Having Fun in the Kitchen | From-Scratch Recipe Inspiration

I've been thinking a lot about from scratch cooking and how much women in the past did to keep a home running. They tended gardens, raised animals, usually cared for many more children, and cooked every single meal from scratch. They didn't have an option. And we carry a lot today too, just in a different way. You know, after the war, all these new technologies really transformed the home and homemaking. It gave us incredible tools, but along the way, much of this everyday cooking knowledge really quietly faded away. With a few new cookbooks in hand, I'm really excited to start learning some of these more old world dishes, bringing back the flavors and methods that really want sustained families, and a few modern updates to make them work and taste delicious today. I'm starting off with a Korean stock. It's a little bit different, but not that much different than, you know, the normal bone broth that you see. It's a simple base that can be used across multiple meals too. It's one of those kitchen skills we tend to overlook today or simply just don't have time for, but it adds so much nutrition and taste to simple meals that can be made very quickly. Just a handful of vegetables and a flank steak that gently simmering away in the background during the early morning creates a clean, deep, flavorful broth that becomes the foundation for several soups that we'll eat over the next few days. Once I get the stock ready, I can get maybe three plus nourishing dinners on the table in under 30 minutes, really even less. It's simple, practical cooking that makes the rest of the week feel even easier, and I don't really waste almost any of the ingredients here. Tonight, I'm using it to make a dumpling rice cake soup. It's a dish traditionally eaten in Korea at New Year's. They still celebrate turning a year older together over this bowl of soup. I think it's not until they eat the soup that they say they turn a year older. Now they do also more celebrate their actual birthday, but it was in the past a tradition that they celebrate their birthday at New Year's when everyone turns one year older. It's a tradition I found to be quite beautiful that they celebrate it all together. The beef from this stock goes straight back into the meal, making sure nothing is wasted. It's fall apart tender, full of flavor, and even freezes well, so you can pull some out quickly for another meal down the road. You know, with all this in mind, I've been drawn lately to cookbooks that also feel kind of rooted in place in tradition, and I really, really love this Deep Run Roots cookbook. It's rooted in traditional food from a completely other side of the world here in North Carolina, but it's the kind of book you actually read, not just flip through. She writes really thoughtfully about the ingredients, how to prepare them properly, where they come from, why they were a staple in the past, and how something simple can really be elevated now. Here I'm cooking black-eyed peas. I'm going to use it across a few meals. That's the theme here, but it's going to be used in the most delicious salad from her cookbook. They'll show up over a few meals, like I said, over the next couple days. Simple food made with intention, so you can use it across multiple ways, which I think is so important to making your energy in the kitchen last and really sustain your family. Thanks to that delicious stock I made earlier in the day, dinner tonight will come together really quick. So due to that, I'm going to actually try making my first Korean side dish. It's a soy sauce braised lotus root called yoon-yeon. I don't think I pronounced that right, but you know, it's lotus root. It's really high in fiber, packed with potassium and antioxidants for heart health, and it's a good boost for your immunity too. It takes a few steps, but it doesn't take too long. The lotus root is just boiled in some water and vinegar first, then lightly fried, and finally braised in this simple soy sauce mixture that includes kelp soaked water, which gives it a really deep umami flavor. I love like learning these different ways of cooking things. I feel like Koreans really like braising things, which makes things taste really, really good. Also, my Korean recipe called for corn syrup to get a really sticky glaze, and while it's not terrible, I do prefer to skip it when I can. So instead, I usually have cornstarch on hand. I make a cornstarch slurry, and that works just fine in making it stick. It's so nice to have a healthy, really flavorful vegetable that can bear with multiple meals, you know, tonight's soup. Other Asian dishes we'll make over the next few days, or even just rice and kimchi for a quick lunch with this is so good. Does it taste like your mom's? Smart answer. That was a smart answer. Dinner itself comes together in under 20 minutes. I would say that's maximum. I can't, you know, I don't think I've actually made a meal that's under 20 minutes. It's comforting and really, really delicious. The rice cakes, which I did have to soak for about an hour before, those, the leftover pulled meat that I had saved, about half of it for this, few dumplings, which my kids love, garlic, and just a splash of fish sauce, go into a boiling stock for just a few minutes until they're all cooked. Meals like this make me wish I had a really large pot so I could make much more of this stock and store it in the freezer. Totally optional, but these quick egg strips on top of the soup add a little extra flavor, and my boys love them, and easy to do while the, you know, rest of the ingredients are cooking. Tonight we're having for dinner some hamburger steaks, which I made before, but definitely elevated this year. I got this cookbook, Deep Run Roots for Christmas, which I'm so excited about. A little bit more complicated, but so good. She's a woman in North Carolina, eastern North Carolina, that kind of was embarrassed about her roots, and now went back, and became a chef, and started using more traditional eastern North Carolina dishes and elevating them. She runs a really successful restaurant, I think, out of Kinston, but really relate to that story, and everything I've tried so far has been really good. Not too much, but she's using this kind of meal is centered around black-eyed peas, which are cheap. They're traditional here, and they got a lot of protein for you, so it's a great staple to know how to use, and I can definitely