Quickee on Kim bap

So I broke my rice cooker trying to make bread in it because I refused to use to use my brain after 5 pm (like many Americans who can't even give a decent Baskin Robbins order [cup or cone?]) and held down the switch till I burned out the fuse because by holding down the switch the temperature of the cooker kept increasing until well.....nothing....no firey explosion or *zap* *Snap* *Crackle* *Pop* *sizzle* whatever. I just turned to see how the bread was doing (as I was carfully watching it by sitting next to it, in case of emergency) and the lights were out and frankly nothing worked. I don't know how to break open a rice cooker to fix a fuse so we just threw it out. I have yet to get another.

Anyway because we have no cooker I am convinced that any rice made will taste mediocre. But I made me some Kimbap anyway....unfortunatly I forgot to take a picture. but here are some shameless plugs to Kimbap related sites.

http://www.aromacookery.com/aromacookery/2005/07/kimbap.html

http://gothamist.com/2006/01/10/street_eats_kim.php

Am a really a bad cook or is it just me being hard on myself that I think the food I make doesn't taste as good as the origonal. In this case it is justified because I had some really great kimbap at this sort of gross (in a just 'barely passed health inspection' kind of way) market but it wwsa VERY good. Okay I know that is a really bad justification but what I mean is that it is hard to make. My boss who is Korean gave me a long lecture on the dificulty on making kim bap. I am now humbled as mine tured out good but not great....It didn't help that I was being picky about recipes so I didn't use one... I will try again later and give you picture and recipes to go by on...

EDIT*

Added pictures of my favorite Kimbap from a Korean market near Jo-anns!

Pickles #2

So I made some more pickles....I'm starting to get sick of them...I'm not a huge pickles fan so...I still havent made watermellon rind pickles which look very complicated and time consuming by what I've seen. I have on the other hand made daikon and curry cauliflour pickles. I'm going to use the daikon pickles to make kim pap (kim bap, kim pop, whatever), which is like Korean sushi...too bad I broke my rice maker (trying to make that bread I talked about in my breakfast post) I'll have to make the rice on the stove.

Baskin Robbins

SO! I have told you I work at Basken-Robbins in other posts but I never gave you the full details. So I started two weeks ago and the hardest parts were the cash register and getting a pretty scoop. Its embarrassing when the register screams at you and your scoop looks like a colorful turd. I'm getting good at it though. Daiquiri Ice is the hardest to scoop, literally...because its all ice... I was worried about the job at first I'm starting to relax now...(one of my class mates got fired from a different BR after three days so I was very tense).

I am starting to crave ice cream now (that's what I get for being around it all the time). I try not to eat to much as I am supposed to be on a diet from all that early summer junk food eating. I hate summer for that. The reason I got a job was because I didn't get accepted to a scholarship to spend the summer in Japan and I needed some cash. Its a great experience and I can at least guarantee that I can name 31 of there now 41 flava's. Its fun to see the behind the scenes of a business. I do admit I am already getting tired of working long shifts. I wouldn't be able to stand full time! Wow real life stinks....

Food Humor v.0001

"b rakfast" brought to you by Me channelinng Anthony Bourdains cynical wit

"b rakfast" or breakfast to you. The eventful start of the morning filled with savory pastries if you live in France, eggs, bacon, sausage, and biscuits if it's Sunday and you live in most parts of America. Or you could be our family, like many Americans who eat instant oatmeal or crusty cereal for breakfast, my family does the same, except on sundays when we "forget" (grr) to go to church and then my mom serves me what starving Africans would consider a hearty meal; one egg and overcooked slabs of bacon...yum....

I LOATH breakfast 'with a passion'. Maybe its because I have never had a decent one unless it consisted of all carbs (I love me some carbs). Waffles, pancakes, could I at least get a biscuit? I mean I have had the frozen crap (excuse my French*) every day if I'm not having cereal or a smoothie(the best brekfast I've had all summer, and thats not an insult, they are gooood!), or a protein bar *gags*. I just never found a fancy for many breakfast proteans. I don't like bacon (as I havent had decent bacon) but I semi-like sausage (not those gross tiny ones but a big spicy italian one!) and egfgs I only eat the white...I'm pathetically picky as a five year old..when it comes to breakfast.

I'm hungry! So I go through all the shelves, cabinets, and fridges/freezers in the house to find the only thing I could make with little or no effort was microwave pancakes. I know I had fallen but I had to give it a try. They looked okay but when they had done there time in the microwave I could see that all that was holding then together was preservitives. One Word. Expired (and just plain gross). So I continued my search.

I'm not very good at just throwing things together with what I have in the kitchen yet. Mostly because I don't trust myself. so I was looking for somethink to make with the limited stuff we have in the kitchen. At this piont I already got a job so I felt free to smear QFCs good name by saying it sucks and is not worth the prices. Unfortunatly it's the only dang store close enough to my house so we throw away cash on such small amounts of food you would think we were going through a food shortage and we could only go by rations!

Then I saw the rice cooker and in my insane pleas for carbs I went with it. Rice for breakfast...yea...they do it in many parts of the world...like Japan where they don't go a day without it... then I remembered a recipe I never did from long ago in ages past; La Bouillie (Africa). Its pretty much rice with peanut butter but I thought I would give it a try so while I looked for the recipe I came across a crepe recipe. Of course, crepes! So I started to get out ingredients when I realized...no eggs...AGAIN...my house is infamous for not haveing any eggs because my rotten family can never remember to save some eggs for when I have to EAT! wow I'm channeling a very angsty teen right now...anyway crepes were out because of the eggs problem...the fridge should always have eggs! Without exception! Arggrgagragragar!

