Shepard's Pie

We made leg of lamb using this recipe (you MUST make this, it's wonderful!!) for my parent's last meal here. It was over 5 pounds, so there were plenty of leftovers. Leftover lamb just isn't good, it's gamey, chewy and, well, just not good. Trust me here. We also had asperagus and mashed potatoes. So, what do you do with leftover asperagus, lamb and mashed potatoes???

It's screaming Shepard's Pie!

I started off by taking the juice (jus?) from the roast and bringing it to boil in a sauté pan.
Warning: the following pictures may not be pretty, but the end result is tasty!

Scoop out a couple ladles full of broth into a container (I used a measuring cup, but you could use anything). Spoon in a couple tablespoons of flour. Mix very well, till there are no chunks whatsoever. Use a fork or whisk to mix. If you don't get the lumps out now, you will have lumpy gravy!

Pour flour mixture back into boiling broth, whisking constantly. Whisk until smooth and thickened.

Like I said, it's not pretty. Be sure to taste your gravy for seasonings. Add salt and pepper if needed.

Dump meat and veggies into an oven-proof container, the amount is to your liking. You could use a regular baking dish, but I'm always looking for ways to use this pretty dish. Mix in the gravy.

Layer the top with the mashed potatoes. I used my hands to get it all over the top. Of course I don't have a shot of what it looked like after all the potatoes on the top, but you can use your imagination, I'm sure.

Bake, uncovered, at 400 or 425 for about 30 minutes.

Again, not pretty, but so, so tasty!! If you use the crockpot lamb and use plenty of seasonings like Stephanie says, you're golden.

Chamchi Kim bap (Korean tuna rolls)

One of the only foods I was confident enough to order by myself in Korea as chamchi kim bap (that's a hard ch, sort of rhyming with chomp). I could walk into any kim bap restaurant and order this with a relatively straight face and walk out knowing what I was carrying. Adam even made me do this a couple of times while he waited outside. (He knows what sissy I am when it comes to even ordering a pizza over the phone here in the States!)

This is really easy to make, tastes amazing and the only thing you'll have to go out and buy specially is the sushi paper. (Here after called kim paper, as that's what we called it in Korea. It's made from roasted seaweed and isn't very strong tasting.) A rice cooker is extremely nice to have, but it's not a necessity (although I want to get one very badly!) A sushi mat is also nice, but, again, not necessary.

One more note worth mentioning: this is not traditional kim bap. You won't find kim bap with pickles in it. Instead you'll get a pickled radish. I prefer actual pickles, and I couldn't find pickled radishes anyway. Also, a traditional kim bap will have a few more ingredients I can't get here. For a more detailed and traditional recipe, click here. Her pictures are wonderful and she's got a ton more recipes that look amazing!

I made 2 rolls today. If you make the amount of food I prepared, you'll have leftovers.

What you need

Carrots, julliened (about the length of your kim paper)
Pickles, quartered length-wise (these are mini's)
Tuna (buy the better quality stuff. In Korea we used tuna packed in olive oil. Man, it was good! But I couldn't find it here. Such a bummer. Ironic, actually.)


1 or 2 eggs, fried (1 egg for 2 rolls, 2 eggs for 4)


1-2 Tbs. Mayo (mixed in with tuna in bowl)

Cut up your egg into skinny strips.


Kim paper (a.k.a. sushi paper).
Lay it out on your mat, or just on a clean surface if you don't have a mat.


1 1/2 cups cooked sushi rice, per roll (Korean rice is the best, in my opinion, but Vail is not the place to find it. Korean rice is stickier, but sushi rice makes do just fine here. )
Flatten it out onto your kim paper. I didn't use enough here, I haven't made this in about 2 years. It turned out fine, just the ends weren't stuffed enough. So, in yours, press the rice all the way to the edge. That look on Owen's face is only concern that there won't be enough. He loves kim bap!


Lay your strips of veggies on the rice. Don't use more than 2 strips each. It doesn't take much to fill up a roll.


Put about 1/4 cup tuna onto veggies. It may not even take that much. Just experiment with what looks right.


