First Homemade Kimchi of 2013

My Yukgaejang: Day 2

I woke up this morning to a vision of floating fat.

So I cracked thru the top layer and scooped up as much as necessary...keeping flavor at the forefront!

Now, the broth is ready to go back in the fridge until dinner but what to do with the bowl of tallow?

Smoke N Grill Time!

My son saved his allowance and surprised me with this mini-smoker/grill contraption for Christmas. :)

I'm planning to test many Korean BBQ inspired concepts with the newest acquisition to my R&D arsenal, but first, I need to season it for longevity's sake...after which, I'm gonna smoke pork shoulder and short ribs to test a few sandwich ideas I've been mulling over in my mind for some time.  

I Dream of Yukgaejang

I don't go the traditional route with the soaking and boiling technique most Korean cooks tend to use for beef soups. Instead, I salt and pepper whatever bones I'm using, roast them in the oven for 20-30 minutes until browned, then cover them with water and whatever aromatics I choose to grace the pot. This evening, I used vidalia onions, a head of garlic, leeks, carrots, and beef ribs, which I tend to prefer as the foundational ingredient for beef based soups. The flavor profile and overall tenderness of ribmeat surpasses that of flank according to my palate, so I decided to recalibrate Seoulstice Yukgaejang to my taste. We shall see how my soup measures up in the making tomorrow night, but for now, I'm still braising the base at 1:54 am while my son slumbers the night away.

I checked the stock at 2:30ish and the meat was cooked to perfection, so I removed the bones, strained away the unnecessaries, made a post-midnight snack w/ one rib (it's no wonder most chefs grow a lil round around the middle), and am cooling it until refrigeration makes sense. One needs a day or two to properly separate the fat from the soup , so I'm going to sleep with the hope that a delicious beef broth will be awaiting my attention in the morning. 

Protection

This girl I know needs some shelter
She don't believe anyone can help her
She's doing so much harm, doing so much damage
But you don't want to get involved
You tell her she can manage
And you can't change the way she feels
But you could put your arms around her

I know you want to live yourself
But could you forgive yourself
If you left her just the way
You found her

I stand in front of you
I'll take the force of the blow
Protection

I stand in front of you
I'll take the force of the blow
Protection

You're a boy and i'm a girl
But you know you can lean on me
And I don't have no fear
I'll take on any man here
Who says that's not the way it should be

I stand in front of you
I'll take the force of the blow
Protection

I stand in front of you
I'll take the force of the blow
Protection

She's a girl and you're a boy
Sometimes you look so small, look so small
You've got a baby of your own
When your baby's gone, she'll be the one
To catch you when you fall

I stand in front of you
I'll take the force of the blow
Protection

I stand in front of you
I'll take the force of the blow
Protection

You're a girl and i'm a boy [x4]

Sometimes you look so small, need some shelter
Just runnin' round and round, helter skelter
And I've leaned on me for years
Now you can lean on me
And that's more than love, that's the way it should be
Now I can't change the way you feel
But I can put my arms around you
That's just part of the deal
That's the way I feel
I'll put my arms around you

I stand in front of you
I'll take the force of the blow
Protection

I stand in front of you
I'll take the force of the blow
Protection

You're a boy and i'm a girl [x4]

un simple histoire

Thievery Corporation is doing me right tonight! 

OUR DUTIES ARE IN RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER

Feel unique in roiling solitude? Oh, you are not alone

though you may feel fallen, snow up your nose. Join

             with others in your dank reclusion.

How do you find something worth saying?

How do you find desire to find desire

              to find something worth saying?

And yes. That is where you might be: twice —

or is it thrice — removed in a receding

              mirror of acedia. Finding a way to

find a way to want to find a way back in

to conversation. This is what negative numbers

              (a negative soul) feel like: You want to want to want ...

If   you go back far enough — lateral excavation —

will you hit bone? So many converging lines yakking

             to themselves over a haywire switchboard

you used to find out who you were through

cookie crumbs tossed down your own path.

              Now that you have no crumbs, don’t

even have pockets to turn out—only the memory

of such acts, such things. How weary, stale, and

              profligate it seems to be to plasticize these

lines. You’re in a hamless state of mind.

Now get out and talk to anyone your age: Like you

              they’ve all got Death studded on the tongue, which

livelies up the talk they walk.

Sharon Dolin