Bulgogi

Bulgogi is a classic Korean food, and perfect for summer grilling. It reminds me of an Asian taco: a lettuce "tortilla" filled with plain sticky rice and thin slices of marinated beef. The combination of crunchy, chewy, bland, and salty is fabulous!

A friend of mine was given this recipe by a Korean family she used to live near. The marinade ingredients can be tweaked to your taste.

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One note: You need meat that is sliced quite thin. I get this (frozen) at an Asian market. It is called (at least here) "beef rib eye thin sliced" (see below).

A 2# package is about right for us.Okay, another note: This is best as a summer dish. Of course you can grill in the winter, but you've got to stand over it the whole time, and it's hard to see when the meat needs flipping in the dark of December. You can also broil, griddle, or saute the beef, but it's not as tasty.

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Bulgogi

2# thin-sliced beef, thawed

3/4 cup soy sauce (I use reduced sodium)

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 large bunch green onions, minced (including stems)

romaine or leaf lettuce

2 cups white rice, cooked (jasmine is quick and sticky enough)

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Combine soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and sesame seeds.

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Place a single layer of meat in a casserole dish. Spoon a little marinade over it. Repeat layers until all meat and marinade are used up. See how skinny? I've had it even thinner, which is easier to eat (less chewy), but more fragile and thus more difficult to cook.Cover the dish and refrigerate several hours or overnight. The meat is so thin that starting in the morning gives it plenty of time to soak up flavor by dinner.

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To cook, heat grill to high. Lay meat slices on grill. Turn once. If your grill is hot enough, you'll be able to starting turning as soon as you've laid out a full set of meat.

This former dietitian is still germ-phobic enough* to have an elaborate system involving paper towels and two spatulas to avoid cross contamination between the raw and cooked pieces, but I won't burden you with that description. ;-)

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To serve, have a platter of lettuce leaves on the table along with a dish of rice and the platter of meat. People assemble their own food. We find it works best to have the meat on top of the rice, to help hold everything together.

Enjoy!

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*My poor, deprived children are also not allowed to eat dough or batter containing raw eggs. Such a mean mommy!

Sugar Free Fruit Pie

Technically these pies are not "sugar free"--they're actually "no sugar added". I was bringing dessert to a gathering that included some folks who may not eat added sugar, but I still wanted to provide something homemade. I also didn't want to try actually baking with a sugar substitute; I'll bet there's a big learning curve, and sugar contributes a lot to texture (not just taste) in baking.

Anyway, after much pondering (I know, I know--get a life!), I figured out a way to make my summer fruit pie without sugar. I made sugar-free jello, and when it had chilled to the thick and gloppy stage I folded it into 3 cups of fruit. This was poured into a baked shell and covered with a little more jello.
The strawberry pie was gorgeous and also sliced very neatly. The blueberry pie (I used raspberry jello) didn't hold together as well, probably because it was piled into the super slumpy shell. I also didn't have as much "glaze" for the blueberries. Or maybe their packed together roundness kept the jello from surrounding them as well as the slices of strawberry. It was still quite tasty!I must admit I made real whipped cream (with sugar) for those who were able to indulge. Please don't hold it against me. :-)

Another caveat: I'm not saying this is necessarily a healthful variation. It depends on what you're careful about: sugar vs. artificial colors and aspartame. I think this is an option for the right situation.

Eating Humble Pie

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!! Talk about hideous! When I bake an empty pie shell, I prick it all over with a fork (even the sides) and let it go. Sometimes it puffs up a little, but I just poke it a bit more during baking, and all is well. Sometimes the sides slip down a little, but not enough to matter for summer blueberry pie.

Yesterday, inspired by my sister-in-law, I tried a few variations on my usual technique. I rolled the dough inside Freeze-tite, a thicker plastic wrap that is 18" wide. What a great way to go--I didn't need extra flour, and the disk was easy to roll out and to transfer into the pie dish.

Innovation #2 was (ahem) less successful. Instead of my usual shortening, I used half butter and half shortening for the fat, trying to increase the tastiness factor. The dough was much softer. I could tell as a I transferred it and as I shaped the edges, but I decided to stick with my usual baking style anyway. You can see the results of such laziness:I had two pies to make, so I moved on to "blind baking", holding the crust in place with a piece of foil covered with weights (Split peas and lentils are what I had on hand.).I filled the foil to the tippity top because I was not just holding the bottom DOWN, but was also trying to keep the fluted edge UP. Somewhat better results, eh?Next time I'll pull the foil out a little sooner to give the top of the bottom (get it?) more time to brown.Which crust would you rather fill with yumminess? Yeah, me too.

