Friday, September 30, 2011

Oven Baked Chicken Thighs and Veggies



Yes, another chicken recipe, but this time using most flavorful part of chicken, the thighs. They take much, much longer to cook then a breast but they are also so much more flavorful.

With the exception of mushrooms and chicken, of course J, all other ingredients that formed the sauce were from my garden: onion, eggplant, red and green peppers, tomatoes and garlic. Prep time is reasonable 20 minutes or so of chopping and slicing. As is the case with all of my recipes amounts given are for 2 people plus good leftovers for next day lunch. I served it with orzo (rice shaped dry pasta) but it can be served with any other dry or even fresh pasta, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes or rice.

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs (bone in and skin on)
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 medium onion
1 Oriental eggplant or 1/2 regular eggplant
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 Roma tomatoes
1 cup sliced cremini or white mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. butter
Salt and pepper
1 tsp. dried basil or 2 tsp. fresh chopped basil

 Preheat oven to 350 °F and place rack in middle.
Generously sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides of chicken thighs and set aside.
Slice or chop onions, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers.
In oven-proof skillet (avoid non-stick pans) heat oil and add butter. When the foam subsides place thighs skin side down and cook until skin starts to brown little bit. Turn the chicken thighs over and cook another 3 minutes. Remove to plate and cover with foil.

In the same skillet, drop in onions and cook until they start to caramelize, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.
Add eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms and stir to mix all vegetables.
Return the chicken thighs with accumulated juices back into skillet, cover and place in the oven. Check every 15 minutes if there is any juice left. If it looks too dry add white wine or chicken stock.

Meanwhile, cook your side (pasta, rice or potatoes).

After 30 minutes remove the cover from skillet and raise the oven temperature to 400 °F. Add the basil and cook for 10 more minutes or until the chicken skin is gold and crisp.

Serve immediately.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Veggie Garden Update, September 29, 2011


This will be one of the last updates, I guess. There is nothing more to do than to collect rest of the tomatoes, pick all green and red peppers and I don’t really know how long I can pick snow and snap peas. They still produce lots of flowers and pods but with the weather cooling down and daylight being quite shorter I am not sure if it is worth it to keep those few experimental plants going. It does look like that I will pull out everything sometime next week. Of course the arugula and green onions will stay in cold frame and I will have fresh greens way past Christmas, just like I had last 3 years.
I almost forgot about my garlic! Bed is ready and I will be planting in two weeks or so. Right now everything is so wet! So far this month we had over 6 inches of rain! What a weird year it was. Makes one wonder what the winter will bring. Better not think about it!

 The peas are still doing great...

 and so are red and green peppers.


Tomatoes do look a bit tired, though. They produced so much this year!
 
Arugula is doing fine and I will cover the cold frame early in November. I will be picking fresh greens till well after Christmas.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Chicken Breast Strips with Vegetables



All the veggies I used in this recipe were from my garden and it did taste very fresh. From start to finish it took just little under 30 minutes.
Main thing is to do all the prep first, start boiling water for pasta and you are on a roll. Also, I just do not like mushy vegetables, texture is terrible, they are tasteless and void of any vitamins, so I cook them just until they are al dente or “soft to the tooth”. Same goes with the chicken breasts, they are so easy to overcook. I just cook them till juices run clear when pierced with sharp point of knife or if there is no pink meat when you cut half way in.
I served this meal with wide noodles but I could have used gnocchi, rice or even potatoes with this sauce.


