Tag Archives: yum

Special visit

The past few days have been a busy blur of copious amounts of good food and buzzing all around Korea like we were tourist again. This time the only difference was, we had bumblebee and Kelsey along for the ride!

Yes, Kelsey, this young woman has more depth, kindness, loyalty, boldness, grace, honesty and wisdom than I ever knew could exist in a person! Oh! And she’s family to boot!! Cousin Kelsey, you my dear are nothing short of amazing and we are SO happy you chose to come visit us again before starting your new exciting adventure on the East coast! We cannot wait to watch you go on to do big things!

Backpackbees

Homemade Foie Gras Burgers

Enough of the Bebe post… although incredibly adorable… Lets talk burgers folks!

Sometimes a burger is MORE than just a burger. Let’s chat specifically about the foie gras burgers you’ve seen featured various times on our Instagram. To us, topping a homemade beef patty with a delicious hunk of perfectly seared foie gras is just sooooo comforting. The two belong together like peanut butter and jelly. Trust us on this one!

Look at that perfect rich buttery perfection. Mmmm!

We had the opportunity to share our homemade burgers with the Mr’s mom while she visited and helped us the first week after the birth of our bumblebee. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as excited to jump on the bee burger creation train (I know she’s laughing if she’s reading this).

If you’ve never had foie gras, we understand that you might hesitate to try, let’s be honest.. it’s intimidating. We also understand that if you do try, its one of those foods that are an acquired taste, you might love or loath. As a workaround we suggest throwing the foie gras on a burger like we do and you might find it less intimidating to try out. Give it a shot!

Have you ever tried foie gras? What did you think if so? We’d love to hear from you!

Backpackbees

What’s cooking?

Continuing on with our new year quest for meal prepping and planning, consuming better foods and striving for less food waste, we’re glad you found your way back into our kitchen and home again for our food recap.

There’s just something very meditative about weekly food preparation, perhaps it’s my OCD coming out? Seriously…coming home after a long week of work and preparing/ menu planning for next weeks round of breakfast, lunches and dinners has a calming and relaxing end result when you really let yourself enjoy it. It also helps that the Mr. supports and recognizes the importance of it too. (I have express and give my pure gratitude to this man too! Feeling under the weather this week, he cooked almost all of the deliciousness for us shown below).

^Homemade buttermilk scones served with a nice cuppa vanilla honey rooibos tea.

^ Homemade oven baked chicken kiev, with a side of crispy curried carrots and sun-dried tomato and feta spread served on top of homemade rye bread.

^ No bake 5 minute brownie from Minimalist baker. Slowly trying to curb my crazy sweet tooth, plus I’ve been itching to use up my cacao powder Healthworks Raw Certified Organic Cacao Powder, 1 lb This was very different texture wise, not terrible, but filled the temporary void, left out the espresso the recipe called for.

^ Spicy Japchae, jabchae, chapchae, chop chae, or chap chae (Korean: 잡채) (glass noodles, peppers, sesame seeds, onions and veggie-meat) and Maneul Jangajji (chili paste and pickled garlic scapes). Served with a side of korean purple rice.

Lots of pickling, preserving and burning our mouths this past week! Mr. B Made some garlic scapes Korean style. If you don’t know, garlic scapes are the green parts of the garlic, do NOT throw these away, instead make Maneul Jangajji!

Maneul Jangajji

12 hrs total (11.5 soaking)

Directions:
Pepper mixture:
1 cup dried pepper flakes (ideally Korean peppers)
1 cup Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
3 Tbs white vinegar
2 Tbs fish sauce (or to taste)
6 garlic cloves minced
3 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 cup hot water (may have to add slightly more if scapes are very well-drained)

The intent is to have a thick paste with a consistency of cream spreadable peanut butter or very slightly watered down.

Scapes:
cut off whiter tougher parts of scapes and trim to 3″. Boiled salted water. Pour over scapes in an insulated bowl (glass/ceramic etc) and leave sit (make sure to cover with a plate) for 11-12 hours or longer until they start to yellow. Drain and cover with pepper mixture (easiest to do with gloved hands).

