Doenjang Jiggae - Korean Basics

In Korean cuisine, there are two main types of soup:  guk and jiggae.  Guk is very brothy, while jiggae is more like a stew and is more substantial.  Doenjang jiggae is one of the most basic and traditional Korean soups, and is named for the fermented soybean paste that is the center of the stew - the doenjang.

There are many different brands.  I don't read Korean, so honestly, when I buy a tub of doenjang, I read the ingredients and hope I pick a good one.  I'm sure they can't vary that much between brands, but some varieties include other flavorings and ingredients, like anchovies, so read the ingredients list carefully, or look for illustrations on the label to make sure you buy just regular, plain doenjang.

Doenjang roulette - I picked a tasty one!

Once you buy the doenjang, you're set for a while.  It's already fermented, and will last a good year in your fridge.  The other ingredients in doenjang jiggae are readily available and won't require a special trip to the Korean grocery store. 

Enjoy this healthy, richly flavored soup with rice for a first foray into Korean cuisine at home!

Doenjang Jiggae

Ingredients:

• 1 block tofu (I like firm, but you can use any kind)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 or 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 cups water (if you are making rice to go with the jiggae, save 2 cups of the starchy water from rinsing the rice.  This will give your broth a little more substance.  If not, no biggie.)
• 1/4 cup doenjang
• 2 zucchini or other summer-type squash, sliced
• 1 or 2 hot peppers, diced (optional - I don't use them because I'm kind of wimpy)
• 1 bunch enoki mushrooms (I didn't have any, but they're very cute, so pick some up if you see them)
• 2 or 3 green onions, sliced very fine

Directions:

1. Unwrap tofu and drain away water.  I also like to press the block of tofu between two bowls and get out as much water as possible.  In a soup it doesn't matter as much as if you were frying it, but still, squeeze that baby for all you're worth!
2. In a large pot, heat over medium flame and add sesame oil and the tofu.  Saute the tofu in the oil, breaking it up into small pieces.  After a few minutes, add the garlic.  
3. When the garlic gets golden, add water and the doenjang, stirring to dissolve the doenjang.  It will still have pieces of bean; don't worry about those.  You just want to make sure the doenjang gets incorporated and doesn't sink like a stone to bottom of the pot!
4. Add the zucchini (and mushrooms and hot peppers, if you are using them), turn the heat down to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Taste for seasoning - you can add more doenjang if you want a deeper flavor, or you can add soy sauce too.  Serve hot, sprinkled with green onion.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

It is really hard to capture dark chocolate in a photo!  Just sayin'.

It's zucchini season.  If you have plants in your garden they are probably throwing a last hurrah of giant squashes right now.  (The plant at my daughter's preschool has a zucchini the size of a football!)  Tired of zucchini bread?  Read on!

These little snackers have very little sugar added to them, so in the cupcake vs. muffin question, they fall squarely in the latter category.  The bittersweet chocolate, hints of banana and zucchini, and moist texture make for a sophisticated and healthy dessert.  To fancy them up, try a cream cheese frosting!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour (I used half regular flour, half whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 stick butter, melted 
• 2 eggs
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 zucchinis, grated
• 1/2 bag chocolate chips (about 6 oz. or 2/3 cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease muffin tin or use paper liners.  (I just use Pam.)
2. In a bowl, combine first six ingredients - all the dry ones.  
3. In a larger bowl, whisk vanilla and melted butter into eggs, then mash the banana and add that to the eggs.  Whisk in sugar and stir in grated zucchini.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. A little at a time, stir the dry ingredients into the wet.  Pour into muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes.  

This recipe made 18 muffins for me.  We ate a bunch and froze the rest.  To thaw, microwave for 30 seconds, but be careful, the chocolate chips get all hot and melty again!

Kid-tested, Mother-approved, napkin-required muffins!

Mushroom Ban Chan - Korean Basics

Unlike a typical American meal - protein, vegetable, and starch - a Korean meal has several components.  Rice is always present, as is a protein and some kind of kimchee.  Soup is almost always included, and my favorite part - the ban chans.  Those are those myriad little dishes that come with your dinner at the Korean restaurant, and are usually small bowls or plates of different kinds of vegetables - salads, sautés, pickles, and other presentations.  If you are cooking Korean food at home, the rice is easy to do, and you are probably putting some meat on the grill, but don't forget about the best part - the ban chans!

Here is an easy one to start with.  These are sautéed mushrooms, Korean-style.  Put the rice in the cooker (bap soot) and make these tonight!

