Bibimbap / Bulgogi

This is my new favorite food. (No offense, popcorn.) I could write many long paragraphs about how amazing this food is, but I'm going to skip that so you can get to making it - and therefore, eating it - much sooner. Only one disclaimer: It's cheater bulgogi. I've been trying to find a word that's the equivalent of "gringo" to Korean, because that's what it feels like.

(Cheater) Bulgogi
Recipe adapted from here

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 t ground ginger
3 cloves minced garlic
1 pound ground beef (less fat, the better)
2 green onions, thinly sliced

In a small bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients. Heat the oil in a skillet, add garlic and cook for a minute (stirring). Add ground beef and brown it, then drain the fat. Add the sauce mixture and the green onions, and mix well, heating through.

(Cheater) Kimchi
Recipe adapted from here

1 can sauerkraut
sesame oil
sesame seeds
chili powder
minced garlic
lemon juice

Drain the sauerkraut in a colander, and rinse it really well in running cold water. Let it drain for a while; pat it with a paper towel if it's still really wet. Lightly coat in sesame oil (while still in colander). Transfer to a bowl and add a handful of sesame seeds; mix. In a small bowl, combine a handful of chili powder, nearly the same amount of minced garlic, and about a teaspoon of lemon juice (less if you used liquid from the minced garlic). Mix it into a paste and add to the sauerkraut, mixing to thoroughly coat. Let it sit for a while (in the refrigerator is best) to combine flavors.

(Cheater) Bibimbap

white rice
bulgogi recipe above
kimchi recipe above
cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms (whatever vegetables of your choice)
eggs

This is the order I make everything in to get the timing as close to perfect as possible:
- Make rice and set aside. (Keep covered to keep warm.) While the rice is cooking, I chop up vegetables (cucumbers and, if not pre-shredded, carrots).
- Make the kimchi and put it in the fridge to combine flavors.
- I like toasting my mushrooms in butter, so at this point I melt butter in a pan while chopping up mushrooms very small, and cooking them in the butter until they're darker. (It smells AWESOME.)
- While the mushrooms are cooking, I mix up the sauce for the bulgogi.
- I keep the mushroom pan hot while I start another pan for the beef. Once the beef is drained, I add the sauce to it and I start frying eggs in the mushroom pan. It's okay for the beef/sauce to stay warm a few extra minutes while I finish up eggs.
- Now you can assemble everything! Rice on the bottom, veggies and kimchi around the side in little piles, beef in the middle, fried egg on top! And don't forget, you're supposed to mix it all up to eat it! (Personally, I like to compose individual bites to create more variety, but you do you.)

Notes:
- This makes EXCELLENT leftovers. I never thought something with rice could make good leftovers. I usually only have rice, beef, and cucumbers leftover, but I can fry a new egg if I'm eating the leftovers at home, and I could start making way more mushrooms so there can be some leftover.
- This is crazy customizable. You can put more/less of whatever ingredient(s) you (dis)like.

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti

Ingredients

pasta (I used penne rigate, making this actually "baked penne")

pasta sauce (whatever you like)

ricotta cheese

shredded mozzarella

Equipment

pot, oven, stove, baking dish

Instructions

Prepare the pasta according to package instructions. Preheat oven to 350F. Drain it and put it in the baking dish. Add sauce to your liking and stir until evenly coated. Add ricotta and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Top with mozzarella. Bake for about 30 minutes (until cheese is melted and bubbly).

Yields

as much as you make

Total time

about 45 minutes

Cleanup rating 3/10

If you stir the sauce and cheese in with everything already in the baking dish, you only have one thing to really clean. And if you wait too long to do it (or keep leftovers in the dish) it'll be harder to clean.

Difficulty rating 3/10

Other than just boiling pasta and adding sauce, this is almost the easiest pasta dish you could possibly make.

Flavor rating 8/10

Classic, simple, and delicious. I think of baked ziti as a wintry comfort food.

Adjustability: medium

Use whatever kind of pasta you want. Obviously it's intended to be ziti, but like I said in the "ingredients" section, I used penne rigate. I was looking for rigatoni, but couldn't find any. We also had rotini, which would work just fine. It only gets weird if you use long pasta like spaghetti or vermicelli, or small pasta like orzo. You can also use whatever sauce you like (I imagine it would be interesting to try an alfredo sauce or something) and any cheese. You could put veggies or meats in it, too.

Make it with...