Ingredients
2 chicken breasts cut into 1” strips across
3 shallots or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup of chopped eggplant
2 red peppers, seeded and chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped or small can whole tomatoes
1 tsp. dry basil or 1 Tbs. fresh chopped basil
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
Wide noodles or gnocchi, rice or even potatoes

Season the chicken breast strips with salt and pepper and coat with 1 Tbs. of olive oil. (I like to use small but deep stainless steel bowl.)
Cook pasta, toss in tablespoon of butter and keep warm.
Heat remaining oil in medium hot frying pan or skillet, drop in the chicken strips and cook on all sides. Test if they are done and remove to bowl. Set aside and keep them warm.
In the same skillet sauté shallots and garlic until shallots are translucent and garlic is fragrant, then add eggplant, peppers and tomatoes and cook on medium high heat until peppers feel soft, about 5 minutes.
Add basil and balsamic vinegar and stir to mix.
Add pasta, chicken strips and mix till pasta is coated with the sauce and chicken and pasta are reheated.
Serve on warm plates and garnish with extra basil.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

“Our” Black & Yellow Garden Spider “Charlotte”

I have just published new post about black & yellow spider that spun her web next to our deck. It is on my Garden blog, I didn’t want to shock some sensitive souls J. You can read about it and watch short video here.

Not for the squeamish!!!

Update:
Yesterday we had torrential rain that lasted hours and dumped over one inch of rain. There is not a single strain of silk left in the web, none. I will watch if she re-builds in same location or moves on. It was fun to practice macro-lens techniques with my Canon Rebel T1i.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Hungarian Gulyás (Goulash)


Goulash is a stew or soup made with meat, vegetables and potatoes. In Hungary, it is lot closer to soup then a stew and it doesn’t contain tomatoes. There are many versions in former states of Austrian Hungarian Empire. In Czech Republic and Slovakia the liquid base is chopped tomatoes and it is served with either bread or Bread Dumplings, in Austria it is served with rye bread and in Northern Italy with spaetzle or gnocchi. However, one ingredient that is constant right across whole former Empire is paprika, and lots of it. Also, in Czech version, there are as many onions as there is meat, by weight, and green and/or red peppers are always included and potatoes are seldom cooked in goulash itself but rather on side if used as side dish.
As is the case with every national dish there are many regional varieties. Szeged goulash is made with pork, some potatoes are replaced with sauerkraut and sour cream is added at the end of cooking. Znojemský (Moravian) Goulash is made with beef, onions, peppers and chopped pickles. In short, there are as many varieties as there are regions. In this post I will deal with a basic beef goulash using tomatoes and with potatoes on the side.

Ingredients
1 Lb. stewing beef
1 Lb. onions, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbs. Hungarian paprika
1 tsp. caraway seeds
2 green and 2 red peppers, roughly chopped
4 tomatoes, skinned, seeded and roughly chopped
Tbs. lard or vegetable oil
2 Tbs. flour
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper (optional)

 Place flour and beef inside plastic bag, close it and shake the beef until all sides are evenly coated with flour. Shake off all excess flour and set aside.
Heat up lard or oil in heavy pan or Dutch oven on high heat. Place the beef cubes in lard, leaving space in between, and brown on all sides. Remove beef to bowl and set aside. The beef will release some juice.
Pour off the lard leaving just a thin coat on the bottom. Lower the heat to medium, drop in the onions and garlic and cook till light golden brown.
Off the heat sprinkle the paprika and caraway seeds on top and then mix until onions are evenly coated.
Put back on medium heat, add peppers and tomatoes with its juices, stir and bring to simmer.
Put back the beef with collected juice, bay leaf and black pepper. Bring back to simmer on medium high, lower the heat to low and simmer, stirring and scraping the bottom every 15 minutes or so.
Braise for 3 hours making sure that there is enough liquid. If too dry add some liquid such as beer, wine or stock.
Other option is to cook the goulash in the 350 °F oven. 10 minutes before serving add marjoram and adjust seasoning (salt, cayenne pepper).
Serve in preheated shallow bowl with potatoes, pasta, bread dumplings or just slices of rye bread.
As is the case with many stews, this goulash taste better when reheated next day and when served with a different side you end up with a new meal.

Beef is already coated in flour.

Meat is browned, onions and garlic are cooked and paprika and caraway seeds are mixed in.

Peppers, tomatoes with its juice are added and brought back to simmer.

Beef is returned to pot with bay leaves, pot is covered and slowly braised for 3 hours.




