UN DEUX TROIS Brasserie (Itaewon)

Cherry blossoms, or fleurs de cerisiers as they would say in French, have been making their perfect pink appearance the past few days in South Korea. Since living here it has been one of the many beautiful things I eagerly look forward to each spring.

Speaking of all things French…I recently took one of those silly Facebook quizzes (you know the ones that secretly gather all of your personal information) and it indicated Paris was the perfect city for us! HA-HA… ttttthhhhanks Facebook, I could have told you that years and years ago. Ever since I was a little girl I have been enchanted by French culture and cuisine.

If you recall from my prior post, we ended our meatless month of March and wanted to celebrate with a feast, something extra special… French cuisine! I spent the entire month of March lusting after the thought of this dinner and it was finally here! So Saturday evening we joined our good friends at UN DEUX TROIS Brasserie for dinner. It was absolutely delightful! We said cheers to some recent job related news for the two of them, but little did we know that we’d be saying an even bigger cheers by the end of the meal. (More on that later)

The reservations were made for 6PM and due to the heavy Seoul weekend/ holiday traffic, we all were running a tad bit late. Luckily the staff were kind and very understanding and there was no issue made. On that note, we do highly recommend making a reservation because as the sun began to set the crowd grew. When we did eventually arrive, we were instantly greeted by the friendly staff and immediately taken to our table. As we walked through the restaurant, I felt like I was in a daydream being whisked through a genuine French brasserie with the decor of small hexagonal white floor tiles and the glow of the tiny white candles arranged on the sleek black furniture. EEK! I swoon for this black and white Parisian style!

We ordered the following and enjoyed tasting one another’s meals as if we were food critiques. I think we made the chef somewhat nervous as he peered out from the open kitchen, watching us savoring each bite, discussing the flavors, insisting that one another try another bite from this section, now this section of the plate. Our many compliments to the chef and kitchen staff as well.

(MAGRET DE CANARD- roasted organic local duck breast from Yeong-Am, orange brine, potato dauphinois 장시간 조리한 영암산 유기농 오리 가슴살 요리 (한국) )

(POTATO DAUPHINOIS)

( ESCARGOTS DE BOURGOGNE AU BEURRE D’AIL escargot in garlic butter – 갈릭버터가 곁들여진 부르고뉴 스타일 달팽이 요리 (프랑스)

(TRUFFÉ BURGER -foie gras, gruyere cheese, truffle mayonnaise and caramelized onions with french fries 거위간 푸아그라 (프랑스) 그뤼에르 치즈, 송로버섯 마요네즈, 카라멜라이즈드 양파가 어우러진 버거와 프렌치 프라이 (미국)

(LAMB ROASTED WITH VARIOUS HERBS)

(“L’OMELETTE NORVEGIENNE” FLAMBÉE AU GRAND MARNIER -baked alaska with vanilla and chocolate ice cream, genoise sponge cake, covered with meringue, finished with grand marnier liqueur flambé 그랑 마니에르로 플랑베한 “베이크 알라스카” )

(VERRINE DE MASCARPONE ET POMME CARAMEL, FEUILLETINE -apple and mascarpone cream trifle, butterscotch and feuilletine flakes 바삭한 크레페 조각과 버터스카치를 곁들인 사과와 마스카르포네)

(HOUSE SPECIAL ALMOND PIE A LA MODE )

Final verdict on the food is…Everything we ate for the most part was fresh, tasty, rich, sophisticated and complex. When are we going back again?! My vote is sometime in late spring, early summer (got that Mr. B?). I keep picturing us dining on the terrace in the evening, with our glass of wine in hand as we watch the world go by. My expectation for this place far exceeded what I even imagined. Overall a wonderful experience and well worth a dining splurged!