I went super simple and just microwaved some frozen peas, but any green veggie goes really well with pasta. Salad is a good choice too. To make a more robust meal, you could make chicken or steak or pork chops or something like that with it.

Kale and Onion Saute

That's the chicken lazone from the last post, with garlic mashed potatoes, and the star of this post, kale and onion saute. The original recipe came from here, and you may notice some very clear visual differences between theirs and mine. I definitely want to make this again in the future and do a better job overall.

Kale and Onion Saute

Ingredients

head of kale, washed and dried

onion

vegetable oil

salt

Equipment

saute pan with a lid, stove

Instructions

Slice onions thinly and slice kale into thin strips. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in the pan and add onions, cooking until they start to caramelize. Add the kale and a few tablespoons of water and cover. Let it steam for 5-10 minutes until the kale is all wilty. Stir everything up to incorporate. Salt to taste.

Yields
The head of kale I used could easily serve 4

Total time
about 20 minutes

Cleanup rating 2/10
One oily pan and all the water you dripped all over the entire kitchen while trying to deal with your unwieldy kale is all you have to deal with here.

Flavor rating abstained
I refuse to rate this recipe until I try it again, because I flubbed. I was making chicken lazone at the same time, and I wanted them to be finished at the same time, so I didn't wait for the onions to caramelize. I also used pretty big pieces of onion. I think dicing it would work best (for both cooking and eating).

Difficulty rating 3/10
It sounds stupid to rate this so easy when I managed to screw it up, but my issue was with timing this alongside another recipe, not this recipe itself. This is actually quite an easy recipe; I just need a do-over.

Adjustability: medium
The original recipe suggested sprinkling the finished product with apple cider vinegar and red pepper flakes, but I decided against both. It still wasn't bad. I quite like cooked kale, and I love onions, so even though I did it wrong, it turned out okay. Which goes to show you that you can season this basically however you want. Add other veggies to either stage: peppers with the onions, or spinach with the kale.

Make it with...
Anything you'd pair a green-and-leafy with, really. Birk thinks kale tastes a lot like broccoli (I don't disagree, but I don't think I would have made the connection without him pointing it out) so if you'd have broccoli with something, this would probably do well in its place.

Cost
Oh, fresh produce. I love you so much. You're so inexpensive (if you aren't organic, and I don't typically buy organic) and so delicious. You're the best.
Anyway, kale is $1.29/lb at my Farm Fresh. I don't recall how much I bought, but it felt like about half a pound if memory serves, so I'm going with $0.65 for how much kale I used. Onions belong in my kitchenventory, but they were on sale for $0.74 so I barely spent a dollar on this recipe (considering that vegetable oil and salt belong in my kitchenventory).

Chicken Lazone

I had never heard of chicken lazone before, but I ran across a recipe here and thought it sounded too easy and delicious not to try. It was good, but I think I need to make it again and let the sauce thicken a little longer and it would be perfect.

Chicken Lazone

Ingredients
2 thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts (either cut in half lengthwise or pounded flat)
garlic powder
onion powder
chili powder (I didn't have this, so I used taco seasoning... close enough!)
1 cup heavy cream
2 T and 2 T butter

Equipment
skillet, stove

Instructions
Season your chicken breasts on both sides with the three spices. Melt 2 T of butter in the pan and cook the chicken on both sides until done. Melt the remaining 2 T of butter around the chicken and pour in the cream. (If necessary, scrape up any seasoning that has stuck to your pan and incorporate it.) Cook for about 8 minutes until sauce thickens.

Yields
2 servings (two chicken breasts)

Total time
about 20 minutes

Cleanup rating 4/10
This rating was arrived at because I was a responsible adult and cleaned the pan immediately after eating dinner. Don't let this one sit. My sauce was thin enough that the little bit left in the pan just went down the sink drain, and it's only one pan so it's not too bad.

Flavor rating 6/10
Birk liked it more than I did, but it did grow on me the more I ate. Like I said at the top, I think I should have let the sauce thicken more.

Difficulty rating 5/10
It doesn't take a very long time, it's almost the same as my basic chicken recipe but with a sauce component added to the end, and the skills necessary are pretty simple (recognizing when chicken is done and when sauce is thickened).

Adjustability: medium
You can switch up the spices and maybe add vegetables or cheese or something. It's hard to say with this one.

Make it with...
I made this with garlic mashed potatoes (the sauce was delicious on them) and a recipe I'm about to post, kale and onion saute. Everything went really well together. The original recipe showed the chicken and sauce being served over a long noodle like spaghetti, which would probably be really good too.