So we were back to rice and I wan't upset about it I was looking forward to the simplistic experience. I also figured I could try that rice cooker bread after I cleaned the cooker out then I had an epiphany! I already had one but you know where I'm going wiuth this! Yes! I could try going a day ith only using my rice cooker to make my meals! I would start with the peanut rice then go to the bread then, then....hmmm if I can find a decent source for cooking chicken and such in a rice cooker I would be set!


so this is what I ended up with.... ^#%&*^#%(& Thats for you Anthony

Mmmmm salami

So I rarely go to Costco and I really don't like american style sandwitches (weirdo!) but those Italians really know how to make a good sandwitch! Anyway...I went to Costo and I got olive tapenade, motzerella, pesto, three different types of salami, and ciabatta rolls and I made all these yummy italian style sandwitches.

The problem with costco is that everything is in bulk so now I have to find a way to use up my huge tub o' tapenade. I don't think I'll have trouble with the pesto because I love me some pesto!


It's not the prettiest picture as I already ate a huge chunk of it before I realized I should take a picture!

Recipe
Use your George Forman grill to heat up the bread (cut it in half first) and give it preatty grill marks then spread on some pesto layer with choice salami, motzerella, maybe some bell peppers with balsamic vinigar (the real and really expensive kind) then put back on the grill to the cheese melts.

I also had a soda (not pop :P)with some grilled spicy pinnaple which I just grilled with some sugar, honey, and crushed spicy red pepper on top.

Pickles

Well everysince I was young I didn't like the taste of the cucumber pickles my parents bought. I've started to get more accostomed to the taste. I still am not a big fan of cucumber pickles (because they are common and boring) or hot peppers (I have a low-medium heat tolerance) but I have been reading a lot about pickling so I desided to try it out!

If I haven't told you yet I am a kind of person who hates boring food. I always go for the recipes that seem out of the ordinary. Because of this I decided to not do cucumber but to pickle fruit and eggs insted! :)

I did smokey dark and lovely eggs and pickled pears/plums

there are limitless ways to pickle eggs; use beet juice, or go smokey, spicy and of course plain and boring.

I tryed Dark and Lovely smokey eggs;
Key; TBS=tablespoon, tsp=teaspoon

• 1 1/2 Cups cider vinigar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp pickling spice
• 1/4 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 tsp salt (kosher or pickling salt, not table salt as the iodine will make yo pickles go FuNKeY!)
• a dozen eggs

Heat all the ingredients in a non reactive pot until sugar is melted, simmer for five minutes, then pour the mixture into the jar over the eggs. Put in the fridge for 1-2 weeks and consume!

I also made sweet pickled pears/plums because I made too batches and I wanted some to serve at our 4th of July Barbie-Q.

Probably the best pickles ever; Iwould double the amount of fruit (not liquid) if using a quart jar like I did because there is a lot of leftover space (the recipe only filled up half the jar.)

• 1 Bartlett (or firm) pear, thinly sliced
• 1 red plum, sliced
• 1/2 lemon, sliced (I used one whole baby lemon)
• 1 TBS ginger (I would grate it for stronger taste, I just sliced it)
• sprig of mint
• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup rice wine vinigar

Put all but the last three ingredients in a jar. Heat the water sugar and vinigar till sugar is disolved and por into jar over fruit. They are great right away but you should wait a day or two before eating.

My Seattle explorations

So I know I earlier said that people who live in Seattle don't get to experience it like tourists do...well.... I don't know.... I thought it over and maybe the reason it seems that way is because we're like "We live here, we have all the time we want to go to Salumi or the pike place market or eat a Gooeduck!" and I have to admit I have done all of that except eat a gooeduck..

I have only been to pike place market like ...7 times? And I only went to Salumi once and that was a few weeks ago because it's summer and I had time to...(because I'm a kid haha, I do have a part time job though..i'll tell you about that in my next blog)

My first trip to Salumi wasn't as pleasent or well it was fine just not what I expected......


So Its the beggining of summer and me and my dad want to go out for lunch downtown...I recommend Salumi as I have been PATIENTLY waiting (I mean it) to go. Salumi is a old fashioned Salumi restaraunt owned by Famous Itallian chef Mario Batali's dad.

We go and when we get there my dads already complaining. About the line, the fact that there arn't many places to sit...arg...anywho it was frusterating because his arguments wern't even valid!! There was vertially NO LINE and that is EXTREEEEEMLY rare for Salumi if any of you know about it...the line can go for blocks. *resists makes 'blocks' uppercase* there was space to sit you just had to share the table with other people, Oh the Horror!! Besides the fact that the line moves slow enough without my dad not knowing what anything means and arguing with the people their about his dislike of goat cheese. Don't get me wrong, I love my POPcicle but it was a little stressful because some stranger had to explain that this was award winning food and well worth the wait...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/09/21/FDG9IEOIIV1.DTL

http://www.salumicuredmeats.com/ourstorefront.htm

On a side not I also hear there is a secret gourmete club called Gypsy in Seattle but I have only heared of it once while watching "No Reservations" on the travel channel. I have yet to find it.

About me

To start out my first post I must say that I live in Seattle, WA.*cringes* Yes I know what your thinking; "Oh great, a seattlite, she already lives in one of the centers of the food world, what perspective can she bring me?"

The sad fact is that most seattlites experience way less of the food world that Seattle provides then tourists. ...and it REALLY bugs me.

I hopefully will be able to give you insight into my life and my food "explorations" as I only just recently got into the complexity of food. I'll be celebrating my cooking aniversary soon by doing something really challenging!

I got into cooking last summer, I don't know why or how. But I did. So now I belong to a family that is supportive but doesn't seem to appreciate food the way I do.

One last note; Please don't look down on my opinions because I'm young, I can be just as stuborn about my Christian or foodie views as anyone else. Also excuse any bad grammer...just cause :)