I left you guys sort of on a cliffhanger above, I apologize. I think this will make up for it…

YEP! He liked it so much he put a ring on it! (couldn’t help myself)

Seriously….Just by looking at these two, it’s easy to see they’re nuts over each other, since he can’t seem to a keep that gigantic smile off his face when his eyes are on her. Her eyes always have this twinkle when he pulls her in close; honestly, it’s that romantic movie look you that you rarely see in person. The two of them are perfect together and we are so pleased that they found one another. CHEERS (see I told you more to cheers)! I’m not going to spoil the thunder of the engagement details, you will need to ask the happy couple to be. Congratulations guys!

Backpackbees

Directions:

Address: 123 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/123Brasserie
Website: http://brasserie123.com

Uijeonbu: Palga

From what my good Korean friend tells me, Palga is a famous family owned and operated Chinese restaurant located in Uijeongbu city, that is well-known for its Koreanized sweet and sour glutinous rice pork, also known locally as Tangsuyuk (Korean: 탕수육, Chinese: 糖醋肉). Mmmm lets talk about the word “glutinous”. It doesn’t sound appetizing but it taste oh so good! If pork isn’t your thing you can swap the meat out for beef, or even shrimp.

I know if family is reading this post, they are a bit shocked I’m even writing about a Chinese restaurant. Why? When living stateside, every single time we’d order Chinese, or go to a restaurant, I’d get ill and have all sorts of stomach issues. Later it was determined that it was because of MSG. Anywho, if you are like me, you’ll be glad to know that this restaurant passed with flying colors. Thankfully no upset stomach to report back on.

The restaurant sits out on the Main Street and is very easy to recognize with its Chinese style that starts on the outside and continues on into the dining area. When we walked inside, the decor made me feel like we were back in China for the afternoon, possibly visiting a traditional tea shop. The wood furnishings were beautiful and overall the restaurant was very clean. There are 104 items on the menu and each one is also translated into English in case you cannot read Korean. The staff was not overly welcoming, but they were quick and attentive to us. The prices were fair and the portions plenty, so much so we couldn’t eat everything we ordered. I think it was a serious case of our eyes being bigger than our stomach.

So what did our eyes order? Of course a plate of Tangsuyuk, Jajangmyeon (Korean: 자장면, Chinese: 炸醬麵) – steamed noodles served under black bean paste (if you recall we ordered when we were moving into our new place last summer). Jjamppong (Korean: 짬뽕, Chinese name: 炒碼麵) – spicy noodle soup flavoured with onions and chili oil and various seafood and creatures (we eat this often when Mr.B is scuba diving on the east coast). Oh! can’t forget the FREE banchan! You know, the free little side dishes served in Korea that make it feel like Christmas when they are sat on your table. We had pickled radish and toasted peanuts, both dishes equally addicting!

If you are ever in the area and Chinese is striking your fancy that day… stop in and give it a try.

Backpackbees

Directions:
 
Palga
Address: Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-1-dong 201-11
Phone: 031-847-8988
Hours: 10:00 – 22:00

Wednesday Weekday Update

Well hello again and welcome back! I hate to ask, but how’s the weather been where you live? Here? Oh, here it’s been rather mild, we’ve been pretty lucky. Some of the local expats married to Koreans tell me that the last snow we had recently is like the same representation of punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) in the states. I’m not sure if it’s really true, or even makes sense…but…who am I to question it? Eh, I’ll go with it.

Enough weather chatter let’s get down to the important stuff. You know like what have you been eating these days? Salads? Soups? Meat stuffed with more meat? Inquiring minds want to know!

I’d love to say that lately we’ve been eating less sugar and sweets, walking more, traveling more, but then I’d be lying, LOL. You know we love a good dessert, the yellow dust has been creeping in lately from China and messing with our walks, travel, nope there hasn’t been any traveling to update you on. Wamp-wamp.

We have however been reading lots of books recently, which isn’t the most typical for both of us, but Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly been a favorite! Also, I’ve recently discovered podcast on ITunes. Seriously?! How did I miss the boat on this one? Stuff you Missed in History Class, Freakonomics, The Sporkful. If you didn’t know, you’re welcome too.

