Date Night : Bibimbap with Asian Marinated Flank Steak, Kimchi Fried Rice, Sautéed Vegetables, & Sweet Gochujang Sauce

Wow, I'm just now realizing that I haven't posted a date night recipe in a while. That's sad. But hey, I'm posting one now, that counts for something. Do y'all love the whole Asian taco craze right now? We sure do. One of our favorite places to go that features this fusion is Hankook Taqueria in Atlanta. If y'all are ever in Atlanta for the weekend, I seriously recommend that you go there. Alton Brown actually featured it on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network. The tacos are great, but I personally prefer their Bulgogi nachos, sesame french fries, and Bibimbap. And for a while now, I've been itchin' to recreate one of their dishes at home. Well, we finally got inspired to make Bibimbap, which is pretty much a bowl of rice, vegetables, some kind of meat, and an egg. It really is up to you on how you make it, and that's why I like it. The first thing that I knew I wanted to make was Asian Marinated Flank Steak because that's just the perfect component. We like our steak seared to medium or medium-rare, but you can cook yours anyway you like. At the bottom of the bowl, we scooped a heaping amount of bacon-kimchi fried rice to serve as the base. This rice is super delish people. So, don't leave it out. Now, the vegetables, that's solely up to you. We used carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach. But, other popular choices are squash, bean sprouts, or onions. Just pick your favorites and cook 'em up! We topped our Bibimbap with a fried egg and a drizzle of sweet Gochujang sauce. These are important components, so don't leave them out. And if you don't know what Gochujang is, it's a Korean condiment that is similar to Ketchup, but somewhat spicy like Sriracha. I know this may seem like a crazy dish, but it all totally works. It's like a really fancy fried rice, yummmm!! Enjoy :)

Bibimbap with Asian Marinated Flank Steak 

Don't Forget the Fried Egg + Sweet Gochujang Sauce!

For the Asian Marinated Flank Steak:

½C Soy Sauce

½C Cooking Sherry

4T Honey

2T Sesame Oil

2T Fresh Ginger, Minced

3 Cloves Fresh Garlic, Minced

½t Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 Whole Flank Steak

Hoisin Sauce, For Glazing

For the Kimchi Fried Rice:

1t Sesame Oil

1T Vegetable Oil

1T Chili-Garlic Sriracha

3 Slices of Thick Cut Bacon, Cut into Small Pieces & Fried until Crispy

2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

3 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced

2T Soy Sauce

¾C Kimchi, Chopped

3C Leftover White Rice

For the Sweet Gochujang Sauce:

1T Gochujang & Rice Wine Vinegar

1T Honey

1t Soy Sauce, Brown Sugar, Sesame Oil

1t Toasted Sesame Seeds

For the Bibimbap:

Prepared Kimchi Fried Rice

Asian Marinated Flank Steak, Thinly Sliced

Sautéed Carrots, Zucchini, Fried Spinach Bean Sprouts, & Mushrooms

Fried Eggs

Fresh Minced Chives or Green Onions, For Garnishing

Prepared Sweet Gochujang Sauce, For Drizzling

Directions:

1. To Marinate the Asian Flank Steak: Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until incorporated. Remove the flank steak from the package and rinse it off. Place the meat into a plastic big and pour the marinade over the meat. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight preferably. Remove the steak from the marinade and place on a plate, and let it come to room temperature, about 1 hour.
2. To Cook the Asian Flank Steak: Heat a grill pan on high heat. When the pan is extremely hot, place the steak on a slight angle. Cook without touching for about 2 minutes. Rotate the meat about 45 degrees, keeping it on the same side, and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Flip the meat over and cook it using the same method used previously, and for a total cook time of 5-8 minutes for medium-rare. Glaze the meat with the hoisin sauce while the meat is cooking. Remove the meat to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Once it has rested, thinly slice the meat against the grain. Keep it warm until ready to serve.
3. To Make the Kimchi Fried Rice: In a medium bowl, combine the rice and chili-garlic sauce. Mix until the rice is evenly covered in the sauce, set aside. In a large fry pan or wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and green onions until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and mix everything together well. Use a spatula to flatten the rice against the pan, and keep still for about 3 - 5 minutes to let the rice get crispy. Repeat until the rice is evenly crispy. Next, add the soy sauce and sesame oil, adding more to taste, stir well. Mix in the crumbled bacon and chopped Kimchi. Keep warm until ready to serve.
4. To Make the Gochujang Sauce: Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth and incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
5. For the Bibimbap: Scoop some of the Kimchi fried rice into a large bowl. Top the rice with all of the sautéed vegetables & sliced flank steak around the bowl, leaving a spot in the middle. Place the crispy soft poached egg in the center. Garnish with a drizzle of the Gochujang sauce on top of all the components.  Serve warm.

