Red Wine & Tomato Oxtail Stew

Oxtail stew is one of my favorite meat dishes, so I have set out to perfect it. Actually, the meat is such a perfect marble of tendon and fat, and the bones add so much flavor to the sauce, one can hardly mess up.

A tip on cooking with wine: the general rule of thumb is that you don't cook with wine you won't drink. For this recipe, I used Trader Joe's boxed Shiraz (only $13 for 3 liters, the equivalent of 4 bottles!) and could not be happier.  Before you hate on boxed wine, they are great for cooking since they stay fresh after opening for 6 weeks. Shiraz is also a great choice for cooking meat since it adds a hint of sweetness.

In 4 hours, you'll have a bowl of piping hot stew with meat that falls right off the bones. Enjoy!

Before...

and After!

Red Wine & Tomato Oxtail Stew

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Oxtail - 2.5 lb
Flour - 1 cup
Tomatoes - I used 3 cups from a can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes
Red Wine - 2 cups (Shiraz is great because of its sweetness)
Onion - 1, chopped
Garlic - half, minced
Bay Leaf - 3
Carrots - 2, cut into half-thumb size chunks
Celery - 2 stalks, cut into 3 (for flavoring only)

Directions:
1. Rinse and soak oxtail in water briefly. Cut off excess fat. Cover with salt and pepper and let sit for at least 15 minutes.
2. Lightly coat each piece of oxtail in flour and dust off any excess.  In a pan, heat olive oil in medium heat, brown the oxtail, about 3 minutes on each side.
3. In a separate pot, saute garlic and onion in olive oil. Add oxtail, wine, tomato and bay leaves. Make sure that the meat is entirely covered in the wine. If not, add more red wine or water. When it simmers, turn heat to low, let cook for 2.5 hours.
4. Skim the fat. Add carrots and celery, let cook another hour. Continue to skim the fat as necessary.
5. Before serving, remove celery and bay leaf. Serve with a side of rice.

Homemade Tomato Meat Sauce

While trying to find the best off-the-shelf pasta sauce, I realize that nothing beats a homemade recipe. This recipe takes time but is pretty simple. Make a large batch and freeze the rest, it's good for pasta and pizza, or wherever your creativity takes you. I got this recipe from my friend Jenn O., who is a wonderful cook and friend. I guess people who cook good food tend to be great people too, enjoy!

Before...

and After!

Homemade Tomato Meat Sauce 

Ingredients:
Crushed Tomatoes – 3 to 4 cans, 28-oz each (Rienzi or Tuttorosso brand)

Bone-in Pork Chop – 3
Onion - 2, chopped (I like to use sweet onions)

Mushroom - 2 packs (around 16 oz total; I like to use Baby Bella)
Garlic - 15-20 cloves, sliced or chopped

Season with: 
basil, bay leaf, salt, pepper and sugar; can also add parsley or Italian seasoning
(for this batch, I used 2 handfuls of basil and 4 bay leaves)

Serve with: 
Romano Grated Cheese

Optional:
Spicy peppers (I used 8 jalapenos in this recipe and it still wasn't spicy)

Diced Tomatoes – 1-2 cans (for chunkier texture)

Directions:

1. In big pot, put in some olive oil, cook chopped garlic and onion, then pour in tomatoes and all seasoning, cook for 1 hour on low/medium heat.

2. Season pork chop with salt and pepper, brown in frying pan.

3. After 1 hour, add pork chop to sauce. Cook for hours (minimum of 2 hours, but the longer the better) on low heat. Stir occasionally and taste and season, skim fat on top. Careful because sauce can be very splashy. 
4. When it's done, remove the pork chop and bay leaves.

* I used 4 cans of crushed tomatoes for this batch, and it made enough sauce for a meal for about 12 people. I like to freeze half of the sauce, and saute it with sausage/turkey/ground beef, or add mozzarella cheese before serving it with pasta.

Korean Banchan Dishes

For me, the highlight of a Korean meal is all the little banchan dishes you get at the beginning. So when I cook Korean at home, this is the missing piece of the puzzle. I gave it a half shot at replicating some of these dishes, but honestly this recipe can use some perfecting. It will do for now though since it's easy and quick.

Before...

and After!

Spinach Banchan
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:
Spinach - 1 bunch (cut off root and rinse thoroughly)
Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp
Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1/2 tsp minced
Scallion - 1 tsp minced

Directions:
1. Add salt to hot water. Blanch spinach by submerging in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
2. Remove and drain. Squeeze out excess water.
3. Cut spinach into 2-3 inch bunches.
4. Mix in all ingredients. Let marinate and cool in fridge.


Enoki Mushroom Banchan
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:
Enoki - 1 bag (7 oz)
Soy Sauce - 3/4 tbsp
Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1/2 tsp minced
Scallion - 1 tsp minced

Directions:
1. Add salt to hot water. Boil enoki mushroom for about 4 minutes.
2. Remove and drain. Squeeze out excess water.
3. Cut mushrooms in half lengthwise.
4. Mix in all ingredients. Let marinate and cool in fridge.



Bonus: 
Bibimbap Lite
Fry an egg, mix the banchan and gochujang and you got yourself a quickie bibimbap!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

One of my favorite side dishes to order, prepared in my very own kitchen. Special shout out to my SO who is one of those people who cook amazing dishes without recipes. I have to force him to measure out everything and show me step by step how it's done. There will be many more dishes to come from him.

Before... 

and After!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:
Brussels Sprouts - half pound
Bacon - 2 slices, cut into bite size pieces
Honey Mustard - 1/2 tbsp
Balsamic Vinegar - splash

Optional: grated parmesan cheese, thyme.

