hello old friend: korean bbq sandwich

My poor food blog, how you've been neglected.
That's okay, sometimes life gets in the way and hobbies go to the wayside. However, one thing that I really can't stop doing is cooking. That, or make sandwiches.

Speaking of sandwiches, my favorite hot sandwich would have to be my Korean BBQ. A lot of trial and error went into them but now I have it exactly the way I want it. It's got lots of different textures, sweet, salty, and definitely tasty!

My favorite thing about it is getting to use my Mom's kimchee recipe. It's not traditional in any sense, but it's a mild kimchee without any fishiness...perfect for picky eaters who don't like that pungent taste. ^_^

---- o o o o ---- Bulgogi Beef Sandwich with Crispy Leeks and Mom's Kimchi
(adapted from Tasty)

For the Bulgogi:
3 tbsp bottled garlic
3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp Healthy Boy Brand sweet black soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp fresh squeezed juice from an Asian pear or sweet apple

1 tbsp Japanese mirin
1 tbsp sesame oil
5 to 6 green onions, finely chopped (including white part)
1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp minced ginger
2 to 3 lbs extra thin carne picada or stir-fry beef

Mix marinade together until sugar and honey are dissolved/distributed. Add beef and marinate overnight or up to 2 days. Cook over medium high/high heat on an iron skillet. Serve immediately.

Mom's Kimchee:
4 cups Napa cabbage, chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 cup matchstick carrots 

1/4 cup sliced green onions, green parts only
1 to 1.5 tsp kosher salt
1/2 bottle Lee Kum Kee chili garlic sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup matchstick carrots

Blanche cabbage and carrots in boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain well then toss with salt. Let stand in a strainer for 1.5 to 2 hours until excess liquid has drained. Transfer to a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and toss, seasoning with additional salt as needed. Refrigerate, keeping up to 2 weeks.

Seasoned Japanese-Style Mayo:
1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise
1 to 2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Whisk together and adjust proportions as needed, to taste.

Crispy Fried Leeks:
1 leek, thinly sliced to 2-inch slivers
vegetable oil

Heat enough oil to fry leeks. Fry until leeks are golden brown around the edges. Transfer to paper towels to drain excess oil.

Bulgogi Sandwiches:
bulgogi beef
kimchee
crispy leeks
shredded romaine lettuce
seasoned Japanese-style mayo
toasted French rolls

To assemble sandwiches, spread some Mayo on the rolls. Add a good portion of bulgogi on one side of the bun, shredded lettuce on the other. Drizzle with mayo, top with crispy leeks, then drizzle with mayo again to taste, then serve.

low and slow.

When my husband and I were just getting to know each other as friends, the first thing that my husband made for me was ribs with corn on the cob. I remember being impressed... really being wowed by the fact that he could make ribs. I think what really made it memorable was the fact that he used beer as a braising liquid then finished it off with a hefty smearing of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. He had taken the time to put the ribs in the slow cooker before going to work and cooking it on low for about 8 hours. Talk about tender! It was literally falling off the bone!

Since then, he hasn't really cooked that often. Taking on the role as the household chef, I've tried to make it the way that he's done it and failing miserably. The last time that I made his ribs, they turned out horribly soupy. It was okay, but not great. So I decided that I'd leave the beer braised ribs to him and find my own way of making BBQ. Enter the dry rub.

The first time that I saw this mix, I knew that I had to make it. True to the author's words, I had everything in my pantry and it was a jiffy to whip up. When I tried it for making this chicken, what a revelation! It was so flavorful and still moist! So not only did find that I like to use rubs, I like making my BBQ "slow and low".

So taking the cues from the chicken recipe, I looked around the internet to adapt this method to a slow cooker (mostly out of laziness). I found this recipe and took some pointers from there (mainly the cooking times).

Success! So instead of adding any liquid to the slow cooker, I rubbed it down and crusted the ribs with a shit ton of spice rubs. Then I let it cook in its own juices while I was doing my errands. I turned it over about half way through so it wouldn't dry out. Then, since I wanted that caramelized sauce, I slathered my favorite BBQ sauce on it and broiled the sucker for the full 10 minutes. Mmmmm...they turned out exactly like I wanted them to!

They were so moist and tender...almost falling off the bone, but not. For leftovers, I'm gonna be making these into pulled pork sandwiches, lol! And with that... I now have my own style of making BBQ!

---- o o o o ---- 

14-Spice Dry Rub Mix
(barely adapted from The Yummy Life)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup smoked paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp celery salt
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp rubbed dried sage
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well mixed. Or, sift the ingredients into a bowl and whisk them until mixed. Store in airtight container. Makes about 2 cups.

TO USE: Sprinkle dry rub mix on all sides of the meat (chicken, beef, or pork) and rub it in. If you have time, wrap or cover the meat and refrigerate it for 1 hour (or as long as 12 hours) before cooking. The fridge time will enhance the flavor, but it's also good if you cook the meat right away. Grill, pan fry, or bake the meat according to your preference. Also good for seasoning meat in slow cooker.

VARIATIONS:
--For a spicier blend, use hot chili powder (rather than mild) and more cayenne, cumin, black pepper.
--For a sweeter blend, increase the allspice, cloves, mace, and brown sugar.
--For a smokier blend, omit the sweet paprika and substitute all smoked paprika.
--For a low-sodium blend, reduce salt to 1/8 cup.

