I’m keeping things nice and simple today, and not just because I am still suffering some ill effects from the weekend. A few nights ago I managed to get three kinds of different tomatoes for a mere 6,000 won. We are right in the midst of tomato season so they are all so cheap and plentiful. I’ve spend my summer practically living on salsa, panzanella, and gazpacho. Other than making some ketchup, I wondered what was left for me to do with the humble tomato. Korea’s rally upped its produce game in recent years and we are now getting a variety of different kinds. I didn’t want to overshadow these beauties by piling in everything and the kitchen sink. They are sweet and tasty all by themselves, so I wanted to get back to basics and eat them just with a few of the my home grown basil leaves from my terrace.

Ingredients

500g of tomatoes

A handful of basil leaves

A glug of olive oil

A small drizzle of balsamic vinegar

A pinch of salt

Directions

1. Chop your tomatoes into different sized pieces. I halved some and quartered or sliced others.

2. Drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then sprinkle with salt. Be sparing with the vinegar as you don’t want to overpower the tomatoes.

3. Tear your basil leaves into pieces and toss with the tomatoes. Then enjoy your delicious fresh simple salad.

My ice-cream obsession now plagues my every waking hour, so I thought it was about high time I made my own. Pralines & Cream is my absolute favourite flavour of Haagen Dazs and it’s impossible to get in Korea. So it seemed as good as place as any to start. The ice-cream itself its stupidly easy to make, whipping and mixing  and that’s it. You can keep it as straight vanilla or add whatever flavours you like to jazz it up. I went for my lovely pralines mixed with a caramel sauce. It was divinity itself maybe even better than the Haagen Dazs version. I can see a Fat Girl ice-cream range in my near future!

Ingredients

600ml of cream

200g of condensed milk

2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

Pralines

200g of pecans

200g of light brown sugar

100g of butter

4 tablespoons of milk

A pinch of salt

Toffee sauce

4 tablespoons of butter

10 tablespoons of light brown sugar

200ml of full fat milk or cream

Directions

1. To make the ice cream, put your cream, condensed milk, and vanilla extract in bowl and whisk until it becomes thick. It should be very thick, stop just before it starts to turn. It’s much easier to do this if you have an electric whisk. Once it’s nice and thick put it into a seal-able container and pop it in the freezer until it sets(usually 4-8 hours). It’s so easy, right? If you only want plain vanilla you can just eat it as it is.

2. To make the pralines, melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat, then stir in the sugar. Once the sugar has melted a little stir in the milk. Let it cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens and starts to turn golden brown. Add the pecans to the sauce and stir to make sure they are coated and cook for a further minute. Turn off the heat and spoon out the pralines onto grease-proof paper, allow to cool. Then pop them in the refrigerator to set for a few hours. Once they have set, you can bash them into pieces using something heavy.

3. To make the toffee sauce put the sugar and butter in a saucepan and heat on low. Once the butter has melted and starts to combine with the sugar, add in the milk or cream. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes, until you have a thick golden brown  toffee sauce. Allow to cool before adding to the ice cream along with your pralines. Voilà easy homemade ice cream!

I do love sweet chili sauce, we always have a bottle or two in the cupboard and it’s my secret ingredient to all things savory. There isn’t much that I make that can’t be jazzed up with a little sweet chili sauce, from coleslaw, potato salad, or dips, to bolognese. It’s a wondrous ingredient that’s forever in my heart. However last Costco run I sadly neglected to pick up any and was not relishing living without it. I knew that it’s pretty much sugar, vinegar, and chilies so it really couldn’t be all that hard to make. I had a load of chilies in the fridge which were in desperate need of use. So I thought I would whip up a batch. It was a resounding success and it was cheaper to make than buying  it at Costco.

Ingredients 

2 cups of white sugar

1 cup of water

1 cup of apple vinegar (You can buy this in any Korean Mart)

2-6 red chilies (keep the seeds if you like it hot, take them out if you want it mild)

4 cloves of garlic

1/2 an inch of ginger (or less)

4 tablespoons of cornflour

4 tablespoons of cold water

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender, except the cornflour and cold water, and blend until smooth.

2. Pour everything into a saucepan and put on a low heat. Meanwhile mix together the cornflour and cold water in a cup to make a paste, then add it to saucepan and stir together.

3. As the sweet chili sauce heats up it will thicken. When it begins to boil you can turn it off. Taste and add more salt, sugar, or vinegar to suit your own tastes. When it cools you can store it in the fridge in an airtight container. It should keep for a few weeks at least.

