food – Turmeric and Twine

Lemon Zested Bacon Wrapped Asparagus + Finals Week Triumph

May 6, 2015May 6, 2015Turmeric and TwineLeave a comment

Well well well… here we are. It’s happened. I’m in finals week. I made it. My first term of culinary school has just been knocked out and doesn’t know what hit it.

It was a tough winter. I battled with the loneliness of moving to a new place, the challenge(s) of returning to school, a heavy workload, MATH, financial struggles, transportation issues and so on. Our good friend life.

My math grade is teetering on an A- and after my final, may be a B, but in every other one of my required courses (psychology, writing, computer skills and college skills) my grade is an A or A+. I worked my arse off this term and earned the shit out of those A’s.

I feel like a force to be reckoned with… Like a building wind on the plane that finally grew into a tornado. This tornado tore through town and left rubble. I can do whatever I want and no one can stop me. And that’s that.

So, now that I’ve gone on my narcissistic rant, here is a simple, yet brilliant, recipe.

Now that we are in full swing of Spring, my good friend Asparagus officinalis has been making some exciting appearances. Slim, dressed in green and always showing off a stunning and full head of hair, asparagus has the world mesmerized by its delicate flavour and crisp (when young) texture.

Asparagus doesn’t need much preparation: roasted, baked, pan-fried, seared or steamed, asparagus releases flavour for every technique.

Asparagus charms the pants off all seafood and meats. Asparagus compliments everything. Shrimp blushes when asparagus walks by, ribeye cannot stop giggling and bacon… well, bacon can’t stop wrapping asparagus in its arms. In this particular recipe, asparagus and bacon recklessly eloped, leaving their families to start a better life anew. Their romance was full of dangerous passion and lust, which in the end destroyed them (in my mouth).

This recipe is so easy, yet it is very fancy. These little bundles of soft, meaty-green goodness are perfect as an hor d’oeuvres or as a side. Or, as always, just by itself.

Lemon Zested Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Ingredients

12 ounces (1-2 bunches) thin, green asparagus
1 12-ounce pack of bacon
½ a lemon’s zest
pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC/Gas mark 6.

Rinse asparagus and shake until mostly dry. Cut off the last inch of the bottom of them stems to avoid the stringy bits. Section them into groups – about quarter-sized circumferences.

Tightly wrap each section with a slice of bacon starting at the bottom, or thickest point and going towards the top, or thinnest point.

Lay your meaty, green bundles in a casserole pan side-by-side. Alternate their direction to fit more in the pan and to make sure the tops get enough grease.

Sprinkle zest and salt over the whole pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes then broil on high for 3-4 minutes. Doing this will prevent the need for turning them over.

Mustard Fail

June 14, 2014June 14, 2014Turmeric and Twine2 Comments

As a fearless experimenter of food, I pride myself on my ability to adapt a recipe to make it my own, as well as combine unassuming flavours and be undeterred by the results whether they prove to be edible or not. More often than not, I am able to pull something interesting together. Other times prove disastrous.

Being a sensory oriented person, I am often inspired by what lies before me. I like to surround myself with lots of ingredients and imagine, or feel, how well they will go together (science has actually found ways to pair foods by their molecular structure… one day, I will have to look into that). Having honed this ability over a lifetime of playing around in kitchens, I often have a pretty good sense of what I am working with will taste like. Kim chi and eggs? Hell yeah. Mango chutney on lentil loaf? Why not? Lamb stew with a touch of maple syrup? You’re damn right. Chicken and milk? If Jamie Oliver can do it, I can, too.

I found a this recipe for mustard on David Lebovitz’s website. I enjoy making my own condiments, so I thought I’d give it a try with a few of my own “improvements”. The first time I doubled the recipe in my eagerness to have large quantities of homemade mustard in the house. It was awful. I was overenthusiastic in my use of horseradish. It tasted like bleach had a threesome with cat piss and Satan and was unable to detect who fathered the love child. It was all thrown out.

After a few months buffer to my taste buds, I tried again. I omitted the horseradish, so it was a bit more tolerable, but I still did not find the results pleasing…or even acceptable, really. The recipe I used called for white wine vinegar, which is difficult to find in Korea. But, for whatever reason, I had no problem finding red wine vinegar. I know there are some distinctions between red and white, but could it really have changed it that much? I managed a few sandwiches, but it was too hard to choke down. Two batches of mustard… rubbished.

