Korean Chicken Soup

Hello!

Tonight, I would like to share about my favorite cuisine! Korean!

Now, this food that I am about to introduce to you guys is a traditional dish, known to be a well-being food and an energizer! In Korean, this dish is called Sam Gae Tang. It's basically stuffed chicken soup which later turns into a chicken porridge. Got the recipe from Mama Lee. :)

The ingredients are simple! Major ingredient being the Cornish Hen (these are just baby chicks.. i think.) and couple other small ingredients that play an important role! (sweet white rice, dried dates, Ginseng, Garlic, etc). Basically, you are going to clean out the hen and stuff all these and eventually tie them together (see picture). Then, you put the stuffed, tied hen into a BIG pot and fill it with water! Bring to boil and put garlic, onions, Ginger, and cook for about 2 hours. This is basically going to make chicken broth with all these flavors from all the different ingredients!

*You can also put in abalone inside the chicken as well. This makes the soup very refreshing and gives a little surprise for all your guests! ;) *

I have pictures of what I made here below! Leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions!

Enjoy!!

I.C.A.
Ms. Piggy.

Sam Gae Tang or simply, Korean chicken soup ;)

Garlic!

Sweet White Rice!

Dried Dates in water!

Cornish Hen all clean and chillin' in the water like a villain!

Stuffed hen all tied up! They look like they were arrested and handcuffed.. use your imaginations :)

Nicely packed in the pot to be boiled!

Boiling water..... 

An hour later...almost ready.. yum!

Final Product!!

So many surprises inside!! :D

With the left over soup and hen, we made chicken porridge! My favorite part of the meal! :D need a little salt and pepper and you are good to go!

Week 5 into Cooking Class!

Hi guys!

It's already week 5 into my cooking class and I am enjoying it more than ever! Food has always been my favorite thing in life! I love trying new things and this class is definitely giving me the chance to try lots and lots of variety of food!

This week, our group made the Poblano Potato Gratin! We made so many different type of food from different cuisine such as Mexican, American, Italian, Etc.

Here is the recipe and directions for the Poblano Potato Gratin! If you guys want the recipes for the other food we made in class, leave a comment or email me and I will gladly post them up! :)

POBLANO POTATO GRATIN


INGREDIENTS:
3 lbs                   Fresh Poblano Chile
2 lbs                   Onions, cut lengthwise into 1/4" strips
2 Tbs                 Vegetable Oil
6 lbs                   Yukon gold potatoes
3 Cups               Heavy cream
1.5 cups             Milk

DIRECTIONS:



1) Preheat oven to 400° F with rack in the middle.

2) Roast chiles on their sides on racks of gas burners on high, turning with
tongs, until skins are blackened all over, about 10 minutes. Immediately
transfer to a bowl and let stand, covered tightly with plastic wrap, about 10
minutes.

3) When chiles are cool enough handle, peel or rub off skin. Slit chiles
lengthwise, then stem, seed, and devein. Cut lengthwise into thin strips.

4) Cook onions in oil as needed in skillet over-medium-low heat, stirring
occasionally, season with salt, and cook until golden, about 8 minutes.

5) Stir in chiles and remove “rajas” from heat.(Rajas = roasted julienne onion and chile) Reserve 1 cup of rajas for topping.

6) Then, generously butter a 3-quart baking dish.

7) Peel potatoes, then cut crosswise into 1/16 inch thick slices with slicer.
Transfer to a small heavy pot. Add cream, milk, and 1 teaspoon salt and
bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally (liquid will
thicken). Stir in rajas, then pour mixture evenly into baking dish. Sprinkle
reserved 1 cup of rajas on top.

8) Bake until potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes
before serving.

Here are the pictures of the food we made!

Enjoy!

I.C.A.
Ms. Piggy.

Stir frying onions

Roasted and cut poblano chile! Couple were spicy! >.<

Sliced potatoes in water to prevent from oxidizing! or simply, changing colors!

Pre-cooking the potatoes with the heavy cream and milk!

In the oven you go, preparing to be finished!

Finished product!

Poblano Potato Gratin!

Spring Vegetable Soup with Tarragon!

Different picture!

Leek and Asparagus Frittata!

Different picture!

Fruit Crumble! 

Great way to end the meal!

Fresh Vegetable Curry

Curry with Rice!

My dish! couldn't wait to eat all the food!

Close up!

