After teaching till 9pm, it can take a while to relax enough to fall asleep. So often, at 2am, I watch cooking shows on Youtube. This dish is inspired by a Youtube session with Italian American chef Giada de Laurentis. The flavour was quite delicious. I did not follow the recipe exactly and some substitutions were necessary.
 Orange Salsa Verde The salsa is bright, sweet, salty and spicy. To make it, segment your oranges, (this takes awhile but is worth it!), add olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, scallions, mint, capers, orange zest, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes. Toss lightly and season with salt and pepper.  The agave, or in this case, the honey lemon tea, caramelizes to add some colour. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on your salmon steaks and then brush with agave (or honey lemon tea, or honey, or maple syrup or whatever you have!). Heat a grill (or a fry-pan) to medium-high heat and brush it with vegetable oil. Grill or fry on each side for 3-4 minutes until it flakes, and then let it rest for a couple of minutes.
Spoon your salsa overtop and enjoy!
Salsa2 large oranges (I used mandarins), segmented 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 2 scallions, finely sliced (I used a similar Korean variety) 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (I had no mint--it was not to be found) 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, and chopped (Koreans love their pickled foods, so fortunately, olives, capers and pickles are in ready supply). 2 tablespoons orange zest 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I used Korean red pepper powder) salt and freshly ground black pepper SalmonVegetable oil for oiling the grill 4 (4 to 5-ounce) center cut salmon fillets, skinned, each about 3-inches square 2 tablespoons amber agave nectar (I used Chinese honey lemon tea instead) salt and pepperGiada de Laurentis, Salmon with Citrus Salsa Verde
 So delicious I am dreaming about it In Korea, raw vegetables are not eaten often. Veggies are served in a variety of other ways--cooked, steamed, fermented--but salads are not a traditional food. Sadly, they have not been on our menu much lately either. The excuse goes something like this: we do not own a salad bowl, and a salad bowl is essential to making good salad because all good salad is tossed in a homemade dressing so the flavours mix (yes, I have rigid views about salad!). Today I decided that a frying pan can be a salad bowl any day.
 Such a beautiful, Christmasey fruit. I used to dismiss pomegranates as a decorative fruit until I read (somewhere) that the arils are easily removed using a simple technique. You cut the fruit in half and then submerge it in a bowl of water. Break the fruit apart with your hands. The pith will float to the top and the arils will sink to the bottom. Strain out the pith, and you are left with a lovely handful of red fruit!
 Apples and mixed greens sprinkled with some cracked pepper Korean apples are absolutely delicious--much more crisp and water laden than their North American counterparts. Their water content is similar to an Asian Pear.
 machisoyo: delicious! Directions
1. Heat oil in small skillet over low heat. Add shallot, and sauté 4 minutes, or until soft. Remove from heat, and stir in balsamic vinegar and honey. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Combine mesclun mix and apple slices in large salad bowl. Drizzle with half of shallot dressing, and toss to coat. Divide salad among six plates. Top with goat cheese, pomegranate seeds, and remaining dressing.
Serves 6
1 large shallot, finely chopped (¼ cup) 2 tsp. olive oil ¼ cup balsamic vinegar 2 Tbs. honey 12 cups mesclun salad mix - 1 apple, thinly sliced
- 3 oz. goat cheese, crumbled (¾ cup)
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
from Vegetarian Times Issue: October 2008, p. 78.
 Pad Thai sauce as splatter paint: a kitchen nightmare One of my more epic spills: Pad Thai sauce across the floor and all over the wall. You might ask, as Nate did, how? I can only describe it as a sling shot effect. I knocked one edge of the bowl into the counter, and suddenly, I was seeing red.
 the trajectory The sauce hit the floor, the fridge, a pile of recyclables and lastly, the wall.
 it is permanently stained Just call me Jackson Pollock.
 not beautiful, but delicious--according to Nate Four years ago, I promised Nate I'd make him coq au vin for his birthday. Coq au vin, or chicken with wine, is a famous French preparation, and I had planned to make it in honour of Nate's heritage; some of his ancestors come from the Alsace Lorraine region of France. My Mom sent me the recipe in an email, and I had talked through all of the potential problems with her. Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate waking up, the morning of his birthday, with a neck spasm that rendered me practically immobile. Cooking was out of the question. The plan was salvaged by taking Nate for a fancy dinner at a French-style restaurant in Halifax called Chateau Briand. But ever since, I have threatened to make this.
