Tag Archives: Dinner

Adventures in homemade pasta making

Isn’t pasta just plain fun?! Seriously it really is!

Ohhhh and when it’s freshly made you can just taste the love that was put into it. It’s just comfort in a bowl on a cold winters night, a bowl I could just cuddle up inside and not poke my head out of until the first sign of Spring.

Ahhhh pastaaa.

What really intrigues me about pasta is the fact it’s made so simply. All it takes is flour, water and eggs. Honestly every Pennsylvanians staple kitchen item when the weatherman forecast an inkling of snow. When these three simple things are mixed and kneaded together, they are transformed into a magical elastic ball of dough that can be pinched off, cut, or rolled out into a billion flavors, colors, and shapes. Now if that isn’t just simplicity at its finest.

After lusting for a year or so, for Christmas we purchased a together gift, the pasta roller attachments, that we couldn’t bare to place under the tree. We are worse than little kids on Christmas Eve, we haven’t grown up. When the package arrived, the tape barely ripped off the box and we were already googling what we could whip up first.

To get our bearings and because this was our first pasta making experience, we just went with the Kitchenaid recipe for regular pasta noodles. We will get all sorts of crazy now that we’ve got that test run out of our system.

Cheers and stay tuned. Many apologies in advance for the harsh kitchen lighting.

BASIC EGG NOODLE PASTA DOUGH

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
2 tablespoons water (we needed a tad more than this original recipe)
2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Instructions:

Break eggs into a glass measuring cup. Add water. Carefully check to see that the total liquid amount is 3⁄4 cup. If less than 3⁄4 cup, add additional water 1 teaspoon at a time until that amount is reached.

Place flour in bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn to Speed 2 and gradually add eggs and water. Mix for 30 seconds. Stop mixer and exchange dough hook for flat beater. Turn to Speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes. Remove mixture from bowl and hand knead for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 15 minutes before extruding through Pasta Maker.

Makes about 1 pound dough

Source: KitchenAid Pasta Maker manual

Savory: slow-cooker Wine-O chicken

We are always searching, or trying to create an easy but delicious dinner to throw together during the workweek. Here’s a recent one that we thought was certainly worth sharing. It’s a must if you are a fan of fresh rosemary, onions, garlic and wine! Come onnnn who here isn’t a fan of wine?!

Slow-cooker wine-o chicken
Cooking Time: 4 hours on High; or 8 hours on Low

Ingredients:

2 Cornish Hens – thawed, (Don’t forget to remove the giblets!)
4-6 Sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 Medium sweet onions
8 Cloves of fresh garlic, outside skin removed
A few pads of butter or margarine for rubbing skin of hen
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Bottle moscato wine, or your favorite white wine
1 1/2 Cups Chicken broth

Directions:

First, rinse clean and pat the hens dry. Next slice the onions to your desired thickness and place as many as you’d like at the bottom of the slow-cooker. Then throw in 4-6 cloves of garlic and several sprigs of the rosemary, as well. (remove the woody stems prior to serving.)

Stuff cavity of each hen with following: 2 slices of onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 sprig of rosemary. Next rub the skins of the hens with butter or margarine. Add the desired amount of salt and pepper to the skin of hens on both sides.

Lastly, place both hens, breast side down, into the slow-cooker. Add wine and chicken broth. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours, making sure the internal temperature of each hen reaches 165 degrees fahrenheit.

Enjoy!

Angry Shrimp

Funny story….we thought these shrimp were really ANGRY after we cooked them one night last week. Yes, so much so we thought we had food poisoning from these bad little as$ suckers. No bueno! After a reallllyyyyy rough weekend we Bees are recovering slowly but surly.

I felt like Monday morning came way to fast and way to early today. I picked myself out of bed and went to work all responsible like, only to find out my co-worker came into the office incredibly ill and showing the same symptoms that we had over the weekend. AHH! Attack of the angry shrimp? Nope, he didn’t have any of our angry shrimp. Ohhhh noooo even worse, STOMACH VIRUS! Yep! Ew!

