I am cooking for vegetarians, so I found a simple Vegetable broth recipe. Title: Vegetable Broth Categories: Broth Yield: 8 servings 10 c Water 1/2 md Onion, peeled and finely -chopped 4 Carrots, peeled and chopped 4 Celery stalks, chooped 1 c Fresh parsley, finely -chopped 1/4 t Marjoram Salt to taste Pepper to taste 6 oz Tomato paste (opt) Place all the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cofer pot, and simmer for 3 hours. Strain mixture if you prefer a clear broth, if you leave vegetables in broth, you have a simple vegetable soup. Serve hot. Per serving: 23 calories, less than 1 grams fat, 1 grams protein, 0.8 milligrams iron, 5 grams carbohydrates, 28 milligrams calcium, 1.9 grams dietary fiber.

And possibly in the top 10 of Korea. There is a little Chanchi-guksu place that I go to in Jeongja. If you go out exit 1 of Jeongja station you take a right along the road and then turn left at the Nolbu, I & R Partner's building. It's a small little place and it's pretty nondescript. I must tell you though, the food is wonderful. The mandu are simply one of the best I've had in Korea. The filling is light and flavorful and the mandu skin is like fine Japanese Mochi. It is wonderful. They have wonderful cold noodle soups too. I felt that the bibim momil was a bit too hot. I'll have to try their chanchi-guksu next time. ** 2 out of 4 Dan

Damn. It went fast, but I think it was a big hit. It is a fairly simple recipe. I made a dry rub with ground coffee. Any coffee will do. I used a fairly dark, fine grind Vietnamese coffee. I mixed the coffee with ground cashews, a little sugar, salt and pepper. Turn on your oven to 400 degrees. The next thing I did was dry off the steak with some paper towels. This is really important because you want to sear the steak- not steam it. I then added some sunflower oil to a pan and got it smoking hot. I put the steaks into the coffee mixture and patted it on until it adhered. In retrospect, I would recommend you only put the coffee rub on the sides and on one side of the steak. A little flour on the other side would seal in the flavor. Put the steaks in the pan with the coffee side first until you get a nice sear- this takes 1 or 2 minutes. Then flip the steaks and throw them into the oven for 10 minutes or until done to your preferred doneness. Be sure to take the steaks out of the oven a...

Here are pictures of my students in action during the cooking class I taught last week. Pics of the food are forthcoming. Dan

I went to Daily King's Diner in Jeongja with a couple of friends of mine and my first impression was "Wow!" and then as the meal progressed I just felt like it was "meh." The interior is impressive-it's on the 5th floor of a building and there are beautiful curved windows to look out of. The concept is "The Original American Dining" and it tries to live up to that moniker. The 50's white furniture, hot rod red trim, and stainless steel fixings make you feel like you're in a Quentin Tarantino movie. It's a great atmosphere to have a pleasant chat with friends and it's quiet (something that I'm sure the management is a bit peeved about). Now the food could be better. I mean it's ok, but if I'm going to spend 16-18,000 on a hamburger then I expect it to be premium. I didn't feel like it was. I think could have been tastier. I felt like I was eating a frozen preformed burger. It was of ample size but I want the bite of b...

Simple and healthy. An omelette with a salad topped with Noah's red wine vinegarette, and a strawberry tomato smoothie for dessert. Yes, you heard me correctly: Strawberry tomato smoothie. I'm a big fan. Carol was not. Dan

For a franchise restaurant, it’s not bad. Once you get past the gimmicky name, “Mad for Garlic,” you realize that this is a place that has reliable and fun Italian food- and there are even some standout dishes. This is a great restaurant to take a crowd (the vast menu has something for everyone) and the stylish interior is great for a date. I am a sucker for novelty. And when I went to “Mad for Garlic” I decided to simply have fun. My date and I started out with the Dracula Killer: roasted garlic with anchovies served with baguette. I thought it was a bit too oily, but the subtle sweetness of the garlic paired well with the fish. My date loved it and sent the waiter for more and more bread so she could get at every drop of the garlicky oil. The Sautéed Fresh Mussels was another nice starter, but I would stay away from the Garlic Fondue. The amount of cheese given was an utter disappointment and where were the fondue forks? On to course two: Fresh Spinach Salad. So do garlic, bacon, ...

Dramatic Gopher, Afro Ninja, Diet Coke and Mentos,Leave Britney Alone!, Tay Zonday, Daft Hands and much more! Only Weezer could pull off something this awesome. Dan

The little girl is amazing. I am so envious! I need to study harder! Dan

I'm figuring to Korea in the next month, it will be announced. I will buy one and then I will be happy^^ Dan

Here's a very specific and through evaluation of Dutch Processed Chocolate versus Cocoa Powder. I found it pretty enlightening. Recently I rummaged through my chocolate collection, looking for a snack. As always, the chocolate-bar cupboard was well stocked. There were various Pound Plus bars from Trader Joe's, a Venezuelan 70-percent criollo bar from Chocovic, and some unsweetened Scharffen Berger bars for making brownies. As I broke off a square of Chocovic, I noticed my lone can of Hershey's cocoa powder, and found myself wondering: Was I missing the potential of cocoa powder just because it has zero snack potential? The short answer, it turns out, is yes. And now I have a cocoa-powder collection to rival my chocolate-bar stash, and a new understanding of this neglected ingredient. Here’s the long answer, aka The Mamster’s Cocoa-Powder FAQ. Clockwise from top: Penzeys Dutched cocoa powder, Green & Black organic natural cocoa powder, and Penzeys natural cocoa powder. W...