These can be eaten immediately or saved if packed in the mixture for several months in fridge.

(Best compliment ever was when Our Korean foodie friend was over eating dinner with us and said that this was better than her moms! Mr. B’s Korea cook level awesomeness was achieved!)

^ Spaghetti and our homemade meatballs! You know.. Plenty of garlic and basil, you know, a nice dose of nerve-steadying herbs.

^ Shared a meal with our dear friend over our ground beef patties seasoned with our own special blend of spices. The burgers had oyster mushrooms, red onions with torched sharp cheddar cheese, fried egg and foie gras flavored with homemade BBQ sauce and horseradish mayo. The buns were coated with foie gras oil and toasted in the pan for finishing. Annie’s White cheddar Mac and cheese and salads on the side (you know, keeping it classy).

^ Homemade almond biscotti from America’s Test Kitchen (Household favorite!)

^ A delicious mediterranean steak salad!

And last but not least…. freezer meal prep for the unknown weeks that are to come. Chuck steaks ground, seasoned and formed into 1/2 lb burgers. Not pictured, because someone fell asleep on the job, vegetable beef stew and slow cooker pork BBQ with homemade BBQ sauce.

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself

What’s cooking?

Welcome back to our kitchen! Pull up a chair at our kitchen island and get comfy. Outside of our mini Mardi Gras feast and unbeetable Valentine cake, we’re sharing the recap of what we whipped up in our kitchen over the past week. We’ve got some exciting nostalgic dishes we’ve made a bit more modern to share with you!

Drumroll please..we tested out four more family recipes from Mr. B’s grandparents handwritten cookbook that dates back to 1949! It’s so special thinking about and picturing Howard and Rose cooking these very recipes together back then in their kitchen, perhaps doing the same exact things were doing in the present day.

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This super crunchy coconut granola! It’s been perking up our morning Greek yogurt and fruit routine. Try it! Next time I’m thinking I’ll use coconut extract instead of vanilla.

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Chicken Marsala with homemade garlic bread and garden salads.

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Seared tuna, a fairly regular staple at our table, was served as the main dish alongside of diced oven roasted rutabaga.

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The first family recipe tested was parsley curried corn. Originally we prepared as directed straight from the recipe, but in the end slightly altered it to more of our taste. SPICE! Yeah, we had to kick it up a notch and make it a bit more modern with the addition of hot madras curry powder. This dish was absolutely delicious and is a new favorite for sure.

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The second B family recipe tested was, pork tenderloin in cream sauce. Again, after preparing as originally directed, we modernized and altered by seasoning to our taste, it just didn’t have the pizazz we were after. We ended up adding green peppercorns and chopped onions.

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We paired the pork tenderloin with garden sweet peas, sautéed mushrooms in a pepper sauce and puréed sweet potatoes seasoned with maple, butter, pepper. D-licious!

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Oven roasted eggplant halves stuffed with zucchini, yellow squash, spicy Italian sausage, onion, and gorgonzola cheese. Like spaghetti, these were even better served as leftover for lunch, the flavors just popped even more!

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The stuffed eggplants were served with a side of roasted garlic butter mushrooms sprinkled liberally with salt and cracked black pepper. These little guys were like a vegetarian alternative to Escargot! The mushrooms gave the texture and the butter, garlic, salt and cracked black pepper brought the taste. Plus who doesn’t like the fact that the caps hold in all that buttery goodness? It’s all about those vehicles for butter 😉

The third family recipe tested was “Boston Baked Beans” and “BBQed Chicken”.

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The Boston baked beans used dried beans and minimal ingredients which consisted of molasses, sugar, salt and a bit of pepper and home cured bacon. The Flavor was fantastic!

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The BBQed chicken was a chicken quartered and the sauce was from scratch. The sauce simmered away for quite a bit of time on the stove, then it covered the chicken and was baked. This recipe was delicious with a delightful blend we were not accustomed to. Oh! the chicken came out super moist too!

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Then there was a quick last-minute dessert created. Inspired by our recent trip to Manimal in Itaewon, Mr. B halved bananas and drizzled them with homemade caramel and then topped it all off with fresh vanilla whipped cream. Boom! Front runner to the Bananimal!