We have however decided to go meatless for the entire month of March. Yep, you read it here first folks…Bees have went vegetarian! Be prepared if you cross our paths and we go caveman on you. How’s the saying go? I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry? Ha-Ha! Something like that, right? Just kidding, it’s not that extreme for us. We honestly don’t consume a ton of meat To begin with.

We’ve got two exceptions to our month of meatless March. One is that we sorta kinda scheduled a supper club already and can’t force all of our guest to only consume vegetarian…wait…or could we? Kidding! Don’t worry Mandy, there will be bacon! The other is that we will still consume fish. I think that technically makes us Pescetarian, but who’s labeling here?

We kicked off our very last day in February with our final meat filled meal in Itaewon at Linus BBQ. This place has a MASH tent and vibe going on, what’s not to love about that? I forgot my camera, but Mr. B had me covered with iPhone photos of the meal. Someone recently said that if you don’t take a photo of your meals, it didn’t really happen. So here we go…because….this.really.happened. (And we already crave more) make sure to show up early to get a table and due to popular demand they might run out of whatever you and your belly craves.

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

After we finished our meal, I made sure to shoot Linus a message. “Just wanted to send a quick thank you. We had an outstanding dinner tonight at your restaurant. Your staff was super quick and very attentive. The food….wow…I’m not even sure how to even begin to describe the deliciousness. We were instantly swept on a daydream back to our hometown in Pennsylvania with the sides of baked mac and cheese, coleslaw and baked beans. The meat brought back so many memories of our travels in the deep South. epic. It had the perfect balance of juiciness, smoke flavor and season. Well done! We will absolutely tell our friends and continue to come back for more when we get down to Seoul. Thanks again Linus.”

There wasn’t any korean fusion in the food, just flat-out good Southern BBQ. It’s sure to cure any homesickness you may be feeling, or in our case celebrate and kickoff a months worth of being meat free. Ps: wait until you see what we’ve decided on when we end our month!

Next, let’s talk live culture, probiotic to be exact. I’ve got a mini science lab brewing between my fridge and countertops. I’ve been lucky enough to come across milk kefir grains gifted from a sweet friend that is just as passionate about cooking, eating, nutrition and just plain food! Have you ever heard of Kefir, or maybe you make them as well? Tips are always welcomed. These guys are a powerhouse of goodness and I’ve been throwing it into our morning breakfast smoothies. YUM!

Off to bed, goodnight all!

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

Linus BBQ: on Itaewon Street locate McDonald’s and take the staircase to the left downs keeping straight in the underground shopping area until you come to a glass door. On the other side of the door you will find The restaurant.

Address: 서울시 용산구 이태원동 56-20 지하상가
Yongsan-gu, Itaewon-dong 56-20 B1
Seoul, South Korea
PHone: 02-790-2920
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LinusBbq

Shop Local: Avenue Flower

You know me, I’m always out and about in search of a great new find. Tonight I think I’ve found another great little gem to add to my collection. A locally owned flower shop!

I know what you are thinking…another flower shop… what is the big deal? The big deal is that to me finding the perfect little local flower shop is like drinking a tall glass of straight happiness concentrate! There is just something about the feelings I get when going into locally owned flower shops, local farmers’ markets, and even perusing the floral section of grocery stores to see what’s in season. Have you sipped on that same Kool-aid and can relate to the feeling?

The owner is young and super sweet, but don’t let her age fool you into thinking she’s inexperienced. The hand tied flower arrangements are gorgeous and stylish! She’s turning out some modern and hip bouquets, baskets, wreaths, teaching arrangement classes and has a nice following of customers buzzing in and out of her shop too. I cannot even express how refreshing it is to not see just some baby’s breath or basic carnations thrown together for some astronomical price.

Speaking of price, just name it and pick out a few flowers that you’d like to base the arrangement around and she will work her magic.

^ Above is my flower arrangement and below is the sweet purple flower that she threw in for service.

