Back when I was first trying to adjust my diet and lose a little weight, I tried a few different cottage cheese bowls. Mostly sweet ones involving fruit and nuts, maple syrup, chocolate, granola, etc. But I did give one savoury recipe a try. I didn't really care for it, so I've stuck to the sweet versions since then. My go-to involves apples, cinnamon, pecans, raisins, and a bit of maple syrup or stevia. And that's honestly been really great. It's tasty, it's filling, it's easy, and it can be made with staples that I basically always have on hand.

Unfortunately, I wasn't really feeling it this morning.

I had a green smoothie bowl for breakfast yesterday and that was really nice. But I'm pretty sure we're all out of mango now and I know that we don't have any pineapple. I think it would also be good with peaches or nectarines, but we won't have any of those until our produce basket arrives later today. And I wasn't feeling super enthusiastic about any of the other possible toppings I could think of. So I wrote off the smoothie bowl for this morning. But that left me drawing a big, ol' blank for breakfast today.

For whatever reason I really wasn't feeling the sweet cottage cheese bowls this morning, but the idea of cottage cheese itself wasn't unappealing. So I decided to see if I could put something together that hit the right notes for me.

We had some ground chicken and leftover zeytoon parvardeh (Persian marinated olives) in the fridge, so I decided to try to do something that would incorporate those. That said, I think this would also work with green olives and walnuts (and maybe a few extra seasonings) in place of the marinated olives. And you could probably get away with substituting chicken lunch meat for the ground chicken in a pinch (although I think the ground chicken is better here).

I may play around with the exact ingredients and proportions a bit if I make this again. But I think this was a good starting point.

Olive and Walnut Cottage Cheese Bowl

Ingredients

• 100g ground chicken (chicken breast for low-fat/diet-friendly option)
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ras el hanout
• 1/2 c. cottage cheese (fat-free for low-fat/diet-friendly option)
• 1/4 c. diced cucumber
• 4-5 green olives, halved
• 1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
• 1 Tbsp. fried onions
• 2-3 tsp. pomegranate molasses
• 1/2 tsp. za'atar
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Season the chicken with the salt and ras el hanout and cook over medium heat until no longer pink.
2. Place the cottage cheese in a bowl and top with chicken, cucumber, olives, walnuts, and fried onion.
3. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses and sprinkle with za'atar and pepper.
4. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

Sundae Bokkeum (Stir-Fried Korean Blood Sausage)

We picked up some blood sausage at a Korean supermarket in Toronto last week. Initially I was thinking of using it in place of the ground chicken in the tteobokki recipe I was planning on making. But at the last minute, I decided to look up some serving suggestions and decided to go with this stir-fry instead.

Sundae Bokkeum

Slightly adapted from Maangchi

Ingredients

Stir-Fry

• 85g flat starch noodles¹, soaked in cold water for an hour
• 500g frozen sundae (Korean blood sausage)
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 125g cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 green finger chile, sliced
• 1-2 green onions, sliced
• 8-10 large perilla leaves³, half chopped, half chiffonaded
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds, ground

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. gochugaru
• 2 Tbsp. gochujang
• 2 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce²
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 3/4 c. water

Directions

1. Set your noodles to soak.
2. Thaw the sausage (in its package) and bring a pot of water to a boil.
3. Place the sausage, still in its sealed package, into the boiling water, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove sausage from water and set aside to cool.
5. Meanwhile, combine the gochugaru, gochujang, corn syrup, soy sauce, and pepper for the sauce.
6. Gradually mix in the water. Set aside.
7. Drain the noodles, cut in half, and set aside.
8. Once the sausage is cool enough to handle, remove from package and carefully cut into discs ~1cm thick.
9. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
10. Add the garlic and stir-fry until just beginning to crisp (~1 minute).
11. Add the cabbage and stir-fry for 1 minute.
12. Add the onion, green onion, and green chile and stir-fry for 2 more minutes.
13. Add the sauce, noodles, and chopped perilla leaves and cook until noodles become transparent (1-2 minutes).
14. Add the sausage and reduce heat to medium.
15. Gently stir to coat with sauce being careful not to break up the sausage slices.
16. Top with perilla chiffonade and ground sesame and serve.
17. Preferably serve with kimchi and/or other vegetable side dishes.

