Semiserious Chefs

These wonderful and slightly pink treats are tasty and ‘cute’ if you could describe bacon in such a way. A perfect breakfast in bed for Mom, or snipped into bite-sized finger food at a baby shower. Now I’m not saying that these should only be served to the ladies, it just happened to have been […]

So it took me forever to track down decent translations of the Thai words ต้มข่า, tôm khàa, or ‘boiled/soup galangal’. You see you don’t ever see them alone. It’s always ต้มข่าไก่, tôm khàa kài, ‘galangal soup with chicken.’ But I don’t want ‘with chicken’! What I wanted to make available was a vegetarian Thai coconut […]

  Yeah, I know that calling it ‘bread’ seems like a knock-off, but I’m not sure what else to call it. You use it like bread. I had the same problem when trying to make the duxelles ‘meatballs.’ If you call them Meatless Balls, which is what they are, it just sounds neutered, and Mushroom […]

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and it started in a way I most enjoy, with a walk to the market. Okay, so our ‘market’ is just the local Fred Meyer, but it’s very close and there is a wonderful block of wild woods along the way. This particular Saturday I was blessed with the […]

This soup is so sweet and totally nutritious! There is very little prep-time involved so it’s a perfect meal for a busy day, when you need to be able to walk away from the kitchen for a little while. Adding toasted coconut really brings this soup up a notch. I highly suggest it! By adding […]

Almost everyone is familiar with kimchi. Smelly fermented cabbage, right? I’m pretty sure that most of the people who won’t touch it fall into one of two categories: “I don’t do spicy”or “Ew, cabbage! Icky!” Well, if you are a member of the latter group let me introduce you to a very pleasant option. Kkakdugi. […]

It’s pretty obvious by looking at the recipes around this one that I am on a total Korean kick. It all started when I found out what banchan even were through my discovery of Dubu Jorim. I love these little side dishes! One might be sweet, one might be spicy, this one has a ginger […]

As many of you know, at least at this time in my life, my go-to reads of choice have been cookbooks. Yes, I am currently reading other genres; several food magazines, Nat Geo, Voice of the Martyrs, and various publications about North Korea , but for the last little while I have been reading individual […]

I am absolutely addicted to the banchan of Korean cooking! These fantastic little ‘snacks’ are a staple part of every bapsang meal, usually easy to make, and each unique. So far I have been able to make dubu jorim (braised tofu), kongjang (braised soybeans) and kkakdugi (radish kimchi), but this one, gamja jorim, holds a […]

“New or Fingerling?” you ask. Yes! Either is fine. In fact they are very similar. New potatoes are just smaller under developed versions of any, otherwise normal, type of potato. They are simply picked early in the season. Baby versions of their adult counterpart. Fingerling potatoes are a particular breed of potato that stays small […]