Alright folks, we will meet you back in our kitchen again soon!

Backpackbees

Charlie’s Wok

Typically I brown bag it everyday at work, however a building mate asked me if I’d like to join him for lunch nearby at a friends restaurant. Although my peanut-butter, banana, topped off with local honey on whole wheat sounded very satisfying, lol, I said sure!

So we went to Charlie’s Wok, an American Chinese restaurant, where I was introduced the main man himself, Charlie.

The restaurant is located off the Main Street and tucked away in an alley near the Bosan subway station and US Army installation Camp Casey. When we pulled up to park, I quickly realized why I had never seen the restaurant before, it was because of the discreet location.

Don’t let the unassuming exterior and location fool you, once we stepped inside my nose immediately told my belly that I was in for a treat. I learned that the food is always freshly made after you order, so be prepared for a bit of wait. You do have the option to place a take out order, as well as call ahead to place your order to eat dine in. If Charlie isn’t available, the restaurant does not open, it is a one man wok show. You see the pride Charlie takes in his food quality, the prices are very reasonable and you are served generous portions.

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I ordered a 2 entrée combo meal because I couldn’t decide between the beef with broccoli, and General Tso’s chicken. With the combo you also decide if you’d like fried rice, or chow mien. I ordered chow mien based off of recommendation. The recommendation was spot on!

^Building mate’s garlic chicken and General Tso’s chicken

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Overall, I was pleasantly pleased with my order. The menu offers a small variety of standard Chinese American staple choices and price points. Sure, this isn’t a gourmet 5 star restaurant, but it definitely is a great little neighborhood find!

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Enjoy!

Give Charlie a call! 031-866-8656

Backpackbees

Gather. Eat. Drink. Repeat

Friends, we certainly missed you at our table over the weekend!

We gathered, ate, drank and repeated all evening. Nothing better in our book!

These friends are friends that have cooked a special birthday meal for us and have given us such wonderful gifts, we’re very blessed to have met them all, so we certainly wanted to return the favor with a special treat for them!

The menu was French themed and featured the following:

^L’Apéritif (Drinks): Assorted beer, cocktails, homemade mulled wine

^L’Entrée (Appetizer): Pan seared foie gras served on homemade whole-wheat toast

^Le Plat Principal (The Main Dish):
Sous vide duck breast, served with fresh steamed broccoli, and pommes frites (french-fries)

^La Salade et le Fromage (Salad and Cheese):
Seasonal dinner salad and assorted cheese plate (served on my favorite Pennsylvania board)

^Le Dessert (Dessert): Vanilla-bean crème brûlée with local strawberries

Le Café (Coffee) : Coffee & tea

Bon weekending!

Backpackbees

What’s cooking?

We find ourselves together back here again at the end of the week. Can I get a Fri-YAY!?

While I know we observed MLK day and we had a shorten week compared to most, it just seemed to sort of drag on and on…what do you think? Perhaps it was the REALLY cold temperatures we’ve been experiencing as of late? Whatever the case, let’s get throw in another Fri-YAY! 😉

So what’s been cooking in your kitchen? Do share, we’d love to hear! In the meantime we will share just what’s been going on in ours…

Mr. B made a recipe from his grandparents cookbook dating back to 1949! Beef porcupines. Don’t worry there were no porcupines harmed in the making of the recipe haha! These little guys get their name from the way the rice pops out of the beef when they are done cooking.
Oh Lordy were they absolutely delicious! I know Mr. B made his grandpa proud that night!

^Google them!

Pizza night! Combination pizzas made with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust, 16-Ounce. Have you ever used any of the Bob’s Red Mill mixes? We’ve dabbled in quite a few and always end up pretty pleased.

We topped the pizza with mozzarella, tons of roasted veggies eggplant, yellow peppers, red peppers, red onions, mushrooms, homemade meatballs, cheese filled jalapeños and cracked an egg in the center because we’re crazy like that! Oh and a side of roasted jalapeños filled with melted cheese.

