Light Stunt: Bulgogi-Korean Marinated Beef

Bulgogi

After the frenzy last week from being featured on Chef Fabio Viviani's blog, I hope I have been able to retain some new readers. That picture you see to the right? Yeah, it's old. I got a haircut in January but didn't update my avatar until recently. I'm one of millions of guys who is losing his hair on the top of his head and, rather than fight the inevitable, I decided to accept fate and move on. I have updated the picture in my About Me page.

From either of those pictures, one might be able to determine that I'm Asian. I will further specify that I am of Korean descent. I was adopted by American parents when I was an infant and my mother used to prepare a version of the dish when I was younger so I might have a connection to my heritage. I remember one day she remarked that her version was a lot of work to prepare so I found one that was much simpler and makes for a perfect weeknight meal since it's just broiled for a few minutes.

The Challenge

Replicate a dish from my childhood.

The Source

Amy of Kimchi Mom was kind enough to allow me to publish her recipe. I did make a few ingredient substitutions.

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/2 pounds chuck steak, sliced thin
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons clover honey
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 to 2 scallions, sliced thin, plus more for garnish
4 to 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish

Method

1. Marinate the beef: Place the beef in a resealable bag. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl then pour the marinade over the beef in the bag, then toss the beef in the marinade to ensure all slices of beef are well-coated. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more.

2. Cook the beef: Place a rack in the oven about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the broiler. Remove the beef from the marinade and place on a foil-lined broiler pan, then discard the marinade. Broil the beef for approximately 5 minutes and then toss until the sugars are lightly caramelized. Garnish with additional sesame seeds and scallions then serve immediately with white rice.

Successful?

I ran into an execution issue with this dish because the flavors of the marinade, while there, were muted. I'm not sure what caused this because there were some variables to consider.

1) Ingredient substitutions: Amy's recipe uses maple syrup but I didn't have any so I used white sugar and honey. She also used ribeye but I used chuck steak, which is a tougher cut of beef.

2) Preparation time: Either way, I only marinated the beef for about 90 minutes so I recommend marinating it overnight.

Regardless, it was still delicious. It also was reminiscent of the dish my mother used to serve when I was still a child. If you're unfamiliar with Amy, she can be found on facebook, twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, G+ and bloglovin'. She also has a graphic and web design business so please consider her if you're in the market for those services.

I didn't address Next Food Network Star last week, but I wasn't surprised by Chris's departure. Some information surfaced recently which leads me to believe that Nikki didn't win and I was astonished to learn Chad went home, especially when compared to Russell. From the way the episode was edited, the judges have picked a favorite in Stacey, but I'm not as enthusiastic about her culinary point of view. What's your analysis of the series? Comment below.

Guest Post at Fabio's Kitchen Academy: Watermelon Gazpacho Shooters

Watermelon Gazpacho Shooter

And now for the craziest foodie stunt to date...

During my exchange with Chef Viviani when I met him a couple of months ago, he expressed a desire to work with me in the future. As a result, I am pleased to announce that I am being featured on his magazine, Fabio's Kitchen Academy, an online publication released weekly. If you are not on the distribution list to receive it, please sign up to get future issues.

Since tomorrow is National Piña Colada Day, I was asked to profile a dish that could be eaten poolside and/or at the beach. I thought this dish would be perfect. Gazpacho has been on my foodie bucket list for a while now. It originates out of the Andalusian region of Spain and is traditionally a cold tomato soup served at the end of the meal, which makes it a popular dish during the warm summer months. I decided to take it into a sweeter direction to balance out the flavors of the dish. To develop my recipe, I compared more than a dozen versions and compiled common ingredients. The exact recipe I used can be found on Fabio's blog.

You might also notice a significant and sudden increase in the quality of photography. That's because I didn't take pictures of this dish. I know that my photography needs improvement so I'd like to thank Christian and Ivan of Sartorial Graphic Photography for performing the task. They specialize in portraits and weddings and are available for hire in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some other photographs taken that afternoon:

Lastly, I'd like to thank Chef Viviani for this opportunity to work with him and his team. It was a pleasure to do so.

