In the Land of Rice-Learning to Make Sushi

Remember those friends that I met in the grocery store? Well let me tell you, she is an amazing cook! Just when I thought that I was doing good and cooking grilled chicken pasta for dinner, I call her up and she tells me that on nights they don't have much time, she just 'whips' together some sushi. Pretty sure I couldn't just 'whip together' anything if I tried, especially sushi. It would turn out like a bad Pinterest fail. But she can and she does quite well. And thankfully she was kind enough to have me over and teach me her skills. So here ya go, for those other women who want easy meals besides peanut butter and jelly (which is what we have on way too many occasions).

What you need:
Avocados
Crab
Cucumber
Seaweed paper
Rice

What you do:
.Gather your ingredients. You can put whatever your heart desires on the inside. We stuck with crab, avocado and cucumber but also tried some tempura shrimp which was to.die.for. Slice veggies in long strips. You can also cut the crab in strips but we decided to shred it and it worked just as well.

.Lay out your sheet of seaweed on top of your bamboo mat. My friend suggested wrapping the bamboo mat in saran wrap before you start. This makes for easy cleanup at the end. Take a spoon and dip it in water before using it to spread the rice on the paper (dipping the spoon in water makes the rice not stick as badly to the spoon. There are also special rice spoons that you can use). Make sure the rice reaches all sides because this is what makes the roll stick together.

.Start placing ingredients in a line towards one end of the seaweed paper.

.Now here comes the tricky part. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of it but I found this one online. Start rolling the sushi to make a tube. Roll the sushi and bamboo wrap until the seaweed meets the other side. Then place the bamboo wrap folded over the roll like shown before(confused yet?). As you roll, pull back on the wrap to make sure the sushi roll is really tight and won't fall apart. When it's all rolled, make sure to press the edges at the end to make sure it sticks.

via

Viola. A sushi roll. 

To cut it, dip a knife into water and cut. Dipping the knife into water makes it so much easier to cut and doesn't smoosh (is that a real word?) the roll.

After having someone show me how, this meal has also become an easy lunch or dinner to have when I just can't think of what to cook. Have you ever tried making sushi?

Linking up with Lisette, Rolled Up Pretty and Shanna

An Afternoon in Dehli

Our cooking list for the day

One of my favorite parts of living overseas is all of the different cultures you cross paths with. Especially on our small island where the community of teachers and engineers is exceptionally dense and diverse, bringing people from all corners of the world. I feel like I have now experienced the true meaning of a 'melting pot'. In just our church alone, which consists of about fifty people, we represent nine countries and speak 13 different languages. It is here that I have had the privilege of getting to know two Indian families that decided to invite myself and some other girl friends into their home and teach us how to cook some authentic Indian dishes.

Rolling the chapati

The first dish that we made was chapatti, or also known as roti. When you are eating curry, this bread is used as a sort of utensil to grab and pick up food since instead of using silverware, hands are traditionally used.  

Chapatti / Roti 

(This will make approximately 6 rolls)

What you need:

.1 c. wheat flour

.1 tsp. salt

.½ c. water boiling water

What you do:

.Mix dry ingredients together and then add the boiling hot water. Mix together with a spoon until it  cools. Then use your hands to knead it. If it is sticky add 1 T of flour to dry it out a bit.

.{Optional} Take 1 tsp canola oil and add it to the mixture and knead it back in.

.Cover the dough with another bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

.Rolling – lightly flour the chapatti before rolling. Roll and turn the chapatti. Repeat this process until the chapatti is a nice circle with no bulges or bumps.

.Cook the chapatti in a non-stick pan. When the chapatti bubbles flip it over. Repeat this process until the chapatti is golden brown.

.You can refrigerate the dough for 4-5 days if needed. When rolling the refrigerated dough be sure to roll it in the flour to remove any excess moisture. 

Fresh ingredients and spices used

I was amazed at how absolutely nothing went to waste. When I cook I am extremely guilty of this. A little flour left in the bowl? Trash. Water from boiling a vegetable? Down the drain. I more so focus on a clean work space (guilty neat freak right here) rather that on keeping all excess cooking materials and preserving all nutrients from the food. For example, they boiled the spinach in water and instead of dumping that water down the drain, they used it in other recipes that called for water. Therefore, getting every last ounce of nutrients and use out of the ingredients. Here are some more tips we collected throughout the day:

.Every time you cook onion, add salt. It breaks down the onion and brings the juices out and therefore makes it tastier.

.If you cut the chili pepper ‘open’ style it will be spicier. If you cut it in circles it will be less spicy (good to know since I like the taste of peppers but am a wimp when it comes to spice) 

Making tandoori chicken

Vegetable rice

The finished products! Clockwise from top left: Basic Indian Chicken Curry, Palaak Paneer, Vegetable Rice, Tandoori Chicken

Our wonderful hosts and cooking teachers

We ended the day with a sweet yogurt drink that was to die for! It's the perfect sweet ending to a meal that can be adjusted in so many ways by just adding different fruit concentrate. 

