Simple Summer Salad

Sorry for the super-late post--Blogger apparently was not working most of today. Whew. I'm sure you've all been reloading your web browsers over and over and over again in the hopes that it would work and you could enter the Kim Chee Casserole 150th Post Contest! Right? 

Here's a super quick and super easy summer salad. I love a nice, crisp salad with the fresh sweetness of fruit and the nice crunch from nuts. This salad will take you 5 minutes to put together and will be gone equally quick! I feel almost guilty posting it--but couldn't stop myself from sharing this great salad.

For my salad today, I used pears, apples, and strawberries. Add your favorite fruits--blueberries, oranges, raspberries, grapes, even bananas!

I sliced everything thin so it was bite-sized but still recognizable. The pears and apples were quickly tossed with some lemon juice, to keep them looking fresh.

I lay the fruit over a bowlful of salad. I used a bagged salad blend--whichever kind you like is fine. This would even be great with spinach or arugula.

For the nutty crunch, I used honey roasted almonds that have been sliced. Using nuts that have been roasted add an extra dimension of crunch and flavor. The first time I made this salad, I used candied walnuts. Mmm.

Doesn't it look good already?
















To make it even better, I topped it with poppyseed dressing.

Poppyseed dressing is so great with fruity salads. You could use a light vinaigrette with equal success. Or even some fruit dip that you've thinned with milk.

Honestly, there's no real recipe for this. Add your favorite light-and-bright fruits and top it with crunchy nuts and a sweet dressing. In less than 5 minutes, you'll have a delicious, nutritious, and light salad. Add some grilled chicken or shrimp and dinner is taken care of!

Happy 150th Post!

So apparently I can't count, and I thought today's entry would be the 150th entry. Whoops. But it is time for celebrating, because I never would have thought Kim Chee Casserole would make it this far!

Thank you all for reading, and for your continuing support! Please keep stopping by, and don't be afraid to leave questions, comments, or suggestions--I love hearing from you!




To celebrate the 150th entry (as well as the coming of summer), I'm giving away a Prodyne ICED Dip-On-Ice serving bowl! It's a 3 piece bowl; the stainless steel dip bowl sits inside a round bowl filled with ice. The bowl comes with a lid, and all of it is dishwasher safe! So whether you're serving Fresh Tomato Salsa, Party Time Cheese Ball, Guacamole, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Homemade Ranch Dressing, or even Chocolate Syrup For Your Sweetie, you can be sure your guests will enjoy a cool and delicious dip all day.

To be eligible to win this awesome serving bowl, all you have to do is tell me what your favorite Kim Chee Casserole recipe is!

Leave your answer in the Comments section below by noon on Friday, May 20. The winner will be randomly chosen and announced that afternoon! Good luck!

Mankato Burger

There's a place in town that makes a fabulous burger--they call it the Maverick burger. It's topped with a chive cream cheese, two slices of bacon, and a tomato. It's my go-to burger and I order it every time I'm there. But sometimes I can't make it down to have one. So I decided to make my own!

The first thing I did was start my cream cheese, so the flavors could have time to come together. While the original burger has crisp slices of bacon on top, I decided to crumble the bacon and mix it in with the cream cheese. That way, every bite was sure to have a bit of bacon in it. I had a package of bacon ends, and I took what I'd guess what would be equal to 3 slices and chopped them roughly.

I cooked them over medium heat to render out the fat and get them crisp.

While the bacon cooked, I got out the cream cheese. I used one of these small 3 oz. blocks. That should make enough for 4 burgers.

I tossed the cream cheese into a bowl and added some sliced chives. I like to use scissors to snip herbs--it makes cleanup incredibly easy, and you don't have to worry about little bits of herbs rolling around your kitchen floor later on.

I cut in some green onions, too. The description on the restaurant's menu says it's a chive cream cheese, but I'm positive there are green onions in it as well. Plus, I just like the crunch.