What with it being 4th of July an all and lots of long weekends coming  up, it once again means it’s barbecue season. For some of us it’s a chance to show off our skills and wow everyone with gourmet delights. While for others it sets fear in their hearts and they make no plans at all then panic buy packets of Doritos and sad smoked Korean sausages at the last minute.

Barbecues aren’t everyone’s thing but they could be, don’t be scared of a potluck just because you can’t cook. There are tonnes of amazing dishes you can make with little to no ingredients in your store cupboard and just a bit of effort. Cooking enthusiasts should check out this post I did last year for some of my best BBQ ideas. For the culinarily challenged keep reading. Not everything is 100 % easily sourced, some things are from the foreign food market or i-herb ingredients but all the rest you should be able to pick up from your local Homeplus.

The first problem people run into is cost. You need to be willing to spend a bit make a dish if you don’t keep a well stocked fridge and pantry. A barbecue is for sharing and you can’t expect to eat meat if all you bring are chips and salsa. Plan to spend about 15,000 per person on food which is what you would pay for a meal in a restaurant if you went out to dinner. If you’re sharing with your significant other or a friend put it up to 25,000 – 30,000. I know we are all broke sometimes but it’s still a pretty cheap meal out, at which you can get to try loads of delicious dishes all at once.

First up bread and dips. Everyone, and I  mean everyone, likes bread and that includes those poor gluten free people who can’t eat it. I almost always bring a loaf of bread to a BBQ because it goes down well and I can make one for next to nothing. Focaccia is actually relatively easy to make as long as you have an oven and olive oil in your house. You can also easily make flat breads, bagel chips, or homemade tortilla chips using burrito wrappers. If you don’t possess the ingredients to make bread then buy it. In my neighborhood there are dozens nice bakeries, but if you look around you will find one other than Paris Baguette fairly near by. Buy a couple of nice and unusual breads, slice them up and serve them with some homemade or bought hummus or dips. In Itaewon it’s everywhere, including mine. For those who live far away order from Hummus in Korea. Make baba ganoush, salsa, tzatziki, or any other kind of lovely dip. If it’s plentiful no one will feel short changed and all you did is buy and cut up some bread.

The second option is salads. Salads are sadly very neglected here and I feel an integral part of the barbecue experience. Anyone can make a salad, you buy a few lettuce leaves, chop them up with other salad paraphernalia and buy a bottle of dressing. If you can get individual things by weight this really shouldn’t run you more than 10,000 even if you generally skip the produce aisle and refuse to allow vegetables to come into contact with your home. Add a chicken breast and some of those Doritos that someone brought and you can make a taco salad.  A good tip for veggies is going to a small Korean supermarket, or ajamma on the street, their stuff is tonnes cheaper than Homeplus and if you speak a bit of Korean, you can buy it in smaller amounts.

If you want to be a little more classy then buy a ball or two of mozzarella, some giant tomatoes, and a basil plant, and sprinkle with salt and pepper olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That’s how you make a capresa one of the tastiest salads in the universe! You can also do my mint, watermelon and feta salad. As long as you are thrifty with your watermelon and find a 5,000 one you can get feta for 7,000 and a mint plant for 3,000 no one will feel deprived and you have a bowl of fresh goodness. Even coleslaw is incredibly simple, a cabbage, a carrot, an onion, and some mayo. Though jazz it up with some grated cheese and I guarantee you will have everyone coming back for more.

The third option for the truly lazy is buying a bag of wings or two packs of that cut up chicken that they sell everywhere and a bottle of barbecue sauce. Mix them up together and throw them on the barbecue. You aren’t going to win any prizes for dish of the day but you will provide people with something they actually want to eat. Everyone loves wings and chicken, and the barbecue will do a lot of the work to enhance the flavour. If you want to get a bit fancier I have lots of marinade recipes here.

Your fourth option is going to Costco and buying burgers and buns. You may need to go in with a friend on this to do it right. Don’t just get burgers, get the buns and the cheese slices to go in them too and slice up some onions. Make sure you bring ketchup and mustard and you will be a hit. Everyone loves a good burger and the Costco ones are pretty decent. If you really want to impress grab a packet of bacon too, and you have got yourself a party! You can make your own of course, here is one of my recipes but this is a post for the culinarily challenged.

The last and laziest option is just to go to the butchers and buy a steak, yes steak is expensive but you should get one huge or two decent sized steaks for 15,000. Cut it up with the scissors and everyone will be happy. You can get rubs on i-Herb if you want to add a bit of flavour but just steak alone is perfectly good. Just whatever you do don’t bring those god damn sausages. And if you don’t bring food, bring a lot of booze instead!