Well now that I’ve been living on toast, tea, slowly transitioning over to soup and graduating onto a grilled cheese sandwich, I think it’s time to share the angry shrimp recipe with all of you. Not to mention that it’s a little victory to even be able to fathom the very thought of anything food related after this weekend.

Pair with a nice cool simple cucumber salad and keep those hands washed!

Enjoy!

Angry Shrimp
Slightly altered from: Epicurious

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons pepitas
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
2 teaspoons chipotle powder
4 teaspoons chopped garlic, divided
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 cup Triple Sec liqueur
20 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 pounds medium-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
1 tablespoon orange zest
6 cups leafy spinach, chopped
3 cups cooked brown rice

Instructions:

In a small pan over high heat toast the pepitas until lightly brown, 1 to 2 minutes. In a food processor or chopper, puree raisins and 1/4 cup water 1 minute. In a large pan over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add onion and cook about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in raisin puree, cherries, chipotle, 1 teaspoons garlic and cumin; cook 1 minute. Add in Triple Sec and cook, stirring, until alcohol is cooked out about 1 to 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. In a separate bowl, dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoons cold water. Slowly add in cornstarch mixture to broth mixture to thicken. Reduce heat and simmer mixture 10 minutes. Add in shrimp and cook about 5 minutes, or until pale white. Stir in fresh orange zest; season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer shrimp to a covered bowl and set aside. Lastly, in a pan, heat remaining 1 tablespoons oil. Cook spinach and 3 teaspoons garlic, make sure to stir until spinach starts to wilt, this will be about 3 to 5 minutes. Strain all spinach juices and combine in with brown rice. Plate rice mixture and top with those angry shrimp.

Uncle Tomato and Turkey

I know what you are thinking, first what in the world is on that menu? Doesn’t rice ball flying fish spawn sound delightful? Ha-Ha! Second, I’m not really seeing tomatoes, Uncles, or Turkey in these photos. Okay, maybe one tomato in that salad. Hmmm… You’re correct.

The restaurant that I enjoyed a dinner date at with my dear friend Mary is called, Uncle Tomato. The restaurant offers a decent sized menu and quaint atmosphere. You can order anything from pasta, pizza, steaks and salads. There was something for everyone and in Korea that sometimes is the challenge. We kept pondering why didn’t we go here before?

Unfortunately and fortunately Mary and her family are moving to Turkey in the next few days. Now the puzzle pieces are coming together. I say unfortunately because this woman has become a sister to me and the selfish thoughts of loosing her, her friendship, love and family all currently and conveniently within a quick stroll down the road, is going to break my heart. I say fortunately because TURKEY!!! Come onnnnn the food, travel, meditation lifestyle! I’m so there! Making my plans as we speak, of course after I was extended the invite 😉 (Thank you Mary and family!)

More fun and special moments shared….

Not only have I watched these two beautiful children grow, you have too! Can you believe how grown up the are already? It really puts time into perspective. Eek! I miss them already! Guess I better keep saving those coins for my Turkey trip to see them again soon!

Uncle Tomato
719, Jihaeng-dong 2F-#201, Pine Hans Bldg., Dongducheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
031-865-0999

Meatless Monday

Meatless Monday’s, have you heard of them?

Yep, we’ve jumped on the meatless Monday bandwagon too. Seasonal vegetables are incredibly versatile and can be enjoyed so many ways. Lately we’ve loved slicing up leeks, yams or sweet potatoes, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, red onions, green peppers and roasting them. Sometimes we even throw in a meat replacement such as Gardein beef tips, or sauté the vegetables in a chili oil before roasting. Truly a dish that I could eat over and over again.

Oops.. this is embarrassing, we ate the soup before taking a photo to share with you all. I’ve mentioned this before, I am lactose intolerant and I tend to mind cream based soups. This was a perfect alternative for me and I didn’t even miss the cream! Who needs another photo of a bowl of soup anyways? I’ll just proceed with the good stuff, the recipe! Make it and let us know what think.

