Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

After those awful 3 weeks of summer, soup season is back. Hurray!

I pretty much survive on soup 8 or more months of the year. I think I have about 30 pretty tasty soup recipes that I kind of rotate through during the cool/cold months. Make up a big pot on the weekend and eat it through the week with a little salad and home-made bread. Easy to make and quick, easy and tasty when I come home tired in the evening.

I was all set to make up a batch of one of my all-time favorites this last weekend (chicken gumbo with Cajun sausage) when I realized I didn't have any Cajun sausage ready. So I got side-tracked into my brown rice fiasco (it was freakin' PURPLE rice ).

Well, I remedied that situation tonight. Stopped at the store on the way home tonight and got the ground pork...had a mini-adventure 'downtown' meeting a Russian ex-naval officer/weight-lifter, before coming home, but when I did finally make it home, I whipped up my sausage and now it's sitting in the fridge and the spices are permeating the meat. Should be good to go by Sunday evening.

Question for the other soup-lovers out there: What is your favorite soup to make?

BTW, there is a tasty as hell bread you can make in a skillet that really goes well with soup.

[Qinella]

Share that bread recipe homeboy.

[Novernae]

[coolsage]

It's a tad early for soup season in my life, but when the the first frost hits the pumpkin, I'm a hankerin' for that French-Canadian pea-soup that Mother used to make (and she was Norwegian; go figure). Some ham, or even a ham-bone, those split-peas (the yellow ones are preferred, but the green ones will do), diced potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, herbs and spices to taste, simmer for about seven hours, serve with an unpretentious red wine. Guaranteed to fill you and warm you. And whatever is left is even better the next day.

[lonestar]

[quote="Ya-ta Boy I whipped up my sausage and now it's sitting in the fridge [/quote]

You're having too much fun there by yourself.

[princess]

I love soup all year long, even in very hot weather. Soup rocks!

[Woland]

Ezo Gelin Corbasi

1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 cup red lentils
1/2 cup bulgar wheat
1/2 cup barley
2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
mint to taste

Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add lentils, bulgar wheat and barley and stir until coated. Add chopped tomatoes and 8 cups water. Bring to boil, then set to simmer. Cook until lentils are dissolved, about 20-30 minutes. Add mint (fresh or dried) to taste in last five minutes. Serve hot in bowls.

I also do good lentil-chorizo soup, black bean soup, and (for summertime) cold strawberry soup.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I'm at school right now, but I'll post the bread and sausage recipes this weekend.

I endorse coolsage's attitude toward Pea Soup. One of the best soups going. Too bad split peas are not available here. (I smuggle them in from Guam when I do my visa runs.)

[canuckistan]

Fresh tomato
Lentil (sometimes add wurst)
White bean (sometimes add wurst)

I just made 5 gadzillion cabbage rolls today and froze a lot--it's that time of year too (giant cabbages for $1.50) Easy to make and I just pull out enough from the freezer to put in a tray/crockpot/pot and cook them in tomato juice/sauce for a couple of hours.

[mumblebee]

Super recipe for Soup. You need an oven for this, or improvise over a gas range. Blender is good too.

Roasted Squash, Garlic, and Red Pepper Soup

2-3 medium acorn squashes (or similar orange-fleshed squash)
2 red bell peppers
canned or fresh corn kernels
8-10 cloves of garlic (1/2 head)
favorite spices
water or stock

1. Roast the red pepper in the oven or on the gas (just plonk them down in the flame) until the skins are black and bubbly. Put peppers into a paper bag to 'sweat'.

2. Cut squash in half, and place them cut side down on a baking sheet, with 1-2 cloves of garlic under each. Roast in the oven until tender. If you don't have an oven, steam or pressure cook the sqaush and roast the garlic in a pan with some oil. If using fresh corn (not recommended in Korea, as the corn on the cob is not tender and sweet here) cut it from the cob and steam it in a bit of water.

3. Combine squash, peppers (skinned), and garlic in a pot with water to cover. Add salt and seasonings. Cook for 20-30 mins at a simmer, then blend in a blender. Return to the pot, and add corn kernals, and perhaps a little bit of chopped fresh herbs.

MB

[kermo]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Homeboy???