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¹ I didn't have any appropriate noodles, so I just omitted them. We did end up cooking up a little rice to serve with the stir-fry and tteobokki though. ^Back
2 I used a mix of light and dark soy, but I think either would be fine here. ^Back
3 I didn't have any perilla, so I added a little bit of dried tarragon and some dried basil to the stir-fry. Not the same, of course, but it did at least add another layer of flavour. If I'd had any Thai basil, I probably would have tried adding a bit of that either as well or instead. ^Back

Jjajang Tteokbokki

I've been having trouble finding plain rice cakes lately. Both Korean-style tteobokki and Chinese-style 年糕 (nián gāo) have been hard to come by. For whatever reason, I've only been seeing them sold as meal kits with sauce and other inclusions already mixed in. Which is tasty, but not what I'm looking for when I want to do scratch cooking.

So when TF and I were perusing a Korean grocery store in Toronto last week, I took the opportunity to grab a big package of plain tteobokki to bring home with us.

We also nabbed some chunjang (black bean paste) while we were there since I figured this would make for a good opportunity to finally try this Jjajang Tteobokki recipe.

I think the soy sauce and "classic" tteobokki recipes are still my favourites. But this one was also quite nice and I'm glad we got the chance to try it out!

Jjajang Tteobokki

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Tteobokki

• 500g tteobokki (Korean-style rice cakes)
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 Tbsp. chunjang (Korean black bean paste)
• 200g ground chicken
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 c. cabbage, diced
• 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 Korean-style fish cake, chopped
• 2 c. water
• 4 hard-boiled eggs

Sauce

• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. soy sauce (pref. mix of light and dark)
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean chile paste)
• 2 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. If tteobokki are frozen, soak in cold water for 30 minutes before cooking.
2. Combine all sauce ingredients and mix well.
3. Heat wok over medium-high heat.
4. Add oil and swirl to coat.
5. Add chicken and stir-fry for 1 minute.
6. Add chunjang and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Add green onion, onion, cabbage, and garlic and stir-fry for another 1 minute.
8. Add the sauce and tteobokki and cook for another 2 minutes.
9. Add the water, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes.
10. Add the fish cakes and eggs and cook until sauce has thickened.
11. Serve with kimchi and/or other vegetable sides of your choice.

Dalgona Coffee (Whipped Coffee)

This is one of the earliest recipes that Aaron and Claire posted on their website. Apparently this interesting whipped coffee went viral during the early days of the pandemic and people started posting lots of videos, challenges, and recipes involving it.

I had completely overlooked it the first few times I went through the blog because I'm not really a big coffee drinker and figured my efforts would be better spent on the food recipes rather than the drinks. But, every once in a while, I do get hit with a hankering for a sweet, milky post-dinner coffee. And this looked like it might fit the bill, so I finally decided to check it out.

The recipe itself is very simple, but quite interesting. It involves combining equal parts instant coffee, sugar, and hot water and vigorously beating them until the mixture becomes light and stiff. Almost like whipped cream or a meringue. The whipped mixture is then spooned over cold (or hot) milk and served.

Based on some quick Googling, this recipe originated in either South Korea or Macau, where it is sometimes served with various toppings. Cocoa, instant coffee crystals, or crushed biscuits are apparently popular garnishes. I'm not really invested enough to try to determine the precise origins. Suffice to say that it is interesting and tasty and, as far as I can tell, popular in both countries.

The coffee foam on its own is quite intense and a bit bitter, but once mixed with the milk, the final result is a bit like a creamy latté or Vietnamese coffee. I quite liked it!

Dalgona Coffee

From Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Ingredients are per serving. Multiply by the number of servings you'd like to make.