Cost
Chicken, heavy cream, butter, and the spices all belong in my kitchenventory, so the garlic mashed potatoes (about $2) were the only thing I bought that I don't normally have on hand.

Egg Sandwich and Toasted Edamame

It's time for a two-fer!

Egg Sandwich

Ingredients

bread (we used the same everything French bread from last night's grilled cheeses)

eggs (about two per sandwich)

salt and pepper

cheese (I had white cheddar)

butter

Equipment

skillet, pan, stove

Instructions

Mix up eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper like you're making scrambled eggs (because you totally are). Butter a skillet and start the bread toasting. Cut your cheese into tiny cubes. Butter a pan and heat it up. Add the eggs. When they just start to cook, add the cheese. Keep stirring it and chopping it with the spoon until you have scrambled eggs. Keep an eye on your toast (flip it over when one side is toasted). Once everything's done, make sandwiches.

Yields

I made three sandwiches out of four eggs.

Total time

About 15 minutes

Cleanup rating 2/5

All you have to deal with is a buttery skillet, an eggy pan, and a raw eggy bowl.

Flavor rating 8/10

Yum! Simple but delicious. Hard to go wrong with butter, bread, eggs, and cheese.

Difficulty rating 2/10

Super easy. Unless you're terrible at cracking eggs. Then it's like a 3. Or like 5 if you're really, really bad at it.

Adjustability: high

It's a sandwich... add whatever you want! Use different cheeses, mix in vegetables or meats, add stuff like lettuce or tomato or whatever you want. That's what I love about sandwiches.

Make it with...

I made it with the recipe below, toasted edamame. But again... it's a sandwich. Chips, pretzels, veggies, whatever floats your boat.

Cost

Half a dozen eggs: about $2

Everything French bread from Walmart: $1

Butter from kitchenventory

Brick of white cheddar cheese from Target: about $3

Cost for all ingredients: $6

Toasted Edamame

Ingredients

bag of frozen edamame

vegetable oil

a few Tbsp Parmesan cheese

about 1 tsp minced garlic

salt and pepper

Equipment

baking sheet, oven

Instructions

Rinse/thaw your edamame. Toss it in vegetable oil. Add minced garlic and toss again. Spread it on the baking sheet and sprinkle with Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Bake at 350F for about 10 minutes.

Yields

a bag's worth of edamame

Total time

about 15 minutes

Cleanup rating 1/5

You have an oily bowl (or colander if you're like me and get tired of being told there's too much oil in your vegetables, so you added oil while the vegetables were still in the colander) and, if you line your baking sheet with foil, a piece of foil to throw away.

Flavor rating 7/10

I think this is an excellent vegetable side dish, personally. Our edamame had been sitting in the freezer for about a year, so it was a tiny bit tough, but it was still tasty.

Difficulty rating 1/10

The hardest part was opening the jar of minced garlic.

Adjustability: medium

You could use other spices or herbs or something, but that's about it.

Make it with...

Anything! It's a side dish. Goes with any meat, any non-meat, any sandwich, whatever.

Cost

Bag of edamame: about $2

Parmesan cheese from the kitchenventory

Minced garlic from the kitchenventory

Cost for all ingredients: $2

Cost for this recipe: $2

Chicken and Onions

I didn't take a picture of this dinner, but I've made it several times before. In fact, I was surprised to find that I hadn't posted it here before.

Chicken and Onions

Ingredients
two boneless, skinless chicken breasts
one large onion, sliced
olive oil
salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder

Equipment
oven

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450F. Line a baking dish with foil (this recipe can stick to a pan and hold on for dear life). Put the chicken and the sliced onions in the dish and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice (I like garlic on everything, and paprika gives it a nice color). Bake for about 30 minutes.

Yields
2 servings

Total time
30 minutes

Cleanup rating 3/5 if you use foil
If you don't use foil, have fun scrubbing onion bits off your dish. Been there; done that. Now I only make this dish with foil.

Flavor rating 7/10
Sometimes I overcook this. Sometimes I undercook it. When I get it right, it's a 7/10. When I don't, it's like a 3.

Difficulty rating 2/10
So simple. Surprising, considering I just admitted to screwing it up sometimes.

Adjustability: medium
You can add other veggies, or use different seasonings, but that's about all there is to it.

Make it with...
This time I made it with rice in the rice cooker that I added shredded gouda to (try it, it's great). You can make it with mashed potatoes, or noodles, or any veggie side dish... it's really versatile, because it really just boils down to being chicken, seasoned however you want.