Fried Zucchini Sticks with Pink Sauce

Another football weekend is headed our way, our last week before college football starts, yay! This is pretty much preseason for tailgatin'. I can't wait to share all my favorite appetizers & snacks. Anyway, this is recipe is a great dipping classic. And it's fried. You can't get better than fried food. These zucchini sticks are perfectly crunchy on the outside, but still soft in the center. I also love dipping them into pink sauce instead of marinara (which is what it is typically served with). Go dirty birds!! Enjoy :)

Fried Zucchini Sticks with Pink Sauce

For the Pink Sauce:

2C Prepared Leftover Marinara Sauce

½C Light Cream

½t Red Pepper Flakes 

For the Fried Zucchini Sticks:

1 Large Zucchini, Cut into Sticks & Patted Dry

2C AP Flour

2 Eggs

¼C Milk

3C Panko Breadcrumbs

1C Parmesan, Grated

Salt, For Sprinkling

Olive Oil, For Frying

Directions:

1. To Make the Pink Sauce: In a large saucepan, heat the leftover marinara over medium heat. Whisk in the cream until smooth. Add in the red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to low and let the sauce simmer while you make the zucchini sticks.
2. To Make the Fried Zucchini Sticks: Slice the zucchini to about sticks and pat them dry. Next, you have to set up a battering station. I use 3 pie tins. For the first station, I mix the flour. For the second station, I whisk together the eggs and milk. For the third station, pour the contents of one box of Panko breadcrumbs with the grated Parmesan. Now, place the slices of zucchini into the flour mixture, then into the egg wash, and finally the panko (making sure they are completely covered). Put the breaded slices on a tin foil-lined baking sheet with a cooling rack on top, and then put the pan into the refrigerator and let the sticks rest for about 15-30 minutes. In a medium sauté pan, heat about 2 inches of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil has heated, fry the zucchini sticks for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden-brown & crispy. Place them onto a baking sheet & sprinkle with salt. Keep them warm in the oven while you fry the rest of your zucchini.
3. To Serve the Fried Zucchini Sticks: Serve the zucchini sticks hot with the warm Pink Sauce and enjoy immediately.

Zucchini Parmesan Stacks

I'm not much of a gardener, but my mom, Peej, is. She always has a million flowers in bloom and a huge garden full of vegetables. So, last week she brought me three HUGE zucchinis that she had grown. So, I tossed & turned trying to decide on what to make with these big babies. I ended up making Zucchini Parmesan Stacks and a few other things that I will post later on this week. I have always loved anything parmesan (especially eggplant), so I knew this would be good. I fried the zucchini in panko, so that it was extra-crispy, and then stacked them with homemade marinara sauce, fresh basil leaves, and gooey mozzarella. The dinner turned out great... I might actually prefer this over eggplant now! Enjoy :)

Zucchini Parmesan Stacks

For the Marinara:

2 15oz Cans of Whole, Peeled Tomatoes (I used San Marzano)

1 6oz Can of Tomato Paste

4T Fresh Parsley, Chopped

2T Fresh Garlic, Minced

1t Dried Oregano

1t Salt

¼t Black Pepper

6T Olive Oil

½C Sweet Onion, Finely Chopped

½C White Wine

6 Basil Leaves, Roughly Chopped

  

For the Zucchini:

1 Large Zucchini, Cut into ½inch Thick Slices

2C AP Flour

2 Eggs

¼C Milk

3C Panko Breadcrumbs

1C Parmesan, Grated

Salt, For Sprinkling

Olive Oil, For Frying

For the Zucchini Parmesan:

