Bulgogi a la Momo (the non-Korean beef barbeque)

This is one of those meals that evokes a rainbow of emotions within me, with the strongest pair being a sense of longing with a good dose of soothing contentment. My Momo would make this every now and then growing up, and a couple months ago when I made it myself for the first time, the pleasurable mixure of spices skipped around my brain, taking me back, and I wished Momo was there by my side to enjoy my success in mastering what will forever be HER dish.

Even though it's ridiculously easy to make, you can easily fool anyone you're cooking for that you really slaved in the kitchen pulling this one together--it's that good. I've found that referring to it as "Korean Barbeque Steak," as it is sometimes called, causes less upper-lip-raising (as in, "WHAT are you going to be serving??!?!"). Nevertheless, sometime the adverse reactions are funny and "Bowl-gog-E" is fun to say!

I like to serve this with my quinoa pilaf and fresh asparagus grilled (or broiled) in 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon miran (sweet rice vinegar), 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, 1 clove garlic (or garlic salt), and a sprinkle of ginger.

Yields 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces)

Ingredients:

1 pound top sirloin steak, trimmed (By this I think they mean trimmed of fat, but I've found that most of the times the steak is already trimmed. Sometimes there's a little bit that may be clinging on for dear life, but I tend to leave it on and trim after cooking because I'd rather not deal with the raw steak anymore than I have to.)

2 tablespoons brown sugar (I always use just one packet of splenda. Blame it on being a splenda fiend, or the fact that I never have brown sugar in my apartment... I find it goes hard too fast in my moist cupboards. Sad, I know.)

6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)

2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger (I used powdered and it still turned out magnificently)

2 teaspoons sesame oil 6 garlic cloves, minced (I often use the jarred minced garlic. If you don't have this much garlic on hand, no worries! Your steak will be yum-yummy no matter what!)

3 fresh scallions, whites and green cut into about 1/4 inch slices (I've actually used dried chives when I realized I had totally blanked on picking up scallions at the store... even though they're technically not the same, it still turned out delicious!)

How To:

1. Combine sugar (or sugar substitute), and next 6 ingredients (sugar through scallions) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and shake up until well mixed. Drop in the steak (gently, now) and marinate in refrigerator for at least an hour, turning bag occasionally. I've found that longer marinatation times yield exponentially better, more flavorful steaks. So if you can, plan ahead. Easier said than done, right?

2. Once your steak has marinated to its (and your) heart's desire, prepare your grill (a.k.a. turn on that bad boy), or preheat broiler.

3. Carefully remove beef from bag, reserving the marinade. Place beef on hot grill or under a preheated broiler. Your cooking time will depend on the steak's thickness, so keep a careful eye on your beef. For a steak that was about 1/2 inch thick that I placed under the broiler (no need to flip it), I cooked it about 8 minutes. I think these are best cooked to medium or medium-well, and that timing made them perfect! If grilling, cook the steaks for about 4 minutes per side, again until desired level of doneness.

4. While the steak cooks, pour the marinade into a small saucepan and cook over medium to medium high heat, until it comes to a rolling, slow boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low. I usually boil it for about 5 minutes to make sure anything and everything that isn't supposed to be in your food is killed off. (Notice how I'm sensoring myself so as not to gross you out!!)

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 208 (33% from fat)

Fat: 7.6g (sat 2.7g,mono 3.2g,poly 0.7g)

Protein: 26.1g

Carbohydrate: 6.4g

Fiber: 0.2g

Cholesterol: 76mg

Iron: 3.1mg

Sodium: 457mg

Calcium: 19mg

Nom-Nom Chicken with Balsamic Reduction Sauce

This is Jay’s FAVORITE, and I have to say it is most definitely one of mine too. It is pretty intense, especially if you’re busy trying to prepare multiple side dishes at the same time like I do. Nevertheless, all the dish-dirtying is SUPER worth it!

I still remember the first time I decided to make this… I was living at home with Mo and Mark after moving out of that crazy apartment with the crazy roommate, and I decided I wanted to try to make a “reduction” sauce. I had never tried it, and you know me; I like to challenge myself! Anywho, I’ll never forget those “mmmmms” from that oozed from M&M’s mouths!! And all I did was follow a recipe!

So this beauty comes from the glorious Cooking Light, where they called it “Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Vinegar Pan Sauce.” I call it mother-loving DELICOUS. I typically serve it with quinoa (you know, the Indian “mother grain”); I’ll post a little more about it later raving some more and giving some ‘tails about how I like to make it. This time you’ll see I served it with rice, brown basmati to be exact, which is probably my most favoritest rice in the whole world. When it cooks my whole mini studio smells nutty and delicious. I like to make it kind of pilaf style, with carrots and spinach, a twirl of extra virgin olive oil, some garlic salt, pepper, coriander, and onion power. Mmmm. Also, I must note, that my recipe doubles the sauce, because REALLY it is the BEST PART. Okay okay, enough jibber jabber. Let’s get to the goods!

The Cooking Light pros say, “To assure the chicken gets done, use breasts on the small side, about 4 to 5 ounces each. Serve with polenta or orzo to absorb the sauce.”

Yields 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Ingredients:

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 cup balsamic vinegar

4 teaspoons honey (I usually use about 1 teaspoon honey and one packet of splenda)

1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

enough flour to cover your breasts (chicken breasts… do I really need to clarify that? ;-)

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots (about 1 shallot, though I like these a lot so sometimes I’ll add two or so)

Chopped parsley (“optional” according to the original recipe… I’ve never used this!)