Mushroom Ban Chan

Ingredients:

• 1 package King Trumpet mushrooms (also called King Oyster mushrooms.  Can't find them?  You can use button or creminis, but next time, go to the Korean grocery store and look for these!  They're usually $2 a package - pretty good deal!)

Serving suggestion.  Mushroom dancing lessons not included.

• 2 cloves garlic
• sesame oil
• salt
• 2 green onions
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup very thinly sliced carrots, optional (I had these left over from making kim bap, and I think they added a nice sweetness and color contrast to the dish, but they are in no way necessary to a good presentation)

Directions:

1. Slice the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces.  Finely chop the garlic, and thinly slice the green onion.
2. Add a little sesame oil to your pan, about 2 tablespoons, over medium heat.  Add the carrots, if using, and sauté for 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and mushrooms and stir to coat.  Sprinkle with salt.  The mushrooms will soak up the oil pretty quickly and you may need to add more, but don't worry, they release it back out, along with a lot of water.
3. Saute for 5 or 10 minutes, until the mushrooms sweat out all their water and they are soft and chewy.  Turn off the heat and toss with the sliced green onions and sesame seeds.  Eat hot or cool.

If you have leftovers, try them with scrambled eggs the next day for breakfast.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Corn is only around during the summer, which means the clock is ticking if you want to make recipes that benefit from fresh corn, as opposed to canned or frozen.  This is one salad that really needs the bought it, chopped it, ate it kind of corn!

I love how colorful this salad is - the festive colors even LOOK like summer!  And this is a great dish for a potluck or barbecue, because it can be out of the fridge and still taste great (and, uh, not make anyone sick.)  This comes together in a flash - try it this weekend with whatever you decide to grill!

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans
• 2 ears corn
• 2 bell peppers (I used one red and one yellow), diced
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse the beans and place in a large bowl.
2. Prepare the dressing:  mix the ground cumin with the juice of half a lemon.  Add the oil and shake, then pour over the beans.
3. Slice the corn off the cob, and add it to the beans.
4. Add the peppers, cilantro, and onion and stir thoroughly to combine.  You may want to add a little salt.

Put it in the refrigerator until you're ready to eat.  You can also add chopped avocado to this.  It's delicious and adds a creamy counterbalance to the crunchy peppers.  Just keep in mind that, while this salad is terrific the next day, avocados are not, so eat them all before you put the leftovers away.

Monkey Bites: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my quest for the perfect snack, there are several qualities I'm looking for.  Taste, of course, comes first, because otherwise, why bother?  But I want it to be healthy, and that means fresh ingredients, minimally processed.  That's not so easy.  Forget anything in the grocery store:  those cookies and snacks are meant to be edible for months, which means most of them have weird chemicals I'm just not comfortable with.  Also, refined sugar and flour have had the most nutritious parts stripped out of them, so they're not much of a boon to a growing child (or a trying-not-to-grow-larger adult!)


An added bonus for a recipe is if it's frugal in some way - using an ingredient I already have, or one that might otherwise be thrown away.  Chances are you might have one or more of these at your house:

Mmm, squishy!

And while I love banana bread as much as the next girl (if not more), I don't want to eat it every two weeks.  So this recipe saved the day for some overripe bananas - an automatic point in its favor!

After cruising around the internet, I synthesized a recipe that really meets the perfect snack criteria.  No added sugar, no flour, no eggs, and aside from the chocolate chips, no dairy.  Not that any of those things are bad, necessarily, but if I can make something without allergens, refined foods, or irritants, why not?  I bet these would be yummy with walnuts, but my girl is allergic, so I'll leave that experiment up to you.  Please try it out and let me know how it goes!

Monkey Bites!  (Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies)

Ingredients:

• 3 overripe bananas
• 2 cups oats
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil (or you can use butter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup (or about half a bag) chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Lightly grease cookie sheet (or use a Silpat liner - they're awesome!)
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients, mixing well.
3. Using a spoon and a fork, scoop a largish tablespoon of cookie dough onto the baking sheet.  You're going to have to mold it into shape.  Mine are about 2" in diameter, and about 1/4" high.  Try to make them uniform in size so they bake evenly.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on how you like them.  They won't get really crispy, but you don't want them too squishy either.

I eat these with my afternoon cup of coffee.  My kids would eat them all in one sitting if I let them.

Quick Pickles Two Ways: Dill Pickles and Sweet Pickles

Dill spears, dill coins, and sweet pickle coins

I bought a big bag of little pickling cucumbers at the farmer's market.  I didn't weigh it, but it was probably 2 or 3 pounds.  They were selling three bags for $5, so the bag cost me around $1.70, a deal for sure.  I had grand plans of canning pickles.  And then ... the days flew by, and I just didn't have the time to brine, sterilize, process, etc.  I wanted pickles, but not the ordeal of making them.