Presenting: Braised Lamb Shanks

Braised Lamb Shanks

Last week on a supermarket trip, I picked up some lamb shanks because they were on sale not really considering the weather later in the week. Fast forward to Thursday evening when I remove said shanks from the freezer to defrost overnight in the refrigerator, again not really thinking about the weather. On Friday, the official high here in my city was 88° Fahrenheit but it felt like 100°. Did I really want to heat up my kitchen?

I miss my grill.

I actually prepared this dish for my last website almost two years ago but was disappointed with the picture I published so I wanted to reshoot. It's actually a straight-forward braise: sear the protein, brown the mirepoix, add in your braising fluid and simmer, but heating my oven to 400° for three hours in hot weather is not my idea of fun.

The Challenge

Improve my photography and presentation skills.

The Source

Taken from page 174 to 176 of Cook Like A Rock Star by Anne Burrell with Suzanne Lenzer.

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks
kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped coarsely
1 carrot, chopped coarsely
1 rib celery, chopped coarsely
1 cup tomato paste
2 cups red wine
2 rosemary sprigs
1 handful thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons fresh mint or flat leaf parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Method

1. Finish your mise en place: Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Combine the carrot, onion and celery in a food processor and pulse until it pureéd. Tie the rosemary and thyme together with some kitchen twine to form a herb bundle, then season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper.

2. Sear the lamb: Coat the bottom of a large Dutch oven with olive oil (approximately 1 tablespoon) and place over medium-high heat. Once the oil starts to smoke, add the lamb shanks and brown well on all sides, in batches if necessary. Once browned, remove from the Dutch oven and set aside.

3. Brown the mirepoix: If the Dutch oven is dry, add additional oil. Once hot, place the onion-celery-carrot paste into the Dutch oven and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until brown, approximately 8 to 10 minutes, scraping any fond from the bottom of the oven along the way. Stir in the tomato paste, stirring continually until it starts to brown, about a minute or two.

4. Deglaze and add braising fluids: Add the wine to the Dutch oven, and bring to a boil, reducing by half and scraping any remaining fond, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Return the lamb shanks to the Dutch oven and add enough water so that three quarters of the shanks are submerged in braising fluid. Taste the fluid and season, if necessary. (Conversely, if all the lamb shanks don't fit evenly in the Dutch oven, put them in a roasting pan, pour the deglazed mirepoix over the shanks, then add additional water.) Toss in the herb bundle and bay leaves, cover (with aluminum foil if using a roasting pan) and place in the oven for two-and-a-half to three hours. Turn the shanks every hour, and if the braising fluid has reduced significantly, add more water.

5. Finish the dish: Uncover during the last 30 minutes so the shanks can brown and the braising fluid can reduce and thicken. Serve over mashed potatoes or polenta and garnish with mint or parsley.

Successful?

Doesn't the lamb shank look like something Fred Flinstone would eat? After looking at some other presentations, I decided not to plate the sauce like I had the last time. (See below.) Mrs. Stuntman devoured her dinner; my 5-year-old daughter surprised me by declaring her meat Yummy! and even Mrs. Stuntman's colleagues thought the dish was prepared well as leftovers the next day.

So here we are at episode 5 of Next Food Network Star. My three groups remain largely unchanged with Nikki, Chad and Stacey in the lead; Chris and Damaris in the middle plus Rodney and Russell being my prediction for the next two to leave the competition. In the Star Salvation contest, I'm not surprised that Lovely has impressed (She did train under Gordon Ramsay, after all), but what's missing from this segment are challenges focusing on camera presence. Chefs that can execute a great dish are a dime a dozen, but not all of them have the communication skills and the charisma to be a public figure.

Lastly, I wanted to give you a hint regarding an upcoming project. You might see a familiar face if you sign up to receive Chef Fabio Viviani's newsletter.