• 2 Tbsp. instant coffee crystals
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. boiling water
• 2-4 ice cubes
• 1-2 c. milk¹

Directions

1. Combine the coffee, sugar, and water and beat with a whisk (or the whisk attachment of a hand or stand mixer) until mixture becomes light, fluffy, and forms soft peaks.
2. Add ice and milk to a large glass.
3. Spoon whipped coffee on top of the milk.
4. Use a straw to mix and drink your coffee.

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¹ Adjust the quantity of milk depending on how strong you like your coffee. One cup of milk per serving is probably sufficient for those who like relatively strong coffee. One-and-a-half or two cups may be more appropriate for those who like a more dilute, mellow flavour. ^Back

I made this breakfast quite a while ago. Back in April or May if I recall correctly. But I've been falling a bit behind on write-ups, so I still have quite a few gaps to fill in.

This came out surprisingly tasty! I was expecting it to be passable, but nothing special. But it was actually delicious! I loved this!

Spicy Simmered Eggs with Kale

From Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bunches black kale, chopped
• 1 c. chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 4-6 eggs
• 1/4 tsp. red chile flakes

Directions

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add the green onions and garlic and cook for a minute or two.
3. Add half the kale and cook until wilted (~2 minutes).
4. Repeat with remaining kale.
5. Add broth, salt, pepper, and lemon zest.
6. Reduce heat and simmer until kale softens (~6 minutes).
7. Stir in lemon juice.
8. Make a well for each egg.
9. Crack the eggs into the wells and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
10. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until eggs reach desired doneness (5-8 minutes).
11. Sprinkle with chile flakes and serve.

I really liked the pears with this pudding. And the coconut was nice. Although I didn't feel it came through as strongly as I would have liked. The pudding was also very thick. I ended up thinning mine out with milk before eating it. It was good though. We all enjoyed it. I just wonder if it might be improved by using slightly more liquid or less rice during the preparation. That said, adding the milk after the fact also worked fine, so it wasn't a big deal either way. Although, now that I think about it... we also ran out of pears well before we ran out of pudding, so maybe less rice would be the way to go. That way there'd be a better pudding-to-pear ratio and the pudding would hopefully have a somewhat looser consistency. Something to try for next time.

Coconut Rice Pudding with Gingered Pears

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kate Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1 c. basmati rice¹
• 1 c. half-and-half (10% MF), divided
• 3 c. milk
• 1 (~440mL) can coconut milk
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 1/2 c. unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
• 2 pears, peeled and chopped
• 1"/2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Directions

1. Combine rice, 1/2 c. of the half-and-half, milk, coconut milk, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is very tender (~30 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and spread coconut out on a lined baking sheet.
4. Toast coconut in oven until golden (3-5 minutes). Set aside to cool.
5. Toss pears with ginger and brown sugar and set aside for at least 20 minutes to macerate.
6. Stir remaining 1/2 c. of the half-and-half into the pudding.
7. Serve topped with pears and toasted coconut.

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¹ The original recipe called for 1 1/2 c. of rice, but, as noted above, this seemed like a bit too much, so I've scaled it back here. ^Back

I made up a batch of waffles a few months ago and used half of them in a savoury application. For the remainder, I decided to go for something sweeter and serve them with this apple topping. It was quite good!

Sautéed Apples in Hard Cider

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 apples, peeled and sliced
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• coarse sea salt, ground
• 360mL hard apple or pear cider
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 tsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Melt butter over medium-high heat and cook until foamy.
2. Add apples, nutmeg, and a tiny pinch of salt and cook until apples are tender and golden (~7 minutes).
3. Transfer apples to a bowl.
4. Return pan to heat and add the cider, brown sugar, and another small pinch of salt.
5. Bring to a boil and then simmer vigorously until liquid is reduced to ~180mL (~5 minutes).
6. Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl.
7. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook for another minute or so.
8. Stir in lemon juice.
9. Return the apples to the pan and cook until heated through (2-3 minutes).
10. Serve over waffles, pancakes, or French toast.