Whole Leaf Napa Kimchi and Ground Pork Pancakes

This is super tasty.  The pancakes on the left are meat side up, the right side are kimchi side up, and the one in the centre, I cut in half, shows the pork mixture (meat down).

I made some whole leaf napa (baechu) kimchi a few weeks ago.  Today I was making ground pork rolls for James, so I decided to make kimchi and ground pork pancakes for me.  He won't eat cabbage or onions.

This is easy to make, once you have the whole leaf kimchi.  Here's what to do:

Mix ground pork with chopped onion, chopped green onions, black pepper, salt, sesame oil.

Have a plate with flour, and another with an egg mixed with a bit of salt.

Take a few leaves of kimchi, and cover them in flour.  Place some of the meat mixture on the leaf, 

sprinkle more flour, 

dunk the meat side into the egg, and place, meat down, in a hot pan with melted butter.  

After a couple of minutes flip over.  

Serve right away. 

I made five and I ate all five, though the last one had to wait a bit, so it was cold by the time I ate it.  It was still ok, but the heat from the spices in the kimchi dies down and it loses the crunch.  This was so yummy, spicy, sour, with that sesame oil pork taste.

For a vegetarian version, use tofu instead of pork.  I don't do tofu, but I bet it would also be yummy with various mashed beans or lentils with herbs.

맛있게 드세요 (Korean)

Enjoy!

Meatloaf

This is my third week of no carbs for two consecutive days.  I should say it would have been my third week, if I didn't eat 2 slices of my cherry pie today.  That's all that was left over, and it sitting on the counter didn't bother me one bit yesterday, but today was one of those days.  I'm not surprised that I couldn't stick with this "diet", and this just proves that diets are stupid, even if only for two days per week.  Besides I wasn't really following the rules of leaner fats and watery vegetables, so instead of losing nine pounds, I lost one or two, but then on any given day I'm one or two pounds lighter or heavier.

Anyway, yesterday I made a meatloaf with corn.  Sometimes I use peas, carrots, mushrooms, fresh herbs, or a mix of vegetables.  I do this to make the meatloaf more interesting and colourful, but also for the extra serving of vegetables.

Making a meatloaf is easy.  I didn't get home until 16:30, and I had dinner made within the hour, including prep.  I used ground pork, with marjoram, because to me it's the ultimate meat herb, thyme, oregano, sea salt and ground black pepper, 10% cream, a real egg, and a bit of my home made jalapeño ciabatta bread crumbs.  I know those are carbs, but the diet actually allows up to 50g of carbs per day, besides it's over.

Mix it all together with your hand, place in a baking dish, or make mini loaves, or one log shaped loaf, have the oven set for 375 F and depending on how thick your meatloaf is, check after about 40 minutes.  I don't cover it with foil, because then it comes out looking anemic.

Yesterday I served it with broccoli and parmesan cheese.

 

As well as an Asian mix of vegetables, which I sautéed in sesame oil, with some pepper, very basic, but tasty.  I only used sesame oil, because I like the flavour it gives these veg.  The meat loaf has a Cajun spice sprinkled over top, so I kept the veg mild, with just a hint of sesame.  Sometimes I use spices to sprinkle on top in place of bacon strips.

Today I reheated the meatloaf in a frying pan with a bit of water and covered it with a lid.  The water creates a steam and prevents the loaf from burning.  It's very quick.  I don't own a microwave, one came with this house and we gave it away.  Reheating things on the stove or in the oven, or a toaster oven doesn't take as much time as people think it might.  Food always tastes better not microwaved.  I'm totally disgusted when I see people microwaving their coffee, especially when it's in a waxy take away cup.

The other day when I made stock, I had cooked celery, leeks, and parsley, which I remove before making the soup, I keep the carrots in, and make whatever soup.  I put the cooked celery, leeks, and parsley in the food processor, and pureed them all.  I hate wasting food, so I try to think of ways to use as much as I can, and waste as little as possible.

