Seoul Eats

I'm going to get my students to rewrite their 2nd drafts because they don't really improve their first beyond superficial grammatical fixes. I'm going to also have them rewrite another student's paper in order to make it even more collaborative.

I decided that I was going to make big ole pancakes and slice them up like pizza. I figured it would be a lot easier to share them this way. My pancake base was simply flour, yogurt, egg, milk and baking powder. I figured out this proportion system. For each cup of flour I add 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, 1 cup of liquids- in my case 1 cup of milk. I also added like a couple drops of lemon juice to activate the baking powder. If you want to make yogurt pancakes then omit the egg and add 1/2 cup of yogurt and 1/2 cup of milk. To this base you can bake any number of different pancakes. I made Oatmeal Raisin pancakes by adding 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, raisins, and oatmeal. Do this in a separate bowl- so you can make other kinds of pancakes. Lemon Zest and Green tea pancakes were nice too. I simply added the zest of half a lemon and then a little green tea powder. Blueberry Pancakes- add blueberry You can add any number of...

4 or 5 Steamed Sweet Potatoes. Peel away the skin and mash up. Add 4 tablespoons of sugar, 2 dollops of Sour Cream or Yogurt, 2 tablespoons of honey and cinnamon. And add hot water. It should be the consistency of mashed potatoes. Put this into a buttered tart pan and bake 30-40 minutes in the oven at 200 degrees celcius. Serve with sour cream and fruit.

Roasted Potato crust with Roasted Eggplant and Peppers. 10 whipped eggs mixed with butter and milk. Roast it in the oven at 200 degrees C for 20-25 minutes, or until eggs are set. Next time I'm going to put Rosemary and Feta Cheese.

  Use the same dressing I just mentioned and make a nice caesar salad to impress your playmates. Dan

  Back to basics. I made a decent Caesar Dressing with (shock!) Mayonnaise. I know. It's blasphemy, but I'd rather not get sick. Oh and those that keep asking me for recipes and stuff, I don't really know the measurements. I mix things up by feel and taste. I adjust from there. Simple Caesar Dressing The juice of half a lemon (microwave it after the first squeeze to get even more juice out of it.) Two spoonfuls of mayonnaise. Krafts Parmesan cheese about 1 spoonful. Two shakes of worchester sauce and one minced anchovy. Oh and about a half spoon of dijon mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. You can make a simple wrap with this with just romaine lettuce. Toss the lettuce with the dressing, just enough to coat the leaves-not drown them. I add one egg and bean sprouts to add some substance and don't forget some croutons. There's a simple, delicious lunch. Dan

  This recipe was inspired by Paula Dean. I started with a pretzel crust made with brown sugar, butter, and crushed pretzels. Then I made a cream cheese frosting with powdered sugar 1 and a half packages of Philly Cream Cheese, two small containers of blueberry yogurt, and a half teaspoon of vanilla extract. I put this on the chilled pretzel crust. Then I made Grape Jello and added blueberries and layered this on top of the cream cheese filling. And to finish it, I put whipped cream. I thought it was delicious and I think everyone else liked it too at Colette's party. I'm going to do a Breakfast dinner on Thursday. I'll have pics soon. Dan

This is my sweet potato and smoked gouda omelet. The red onions really brought it together. I am going to steam the potatoes next time to get a creamier texture. Balsamic Nectarine Salmon Wrap. This worked like a gem. The balsamic honey reduction sauce merged wonderfully with the nectarines, the pan-seared and roasted salmon, and the brown sugar roasted almonds. The sprouts were a fresh highlight as well. Blueberry Yogurt Stovecake. Not a pancake, but a stove cake. Make a really big Pancake in a pan and then sear one side and then put it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Oh, I also added a bit of lime juice to activate the baking powder. Do you think Nicole is content?

Amanda and Alison get it on!

I have a dog. Yes. I have always told everyone that I would never, ever get a pet but hey, he needed a home and I had one to provide. Lots of changes are happening in my life. Yesterday I just got a roommate too. He's a super nice guy and I think we are going to become good friends. Now for pictures of my dog! His name is Hubble and he's a Maltese. These days he's becoming a little man, so I think I'm going to have to get him fixed. He's super sweet and we always sleep together. He's always happy when company is around and he becomes super ecstatic every time I get home. (The keyword for today is Super.) He used to have long hair, but I got it chopped because it was too hot and unmanageable. That's my friend Ji-kyeong from Gyeong-ju.

It's so nice having a kitchen again. I'm thinking of doing a weekly dinner party. My friend Yoonmi, who is also my Korean teacher, came over last week. I think she enjoyed the food.^^ The tart that you see is a raspberry and blueberry tart with a citrus glaze on a pretzel crust. There is a Salmon Burrito. The Salad was pretty nice. It is Pear, Almond Salad with a Balsamic Honey Glaze. The noodles are lightly seasoned with curry powder. The Salmon was simply pan seared and roasted. It's served with a olive brushetta.

Here's an article that I wrote for a magazine. MacGyvering a Lesson It's Sunday night. You are staring up at the ceiling realizing that tomorrow you are going to be the shepherd of howling hooligans yelling "Teacher GAME!" and it fills you with dread. These days Simon says, "Jaemi-oppso," the students have already stolen all the monopoly money, and you've lynched the entire populous of stick figures. You think back to your first day of hagwon hell, after you just flew into the country, and felt the shock of being in the sweltering, cramp armpit of Korea. It was an exciting time, remember? Then, jet-lagged and not even unpacked, your kind director took you into a classroom and said, "Teach" as if he was animating clay to life. You got through the first couple months on charm, wit, and the games you used to play as a kid, but now...; you are out of ideas and numb from the screams and cries of kids suffering from EAS (English ...

The sky was turning into one delicious tomato. But say you earned 2 million won from the streets, after you heard about your friend's death.

I am Sooooo going to buy this when it comes out. I'm getting the 16 Gig. You know my birthday and Christmas is coming up guys. Who wants to get me a Christmas present? Dan

I am taking a short break from blogger while I pursue some other projects. I am trying to write an article about my search for my birth parents. I'm realizing I'm having a bit of trouble with this. Lots of big changes. I love the new apartment. I am starting to get into a schedule. Oh and did I mention that I got a dog? Yep. Pictures will follow at some point. Dan