Once the bacon is crisp, drain the fat (save it for something else if you want) and add the bacon. If your cream cheese wasn't exactly softened, the hot bacon will help.

Don't forget to salt and pepper things for flavor (go light on the salt at first, since the bacon already had salt in it!) and mix together.

Now onto the burgers. If you remember one of the first Kim Chee Casserole recipes, Cheese-Stuffed Bacon Burgers, you'll know that I like to add a little ground bacon to my burger mix. This is especially important when using lean, grass-fed beef, like I am. If you're using 80/20 ground beef from the grocery store, you'd be fine to not add the bacon. But without the bacon, your burgers are at risk for getting dried out and overcooked.

I just gave the bacon a few pulses in the food processor.

I added the bacon to a mixing bowl, along with my ground beef. Then I hit it with a few shakes of Worcestershire.

After the ground beef and bacon became buddies, I shaped them into burger patties. Then they got another hit of Worcestershire.

I let them sit out at room temperature for a few minutes, to take the refrigerator chill off them. Your patties will shrink less if they're allowed to come to room temperature before cooking.

The time also lets the meat absorb the Worcestershire. I seasoned the patties with salt and pepper, and they were ready to grill!

While the burgers were cooking, I started assembling everything. First, I gave the buns a toast. This helps them stand apart from the cream cheese mixture. I used the pan I rendered the bacon in to toast the buns, with just a little butter.

Once the buns were toasted, they got a nice schmear of the cream cheese mixture.

Then a nice topping of tomato.
















Add the burger patty and the top of the bun and you've got yourself a Mankato burger!

 

Recipe: Mankato Burger

Cream Cheese:

3 slices bacon, roughly chopped

1 4 oz. package softened cream cheese

1 tsp. minced chives

2 sliced green onions, white and light green parts

Burgers:

1 lb. ground beef

2 slices bacon, very finely chopped

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper, to taste

4 burger buns

butter, for toasting

1 tomato, sliced

Cook bacon until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp. Drain bacon.

In a small bowl, combine bacon, cream cheese, chives, and green onions. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine chopped bacon, ground beef, and Worcestershire. Shape into 4 patties. Salt and pepper both sides, and drizzle with additional Worcestershire, if desired. Allow to come to room temperature. Grill over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes a side.

Using the bacon pan, lightly toast buns, using a little butter if necessary. Smear each bun with cream cheese mixture, add patty, and top with tomato.

Weeknight Shrimp Curry

As much as I love my recipe for Lamb Curry, it does require some planning ahead, as well as a couple hours to stew the meat. I usually make in on Sundays for dinner. But some days, I want curry and don't want to wait. This is a quick and easy curry that you can make any day of the week.

Here are the ingredients you'll need.

Start a little butter (clarified if you've got it!) melting in a pan.

I never use clarified butter (also called ghee). I'm too cheap to pay for it and never have enough time to clarify it myself. But it would be a little more authentic if you do have it.

While the butter is melting, dice some onion and garlic.

Toss 'em in with the butter and start softening them up.

The curry flavor I used was a Rogan Josh blend from Penzey's. It's one of my favorite curries and is traditionally made with lamb.

Penzey's has a wide selection of curry powder blends, from basic curry to spicy to sweet. You could even get away with using regular curry powder (which is a blend as well, not a spice) from the grocery store. Feel free to use whatever curry blend you like.

Add a couple tablespoons of the curry. Stir it into the pan; the heat from the pan will toast the spices a little.

After about a minute, pour in the coconut milk. You could also use yogurt.

A can of diced tomatoes is next. I used fire-roasted tomatoes for more flavor, but whatever you've got is fine.

Let the sauce simmer as long as you'd like. You could add the shrimp now, or you could let the sauce simmer a bit to let the flavors mature.

Whenever you're ready, add the shrimp. I removed the shells but left the tails on.

Squeeze the juice from half a lime.