Roll it up! I wasn't talented enough to take a picture of me rolling. But here it is.


Using a very sharp knife, slice into 6-8 pieces. Wipe your knife clean with a damp cloth in between cuts. Remember, sushi is meant to be stuffed into your mouth all in one bite--kim bap is the same way. So, make your slices accordingly.

Find some hungry kids willing to experiment and SERVE!
It's delicious dipped in soy sauce mixed in with some wasabi.

Mostaccioli Bake

This recipe is from the vault. The vault that was my crammed recipe box. I packed my recipe box up when we moved overseas and hadn't seen this since 2005. I love this dish, had forgotten how much I loved this dish. I prepared this dish for last nights' dinner and loved it all over again!

I haven't done the math on it exactly, but it ends up being a fairly inexpensive meal as well. Like, under $5. I'll bet you have almost everything in your kitchen to prepare this tonight. So make it! Oh, and I made the whole 9x13 dish thinking I'd have half left over for another night. Not so. The crew devoured this and we only had enough left for Adam to take for lunch today.

What you need
3 cups uncooked mostaccioli (this is about half a 1 pound package)
3-4 Tbs butter, plus 2 more Tbs.
1 cup chopped onion (As usual, I used onion powder. We have onion issues at our house.)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 milk
1 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, plus 2 more Tbs
1 tsp dried Italian dressing mix (the kind you get in the packets)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
1/4 cup bread crumbs, whichever variety you have on hand

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Go ahead and grate your cheese, measure out your ingredients, get the spinach thawed and squeezed in your colander.* Grease a 9x13 dish. You can also make the bread crumb topping (found at the end of this recipe). This all makes this dish come together with little hassle and little clean-up.

*side note: you can also squeeze the spinach out really well in a towel, but this will cause you to have a majorly green towel. Do what's best for you.

Cook your pasta according to directions, usually about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt 3-4 Tbs butter in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook about 5 minutes, but don't let your garlic get all brown. Add the flour and whisk constantly for about 1 minute. Slowly add in the milk, whisking the whole time to incorporate your roux. Cook about 4-5 minutes till just bubbling. Remove from heat, stir in 1/4 cup cheese, the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper (go easy on the salt, as there's plenty in the cheese, but it still needs some). Combine the pasta, tomatoes, the cheese sauce, the rest of the cheese (about 1 cup). Stir well. Spoon mixture into your 9x13 dish.

In small bowl, melt 2 Tbs butter. Stir in 2 Tbs Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Sprinkle over pasta. Bake about 30 minutes.

Serve with a glass of wine and some fresh bread. All your food groups are in there, so you can take or leave a salad!

Vietnamese Sour Soup

Holy Guacamole, Bat Man! Did I take a lot of pictures this time, or what?!

Our friend, Vinh, was here this past weekend. Last time he was here, we made Vietnamese Spring Rolls. And I took pictures. Lots. But I think I outdid myself this time. Adam was even annoyed (hee hee). This time, it's sour soup. It's definitely a sweet and sour soup, though. There is a lot of prep, but the actual making of this soup is souper easy. We did our prep in the morning so all we had to do was boil water and throw it all in. The amounts below made enough for a small army, so if you decide to try this at your home, I would most definitely half all the amounts, except for the shrimp and fish. Keep those the same. Otherwise, you'll be eating this every day for the next two weeks. I'm just not kidding about this one.

Let's get down to business!

What you need and what to do

Bring 10-15 cups water to boil in a very large pot. I don't have a picture of this one. Imagine me boiling water. It's not hard. Although the altitude does challenge one's patience in the area of boiling time.

Also, prepare several cups of Jasmine rice. We made about 8 cups.

6 medium Malanga (I really wanted a link to this vegetable, but looked high and low for it. No go. I found something that resembled a potato, but this is most definitely not a potato. It's most like celery, and Vinh says you can use celery in it's place. That's what it sort of tasted like, anyway.) If you do go to an Asian food store and find these babies, peel the outer layer using your fingers. It's sort of like if you peeled the entire outside surface of a stalk of celery. The peel is very stringy and tough. Get it all off. Also, cut off any brown you might find.

