I certainly have been enjoying the fresh local asparagus so far this season and in particular I have been using the asparagus and egg combination a lot. Although it is now late in the season, the local asparagus is still readily available at the farmers market which is fortuitous as I recently came across another nice sounding asparagus and egg dish called asparagus mimosa. Asparagus mimosa is a simple dish where the asparagus is served in a lemon and mustard vinaigrette and topped with a hard boiled egg that has been forced through a sieve. This asparagus and egg dish is quite easy to make and just bursting with freshness from the sweet and juicy asparagus to the bright lemon juice in the dressing to the fresh chopped herbs. I particularly liked the texture of the sieved eggs in this dish, though it was not very easy to clean the egg out of the sieve after so I think I will try using a fine grater next time. What a wonderful way to enjoy some asparagus!

Asparagus Mimosa

(makes 2 servings)
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More of summers bounty is starting to show up at the farmers market and this weekend I came across some fresh peas in their pods. Although it takes a bit of work to get the peas from their protective pods, I always enjoy fresh, sweet and crispy peas. I most often just add them to salads but their sweetness works so well in cheesy risotto that it is hard to resist making a least one batch every summer. Risotto also takes some effort to make but this one with is nice and creamy and with the sweet peas, a splash of lemon, and a hit of mint is just bursting with summery freshness is so worth it.

I wanted to turn this risotto into more of a light meal and one great way to do so is to simply add some shrimp. I could easily have just added the shrimp directly to the risotto along with the peas at the end but I was thinking that I could kick things up a notch by hitting the shrimp with the Creole spice blend that I use on shrimp in shrimp po’ boys. I was also thinking that shrimp tossed in a simple mint pesto would also be really nice on this fresh pea risotto.

Fresh Pea Risotto with Spicy Grilled Shrimp

(makes 4 servings)
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I have been hooked on kimchi ever since I discovered it. When I came across a recipe to make it at home a few years ago I leapt at the chance. After looking at a lot of recipes that I found on the web I decided to make a simple kimchi for my first version that contained pretty much only the required ingredients. That first batch of kimchi turned out so well that since then I have made it dozens of times and my fridge has never been without at least one batch in it the whole while. I was so pleased with that recipe that I quickly forgot that I had fully intended to revisit it and try a more advanced one later on. I recently recalled that fact and set about coming up with a new version.

Although the first version was really good and had all of the required flavours and textures including the crunchy cabbage, the garlic overtones, the spiciness and the the sourness that develops with fermentation over time, it lacked the subtle complexities of most restaurant style kimchi. Right off the bat I recalled that I purposely skipped adding the radish and the sugar to the original version and when added they bring a nice bite and a hint of sweetness to kimchi so they had to go in this time. Instead of just adding sugar like many recipes call for I used the trick of replacing sugar with a grated Asian pear or apple that I learned while making bulgogi a while ago. In addition to adding some natural sweetness the pear or apple brings a hint of flavour adding another layer of complexity. I also decided to add some grated onion for a bit of pungency and a shredded carrot for a bit of colour and another touch of sweetness.

The next major difference in this recipe is the use of a rice flour based porridge. I came across the idea of using the porridge in a recipe for kimchi that I found on Maangchi while searching for recipe ideas. The rice flour porridge help moisten the gochugaru, Korean chili pepper flakes, and mix in and meld all of the other flavours before you mix it into the cabbage. The porridge also helps to get the flavours into all of the nooks and crannies of the cabbage so that every bite is full of flavour.

Kimchi version 2.0 turned out so amazingly well with richer and deeper flavours and more subtle complexities! This new version definitely rivals any kimchi that I have ever had at a restaurant. I can’t wait to start using it as an ingredient in new dishes!

Kimchi Version

(make about 1 gallon)
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For some reason peameal bacon has been on my mind a lot recently and it had been a while since I last picked some up. (Peameal bacon is a back bacon that is brined and rolled in peameal or cornmeal.) I also had my newly minted batch of new and improved kimchi that I was just itching to use. Salty bacon and spicy kimchi are a great flavour combination and I knew that peameal bacon would be just as amazing. The rest of the sandwich sort of just fell into place. I wanted to include some greens and with the Korean flavours that were already going in the sandwich the shredded romaine in a Korean sesame vinaigrette was a natural choice and I could not resist adding some cheese. When I am making my standard peameal bacon sandwich I always like to include some mayo and in this case a gochujang mayo sounded perfect. I am not sure why but, I was associating this sandwich with breakfast so a lightly toasted English muffin was in order and since kimchi can be a bit juicy I caramelized it so that the muffin would not get soggy. With all of the spicy flavours in the sandwich I figured that some cool and creamy avocado and black beans would finish off the breakfast nicely.

Peameal Bacon and Kimchi Breakfast Muffin

(makes 4 servings)
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When I think about coleslaw I immediatly think about a cabbage salad smothered in a mayonnaise but coleslaw can definitely work without the mayo. I recently made a sesame and ginger coleslaw where I used the mayonnaise based dressing but I now found that I needed a version of it without mayonnaise for the next project that I was working on. I kept the changes for the mayonnaise-less version pretty simple relying on a sesame and ginger vinaigrette to replace the mayo. The vinaigrette consists of rice wine vinegar, lime juice, oil, toasted sesame oil, ginger and a bit of honey to balance things out a bit with some sweetness. I also added a chopped up birds eye chili to this version to add a touch of heat tot he salad. With the tasty sesame and ginger vinaigrette you will never miss the mayonnaise in this coleslaw.

Sesame and Ginger Coleslaw (Mayoless)

(makes 4 servings)
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