How could a bit of mustard seed, red wine vinegar, and a few other things fail so hard? Did I accidentally leave out a crucial ingredient? Had a misread the instructions? Did I take my improvisation too far? Well, I can’t say for sure until I’ve tried several different recipes multiple more times.

But… ironically, I think it was the turmeric.

Do you know any tips and tricks regarding making mustard? Please leave a comment!

Candied Ginger Week: Ginger Syrup and Candied Ginger

May 19, 2014December 29, 2014Turmeric and Twine7 Comments

Most children have difficulty eating very sharp and hot flavours. There are some foods and flavours that I remember despising when I was very young and later grew to enjoy, such as cilantro, arugula and mustard. I never had that problem with ginger. Though I could only handle it in small doses when I was child, ginger has always had a special place in my heart.

Ginger root belongs to the Zingiberaceae family and is closely related to turmeric, cardamom and galangal. It was first cultivated in parts of Southern China and is now used in cuisines around the world. It is quintessential to Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Southeast Asian cuisine and also shows up in many Caribbean dishes. From kimchi and curry to ginger beer, tea and cookies, ginger makes all kind of appearances in your cup, bowl and plate.

Ginger is also a boss in the medicinal foods category. It can be used to suppress nausea, has been proven to have hepatoprotective qualities and has even been promoted by the American Cancer Society as treatment to keep tumors from developing.

Hot and spicy in flavour and aroma, ginger can overwhelm a gentile or unfamiliar user, but it is certainly worth pushing through the burn for flavour like that. Ginger adds so much to any meal.

Since ginger knows how to bring the goods to the table so hard, it is Candied Ginger Week here at Turmeric and Twine. I’ll be featuring sweet uses of the spicy rhizome. Every week should be ginger week.

Ginger syrup and candied ginger can, luckily, be made at the same time. It is extremely easy and satisfying to make.

Ginger Syrup and Candied Ginger

Ingredients

14 ounces (375g) fresh ginger
16 ounces (450g) light brown sugar
4 cups water
pinch of salt

Directions

Ginger root can be found in varying degrees of dirtiness. In Korea, sellers make no attempt to clean the dirt off their roots, so mine was really filthy. Scrub the outside very well or you will find your syrup has an unwanted earthy flavour. Peel only if absolutely necessary.

Cut ginger about 1/8 inch slices. Then roughly chop in small pieces. The smaller the pieces are, the more flavour will be extracted.

Place ginger, sugar, salt and water into a non-reactive skillet (non-stick or stainless steel work best) and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about an hour or until the liquid is thick and syrupy.

Pour the syrup and ginger pieces into a jar, cover and refrigerate for 3-4 days. This simultaneously infuses the syrup with more flavour and candies the ginger pieces.

To separate the syrup from the candied pieces, simply strain in a stainless steel strainer. Candied ginger can be refrigerated for up to a month and frozen for several months. Use them to get fancy with baked goods or nibble on their own (like I enjoy).

Strain the syrup further with a fine mesh strainer so there is no fibrous material left. Drizzle on ice cream, use as a cocktail mixer or make spritzers. Ginger syrup keeps very well and can be refrigerated for 3-4 months.

Makes a great gift if you divide in small jars.

Smoked Duck Szechuan Pepper Stuffed Pumpkin + Rendered Duck Fat

January 23, 2014Turmeric and TwineLeave a comment

I first started getting the craving to stuff a gourd when the fall harvest hit the markets here in Seoul. The orange pumpkins are a bit different from the ones I’m used to in Canada. They are also harder to find, expensive and too massive for my little kitchen. I settled for a delightful kabocha squash (dan hobak) that can be found everywhere at this time of year. They can be found in a variety of sizes, too, from tiny to medium large. This excites me to no end. I’d love to have a dinner party and serve a tiny pumpkin to each guest (heehee!).

Smoked duck is readily available here in Korea, so as one of my favourite meats, I chose to stuff my gourd with it. It adds an excellent smoky quality and flavour to the mixture, as well. I removed most of the skin and fat before adding the meat to the mixture in order to render it. Duck fat has a gorgeous flavour that is highly complimentary to many food items. I’ve tried to substitute it with pork fat when cooking shiitake mushrooms, for example, and found myself disappointed with the results. Rendering is incredibly easy. Simply collect the fat, cook in a pot on low heat until the fat is clear and strain into a jar for refrigeration. Once cooled, it should be pure and white. The fat should keep for 2-3 months. Use in place of oil or to add flavour.