Saturday, September 17, 2011

Home Made Paneer Cheese


Last week Ferdzy, the publisher of Seasonal Ontario Food, posted Beans & Cabbage with Paneer recipe. It brought back memory of my favorite non-melting cheeses. Of course, Halloumi is my favorite, but since it is made with sheep and goat milk there is no chance I can make it myself. Paneer, however, being a cow’s milk cheese is another animal all together (pun intended J). The reason I am saying that is that one of my colleagues (back in my working days) had many lunches that had paneer in it and he said that his wife made fresh cheese on daily basis. Well, if you make cheese every day it does have to be simple, right? And is it ever! It is so simple that you can use just a quart or 1 liter of milk or even less. On top of it, as proven by me on my very first try, it is idiot proof!
When I finished pressing my first curds I have noticed that the whey wasn’t clear and light green as I saw on YouTube. No problem, I said. I put the pot back on burner and when it started to simmer I have added more lemon juice. And what do you know, new curds started to form and whey has turned clear and light green.
Lesson learned: make sure you have more lemon juice than you think you will need.

Here goes a long list of ingredients.
2 L 3.25% milk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Yup, that’s it.

Equipment
Heavy bottom pot
Strainer
Muslin cloth
Spatula
Slotted spoon

Now the hard part. Yeah, right J

Bring the milk to simmer, scrapping bottom of a pot as you go. When the milk starts to roll over slowly pour in about a 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Keep stirring until curds start to form. If the milk doesn’t separate into clear and light green whey, add more lemon juice 1 teaspoon at the time. Juice of one large lemon should be enough to make a clear separation of milk solids and whey but it is always better to be on safe side and have some more juice ready, just in case.
When the whey turns green remove the curds with slotted spoon into a colander or strainer lined with muslin.
Let it drain for about 20 minutes and then tie up the muslin into a ball and put some weight on top to compact the cheese. What I did was that I put the bag with cheese in potato ricer (it does have small holes all around) and placed 1 quart jar on top. Perfect fit!
Let the weight compact the paneer to consistency that you like.
Well, the paneer is done and when eaten still warm and fresh with some strawberry jam, it is a heaven!
Next day I did try to shallow fry some slices with little salt and hot sauce and it was delicious!
Thanks, Ferdzy!

Note: Here are some video links that will help you understand the process.

On this video notice how fast the milky whey turns into a clear greenish whey with just a tee-spoon of lemon juice.

This one is interesting that it shows how to make very smooth paneer. She is using oversized Indian spice grinder but I am sure that mini-chopper will do same thing.

Very innovative and original way to use paneer. It is a definite “Must try soon” for me.

How I made Paneer
 Lemon juice was added and curds started to form.

 Curds started to separate in about 2 minutes.

Curds are placed in fine mesh bag and let drain for 15 minutes...

and then I put the bag in potato ricer (to form nice round cake) and a full jar of honey on top. In under one hour from milk to paneer!!! And, is it ever good still warm and super fresh!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Mushroom and Vegetable Soup with Paprika


This goes under Comfort Food label, for sure. It is so substantial that I serve it with buttered rye bread as a supper. There is a nice mix of textures in this version of mushroom soup.
Yes, it does take some time to prepare because of all that chopping but it can be a lot faster if you have a small food processor or my favorite, the mini chopper. Just never put the machine on run or you will end up with a paste. Short pulses are all one needs.
When it comes to ingredients you can use pretty much any root vegetable that you have in your fridge. Here is what I have used and it tasted great.

Ingredients

1 Tbs. oil
1 Tbs. butter
3 shallots or 1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1 Tbs. Hungarian paprika
3/4 cup carrots, finely chopped
3/4 cup celeriac, finely chopped
3/4 cup celery, finely chopped
2 Russet potatoes, cut into 1/4” cubes
2 Tbs. flour
6 cups chicken or beef stock, heated
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley for garnish

In a heavy bottom pan or Dutch oven heat the oil and butter.
When the foam from butter subsides add shallots and sauté till light gold, about 10 minutes.
Add mushrooms and caraway seeds and cook on medium high heat until mushrooms are lightly caramelised.