Kitchenventory
Cabinet: nothing
Fridge: chicken breasts
Countertop: onion, olive oil
Spice rack: seasonings
Miscellaneous: foil

French Croutons

The only "French" thing about these croutons is that I learned how to make croutons on the stove (as opposed to in the oven) when I was in France last year. I didn't follow a recipe or use particularly French ingredients or anything like that. I just had some bread leftover from this day, and decided to try this out... and I was pleased with the results.

"French" Croutons

Ingredients

Bread, cubed

butter

seasonings

shredded Parmesan (I used a four-cheese blend that included Parmesan and Romano)

Equipment

pan, stove

Instructions

Melt butter in your pan on medium heat. (I probably used about 2-3 Tbsp for the amount of bread I had, pictured above). Once it's melted, add your bread cubes. Toss them around to get them thoroughly coated. Season them and toss again for even coating. Once they're just about to your desired level of toastiness (remember, I like my croutons a little chewy, so in my picture, they aren't really crunchy yet) add the cheese and toss until it melts onto the croutons (be careful not to let too much melt onto the pan; it can burn pretty quickly).

Total time

about 10 minutes... be patient while waiting for them to toast; you don't want to burn them!

Yields

As much bread as you throw in there

Cleanup rating 2/5

You'll have a mildly greasy pan, but if you don't let anything burn, it'll be a breeze to clean. You don't even have a bowl/bag to deal with like you do with my other croutons!

Difficulty rating 3/10

If being patient is difficult for you, this is a little difficult. And you need to keep an eye on them; don't turn away for too long or something (bread, cheese, seasonings) might burn.

Flavor rating 8/10

YUM. It's hard to go wrong with butter, bread, and cheese (hey, that actually does sound pretty French... just add some wine!).

Adjustability: medium

You'll notice I didn't specify seasonings. Honestly, I made this a little while ago and can't remember what I used. I know there was garlic powder involved, because there always is. And I'm pretty sure I used my Parisian spice blend (...French) which has some dry leafy seasonings in there, and I was concerned about burning. But use whatever bread, spices, and cheese you want! Add other things! Leave out the cheese!

Make it with...

In the bonus photo, you'll see the croutons were their own individual side dish. You could put them on a salad like normal croutons, or make them smaller and use them in a Grenobloise style dish (that's why I learned it in France... we made skate Grenobloise, with capers and croutons and lemon juice). You could also just make them as a snack. Put some of these next to a cheese plate and glass of wine? Perfection.

Bonus photo:

Made them with sauteed chicken with red wine mushroom "relish,"
garlic mashed potatoes, and peas.

Rocky Road Cookies

These were so good. So sweet, but so good. Kind of like the GoT finale I made them for.

Rocky Road Cookies

Ingredients
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/4 tsp salt
3 large egg whites
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2.5 oz sliced almonds (I used slivered because that's what I had)
1 cup mini marshmallows

Equipment
large bowl, baking sheet, parchment paper, oven, MUSCLES, freezer

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix up your powdered sugar and cocoa. Whisk in the salt. Add the egg whites and vanilla; stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and almonds. (This is where the muscle comes in... it's a thick batter.) Spoon small mounds onto parchment paper and top with a few marshmallows (press them in a little to make sure they don't tumble off). Stick them in the freezer for a few minutes to prevent too much spreading when they bake. Put on a baking sheet (I didn't think it was a good idea to freeze the baking sheet itself) and bake about 12 minutes (until marshmallows are toasted like in the photo). Let them cool a few minutes on the pan before transferring to wire rack.

Yields
2 dozen cookies

Total time
about 30 minutes (I baked two batches, so about 10 minutes prep, and about 10 minutes for each batch to bake)

Cleanup rating 3/5
Chocolate everywhere. Powdered sugar more everywhere.

Difficulty rating 6/10
I'm not kidding about stirring that batter... it's thick. Don't be lazy about it, though; you want evenly distributed bits. And someone save you if you think whisking your wet ingredients in is a good idea. Your whisk will pick up all of the batter and be rendered useless.

Flavor rating 8/10
Really sweet but really yummy. Kind of sticky.

Adjustability: medium
Don't like almonds? Use pecans, or walnuts, or no nuts at all. Try mixing some marshmallows into the batter. Try cinnamon chips or butterscotch chips or caramel bits or toffee chips. I know rocky road has a specific definition but I've always thought of it as the "everything bagel" of desserts.