I do love my kalbi, out of all Korean foods it’s still my favourite. The problem is I just don’t eat it enough. I use it in the winter to make stews, but in the summer other than eating it Korean style I’m always at a bit of a loss. So making kalbi tacos which are all the rage stateside seemed ideal. This is one of the best dinners we have had in a long time and a perfect no hassle meal if you are having friends over.

Ingredients

1 roll of kalbi per person

2 small tortillas per person

1/2 an avocado sliced

Lettuce leaves for serving

Salad

A small wedge of red cabbage

1/2 a cucumber

1 green pepper

1 stick of celery

5 green onions

1 large handful of cilantro (고수)

Dressing 

3 tablespoons of sesame seed oil

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of sesame seeds

1 tablespoon of hot sauce or gochu paste

Directions

1. To make the salad, grate the cucumber then slice the pepper, red cabbage and celery very finely and put in a bowl. Use a pair of scissors to cut the green onions and cilantro and add to the bowl and mix everything together.

2. To make the dressing, put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together, then pour over the salad.

3. Put a frying pan on medium heat, then add a piece of the kalbi. Cook on one side for about 3 minutes, then flip over and do the other side for another 2-3 minutes until it’s browned on both sides. Be sure to cut the rib pieces off and cook them separately as they will take much longer. When the meat is done, leave to cool while you cook your next piece. When it is cold enough to touch, cut it into strips. it’s much easier if you use a pair of scissors.

4. When everything is done, put it all out and let everyone assemble their own. A bottle of sriracha doesn’t go amiss either, it gives a nice kick for those who like it spicy.

Caprese is one of my absolute favourite salads and flavour combinations. It’s just so fresh and tasty. So how do you improve on this fresh and tastiness, why you throw in some bread and fry it in butter of course. The crunch of the bread is the perfect combination paired with the juicy tomatoes, sweet basil and salty mozzarella.

Ingredients

1 ball of Mozzarella sliced

1 tomato

6 basil leaves

1/2 an avocado

1 fresh baguette

A drizzle of olive oil

A drizzle of balsamic vinegar

A pinch of salt & pepper

A knob of butter

Directions

1. Slice your tomatoes and then put them in a bowl with a little olive oil, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and and some salt and pepper and leave them to marinate for 5-10 minutes. Doing this turns tomatoes from okay into amazing. Always do this when you make salads!

2. Slice the mozzarella and avocado too, and set aside. Then take your lovely bread and slice it in half. Then build your sandwich, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, then avocado and press the bread down to make sure it’s sealed.

3. Put the knob of butter in a frying pan and put it on a low heat. Try and keep the butter in the middle then put your sandwich on top of it. Fry for a few minutes making sure it doesn’t burn. After a few minutes flip the sandwich over and do the other side. You may want to add more butter if the pan is a little dry. Cook for another few minutes until the sandwich is golden brown on both sides and the cheese has melted a little in the middle. Then serve and enjoy. I recommend making two as you will definitely want to eat another one!

Coronation chicken, a blast from the past and a sandwich filling invented many years ago to celebrate our dear old queen Lizzy. An old favourite, it’s been years since I’ve eaten this. But after eating all my favourite salads far too often lately I figured I was in need of a change. There are a million ways you can make this that run from quick and easy like mine, to incredibly complex and time consuming. Mine is just a simple version, ain’t nobody got time for hours in the kitchen in this heat. Make a big batch up and throw it into salad, sandwiches, and wraps. Or take it to a barbecue and wow your friends with this tasty classic dish.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts shredded (or a similar amount of cooked chicken)

10 tablespoons of mayonnaise

2 tablespoons of raisins

1 small handful frozen mango (fresh is fine too, just chop it into chunks)

5 dried apricots

2 teaspoons of curry powder

1 tablespoon of sliced almonds

1/2 a teaspoon of celery salt

1/2 a teaspoon of pepper

Directions

1. Blend your mango to make a purée.   Then stir in the mango purée to the mayonnaise. If you have it then you could use mango chutney which would give you a much better flavour.

2. Add the curry powder to the mayonnaise. It’s really up to you and how strong your curry powder is for how much you use. So keep adding a little at a time until you reach the desired taste. Then add the salt and black pepper.

3. Mix the sauce with your shredded chicken. Then chop the apricots and stir in along with the raisins. Serve in your favourite bread or on a bed of salad.