Add carrots, celeriac and celery and sauté until vegetables are soft.

Off the heat, sprinkle paprika over mushrooms and shallots and stir till mushrooms are coated with paprika.

Add potatoes and mix with rest of the vegetables.

Return to heat and sprinkle flour on top of potatoes, mushrooms and vegetables and keep stirring until flour is cooked and reached paste consistency. The flour will form lumps with vegetables.

Pour in hot stock and mix until al flour lumps are mixed in and soup feels smooth.
Lower the heat to medium low, bring to simmer and cook for 20 minutes scraping the bottom of pot with wood or bamboo spatula (my choice) to prevent flour from burning.

Remove about 1 cup of mushrooms and vegetables with slotted spoon and set aside.
With an immersion blender finely chop or liquefy (your call) rest of the solids. Put back reserved mushrooms and veggies and bring back to simmer.

Add marjoram and taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
Cook for 5 more minutes.  
Serve in a bowls and garnish with parsley.

Serves 4 - 6

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Risotto Cakes with Goat Cheese


Every time I make risotto I make sure to double the recipe so that I have a lot of left-overs. As I noted in another risotto cake post, some restaurants actually make risotto just for the cakes. Once you taste one (good one, that is), you will definitely look forward to the next one.
When I made Chicken and Mushroom Risotto I made it really creamy. Really great as a risotto but it is a problem when you try to form a cake with the left-overs. I had no choice but to mix it with little bit of bread crumbs to give it some body.
To make the cake I chopped the leftover chicken and mushrooms, mixed them with soft goat cheese and formed a small ball. Then I formed ball with risotto, made deep indentation in risotto ball, placed goat cheese ball inside, enclosed it and flattened it to form a cake or pate about 3” in diameter and inch and half high. Next came 3-step breading job: first, coat cake in flour, then beaten egg and finally Panko. Press the Panko in so it doesn’t get loose when placed in hot oil. I shallow fried the cakes till light golden brown on all sides. In 10 minutes it was ready to be served with arugula and cherry tomatoes and freshly grated Parmigiano cheese on top.
I just love the texture of crisp Panko on the outside and soft risotto and creamy goat cheese on the inside, all in one bite!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Turban Squash



Back in the fall of 2007 we were shopping at our local Saturday Farmer’s Market and Marjo spotted a turban squash. Naturally, being an artist that she is, she didn’t see a vegetable but a very colorful subject to paint in watercolor. So, she bought it and later that fall and winter, painted it. She did such an incredible job that the painting was published in 2008 issue of Botanical Artists of Canada newsletter.
You can view her gallery on this blog, she has her own Watercolor page.


Color studies for the watercolor painting.

Forward to winter 2010: As I was browsing seed catalogs, just like most gardeners do at that time of the year, I spotted seeds for the very same squash. Yup, I bought a packet and last March Marjo started the seeds for her very own turban squash. The squash was doing reasonably well through the summer even though only one fruit survived the relentless ant attacks. Couple of weeks ago she harvested her very own and very first squash. To us, this is the most colorful and beautiful vegetable that we can grow in our garden. Now I have to find out if there is a way to somehow dry it and if it will lose colors by drying it. Next year I will try to grow one in large container and away from rabbits and ants.


Saturday, September 10, 2011

Steamed Pearl Balls - Chinese Dim Sum



Chen-chu-jou-wan
These steamed pork meat balls coated in sticky rice are not only favorites in Dim Sum restaurants but at formal Chinese banquets as well. They are so easy to make, especially if using store bought ground meat. Since I never buy ground meat it takes me few minutes longer to prepare, but for me it is worth the time and effort since I know exactly what is in my meat. Same pork mixture can also be used in wontons for soup and also pot stickers. It is very versatile recipe.
 Ingredients
3/4 cup sticky rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
3/4 pound pork butt or equivalent ground pork
1/2 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tablespoons water chestnut, finely chopped
3 green onions, minced
2 shitake mushrooms, soaked and chopped fine
1 Tbs. Sake or rice wine
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 Tbs. peanut oil
1 large egg, beaten
Napa or Savoy cabbage leaves