---- o o o o ---- 

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs
(Makes 3 to 4 servings)

1 (3.5 to 4lb) rack pork spare ribs
1/4 to 1/3 cup 14-Spice Dry Rub Mix
1 1/2 to 2 cups BBQ sauce (we like Kraft's Honey Hickory or Sweet Baby Ray's.)

Pat ribs dry. Pat rack very generously on all sides with rub. Place rack in crock pot so that the meatier side is down towards the bottom of the pot. Cook for 6 to 7 hours on low. Halfway through, at the 3 hour mark, turn ribs upside down and continue cooking until tender.

Once the ribs are done, preheat oven to broil. Carefully remove ribs and discard cooking liquid. Place bone side up on a foil lined baking sheet then slather with half the BBQ sauce. Gently turn ribs over and repeat for the meatier side of the ribs. Once the oven is ready, broil ribs for 5 to 10 minutes until sauce has caramelized. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve with additional BBQ sauce as desired.

pizza, big island style.

speaking of creative leftovers...my ham, although freakin' delicious, seems to be the one item that i struggle to be creative with. Maybe it's because i don't really eat a lot of pork...but so far, it's been multiple sandwiches, scrambles, benedicts, breakfast burritos, and other morning-type dishes. it seems like whenever dinner comes around, my poor ham takes a back seat to the turkey. for shame! so what's a cook to do? well...epiphany hit and the pizza light bulb went on! a hawaiian pizza to be exact. with barbecue sauce, of course.

and what a great opportunity to clean out the little leftover crap that was sitting in the fridge! mixed some leftover pizza sauce with some barbecue sauce...got some bell peppers, bits and pieces of onions from sandwich stuff, and olives from the enchiladas. the dough i made from scratch from my favorite recipe, but modified it to make a half batch.

so in went a handful of ham, a small can of pineapple rings i chopped, and a couple of cups of random leftover grated cheese (an italian and a mexican blend). seasoned it with some pepper, onion powder, and paprika and in it went to the oven for thirty minutes or so.

my reward? well...even though it was in the oven for a tad too long, it was a definite win with pizza for dinner! with ham!! granted it didn't make much of a dent with the ham sitting in the fridge, but at least that's one thing that i can add for possible choices in the future. actually, i feel slightly dumb for not thinking about it sooner, lol. well...then again, i guess i'll know not to get so much ham next year, right? :)

chicken pizza of bbq awesomeness.

mmm . . . dinner. today was one of those cold, rainy days where all i wanted to do was spend the whole night warming up in the kitchen to make something nice and special. i've had chilli's old baby back ribs song stuck in my head all day so i decided to try my hand in making a bbq pizza from a recipe i saw a few weeks back.

when i first started getting an inkling for trying this recipe, i was actually googling corn images. i don't know about you, but when i try recipes online, i'm more inclined to go by the pictures of the food than the actual ingredients list. the ingredients list gets a looksie when it passes the visual test first. :) anyhoo, i ran across this video about roasting corn on the stovetop. i was like, wow! i never knew you could do that and not burn the house down! needless to say, i decided that it was definitely on the to-do list! and do it did! also decided to try it with the onion . . .

chicken was pan fried with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. when it was almost done, i took that off, cut it to little pieces, then topped it on the store-bought pizza crust along with the roasted corn and onion. the bbq sauce was right out of the bottle but i jazzed it up with brown sugar, honey, paprika and minced tomatoes to make it a little extra special. then after putting a four cheese blend on it, it was finished with a sprinkling of roughly sliced mushrooms.

right as it came out of the oven, it was immediately topped with fresh chopped parsley. mmm, this actually tasted as good as it smelled and looked. and the boyfriend definitely enjoyed this particular experiment. i didn't follow the recipe (of course) just because i wasn't diggin' how spicy it looked like it was gonna be...and i'm super happy i didn't. don't get me wrong i like spicy...just not too much on my pizza. :/

definitely hearty and filling. each bite was a gooey, bbq-ey bite of heavenly goodness. i was pleased that the crust came out nice and crunchy all throughout. will definitely be making this again. and what's so awesome about it is that it doesn't take a lot of ingredients to make! word of warning tho, it is a little time consuming. so if you want quick and dirty, look elsewhere for a quick pizza this one was all love and tenderness. ;)

 

Awesome Barbecue Chicken Pizza
(adapted from Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet)

1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh
1 ear of corn
1/2 medium red onion
2-3 mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/8 cup of tomatoes, minced
1/2 cup or so bottled barbecue sauce
1 tsp parika
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 package pre-made pizza dough (or make your own)
1-2 cups of four cheese blend of choice (you want to use the kind that melts easily)
olive oil
garlic powder
salt and pepper
a few sprigs parsley, chopped

Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees or according to pizza dough package instructions. Roast the corn and onion on the stovetop until slightly blackened (if you don't have a gas burner, roast on electric using a cast iron skillet). Cut the corn from the cob and slice thin the onion. Set aside. You can also just skip roasting the onion if it's too much or a bother...slicing it thin will do just as well. :)

Season chicken well with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pan fry with a little olive oil until almost cooked, about 6-7 minutes. Let cool slightly then carefully cut into strips then chop to bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Prepare the sauce by adding in the tomatoes, paprika, brown sugar, and honey. Stir well to combine. Roll out dough on a greased pizza pan then top evenly with the barbecue sauce. Take the chicken and layer evenly, then do the same with the onion and corn. Cover with the four cheese blend then finish with a sprinkling of the chopped mushrooms.

Cook pizza in the oven until crust is crisp and golden and the cheese is hot and melted. Immediately after removing from heat, top with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

Makes one tasty pizza.