Make it with...
Nothing; it's a cookie. Our dinner was burgers and hot dogs on the grill with veggies. This seemed like an appropriately casual dessert for the occasion.

Just Two Cookies

Last night, I was poking around the kitchen looking for a snack. I found nothing that interested me, but I opened the cabinet and realized that I could make a snack, because I had all the makings of basic baked goods (because of all the cookies and cakes and such I've been making lately). So I switched to poking around on the internet to look for "small batch cookie recipes" and I was not disappointed.

(No, those aren't on the usual big plates; it's on the little tiny plate.)

Just Two Cookies

Ingredients 

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp (packed) brown sugar

1 Tbsp sugar

pinch of sea salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup flour

1 Tbsp (heaped) chocolate chips

1 Tbsp (heaped) butterscotch chips

Equipment
small baking sheet, oven

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. If you want a softer cookie, line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease the pan if you prefer crisper cookies. In a microwave-safe bowl, soften your butter. Add sugars, salt, and vanilla to butter and mix by hand. Add egg yolk and stir until combined. Add baking soda and flour and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate and butterscotch chips. Split into two and set on baking sheet a few inches apart. Bake about 8 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before enjoying.

Yields
2 cookies

Total time
15 minutes (preheating while mixing, then baking)

Cleanup rating 2/5
It's great to not have a mixer and mixing bowl and spatula and all that to clean... just a small bowl (like a salad bowl) and the fork I used to mix.

Difficulty rating 3/10
Sure, you have to be able to separate a yolk out of the egg, and mix thoroughly, and whatnot.

Flavor rating 4/10
I've got to stop using those damn butterscotch chips. They're just too ridiculously sweet. I would recommend going back to what the original recipe said: 2 Tbsp chocolate chips, no butterscotch.

Adjustability: medium
You could add different things: nuts, other chips, caramel bits, etc.

Make it with...
Nothing, it's just a cookie. I guess if you're into milk, you'd probably like that with them.

Avocado Chicken Parmesan

I sent a photo of this one to my dad to tell him it's okay for him to be jealous of my dinner. That's a pretty good sign that this was amazing, because my dad is an excellent cook so I have to do a really great job to think I can impress him.

Avocado Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

Chicken breasts

Flour

Egg

1 Tbsp milk

Bread crumbs

Tomato sauce*

Avocado, sliced

Cheese (mine was a 4-cheese blend with Parmesan in it)

Equipment

Cookie sheet, foil, oven, a bunch of bowls

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F. Set up your bowls: one for flour, one for an egg beaten with the milk, one for bread crumbs. Do one chicken breast at a time: lightly bread it with flour, dip in the egg, thoroughly coat with breadcrumbs, and lay on greased foil lined pan. Bake for about 4 minutes, flip them over, bake another 4 minutes. Take them out of the oven and spoon sauce over the top of each one. Lay slices of avocado on top of each, and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes, unless cheese is all melted.

Yields

As many chicken breasts as you make. For every two chicken breasts, use one egg and one avocado.

Total time

About 20 minutes

Cleanup rating 1/5

Don't spill sauce everywhere and you're fine. You've got foil on the pan, so you've got a few bowls to rinse out and toss in the dishwasher and that's about it.

Difficulty rating 3/10

I almost gave this a 2 but then I remembered that a lot of people have difficulty slicing avocados for some reason. I had what I'm pretty sure was the world's most perfect avocado so that kind of helps I guess. But all the other steps are really easy.

Flavor rating 8/10

YUM. Remember how I said up there at the top all that stuff about how amazing this was? Just refer back to that.

Adjustability: medium

Use seasonings in your flour and/or breadcrumbs! Switch up your sauces (see the asterisk below)! Try different cheeses!

Make it with...

Original recipe told me to serve it with a green salad. I made peas with garlic butter. Pretty much any vegetable will be friends with this chicken. It doesn't really call for much else. You could make a little spaghetti and add some of your sauce to that too.

*I "made" my own tomato sauce too. I use the sarcastiquotes because it wasn't hard, so it doesn't really feel like I "made" anything. Target had a tiny little can of tomato sauce for $0.39 so I got that instead of buying a giant jar of shmancy sauce that I'll barely use any of. Then I added basil, oregano, shallot-pepper seasoning, LOTS of garlic powder, and some Brady Street cheese sprinkle. So this part is super adaptable.

Bonus photos!

My sauce and avocados, waiting for the chicken to bake.

Adding the avocados

 

Beautifully done!

Mmmm, dinner.