Food

Korean Short Ribs (Kalbi, Galbi, 갈비)

NOTE: An updated version of this recipe appears in my cookbooks, The Ancestral Table and Paleo Takeout.

Kalbi (also known as Galbi) is one of my favorite meat dishes to grill at home. Unfortunately, all of the commercially-available marinades contain all sorts of nefarious ingredients, so I decided to try making the sauce from scratch. Luckily, it turned out to be really easy and tasted great.

This recipe calls for one Asian pear, but a regular golden pear, or even unsweetened applesauce, will do in a pinch.

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Pepperoni and Basil Pizza

I’ve touched a little on gluten-free pizza crusts in this post, but I thought it was time to explain how I make pizza at home.

This recipe uses an Against the Grain 12″ pizza shell, which has an impressively simple ingredients list: tapioca starch, milk, eggs, canola oil, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and parmesan cheese. Simply put, if you allow dairy in your diet, this pizza crust is close enough to the real thing that you can easily ward off pizza cravings without any lingering guilt.

I also prefer to use 8oz blocks of fresh mozzarella cheese for practical reasons. I’ve found that using bags of shredded cheese never seems to work out for me, because I end up with too much or not enough cheese. Cutting fresh mozzarella is easy and takes all of the guesswork out of this simple dish. Plus, natural and fresh mozzarella is a lot easier to find than good shredded cheese anyway.

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Fishcake Rice Noodle Soup

This is an update to a recipe I posted earlier, but with dashi (broth) made from scratch in order to reduce our MSG intake.

This dish has become our go-to easy lunch on the weekends, when we’re running around the house doing chores. Most of the “cooking” involves letting things soak or simmer, so with some agile timer-setting you can make this dish with minimal effort.

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Boiled Fingerling Potatoes

Boiling potatoes for anything other than the purpose of mashing them may seem insane, but with certain potatoes it results in an evenly cooked potato with a mild taste – provided you cook them perfectly. Fingerling potatoes are perfect for boiling because it brings out their subtle, nutty flavor.

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Honey Walnut Shrimp (Minus the Walnuts)

Simply put, honey walnut shrimp (hé táo xiā) is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, and one of the best ways to eat shrimp. Period. This delicate and sweet dish is definitely worth the high price you’ll usually pay for it in most Chinese restaurants, but my make-at-home recipe is both inexpensive and easy to pull off.

I omitted this dish’s trademark candied walnuts because they’re chock-full of sugar, and the walnuts aren’t the same without the candy coating anyway. And honestly, I prefer the shrimp in its pure, unadulterated form.

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Crispy Baked Chicken

Baking chicken breasts in the oven seems like a foolproof method, but often results in dry, bland meat. Here’s a simple baked chicken recipe with minimal involvement.

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No-Tortilla Beef Enchiladas

Hands down, the worst thing about switching to a strict Paleo diet is its systematic eradication of all good Mexican food. No tortillas (corn or flour), no beans, no rice, and no cheese? Sheesh. Even with our adjusted version of the diet (which includes dairy and rice), Mexican food still doesn’t seem as tantalizing. I’ve been experimenting a bit and have finally come up with a tortilla-free recipe that it worth sharing – despite the fact that it looks alarmingly like a casserole.

This recipe liberally uses queso fresco, which you should be able to find in any international food market. It’s a mild white cheese that’s used in most authentic Mexican dishes.

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Lemongrass Pork Chops

NOTE: An updated version of this recipe appears in my cookbook, The Ancestral Table.

If you’ve ever been to a Vietnamese restaurant and not headed straight to the pho section of the menu, you may have tried lemongrass pork, which is a sweet/savory grilled pork dish. I decided to incorporate these unique flavors into thick-cut pork chops (because face it, there’s only so many ways to cook pork chops) and I added a citrusy pan sauce on top for good measure.

Brining is an essential part of juicy pork chops (even the traditional Vietnamese recipe calls for marinating overnight), so be sure to start this recipe well in advance of dinnertime.

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Easy, Cheap Homemade Taco Seasoning

Taco seasoning seems to be something that we all run out of when we need it the most. Luckily, you can make it easily using ingredients you probably already have in your spice rack.

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Breakfast Fried Rice

This is a recipe borrowed from my father-in-law, who often uses breakfast foods as the base of his fried rice. I thought I would take it a step further and make this a breakfast-centric dish, while also retaining the bacon grease to fry the rice.

I should mention that although I use the word “wok” in this recipe, we actually use a Calphalon 12″ Chicken Fryer which has a larger bottom and can fry more food at once.

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