Backpackbees

Address: Avenue Flower 410-1 Jinshan Plaza 1F Uijeongbu Minrakdong
Phone: 070-4173-1633
Website: Here

South Korea: Lunar New Year!

새해 복 많이 받으세요, Happy Lunar New Year all!

It’s crazy to sit here and realize that this is our 4th and 5th Lunar New Year in Korea. Honestly, WHOA! Anywho I’m sure if you’ve been following along with our blog from the beginnings you know what Lunar New Year is all about. FOOD! Kidding… well kinda, sorta. It’s about family and being together, much like our own special holidays in the US. And FOOD.

So to celebrate Lunar New Year, why not get festive and gather up your friends and teach them how to easily make dumplings? Just remember two magic words, fill and fold and the rest will come into place for you. The great thing about dumplings is that you can be as basic, or crazy creative with the filling ingredients as you’d like and they will still be delicious. This time around we kept ours fairly simple, easy to follow and vegetarian.

Remember…Confucius say, “Man with one chopstick go hungry.”

Enjoy!

^If you are in Korea these bamboo steamers and steamer liners are EASY to get a hold of. If you can’t find any liners, use some cabbage leaves and call it a day.

Easy Steamed Dumplings

Ingredients:
About 15 shiitake mushrooms, or your favorite kind, sliced
1/2 of a small onion, sliced
EVOO- Extra virgin olive oil, used to drizzle
1 Cup shredded carrot
1 Cup shredded cabbage
3 Inch slices of fresh ginger, diced
3 Cloves garlic, diced
1/2 Cup of mixed yellow, red and green bell pepper, diced
1/2 Of a block of tofu, diced into small squares
1/4 Cup chopped scallions
4 Tsp soy sauce
4 Tsp hoisin sauce
2 packs of wonton wrappers
Salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the mushrooms and onions onto a baking sheet and drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast in oven for approximately 10-15 minutes, checking for a nice golden brown coloring. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool.

After the mushrooms and onions have cooled, combine all of the dry ingredients and add in a pinch of salt. Add in the sauces and toss together.

You want to fill the wrapper with about a tablespoon scoop of the mixture. You will know if it is to full by the way it’s folding together for you. Take your finger, wet the outside edges of the wrapper with a bit of water and begin to pinch and fold edges completely closed, as shown on the wrapper instructions.

Place the dumplings inside and steamer for approximately 9-10 minutes, or until the wonton skins are soft.

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

Seoul: TWG Tea

I invited some friends to join me on Valentine’s Day for afternoon tea and sampling delectable little delights from TWG- The Wellness Group. This visit to TWG has been a long time coming and FINALLY is getting crossed of my Seoul bucket list. Plus I’d never live it down if I went without my British gal-pal and posted this review.

TWG officially opened its flagship store and terrace in the Seoul district of Cheongdam, South Korea around this time last year in 2014. The two-story TWG Tea Salon and Boutique and outdoor terrace has over 800 varieties of teas from over 45 regions around the world. I felt like I drank all of those teas too as I swam later that afternoon to the subway. HA-HA! Black tea, green tea, white tea, iced-tea, tea-shakes, Christmas tea…you name it.

I have become obsessed with a very light tasting tea, WHITE HOUSE TEA . The tea is described as an ethereal white tea with fruits and fragrant roses, that leaves an enduring aftertaste of ripe berries. A diplomatic and balanced tea of sophistication. It is delightful!

The menu was slightly overwhelming and just unfolded and unfolded across our table, but I’m not complaining. It was rather hard to choose especially when they all have ridiculously sweet little names like Silver Moon, lovers tea, Happy tea, Jade Dragon and Weekend in Casablanca. Hands down I am a newer fan of coffee, but I feel like coffee would never get away with such cutesy little names.

Being a foodie I was instantly intrigued with the food at TWG. I had done some research and found that TWG offers many food items that are tea-infused to include tea-infused ice-creams and sorbet. YUM! Even our little rolls were tea-infused!

