Kimchi Fried Rice

The other day, I opened the refrigerator and realized that we had a lot of kimchi.  Of course in my mind, that means one thing - kimchi fried rice.  I pulled out a one pound slab of pork belly and got right to work.

{pork belly}

I had a few other items on hand that I could have thrown in like shrimp and a little beef, but I didn't want them getting in way of the pork belly goodness.  The result was delicious.  Mmm... pork belly.  

    

Damn you, Taylor Swift.

I'd like to take a break from talking about food and travel and all the other mundane but no-less-significant aspects of my life to talk about Taylor Swift.

I want to say upfront that I'm not a hater.  I actually think she's a decent role model for young girls.  Or at the very least, a net-neutral in the grand scheme of things.  She's not a chronic panty-flasher, and she has the good sense not to be photographed while completely intoxicated.  Not yet at least.  Sure, she's a serial dater, but let's be honest - she's no different from more than half the girlfriends you had when you were 19.  They'd go out with a guy, be convinced they're completely in love, talk about him non-stop, and three months later, the relationship crashes and burns in a blaze of glory.  For a week and a half, you endure the nightly 4 hour phone calls during which they rehash every minute aspect of the failed relationship.  Then one day, someone new enters the picture.  Refresh.  Repeat.  The only difference is that Taylor Swift's version of the 4 hour phone call is a new single that gets played ad nauseum on the radio.    

So why the mini-rant against Taylor Swift?  I've had her music stuck in my head for the last 4 months, that's why.

It first started with this.  The first time I heard it, I thought, "Oh boy, this is such a teen pop kind of song."  But nonetheless, I thought it was a cute song.  I wasn't about to run out and download it on iTunes, but it didn't offend me either.  I did remember worrying about how catchy the song seemed.  Too catchy.  My instincts were right.  Suddenly, it was playing in my head at the most inopportune times.  Like at work.  During a meeting.  With my boss.  "...weee-EEEEE are never ever ever getting baaaack together...."  For me, the only way to get rid of a song that is stuck in my head is to play it over and over again until my brain is sick of the song and essentially wipes it from its memory.  It seems counter intuitive, but it's the only way that works for me.  Unfortunately, the catchier the song, the longer it takes.  So for weeks (WEEKS!), this is all I listened to.

Damn you, Taylor Swift.

Then, right as I was able to move on with my life and resume listening to normal music, she released this.  It was like Groundhog's Day all over again.  Now I have this stuck in my head.  My inner monologue has been replaced by a stream of Taylor Swift lyrics.  Have you ever really listened to what she's saying in her songs?  It's really not that deep.  One of my friends characterized her music best by saying every time Taylor Swift needs a new song, she goes to her diary from when she was 12 years old and tears out a page to use as lyrics.  It's that level of deepness (or lack thereof) that is going through my head during work meetings, conversations with friends, mealtimes.  I think I reached a new low the other day while trying to meditate in shavasana (or as it's known to some people, post-yoga naptime) after a yoga class when this song popped into my head.  At full volume.  Aaaahh!

Damn you, Taylor Swift.

What happened to the guitar strumming, vaguely country singing girl from 2009?  Her music didn't bore a hole in my head.  The new pop-inspired incarnation of Taylor Swift is EVERYWHERE.  Her music is on the radio, on TV, in commercials.  Even the annoying pop-up ads on my computer play her songs.  The other day, I tried to combat the constant drone in my head of "...I knew you were trouble when you walked iiiiiinnnn...." by listening to nearly anything and everything else.  The result was me having a really strange mash-up of Muse, Imagine Dragons, Adele, Beethoven, and Kanye stuck in my head.  So it appears I have no choice but to continue with my original strategy of listening to this song on repeat until I can get it un-stuck in my head.     

Damn you, Taylor Swift.

Red Snapper with Fennel and Tomatoes

This is one of the first recipes I ever made.  I was at home for the summer after my freshman year of college, and one day, I was struck with a sudden urge for fish.  I remember wanting something very light and Mediterranean.  Something with olives, capers, and tomatoes.  I found this recipe and thought it was absolutely perfect.  It's been so long that I really cannot recall where I found it.  This was before the days of 24/7 Food Networks shows, and we hadn't quite reached the age of Googling everything yet, so my best guess is that this recipe came from a magazine.  Maybe Saveur?

{fennel}

I never bothered to peel my tomatoes previously, but this time, I decided to give it a try.  To be honest, I don't think it makes a tremendous amount of difference.  I suppose it was nice that there were no tomato skins in the sauce, but I don't think I would have noticed if they were there either.  Maybe if I'm preparing this dish for guests, I'll make the added effort but when it's just for a quick dinner, I'd rather save the time. 

{tomatoes}

{sauce}

I had originally planned on making something else for dinner, but as I was walking by the fish section in Whole Foods, I saw them putting out these really beautiful, fresh snappers.  I'm the first to admit that I am not an expert when it comes to choosing the best fish.  I only know the basics - check for a clear, glassy, non-milky eye and make sure it smells fresh, not fishy.  After that, your guess is as good as mine.  But with these snappers, it was very obvious they were extremely fresh.  I asked to have them filleted, because although I love cooking whole fish, it is a little tedious to eat.  Sometimes I make this recipe with the whole fish.  It tastes even better that way, but I save that for nights when I have the time for a leisurely dinner.  For week nights, a fillet works just fine.

