Galbi Tang ( Korean Beef Short Rib Soup): The Daring Cooks’ September 2011 Challenge

Peta, of the blog Peta Eats, was our lovely hostess for the Daring Cook‟s September 2011 challenge, “Stock to Soup to Consommé”. We were taught the meaning between the three dishes, how to make a crystal clear Consommé if we so chose to do so, and encouraged to share our own delicious soup recipes!

Being a soup lover, this challenge gave me so many ideas of what I wanted to make. I picked this Korean Beef Short Rib Soup because my family requested it and also I found a great deal on the short ribs.
I am not Korean but I LOVE Korean food and learned to make many Korean dishes mainly from blogs, sometimes friends and from eating out. Galbi Tang is simple to make if you have some time to make the stock and let the beef become tender. Tang in Korean means soup. This website lifeinkorea has a great list of Korean soups, the meanings, and even how to eat them.

Wiki also has some good information on this dish including how to prepare too.

Here is how I make mine.

Ingredients

2 LB Beef Short Ribs (in big chunks)
1 Large Onion
5 Garlic Cloves
1 TBS whole Black peppercorns
1 tsp salt
5 Green Onions (white part only)
1 6 inch piece of Daikon Radish
2 eggs

Seasonings for the Beef:

2 TBS Light Soy Sauce
1TBS Ground Toasted Sesame Seeds
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 TBS Minced Garlic

Garnish:
chopped green Onions
Sesame seeds

To get rid of some blood from the bones, soak the ribs in a cold water for at least 1hours changing the water a couple times.

Place the ribs in a pot and cover with new cold water and boil vigorously for 5 minutes. There will be scum /foam on the top. Remove the pot from the heat and strain the ribs. Wash the pot and the ribs so there is no more scum.

Place the clean pieces of beef back in the clean pot and fill the pot with 10-12 cups of water. Add salt, Daikon Radish, onion, green onions, peppercorns, and whole cloves of garlic.

Bring to a boil, and then simmer over low heat till the meat it tender ( about 2-3 hours. You want the meat to be falling off the bones when you eat. Must simmer over low heat or the stock will be cloudy. )

After about an hour, take the radish out and slice the radish and keep aside to put back into the soup later.

When the meat is tender, strain the meat and veggies. Discard the veggies. Season the meat with seasonings above.

Let the stock cool in the fridge for several hours or overnight so the fat will come up to the top and you can skim and throw away the fat. This step is necessary to obtain a good Galbi Tang that is not oily. If you are in a hurry, you can also scoop out the oil that comes up to the top as much as you can.

Bring the broth back to a boil along with Daikon and seasoned meat when ready to eat.

If everyone likes eggs in your soup, crack the eggs directly into the boiling broth before serving and break the egg up in the pot. Otherwise, you can make a thin omelet, slice it up and add that to the individual bowls.

Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve very hot with rice. Hope you have yummy kimchi to go with it too!

Chicken Tikka Masala ( Easy Version)

If you like Indian flavors and want to try making some at home quickly, this would be one recipe you may like. Have you ever seen jars of different Indian curry sauces in ethnic stores? Well, I bought one for Tikka Masala and used it for this easy dish. Hope the step by step pictures will help you to make a similar dish at home. This is probably far from what an Indian mom or grandma would call Tikka Marsala but HEY! it sure was an easy yummy curry!

You will need:

1 Lb Chicken ( I used boneless skinless thighs)
Veggies of your choice (I used 1 yellow squash, 1 red bell peppers)
Some cilantro leaves, chopped
1 TBS oil
salt, to taste
1/2 Cup water or broth

Tikka Masala Sauce Jar (see picture below)




Cut the chicken into bite size piece. Sprinkle some salt.

Have your veggies cut up and ready.

Heat up the oil in a wok.

Add and saute the chicken about 5 minutes.

Add the veggies and cook for a few minutes.

Add about 1/2 jar of the sauce. Mix well.

Add the broth or water and cilantro leaves. Simmer about 20 minutes with low heat, uncovered till meat and veggies are tender and sauce has thickened.




Serve this colorful dish with some rice.

Apple Walnut Gorgonzola Turnovers

I love gorgonzola cheese and was searching for recipes that use this cheese for a party. I found several recipes that sounded good but I chose to make these mini turnovers from simply recipe because I love the combination of apples, gorgonzola and honey. They turned out well and we enjoyed them. I will make this again and when I do, I will put a little more gorgonzola than the original recipe calls for. The combination of the sweetness of honey and apples, the crunchy walnuts and the cheese was AWESOME!


