Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Bulgogi Sandwich



CST testing might not be fun for students but it's even worse for teachers who can't do anything else besides walk around and monitor the students.  As I was proctoring for the science portion of the CST this morning my mind began to wander and I started thinking about making this bulgogi sandwich.  Well I'm glad I did because it was pretty tasty.  Yohan came over after work with the groceries and here's how it went down...  


First, we made a marinade for the bulgogi.  Some soy sauce, sesame seed oil, brown sugar, garlic, and pepper went into a bowl.

Yohan bought about a pound of this thinly sliced chuck from the Korean butcher.

Finally, a recipe that is true to the name of my blog!

We let the marinade and the meat get acquainted for about ten minutes...

then cooked it over medium heat on a pan.  Like the action shot I got of Yohan's chopstick skills?

While Yohan was busy with the bulgogi I sliced a tomato...

and half of an avocado.

We made a gochujang (Korean chili paste) mayo spread for a little kick...

and fried up a couple of eggs.  I cook mine over low heat with a lid on top to help them cook evenly.

Slices of medium cheddar was toasted onto Kaiser rolls...


then we spread the gochujang mayo and put it all together.

First the lettuce(blurry picture),

the bulgogi,

crispy thick cut bacon (ohhh yeah),

slices of creamy avocado,

tomato,

the fried egg (although I should have left the yolk runny),

and voila!

Makes 2 sandwiches

bulgogi
about 1 pound of thin sliced beef like chuck or rib eye
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
*using 1 tablespoon of brown sugar didn't make the meat as sweet as it usually is so if you like bulgogi on the sweeter side, add a bit more 
pepper

1.  Mix all ingredients except meat in a bowl.
2.  Add in the beef and let sit for 10-15 minutes.  The meat is so thin that it doesn't need to sit for too long.
3.  Cook over medium-high heat in a pan.  
4.  Remove the beef and discard juices in the pan.

the sandwich
bulgogi
2 slices of crispy bacon
kaiser rolls
2 slices of cheddar
2 eggs
tomato slices
1/2 avocado, sliced
lettuce
gochujang mayo (mixing just a tiny bit of gochujang with mayo is plenty unless you can handle a lot of heat)

 1. Toast the bread with cheese. 
2. Spread the mayo on one slice of bread.
3. Fry up the eggs.
4. Assemble the rest of the ingredients and eat!




Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Photo: Mushroom Cream Fettuccine with Baby Scallops


I don't remember exactly how I made this pasta dish but I do remember the mushroomy creamy goodness I tasted in my mouth.  I reconstituted dried mushrooms from Trader Joe's and mixed the mushroom broth in about half cup of heavy cream.  While it was simmering I boiled a half pound of fettuccine and pan fried the baby scallops.  Then I tossed everything together, seasoned it, and that was it! I hope I'm not missing something but you can't blame me if you try to make it and it goes wrong since this isn't a "real" recipe :)       

It's the Simple Things: Greek Inspired Udon Noodle Salad



This was a light lunch I threw together using left over ingredients from my fridge.  Sometimes I like putting together meals that I don't have to go out and shop ingredients for and to my surprise, they don't turn out half bad.  Most of the carbs from this meal are hidden under the veggies in the udon noodles, not the couscous.  I could have done without the couscous but oh well.  At least it makes the picture prettier and, I saved it from being tossed out in the trash with the other unwanted food scraps that were saved for some reason.  Anyways, tossing the noodles with the vinaigrette or dressing prior to topping the other ingredients is probably a good idea.  I poured my dressing over the top of everything already assembled and I remember thinking the noodles were a little dry while I was eating.  Don't make the same mistake I made!      

lettuce
mint leaves
tomato wedges
cucumber
crumbled feta
Israeli couscous
udon noodles
a light vinaigrette/dressing of your choice (I used a Romano Basil dressing from a bottle)
fresh cracked pepper, of course


1.  Assemble, and eat, eat, eat!

It's the Simple Things: Banana Split Sundae


One afternoon Wuz and I were bored, so what did we decide to do? Buy ingredients for sundaes! The homemade whipped cream really puts it over the edge and I know this because we sat in silence for approximately three minutes, practically inhaling our creations.  Here's a recipe for whipped cream which can be cut in half.  


By the way, from now on "It's the Simple Things" will be posts for recipes that aren't really recipes.  Meaning, they're more like easy and simple directions for assembling different food items together that I can't justify calling "recipes".  So here's the first one out of hopefully more to come.  Enjoy!  


1 banana, cut length wise
a handful of blackberries
1 or 2 scoops of cookies and cream ice cream
a dollop of freshly made whipped cream
a sprinkling of crunchy granola


1.  Assemble and devour!

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