And yes, the butter did add good flavor (although I've never minded the blandness of a Crisco crust) and maybe a little crispiness. I'm not sure if it's worth it to have such a soft dough, though. Maybe if I add a little less water...

Cherry Cobbler

As I've written before, we pick, pit, and freeze the sour cherries from our tree. Since their juiciness and sourness can vary each year, I consider a pie to be too tricky to bake. Getting the filling just the right degree of sweet and thick (but not too thick!) requires a lot of guesswork.

That's why I prefer to bake cherry cobbler. It's essentially a pie filling topped with a sweet biscuit. Soupiness doesn't matter, and ice cream or whipped cream can smooth out any over-tartness.

Over the years I've combined and fiddled with recipes, never feeling confident that I had a sure winner. Well now I've found it--in Cook's Illustrated's The Best Skillet Recipes. This is a great new book, with simpler (i.e. easier) dishes than many of their others.

You can bake the cobbler in the skillet if you have a 12" one that is ovenproof. Otherwise, make the filling in a pot and transfer to a greased casserole dish before topping with the biscuit dough and baking. I'll try to remember to post a picture the next time I make this delectable dessert.

For the record, I only tweaked this recipe a tiny bit. Here you go:

Sour Cherry Cobbler
Biscuit Topping
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Cherry Filling
3/4 - 1 cup sugar, depending on your fruit
3 Tbsp cornstarch
pinch salt
~4 cups canned or thawed sour cherries, drained, with 2 cups juice reserved
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Tbsp coarse sugar

• For the biscuit topping: Whisk dry ingredients together. Pour cooled butter into the buttermilk; it will make tiny clumps. Stir wet into dry just until a dough forms. Set aside.
• For the cherry filling: Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a 12" ovenproof skillet. Whisk in the reserved cherry juice and cook over medium-high heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture simmers and is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the cherries and almond extract.
• Using a spoon, scoop and drop 1" pieces of the dough, spaced about 1/2" apart, over the cherry filling in the skillet, then sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake the cobbler until the biscuits are golden brown and the filling is thick and glossy, 25-30 minutes.
• Using a potholder (The skillet handle will be hot!), remove the skillet from the oven. Let the cobbler cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Summer Blueberry Pie

Blueberries are delicious, but I don't especially like them cooked. So I don't enjoy blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, or regular blueberry pie. That's why this cold version (similar to strawberry pie) appeals to me. It's also what makes it a summertime treat--FRESH berries are required.

I tweaked recipes from my aunt and from cookbook author Jane Brody to come up with my version. Simply bake a standard crust, make a sauce by cooking crushed blueberries with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch, fold in raw berries, and chill. It's fabulous plain or with whipped cream, and easy enough to make extra--one to give away or save for tomorrow. ;-)

Summer Blueberry Pie
1 quart (4 cups) fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water (plus more for the cornstarch)
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp lemon juice
9" pre-baked pie shell
whipped cream, optional

1. In a medium pot, crush 1 cup of blueberries with the sugar. Add water and bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Meanwhile mix the cornstarch with enough water to make a pourable slurry.
3. After the berry mixture bubbles, remove the pot from the heat. While constantly whisking the berries, slowly pour in the cornstarch slurry. Return to the heat and continue to whisk and simmer until the mixture is clear and thickened. Remove from heat.
4. Stir lemon juice into the berry glaze. Pour in the remaining three cups of berries, stirring with a rubber spatula until they are all coated.
5. Spread filling into the pie shell and chill. Enjoy!

Notes:

• For a strawberry variation, arrange 3 cups of berries in the pre-baked pie shell. Make the glaze and pour it over them. The strawberries need to be whole or halved--if you slice them, the gel will break and you will have strawberry soup!
• You could substitute a graham cracker (or vanilla wafer or animal cracker) crust, if desired.
• To pre-bake a regular pie crust, prick it all over (even on the sides) with a fork (this keeps it from buckling) and bake at 475 until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Although I will use store bought dough for quiche, I think it's worth the trouble to make my own crust for this pie. Baking it without any filling helps make the crust extra flaky:

(Better Than) Manicotti

For years, I've stuffed pasta shells with a ricotta & spinach filling, great for baking that day or freezing for later. Not everyone was a fan, though; some folks (okay, kids) ate the noodle and left behind the big blob of filling.