{red snapper}

{snapper with tomatoes}

I've mentioned before that one of my tried-and-true litmus tests for knowing whether or not a recipe will taste good is to see if it involves fennel or shallots.  Not only was this one of the first recipes I ever made, it was definitely the first time I cooked with fennel, and it rocked my world.  Since that day, I have been in love with fennel, and it has never failed me.

{with quinoa}

Red Snapper with Fennel and Tomatoes (serves 6, adapted from someone, somewhere)

4 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium fennel bulbs, chopped (about 8 cups)
6 tomatoes, cut into 3/4-inch-thick wedges, seeded
1/2 cup Niçoise olives
12 anchovy fillets, chopped
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/4 cup chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
6 5-ounce red snapper fillets

*Preheat oven to 400°F.  Heat 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat.

*Add fennel.  Cook until almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

*Transfer fennel to bowl (do not clean skillet).

*Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over high heat.

*Add tomatoes and next 6 ingredients and sauté 2 minutes.  Mix in stock.

*Spoon half of fennel into 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish.  Top with fish, then remaining fennel. Spoon tomato mixture over.  Bake until fish is just opaque in center, about 20 minutes.

Utah

A few weeks ago, I went on vacation by myself.  I had never traveled solo before, and I wanted to try it partly to see if I would like it and partly to prove to myself that I could do it.  I chose a resort in a very remote little corner of Utah.  As evidenced by the photographs, it was sublime.

 {view}

 {sun}

 {cave}

 {my perch}

{view from said perch}

 

Snow

Oh yeah.  It snowed a few weeks ago.

{pasha}

{stuck inside}

 {snow}

 {morning after}

Valentine's Day

Last Thursday, the first thought that ran through my head when I woke up was, "Ah crap.  I really should have ordered Mom flowers for Valentine's Day."  So of course I was one of those obnoxious people who called their florist at 9am on Valentine's Day begging him to put together just one more last minute order.  However, I won him over when I mentioned that the flowers were for my mom.  All of the sudden, the man on the other line started speaking very animatedly in his vaguely nondescript European accent.  "Ah!  For your mother!  Mothers must have flowers on Valentine's Day!  Yes yes I make you flowers!  Very beautiful!"

I stopped by later in the evening to pick up my order just as they were putting it together, so I even got to help choose what went into the bouquet - anemones, hyacynth, peonies, and other flowers whose names I have forgotten.  I wanted to give my mother a beautiful bouquet of flowers that looked like a bunch of freshly picked wildflowers.  I said she loved pink and peach tones in her flowers which is exactly what I got.  I think they did a fantastic job.  My mom still talk about how much she loves her flowers (and quietly admits to me that she likes them much more than the two dozen gorgeous red long stem roses that my dad got her).

{flowers}

{bouquet}

Ravel

Isn't she so cute??  Yeah, I'm obsessed.

{ravel}

Paul

This past weekend, I went to visit my friends who live in the DC area.  Shortly after I arrived, I was standing in their kitchen talking to them when I noticed a bag on their counter that I recognized.  It said "Paul Maison de Qualité Fondée en 1889."  I was in the middle of a conversation, but I immediately stopped mid-sentence and said, "WHAT.  IS.  THAT."

To understand my reaction, I have to explain my most recent trip to Asia.  A few months ago, my sister and I were together in Singapore.  Obviously, the best part of being in Singapore is the great food.  Great Asian food - noodles, curries, chicken rice....  But one of my favorite spots was actually a French bakery.  Paul is on the second floor of the Takashimaya building on Orchard Road, and there is almost always a line.  They have fantastic pastries.  The croissants rival ones that I've had in Paris.  I assumed I would have to wait until I was in Singapore again to enjoy the deliciousness of Paul.

{pastries}

Back to me standing in my friends' kitchen with my mouth wide open (and possibly drooling), because I was staring at a Paul bag.  My friends said that it was a new bakery that had recently opened in the Tysons II mall.  They even offered me the last croissant.  I hesitated because I didn't want to take away their last croissant, but I was assured they could always go back and get more.  I took the croissant and couldn't even wait to be offered a plate to eat it on.  I was already inhaling my buttery, flaky croissant over the sink.  (Ok, in my defense, I had just finished a five-hour drive without much of a dinner.)

{paul}

I have big plans to visit my friends often, because their new baby needs to know who her favorite auntie is.  Now, not only do I get to see one of my favorite babies, I have the added bonus of treating myself to delicious pastries!

{pastries}

Paul
in Tysons II Galleria
2001 International Drive
McLean, VA 22102      

I ♥ NY

{subway}

Luke's Lobster

A few summers ago, a friend and I decided to go looking for the best lobster roll in the city.  We got as far as having lobster rolls at the Red Hook Lobster Pound stand in Dumbo, but then we got distracted by enormous ice cream cones from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. 

Having grown up in New England, I always thought of lobster rolls as a quintessential summer food.  But then I discovered Luke's Lobster in the Food Halls at the Plaza.  I've occasionally gone to the Luke's Lobster location in the East Village, but it's one of those places that I only go to if I'm literally walking past it.  In contrast, I'm often in the vicinity of the Plaza, because Bergdorf Goodman, aka The Mothership, is right next door.  What better way to top off an afternoon of shopping than to stop by Luke's Lobster for a snack.  Rain, sun, snow shine, sleet, hail... I'm always in the mood for a good lobster roll.    

{luke's lobster}

{lobster roll}

Luke's Lobster at the Plaza Food Hall
1 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019
(646) 755-3227