Fried Zucchini Slices

Prepared Marinara

Thick Slices of Fresh Mozzarella

Fresh Basil Leaves (plus some chopped for garnish)

Olive Oil, For Garnish

Balsamic Vinegar, For Garnish

 

Directions:

1. To Make the Marinara: In a food processor place Italian tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped parsley, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. In a large skillet, over medium heat, sauté the finely chopped onion in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the blended tomato sauce and white wine. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, and then add in the fresh basil. Keep on low heat until ready to stack your zucchini parmesan.
2. To Make the Zucchini: Slice the zucchini to about ½inch thick. Next, you have to set up a battering station. I use 3 pie tins. For the first station, I mix the flour. For the second station, I whisk together the eggs and milk. For the third station, pour the contents of one box of Panko breadcrumbs with the grated Parmesan. Now, place the slices of zucchini into the flour mixture, then into the egg wash, and finally the panko (making sure they are completely covered). Put the breaded slices on a tin foil-lined baking sheet with a cooling rack on top, and then put the pan into the refrigerator and let the slices rest for about 15-30 minutes. In a medium sauté pan, heat about 2 inches of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil has heated, fry the zucchini slices for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden-brown & crispy. Place them onto a baking sheet & sprinkle with salt. Keep them warm in the oven while you fry the rest of your zucchini.
3. To Make the Zucchini Parmesan Stacks: Stack the fried zucchini in a baking dish with the marinara sauce, fresh basil leaves, and mozzarella. Sprinkle with some Parmesan and broil in the oven until the cheese has melted and it has started to turn golden-brown. Serve on a plate with more fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

source: marinara sauce.

Chocolate Chip-Banana-Zucchini Bread

Happy Mother's Day (to all the mothers out there)

but most importantly to my darling mother, Peej 

Here are some pictures of us over the years...

Christmas 2010

Garden Dinner with Peej & Eloise

Walking around Forsyth Park in Savannah

Spring Break 2007

Anyway, I decided that I would make one of my mom's recipes in honor of Mother's Day, and she has so many recipes. There's no organization to them, just baggies and boxes of all of them. So, I went through to see what I should make, and I came across Banana Zucchini Bread, which I happened to have 3 zucchinis and 2 bananas, so that seemed like a logical choice. And I have never made zucchini bread before because honestly, I don't know how I feel about a vegetable being in sweet dessert. But she reassured me that you really don't taste the zucchini, it just makes the bread more moist and that she just loves the little green flecks that are scattered throughout the bread. Here's the old recipe that I found. Apparently I wanted to cook way before I actually knew it because I was obviously already trying to re-write her recipe by the looks of my orange marker, typical. I'm not quite sure what I was trying to write or do, maybe I was trying to add a little color... I tend to do that, hence the tattoos on my body. I also made the bread in her old, vintage loaf pan, just because it makes it that much better.

Peej's Old Recipe Card

Old Loaf Pan

Well, the recipe turned out really good (I halved her recipe to only make one loaf), I messed around with it a little bit, adding a few more things and more importantly mini-chocolate chips (yum). But she definitely gave what she promised. The bread was super moist, not too sweet, and I do have to agree with the pretty little green flecks. And the chocolate chips are optional of course, but when do you ever turn down chocolate? I don't. Enjoy the bread!

Banana Zucchini Bread with Mini Chocolate Chips

For the Bread:

1C Ripe Bananas, Mashed

1C Zucchini, Grated & Squeezed Dry

1 ½C AP Flour

½C Vegetable Oil

¾C Sugar

2T Sour Cream

1 Egg, Beaten

1t Baking Soda

½t Baking Powder

1t Cinnamon

¼t Nutmeg

¼t Ground Ginger

1t Vanilla

½t Salt

½C Mini Chocolate Chips, Optional

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a loaf pan with Pam.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, oil, egg, vanilla, and mix. Then another bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.

3. Next, fold in the grated zucchini and mini chocolate chips until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake the bread for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on your oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean.

5. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove it and let it completely cool on a cooling rack.