Here are 3 recipes for skillet breads or that should work in a toaster oven:

1. Georgian Thyme Bread

Presumably this is the Georgia where Medea and Stalin came from, not Jimmy Carter.

2 cups of flour
3 tablespoons of oil
� cups of yogurt
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
� teaspoons of baking soda
� teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of sesame seeds (black or white)
� cup of Feta cheese
1 cup of Mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1 teaspoon of butter
1 teaspoon of thyme or other herb of your choice


(Feel free to change the kind of cheese to whatever you can get your hands on�the rest of the stuff is available here in Korea.)

1. Mix 1/3 cup of flour with the oil, then add the yogurt. Then add in another 1/3 cup of flour and the thyme.
2. Mix the cornstarch, baking soda, sesame seeds and salt and stir it into the mixture.
3. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft but not sticky dough. Knead it for a few minutes, sprinkle it with flour, cover it, and let it rest for about an hour in a warm place.
4. In a small bowl, crumble up the Feta cheese and mix it with the Mozzarella and the egg and form into two balls.
5. Divide the bread dough into two balls. Using your hands and a rolling pin (or a full bottle of beer in a big plastic bottle) roll out the dough into a circle about �� thick.
6. Flatten the cheese/egg ball and put in the center of the dough. Pick up the edges of the dough and fold together over the cheese inside. It comes out kind of square. Kind of flatten the square with your hands--if you're good with a rolling pin, roll it flat, but be careful. It's easy to tear the dough and have the cheese stuff squirt out.
7. Warm a skillet on low with just a touch of butter or oil, put the bread dough, seam side UP, in the skillet and cover. Cook for about 12 minutes. Flip it over and cook another 12 minutes. Butter will give the bread a browner, crispier crust.

Skillet Corn Bread

(I got this off the TV years ago and used it until I got an oven. Unfortunately, something got spilled on the recipe and I�m not 100% sure of the amount of corn meal.)

1 � cups of flour
2 cups of corn meal
1 � teaspoons of baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp of sugar
2 melted tablespoons of butter

1. Mix the flour, corn meal and baking powder in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk, salt, sugar and melted butter
3. Mix the wet with the dry ingredients. It should be fairly stiff.
4. Put it in a skillet over medium heat and cook 6 to 7 minutes, or until it is light brown on the bottom. (I think it should be covered, but I don�t remember.)

You can also add a small can of corn (drained), jalapenos and/or crumbled bacon bits to your dough.

Lebanese Thyme Bread
(for 10 small loaves)

1 Tablespoon of yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 � cups of warm water
3 � cups of flour
� teaspoons of salt
6 tablespoons of oil
2 heaping teaspoons of thyme
1 heaping teaspoon of marjoram
3 tablespoons of sesame seeds

1. Proof your yeast.
(For the kitchen illiterates, that means put the warm water and sugar in a cup and add the yeast. Wait 5 minutes or so until the yeast foams. If it does, you are in business. If it doesn�t, your yeast is dead and you have to buy some new yeast.)
2. Mix the flour and salt and then add the yeast/water mixture; knead the dough for about 10 minutes, maybe 15. While you are doing that, add 1 of the tablespoons of oil.
3. Form it into a ball and rub some oil on it; place it in a bowl and put it in a warm place for about an hour. It should double in size.
4. Pull it into 10 equal pieces and form them into balls.
5. Roll each one into circles, about �� thick.
6. Cover the circles and let them rise for about 20 minutes.
7. Turn on your oven and put in your cookie sheet, to get hot.
8. Brush the dough with oil.
9. Add the remaining oil to the thyme, marjoram and sesame seeds, and spread the mixture on top of the circles of dough.
10. Bake the circles 8 to 10 minutes.

[Ya-ta Boy]

It's getting kind of late, so I'll hold off on the sausage recipes until tomorrow.


If you are good---and that means quiet--- then I will share some of my soup recipes...but only if you are VERY good.


I am mystified by the poster who said his/her soup isn't turning out well. Soup is the easiest meal there is...chop some stuff up, throw it in a pot, turn on the stove and give the soup a stir from time to time.

The only secret I am aware of is how to wriggle in ecstasy appropriately on the couch when you first start smelling the aroma of good hot soup bubbling on the stove.

[Novernae]