After a week of liver detox (no – it’s not part of AA – as one vendor at the Farmers Market asked…), and no cooking – I found a whole pickled kimchi in the back of the fridge that was ready for some mouth-watering cooking. I mean, the kimchi’s pretty ripe! Which means I better start thinking of using it up fast or look forward to that puckered-up-i’m-eating-a-lemon-face with each bite. So I decided to experiment in merging the cultures “americano with korean-y”.
Dish 1 – Kimchee Pasta (4 servings)
Ingredients:
– 1/2 c. kimchi (the sour “cooked” kind) & 1/2 c. kimchi “juice” – reserve
– 1/2 white/yellow onion
– 1/2 yellow bell pepper
– 1 small heirloom tomato
– 1/2 c. mushrooms (any variety will do but prefer shiitaki)
– pat of butter
– drizzle of sesame oil
– drizzle of walnut oil
– grapeseed oil (for stir-fry)
– 1 c. of pasta (farfalla or fusilli – I used penne and it was bit too thick and doughy)
Cook:
1) Cook pasta and set aside.
2) Sautee onion with grapseed oil until translucent and bit browned. Drizzle sesame oil, sautee chopped kimchi til translucent.
3) Add the rest of the veggies (bell pepper, mushroom, tomato) until all translucent and semi-tender.
4) Using a strainer/sieve, pour the kimchi “juice” reserve over veggie and bring to boil. Add pasta and walnut oil and toss in pan.
Sprinkle some cheese if you like and enjoy!
Dish 2 – Bison Kimchi Meatloaf (6 servings)
[ sorry – no pix for the meatloaf]
(This dish requires some modifications as it was way too soft. But I couldn’t believe how well the meatloaf goes with kimchi. And I was afraid that bison would turn out too dry but it was anything but that. Awesome! Leftovers were perfect for some breakfast sandwich open-faced on a toasted English muffin as well as a pasta dish 4 dinner. You could also use this as “stuffing” for korean dumplings/mandu, I’d think. Next on my list to make…)
Ingredients:
– 1/2 lb. ground bison
– 1 small carrot
– 1/2 onion
– 2 stalks celery
– 1 cup kimchi
– 2 slices of bread (soak one in milk til very soft, crumble other slice and set aside)
– 1/4 cup silken tofu
– organic tomato paste
– 1 egg (beaten)
seasoning: thyme, rosemary, basil, worchestershire, brown sugar, shoyu and black pepper
Cook:
1) Chop all vegetables separately in a food processor including kimchi.
2) Sautee carrots first, then onion and celery, then kimchi last.
3) Turn off heat, add 2 tbsp. of tomato paste, your seasonings to taste.
4) In a large bowl, combine the sauteed veggies with the ground bison, egg, and bread. Combine mixture well.
5) For meatloaf glaze, in a separate bowl, combine 2 tbsp tomato paste, 4-5 tbsp hot water, 1 tbsp brown sugar, splash of worchestershire and black pepper. Pour into a greased meatloaf pan.
6) Bake for 45 min in a pre-heated 375° oven. At half time (~20-25 min mark), pour glaze over meatloaf. The liquid will evaporate and create a nice, umami glaze on top.
7) Cool for 15-20 min, slice and serve with some sauteed vegetables or mashed sweet potatoes.
Then for the 3rd day, I heated up the leftover pasta + the leftover meatloaf to make “kimchi meatloaf pasta” – brilliant! Quick and easy~ Happy Labor Weekend everyone~
–ck
