korean tacos

What better to celebrate an American tradition like the superbowl than with a fusion dish of Korean and Mexican cuisines?

That’s the America I love.

~Korean Tacos~

What you’ll need for Bulgogi Tacos:

• 1 lb thinly sliced rib eye beef (you can find this easily at an Asian grocery store)
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp esame oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp minced ginger
• Sesame seeds as a garnish

What you’ll need for Spicy Chicken Tacos:

• 1 lb diced chicken thighs
• 2 tbsp Korean red pepper paste (available at most Asian grocery stores)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil

What you’ll need to assemble the tacos:

• Corn tortillas

• 3 ripe avocados (that’s right, it’s guacamole!)
• 1 lemon
• 1 plum tomato
• 1/2 a medium onion, diced
• dash of cumin
• Salt / pepper to taste
• Fresh coriander

• Corn
• Kimchi

What you’ll do:

Let’s start with the beef…

Simply place the strips of meat in a container with the onions and dump in your marinade (all the remaining ingredients except for the sesame seeds).  Leave to soak up all that goodness overnight in the fridge (or at least for an hour before cooking if time is short).

And now the chicken…

Yup, you guessed it.  Just dump everything together into another container and let it sit overnight in your fridge.

I decided to make a kimchi salsa, and I must say it turned out pretty darn good.  Crunchy, spicy, sweet.  And simple too! Just take some kimchi, dice it up and throw into a tub with some defrosted frozen corn.

And I opted for traditional guacamole to top it all off.  Look at those colors…

Now for the cooking! I just dumped the meat into two separate skillets (no oil necessary).  The chicken took about 5-8 minutes, the beef about 3-5.

And voila!  Served with some freshly warmed corn tortillas…

…corn and kimchi salsa and fresh guacamole…

Bulgogi taco

Spicy chicken taco

A winner for sure!

guactacular 2010!

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo.  I’m sure people across the country spent the day eating tacos and throwing back a Corona/Modelo/Tecate/Dos Equis after a couple shots of tequila…or something.

I chose to spend my 5th of May at the annual Guactacular event at the Bell House in Brooklyn.  The concept is simple – you buy a ticket, show up, sample the competing dishes and vote for the winner!

I’ve never successfully made it to one of these events (in the past there have been competitions with bacon, cupcakes, chilli, lamb…you name it!), so I snatched up my ticket as soon as a friend mentioned she wanted to go.

Lucky I did! Guactacular 2010 was a sold out event!  The large barn-like warehouse was packed full of guacamole revelers waiting in long, curving lines to get a sample platter of guac.

There were 20 contestants who were tasked with creating the ultimate guacamole.

And I was tasked with eating them all!  It was no simple feat…

They all look pretty much the same (a lot of them tasted the same, too) but a few brave souls added some pizzaz to their guac to make it stand out, and hopefully taste better.

The most unique ingredients of the night were definitely dried cherries, and at another station – bananas!

There were the usual suspects – onions, queso blanco, jalepeno peppers, roasted peppers, mango, kiwi fruit, bacon…OK, so those last two aren’t quite so usual…there were even some clever names (i.e. the “tu-guac” shakur.  Get it? Tu-pac? Yeah, he was from LA).

But it was a classic that won my palate over.  I cast my vote for #20 – guacamole with a spicy kick and chunky veggies.  Some lime, some cumin…and we have a winner!

The event was a blast, from the good-spirited competition to the accordion-playing polka band to the live twitter feed about who was going home with the accordion-playing polka band to the free beer!

Cheers to Cinco de Mayo!

so long summer

This weekend marked the official end of fun…I mean, summer.

To many, Labor Day has marked the official end of summer.  Schools are back in session, the weather should be cooling off soon, and vacation rentals in the Hamptons are nearing the end of their lease.

What Labor Day should stand for is a day of rest for well, laborers.

I like to think that because those who labor over preparing our foods for a living are spending some QT with their friends and family, the rest of us have been forced to fend for ourselves.  And what better way to do so than with a great big BBQ with the neighbors!

Luckily, I was invited to a BBQ while spending the weekend in DC.  Check out the delicious grub we (OK, I didn’t really have anything to do with this beyond eating) cooked up:

An assortment of goodies

Guac by Carrie and Anne. Delish!

Burgers grilled to a medium perfection

Hot dawg!

Homemade white sangria

It was a simple yet delicious feast, and the perfect end to another summer in the big apple!

For all of you who wish to keep the summer alive, a bowl of guacamole and some chips are a ray of sunshine on any day! Here’s a quick recipe I’ve tried:

What you’ll need

• 2 hass avocados, pitted
• Diced shallots (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• A few sprigs of cilantro, chopped
• Kosher salt/fresh pepper to taste
• Lime juice of 1 fresh lime

What you’ll do

• Combine the guacamole, shallots, chopped tomato and lime juice in a bowl
• Mash/mix up ingredients (I like my guacamole to have some substance, so I don’t like to mash it up too much)
• Season with salt and pepper
• Garnish with some finely chopped cilantro

What you can do differently

• To add some heat, try adding a tsp of chili sauce or freshly chopped peppers
• To add some sweetness, add some chopped pineapple
• To add some texture, add some roasted corn