Quickie - Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

In the days before coming home for Christmas I had some Ida Red apples that were a bit mealy for fresh eating but not too far gone for cooking, and a husband who hates raisins with only raisin bran in the house for cereal. This was my solution. It's pretty basic but it turned out very well so I thought I would share. Now I'm typing it from memory, but I think I have the proportions right.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
2 tbsp butter
1 apple, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
1 tbsp cinnamon
2-3 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 c water
1/2 tsp salt
1 c old-fashioned oats

Melt butter in skillet while you cut up the apple over medium. Add apple, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir to coat. Continue to stir periodically while you make the oatmeal. Turn it to low if you start to fear burning or mushy apples while you wait for the oatmeal. Meanwhile, bring water, oats and salt (I'm a big fan of salting all oatmeal) to a boil in a saucepan . You can wait to add the oats until after the water reaches a boil for a chewier texture. After you add the oats stir very frequently to prevent sticking, turning down the heat if it threatens to boil over, until the oatmeal it a texture you like. Remove from heat and stir in the apple mixture. Enjoy.
Merry Christmas!

Daikon pickles

If you've ever been to a Korean restaurant, you were probably presented with an array of side dishes (banchan) to accompany your meal. I love the side dishes as much as the main meal (though it gets close if the main meal is kalbi or bulgogi.); together, they make a great combination: a hot main meal that contrasts nicely with the cold, vinegary, often fermented banchan. The most well known example of banchan is kimchi, spicy fermented vegetables; the background of the above photo is some kimchi I bought from a store made from napa cappage, which is a classic kimchi ingredient.
Another dish I love that my favorite Korean barbeque place serves (the New Jang Su, for those of you in the Boston metro area) is pickled daikon slices. Daikon is a mild large white radish most frequently associated with Japanese and Korean cuisine. I've also eaten daikon in mooli parathas, which is small pieces of daikon (mooli) in an Indian flatbread (paratha). Pickled daikon can be addictive - the vinager and sugar combination mellows out the radishy sharpness of the daikon. With a little help from the internet and some experimentation, I present my version of pickled daikon, shown in the top photograph in the foreground (if anyone knows the Korean name for this dish, please let me know!):

Pickled daikon
-0.5lb daikon (one smallish root, 2.5" dia, 10" long - scale up the entire recipe if your daikon is bigger)
-1tsp kosher salt (I used coarse sea salt since I didn't have kosher salt at hand and I think it worked out fine)
Korean red pepper to taste (I didn't have any of this, so I used Penzey's aleppo pepper, which I thought worked well. Other recipes suggest a bit of cayenne pepper as another possible substitute.)
3 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp rice vinegar (optional; you can change the ratio of white vinegar to rice vinegar to suit your tastes. I find the flavor of rice vinegar alone to be a bit strong.)
3 tbsp white sugar

1. Slice daikon into slices as thin as possible. You should be able to see through the slices, as seen in the above picture. You could also cut the daikon in strips, but I like the way the slices look.
2. Salt daikon slices and let sit for ten minutes.
3. Rinse daikon and put in bowl.
4. Toss in pepper
5. Add everything else (both vinegars and sugar)
6. If liquid is level is too low, add a bit of water.
7. Cover and let daikon sit overnight in refrigerator in vinegar and sugar mix.

According to what I've read, the daikon should be good for a few days stored in the refrigerator.
Aww, look at the picture of the baby daikon radish on my chopsticks!

Yay Thanksgiving! Food, fun, and the doorway to the Christmas season, does it get any better? Let me give you a look into what happens when my mom gets Thanksgiving going.

First, we had to choose a wine. My dad and I had a bit of a disagreement. He thought white, I said red. While I agree that white wine often goes well with poultry, Thanksgiving is about hearty food and overeating. That sounds like red wine to me. I convinced him to go with a couple Pinot Noir's. I'll update you on the results.

This is Brie with cranberry, caramel, and pecan topping. This stuff is wonderful: a sweet taste from the cranberries and caramel, the wonderful taste of Brie, and some pecans to make it crunch and nice. Unfortunately, I have promised to not give away the “secret recipe”, but I think you can probably figure it out well. Besides, that's what the internets are for.

We also have stuffed mushrooms and antipasto from the Italian component of the party.










A little Thanksgiving champagne!













My dad still insists on mashing the potato by hand. I only use the standing mixer. Somehow, his are still smoother.

I actually, think this is a pretty clever way of keeping gravy warm.

The final result. We have green beans, sweet potatoes, rutebega, stuffing balls, mashed potatoes, turkey, and creamed onions, and brocolli. Note the Thanksgiving Tequila at the top, as well.



Well, this is getting long and picture heavy. I just thought I'd share some Thanksgiving fun. Hope everyone else had a nice Thanksgiving as well!