Healthy (No Cream) Gourmet “Beef” Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

1 Bundle celery with leaves, chopped 3 inch pieces
8-10 Medium button mushrooms, sliced (you can use whatever type you prefer)
1 Large onion, chopped
1 Can beef broth LOW sodium
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tsp minced garlic
Pinch saffron, optional
1 Tbs red pepper flakes
Ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
1 Tsp ground paprika
1 Shot brandy, optional
1/4 Tsp Worchester

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in skillet and add in celery, onions, mushrooms. Cook vegetables until soft. Next add in seasoning, except for the Brandy, hold off adding in the Brandy in until the end. Next add beef broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the soup from heat and pour into a blender and puree. Once smooth, pour the puree back into the skillet or a pot and add 2-3 cups water and bring back to simmer. Lastly add in brandy and simmer for 5 minutes. ENJOY!

The Silver Spoon

Barns and Nobles and Amazon describes The Silver Spoon as the most influential and bestselling Italian cookbook of the last 50 years. They also say that this is the bible of authentic Italian home cooking, featuring over 2,000 recipes, that is uniquely stylish and user-friendly, making it accessible and a pleasure to read. We Bee’s couldn’t agree more!

When I first got my hands on The Silver Spoon in a favorite local cafe, I knew I had to have it. I remember sitting there across from Mr. B one evening carefully pouring over each beautifully illustrated page, imagining the amazing smells coming from our kitchen. Mmmm… After about 5 pages of Oh’s and Ah’s Mr. B was sold too. Hook line and sinker, we were caught! HA HA HA!

I know you are dying to know what we’ve made so far, right? Of course!

(ABOVE) Gardner’s Bag- Roasted fresh bell pepper stuffed with all sorts of delicious things such as, eggplant, garlic, basil leaves, mozzarella and capers. Mr. B was a bit frustrated with the bell peppers not keeping their form once they came out of the oven, but they tasted heavenly nonetheless.

(ABOVE) Pork roulades with apricots- We made this for our dinner guest Kelsey one night. We were all really pleased with the flavors of the apricots mixed with the pork.

(ABOVE) Roasted beef with carrots- Believe me when I say this dish was magical! It sounds all plain Jane and Sunday dinner-ish, but it’s so much more. Think beef wrapped in pancetta with sliced carmelized carrots all seasoned with a brandy, thyme, nutmeg and garlic glaze. Ooooh the stuff kitchen dreams are made of!

Have you heard of the Silver Spoon Recipe book? Perhaps you have even tried a few recipes too? What are your favorites? We’d love to know!

FFE

FFE= Fuss free and easy! Two items that we Bee’s look for in a recipe after a long day of work. We’ve been on a fish kick lately. I must confess, I have been loving every savory second of it too. Mr. B is getting quite creative with seasoning and such. I mean honestly, does anyone else out there not ever get sick of fish?

Cod. Eh, cod doesn’t come across as a fancy pants fish, right? Wrong. Cod can delicious served simple or jazzed up with all sorts of fun ingredients. Tonight we jazzed up our cod by poaching and using ingredients such as sassy saffron and white wine.

Poached Cod with Tomato and Saffron
Recipe Adapted from: Bon Appétit

INGREDIENTS

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Cloves minced garlic
1 Teaspoon Aleppo pepper or ½ crushed red pepper flakes
Chopped handful of fresh vine ripened tomatoes and fresh cherry tomatoes, boiled down
¼ Cup dry white wine
2 Bay leaves
Pinch of saffron threads
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 5-oz. Skinless cod fillets
2 Tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions:

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and Aleppo pepper and cook, stirring often, until fragrant (garlic should not take on any color), about 3 minutes.

Add chopped fresh tomatoes, crushing with your wooden spoon as you add them, wine, bay leaves, saffron, and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until flavors meld and until tomato skins peel off while string gently. Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to medium-low; season cod with salt and pepper and place in skillet. Cover and cook at a bare simmer until cod is opaque throughout and beginning to flake, 5–7 minutes (thicker pieces will take longer to cook).

Gently transfer cod to shallow bowls and spoon poaching liquid over.