^ fresh mushroom butter

We decided to share and ordered Lasagna with bolognaise ragout with their signature homemade tomato and fresh basil sauce infused with Moroccan Mint Tea, and a seared tuna salad. We ended the meal with tea service complete with clotted cream, Geisha Blossom Tea Jelly (This stuff is AMAZING and I tried to purchase but the Seoul district doesn’t sell it. boo.), macaroons, scones and all! Overall we thoroughly enjoyed the food and felt it was worth the price. We all decided we will return again to treat ourselves and of course try another round of teas.

I don’t even think that Alice herself could have had more fun at The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party! Pinkies up!

Backpackbees

Address:

TWG Tea at Cheongdam, Seoul
82-1 Cheongdam-Dong, 1F, 2F, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul Korea
Tel: + 82 (0)2 518 1837
Opening Hours:
Monday – Sunday, 10.30am – 10pm
Menu: Here
Website: Website Here

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

Backpack Bees First Annual Supper Club

The only thing that seems to be regular around here is my lateness in blog post lately. EEK! So what have you been up to and what in the world have we been up to? Well, I can fill you in on us and you’ve got to leave us some comments below on you. Lets see… Ah! We hosted our first annual supper club at our place last weekend.

Yup, we gathered up 7 sort of strangers around our wooden table in our cozy little South Korean apartment, added a touch of good tunes- mind you it has to be an excellent mix, had oodles of laughs, kept the wine glasses filled, took a heavy dose of creativity and openness from both the host and the supper club goers.. and welcome to the Backpack Bees first annual supper club! (Sounds like the opening of the The Real World , right? LOL..Na…nowhere near as dramatic).

We had these bigger than big ideas to whip out our KitchenAid Ravioli Maker and make homemade ravioli. Pretty awesome, right? Right and it was! Let’s fast-forward to the actual day of the supper, when we quickly realized we had never even used our ravioli attachment… oops.. How hard can it be? I mean we used the pasta attachment for spaghetti before. Easy-peasy!

HA-HA..well in the end the pasta came out delicious but I’ll keep it real and give you the backside of the story. Mr. B whipped up an excellent homemade tomato sauce and the ravioli vegetarian filling (ricotta, spinach and shiitake mushroom). Then moved onto dredging the eggplant into a Smoked Paprika breadcrumb mixture, later to be deep fried. While I on the other hand was struggling with the dough, on the verge of almost a mini-panic attack. Thankfully in walked two of our dear friends with vino, smiles and helping hands. Together we all quickly went to town manning almost assigned kitchen stations and managed to pull it all together. Thanks again guys!

BACKPACK BEES SUPPER CLUB MENU:

Rolls (Thanks Danny & Katie)

Fresh Greek Salad

Lemon Parsley White Bean Salad (Thanks Mandy)

Breaded Smoked Paprika Eggplant Bites

Vegetarian Homemade Ravioli -Stuffed with Ricotta, Shiitake Mushroom and Spinach Topped with Homemade Tomato Sauce

Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream

Homemade Strawberry Basil Ice-Cream

Homemade Apple Tart (Thanks Megan)

Who’s joining us for dinner next?

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

Indulge: Seared Steak with Green Peppercorn Sauce

Shashin Error:

No photos found for specified shortcode

Shashin Error:

No photos found for specified shortcode

Shashin Error:

No photos found for specified shortcode

Shashin Error:

No photos found for specified shortcode

I have to admit, the weekends are rather sacred to me. Actually, thinking about and envisioning the weekend is often the only thing that gets me through my Monday through Friday’s. I’m hopeless, I know. I look forward to that time that I can just rest, recover and reconnect with the Mr. This past weekend my special moment just so happened to be over a truly perfect dinner prepared and cooked right in our own kitchen!