The Szechuan pepper is a curious spice. Despite its name, it is not closely related to, nor has much of the hot spicy quality found in the Piperaceae family (such as black pepper). In fact, its genus belongs in the citrus family. It has a sharp, bright flavour, which is known to enliven food. It is also known for its numbing feature. Moments after putting one of these husks in my mouth, I was hit with an odd numbness I’ve never quite experienced before. These peppers are perfect for this dish because of how well they bring out all the flavours.

Smoked Duck Szechuan Pepper Stuffed Pumpkin

Ingredients

1 medium or 2 small pumpkins (or your favourite round gourds)
150 grams of chopped oyster mushrooms
100 grams of smoked duck cut into bite size pieces (remove fat if rendering)
1 diced bell pepper (any colour)
½ cup cottage cheese
¼ cup milk (any kind)
45 grams or 1/3 cup of cashew pieces
165 grams or 1 cup of uncooked rice (I used brown jasmine, but basmati would substitute well)
5-6 cloves of chopped garlic
1-3 chopped chilies (depending on your spice tolerance)
1 teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon butter
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon Szechuan peppers

Directions

Rinse rice two or three times by splashing around in water and draining. Finally, add two cups of water and place over high heat in a pot or rice cooker. Once it starts to boil over, turn heat very low for 20-30 minutes. My little test to check if the rice is done without stirring is to tip the pot slightly. If the rice slides or moves in any way, it needs to cook longer. If the rice doesn’t move, it’s done.

While rice is cooking, fill a large pot with enough water to submerge your pumpkin(s) and bring to a boil. Cut the top off the gourd(s) and remove the seeds and gunk.

Once water is boiling, carefully lower into the water, including the top. Allow it to boil for 15 minutes. It should be soft, but firm enough to hold its shape. Drain water and carefully scoop out the gourd. Place in the refrigerator to cool.

Heat a dash of cooking oil in a frying pan and brown the garlic and chilies. Add the mushrooms and fry until the mushrooms have released their water and have reached a modest golden colour.

Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC/ gas mark 4.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except pumpkin, butter and milk. Mix.

Pour excess water that might have pooled in the pumpkin and begin stuffing with the mixture. Once filled, pour in the milk to fight possible drying out. Top with butter and replace the pumpkin top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. While it is baking, clean your messy kitchen and think about how hard you will eat your stuffed pumpkin.

Because you boiled the pumpkin, you can eat all of it, including the skin. Do this very thing.

Enjoy your mouth-gasms.

Carrot Potato Latkes, Mushroom Pâté and much, much more from the WWOOF Korea CSA Farm Share

January 8, 2014December 29, 2014Turmeric and Twine1 Comment

In my former life (or so it seems) several years ago in Montreal, I made painstaking efforts to eat and buy local, organic and agriculturally responsible foods. Farmer’s markets abound with local produce and locally produced products made it a lot easier, cheaper and fresher than buying from supermarkets. I was thrilled to get the local goodies from local people who were knowledgeable about where the food came from. And thrilled to directly support their efforts.

Since moving to Korea, I would like to claim an equal amount of effort put into buying responsibly but a language barrier and the giant E-mart (three floors of mega-market) down the street have made my standards absurdly lax. Though seasonal produce can be easy to find, the demand for organic produce is fairly low, making it difficult to find.

Fear not, friends. In late January, WWOOF Korea will be launching the first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) of its kind in the country. CSA’s are shares offered by a (group of) farmer(s) and generally consist of a box of vegetables and other farm products. Those interested in purchasing a share can buy a membership for a season and receive the produce from a pick up point or have it shipped to their home. The advantages and rewards for both parties are great.

Advantages for farmers:

· Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
· Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
· Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for consumers:

· Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
· Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
· Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season, if desired
· Find that less adventurous eaters typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
· Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

My friend Jacqui and I were privileged to have been asked to cook a dish using produce from the very first CSA packages sent out. It was a food filled day full of fun (say THAT ten times fast). She and I have a particularly good cooking/idea/friendship dynamic. Though we’d worked on projects together before, this was our first time cooking together. What. Fun.

