GeezLouies.net

One of the most popular links on our site is a duk boki recipe. Since my wife was craving for some yummy food, we decided to go through this recipe again.

Here’s the original recipe

Duk Boki (Ingredients)

1/2 lb. Duk (Cylindrical rice cake)
1 tbsp Gochujang (hot pepper paste)
1/2 tbsp miso
1 garlic clove, chopped finely
1/2 tsp red pepper powder
1 stalk bok choy
1 scallion chopped
Sesame oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tsp sugar
1/4 lb beef chuck
1 Carrot, sliced
Black pepper

Steps:
1. Soak Duk in cold water for 10 minutes
2. Cut beef into 1/4 inch thick 1? x 2? slices.
3. Mix beef, black pepper, garlic and 1 tsp sesame oil in bowl
4. Brown beef in a frying pan
5. Add in carrots, scallions, bok choy, and duk, chicken broth, mix and cover and steam for about 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
6. Mix the gochujang, hot pepper, miso, sugar and 2 tsps water in bowl until blended.
7. Add mixture to the pan and stir. Add broth as needed if sauce becomes too thick.
8. Ready to serve when the duk is soft!

We didn’t have bok choy, so left it out and we didn’t use meat this time. We had some leftover tempura so we fried that up. My wife also suggests using brown sugar for the part where it says sugar.

This time around we had hard boiled eggs and ramen noodles. I added a whole package, but it was too much, a half package works well. You want to do this LAST when everything is done otherwise the ramen will be too well cooked (MUSHY).

So this was actually a vegetarian version of the Duk Boki, thanks to the versatility of tempura.

Have fun and happy eats!

Almost 1/2 of all Americans have donated to help Haiti recover. But Haiti needs something more fundamental than relief from the present situation; they need jobs that they can count on for years ahead.

According to this article in the NYTimes, Haiti is full of possible sources of export including Mangoes, Coffee, light manufacturing, and possibly tourism but needs basic infrastructure like roads, electrical grids and ports.

Found this link through Harvard Econ Prof. Greg Mankiw’s blog.

Still news of aftershocks and estimated 150-200k dead. Please continue to pray for Haiti and her people as well as for the relief efforts that are still under way.

If you have time, please watch this report from Mars Hill Church and Churches helping churches.

From “Spices of Life,” by Nina Simonds (Knopf, 2005) for Ginger Honey-Glazed Salmon 4 to 6 servings

Here, a simple, versatile, made-from-scratch sauce serves as both marinade and glaze. It may also be used on firm white fish or shellfish such as cod, halibut, haddock or scallops.

For the ginger-honey marinade:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

For the salmon:
4 to 6 salmon steaks or fillets (about 6 ounces each), rinsed and patted dry
About 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for the grill

To make the marinade, mix the orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, honey or maple syrup, and sesame oil in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer 5 minutes. Put the mixture in a bowl and set aside to cool slightly.

Place the salmon in a single layer in a shallow pan. Pour half the marinade on top and turn to coat all sides. Set the salmon aside for a couple of minutes as time allows, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Prepare a medium-hot fire for grilling or preheat the broiler. Arrange a rack 3 to 4 inches from the heat. Brush the grill with oil, or line the broiler pan with foil and brush it with oil. Transfer the salmon to the grill rack or the pan, discarding the marinade. Cook, brushing with the marinade, until opaque throughout, about 10 minutes per inch of thickness. Serve with the remaining marinade spooned on top.

We serve the salmon on a bed of lettuce with whole wheat couscous from trader joes… yummmy.

Amazon is giving away 25 free mp3s of Christmas music. Download Amazon Free Music at your convenience.

pulled pork in the crock pot slow cooking after three hours

We’re snowed in, so this is first three hours of the pork on in the crock pot on HIGH. We just flipped it over and now we wait for slow low cook another 3-4 hours… hmmm… can’t wait.

We haven’t posted many of our recipes lately, but after watching Julie and Julia, here goes :).

So my wife had a craving for pulled pork… we found this recipe on ehow.com

Things You’ll Need:
Crock Pot
Pork Roast
3 Tbsp Chili Powder
4 Limes
2 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1/4 c Vegetable Oil
2 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Step 1: Marinade.
Put all of the seasonings, the juice from all of the limes and the oil in a large plastic bag. Add the pork and refrigerate at least 2 hours. This will not only give the pork flavor, it will make it tender enough to pull apart. The longer the marinade sits, the better. Try overnight.