And then I remembered a recipe I'd seen for quick pickles.  The upside:  it only takes 10 - 30 minutes to make, depending on which recipe you're following, and they're ready to eat in an hour.  The downside: they don't keep indefinitely, like supermarket pickles do, so you only have about two weeks to eat them.  Hah!  I challenge you to make these last that long!

As far as equipment goes, you need largish jars with screw tops on them.  I used canning jars, because I have them handy, but I also put some dill coins in a jar that used to have ghee in it.  Just make sure it's very clean and doesn't have any smell from whatever was in it before.  Now - get pickling!

Dill Quick Pickles

Ingredients:

• 4 Kirby or pickling cucumbers, about 4 inches long
• 1 cup white or cider vinegar (I used about 3 tablespoons cider, with white vinegar to make up the rest of the cup)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns 
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 3 or 4 sprigs fresh dill, bruised

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, bring the vinegar, water, salt, allspice and peppercorns to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, prepare your cucumbers.  I cut off the top and bottom ends.  At this point, you can do spears (cut lengthwise, about 1/2" thick), or into coins (about 1/4" thick).  Fill the jar with cucumbers, leaving about 1/2" space between the top of the cucumbers and the top of the jar.
3. When brine comes to a boil, pour over cucumbers.  Push them down with a spoon to make sure they're submerged, and top off with the dill and the garlic, pushing them down into the cucumbers.  Screw on the lid, put in the fridge, and give them an hour or two to soak up the brine before you taste them.  

Quick Sweet Pickles

Ingredients:

• 4 Kirby cucumbers, each about 4 inches in length
• Kosher salt
• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon allspice berries
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• small piece of cinnamon stick
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Prepare the cucumbers:  Slice them very thinly, using a knife or mandolin.  Place them in a colander and salt heavily.  Let them sit for about 15 - 30 minutes.  (The salt draws extra water out.)  
2. Prepare the brine: Add vinegar, water and spices in a saucepan and heat to boiling.
3. When brine boils, remove from heat and let cool a little.  While it's cooling, rinse off the cucumbers and give them a little squeeze to get out the extra water.  Pack into a clean jar, leaving about 1/2" space at the top of the jar.  Pour in the brine, making sure the cucumbers are covered.  (Add extra water here if you have to.)  Screw on lid and refrigerate.

Note:  These are sweet, but not as sweet as the store-bought kind.  If you need enamel-peeling sweetness, add 2 or 3 teaspoons of corn syrup.  (Use the rest for pecan pie!)

Superfoods Salad! Warm Kale and Oven-Dried Tomato Salad

The term "superfood" is in the news a lot lately, and for good reason.  Science is proving that some foods are just better for you than others.  These superfoods are high in nutritional value and have been shown to prevent a host of diseases, from diabetes to cancer to heart disease.  Why wouldn't you eat these dietary power-houses every day?


Well, aside from berries and nuts, some of these super-foods aren't very "fun".  Broccoli?  Mustard greens?  Lentils?  We know they are good for us, but sometimes it sounds more appetizing to eat french fries than flax seeds.  The trick, as with most things, is preparation and presentation.

Tiny spokesmodel, or giant bag?

I found a 10-ounce bag of pre-sliced kale at Trader Joe's for $2.00.  That's a great deal!  Now to dress it up visually, jazz it up taste-wise, and add even more superfoods to the mix.  Voila!  Superfood Salad!  Serve this warm with any lean protein and get a big dose of vitamins, fiber, and cancer-fighting antioxidants.  Healthy and delicious = super!


Warm Kale and Oven-Dried Tomato Salad


Ingredients:

• 1 10-ounce bag of kale, or three large bunches of kale, tough stems removed
• 3/4 cup broth or water
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup Oven-Dried Tomatoes packed in oil, with 2 tablespoons of the oil, or prepared sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
• 1/2 cup almonds, lightly cracked
• 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• squeeze of lemon or lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Wash kale and remove tough stems.  If using bunches of whole kale instead of a bag of prepared kale, tear into bite-sized pieces.  
2. Heat sauté pan on medium heat and add olive oil.  When hot, add kale and broth and cover, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
3. Remove lid and add oven-dried tomatoes and tomato oil.  Stir to combine and lower heat, cooking until the broth has evaporated.
4. To serve:  pile kale on plate, add cracked almonds and cheese.  Squeeze a lemon over it and season with salt and pepper.

Serves two.  I ate this for lunch yesterday.  And then again for snack.  It's that good.