We gathered around the box like we were preparing for a ceremony of some sort. Excitedly, we tore it opened and evaluated its contents: apples, onions, carrots, garlic, and potatoes all individually wrapped in brown paper to keep their freshness. Salad greens, eggs and mushrooms were all awaiting our skilled hands and loving enthusiasm. The box also contained several prepared items. There were little yuja snack cakes, two loaves of bread, potato salad, tofu chips and a silky butter cream cheese. I’d never really seen a CSA with so many prepared items. In fact, it would be nice to have had more seasonal items that Korea so proudly specializes in, such as persimmon, chestnuts, mountain greens and various citrus fruits. I was grateful for them none-the-less. Starving, we brainstormed while dipping chunks of bread and tofu chips in the rapidly disappearing potato salad.

We ate. We thought. We snacked. We chatted. Finally, we cooked. And ate some more.

We ended up with two dishes, both contributing our own flair to bring to the greater good of the recipe and used a large majority of the ingredients. We wanted to make use of the gorgeous ciabatta, so we decided on an open face sandwich on toast, topped with mushroom pâté, lemon dressed wilted lettuce and a poached egg. Delightfully simple. Deliriously delicious.

Jacqui’s instructions for the toast can be found here. Directions and ingredients for the mushroom pâté are below.

Mushroom Pâté for Toast

Ingredients

About 300g of mushrooms, preferably oyster (but any will do)
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
cooking oil
½ teaspoon deongjeong (a soybean paste, similar to miso)
1 tablespoon water

Directions

Preheat oven to 300ºF/150ºC/gas mark 2.

Briefly rinse the mushrooms in cold water. Slice any larger pieces to roughly equal sizes so they cook evenly.

Place on a baking sheet and drizzle cooking oil and salt on top. Roast in oven for 25-30 minutes rotating the pan halfway through so the mushrooms don’t dry out. Remove from heat when golden around the edges and soft.

Let them cool for 5 minutes until they aren’t too hot to touch then drop the mushrooms into a blender and blitz until it becomes a perfectly smooth paste. Add a little water, if necessary.

Scoop your paste into a bowl and add salt, pepper and your soybean paste. Using a spatula, continue to mix until fully incorporated.

Spread on toast and enjoy.

Latkes are essentially Jewish potato pancakes. Greasy, filling and yummy they are traditionally fried and topped with applesauce and sour cream. Here is my spin on it.

Carrot Potato Latkes with Apple and Onion Chutney

Ingredients

2 medium grated potatoes
2 grated carrots
3 eggs
¾ cups toasted breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons of cooking oil per batch

Directions

After peeling, washing and grating the carrots and potatoes, take a small handful of each and quickly process them in a blender into a paste. Your mixture should be relatively wet, but not dripping. Incorporate the blended root vegetables with the grated so the mixture is consistent.

Crack the eggs into the mixture and add the remaining ingredients.

If you don’t have ready-made breadcrumbs, you can make them easily by toasting a slice of bread until brown and dry then blending them. Mix everything well.

Heat oil in fry pan on medium high heat. Grab a handful of the mixture with your clean hands and make balls. Don’t worry about making them into patties at this point.

After 3-4 minutes, lightly push the individual dollops with your spatula. If they move without breaking, they are ready to be flipped.

Once they are flipped, press into patty form by flattening them with your spatula

Brown them on both sides to ensure they are thoroughly cooked.

Heap Jacqui’s amazing chutney on top of each slice and top with sour cream. Devour.

For more information about WWOOF CSA Korea, or to subscribe for your own weekly/monthly share, contact wwoofcsa@wwoofsca.com or visit www.wwoofcsa.com.

Quince Tarte Tatin + In and Out of the City

December 23, 2013Turmeric and TwineLeave a comment

Howdy!

As a Seoul dweller, I experience virtually no wildlife and rarely get to see animals other than street cats and tiny white dogs. So, when I met this little fella on a recent trip to the countryside in Chungju for an amazing day of learning about and eating fermented foods, I had to snap a photo. Praying mantises have always seemed like tiny (frightening) sages to me. The way they turn their wee heads all the way like they do makes me feel like my soul is being read, judged and thusly, condemned. Alarming. Maybe I need to reel in my imagination a bit.