You Asked For It

Did you know that dopamine levels rise in your brain when you try new foods? All the more reason to broaden your inner foodie horizons, right?

Someone mentioned in passing that they missed out on seeing what we’ve been concocting in the Bees kitchen lately. Yes, I admit…there has been a teeny bit of neglect with blogging since getting back from Malaysia. To be fair, I blame summer and the evening walks we’re taking advantage of before monsoon season really settles in. Nevertheless I’ve been taking photos of the delicious foods and things we’ve been up to, just purely neglecting to go the extra mile to upload them and write a post. I know you’ll forgive.

Boy do we have a treat to share from one of our favorite blogs. So let’s get on with it and kick off the very middle of this week the right way!

www.greenkitchenstories.com. Check them out!

Warm Cauliflower ‘Couscous’ with Green Peas & Herbs
Recipe by: GKS
Ingredients:
1 head of raw cauliflower
2 handfuls mixed parsley and basil
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
A drizzle cold-pressed olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
2 cups frozen (thawed) or fresh peas
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Bring a saucepan with water to boil. Meanwhile coarsely chop the cauliflower and place the florets and stem in a food processor or blender and process until fine couscous- or rice-like texture. Do it in batches if you have a small food processor. Pour the cauliflower into the boiling water, lower the heat to simmer and cook for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile finely chop the herbs, toast the pumpkin seeds in a skillet on low-medium heat until golden. Drain the cauliflower ‘couscous’ in a sieve and place in a large serving bowl. Add herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and combine everything. Add peas, pumpkin seeds, crumbled feta cheese and toss until mixed. Garnish with sprouts or micro greens. Serve warm or chilled. Keeps for a couple of days in the fridge.

Eat the “couscous” on its own, or it makes a very nice paring to some homemade breaded cod. Just curious, what do you think? Do you think you will try the recipe? What do you think you will pair the dish with?

Stay tuned for some more delicious recipe ideas.

More Weekending

Sorry for the delay! The past two weekends have been jam-packed with post op eye check ups for the Bees, baking surprise “Mac and cheese” and balsamic chicken for dinner, meeting up with Kelsey in Gangnam, repotting our herbs and house plants, a little reminder of America with a dinner at Chili’s, a nice countryside drive, “gorilla gardening”, a really nice leisure evening 5 mile walk, finally getting to see what creature makes the strangest noise in the early AM on the hillside out back of our place (spoiler alert, it’s a pheasant), exploring Pyeongtaek, getting to see and hang out at Kelsey’s humble abode while catching up over her recent trip to Japan (she spoiled us with treats too!)and of course ending it all with new flavors of potbingsoo’s at the Sulbing cafe while taking in views of the Ho Bar (no really that’s the name of it).

Here’s a smattering of photographs to share all the fun with you all.

Address:

Sulbing

Yongho-dong: 창원시 의창구 용호동 73-24번지 2층
http://sulbing.com/

Delicious Post-op

What a delicious post-op we had this weekend in Gangnam. Surprisingly after living here over three years, we’ve never really ventured out in Gangnam. Kelsey met us before our eye appointment with plans to grab lunch together afterwards.

The weather was just beautiful! A perfect Spring day! After getting an all clear on both of our eyes we strolled around the main and back streets of Gangnam, with our shades on of course. There were just so many delicious choices! Eventually we settled on Indian.

Mano is an Indian restaurant with some Korean fusion. I think the photos below say it all. Spicy and delicious! We’d defiantly will go back in the near future for more. Plus I’m lusting over their collection of Le Creuset serving dishes. Just gorgeous! (On my wish list)

We had to take Kelsey to experience the cutesy Ann House Cafe. Her only request for this weekend was to enjoy Potbingsu before leaving on her holiday to Japan. We all ordered different versions of Potbingsu, butt spoons and all. Can you guess who ordered what?

Until our next post-op adventures.

Directions:

Mano

By subway: Gangnam, outside Exit 4 of Sinnonhyun Station. The restaurant is on located on your left. 2F of 619-18 Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Phone Number: 02-568-2007.

Deliveries available: http://www.머노.com