All posts tagged: side dish

Courgette and Aubergine Stuffed Mushrooms

Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom – Thomas Carlyle Growing up, everyone in my family always ate the exact same thing for dinner, whether it was shepherd’s pie or lasagna. The only exception to this was mushrooms. I’ve two sisters who absolutely detest them. As a result, my mother would end up making two pizzas or two stuffings. Over the years, I’d gotten used to having a few less mushrooms in my life than I would like; however, once I moved away from home and started cooking for myself, I’d find myself adding mushrooms to salads, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, etc. You name it, I probably added mushrooms to it. So it may surprise you to learn that I’ve never before made stuffed mushrooms. Well, I had a ton of mushrooms recently and I was trying to figure out what to make with them. A little bit of research later (here, and  here), and I knew the basics of making stuffed mushrooms. Since then, I’ve been experimenting and I’ve come up with some lovely choices. This recipe is the first …

Ssambap with Sesame Noodles

One of my favourite things about living in Korea is the amazing food I’ve been exposed to on a very frequent basis from bibimbap to dakgalbi to Korean bbq. If you ever get the chance to eat Korean food, I hope you get to experience it the way I did, right here in good ol’ Korea. When I first arrived, I ate out a lot more often than I do now. I usually reserved cooking for the weekends when I was home or an odd midweek meal. One reason I ate out so much was that I could not get enough of the grilled meats. In many restaurants here, at each individual table, there is a gas or electric ring where you cook your own meat and vegetables. I can remember vividly placing each piece of mouth-watering pork, beef or chicken hot from the grill onto a piece of crunchy green lettuce. Using my chopsticks in my right hand, I top the meat with kimchi, raw or grilled garlic, ssamjang, onions, and whatever other vegetables I can find at my table. …

Say Kimchi: Kimchi Vegetable Fries

What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow. -A.A. Milne   I’m Irish so I love all things potato*: baked, roasted, boiled, mashed, twice baked, cold—in potato salad, and as crisps and chips. Give them to me in soup or curry, as colcannon, or as a main or a side and I’m a happy camper. There are times when all I have in my house are potatoes and nothing else so that’s what I’ll (happily) eat for dinner. Thankfully, potatoes are in abundance in Korea.  However, I find Korean potoes cook faster, for one thing, and, for another, they just don’t have as many varieties (Rooster’s, Queen’s or Kerr’s anyone?) compared to home. Despite this oversight, I’ve managed to get by quite well with what they do offer and have made many tasty meals based around this hearty vegetable. Christmas 2013 was no exception.  I made Kimchi fries, inspired by the Kimchi fries my brother made me and the subsequent ones I have had …