Korean Tofu Stew (sundubu jjigae)

 Ingredients

• onion, sliced
• zucchini, sliced
• mushrooms, sliced
• silken tofu
• dashi powder
• gochugaru
• scallions
• soy sauce
• sesame oil
• fish sauce
• sugar
• salt and pepper
• seafood (I used a mix of frozen shrimp, squid and mussels)
• optional: kimchi
• optional: egg

Directions

The important thing is, don't put the tofu in until the very end, and don't stir! If you stir, the tofu will completely disintegrate.

Vegetarian Chili with Beef

 Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
4 ribs of celery, diced
2 zucchini or summer squash, diced
1 medium eggplant, diced
1 large can of tomatoes
1 can of beans (I like red kidney beans or pinto beans)
1 bottle or can of dark beer
1 small can of pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
tomato paste
cumin
paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings: sour cream, grated cheese, cilantro, crushed tortilla chips, etc.

Directions

The recipe name is a joke - you can make it fully vegetarian by omitting the beef. I think it tastes better with the beef, in addition to all the complexity and nutritional value of the vegetables. This is my go-to chili recipe.

Brown the beef. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook until softened. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 min. Deglaze with beer.

Add zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes (with liquid). Season with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Add a little water if necessary to cover the ingredients but remember that the zucchini and eggplant will also put out some liquid and you don't want the result to be too runny. Simmer for 1 hour.

Add beans, check seasoning. Thicken with canned pumpkin to desired texture - may not require the full can. Cook for another 20 minutes.

Serve with your desired toppings. Also goes well with corn bread.

Recipe should serve 6 or more. Leftovers freeze well.

White Bean Salad

 Ingredients

2 cans of cannellini beans, rinsed
1 shallot, minced
2 roasted bell peppers, peeled, cored, julienned
sundried tomatoes, julienned
radicchio or purple cabbage, shredded
cilantro or parsley, chopped
capers

Dressing: mustard, cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper

Perfect to make in advance - it's even better the second day.

Based on Smitten Kitchen's Beach Bean Salad

Leftover Hambone Soup

Ingredients

Hambone
1 cup cooked ham, chopped
1 med. onion, diced
2 carros, diced
1 potato, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 bay leaf

Directions

Pick a pot that is the smallest possible one where the hambone can still lay flat. Fill with water until the hambone is just covered. Add 1 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 min. Discard hambone.

In a skillet, cook the onion and carrot until browned and softened, respectively. Add to hambone broth, along with uncooked potatoes and bay leaf. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Simmer until the potato is cooked through. Add frozen corn and peas at the end, to thaw and warm through. Ditto with the ham, if you're planning on serving the whole pot. If not, put enough ham for each portion in individual bowls and ladle the hot soup over it. (The ham will leach salt and become flavorless if left in the soup for an extended period of time. Keep the ham separate until ready to eat.)

[Based on this recipe.]

Miso Cod

Ingredients
1 lb sablefish / black cod for 3 servings
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup sake (plus 2 tbsp for rinsing salt off the fish)
4 tbsp white miso
3 tbsp sugar

Directions

Salt the fish and set aside for 30 min. Cut into three generous fillets

To make the marinade, cook the mirin and sake for 30 seconds to boil off some of the alcohol. Whisk in the miso and stir until completely incorporated. Add sugar at the end, and stir to dissolve. Take the marinade off heat and cool to room temp.

After resting for 30 min, use the 2 extra tbsp of sake to rinse the salt off the fish. Do not rinse with water! Pat the fish dry.

Coat each fish fillet in marinade and set in a non-reactive dish. Double saran wrap it.

Marinate in the fridge for 3-5 days.

When fully marinated, take the fish out and smooth off excess marinade. Do not rinse with water! Bake at 350F for 20-25 min.

Summer Fruit Cake

Ingredients
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, room temperature (add 1/4 tsp salt if you use unsalted butter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
spice of choice - e.g. ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon zest
fruit for topping - e.g. berries, plums, apples

Directions

Cream the soft butter into the sugar. Add the eggs, mix well. Add flour, baking powder, mix thoroughly. It will be a pretty thick. Dollop it into a round cake pan lined with parchment (mine's 9 inches, makes for a thin-ish cake around 2 inches high). Spread it out evenly but it doesn't need to push into the edges or be perfectly flat - it will spread and puff during baking.

Dust with your spice of choice. I like a little ground ginger for warmth and mystery, personally; it goes great with blueberries, and with plums. Top with your fruit of choice in a pleasing arrangement. This cake can take a lot of fruit. I've made this with blueberries mixed with chopped rhubarb, delicious. Black plums cut into eights and arranged in a fan, also delicious. Would likely work with frozen raspberries, pears, figs, or peaches. If your fruit is on the sour side, you may want to dust the top with extra sugar. I usually don't because I like the tart pockets of cooked fruit.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 min. The batter will rise up and gorgeously enfold the fruit as it bakes. The middle has a tendency to finish baking in the last 5 minutes, so be sure the middle is fully set before you set it out to cool. Best to take it out of the pan when still warm.

The cake is substantial but not heavy and has a simplicity that really sets off fresh summer fruit. It almost has a cornmeal-like texture, despite having no cornmeal in it at all.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients
5 tbsp butter (add 1/4 tsp salt if you use unsalted butter)
1 egg
3/4 cup sour cream (can sub yogurt but full fat sour cream is better)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (can sub zest of half a lemon)
1/2 cup sugar

Dry:
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions

After three tries, I think I've finally got this recipe down. I followed Smitten Kitchen's recipe to being with, but her instructions for the yogurt version came out pretty stiff and dry on my first try. The second try, I added a splash of milk to thin the batter slightly and it worked better. The third time, I only had 1/2 cup of yogurt so I put in 1/4 cup sour cream as well. That was the game changer. Full fat sour cream has about 10 times the fat as plain yogurt (14% versus 1.4%). Fat is the answer. MUCH more tender and yummy muffin. So here we go!

Melt the butter. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and combine well. The spices are up to you but I think ginger and blueberries are yummy together. Stir in the sugar as soon as you measure it in - if you leave it, it can clump up.

Dust in baking powder and baking soda. Mix. Gently fold in flour and blueberries - don't overmix here. The batter should be pretty stiff - certainly stiff enough to hold the blueberries in place. If it feels like you're mixing cement, you may need a splash of milk to thin it.

Portion the batter out into a paper-lined muffin tin. Deb of Smitten Kitchen says it makes 9 standard muffins but I get 16 little muffins (or I fill a 12-tray and stick the leftover batter into a mini loaf pan).

I always have to pry the batter out and sort of mound it up. You can go over the lip of the paper liner. It will settle a little in baking but not a lot. I try to sort of push the batter down a little to fill the bottom of the paper liner.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Tops should be toasty and a toothpick should prick clean. If you put in a mini loaf pan with extra batter, leave that in 5-10 more minutes.

These muffins are best hot out of the oven. They taste a bit scone-like and dry the next day but revive nicely in the toaster oven and taste magnificent with a smear of butter.

BC has amazing blueberries so I've been making this recipe with fresh. Deb says you can also make this recipe with frozen. She also likes to sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar for extra crunch and sweetness; I usually skip it.