Recipe:

If using prepared frozen puff pastry sheets, they need to be defrosted in the refrigerator at least 3 hours before using.

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups peeled, cored, chopped apples (use a good cooking apple such as Jonagold, Pippin, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Gravenstein, Mcintosh)
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
* 1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
* 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled)
* 2 Tbsp honey
* 2 7-ounce prepared puff pastry sheets (total 14 ounces)
* 1 egg, beaten

Method

1 Place chopped apples in a bowl, microwave on high heat for 5 minutes until apples are cooked through. Remove from heat and let cool. Drain excess moisture. Once cooled, chop further so that the pieces are between 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch square. (Note you can skip this step if you want; the main purpose is to get the apples to release some of their moisture before cooking into the pastry.)

2 Combine apples, walnuts, gorgonzola, thyme and honey in a small bowl.


3 Preheat oven to 400°F. Working with one puff pastry sheet at a time (leave the second one in the refrigerator until using it) roll out the pastry to a size of 9-inches by 12-inches. Cut into 12 3x3-inch squares (a pizza slicer works great for this). Paint 1/2-inch of border around each square with beaten egg (this will help the pastry seal). Place a heaping teaspoon of the apple walnut mixture in the center of the squares. Fold over the squares into a triangle shape, stretching the dough if necessary to cover the filling. Use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges. Place triangles on a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet, with space between the triangles. Chill for 5 minutes in the refrigerator before baking, or chill while you prepare the second puff pastry sheet.

4 Whisk in a half teaspoon of water into the remaining beaten egg. Use a pastry brush to paint on the tops of the pastry triangles for a nice glaze. ( I sprinkled some sea salt on the top too). Place in oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until nicely puffed up and lightly browned. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Makes 24 turnovers. Serve either warm or at room temperature. Can be made several hours in advance.

Irish Cream Brownies with Toffee Bits

Brownies are so easy to make and so yummy! Also, there are many little twists and varations you can create which makes them so FUN to make. I found an awesome recipe from allrecipe for these Irish Cream Brownies. I have been making these for almost every potluck or gatherings since. Hope you try these yummy little treats and enjoy them. I think they are very tasty!

Here is the recipe:

Yield 24 brownies


Ingredients
* 1 (20 ounce) package brownie mix
* 1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 eggs

* 2 teaspoons milk
* 2 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
* 1 teaspoon brewed coffee
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup toffee baking bits (such as Heath Bits 'O Brickle®) (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. Stir together the brownie mix, the 1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur, vegetable oil, and eggs. Spread in the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges have started to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven to cool completely on a wire rack.
4. Place the milk, 2 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur, and coffee in a small, microwave safe bowl. Microwave on High until the mixture boils. Set aside to cool completely.
5. Beat the butter and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and the cooled Irish cream mixture, and beat well. Spread evenly over the cooled brownies. Sprinkle evenly with the toffee bits.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 276 | Total Fat: 14.2g | Cholesterol: 32mg

Blueberry Limoncello Cake with a Limoncello Glaze

Doesn't the name alone sounds good already? I was immediately drawn to this Blueberry Limoncello Cake when I first saw the name popped up during my search for summer deserts that uses limoncello. I was recently introdued to limoncello and successfully made a bottle of it for the first time. I didn't want to drink all of it but wanted to use some of it in baking, so here I go...making this yummy cake which was easy to bake. I will share the recipe for limoncello in another post. There are many limoncello recipes floating on the Internet if you'd like to make it or you may purchase is as well.

Here is the recipe from About.com.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:
* 3 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups fresh blueberries
* 1-1/2 cups butter, room temperature
* 2 cups sugar
* 3 eggs, room temperature
* 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon limoncello, divided
* 2 tablespoons lemon zest, divided
* 2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease 9x13 cake pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Set aside.

Place blueberries in a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of dry ingredients. Toss gently and set aside. (This is done so blueberries don't sink to bottom of cake.)

In an another bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Add 1 tablespoon limoncello.

Add the dry mixture and combine completely.

Fold in 1 tablespoon zest and blueberries.

Carefully add batter to prepared pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Cool pan on rack for 15 minutes before adding glaze.

Cool completely before serving.

Glaze:

With a wire whisk, stir together powdered sugar, 1/4 cup limoncello and 1 tablespoon lemon zest. Drizzle over cake, then spread for even consistency.

ENJOY!!!