Once the shrimp is just pink, which will only take a couple minutes, your curry is ready!

Serve it over basmati rice and sprinkle on some fresh herbs. I had chives so I used them, but cilantro, parsley, or basil (especially Thai basil) would lend some color and flavor too.







In as little as ten minutes, you can have yourself a bowl of homemade curry! If you're not into shrimp, give chicken or even fish a try. Add this curry to your weekday list of meals!

Recipe: Weeknight Shrimp Curry

2 tbsp. butter
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tbsp. of your favorite curry blend
1 can coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes
1 lb. shrimp

juice from half a lime


In a large pan, saute onion and garlic in butter until softened.

Add curry powder and let toast for about a minute. Add coconut milk and diced tomatoes. Let sauce simmer as long as you'd like. When you're about ready to serve, add in shrimp and cook until shrimp turns pink, 2-3 minutes. Add lime juice.

Serve over basmati rice.

Chicken Fried Steak

Hoo boy. This recipe has been sitting idle for a couple of months (I made this back in February!) I guess that's what happens when you make the food and take the pictures but don't write the entry!

Anyhow--Mr. Kim Chee just discovered a love for chicken fried steak. I love it, too, but when we get restaurant food it's often as take-out, and by the time you get the Styrofoam package home, the breading on the steak isn't really crisp anymore, and the gravy has that film on it from cooling down. So as much as I might want to order it, it's usually not my go-to meal. But none of that's an issue if I make it at home!

The chicken fried steak needs a nice breading, which is easily made with some flour seasoned with salt and pepper.

A seasoned egg will help the flour mixture stick to the steak. Beat it well.

Before you start breading anything, heat a pan up with some vegetable oil. That will ensure everything is hot and ready to go.

Here are the cube steaks that make up the steak part of chicken fried steak. It's a leaner cut of beef that has been poked about a zillion times by a meat tenderizing machine. The little dimples made by the tenderizer will help the breading stick.

Be careful not to manhandle your steaks. The tenderizer makes the steaks a bit delicate and they might fall apart a little if you move them around too much.

Dunk the steaks in the egg mixture first. Be sure to let the excess egg drip off.

Then they get a good pat in the flour.

Then repeat. Another coat of egg, and another coat of flour.

Let the steaks hang out while you get a thick layer of glue off your fingers ;)

Carefully lower the steaks into the hot oil. You might have to cook them one at a time, depending on the size of the steaks and the size of your pans. Let them get nice and golden brown on both sides.

Once your steaks are golden on both sides, remove them and put them somewhere to stay warm. Add a spoonful of flour to the oil and whisk until smooth.

I use the same flour I used to coat the steaks. Waste not, want not, right?

Once the flour begins to bubble, carefully pour in some milk. This will make the gravy for the steaks.

Now get back to whisking. Let the mixture come to a gentle simmer. At that point, remove it from the heat. Taste it and season with more salt and pepper, if it needs it. I like my milk gravy to be very pepper-heavy.











Plate your steaks and drizzle with some of your fabulous milky, peppery gravy. I served mine with some creamy mashed potatoes and Tangy Baconated Brussels Sprouts (hey, who said this was a healthy meal?)

Recipe: Chicken Fried Steak
1 c. flour
salt and pepper

2 eggs
salt and pepper

2 cube steaks

scant 1/4 c. vegetable oil, for frying

2 c. milk


In one bowl, season eggs with salt and pepper and beat well.

In a second bowl, season flour with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Coat cube steaks in egg mixture, letting excess drip off. Move steaks to flour bowl and gently coat. Repeat. Save flour mixture for later use.

Cook cube steaks in oil over medium heat until steaks are golden brown on both sides. Remove steaks and keep warm.

Add 1/4 c. flour to the oil and whisk until smooth. Slowly add milk, and continue to whisk until mixture gently boils. Remove from heat and season as desired.

Serve steaks smothered with gravy and enjoy!