The day trip, hosted by Kinfolk, was the dream baby of my fabulous friend Jacqui. A group of about 20 were swept away to a beautiful meditation retreat center that is also dedicated to traditional Korean fermentation recipes and techniques. We tasted soy sauce, garlic, vinegars, eggplant wine, various leafy plants and kimchi all brewing in large pots in the sun. Participants were able to help prepare some dishes, such as stuffed rice balls and tofu skin wraps for the feast at the end of the day. After sampling all the fermented goods, it was pretty astonishing that were able to consume more. But, oh, we were able and, oh, we did.

It was a glorious day and even thinking about it helps remind me that I need to get out more often. Living in the city is… challenging. Since starting my newest job four months ago, my commute has gone from a five-minute walk to forty-five minutes of walking, riding the subway and walking again. It is no surprise, yet still shocking how much a longer commute saps ones energy. Further, my commute is on one of the most packed lines on the Seoul Metro. One day last week, it was so mind-numbingly packed and people were being tossed around so hard that some ladies were wincing and yelping as they were trying to get off (imagine a disturbing mix of sex noises and dog cries). I practically ran off the subway car at my stop, very dramatically, tears in my eyes, feeling depleted, defeated and stressed. I wondered if I would be able to survive this commute to the end of my contract.

Luckily, most days are, at least, bearable. I force myself into a numbed state most every time I get on, determined not to let the daily violations of my personal space get the best of me. I’ve seen people who have. It ain’t pretty.

Quince is a curious fruit I’ve never really had the time for. When there are other trusty fall fruits like pomegranate, tangerines and persimmon about, who has time to be excited about an unassuming green rock of a fruit such as quince? I have since mended the error of my ways and become mildly fascinated with the most awkward member of the Rosaceae family.

Before I learned that quince isn’t exactly edible/digestible when it is uncooked, I, of course, ate lots of it raw. I even brought it as a snack to work, gaining the attention of the older and hungry elementary students. After some initial trepidation and reactions to the astringency, they were begging for more. I was too, after they devoured the lot. Buggers.

I’ve never particularly noticed quince on sale here in Seoul, but I now live close to several traditional markets that provide produce that is seasonally sensitive, so they’ve made appearances everywhere. I bought a few and tried Food52’s version of quince tarte tatin. I usually dislike pies with quince’s sweeter cousins apple and pear, (I know, I know… I’m just really picky), but quince really hit the spot. The fruit not only kept its deliriously tart goodness, but it sweetened just enough to be transformed into a unique dessert. Another interesting feature is that the white flesh of quince also turns red once cooked. It has tempted me to experiment with it more.

Quince Tarte Tatin

Ingredients

For Poached Quince

4-5 quince, peeled and deseeded
6 cups of water
1 lemon, cut in a half and juiced
2 cups of brown sugar
3 vanilla beans
a pinch of sea salt

For Quince Tarte Tatin

1 pound puff pastry
3-4 poached quince (depending on the size of your baking pan)
1 ¼ cup quince poaching liquid

Directions

In a large pot, add the sugar and water and bring to a low boil. Once the sugar dissolves, add the lemon, lemon juice and vanilla beans.

Peel and deseed the quince then cut into quarters (or sixths, depending on the size of your fruit. Gently drop the quince into the liquid and cook until tender, which can take about 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from heat and scoop the quince pieces from the liquid with a slotted spoon.

Preheat oven to 375ºF/190ºC/Gas mark 5.

Pour about 2 ½ cups of the poaching liquid into a non-reactive skillet -most Teflon or heavy bottomed stainless steel brands will do. On medium high heat, reduce the liquid until it develops a syrupy viscosity. Be careful not to burn it, or you will have a terrible mess to deal with.

Arrange the quince pieces in a baking pan, cutting them further if needed. You may need to place several layers of the fruit so they fill the pan adequately. Drizzle the reduced liquid on top of the quince.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to a third inch thickness and lay the sheet on top of the awaiting quince. Cut away excess pastry.

Bake the tart for about 35-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and fully cooked. Let it cool for at least 10-15 minutes. When ready to serve, place a plate that completely covers the pan over top of the tarte. In a quick, fluid motion, carefully flip the tarte onto the plate so it is completely removed from the pan.

Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Serves 6-8.