Look! This one's pregnant!

I was sous chef Sunday evening, and Emma was sous' sous chef. Isn't she cute?
Chop up the Malanga into bite size pieces. You can slice, then half if it's too big.

4 ripe tomatoes. Cut these into wedges.

One or two onions, peeled, halved and sliced.

3 cups fresh okra, stems removed and halved, if large.

One large, or two small pineapple, peeled (is that the word?), cored and chopped into bite-size pieces. Did you know you can suck on the core of the pineapple and get really good flavor and juice as a fun snack? Don't let it go to waste.
See, now you're learning two new things today. Aren't you the lucky one?

Here's the Malanga and okra cut up, sitting in bowls. Waiting.
I'm not sure why I have this picture, but I do.
And I'm not going to waste it.

Next, you need 2 packages of Tamarind Soup base mix. Clearly, you're going to need a trip to the Asian food store for this recipe. I don't know what you'd use in place, but there's a chance your local market might have this, so just go see. I personally haven't checked.
This is a very distinct flavor. It's the sour part of the soup. Very good, mild, not pucker-your-lips tart, just subtle.

Pour the two packages into about 15 cups of boiling water. You're going to need the large pot for this recipe. Did I mention that?

Rinse 6-8 cups bean sprouts in cool water. You want to get off any dirt that might be clinging to them.
I love bean sprouts. Try just dipping raw sprouts in hoisin sauce. Mmmm. I love hoisin sauce.

Clean and chop a big handful of fresh Thai basil.
The basil we had was super sandy, so wash this very well. There's nothing worse than biting down on a nice grain of sand.
Place chopped basil in a small serving bowl. It's a garnish for the soup.

Rinse 1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, shells on. These are tiger shrimp. Aren't the beautiful? Really, even raw, beautiful.

Throw these in a smaller separate pot with boiling water. Cook until they're this bright orange/pink color. Even prettier!
Did you know leaving the shell on decreases the amount of shrinkage when cooked? I did not know that. Now I do.
(We've all seen the Seinfeld shrinkage episode, right? No need to say more.)

Rinse the cooked shrimp under cold water to stop the cooking process and to cool them down.

Time to shell 'em!
(Side note: Notice my raised left index finger? Yeah, I almost chopped off the tip last week. Nice.)

Now, you need 1 1/2 pounds fresh catfish, about 3 fillets. Usually, Vinh uses bone-in because it tends to hold up better when cooked, but he could only find boneless here. It worked fine.
Rinse this well under cold water before cooking.

Remember that humongo pot of boiling tamarind soup broth you've got going on the stove top? Carefully lower your catfish into it and cook until tender. Remove from pot and place on serving dish.

This is what it will look like when done. I realize it's not really very appetizing looking, but it's very tasty and tender. You're just going to have to trust me with this one. Until you try it at home.

After you've removed your catfish, toss the okra and onion into the soup broth. Let them cook for about 5-7 minutes. Maybe 10. I really can't remember this step. I must have been hustling a dog out of the kitchen at this point. The seafood smell was making her go crazy bonkers.

Next, add in the Malanga.
Then, add the tomatoes, pineapple and bean sprouts. You're really just going to flash-cook these, about 30 seconds, don't boil them to death. They should still be very fresh, just not cold still.

Using a large strainer, strain the broth into a separate bowl.
Now, you don't really need to do this step, but since most household don't have an extra-huge humongo soup pot, this is the next best thing.

The table spread. See how we placed the shrimp and fish together?
The basil is behind it.
The veggies are all in a bowl with the broth in the background.

Here's how you serve yourself:
First, place some rice in your bowl, about 1 to 1 1/2 cups
Next, spoon in some veggies.

Place however many shrimp and pieces of fish in your bowl.

Pour on some broth.

Sprinkle in some basil, give a squirt or two of both hot sauce and fish sauce (not pictured, oops!), and dish up!
Caution: the contents of your bowl will be extremely hot!

Soup for you!!!
(I know, again, with the Seinfeld.)


If anybody decides to venture into this dish, please let me know how it goes!
Whew! I don't know how the Pioneer Woman does it with all her pictures, recipes, photos and posts. I'm exhausted!

