium than 1000-1500mg per day).

At the same time, the smoothness of the mashed potatoes and soft moist meatballs (which are soft and moist of all the oil/fat that drizzles out when you give the meatballs a squeeze) and sweet lingonberry is texture-wise an easy meal to chew and down your gullet ... and likely the reason for so many seniors at the Ikea Restaurant Cafe (assuming they like soft and salty food). I have to say the lingonberry was the best part of the meal and they just gave me a teaspoon of it.

I'm going to have to go back to the gym tonight just to sweat out some salt.

In the meantime, I'm going to grab another bottle of water.

I would come back for:
Cheap furniture and other Swedish non-food items

Lackluster:
Ikea Swedish Meatballs

Squash Fritters (I need to make this)

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