Lemon Ricotta Deep Dish Pancake with Cranberries and Chocolate For Your Sunday Brunch

September 22, 2013December 29, 2014Turmeric and TwineLeave a comment

Now beginning the recovery from my recent job/life debacle, I am finally starting to step away from a constant state of panic. I am happily settling into a new routine with my new job and generally feeling normal again. Fresh start. My new apartment is the biggest I’ve ever had in Korea and I love it. I’m looking forward to getting my kitchen set up and getting back to cooking.

For now, I’m enjoying making comforting, cozy foods. There is nothing better to get you back on track with your life than cooking the recipes you know and love.

Brunch is my favourite meal. It combines sweet, savory, bitter and greasy with flawless ease. It’s perfect for sleeping in or meeting a friend when recovering from the night before. Since you’re combining two meals, you can allow yourself to overeat (in some moderation) without guilt, or at least that’s what I tell myself.

I’m not usually attracted sweet foods in the morning, but since brunch is a gateway meal, I can make exceptions. This deep dish pancake is a perfect way to tie your sweet brunch to your savory brunch. It’s eggy texture and sour fruitiness invites the eater to have one bite with syrup, the next with a bit of bacon and the next mixed with quiche provençale. Or solo, of course. Wash it down with a sip of espresso macchiato. Viola! Brunch.

This recipe is very easy and the ingredients are easily found (even in Korea… Bless you, Costco). Invite a friend or two over for brunch, lounge around chatting and then work it off with a nice walk around town. Happy Sunday.

Lemon Ricotta Deep Dish Pancake with Cranberries and Chocolate

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
5 eggs
½ cup milk
1 ½ cup ricotta cheese
2 tbsp softened butter
½ cup lemon juice (2 lemons)
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup fresh or frozen cranberries
½ cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 425ºF/220ºC/Gas Mark 7.

Spread butter around a 7 inch circular baking pan.

In a bowl, whisk eggs until frothy.

Leaving out the chocolate and cranberries, whisk in remaining ingredients in with the eggs until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the greased pan.

Sprinkle berries and chocolate on top of the pancake and gently press in.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cut a piece for yourself and drizzle with maple syrup mixed with a touch of ricotta cheese.

Garnish with walnuts and cranberries.

Eat immediately and voraciously.

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Saffron Yogurt Sauce

June 30, 2013Turmeric and Twine6 Comments

I remember starting an odd little short story inspired by saffron when I was about twelve. My parents were avid listeners of NPR when I was growing up and I fancied Garrison Keillor’s fabulous stories from A Prairie Home Companion. I’d learned about saffron being The World’s Most Expensive Spice and started imagining tiny garden plots that could yield big money. I’d even considered using my backyard to start my own crop, blissfully unaware that the New England climate might not be suitable for saffron production. The story, if I remember correctly, was about an unassuming saffron farmer trying to survive in a small town riddled with landmines. I didn’t complete the story. The loose ends were too difficult to tie up.

The delicate filaments of the saffron crocus are handpicked and dried individually. To produce a pound, 200,000 stigmas must be picked from flowers that yield up to three threads per season. It costs $70 for an ounce. Precious.

Saffron has been used in many traditional cuisines, including Spanish, Indian, Mexican and Mediterranean. Rich in flavour and deep yellow in colour, the delicate spice is often used to flavour rice, breads and seafood dishes. Saffron’s metallic flavour and sophistication are surprisingly adaptable and versatile. I was lulled by the bitter field grass scent and rusty aroma. It reminded me that the simplest answer is often the best. A few threads sprinkled on top of yogurt complimented my stuffed peppers perfectly.

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Saffron Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients (makes 2)

2 bell peppers
2 king oyster mushrooms
8 oz of ground beef
3 cups of shredded green cabbage
6 minced cloves of garlic
1 cup of cooked basmati rice
½ tsp rosemary
2 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
½ tsp salt
cooking oil

For the sauce:

1 cup yogurt
pinch of salt
pinch of saffron

Directions

Preheat oven to 175ºC/ 350ºF / Gas mark 4.

Halve the mushrooms lengthwise and sprinkle oil and salt on them. Bake them in a lightly oiled pan for 30 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms into a blender and blend into a paste.

Cut the tops off the bell peppers and remove the seeds and pith from inside. Wash and sprinkle with oil and salt. Roast for 20 minutes.

