Open Sesame: Korean Bar-be-Que

Kind of in a food mood this week, considering last week's quandary.

As you may recall, I recently was at a loss over what to cook for dinner. You know, since my peeps are away, and all. May of you wonderful friends had the 4-1-1 for my 9-1-1, so now my recipe box has been replenished. Thanks!

One of the more interesting~and tasty~recipes I received was from friend Tara R., over at If Mom Says OK.

This dish is called Bulgogi. Translated, that's Korean Bar-be-Que. And although the flank steak is prepared on a grill, there's not much BBQ-ish about it at all. But it's spicy and tasty, and I'd like to share:

Bulgogi
1 pound flank steak
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sesame oil (can substitute ½ cup sesame oil, and ½ cup canola oil)
2 cups low sodium soy sauce (regular is too salty)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1-3 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (to taste, depending on how hot you like it)
2 cups jasmine rice, cooked
Season beef with salt and pepper.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Place meat in a shallow pan, pour marinade over the meat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or over night. (Tara R. puts the steak into a heavyduty plastic freezer bag and pours the marinade into the bag, remembering to turn the bag over occasionally for even marinading.) Remove beef from marinade, and bring to room temperature. Pour leftover marinade into heavy saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil and cook for 6-8 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

Preheat grill. Grill the steak a few minutes on each side to desired degree of doneness. Remove from grill, let sit for a couple minutes, then cut into very thin slices. Serve over hot rice and garnish with hot marinade.

Tara R. also turned me on to sautéing some cabbage in the marinade to serve with the steak. She suggested pre-cut cole slaw mix, if we couldn't find Bok Choy, which is Korean cabbage. I took it one step farther, and sautéd broccoli slaw. Can you say delish?

Tara cautions that "Sesame oil can be an acquired taste. It can be a little overpowering," she says. "If you’re not sure if you will like the full flavor of this oil, you can ‘cut’ the sesame oil, 1:1 with canola oil. If you prefer chicken, you can substitute four boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the flank steak."

For more mouthwatering recipes, or "receipts," as my Nana used to say, please visit Rachel, From the Land of Monkeys and Princesses.

101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix

To enter the fantabulous POPrs Give It Away Now Blog Carnival Contest, please click here. Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday!

No, I can't claim credit for this. I was checking out some new blogs yesterday, and came upon Shawn. Her site, Swaneesinger, is an eclectic collection of observations, memories and ~ you guessed it ~ recipes.

I'm snagging this one for you, Dear Readers, because I know you especially like those Retro Recipes. This one comes from a special cookbook, entitled 101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix, by Stephanie Ashcraft. Puts me in mind of my Nana and her creations.

This recipe, of course, is adaptable. Please give it a whirl, and let me know what you think. We'll be baking it in Aunt Julie's Kitchen, for sure!

Dump Cake

1 White or Yellow Cake Mix
1 Can (29 oz.) sliced peaches with juice
1/2 stick of butter or margarine, thinly sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan. Spread half of the cake mix evenly in bottom of pan. Pour can of sliced peaches and juice evenly over the cake mix (Shawn also sometimes uses a bit of cinnamon). Cover the peaches with the rest of the cake mix, then slice the margarine or butter on top. Bake 50 minutes, or until golden brown. Top the Dump Cake with either whipping cream or ice cream.

Shawn says she's also used different kinds of pie filling as the central ingredient in Dump Cake, and has even made this recipe as cupcakes. Thanks to Shawn for putting this out there for all of us to share. Hope you enjoy it!

Hats Off to the Kentucky Derby!

You all know that Derby Day was Saturday and that the 50-1 long shot, Mine That Bird, won the solid gold trophy in the Run for the Roses. And I'm sure that Aunt Julie was tickled to death that the trainer hauled that horse to Louisville, 21 hours in a trailer. Auntie J. has a thing for cowboys, you see.

I've always thought, though, that the most fascinating part of the Derby was the hats, not the horses. The Derby...seriously, now...is a haberdasher's dream come true. In fact, when I was a wee one, I thought that this most-famous of American horse races was named for the hats. I used to watch with my Nana every year. We weren't looking at horseflesh; we were betting on how much the ladies' headgear cost them.

Every year, of course, someone has to outdo everyone else. From this year's selections, I really liked the effort made by some of the men. Hats off to Saturday's winners!

SWS: Queen for a Day?

The Lovely Mannequin from Fractured Toy is such an Awesome Bloggy Friend. She passed this shiny trinket along to me. I've always loved tiaras and crowns, you know!

First of all, though, my Six Words:

Thanks So Much, My Friend Mannequin!

I'm accepting this award with a Royal Decree, of course: I have been ordered by Queen Mannequin to tell you Seven Awesome Things about me, and told that I must pass this bling thing along to Seven Awesome Bloggers.

Hmmmmmmmm...Let's see.