Directions:
1. Place brussels sprouts in bowl. Cover and microwave for 3 minutes.
2. Heat pan with generous amount of olive oil. Add bacon.
3. Cook until bacon is near crispy, lower heat to medium and add in brussels sprouts.
4. Stir and make sure the brussels sprouts are completely coated with olive oil. Close lid.
5. After about 2-3 minutes, open the lid and check on the sprouts. If the pan looks dry, add a splash of water and close lid again to steam. Repeat this process about 3-5 times, which should take about 15-20 minutes. Ensure that the brussels sprouts are cooked through in the center and have a nice sear.
6. To finish, add a splash of balsamic vinegar to the pan and stir. Follow by the honey mustard. Stir and turn off heat. Season with salt and pepper.
7. [optional] Top with grated parmesan cheese and thyme for serving.

Tamagoyaki (Japanese Omelette)

Eggs are one of the most versatile ingredients in your fridge so I love to have a few handy recipes. This is one of my favorite appetizer dishes at Japanese restaurants. Though skill-wise is probably one of the harder dishes, ingredient-wise it's pretty simple. With some patience and practice, you too can perfect this dish, but probably not a good idea to make for more than 1-2 people. Enjoy!

Before...

and After!

Tomagoyaki (Japanese Omelette)

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:
Eggs - 2 large

Sugar - 3/4 tablespoon

Mirin - 1/2 teaspoon

Splash of salt and soy sauce

Directions:

1. Beat eggs with all the ingredients.
2. Pour oil on a hot pan. Make sure it's completely coated. Pour 1/4 of the egg into the pan, try to spread it out evenly into a thin layer.

3. Slowly roll the egg when the bottom is cooked but the top is still a bit runny so it will stick together.

4. Add oil to the pan and pour another 1/4 of egg into pan. Repeat and roll. (You can blog the oil on the rolled egg while in the pan so it's not as greasy when it's served.)

5. When it's done, blog excess oil, let cool. You can wrap it in a paper towel and try to shape and tighten it. Cut into slices and it's ready to serve! Can also be served cold refrigerated.

Panna Cotta with Balsamic Sauce

Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta with Balsamic Sauce

Finally got around to trying my hand at one of my favorite desserts and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was! Only thing is the overnight wait time for the gelatin to set, so plan ahead. Otherwise, prep time is only about 10 minutes. 

Before...

and After! 

Panna Cotta with Balsamic Sauce

Serves 4
Ingredients:

For Panna Cotta:
Gelatin - 3/4 packet (this is basically unflavored jello powder)
Heavy Cream - 1.5 cups (1 pint = 2 cups)
Full-fat Yogurt - 1 cup (we used Greek Yogurt)
Vanilla Extract - 2 teaspoon
Sugar - 1/3 cup

For Balsamic Sauce:
Balsamic Vinegar - 2.5 tablespoon
Sugar - 1 tablespoon
Pepper - 1/4 teaspoon
Lemon Zest

Directions:

[...night before]
1. Mix gelatin powder with a few tablespoons of cold water until dissolved. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together half the heavy cream, yogurt and vanilla extract.
3. In a sauce pan, heat the remaining heavy cream in low heat and mix in sugar. 
4. Turn off the heat. Add the galatin mixture to the hot cream. Pour the combined mixture to the cold cream and combine. Pour the combined mixture into a large plate or smaller individual bowls. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

[...about 1 hour before serving]
5. Combine ingredients for balsamic sauce in low heat. Let reduce about half and cool.
6. To serve, top Panna Cotta with blueberries and drizzle balsamic sauce.

Mexico City Style Chicken & Rice Soup

I ordered the this soup at a Tex Mex joint in Houston and totally fell in love. Determined to recreate it in my teeny NYC kitchen and think I got pretty close. This is quickly becoming one of my favorites and I will likely be making this a lot, especially if the winter stays this cold. 

Before...

Soup Base Ingredients

Garnish Ingredients

and After!

You can improvise and add/change up many of the ingredients here. Next time I think I'll try to add daikon to the soup. 

Mexico City Style Chicken & Rice Soup

Ingredients for Chicken Broth: 
Chicken (I like to use a mix of drumsticks and thighs with bones but no skin)
Carrots  
Celery 
Corn
Onion (I prefer yellow/Spanish onion for cooking)
Thyme
optional: Saffron

Ingredients for toppings/garnish: 
Tomatoes
Onion (I prefer red onion for garnish)
Avocado
Jalapeño
Corn - cook briefly in chicken soup, remove and cut off kernels
Cilantro
Rice - cook in rice cooker with slightly less water
Optional: lime

Directions:
1. Boil water and drop in chicken pieces. Cook for 1 hour. In the meantime, drop in whole corn, let cook, remove and cool. Cut off kernels to be used for garnish later.
2. Cut carrots, onion and celery into large chunks. Add carrots, onion, celery, thyme and dash of pepper into the pot. Cook for at least another hour. 
3. While the broth is cooking, prepare the toppings/garnish: chop the tomatoes, red onion and jalapeño into small pieces. Finely chop the cilantro. De-seed and cube/slice/chop avocado (do this last as avocado oxidizes).
2. When the broth looks ready, scoop out the chicken and carrot. De-bond and hand shred chicken meat into small pieces.
3. Pour the remaining soup through a sieve to retain the clear broth. Add chicken and carrots back in and reboil. Flavor with salt and pepper.
4. Scoop out a bowl of hot broth with chicken and carrots. Serve with toppings/garnish on the side.