We even ventured into the land of homemade vegetable hummus too! (Hey it’s all about getting those veggies in, right?) Yeah…Green pea hummus to be exact. Pretty outstanding and will make many future appearances in this house. You can thank us for sharing later.

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We whipped up vegetarian BBQ. It’s sort of old school family BBQ recipe we have from Ms. B’s grandmother, but with a modern twist of using veggie crumbles.

And of course we mentioned Iowa Girl Eats blog meal on our last post, grilled chicken with a barley-corn salad. Think of the taste of a BIG bread-less BLT (YUM!).

Alright folks, we will meet you back in our kitchen again soon!

Backpackbees

Best Belgium Waffles

I just might be a bit bias here, but hands down, these are the most delectable homemade Belgium waffles we’ve ever had! You may just have to add these little guys into your regular weekend breakfast routine.

The waffles had the best crispy outer texture, were very flavorful and just the right balance of moistness on the inside. Bonus, there is a secret ingredient too! I’ll give you a clue….it gives off a very subtle nutty-cherry flavor… any guesses? Almond extract!

Go ahead get a little crazy, let loose on your Sunday morning and top those waffles off with your favorite maple syrup, some powdered sugar, or fresh fruit and enjoy! Don’t forget to let us know what you think.

Best Belgium Waffles
Makes roughly 8-10 waffles

2 Cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup sugar
2 Large eggs, separated
1/2 Cup coconut oil
2 Cups lactose free whole milk
1 Tablespoon almond extract

Directions:

Sift all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl with easy to pour lip.
Separate the large eggs.
In another bowl, beat large egg whites until they are stiff.
Mix together the following: egg yolks, lactose free milk and coconut oil, almond extract and stir slightly.
Add all but egg whites to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Lastly, fold in beaten egg whites.

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

H2s Handmade Burgers

We have lived in Dongducheon, South Korea for almost 5 years. Believe me when I say it is really hard to find a good burger here. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some excellent burgers…..but in Seoul. Unfortunately, we’re surrounded by the ever growing monster fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, Lotteria, and soon to be Burger King. Sigh. These just aren’t real burgers, or even food for that matter.

On our regular evening walk last week we strolled by what looked to be a quirky little joint with a small outdoor patio situated conveniently right outside one exit of Jeihang subway. To say we were surprised is an understatement. This place not only met the burger challenge; they superseded it! The restaurant takes a step further and features a foreigner friendly menu, or as I refer to it, the meat-lovers masterpiece! It’s creative specialty combos are generously portioned are incredibly tasty, the staff were quick, attentive and friendly, plus the prices that won’t break the bank! To the owner the hygiene factor of this place was paramount, as you could easily see right into the open style kitchen. Also in case your curious about the origin of the meats, the beef is from Australia and the chicken is from Korea. Well done H2s Hand Made Burgers, well done!

Our group ordered 4 different burgers, the Hawaiian, spicy chicken burger, onion Eiffel burger, and the H2s special burger. The Hawaiian was a beef patty, pineapple, bacon and pineapple sauce. The spicy chicken burger was grilled chicken, tomato, lettuce, and 3 kinds of sauce. The opinion was to hold the mayo next time (non mayo lover in the group), or ask for a tad less. The onion Eiffel burger was a beef patty, fried onion, tomato, American cheese goodness. The H2s special burger was a beef patty, hash brown, grilled onion, bacon, and tomato. We ordered combos so each meal came with French fries and a drink. We also ordered a basket of onion rings to split at the table. Let’s talk about the french fries and onion rings….these were golden, crisp and cooked to absolute perfection! Mmmmm!

From the four of us, we give 8 thumbs ups for this burger joint! We’re eagerly planning a return and deciding what burger we will try next! Better yet….we’ve been inspired to create some of our own homemade patties. Stay tuned…

Now it’s your turn…describe your ideal burger. Medium-rare, medium, well-done, as our dear friend Mandy prefers…charbroiled? Also are fries or onion rings a must? Do you always order them?

Backpackbees

Direction: H2s Hand Made Burgers is located directly across from exit 3 of Jihaeng Station. Look for the big burger as pictured above.
Phone: 070-4151-0778
Website

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!