I made these green jalapeño breadcrumb covered balls, and fried them in coconut oil.  

The remaining green puree I just sautéed in coconut oil, with a bit of spices, to add a little kick, and to heat it up.

En Guete!  (Swiss German)

Stir Fry with Brown Rice Wraps

I make this often, mainly for James, because he loves stir frys.  I have been making variations of this dish, and I finally got it to taste the way I wanted it to.  It's easy, and great as a last minute hot meal.

I use Europe's Best frozen vegetable medley, they have two Asian inspired variations, Zen Garden, and Imperial Blend.  I usually buy a few bags when they're on sale, and keep them in the freezer.  You can use fresh vegetables, but then you have to plan ahead.  I like frozen fruit and vegetables for certain dishes and shakes.  I don't use canned, because of the sodium content, the poor taste, and the squishy texture.  Frozen on the other hand, in some cases, tastes better than fresh.  Reason for this being that in order for produce to be sold fresh in a supermarket, it has to be picked while it's still green and it ripens on it's lengthy journey.  Ripening in a transport box won't make it taste as it would if it had a chance to ripen on the vine, tree, shrub, etc.  Frozen fruit and veggies are picked when they are ripe, and then frozen, which preserves the yummy sweet taste.  Try this little test, buy a box of strawberries (which are not in season locally), and compare the taste to frozen strawberries.  Amazing, right!

So, back to the stir fry.  I heat up a bit of sesame oil, this gives the dish a great base flavour.  If you don't have any, buy some, you can use it in salad dressings as well.   Into the oil add: garlic and ginger - fresh is always best, but again, if this is a last minute thing, use powder, black and white sesame seeds, a bit of soy, some Worcestershire sauce, a bit of pepper, a pinch of cayenne or hot pepper flakes, I don't add salt, as the soy is plenty salty already.  If you like a bit of sweetness, add some honey or agave nectar.  Mix it all up, then add the frozen veg.  The amounts of spices depend on how many vegetables you're making, and your flavour preference.  Use a lid to speed up the defrost process, once the vegetables are defrosted, uncover the pan, so that excess liquid can evaporate.

You can use this with rice, I usually use brown, or use rice paper and make stir fry with rice wraps.

I kind of packed these ones, and layered the veg with the rice, but you can mix it all up before wrapping.  The front two have veg on top, the back one has rice on top, just to show you how it looks.  Sometimes I add shrimp, which can be mixed in to the veg, or layered separately in some pattern, so they add to the presentation.  In that case, layer the shrimp first, then the rest.  I usually add a bit of spices to the rice as well while it's cooking, so that it's not plain tasting, but also not overwhelming to the vegetables, and / or shrimp.

Enjoy!

Savoy Cabbage

I love cabbage.  It's one of my favourite things to eat, and by far a top vegetable in my kitchen.  James won't eat it, though yesterday when I made a new simple dish out of Savoy, I wanted him to taste it, since it is more mild than the typical green cabbage.  I told him it was a type of lettuce, otherwise he wouldn't even try it.  He had a bite, and said it wasn't his thing.  Fair enough.  All I ask is people try.
How lovely is this cabbage:

All that is required is you peel off the outer layers, then cut the cabbage in half vertically, and slice up:

All you need then is a frying pan, some oil, you can use olive oil, but if you have a flavoured oil, something like almond oil, or truffle, or even sesame - which has a stronger aroma use that instead.  Peel and chop some fresh garlic, how much depends on how much you like garlic and how many servings you are making.  It's best fresh, and since it takes very little time to make, you're best off making it as you want to eat it.  Heat up the oil without burning it, add garlic, let it fry for a minute, add the savoy, stir around until it gets soft and it will decrease in volume, by about 40%.  At the end add sea salt and pepper to taste.

NOTE:  If you are using olive oil, but have some flavoured salt, you can sprinkle that at the end.

So easy, delicious, and super easy to make!
Bon Appétit!