Using medium high heat, brown garlic in a fry pan with some oil. Add ground beef and stir until evenly browned. Remove from heat and transfer ingredients into a bowl with the mushroom paste.

Using the same pan, stir-fry the cabbage until translucent. Transfer cabbage into a blender and blend into a paste. Add to the bowl with other ingredients.

Crumble the cooked rice into the bowl with other ingredients. Add soy sauce, salt, rosemary and red wine. Mix well.

Carefully stuff the mixture into peppers and replace the tops. Bake for 30 minutes.

Combine yogurt with salt and saffron.

Drizzle yogurt sauce on the peppers and serve.

Mukeunji Kimchi Frittata with Lemongrass and Sour Cream

June 2, 2013December 29, 2014Turmeric and Twine5 Comments

If you move far from the things that are familiar to you, learning to adapt is essential for your survival. When I moved to Seoul 4 years ago, I found myself drowning in a sea of unfamiliarity. The language, culture, courtesies, smells, sounds and sense of personal space all amounted to a major sensory overload. Communication was difficult and mistakes were made often with hilarious results. I remember once feeling overwhelmed by a chatty taxi driver who assumed that I was able to speak Korean because I said “hello” properly. I tried to say “I don’t know” (mo-lie-yo) in response to his words, but ended up saying “How much does it cost?” (ol-my-yo) which of course confused him and prompted him to ask more questions. Another time, I’m pretty sure I told a nice ajumma on the subway who tried to be polite and talk to me that I hate Korea, when I meant to say I don’t know Korean well. I wondered why our conversation fizzled after that.

Food was another interesting matter. Cooking and eating traditions are revered and followed with little deviation. These traditions have worked for a millennium or two, so they must be good. Too good to change. As an outsider, I was completely unaware of what these rules were and ruined many a meal in the eyes of the ladies who served me. Having been accustomed to sushi, I wanted to dip my kimbap in soy sauce. This caused a serious stir in the kitchen as no one could imagine why I would ever want to do such a thing. Did I know that the whole point to eating bibimbop was that it must be mixed thoroughly before eating? Apparently not. Once I’d turned some mushrooms over on the barbeque during a galbi meal, thus spilling all of the water they had collected. All of the Koreans at my table gasped in disappointed embarrassment. It seemed I’d rendered them useless.

When I first arrived, I’d had very limited exposure to kimchi. I found it overwhelming and somewhat offensive to the senses. But, as it is one of the main sources of great pride in Korea, I plugged my nose and tossed it down. I now can’t imagine going more than a few days without eating some.

Mukeungi is kimchi’s lesser-known elderly cousin. Where kimchi is usually fermented for 1 to 4 months, mukeungi has gone through an extra long fermentation process, usually about a year (!). It is ripe with flavour and smell. It is excellent for using in stews, soups and mixes gloriously with eggs.

Mukeunji Kimchi Frittata with Lemongrass and Sour Cream

Ingredients

12 eggs beaten
2 cups mukeunji kimchi, chopped
2-3 king oyster mushrooms, sliced and chopped
1 large onion
4 tbsp sour cream
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp lemongrass (preferably fresh), finely chopped
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1 tbsp butter

Directions

Heat a pan on medium high heat on your stove top, melt ½ of the butter. Add garlic, onion and lemongrass and cook for 5 minutes or until slightly brown. Stir frequently.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they begin to release their water (about 4-5 minutes). Add the mukeunji kimchi, including any juice, to the pan. Turn heat to medium and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400ºF/200ºC/gas mark 6.

Spread the remaining butter on the bottom of an 8 inch circular baking pan and transfer the kimchi mixture. Pour in the beaten eggs and add salt, and sour cream. Gently mix with a fork.

Place the pan in the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes. To check if it is finished, insert a pick or fork into the center. If it comes out clean, it is finished. Remove from heat.

Garnish with black sesame seeds.

Homemade Graham Cracker Ice Cream Sandwiches

May 9, 2013Turmeric and TwineLeave a comment

Oh you poor thing! Too many homemade graham crackers lying around? I understand. I’ve had the same problem countless times.

Here’s what you do:

Take 2 crackers.

Insert your favorite ice cream.

Attempt to eat in a dignified manner.

Go take a shower to clean up.

Repeat.

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