Soak sticky rice in water for minimum 8 hours, preferably overnight.
Drain well in colander and leave the rice in the colander over a bowl to catch water drippings.
If using pork butt, grind the meat using 1/4” plate.
Mix salt, pepper, sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Place the ground pork in a large mixing bowl together with ginger, garlic, water chestnuts, onions and mushrooms and mix with your hands until the mixture is well combined. Add dry mix and mix till mixture is smooth.
With a spoon scoop out about 2 tablespoons of meat mixture and roll it in palm of your hands forming uniform ball. Place the ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat till all balls are rolled. I prefer to scoop out all the meat first and then roll all the meat at the same time.
Firmly roll the meat balls in colander holding the rice until rice completely covers the meat. It is lot easier to do if you firm up the meat balls in freezer for about 20 – 30 minutes first.

Line a bamboo steamer with cabbage leaves. Place balls 1/2 inch apart in steamer and cover with steamer lid. Add water to a large skillet to a depth of 1 inch and bring to a boil. Place steamer in skillet, and steam balls 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove balls and cabbage from steamer and serve with soy and Chinese red vinegar dipping sauce.


This Chinese aluminum double-decker steamer is one of the most useful utensils in my kitchen. (This picture shows only one basket being used.)

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto


Last few days I had craving for nice creamy risotto so I checked my posts to see what kind I cooked last time. I was very surprised that I didn’t post any regular rise risotto recipe, none at all!
Risotto is so versatile. You can prepare it with so many different meats and vegetables and mix them right in risotto at the end of cooking or serve them on top. Since I bought King Oyster Mushrooms and farm fresh chicken breasts I wanted to use these two ingredients as a main topping. I just love these mushrooms for their taste and texture. Also, since I do have saffron on hand at all times, the risotto I have made was classical “Risotto alla Milanese”.

Ingredients

3 tsp. olive oil
3 Tbs. butter
2 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 skinless chicken breasts
1-1/2 cups Arborio rice
3 shallots
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup dry white wine
Pinch of Saffron
4-1/2cups chicken stock (heated)
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano cheese
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
Oil
Salt & pepper
Directions
Heat 1 tsp. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and toss to coat all slices. Cook till mushrooms show nice color (do not move them too much). When done, remove to bowl and keep warm.
Preheat oven or toaster-oven to 375 °F. In the same skillet where you cooked mushrooms, add 1 Tbs. butter and 1 tsp. oil and cook chicken breast for about 3 minutes on each side or until both sides are golden brown. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, place in baking dish (I use steel pie plate) and roast in oven for about 15 minutes or till juices run clear when pierced with sharp pointed knife. Do not overcook! Remove from oven, cover with foil and let the breasts rest but keep warm.
In the same skillet that you cooked mushrooms and chicken, sauté shallots and garlic in remaining butter and oil until shallots are translucent. Add the rice and stir until the rice turns opaque, about two minutes.
Add the wine to the rice and stir frequently until the wine has been absorbed into the rice.
Add 1/2 cup of the heated chicken stock and stir until absorbed. The rice and stock should bubble gently.
Continue to cook the rice, adding chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time and allowing the rice to absorb it before adding the next 1/2 cup. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
Cook rice until al dente, about 25-30 minutes.
With the addition of last batch of stock add the grated parmesan cheese and 2 Tbs. of butter and stir thoroughly.
Remove from heat when the risotto is thick and creamy.
Serve on pre-heated plate or bowl, top with mushrooms and slices of chicken breast and garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano and parsley.  
Serve immediately.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Cook Ahead Risotto