Today, we had a bottle of red wine that neither of us wanted to drink and so, almost exactly four years late, Nate finally had his French, birthday meal!
Many people make this dish in a cast iron pot that can be transferred to the oven, but as the title of this blog implies, there is only a hotplate involved.
Ingredients
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
10-12 chicken drumsticks
200g slab bacon, chopped into small pieces.
1 large onion, halved and sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
3 ribs celery, roughly chopped into bite size pieces
15 pearl onions (blanched)
4 Tbs flour
3 sprigs fresh thyme
15 button mushrooms, cleaned
4 cups chicken stock
1 bottle red wine (750ml)
1 cup tomato sauce
3 bay leaves
 carrots are best sliced nice and chunky so they don't turn to mush over the long cooking time Heat butter and olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces to the pot, skin side down so that they fit snugly yet have room to colour. Turn them after 2 mins and cook for another 2 mins. Remove the chicken to a plate.  these were arranged a little too snugly Add the bacon to the pot and cook until golden. Reduce the heat to medium, add the sliced onion, carrot and celery and cook for 2 mins.
 probably the only time you will see me cook bacon! Stir the ingredients well, lifting the browned bits off the bottom of the pot. While stirring, add the flour and cook for 1 min. (This will create a roux and hold in all the flavours that have been created.)
Next, add the thyme, blanched pearl onions and the mushrooms to the pot and give them a stir. Then add the chicken and chicken stock. Simmer for 5 mins.
Next, add the red wine, bay leaves and tomato sauce.
Allow everything to simmer for about 20 minutes until the liquid reduces. Then cover the pot and simmer over medium heat for about forty minutes (until the chicken falls off the bone).
The liquid will reduce, and the stew will thicken. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if you like.
 Don't eat the bayleaf! They have hallucinogenic properties. Serve hot with some boiled potatoes or a nice French bread.
Nate really liked this--and he always tells the truth about the meal!
You may have noticed that everything we eat is orange. The culprit is gochujang (click it for a picture and description). Here's a variation on a Thai curry that substitutes gochujang for red curry paste.  Korean-style coconut curry First, chop up a pile of vegetables.
Marvel at the size of that carrot. Despite it's gargantuan proportions, it's not mealy at all--actually quite sweet and tender!
Saute some onion and garlic in a pan, and then add the other vegetables.
When the veg is semi-tender, add half a can of light coconut milk. Stir in a Tbs. of gochuchang (could be replaced with Thai red curry paste), a Tbs of soy sauce and a tsp of sugar.
Throw in some chopped cherry tomatoes and some peeled shrimp and bring to a bubble until the shrimp are pink and cooked. Serve over rice with some toasted cashews.
 Bibimbap with egg, lettuce, carrot, sprouts, burdock root, seaweed, daikon I promised a picture of real bibimbap, as opposed to my earlier homemade version. This one came from the nearby Kimbap Nara (a popular type of restaurant serving a fairly standard menu of Korean food). Bap means rice. (Kimbap is a form of rolled rice sandwich wrapped in nori--could be called Korean sushi, but it is far more pedestrian than sushi--and much cheaper).
Bibimbap is, we are told, a very healthy dish. It is contains a medley of vegetables (some raw, some cooked, some marinated), warm rice and an egg in some form (raw, cooked or in between). Underneath the egg is a large dollop of gochujang (Korean red chili paste).
 half eaten bibimbap To eat the bibimbap, you mix all the ingredients together with your chopsticks. It tastes pretty good. I think it makes an eggcellent breakfast.
 A Spicy Squash Soup with lotus root and chili oil Okay...this was more for drama than for taste:) But it did taste good!
First chop your perfectly ripe Butternut Squash and remove the seeds and fibrous innards.
 a fall vegetable if--there ever was one Also peel and chop two sweet potatoes, one regular potato, an apple, an onion and a little bit of carrot.
Saute the onion and carrot in one Tbs. of olive oil.
When the onions are soft, add the rest of your chopped vegetables and the apple.
Next, make some stock using a boullion cube (homemade works too) and add to the vegetables with some salt and pepper. Simmer on medium high.
While the vegetables are cooking, you can blanch some thin slices of lotus root (I bought mine pre-sliced) in some boiling water for about two minutes.