1. When I was in high school, I received a "perfect" score on the verbal section of the SATs...twice. I'm an avid reader. I could spend all day with my nose in a book!

2. I love learning new things. Whether it's how to make the POPrs go POP! or how to get that sweet crown in this award to twinkle in the Blog Lights, I want to know!

3. I have visited six of the seven continents and have no interest in visiting Antarctica...although I do love Emperor Penguins!

4. I have been married longer than some of you have been alive. Seriously.

5. I have a tender heart. Lost kittens and puppies often come to know me well.

6. I'm an excellent cook, and pride myself on putting at least four "real" meals on the dinner table for my family each week.

7. I know how to say the alphabet backwards. My Nana taught me. I used to know how to sing it backwards, but have lost that skill with age.

Before I name the recipients of the Queen of All Things Awe-Summm! Award, let me first say that each and every one of you deserves this. But I must pick seven, so here goes:

Zander & Me

Art on a Limb

Holding Patterns

Honest and Truly!

The Journey

If Mom Says OK

Jeannie's Happy World

Oh, and forgot to tell you ~ I'm playing along today with Cate and Six-Word Saturday, hosted at Show My Face. Enjoy!

Just Like Nana Used to Make

My Nana lived large, if you know what I mean. Her personality could envelope~sometimes smother~a room. Her bunions knew no peers. She dealt dozens of card games with her grandkids, from Poker to Canasta to Rummy to Spit.

And she loved to cook, plus take a "taste test" every so often. Well, more than just occasionally. Because of this, my Nana was a little thick around the middle.

The first recipe that I recall from Nana's vast repertoire was the "1, 2, 3, 4 Cake." She'd recite the recipe~she called them "receipts"~in a thick mid-Alabama drawl, slightly tinged with Texas Hill County.

"One cup of butter. One cup of sugar. Three cups of flour. And four eggs!"

That part sticks in my mind, and I know she whipped up a "1, 2, 3, 4 Cake" at every opportunity. But as I got older, I started to wonder: How could a cake turn out to be so yummy with only those ingredients included?

Turns out Nana was on to something. I just didn't remember the recipe right. And even Paul Deen has a version. She calls it the "Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake."

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs (Paula's "receipt" threw me off here~isn't the flour supposed to come next?)
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4 inches above counter, then dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely and spread cake layers with your favorite frosting to make a 3-layer cake.

This is the cake of my childhood. It must still be an old standby, judging from the 45 comments Paula has on her Web site:

"I like this cake because it's plain, but classy!"
"This is the first 'from scratch' cake I've made that I've liked better than the results I get from a box mix!"
"This is the best cake ever!"
"This is an easy, versatile cake that can have any number of flavorings added to it."

That's the ticket! Nana made a lot of cakes that looked the same, but they all tasted different. Some featured peaches; others fresh strawberries. She had a doozy that was infused with some kind of caramel sauce, too.

So there you have it. The "Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake," courtesy of Paula Deen. Just like Nana used to make!

Ants in My Pants. Almost!

It's that time o' year again, folks. The weather starts to turn cold, then it warms back up again, then thinks it might be cool for awhile. Pretty schizophrenic, if ya ask me! Which makes All God's Critters that way, too.

This fall, we have a particular problem with Ants. Of the teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy, infintessimal variety.

Nana used to call them Sugar Ants. Dette told us to put paprika out, or maybe Boric Acid, and they'd run away for sure. There are never too many at a time. Two. Three. Sometimes upwards of Eight. They annoy me no end!

Hubby sprays the counter with 409, and they're gone--at least for the day. I, well, I stick the old Index Finger out and smush the little buggers, One. At. A. Time!

I'm really not a cruel person. But this Cruel Stroke of nature drives me nuts!

Dirt Farmer

My Nana used to get down and dirty in her garden. When she was done, she was sometimes so filthy she'd have to hose off out by the well before she came in the house. I felt that way today!

Day #2 of "tidying up" before the end o' summer comes, and there still seems to be No. End. In. Sight! Finished up dividing and transplanting daylilies, and creating a new bed by the side of the house. Waiting for The Hubby to come home from work so that we can play Nuke the Honeysuckle. I do love that plant, but it's out of control this year. I think I'm gonna give him permission to wield the pick axe any way he wants--Damn the Torpedoes and Full Speed Ahead!

Feeling slightly anxious to get this done, 'cause school starts next week and then all Heck is gonna break loose. Which reminds me: Another Great Pop'rs Giveaway starts Friday! It's gonna have a Back-to-School Theme, and you're gonna love it!

One of the really good things to come out of all of this Daylily Surgery is that I moved a treasured plant that Aunt Julie gave me last spring. It's called Mary Todd; no relation to Big Bird or Stargazer, but another beauty just the same. I planted it right next to the Chicago Apache I got on sale today. Can't wait to see how that one blooms. I only wish I had the green thumb that Auntie J. has!

In the meantime, I must get my messy self back to gardening. Could someone please untangle the hose for me?