Lassi
(makes drinks for two)

What you need:

.½ tsp. Cardamom (open the cardamom, take out the seeds and grind it)

.½ c. water

.1 cup yogurt

.¼ c. sugar

.6 ice cubes

What you do:

.put everything together in a blender, mix and serve!

This day went straight to my list of favorite experiences of Korea. I can't wait to cook these dishes again and again for family and friends in the future. Anyone up for a dinner party?

Linking up with Brooke and Molly

For When You Don't Want to Cook Breakfast

Have you ever immediately put your palm to your forehead when you read a new recipe? As in 'why have I not known about this until now?!' I had one of those moments when I finally got around to making these after months of being on my 'recipes I need to try' list. I made them when I knew that I couldn't serve cereal for one more breakfast but all I wanted to do was lay in bed for five more minutes instead of getting up and cooking. Thankfully these came to my rescue. 

Puffins {pancake + muffin}
What you need:
.1 cup pancake mix
.2/3 cup water
.1/2 cup syrup

What you do:
.Preheat oven to 350
.Mix pancake mix, water and syrup
.Pour in greased muffin pan
.Top with banana, blueberries, chocolate chips, bacon, etc
.Bake for 12-14 minutes and serve

What do you make when you don't want to make anything at all?

Linking up with BreAnna and Molly

Scrub a Dub

Have you ever tried making body scrubs? I tried one this summer with brown sugar and honey and while it sounded like a good idea and smelled amazing, it left my face raw and bright red for the next day. Attractive huh? However, after the redness subsided, I had the softest skin I have felt on anyone older that two (probably because I rubbed a whole layer of skin off in the process). I was scared away from any sort of scrub for awhile but with this harsh winter weather I decided it would be better to have bright red skin versus it look like it was snowing every time I undressed. Luckily for me, I recently found a recipe for a body scrub that not only smelled good but left my skin baby soft and non irritated. Win win.

Mix the sugar, olive oil and vanilla together.

Lastly, add the zest from the two lemons and the juice from one. This recipe is perfect because you can easily scale it up or down depending on your needs. The quantities listed below filled up six of my small bottles perfectly.

Ingredients:

.3 cups white sugar

.3/4 cup olive oil

.juice from 1 lemon

.zest from 2 lemons

.2 tablespoons vanilla extract

I have heard people use lemon extract as well which would probably make it smell even better. You can never have enough lemony smell right? 

Linking up with Shanna and Rekita

Simmer Pots

With the weather turning cooler and while we're now in the middle of the holiday season, I've been trying out new simmer pots to make the apartment smell a little more festive. One of my favorite combinations is shown below but I have also loved to use cinnamon as well. These have quickly become part of my daily routine to make the house smell fresh and festive.

Lemon, Bay Leaves, Cloves, Vanilla

Instructions: Fill a small saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the ingredients from your favorite recipe, continue to boil for a few minutes, then turn the heat down to simmer. Add water as needed, usually every 30 minutes or so.

Recipe #1
Cinnamon sticks
Apple peels
Orange rinds
Whole cloves

Recipe #2
Peel from 1 lemon
Peel from 1 orange
2 bay leaves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 Tablespoons whole cloves

Recipe #3
A few drops vanilla
Orange peels

Recipe #4
1 cup dried lavender
1 tsp anise
1 Tablespoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon whole cloves
1 Cinnamon stick

Recipe #5
5 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon whole cloves
2 sticks cinnamon

Mixtures found at Apartment Therapy

Also to go along with the lemon theme, I've been making a lot of homemade lemon tea lately and it has quickly become my one of my favorite drinks. It's so easy (not to mention healthy...minus the sugar) and once you have the work done, it will provide drinks for weeks to come. You simply cut up lemons into slices (I use about 6-7 lemons), put it into a jar and add about a cup of sugar. Voila, finished. Keep the jar in the fridge and whenever you want a cup of tea simply scoop out some of the lemon chunks and include some of the juice that accumulates at the bottom. Pour in hot water and add sugar to taste. It's tastes like a hot lemonade.

Have you ever done simmer pots?

Meat eater

I never craved red meat while living in the states but as soon as we moved to the land where beef is immensely expensive, I started to crave it more and more. You know it's expensive when you feel guilty eating it alone. Since being home from our vacation in the States we've been craving it more than usual. So what's the only logical solution? Driving to Cost-c0 (thank God for Cost-co in Korea) and picking up some steak. I've always used store bought marinade but decided to try to make one from scratch (how hard could it be right?). I googled steak marinade and "The best steak marinade in existence" popped up on allrecipes. It was a sign for sure.

What you need, minus the garlic powder

Yum! I've never been so excited for steak before.


What you need
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons dried basil
1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon dried minced garlic (optional)

What you do
.Put all ingredients except the optional minced garlic in a blender and blend on high speed for 30 seconds until thoroughly mixed.
.Pour marinade over desired type of meat. Cover, and refrigerate for up to 8 hours. Cook meat as desired.

recipe found at allrecipes.com