Cooking with Arielle: Ricotta Lemon Bruschetta and Moroccan Carrot Soup.

Arielle Ring, one of the most genuinely beautiful people I know, an amazing friend and one heckuva cook! Her kitchen is tiny, but she does a great job and I was super excited to help her cook dinner! :)

Food52's Bruschetta with Ricotta, Honey and Lemon Zest.

Bon Appetit's Moroccan Carrot Soup.

Kalbi dinner at home, Spokane, WA.

We grilled up tons of my parents' amazing kalbi for my last night in town!

This is what I call hardcore marinating. :)

Mmmmm. This was the first batch.. there were many more to come!

Apologies for the blurry photo. This was the spread, with banchan and kalbi!

Here is one of my ssams! Ssam is the traditional way to eat Korean BBQ. You take a piece of sang-chu lettuce or a sesame leaf (some even layer up with both!) and you create your own lettuce cup of sorts. My ssam (pictured above) included rice, ssam-jang (spicy soy bean paste), walnut banchan and a piece of kalbi. Sooo great!

When my parents and I cook we just use our hands and taste along the way so the below recipe isn't exact, but it's one I found online that sounded the closets to how we make it!

Kalbi Recipe
Ingredients:

• 2 lbs beef short ribs (flanken cut)
• 1/2 cup light soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons garlic (finely chopped)
• 3 tablespoons rice wine (or Soju)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 green onions (finely chopped)
• 1 cup Coca-Cola

Directions:

1. Place the ribs in a dish for marinating.
2. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl, being sure to add the coke last, as it will foam up a bit when added to the other ingredients.
3. Pour the marinade over the beef and massage it in for about one minute.
4. Cover and let marinate for at least 4 hours turning at least once.
5. Heat gas or charcoal grill to medium hot.
6. Remove the ribs from the marinade and place on the hot grill.
7. Grill the ribs, turning once, to desired doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
8. Serve with rice and a variety of Korean side dishes such as kimchi, namul (trio of vegetables) and musangchae (white radish salad) for a delicious Korean meal.

Ta-wei's super delicious Wiener Schnitzel.

Ta-wei Lin (Chef/owner of Three Papayas) invited me over to have a special dinner and sit-in on an interview he was doing with a documentarist. I wasn't able to stay for the interview, unfortunately, but I heard it was really fun and I can't wait to see the footage!

Ta-wei ended up reaching back to his Euro influences and whipping out a fantastic wiener schnitzel for us. Ta-wei lived in Europe for awhile where he traveled through kitchens, eating with and learning from the locals. After hearing this, I had some pretty high hopes for my wiener schnitzel--although, I'd expect no less from Ta-wei!

The fabulous Matty! I absolutely adore him. He's always so hospitable.

Wiener Schnitzel with horseradish and mint jelly, with potato salad.

Ta-wei explained how wiener schnitzel, in Austria, is strictly veal, but in Germany it can be prepared with pork or veal.

Matty, who doesn't cook, but knows his German food, compared notes with Ta-wei about how to properly make wiener schnitzel before this dinner. Ta-wei knew the correct methods, but then put his own twist on it, as he always does! And I'm so glad he did because this cutlet was absolutely perfect.

Thank you SO much, Ta-wei and Matty! As always, it was an absolute pleasure and the food was amazing!!

How to make Ta-wei's super easy Wiener Schnitzel

Ingredients:

• Pork (normal cut)
• Eggs
• Beer (Pilsners are good)
• Lemon juice
• Bread crumbs
• Panko crumbs
• Spices (Ta-wei used paprika, oregano and a couple others.)
• Oil
• Horseradish
• Mint jelly

Recipe:

1. Get normal cuts of pork and pound with a meat tenderizer until it's 1/2 inch thick.
2. Mix eggs, beer and a little lemon juice in a large bowl and let the meat marinate in them.
3. Mix bread crumbs and panko breading (this will add a nice lightness to the breading), with your spices.
4. Pour a liberal amount of oil into a fry pan and turn on high heat.
5. While the oil is heating, Take a piece of meat from the marinade and coat it with the crumb mixture.
6. Cook each side for a couple minutes, until the breading turns golden.
7. Plate and serve with some horseradish and mint jelly!

Now that I know how to make it, I can't wait to try--as you can see it's super easy!

Be sure to check out Ta-wei's amazing food at Three Papayas, his pop-up "cultural liberation brunch". Three Papaya's operates out of the Doc's Clock, where you'll see Matty taking orders, and runs every Sunday from noon - 4pm.

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