I’ve kind of been obsessed with cantaloupe lately. I eat it during breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday and still don’t get tired of it! I think it’s the most perfect out of all the melons. It’s sweet, but not as piercingly sweet as honeydew. It’s refreshing and juicy in a more substantial way than watermelon. And it’s just has a very calming quality to it. It’s pleasant and soothing like dawn during summertime.
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August 26 2009 | dessert and dips and recipe and thoughts | 11 Comments »
Korean summers are excruciatingly humid and hot. Temperatures will rise above the 90s and for a few weeks monsoon season hits so it rains cats and dogs. Fortunately, throughout my life I have only spent a handful of summers there. I love being there and it’s where I call home, but summer is just not its best season.
One great thing about summer in Korea though is the cold noodle soups. They’re cool, refreshing, and very flavorful. The most common and popular cold noodle soup is probably, naengmyun, 냉면. It is made with buckwheat noodles and a cold broth garnished with julienned cucumbers, asian pear slices, half a hard boiled egg, and pieces of steamed pork belly. It’s a bit complicated to make naengmyun from scratch, which is why they sell packages of naengmyun “kits” in Korean/Asian supermarkets. Everything is included, so all you have to do is boil the noodles and pick your garnishes.
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August 23 2009 | asian and beans and legumes and budget and noodles and recipe and soup and thoughts | 4 Comments »
To enjoy the dog days of summer, I thought it would be nice to go on a picnic with some friends. Cold drinks, food, and a nice spot in the shade seemed like a good idea. I didn’t plan on making most of the food myself, but my secret wish came true. I don’t go on picnics very often, so if I was confined to one dish, I think I would’ve had an even harder time picking out what I wanted to bring. I mean, I thought about the picnic menu for days and ended up with almost two types of everything. It probably didn’t help that I went to Whole Foods without a definite plan or grocery list. My friend kept on telling me to get inspired by the seasonal ingredients, but I couldn’t! I’m just not experienced enough to know what I can do with what. Every time I get something, thinking I can make a certain dish, I end up having to run to the local deli in front of my house midway through a recipe because I don’t have fresh chives, tarragon, or heavy cream. Well, after more than an hour I finalized what I was going to make, and bought almost everything I needed. I did end up going to the deli once though.
The first sandwich I made is made with roasted tomatoes and onions with feta, black olives, and oregano. It was inspired by Martha Stewart’s amazing Tomato Hand Pies. I made them a couple of weeks ago for a potluck and everyone devoured them. I wanted to make them again but didn’t really want to be bothered by the Pate Brisee again. So I decided to make it into a sandwich! It was really incredible. The roasted tomatoes were sweet and savory while the soft onions really provided a depth to the flavor. The feta, olive, and oregano topping gave the sandwich a nice greek twist. I thought about using mozzarella instead of the feta and olive combination, but just decided to stay closer to the original recipe. Next time, I may lay a piece of mozzarella on the bottom of the sandwich because my bread did get soggy by the time I got to the picnic. But I think it was good, soggy bread and all. The juices were all soaked up in the crusty soar dough slice. If you have the time and patience, I really recommend making the hand pies, but if you want a faster and easier version, make this sandwich!
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August 15 2009 | recipe and sandwiches and thoughts and vegetarian | 2 Comments »