Tiramisu

Coffee lover? Got a sweet tooth? Then you will LOVE this classic Italian desert! Tiramisu, (in Italian: Tiramisù), literally means "pick me up". It is a layered desert consists of ladyfingers dipped in strong coffee typically Espresso, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, flavored with liquor, and some cocoa sprinkled between layers. I have made this desert several times using different recipes and my favorite is the one I found on Alessi brand ladyfinger cookies package. It is in a green package. I kept this recipe but sometimes use any brand lady fingers which works just fine. I haven't tried making my own lady fingers. I have been told that they are easy to make. One day, I will try that and will also try making a Tiramisu flavored cake or even a cheesecake.

HERE IS THE RECIPE:

Ingredients:

For making Zabaglione Cream:
5 Large egg yolks
1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Marsala wine (sweet)
2 TBS Sugar


1 cup Whipping cream, chilled
2 TBS Sugar

1 lb Mascarpone cheese

2 cups freshly brewed espresso or 2 cups strong coffee
1/2 cup Brandy or Marsala
1 TBS Vanilla
2 packages Alessi Savoiardi cookies, or any other ladyfinger cookies (I used about 24 fingers)
2 TBS cocoa powder
Chocolate shavings to garnish (optional)


Directions:
Making Zabaglione Cream: In the top part of a double boiler or a heat proof bowl ( I used my glass bowl), beat eggs and sugar together until the mixture is pale yellow in color.

In the bottom part of the double boiler or a sauce pan, bring water to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.

Place egg yolk mixture over water and gradually add Marsala, beating continuously.

Scrape bottom and sides occasionally and cook 6 to 10 minutes or until soft mounds can be formed.This is your Zabaglione.

Transfer to bowl (if you didn't use a bowl already), cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Whip cream with 2 TBS sugar until soft peaks form.

Fold whipped cream in Mascarpone and Zabaglione until well blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.


















In a separate bowl, mix espresso, 2 TBS sugar, Brandy and vanilla. Carefully and quickly dip the lady fingers in the coffee mixture one at a time so they are well saturated but not falling apart. Arrange cookies on the bottom of a 9" by 13" pan (or a spring form pan.)

Note: Some just brush the cookies with coffee mixture using a pastry brush or even sppon the coffee carefully over. Try it one cookie and see what works for you. The goal here is to get the coffee flavor into the cookies without them falling apart.


Spoon 1/2 cheese mixture over cookies and sprinkle with 1 TBS cocoa.

















Repeat one more time ending with cocoa. Cover and refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight so that cookies can soften as they absorb moisture. (Very important part for all the flavors to marry)



















Garnish and serve.

Chicken Pesto Florentine

I came across this wonderful pasta recipe from Simply Recipe when I was searching for recipes that would help me use up the basil that I have in my garden. This recipe calls for fresh pesto and many other ingredients that I love. I followed the recipe and everyone at the dinner table was very happy with this dish. I like creamy pastas but I LOVE this one for the fact that it is not too creamy that it makes you feel guilty after eating, and it also has veggies that I like. I will make this again and again!!


Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta Recipe


Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 6-8.

We've used fresh spinach in this recipe, but you could easily use frozen. Just defrost and drain.


Ingredients

12-16 ounces dried short pasta (bowties, penne, gemelli, etc)
4 chicken breast cutlets (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds total)
Salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow or white onion, chopped, about 1 cup
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white wine or stock
8-16 ounces of fresh spinach*, washed, long stems removed and chopped
Black pepper
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup (or more) pesto, see here for recipe

*To wash spinach, fill up a clean sink basin with cold water and let the spinach soak in the water. Move it around a bit to loosen any dirt. Fresh spinach is usually pretty dirty, so you may need to do a couple of soakings. Remove the spinach and shake off excess water. Lay the spinach leaves down on a clean towel and pat dry.


Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water (add enough salt so that the water tastes salty) to a boil. Add the dried pasta and cook until al dente.















While preparing the pasta, cook the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and brown the chicken breasts on both sides over medium-high heat. They don't need to be cooked all the way through, just browned. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.











Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the onions cook, slice the chicken into strips. Put any pieces that are cooked all the way through in one pile, and put the ones that still need a little cooking in another pile.








When the onions are just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the white wine or stock and boil vigorously until the liquid is reduced by half.











Add the spinach and the undercooked pieces of chicken to the pan. Using tongs, turn them over to coat them with the juices in the pan. Continue to cook, turning and stirring often, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken cooked through, about 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat and add some black pepper, the pile of cooked chicken pieces and the pesto. Stir to combine. Drain the pasta put it in a large bowl. Add the cream to the saute pan and stir well to combine. Add the contents of the pan to the bowl with the pasta and mix well. Serve at once.