육개장 Spicy beef and vegetable soup (yukgaejang)

My favorite Soup . Here is the ingredients . 

This recipe is based of the wonderful Maangchi . She has the best Korea food blog .

Beef Brisket 

Onion,

Green onion,

Mushrooms,

Carrot, 

Bean-sprouts,

Toran korean vegetable (you can replace with celery)

Kosari (Korean mountain Vegetable. Fern Brakets)고사리

Garlic Sesame oil

Vegetable oil

Salt -Soy Sauce

Black Pepper

고추가루 gochugaru Hot Pepper Flakes or 고추장 gochujang Hot pepper paste.

To make it boil the onion and beef in a big pot of water for 30- 40 mins till soft.

Remove the beef and add all the other ingredients .

Cut the beef along the grain.

Add the beef boil for another 20-30 mins

Johnny Cakes

When my friend Jess visited me in Minneapolis, I took her to a little restaurant called Cafe Maude for brunch. She noted that they had a most unusual brunch menu (offering things like chorizo hash and tempura asparagus) and happily ordered a Croque Madame. I ordered the Roasted Sweet Corn Johnny Cakes with sauteed shrimp.
I never had johnny cakes before. Johnny cakes were originally made back in pioneer days. The flat cakes were a mix of cornmeal, milk, and salt - simple and inexpensive to make on the frontier. They were cooked on a griddle, or in the absence of one, on the blade of a hoe. That is why in some recipes they are called hoe cakes. This makes them sound like a Little Debbie snack cake!
When Jess got the Croque Madame she ordered, the waitress brought me the wrong order. Instead of johnny cakes she arrived with flatbread. So I sent it back and waited. Jess chowed on her sandwich while I watched. When she was done eating, I started shooting the waitress nasty looks. She stopped by once and said the kitchen was backed up. Finally, after 45 minutes, she brought out my order and said it was on the house. And even though one of the cakes was burned, they were good enough for me to forgive the poor service and plan on making my own, timely johnny cakes.
A modern johnny cake recipe, like the one in Cooking Light that I found, has more than just cornmeal, milk and salt. Fresh corn, egg, and leavening make the cakes puffy and moist. The recipe also calls for scallops, which I replaced with shrimp. The sauce, a blend of mayo, ketchup and mustard with sour cream, slightly resembled McDonald's "orange sauce", and would probably be better with just sour cream, onion and herbs.




The johnny cakes turned out beautifully and would be ideal for someone who likes cornbread and fresh corn. My favorite part was the extra shrimp that I fried up to garnish the cakes. I doused it in lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chili powder and tossed it into the pan. I added some of the leftover corn kernels and then arranged the garnish on the cakes with a scoop of sauce and some chopped chives. I don't know what took them so long at Cafe Maude...

AMERICA: A state of Dream

For somebody who aspires to travel America, there's no better good news than getting a 10 years visa grant! And that made my friend wear a huge smile on his face. While he was sharing me his blithesome moment, I suddenly pull the thread inside my brain. I just told my self, WHY NOT?! Uhu... It's time to get that plan in the parking lot. We all know that United States is currently down in terms of their economy, so giving 10 years visa to people who are very qualified to travel as tourist will be granted easily. So it's time for me to work on my plan. I want to go to US but I am not sure yet when is the best time to push thru with this dream. Now I think the universe is conspiring for me to get a US visa this early. For whatever reason, I should grab this chance now. It's better you're ready with a weapon when the war comes. So starting tomorrow I'll be working on the things I need to accomplish. :-)

We all know every person in this planet has this AMERICAN DREAM inside their heart. To step on the land of milk and honey is one big leap to fulfill their dreams. Probably I also have the same dream inside my heart. The only difference is, I don't want to live there. For me, American Dream means something else. It's a happy accident and fortunate discoveries. It's a sublime plan. My first stop would be, New York! I just really want to taste the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3 store and who knows Jonathan Trager might barge in and tell me I am your fatum. Or if fate would allow me, I'd like to chill at Brasserie de Las Halles with Bourdain. Didn't catch him when he was here. I also want to prove to Chicago that NY pizza's are better most especially the Mariella's. The MOMA, SOHO, Brooklyn, Yonkers, Arni, Pauie & Arlene are the good things I rave about NY. And lastly, one big fact: every true-blue artist should not miss to visit NY at least once in their lifetime. I'd find out soon why.

But America is not just New York, and I have few interesting motives why I want to go to this country. I want to find out if I can conquer my fear and have my skin as an art canvass by visiting the Miami ink. How about witnessing the Mardi Gras in New Orleans? So I can compare which one is better, the one in Sydney with Gay and Lesbos or their own version. After the Mardi Gras parade, I'll be marching to visit and meet peeps from the world's biggest art locker room in Hollywood, Deviantart! Hollywood for me is not meeting the stars but for "Meet ups - Meet ups." (EB for art) And lastly when I say California there's my good friends Jinx and Carlito!

Well there goes my American Dream. Pretty exciting to look forward in the days of my life to come. So everyone in this planet, never doubt about your dreams. They existed for us to make it happen. I never doubted myself I can make things happen. I can change the landscape of something that is totally bare. And to those people who doubted me and The Artsit Chef, I won't bring with me those hurtful doubts that you casted upon me.

Get well soon and Long live America!

hugs,
joanie xxx