How To:

1. Combine broth, vinegar, and honey.

2. Melt butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. (I think it works best to use a skillet that is not cast iron or very dark so that you can see when the butter browns in the step that follows.)

3. While butter melts, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. (I always forget to season them, and it still turns out yum-yum yummy. Testament to how much you don’t necessarily need salt!!) Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour; shake off excess flour.

4. Increase heat to medium-high; heat 2 minutes or until the butter turns golden brown. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add shallots, and sauté 30 seconds. Add the broth mixture, scraping to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by half (about 3 minutes). Serve sauce over chicken. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Estimated Nutritional Information:

Calories: 269 (27% from fat)
Fat: 8.1g (sat 2.7g,mono 2g,poly 2.5g)
Protein: 34g
Carbohydrate: 13.1g
Fiber: 0.2g
Cholesterol: 90mg
Iron: 1.7mg
Sodium: 331mg
Calcium: 29mg

Chicken n' Corn Chowda' Slim Style

Ingredients

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used two 4 oz. breasts, and it appeared to be plenty... and in other news... the recipe says you can use chicken thighs as well, but I prefer white meat)

4 fresh ears of sweet corn

1 32-oz. container reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used my favorite substitute, sodium free chicken stock powder. It's great if you want to control the saltiness of your dish... or add any garlic salt later without fear of over-sodiumizing your chowda :-)

1 small red sweet pepper, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 cup milk (there was no specification of type, but I used Skim and it seemed suitable)

1-1/4 cups instant mashed potato flakes

salt to taste (I used garlic salt... of course!)

ground black pepper

crushed red pepper ("optional," according to the original recipe... I didn't add it because I didn't want it super spicey)

a couple good shakes of dried, powdered coriander

1 tablespoon or so chives (I used dried, and just made sure I let the soup sit overnight to get them soft and let the flavors socialize)

1. In Dutch oven combine chicken, corn and broth. Cover; bring to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat. Simmer 12 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken and corn to cutting board.

2. Add half the sweet pepper to broth in Dutch oven. Stir in milk and potato flakes. Shred chicken using two forks. Return chicken to Dutch oven. Using a kitchen towel to hold hot corn, cut kernels from cobs. Place corn in Dutch oven; heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each serving with remaining sweet pepper and crushed red pepper. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts
These are the stats for the original recipe... I would guess the sodium would be less if you used the sodium-free chicken stock and the protein probably wouldn't be as high)

Calories 269
Total Fat 3g
Saturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 54mg
Sodium 721mg
Carbohydrate 33g
Total Sugar 7g
Fiber 3g
Protein 29g

Ragin' Strombolis

Boy-approved, good ol' fashioned GINORMOUS deliciousness! (Yeah, I'm not kidding... they're pretty large. Feel free to be smart and make anywhere between 5 to 8 strombolis, because the 4 I made are like "Honey I Blew Up the Dinner"-style). Like a calzone, except pinched in the center and containing meat and only a little bit of cheese, these are pretty easy and super forgiveable (a.k.a. use whatever veggies/spices/meats you have on hand)!

Ingredients:

1 lump whole wheat or multi-grain pizza dough (I bought mine at Whole Foods, but they sell this stuff at Trader Joe's if you have the ability to frequent the unique grocery store)

3 lb package of ground turkey (don't be a scaredy cat like my Momo--she thinks it smells bad--but if you are averse to this, ground chicken or ground sirlion are good substitutes)

1 bag frozen multi-colored pepper slices

2 tablespoons low calorie barbeque sauce (often disquised as "low sugar")

3 or so tablespoons ketchup

a good dousing of worchistere sauce

1 & 1/2 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoon onion powder

a generous sprinkling of Italian seasoning

a light sprinkling of garlic salt

fresh ground black pepper to taste

4 ounces shredded reduced fat cheese (I used Mexican blend, which attests to the forgiveable-ness of this recipe, because I'm sure a good Mozzerella would be delightful)

1. Cook your meat of choice thoroughly.

2. Add defrosted bell pepper mix.

3. Toss in all remaining ingredients EXCEPT THE CHEESE and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes uncovered.

4. While the flavors are cha-cha-cha-ing, divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Roll out each peice until it is about a half-inch thick into a circle or oval or square... it's up to you! (Side note: I don't have a rolling pin, so I simply pounded the dough into ovals... so don't fret if you're pinless!)

5. Remove the meat-pepper mix from the heat and spoon anywhere between 1 cup to a cup and a half into the center of each dough-shape (note how I didn't descriminate against the square-makers by saying "dough rounds"). Top each pile of meat n' peppers with about an ounce of cheese (you don't need much). Pull up the sides of the dough and pinch together so that the meat mixture is completely enveloped in the dough.

6. Place strombolis on a baking sheet. I sprayed mine with cooking spray and followed that with a few more shakes of the good ol' garlic salt. But that's just me...

7.a. Bake at 350°F for anywhere between 30 to 45 minutes, until the crusts on these gems are golden brown and delicious.

7.b. OR you can bake at 350°F for 20 minutes, pull them out, let them cool, and freeze them for when hunger strikes later!

ESTIMATED Nutritional Information
(really, these have to be a total guess)

Calories 434.5
Total Fat 16.8 g
Saturated Fat 4.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.8 g
Cholesterol 90.0 mg
Sodium 761.1 mg
Potassium 143.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 41.2 g
Dietary Fiber 4.0 g
Sugars 3.2 g
Protein 32.6 g