To cook ahead:
With this technique you never have to stand at the stove, stirring, for 30 minutes while your guests wonder where you have gone. You can make any kind of risotto you want using this method. This method is used by restaurant chefs.
A standard recipe of 4 servings uses 5 cups liquid (wine and stock) to 1-1/2 cups Arborio rice.
Prepare your risotto according to your recipe, but use only 3 -1/4 cups liquid. You will use the remaining 1-3/4 cups to finish the risotto. Cook on medium-low heat until 3-1/4 cups of stock is absorbed.
Remove the rice from heat. If you are going to use it within few hours, just keep it on side, covered.
10 minutes before serving
Remove chilled rice from refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Place the remaining 1-3/4 cups liquid in a wide pot or sauté pan; heat to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add the partially cooked risotto. Stir with a wooden spoon until the stock is absorbed, approximately 4 to 5 minutes or until rice is tender but still firm (the rice is done when it is tender, but firm to the bite). Turn off the heat and immediately add the remaining butter and Parmigiano cheese, stirring vigorously to combine with the rice. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Chicken and Polenta Soup Balls

As I mentioned on my “Baked Pimento Pepper Halves” post, I made these dumplings using minced chicken and polenta instead of usual matzo meal or bread crumbs. It was an experiment that turned out better than I had expected. It started quite innocently with polenta experiment. I had an e-mail thread going with my favorite nephew Seb about cooking polenta. I wanted to know if it can be cooked in microwave. I took 1/2 cup of chicken stock and nuked it for 45 seconds on 100% power, then mixed in 1/4 cup fine ground corn and cooked another 45 seconds on 75% power, uncovered. And, what do you know; it had a decent texture and tasted cooked, it was actually pretty good even though it was on a dry side. I left it on my kitchen island and started to prepare new chicken-on-skewers recipe from Cooks Illustrated where chicken breast is kept moist by coating it with bacon paste made in mini-chopper. I made the paste with 2 cloves of garlic and then I changed my mind about the skewers, there just wasn’t enough meat for two people. Eureka! Chicken dumplings for a soup!
I cut up the breast into small pieces and then minced it in mini chopper together with 1 egg, 1/2 tsp. of salt, 2 Tbs. of chopped garlic chives, 1/2 tsp. marjoram, 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. of white pepper. Then I mixed in the polenta, formed it into 1-1/2” balls and slowly simmered in salted water for 15 minutes. They came out nice and fluffy (baking powder J).
These are now my favorite dumplings for a chicken noodle soup.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Korean Zucchini Pancake

Hobakjeon  호박전
Last few days I had cravings for potato pancakes (or Čmunda in Czech) but it is a winter or cold weather meal. While browsing through other food blogs I came across zucchini version and since I bought bunch of zucchinis at local farmers market my plan was formalized. There is nothing like eating local and in season, right?
This pancake is great for nice quick lunch and can be eaten hot or at room temperature.
My version is based on recipe from Maangchi’s blog that I follow on regular basis. She also has her own channel on YouTube.
Ingredients
2 medium zucchini (I used 1 green and 1 yellow)
3 green onions
2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. sesame oil
Peanut oil for frying

Julienne zucchini (matchstick size) and shred green onions. You should have about 2-1/2 cups of zucchini and 1/2 cup of green onions.
In large mixing bowl beat the egg and then add salt, flour, pepper, garlic and water and mix until well combined and smooth.
Add zucchini and onions and mix thoroughly with spatula.
Heat 12” non-stick frying pan, add 1 Tbs. of oil and when hot add about 3/4 cup of pancake mixture. Spread it evenly, making fairly thin pancake. Press down with spatula to get even browning on bottom. Add some sesame oil around the edges to help the browning. When edges are golden brown, about 2 minutes, flip or turn over and cook another 2 minutes. Again, add 1 tsp. of sesame oil around the edges.
Transfer to heated plate and keep warm while frying rest of the pancakes.
I know that it is basically traditional Korean dish and is served with spicy sauce but I served it with sour cream and sliced strawberries. Nice contrast in texture and taste!

Done just right!

Note: Do not let the frying pan get too hot or you end up with burned edges and raw center.