Foodie Yoodie Fall 2010 Fashion and some

Saturday morning's air was so cool and the sun was shining lovingly through our windows. Mornings like this make the sappy people sappier, the lovebirds giddy and even the grumpy people a little happy. A little classical piano music floating through the air paired with the peaceful home was a happy place. Simple things are the most fulfilling...

Saturday was a day to face one of life's most difficult tasks...making sugar cookies! Sugar cookies are the mountain that I have been trying to climb over and it's about as big as Jay Leno's chin. What's the secret? Maybe there is no secret, but it's been quite a trial and error process. In my short cookie-baking past, they've turned out cake-y. Cookies aren't supposed to be cake-y since that's a cake's hat to wear. The cookie turned out less cake-y than before this time. Yes! Onward toward the perfect sugar cookie. For now, I stare a hundred miles in front of me to that perfect batch. Sometimes, they say it's all about the process and the process can still be fun. :)

FOODIE YOODIE FASHION SHOW

Fall 2010 Gentleman Striped Ties

Fall 2010 Funky Monkey Ties

Fall 2010 K Square Line exclusive only to
my best friend, Kee Kwak

And the Teapot Tango

BBQ

After church, we went to a BBQ that was excellent. Steak, chicken wings, slim sausage and fish, little veggies made their presence as we played some corn hole, ping pong, dipped feet in a kiddie pool and lounged. Great weather to hang out. :) Noteworthy was the Sea Bass our host caught which was flamed on the grill. It's raw here, but after cooking, the meat was white, flaky and tender.

And for the BBQ, I prepared the Dark Chocolate Red Wine cake for dessert. I guess cake isn't a popular dish at a BBQ because only three were eaten...hm. Boo. Back to the test kitchen.

But an Ode to the cake anyways. First time making a cupcake cake. I heard someone say, "Wait, is this a cake? Actually are these cupcakes?? =D" So I guess it wasn't a complete flop. At least the element of surprise was entertaining. yay. :)

And during prep of this and a side dish for the BBQ, it was like a cooking video on fastfoward because people were picking me up and I had a lot left to do! Every second was important, but what have you but these unexpected varmits that occur...
(this is a reenactment)

One last thought for some serious meditation:

BON APPETITE!

Foodie Yoodie

Egg-speriment

So today, we used the eggs for Omeurice ("oh-meu-rice") which is basically a korean fried rice dish that's tucked nicely away in a blanket of egg before it is tucked nicely away... in our stomachs. :)

Usually, the egg is so hard to flip without breaking. For those who've tried, you can probably commiserate with the feeling. Practice has made the art a little more doable even for my accident-prone hands. (Miraculously, I only have one scar, which came from the back side of a butterknife)

So today, it was time for an egg-speriment since we're still trying to work down those free eggs we acquired. In our house, we like eat eggs over easy which means that when they are bothered, they throw a yellow fit all over your plate! A terrible way to start the morning, but my husband has found a way to tame his yolk by eating the white area around the yolk first, and proceding to package the egg's tantrum into his mouth. Mine throws fits almost every time...

So the egg-speriment was to try to incorporate our favorite over easy eggs into our omeurice egg. I fried the egg sunny side up, took it off and proceeded to make the blanket of egg. While the blanket is half done, put the fried egg upside down onto the raw side and let sit for a few seconds. Avoid leaving it too long because the yolk will cook! Then flip the entire egg over quickly and leave on the pan just until the egg is cooked and remove. The first time was a success! The pocket of attitude is in the center and tame.

Feeling good, it was onto the second one, but this one was not so fortunate. It was on the move during the flip...

Major flop...This will be my egg.

On a brighter note, the final omeurice!

Like Mr Rogers sums up his day by changing his shoes, it's time for the egg evaluation:

Eggs Used: 8

Dedication to Egg eating: Loyal
Creative Egg Usuage for the day: Sucess. :)

BON APPETITE!

Foodie Yoodie

Pizza with a twist from the newest Foodnetwork Star, Aarti

Congratulations to Aarti Sequeira for winning the spot amongst the Foodnetwork stars!