Oh brownies I do love a brownie, good, bad or even mediocre. I’m even prepared to eat slightly burnt ones that have fallen on the floor. Now don’t get me wrong I love the luxury of an out and out decadent brownie which is stuffed to the brim with melted chocolate and butter like this one. But sometimes my fridge is bare of butter and chocolate. That’s where a box mix fix comes in. I will always pick them up if I see them on sale but rarely seems to happen these days. However I just found out you can make them for virtually nothing at home. If you get your chocolate chips for free on i-herb like I do then you are laughing. Just measure out your ingredients, chuck them in a zip-lock bag and just put add eggs and oil when you are ready to go. I decided to be a little more fancy and store mine in jars because a) I didn’t have any zip-lock bags b) jars are cool and c) I have a lot of jars which I went mad buying after first discovering Pinterest then subsequently never used. It’s suggested to give away these cuties as gifts, I’d probably have to adjust the size of the recipe and not eat them myself but a good idea in theory.

So you may have noticed that my brownie is a little rustic this week, mainly because I dropped it on the floor. Did I have a little cry about this, yes, yes I did. I have made brownies for the past 3 weeks in a row intending to write a post about it but the first one I burnt beyond repair (but still ate), the second one got eaten before a picture was procured and this one was dropped and slightly burnt, but I decided to suck it up and show it to you anyway as we all make mistakes and it doesn’t make me a bad person. It just means that the damn temperature gauge on my oven is broken and I drop things sometimes.

Ingredients

65g of flour

45g of cocoa powder

200g of white sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

100g of chocolate chips

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 a cup of oil

Directions

1. Weigh out all your dry ingredients and put them in a mixing bowl or store them in a zip-lock bag or jar for later.

2. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper or skip this if you have decent bake wear.

3. Measure the oil and add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk. Then add to the dry ingredients and mix until the mixture is combined. No need to over mix here. You can also add in any extras at this point, for ideas see my note at the bottom.  Then pour into your tin and bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on how you like it) or until a tooth pick comes out clean(ish).

When your brownie is done leave to cool for ten minutes before removing from the pan. Under no circumstances drop the brownie on the floor and have a tantrum like I did. It’s seriously not cool past the age of 27.

This is a quick and easy brownie recipe that you can whip up in minutes with minimum effort when you are in the mood for a treat. It’s not the kind of brownie I’d try to make if I wanted to impress other bakers. Don’t get me wrong it’s still yummy just not amazing. You can pimp it up in various ways, add nuts, a couple of spoons of peanut butter, some white chocolate chips, or my latest favourite is to add a teaspoon of the orange extract that I bought on i-Herb. Can’t beat orange and chocolate goodness. You could also use this brownie base for a variety of other desserts like my Chocolate Trifle or Peanut Butter Brownie Cheesecake.

Ingredients

300g of Sugar

1 teaspoon of corn flour (corn starch)

Directions

1. Put your sugar and corn flour in your blender. Blend for a minute or two. You will see it change into that lovely snow white powder.

2. Use as needed. Voilà so easy and simple but a real life saver!

If you are anything like me, then sometimes you get a crazy craving for chocolate. This can strike at any time ,but for me it’s usually late at night. Last night, such a craving occurred. I started ransacking the cupboards looking for anything sweet and chocolate covered, desperately trying to find those unwanted pepperos that I was too good to eat in November. I started to beg the Fat Boyfriend to please go to the shop for me and buy me chocolate. “It’s too late and too cold,” came his reply. Just as I was about to start ripping open the doors on my advent calender and gorge myself on the forbidden goodness, I recalled the brownie in a mug recipe that is always plastered over Pinterest. Its promise of chocolate in 5 minutes was all I needed to get me into the kitchen. Now that I think about it, we learned how to make these little microwaveable puddings back when I was in school, but they have since been long forgotten, until someone had the idea of doing it in a mug and it became cool again. This quick and easy dessert can be made using simple ingredients most of us should have in our cupboards. Now it’s not the best brownie you have ever had, it doesn’t really look too beautiful either, but it will satisfy that sweet tooth, in a nice snack sized amount.

Ingredients 

50g of flour (1/4 cup)

70g of sugar (1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

A pinch of salt

60ml of water (1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (Not EVOO)

2 drops of vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons of chocolate chips or butterscotch chips (optional)

Ice cream sprinkles (optional)

Directions

1. Place flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and in a microwave safe ceramic mug. Stir with a fork or spoon to mix well and break up any clumps.

2. Add the oil, water, and vanilla to the cup and stir until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps. Then add the chocolate chips or butterscotch chips if using. Then stir again.

3. Place in the microwave and heat on high until the mixture is cooked through, about a 1 minute and 40 seconds for a 1000 watt microwave. My microwave is quite slow so took just over 2 minutes. . If you don’t know the power level on your microwave, start with 60 seconds and increase in 10 or 20 second increments until the brownie is done.If it moves alot when you tilt it, it’s not done yet.

4. Top with sprinkles, cream, or ice-cream if you have some. Although if I had ice-cream, I would have just eaten that instead! Voilà 5 minute brownie in a mug.