When all the vegetables in your soup are soft, add a Tbs of Korean hot chili paste (gochujang). If you do not have gochujang, a pinch of cayenne will do the trick. Next, puree the soup (if you have a hand blender), or do your best to mash it to a fine consistency if you only possess a whisk. Ladle some into a cup or bowl, top with a lotus round and drizzle a little chili oil into the holes--as you can see, hitting the holes is a challenge. Garnish with some cilantro (that you bought at the foreign market in Itaewon).
While the lotus root is attempting to be oh so zen, another nice topper is plain yogurt with cilantro and a drizzle of chili oil.
Did I mention the tomatoes here are delicious? It's true that fall has almost arrived, and we are nearing the end of tomato season, but as long as they are at the roadside market, I will keep buying them to make bruschetta, sauces and soups.
 Two of my favourite things: coffee and Korean tomatoes Tomatoes on toast are a perfect breakfast. And tomatoes with toast, cheese and wine are perfect anytime. Too bad it's plastic-cheese!
 Nate loves the Malbec We spent Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) with an Eglish-speaking group from Seok-sa Church. It was a potluck, and I decided to bring bruschetta and spinach dip. Nate went to the market for tomatoes, but the pickings were slim, and he came back with a bag of unripened ones. We tried to ripen them in a bag with some apples, but on the day of the potluck, they were pale pink. I ran back to the market, and found only one vendor selling any. She was elderly and looked quite poor, so after staring at her tomatoes for about 3 minutes--trying to determine if they were actually ripe or just strategically displayed-- I felt compelled to purchase them. Unfortunately, many of them were split open, mealy and green. Nate did a masterful job dicing the mostly-ripe ones--we threw some sugar into the bruschetta mixture to fix the tartness--but we were left with piles of semi-ripe tomatoes... And this is what became of them....
 Manhatten Clam Chowder The moral of the story is, when life throws you unripe tomatoes, make clam chowder. Perfect for cool, autumn evenings in Korea!
 Watermelon and Shrimp Skewers plus the beginnings of bruschetta You may think this is an odd one--but it's surprisingly yummy. Pair the grilled, spicy shrimp with the cool, mellow melon and you have a light summer appetizer.
Recipe
Peel and clean 12 large shrimp.
Toss with 1 tsp. veg oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne-- or spicy Korean red chili powder. Grill in frypan until pink--but not chewy.
Chop a succulent, Korean watermelon (I paid the whopping equivalent of $15 for this one!).
Alternate shrimp and watermelon on a bamboo skewer.
 Mushroom Camembert Risotto with Naan, aka carb central! I think this recipe was originally Jamie Oliver's; however, I have butchered it so far that I should not give him credit!
Boil some water in your little, tin kettle.
Add a handful of chopped mushrooms (any variety--except white button...and of course, no poisonous varieties) to about two cups of boiling water. Soak for 10 minutes.
Fry a handful of sliced onions and a clove of diced garlic in a med-hot frypan.
Saute. Throw in a few handfuls of rice (short grain is best--calrose, sticky or arborio)--brown slightly. Add a little white wine (if you have any on hand).
Next, strain the mushrooms from your newly made broth and set aside. Gradually begin to massage about half a cup of your mushroom stock into your rice mixture.
Boil more water in your little, tin kettle. Add some boullion, or whatever you can find, to make a vegetable stock. Make as much as you can (8 cups or so) while boiling water in your little, tin kettle. Continue to massage water into your rice mixture. Ensure you heat is turned up high enough that the mixture is bubbling.
Throw in a pinch of oregano (if you have any).
If I had some thyme on my hands, I would have used it.
Add some salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon (if you do not have lemon, a little hint of vinegar will do the trick).
Keep adding water until the rice is tender (but not mushy).
Throw in the pre-steamed mushrooms.
Mix in a couple slices of processed cheese (this is all I could find at the grocery store) but if you have real cheese, the result would be better! Camembert (at least in processed format) is a nice addition.
Taste and ensure the seasoning is perfect. Let the mixture stand over low heat.
Take another few handfuls of cleaned and dried mushrooms.
Heat a pan over medium-high heat and dry grill them (this is a Japanese technique).
Remove the mushrooms from the heat and mix in a Tablespoon or so of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon (or vinegar), some sea salt and pepper.
Serve the dressed mushrooms over the rice mixture with a sprinkle of parmesan or reggiano (if you have access to them). Garnish with something green.
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