Her bubbly personality, unique accent and of course, her cooking talents have taken her straight to the top next to Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, Ina Garten...etc. Watching the final episode of the Next Foodnetwork Star was suspenseful since she was against two other great chefs, but in one fell swoop after a chasm of silence, the following seconds change Aarti's life. "The Next Foodnetwork Star is...... Aarti Sequeira!" and a floodgate of excitement for the girl poured out from the judges, audience and foodnetwork fans.

Congrats Aarti Paarti!

So in lieu of her win, I was personally curious to her new concept of simple dishes infused with a touch of Indian, her pizza recipe she used for her Pilot show was a sure place to start. The recipe is definitely one to try and if the traditional pizza is good to you, but you're looking for some adventure, try this:

Aarti Sequeria's Mango Chutney, Prosciutto and Paneer Pizza

Homemade Paneer

Making good use of the lemon squeezer. (thanks JWK!)

Goodnews! Making Paneer is easy.
All it takes is whole milk, lemons and cheesecloth.

Hanging the paneer in a stray place to drain.

The stork has changed, and so has the object of delivery.

Mingling of topping ingredients

The Sauce

Store bought Garlic Naan

Pizza prepped to hit the fire

Two each! The paneer was shaped in a triangle....Just like a pizza. :0)

Out of the fire and topped with hand-torn prosciutto

Mango lassi attempt with a ridiculous garnish.

haha.

BON APPETITE!

Foodie Yoodie

HASTA LA PASTA, EGG-E

Day off.

Rainy Day.

Stay in.

Target has a new food section and because of Target's forward innovation and their slew of computer-generated coupons dispersed into the air, we some how got lucky to end up with three of them in our mailbox. Each of the coupons were good for a free dozen eggs. We took the paper eggs and redeemed them at Target for some real ones taking the total count of eggs in our fridge to 4 dozen and 3 eggs including the ones we already had. 51 eggs!

A week infused with dedication and creativity towards eating eggs has us down to 1 dozen and some eggs left. Not bad! With a new pan whose package label said "omelet pan", our new pan was instructing us to Christen it by making omelets on it's virgin surface. So we did.

BRUNCH

omelets, coffee and juice.

Eggs used: 8

Pot-in-action

A special gift from our neighbors.
Three kinds of kimchi that were just made before it showed up at the door which we ate with our brunch. Incredibly fresh.

And the main event of the day for us was PASTA MAKING. This takes a time, but the results are great. We got a pasta making machine that was just like the one my husband used to use when he was young to help his mom make korean noodles (kahl kook soo). It attaches to the table and has a handle to crank the noodles out.

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A couple history facts about pasta:

1. Before kneading machines appeared in Naples during the 17th century, pasta used to be kneaded by foot.

2. It wasn't until the early 1800s, when the Conquistadores brought the tomato to Europe, that tomato sauces was used to flavor pasta, Before then, it was only eaten with cheese or no seasoning at all. Tomato sauce wasn't used on pizza until the mid 1800s.

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So flour is the main ingredient along with some eggs. First you start by making a well, dropping in as many eggs as your recipe calls for. Beat the eggs inside the well without breaking the wall, slowly incorporating the flour to the egg mixture until it's solid enough to knead with the hand. (Note: It's nice to make extra and store it in the freezer since making pasta requires some time.)

Knead the dough.
This can take some energy, but here it is after some kneading. It still needs some more water and kneading here.

Kneading the dough

It takes a lot of energy to knead so
it was nice to have two pairs of hands to rotate.

After kneading, store in an airtight container so all the
ingredients can meld together.

And afterwards, roll it out and it comes out as an opaque sheet.

Time to make the noodles.

HOMEMADE FETTUCCINIE

CHICKEN PARMESAN WITH HOMEMADE FETTUCCINE
AND HOME-RAISED BASIL

Eggs used: 8

Total eggs used in 1 day: 16

All 16 eggs didn't get eaten in a day since we didn't eat all the pasta we made, but we infused some time into them so they can have a longer shelf life.

Dedication to Egg eating: Loyal

Creative Egg Usuage for the day: SUCCESS!

To finish the culinary adventures for the day,
a special gift from a friend. Thank you. :)

BON APPETITE!

Foodie Yoodie

The Enchanted Garden