Shashin Error:

No photos found for specified shortcode

We picked up this Emeril by All-Clad E6019764 Cast-Iron 2-Burner Reversible Grill Griddle, Black
for our gas stove and seared some steak. It worked out rather nicely and the sirloin was medium perfection! We then dipped the steak into a secret sauce! It’s all about the sauce, ’bout the sauce’, yah baby! (Sorry I hear this song on re-play all day at work). If you follow along on Instagram, you know about THE secret sauce. Half of me wants to be selfish and keep this sauce to myself, butttt what fun would that be? None, so of course I’ll share with all of you!

Hope your taste buds are prepared to p-a-r-t-y! I’m not the biggest meat-eater, but even my taste buds were cheering!

Shashin Error:

No photos found for specified shortcode

Shashin Error:

No photos found for specified shortcode

Seared Steak with Green Peppercorn Sauce

Ingredients:

4 Filet Minion (or your favorite 8oz cut)
3 garlic cloves minced
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk lactose free
½ Tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbs Hungarian paprika (use 2 Tbs if not using smoked paprika)
4 Tbs Madagascar Green Peppercorns in brine
(use 2 if sensitive to pepper)
1 Tsp white fine ground pepper (can substitute black fine ground pepper)
1 shot / approx. 3 Tbs Sherry (can substitute a mixture 2 Tbs Brandy 1 Tbs red wine)
Course Ground Pepper
2 shallots chopped finely
Kosher Salt

Grind the following in a pestle:

½ Tsp Fennel Seed
½ Tsp Oregano
½ Tsp Rosemary

THE Sauce:

In a skillet sauté onions and 1 clove of minced garlic, do not let burn. Just before garlic browns pour in Heavy cream and milk and sherry. Add green peppercorns, 1 Tbs Hungarian paprika, ½ Tbs course ground pepper, 2 pinches salt. Reduce the sauce to about ½ original size and keep it on VERY low heat to prevent a skin forming while temps true slowly cools and helps prevent from over cooking.

Prepare the Steak: (sauce needs be ready prior to cooking steaks)

In a small bowl place:
2 cloves of minced garlic
½ Tsp smoked paprika
½ Tsp white pepper
2 pinches of Kosher Salt

Now dump in the ground pestle mixture from above and shake/ stir so the spices coat the garlic and set aside.

Now that the garlic is flavored, press the garlic pieces into the steak using your hands, or a tooth pick if there are larger pieces. Don’t be scared to get those fingers a bit messy! Top each side of the steak with a pinch of salt and coarse ground pepper to your taste.

Next, make sure the grill, or cast iron skillet is heated to med-high heat. Place steak on grill for 2 minutes (reduce time if stove temp is too high) Rotate (DO NOT FLIP) steaks 90 degrees for 1 minute.
Then flip the steak and cook for 2 minutes, Repeat and rotate the steaks again 90 degrees, cook for 1 minute. Serve & eat!

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

January blues and Crème brûlée

It’s not boo-hoo blues, it’s that the month of January always seems to linger… It’s the month where the major holiday hype has now officially come to an end and that once glittery sparkle of the wintry wonderland is just plain over, your left missing family and friends again, plus you’ve finished all your holiday cookies…uh -oh! (Perhaps that’s just me?) I came across this article and thought it really applied too, especially with its statement on only having the will to get out of bed for nothing less than a strong cup of joe.

Recently we were experiencing fairly decent temperatures, actually getting away with 3 layers and not 5, but then we got hit with a freak snowstorm that gave us a few more inches. Lucky us, right? Adding another layer back on as we speak. How’s the weather in your neighborhood?

I don’t know about you, but I feel like the month of January really needs some cheering up! It needs some pizzazz to lead us into the giant heart-shaped month of February…Yeah! Such an occasion calls for something cheery like…..like…..crème brûlée!

I’ve never attempted to make crème brûlée before, but after watching various YouTube videos, reading, etc. I felt fairly confident that I could pull it off. Seriously, it was the best decision ever, because it turned out perfect! The best part is I get to share with you all now!