My dessert! :)

Week 4 into My Cooking Class

Hello!

 Like the title says, it's already been 4 weeks since I started this cooking class! We finally got to make our first meal last week and made our second meal today! All the food we made turned out SO good that I wanted to share it with everyone!

 This week, we are learning about different types of vegetables and salad dishes! (yum!) Today, we got to try many different salads. Our group had made the Tomato-Watermelon Salad with Feta and Toasted Walnut. This actually turned out very good in the end! I will have the recipe posted up right below and pictures below that. All the food we make in our cooking class is a MUST TRY AT HOME!

 If you guys want any recipes, please leave a comment or email me and I will gladly post them up for you :)

 Here is the recipe for our group's salad.

TOMATO-WATERMELON SALAD WITH FETA AND TOASTED WALNUT


INGREDIENTS:

8 Cups                   1 1/4" chunks seedless watermelon
3 lbs                       Ripe tomatoes (preferably heirloom) in assorted colors, cored, cut into 1 1/4" chunks
1 tsp or needed      Coarse kosher salt
5 Tbs                      Extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 Tbs                Red wine vinegar
3 Tbs                      Assorted fresh herbs, chopped (dill, basil, mint)
6 Cups                    Fresh Arugula leaves or small watercress sprigs
1 Cup                     Crumbled feta cheese
1/2 Cups                 Sliced almonds, lightly toasted (walnuts can be used as well)

PROCEDURE:

1. Combine melon and tomatoes in a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of salt and toss to blend; let stand 15 minutes. Add 4 Tbs oil, vinegar, and herbs to melon mixture. Season to taste with ground black pepper and more salt, if desired.
2. Toss arugula in bowl with remaining 1 Tbs oil. Top with melon salad; sprinkle with feta cheese and toasted almonds and serve.

Here are the pictures taken from today!

Enjoy!

I.C.A.
Ms. Piggy.

Herbs (basil, dill, mint)

Toasted almonds (these little things have so much flavor in them once they are toasted!!)

Crumbled Feta Cheese~~

Our Salad! The Tomato-Watermelon Salad with Feta and Toasted Almonds

One of the group made this! A Bruchetta! It was delicious!

Final Salad. Tomato-Watermelon Salad with Feta and Toasted Almonds

Warm Goat Cheese Salad with Grilled Olive Bread

Close up of the above.

Cabbage and Corn Slaw with Cilantro and Orange Dressing

Close up of the above

Salad Nicoise

Fresh Fruit with Honey-Yogurt

My plate of all the food we made today :) It was so delicious!

Bread Bowl, My Fav Airport Food.

Hello,

Couple months back, I went on a trip to Canada with my church friends. My first time going back ever since I moved back! (been.. about 8 years now) Man, I ate so much good food over there! Missed all the Canadian food like Poutines and Ketchup Lays!!! (will post them up next)

But most importantly, my favorite airport food HAS got to be this bread bowl! mm~ So filling and delicious! I got a clam chowder in a bread bowl during our 3 hour wait at the airport! The wait was long (went early because of security check, but ended up passing through the security check in less than 20 minutes so we had about 3 hours of wait time until our flight came.), BUT! we had fun eating and enjoying each other's presence! Seriously. 

But here it is! A beautiful picture of the clam chowder in a fluffy warm bread bowl with an hot americano!

Enjoy!

I.C.A

Ms. Piggy

Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl with Starbucks Americano!

Little Italy in San Diego

Hello,

These are some old pictures from the past couple months at San Diego! My church friends and I went to Little Italy to eat some delicious food! Everyone must try this place!

After we ate, we marched towards Extraordinary Desserts (literally.. we walked. It was only a few blocks away :] ) There, I got my fav, Budda's Garden Tea and Lemon Bar! The two go well together! MUST TRY.

Just pictures of the food I've been eating :) Please excuse some of the picture quality. I downloaded this photo app on my phone and was trying it out for the first time!

Enjoy!

I.C.A.

Ms. Piggy

Buon Appetito, Little Italy's best restaurant!

Little Italy in San Diego

Bread from Buon Appetito

Wine with Italian food, OH SO GOOD.

(Forgot the name of the food) GOOD FOOD #1

GOOD FOOD #2

GOOD FOOD #3

The Infamous Extraordinary Desserts at Little Italy!

Yummm

My Fav! Lemon Bar!

Yummy Yummy

CHOCOLATE! I want this in my room.