Well, one of my sisters pointed out a Cook's Illustrated recipe for baked manicotti (January 2007). It's wonderful, though not truly manicotti, which is a pasta tube that gets stuffed rather like my old shells. This version is made with no-boil lasagna noodles rolled around the filling. The technique is quicker and easier, and the product is tastier, with a better pasta-to-filling ratio. I follow CI's instructions, but not their recipes, using my own filling and sauce from a jar (gasp!). Here's the "how to":

Prepare one box of no-boil lasagna noodles at a time. Pour 1 inch boiling water into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, then add noodles one by one. Soak them for five minutes, separating frequently with the tip of a knife to keep them from sticking together. Remove noodles from water (I drain, then add cold water so I can pick them up) and place in a single layer on clean kitchen towels.

Put 1/4 cup (#16 scoop) of cheese mixture on the short end of each noodle. Spread evenly three-fourths of the way up. Roll into a tube shape. Done!

Now it's time to decide where to put your creation. I usually make a huge batch, layering tubes on a baking sheet (separated by plastic wrap). These are frozen until hard and then transferred to plastic bags, from which I can remove a little or a lot, depending on the size of the crowd to be served.To serve fresh or frozen manicotti, I place the tubes on top of pasta sauce in a greased pan. Ideally, arrange the frozen tubes in the pan a day ahead so they can thaw overnight. You can cover with more sauce if you like (I usually don't).

Cover the pan with foil and bake until at least 140* internally. The time depends on how cold the pasta was and what oven temperature you choose--this food's not fussy.When the pasta is nearly done, sprinkle with Parmesan and return to the oven (uncovered) to melt the cheese.

This is a great Friday night dinner with sauce straight from the jar (I like Barilla). And if you use a nice meat sauce, the dish tastes just like lasagna. Mangia!

Here's my filling recipe. The last time I used it, I filled 55 noodles (about four dinners here). Cutting in half is simple, if you'd like to start with less.

(Better Than) Manicotti
Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles, about 55
4 (10 oz. each) packages frozen chopped spinach
5 # part-skim ricotta cheese (use 2# for a half batch)
2 # shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs, slightly beaten

Thaw spinach. Squeeze out excess moisture and combine with cheeses and eggs. Assemble by rolling 1/4 cup filling onto each soaked noodle (see instructions above).

One more picky note: As I got near the end of the filling, I pre-scooped it to figure out how many noodles I would need to soak from the final box.

Gyros

Gyros--YUM! Over the years, I've tried home cooked versions, and while the bread and condiments hit the right buttons, the meat was never even close.

Enter Cook's Illustrated. Two summers ago the magazine showcased gyros made with seasoned ground meat cooked in patties. These are fantastic! The recipe is a bit of a production (no surprise for CI fans), but worth it when the craving must be satisfied. Besides, I usually prepare a triple batch so there are two meals waiting in the freezer.

Here is the ground beef (instead of lamb) variation (adapted slightly) from the July/August 2007 issue:

Homemade Gyros
puffy pocketless pita bread, 1 1/2 cups torn pieces
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped, about 1 1/2 cups
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 tsp dried oregano
6 cloves garlic, pressed
2 pounds ground beef, (I use 93/7 fat)
2-3 Tbsp oil (less if you use fattier beef)

For serving:
more pita
chopped cucumber
chopped sweet onion
chopped tomato
plain yogurt (preferably not non-fat)

Process pita pieces, onion, lemon juice, salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic in food processor until smooth paste forms, about 30 seconds.
Transfer onion mixture to large bowl; add beef and gently mix with hands until thoroughly combined. Form meat mixture into small patties.
This is when I bag up the extra meat mixture for the freezer.
Cook patties in a frying pan, on the griddle, under the broiler, or (my preference) on the grill.
Warm pitas individually in the microwave or by wrapping a stack in foil and heating in the oven. Serve with condiments: cucumber, onion, tomato, and yogurt. I also like an extra sprinkle of salt on the meat.

I was in a hurry this weekend and ended up cooking a bagful of meat all together in a skillet, taco meat style. The kids thought it was great!

The patties can be chewy if the meat is overmixed, plus they can be tricky to divide among the pitas. The ground mixture was easier to serve and eat, and was certainly easier to prepare. I don't know if I'll ever make patties again!