Very Easy Creme Brûlée

Ingredients:

2 cups Whipping Cream
3 large eggs
½ cup sugar (also extra for caramelizing on top)
¾ tsp vanilla extract
4 Ovenproof ramekins
1 kitchen torch

Instructions:

Pre-heat your oven to 300°F

Heat whipping cream in a sauce pan, almost bringing up to a simmer. Please make sure to stir frequently.

In a bowl, whisk together 3 eggs and ½ cup sugar until well blended.

Very slowly stir in hot cream and vanilla extract, so you are not left with scrambled eggs to deal with.

Next, strain mixture through a mesh sieve into something with a pouring lip. Then divide the mixture into 4 ramekins and place in a large cake pan.

Fill the cake pan with very hot water halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully pop everything into oven.

Bake at 300˚F for 35 minutes. Once they are done, you will be able to tell if the brûlée is set but still has a slight giggle to it, remove ramekins from cake pan and water.

Cool the ramekins at room tempted, then place in refrigerator to chill.

Let’s Talk Caramelization: (my favorite part)

Once brûlée is chilled, take out of refrigerator, sprinkle 1/2 to 1 tsp sugar on each custard ramekins. Then with your hand swirl to ramekins around in the air to evenly distribute and spread sugar.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for…..torch the top! Make sure to move the torch in a circular pattern until the whole surface is caramelized just as you likely . YouTube a video if this is your first time to assist with your torch confidence.

Happy eating and don’t forget to share how your creme brûlée turned out!

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

Rosemary in my what?

Rosemary in my COOKIES! YESSS! If you’ve been watching our Instagram account you’ve seen that I’ve picked up some new light cookbook reads. Now…I can no longer hold it in, my current cookbook obsession is, Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week by Isa Chandra Moskowitz! Isa seriously has me hook line and sinker with these cookies. I turned into an instant cookie monster not even wanting to share with Mr. B. My family knows I am the first to snub most chocolate off, but the addition of rosemary to a cookie really caught my attention. Oh and guess what? IT’S VEGAN!

These cookies were perfect and in every way, just as Isa described they would be, buttery, golden, and wake your taste buds up with the exotic happy marriage of semi-sweet chocolate chips and fresh rosemary. Trust me folks, be forewarned, you are going to instantly become obsessed with these cookies too!

Don’t fret if you think it’s going to be all complicated because it’s vegan and possibly an unknown territory. It’s actually really easy and we had almost everything we needed on hand already in our kitchen. I only had to modify one partial element of the recipe and that was the coconut oil. Isa’s recipe calls for refined coconut oil, I only had unrefined but didn’t let that stop me and certainly didn’t change the taste as far as I am concerned.

Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies
Link directly to source: Post Punk Kitchen

1/2 cup refined coconut oil, softened (I used unrefined)
2 tablespoons lightly packed, chopped fresh rosemary (Chop it FINE)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (golden preferred)(I used Bob’s Red Mill whole ground flaxseed meal)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate semisweet chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large baking sheets.

In a large mixing bowl, use a fork to beat together the coconut oil and rosemary, until relatively smooth. Add the sugar, and beat for about a minute.

Add the non-dairy milk and flax seeds, and beat once again, for 30 seconds or so. Mix in the vanilla.

Add about half the flour, as well as the salt and baking soda, and mix well. Add the remainder of the flour, along with the chocolate chips, and mix well until it looks like, well, cookie dough.

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets in rounded spoonfuls. Flatten gently with your hands. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown.

Let cool on sheets for 3 minutes or so, then transfer to cooling racks to cool the rest of the way.

Thanks for getting me through the tough times Isa!

Not only is rosemary for remembrance, as you may have read in my prior post, our friends departed Korea earlier this AM and mother Korea decided to surprise them one last time before they were on their way… SNOW! It was surprisingly a decent amount of snow that settled in below on our streets, sidewalks and trees. I love looking our windows onto the glittery white rooftops munching on a cookie.

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!