tell she does. I made this winter caviar that's going to go with the hamburger steaks. So good. You know, I think this is something, a traditional dish that she's taken, and it really elevated it to something way better than how it was used to be made, and it's going to go so great with this. I'm also going to make some garlic confit to go in the hamburgers. They should go in, but I think I'm just going to put them on top, because I'm late doing that, and the most delicious black-eyed pea gravy that's made with onions and black-eyed peas. I can't wait to taste it, and I hope you like it, too. While the onions get going to caramelize for the base of that gravy, it's going to make it super good. I wish I had some bacon fat, like the recipe calls for. I'm going to take a little snack of this winter caviar, which, I don't know, I just think is so good. It's slightly fresh, which I think my body's a little bit craving this winter. You know, we're mid-winter. We don't get too many fresh things, and I don't always make too many salads, because the kids don't like it, but my baby really loved this at lunch. You could really have this on its own. It's so good and hearty. Some beans I've been soaking since this morning went in with some bay leaves into those caramelized onions, about five cups of stock, and it's supposed to be bean beef broth, but I don't have any out now, so I'm just going to add some of this bouillon in there. Not my favorite, but, you know, can't do everything perfect. I think this does add, will add some nice flavor to the gravy. Now for the hamburger steaks. I'm trying to wait as long as I can. We're in that garlic confit, because I know it's going to make these better. I've got about a lot of thyme here that I tried to pick off, decent amount of salt, and I'm going to add some breadcrumbs. I know that's not how you're supposed to do it, but my kids will like it more if these are added in. So I'm going to add some of that in with a good amount of salt and pepper, and then chop up some of that garlic to go into. Take those beelay, ****, beeliefs. Take those, oh, I'm tired. Need a relaxing Sunday night. Take those out. I'm going to transfer it to the blender, add some milk, and the gravy should be good. A little brown pan. I always like to boil water in my pans to clean them out. It's so quick and easy. All right, let's try this gravy. You better be good. It's worth the effort, I must say that. Those beans, a slight flavor of the beans. You got those caramelized buttery onions, which just take it to the next level. Nice and smooth. Fantastic. And this might be one of my favorite meals I've made in a long, long time. Two days ago, when I pressure cooked the black-eyed peas for that winter caviar, I made quite a bit extra to enjoy a classic easy lunch another day, black-eyed peas over rice. Cooking the beans in that stock really gives them a lot more flavor and make them really, really good. And beans and rice is just such a staple in so many cuisines. I like blending up like half of it after it's warmed up to give it like more of a creamy texture that the kids really enjoy too. I like to add a soft-boiled egg to ours. Kids love those, so I always cook extra for snacks for the next few days. And then to make this special, it's topped off with a bit of that leftover winter caviar salad. It becomes something quite delicious and a simple meal elevated. For another really quick, delicious 20-minute dinner, I'm using the leftover Korean stock to make a family favorite, radish soup. With the broth and meat already prepared, I just need to add the radishes, onion, garlic, and a splash of fish sauce to that simmering broth until everything is tender. Then the rest of the shredded beef and a few green onions go in. That's it. Are you starting to burn off your eyes? There's quite a lot of radish for the soup that we have left over, but my youngest loves radish. You like radish too? Yeah. You like it. He's lying. I'm standing in front of the picture. The other way I made this is by cooking the meat and the radish at the same time. That takes slightly more time. This is really quick and also super, super good. I'm also going to try to make these like anchovy, dried small anchovy side dish to go with it. I'm just going to mix together the sauce. These get toasted a little bit with the sauce simmered and that's pretty much it. Nope. Mommy needs this for the sauce. Let's keep these separate. Okay, baby? Do you want me to get you a bowl for those? I can get you a bowl for those. Here you go, baby. I'm not sure what all these particles are, but it says to get them out. I'm going to get them out. Is it a little skin or what? Well, since I've learned that sautéing the anchovies actually helps remove any of the fishy smell. It gives them a more crispy texture and kind of like getting all those pieces out will eliminate the powdery residue that can be there if you don't do it. It creates a much cleaner taste and texture, which is, you know, you learn something new every day or no clue how to cook these without this cookbook. After that, I cook them briefly in a bit of oil to get them crispy before letting the sauce come together with the anchovies and nuts at the end. I also use a bit of cornstarch slurry instead of corn syrup here. Again, it helps everything stick together nicely. Koreans have a spicy version of this that is so, so, so good, and I can't wait to make that soon. I usually don't show too many reactions to food because I like to prioritize us eating together, but I have to go out now for something, so I'm going to show you what I think. Let's get some chopsticks. All right, I already know this is going to be good because we had the broth earlier, but see how it is with extra radishes. So good on a cold winter day. I don't think I ever thought I would, I don't think I ever would have thought I would have liked radish soup, but it's so good. It feels so healing, so healthy. A good amount of garlic, there's onions in there, and just such a nice, deep, clean broth. And I feel like other than finding the radish, and you probably already can get fish sauce anywhere, it's really easy and attainable to make, you know, without having all these special ingredients. The anchovies, not so much. Oh, I gotta try that. I don't think how many saying putting almonds in there would be right, but you know, hopefully she won't watch it. You're only going to like this if you like fish, but if you like fish, delicious.