Thanks guys, and happy cooking!

Noodle Bowl a.k.a. Chicken grill and Peanut Noodles

Cooking in Korea was a challenge. Sometimes in a really frustrating-I-can't-find-good-dairy-products! way, but sometimes in a really good way. Ways that stretched me to become a better, more creative cook.

There was a type of mushrooms that was everywhere in the Korea street markets and grocery stores. How I wish I had taken a picture of them! They were in huge clusters with brown thickish, chewy stems and caps. Very, very meaty, similar to a portabella. And cheap!

And I have no idea what they are called, if the even have an English equivalent. I've looked all over the web trying to find these little fungi, but anytime I think I've found it, that particular type of 'shroom comes up as "suspect" or "poisonous". Well, we're still here. And while we suffered numerous stomach upsets over there, those episodes could almost always be blamed on food handling practices, not poisonous fungi.

Life goes on, though, right?

These mystery mushrooms were often sautéed with a soy mixture in the pan. So, so amazing and yummy! While living there, I would make an easy chicken and vegetable grill/broil using this idea of the mushrooms and soy mixture. I cooked it a lot. At least twice a month. Even our Korean friends liked it, so I usually fixed it for our fellowship time too. I haven't cooked it since our time there, but tonight I pulled it from the files and made it again, only this time without the amazing mystery mushrooms. Sigh. I also fixed a noodle recipe based on Rachael Ray's Sesame Noodles (I can't seem to find it online, but it's in one of her cookbooks). I didn't want to spend money on Tahini, so I substituted peanut butter (which I already had), and served it hot, not cold. We combined the noodles and chicken grill in a bowl, but you can do what you like.

One big thing to remember, this is a major easy, fancy-looking meal! Serve it to friends some night!

Chicken Grill

What you need
soy sauce or Tamari, if you like a stronger flavor
honey
ginger root
chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces (I used thighs this time and regretted it. I'm a big dark meat fan, but not in this recipe. Go for the white meat here.)
any sort of veggies (zucchini, red, yellow or green peppers, mushrooms)

I realize there are no measurements, just use what looks right and will cover all your chicken and veggies in a bowl. So, mix the soy, honey and ground ginger root well in a bowl. (Ok, ok. It will be about a 1/4-1/2 cup each of soy and honey with maybe 1/2 inch of root. That's for all you people out there who need measurements. ......Who am I kidding? I'm one of you! High-five!)

Moving on.........

Let your chicken and veggies marinate for awhile, anywhere from a few hours to overnight. Or, you can do what I did and forget about it for 24 hours. That works too, apparently.

I live in the freezing cold, below freezing, actually, so we don't grill in the winter. I use my broiler as an alternative as I did in Korea and New York. Pour your chicken mixture onto a foil-lined baking sheet, place under broiler (about the 2nd rack down from the top) and cook about 7 minutes. Check it, give it a stir and return to broiler till chicken and veggies are nice and tender, but with a few pieces starting to get that nice char.

I love the char.

Peanut Noodles

What you need
Peanut butter, about 2-3 Tbs.
Soy sauce, about 2-3 Tbs.
1 inch ground ginger root
2 tbs (maybe less) sesame oil (this is a very strong flavor, so go easy)
pinch of cayenne pepper, optional, if you're going to use it, use it! I couldn't taste a pinch.
2-3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 # pasta, I used fettuccine, but angle hair would be nice too
1 carrot, shredded
4 green onions, sliced
peanuts, finely chopped, for garnish (I didn't have these, but they're good)

Cook pasta al dente. Mix together peanut butter, soy, ginger, sesame oil, pepper and garlic in a bowl till smooth. It looks weird at first, just keep whisking together. Drain pasta well. Place in large bowl, pour in peanut butter mixture and stir together. Add in carrots and onions, mix well. In bowls, top with extra green onions and peanuts.

As you can see, I added the chicken and veggies to the noodles. Yum!

Don't you just love my pretty Korean China (that sounds weird, for some reason). This was a present from our company right before we left. I'm always looking for ways to use it.