Maria's Recipe Corner #2: Cole Slaw Fritatta = Frislawtta?

No, this isn't the Q&A or jimjilbang post I promised you. Instead, it's time for another interlude of MARIA'S RECIPE CORNER. (Imagine some echo and dramatic orchestra music there.) Fear not, I will return you to your regularly scheduled posts sometime this weekend.

Until then...

Do you like cole slaw?

Do you like eggs?

Then, by all means, READ ON!

Living on a very tight grocery budget here in Korea has brought me back to my culinary experimentation roots: college. Ah, those were the days. I'd just throw whatever I had left in the fridge or the cupboards together and hope that it turned out edible. While I created a few massive gastronomical disasters, I also invented a few really fabulous recipes. Today, I have returned to this tried and true method of making interesting edibles, and have soundly landed in the latter category.

I'm surprised nobody has done this before.

Okay, first, I suppose I should give you my cole slaw recipe. LOOK AT THAT! TWO RECIPES! Aren't you guys spoiled? It's super simple:

Creamy Cole Slaw (Maria style)
-half a head of cabbage, chopped
-one large carrot (Korean carrots are apparently HUGE, so you may need two or three regular-sized American carrots), shredded or chopped fine
-Vinegar (except I had none, so I used a creamy onion dressing that had vinegar in it)
-Mayonaise
-salt
-sugar
-olive oil

Toss chopped veggies together. In another bowl, mix enough mayo to coat your veggies (just eyeball it) with the other ingredients to taste. You don't need a lot of any of it, probably less than a tablespoon or two of oil and vinegar and just a pinch of salt and sugar. Pour mayo mix over cabbage and carrots. Toss to coat.

Now, I made WAY TOO MUCH of this stuff. It turned out friggin' delicious, but I just couldn't eat it all fast enough, even eating it EVERY DAY for lunch for a week. It was starting to look a little wilty in my tupperware container. So, I improvised.

I thought, "Why has nobody put cole slaw in a fritatta? This bears investigation." Because lo! Not a single cole slaw fritatta recipe on the internet. (Google wouldn't lie to me.) UNTIL NOW. I am breaking new ground here.

So, without further ado, I present to you:

The Frislawtta

-leftover cole slaw, about 1 1/2 cups
-6 eggs
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 small chopped onion

Now, I probably should have added onion to the slaw in the first place, but I was stupid and didn't think of it. Also the basic cole slaw recipe I looked at for inspiration didn't call for onion. I figured onion was good in eggs, though, and I had a ton of them in my fridge waiting to get used, so I tossed that in as well.

Anyway. Beat your eggs in a medium-to-large bowl until frothy (yeah, baby), add salt and pepper. Fold in your onions and cole slaw GENTLY (you want those eggs fluffy) until just combined. Pour into a greased pan (I used an 8x8 square brownie pan) and bake in the oven at 390 F (200 C) for about half an hour, or until the top is golden brown and it's not all jiggly in the middle. You may have to adjust oven temp or baking time, as I did mine in a toaster oven.

Eat it while it's hot. It's fan-flippin'-tastic.

Ate half for dinner, I'm going to have the rest of this for lunch tomorrow.

Here's a picture to get your mouths watering:



That's been our recipe corner segment! Enjoy!

Next post:
-Your questions, ANSWERED!
-The secrets of the Korean jimjilbang, REVEALED!
-The acting chops of my Book Club 2 students, TESTED!
-More footage of Gus the rabbit, EXPOSED!
-And possibly some coverage of the PSNAP SNAPS art festival thingy in Hongdae this Sunday, if I can afford metro fare to go.

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

-Maria

Maria's Recipe Corner #1: AMAZEBALLS!

So, I decided to start writing down some of my experiments-gone-right in the kitchen, since I might want to attempt reproducing the results later. Or, hey, you never know-- someone ELSE might want to try the recipes I cobble together mostly by luck and sheer stubbornness.

I'll probably write a proper post (with more Gus videos and some funny photos) this weekend, but for now, have a recipe. Let's start with something easy.

ZOMG AMAZEBALLS!

That's the official name for this recipe. It's simple, but it takes awhile to make.

Ingredients:

About 2-3 cups of leftover mashed potatoes (at least chill in the fridge for an hour before making AMAZEBALLS)

1 or 2 eggs

Cheese of choice, cubed

Salt & pepper and other seasonings as desired

Frying oil of choice

Potato starch (optional) or panko crumbs (I haven't tried this one yet, but I saw another similar recipe that used it and it sounds YUMMY). You don't necessarily need to dip your balls in anything. I'm sure naked balls fry up just as well.

Mix potatoes (seasoned as desired) and eggs in a large bowl until eggs are totally incorporated. You might want to just squish your hands in there to be sure. Scoop generous spoonfuls into your palm and flatten the potato mixture, then stick a piece of cheese in the middle and fold the potatoes around it until it's all tucked in. Make into a ball and flatten slightly (but not so much that the cheese pokes out). Dip in optional potato starch or panko crumbs for extra crispiness on the outside. The potato starch is also nice because it keeps the raw balls from sticking to each other in the bowl. Nobody likes sticky balls.

I fried mine in my wok in about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of canola oil, medium heat. Oil should be hot enough to cook the balls quickly without soaking into the potato too much, but not so hot that you get scorching or spattering. You don't want burned or soggy balls. Flip them when they're golden brown on one side, scoop out with a little strainer or wooden spoon, drain on napkins.

I KNOW THEY'RE SUPER EXCITING AND YOU WILL WANT TO EAT THEM IMMEDIATELY BUT JUST WAIT A SEC! THEY WILL BE MOLTEN LAVA HOT.

Great side dish, or eaten on their own. I inhaled like five of the damn things (with blisters in my throat to prove it) before they were done sizzling. The burning never tasted so good. I am full now.

ENJOY!