Late summer on a plate

I ordered this dish and just thought it was SO pretty, I had to take a picture of it.  Heirloom tomatoes, drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of rough sea salt, a lump of goat cheese, a swipe of balsamic vinegar and a small pile of micro greens.  So pretty.  It was like late summer on a plate.

Restaurant review - New Seoul Restaurant Des Plaines, IL

When we were trying to decide where to go for lunch, this idea of korean bbq was brought up by our son.  Come to find out this seed was planted over a year ago my our son's 5th grade teacher, Mr. P, a teacher who liked to talk about food and eat Cheese Nips.  Mind you, our son is now in 6th grade and this idea had been brewing in his mind this whole time. We were excited because this would be a new food adventure for all of us.  I had never been to a korean bbq place and I am always open to trying a new cuisine.

So I yelped and found New Seoul in Des Plaines, IL.  It is a little no assuming place.  But what a treat.....expensive though.  But you did get a lot of bang for your buck.  There were also pot stickers to order for the kids....just in case.

 First they bring all these sides to the table.  It just kept coming....different pickled roots vegis, different sauces, creamy slaw-like sides....most were yummy.  Tangy, spicy, sweet - a bit of everything.  See the hole in the table....stay tuned to see what goes in there.....

 We ordered shrimp - little did we know it was going to be full bodied, huge prawns (the menu said shrimp).  They were heavily salted and beautiful, but it freaked out the kids to see the whole thing, which is ok.  We love for them to experience as much as possible and understand what their food actually looks like.

 This was the beef.  Look at it....marinated with all kinds of spices and scallions....cut thin.  Wow!

 Here was some of the sides....you can see here (top to bottom) some kind of root in a spicy marinade, shredded scallions with some chilis and vinegar, and kim chee - a typical korean side dish.

 A pot of hot charcoal was brought out to the table and put into the hole in the table.  You can almost feel the heat radiating off of this picture.

 We put the meats right on the grill.  The smells coming off the grill was amazing!

We also ordered buckwheat noodle soup, thinking this would be a good filler if the kids didn't like the grilled stuff.  Well, the kids didn't like this....I did (go figure!). The noodles were a texture they didn't quite like - a bit "slimier" than what they are accustomed to.

The people working there explained how to eat it. Once you grilled the meats, you wrapped it up in a lettuce leaf with some sides tucked in there.  So tasty and fresh.  The hot meat with the tangy side in the crunchy, cold lettuce leaf....wow!!!  Happy mouth!!!

Here is the prawn cooked....then I had to peel the shell - exposing all the inards.....not too pleasant, I do have to admit.  I didn't eat the head portion....I know some folks find that a delicacy - I'm not one of them.  Next time I wouldn't order the prawns....just more beef.

Family favorite meal

This is one of my family's favorite meals.....marinated skirt steak, roasted vegis, and then I tried something new....Streitz's Quinoa Herbs and Mushrooms.  It was just from a plastic container and had all the herbs, mushrooms and quinoa.  Just add hot water, let it boil and then sit.  It was SO good!  As you can see, I roasted cauliflower, brussel sprouts and carrots.  I have written about it many times, so I am not going to repeat the process, but look it up if you need it.  It is such an easy way to prepare a healthy, filling portion to a meal. I also made baked potatoes. What a wonderful meal!

Comfort Food - Scrambled Eggs and american cheese

Here is what I make when I just want that warm feeling inside.  Scrambled eggs with american cheese.  I always make my scrambled eggs with more egg whites than yolk....and then like to make sure that you can see and taste the american cheese that is so nice and melty in there. Hhhhmmmmm.....makes me feel good.

My life and tool - The pressure cooker

When I went to the International Housewares Show I saw a lot of pressure cookers and was inspired to try it.  It cooks food in 1/4 the time it would usually take - perfect for my life.

Also - the way things are going in my life right now....the term "pressure cooker" is very fitting.  Everything is going a million miles a minute and it feels like if I miss one thing, just one piece, it will all either explode.....or implode.  Making dinner is turning into a "pressure cooker" for me....between trying to work out everyday and getting the kids where they need to be, making dinner is getting tougher and tougher.  That's part of why my writing here has slipped....not much cooking going on.  I am hoping to get into a groove more now that the kids are falling into their new schedule and being able to make supper more often. Pressure cooker here we come.....

I bought the Cuisinart 8 qt Electric Pressure Cooker.  I got it for $99 - which was the sale price from William-Sonoma.  It was that same price all over, but I felt more confident buying from them in case something is wrong with it when it gets here.

I wanted to start simple....so I made chicken stock using the recipe in the recipe book that comes with the cooker.  Here's the thing....making the stock costed about $15.....buying it ready made might be cheaper....I think.  Tomorrow when I cools off I will measure off how much I made.  And I will be using the vegis and meat I cooked so that is a bonus.....I'll keep you posted.

Here is the recipe -
4 lbs chicken cut up
2 medium onions
2 ribs of celery
2 carrots
2 leeks
2 parsnips
2 bay leaves
12 black peppercorns
3 sprigs parsley and 3 of thyme
10 cups of water

Cut the vegis into about 2 inch chunks.  I used 2 handfuls of each herb....instead of 3 sprigs of each.  And one more fun fact....the thyme was from my garden!

Put it all in the pressure cooker and set it to high pressure for 45 minutes and let it naturally pressure release.

I strained it all through cheesecloth and put it all covered into the garage to cool off overnight.  I kept all the strained stuff as well in another bowl.

 Here is everything in the pressure cooker ready to go.  I think there is too much in the pot, but it worked alright.

 All done and pressure has all released.  It was only about 1.5 hours start to finish.  About 10 minutes to get to high pressure, 45 minutes pressure time, and about 30 minutes for the pressure to release.  Compare it to the hours it takes to make the stock the "regular" way.  WOW!!!

 This is all the strained components.  Not sure what I am going to do with it....but it smells and looks SO delicious.

Liquid gold - now I will let it sit overnight so that I am get the fat off of it.  I think I will buy more chicken tomorrow since I have extra of most the vegis and make it again tomorrow.

Restaurant review - 3rd Coast Chicago, IL

Boy was this great.  It was a gazpacho soup.....but look chunky this is.  It was almost like a soupy salsa.  It was amazingly flavorful and full of different mouth textures.  I have never had a gazpacho that has been chunky.  The soup I make I blend it until it is smooth - and that is the way all the other gazpachos I've had before are made.  This was wonderful.  I need to try to do this with my recipe. Yum!!

My dinner - BBQ Shredded chicken and coleslaw

Our time has been more limited for supper lately, so I have been try to find meals that are easy and quick - and healthy.  I'm not sure how healthy this was, but it was tasty.

I bought this from Sam's Club.  It was great!  I enjoyed it and so did the kids - win, win.  All I had to do was reheat it.  They just shredded their own rotiserie chicken and added bbq sauce to it.  I can do that myself next time.  And that means I can make my own bbq sauce, controlling it to make it healthier than anything I would buy.

I made this coleslaw.  I enjoy making coleslaw.  Shredded cabbage (I don't really care if I buy it with or without red cabbage or carrots), light mayo, white balsamic vinegar, celery seeds, honey, and cayenne pepper (a great mix of crunchy, sweet, creamy, tangy and spicy).  I'm not putting amounts because this is totally a "make by taste" recipe.