Step 2: Crock It.
Put the pork & marinade in the crock pot. Add water to almost the top of the pork roast. The roast should be above the water about an inch. Turn the crock pot on high and cover. After 3 hours, reduce heat to low or auto. Turn the pork roast every 2 hours and poke with a fork. When the fork goes in the roast easily and breaks apart, cook it for at least another 30 minutes.

Step 3: Shred It.
When the pork roast is done, remove it from the crock pot and place on a platter or in a glass baking dish. Use two forks and begin pulling the pork apart. It should shred very easily. Add some juices from the pot to the pork. Enough to keep it moist and juicy, but not too much.

I’ll update how it turns out…

My girls playing at home…

The following story deals with my own struggles in America. It also deals with culture and rule of law. It all started with my wife her craving for buffalo wings.

There were a bunch of wings restaurants… Chantilly had Buffalo Wings Factory, Buffalo Wing University in Fairfax, Buffalo Wild Wings but out in Gainesville. There was also Glory Days, Hooters, Hard Times and a bunch of other restaurants. But I knew it was going to be expensive, usually coming out close a buck a wing. For that price, I can get $1 sushi or stuff off McD’s Dollar menu.

Hard Times Cafe in Fairfax said they had cheap wings on Wednesday nights… but today was Thursday. Next one. I call up Glory Days in Centreville and ask if they have any specials on Buffalo wings. The guy said yeah, they’re five bucks after nine. So Mommy G and I decide to make a run for it after the girls are asleep. We take a bath, get settled in bed, read a story, pray a bit and then it’s almost 11PM. I tell Mommy G, I’m gonna go get the wings. She says okay… cuz she’s still craving.

When I get there, I see a big sign saying $5 Appetizers after 9PM*… there is an asterisk next to the price… * dine in only. I think to myself “what should I do?” I literally ran through all the options.

Option 1. Negotiate dine in price to go (cuz it’s like saving a few bucks, a few dirty plates, and some time)
Option 2. Dine in, eat a couple and take the rest to go (cuz it’s like saving a few bucks)
Option 3. Buy at regular price to go (cuz it’s all about my wife)

I walk up, the host asks to sit me down. I ask him straight up, “Can I buy the buffalo wings to go but get the dine in price?” He says “No.” Okay next option. “Can I dine in, eat a few and take the rest to go?” Um you’ll have to order it from the bar and ask the bartender he says. So I go up to the bar. I ask the lady behind the bar the same question.

I opt to start with Option 1 again, just to clarify my intentions. “Can I buy the buffalo wings to go but get the dine in price?” “No” she says. “Can I dine in, eat a few and take the rest to go?” I pull out the sympathy card, “I have a wife and kids at home…” “I’ll have to ask the manager” she says. She leaves for a few minutes, talks with the manager, the manager comes out and gives me the schpeal. The price is for dine in only. I tell him, I have a wife and kids at home waiting for me. He tells me there are plenty of tables for them to come next time. I tell him, that’s fine, but in my mind, I was like, it’s 11PM at night, I ain’t taking any of my kids out that late. So I go straight to Option #2 “Can I dine in, eat a few and take the rest to go?” He hesitates, but ended up saying sure.

I sit back down at the bar, the lady asks me for my order. Okay, I’ll take two buffalo wings appetizers. Dine in. But I’m gonna only eat some and take the rest to go. She takes the order. Then she has this conference with the manager discussing the situation like football refs discussing a play. I guess this is not the standard practice. She comes back and tells me “we are making a huge exception for you.” I say thanks, didn’t know I was that special.

Anyways, the order comes on plates. The lady behind the bar makes sure they were on plates to designate I dine in… I give her the sign that I want to check out. She hands me two to-go boxes and the check. I scoop everything into the boxes and pay the bill (making sure I tip them enough) and head out. Feeling a bit embarrassed for going through all that trouble for a few bucks… but also feeling like I shouldn’t feel embarrassed for having done nothing wrong.

So here’s the thing, was I in the wrong? should it be okay to ask for the special price and not feel like the biggest jerk in the world for just asking? If I was in China there would have been no problems negotiating a price, but here at Glory Days this was definitely taboo… Should I have paid regular price and left it at that? Did I push the envelop too far by asking?

I did say “Thanks” when I left… because they made a huge exception for me. But I do know that I won’t expect the same treatment next time.

This was the day before the day before Labor Day. Centreville has been a real joy to us since we have family connections to the one of many local pools. This video shows the great improvement and confidence in E1’s swimming (or use of floatation devices). We were able to grab friends from church out to swim with us…

can’t wait till next summer.