Recipe - Bulgogi

This is one of my favorite Korean dishes (to be honest the only one I really know), but its a great introduction to Korean cusine.

Here is a recipe from my dad who prides himself on making this delcious dish! This is his exact recipe so you can see where I get my amazing writing skills...

Ingredients

• 2 cups Soy Sauce


• 1/2 cup Sugar


• 2 tbls Sesame Seeds


• 1/4 cup Sesame Seed Oil


• 1/4 Rice Wine (dry white wine)


• 4 cloves, smashed/grated Garlic


• 1 teaspoon ginger

Directions

It's this simple, mix everything above in a bowl. stir until the sugar disolves, and the garlic mixes in really good! (Do you love my technical jargon?) This is the good part, you can either take a chuck roast, or steaks, or any red meat, and pour the sauce on the meat. Let it marinate for at least 3-4 hours. If it's a roast, make little slits in the roast so the juice can get into the inside. Then Broil the meat! If you using the roast, cut it up in slices. Trust me on this one, it's a winner!!

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Restaurant Review - Nikko's, Charlotte

Nikko's

As some of you may know, I tend to jet set from time to time (probably more than I should and/or can afford). This past weekend was one of my many adventures in Charlotte, NC. Jef took me to a great Japanese restaurant, renown for its ostentatious owner and her sake bomb songs.

We arrived at Nikko's around 10:30 and I was shocked to find this place was still packed. Honestly, I felt as if it had been plucked from New York and placed in Charlotte. There was loud music, contemporary decor, trendy dressers (I was definitely not one of them...) and big booths filled with parties.

Our server greets us immediately and we order cocktails, I decided to try their Pomegrante Martini. It was pretty good, heavy on the pomegranate, light on the vodka, which was fine by me.

To start we ordered Edamame, which I normally don't like (its just bland to me), but was pretty good here. We then decided to go with two sushi rolls. I love anything involving crunch, and tuna so the obvious choice was the Tuna Crunchy Roll, and then TNT seemed intriguing so we went with it.

When they came out, I knew that there would be no left overs. The Tuna Crunchy Roll was lightly breaded in panko crumbs and then deep fried and filled with red tuna (NOT minced like they do here in NYC), crab, cucumber and topped with a ponzu sauce. That sauce was incredible, it lended the right amount of sweetness to mesh well with the crab and tuna, and the cucumber (which again, I normally don't care for) was just the right amount of crunch.

The TNT roll didn't disappoint either. It was filled with White Tuna, Cream Cheese, Cuke and topped with Red Tuna and Avocado.

After a Pink Martini (which was not pink, but as Jef pointed out was made with Pink vodka) we headed back.

Overall, Nikko's was a great experience and definitely a New York atmosphere in a far more charming southern town.

Nikko's
http://www.nikkosushibar.net/
1300 South Blvd # F
Charlotte, NC 28203
(704) 370-0100

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Salsa - The Written Recipe

Simple Salsa

I know some of you weren't able to view the video yesterday and that's a shame because you would have learned soooo much.

Fear not foodies, here is the recipe for the salsa made in yesterday's video. If you do not have a magic bullet, a food processor or blender will work (just be sure not to set to liquefy...)



Ingredients

• 1/4 of a red onion
• 1/4 to 1/6 of a jalapenos (if you buy sliced I would use 3-4 depending on thickness)
• 8-10 cherry tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1-2 sprigs of cilantro
• salt
• pepper

Directions

Couldn't be simpler...place in chopping device (again food processor, blender, magic bullet, whatever) and set to pulse. This is important because you dont want your salsa to become a puree and look like baby food.

I have to say when I first made this I was shocked at how much better homemade salsa was then store bought and in all reality it cost about the same and you know the quality of your ingredients.

Simple. Fast. Easy.

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Making Salsa -- IN A VIDEO

Ok this is a Frugal Foodies first, yes, we have video. A big thanks to Lex who's wonderful video and editing skills can be seen here.


This will serve as both a product and recipe...get ready...

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Restaurant Review - Alta

Before I started the Frugal Foodies I used to send out weekly emails to my girlfriends to describing the restaurants I would eat at. This was my first email review and since having eaten at Alta I've gone back with my Dad and Jef.

Here's the email in its original form so you can see why I needed a blog to write about food :)

Anyways Friday night we went to this little restaurant in the West Village called Alta and seriously it we had some of the finest culinary masterpieces that have every grazed my expanding palate. They are all really small portions (its not actually a restaurant its more of a tapas places...) so we ended up ordering 4 things and with the guidance of our sever we really knocked this one out of the park. I sipped on a lavender martini and Tracy on a floridirita (a grapefruit and white grape juice vodka drink) and then the food...WOW here's a brief overview:

• Fried Goat Cheese with lavender infused honey
• Smoked Mozzarella in shredded filo, tomato and red onion salad, caramelized balsamic
• Skirt Steak chimichurri, shoe string potatoes and rosemary butter truffle cheese with a stewed jersey tomato
• Pork epinadas with a chipotle lime dipping sauce
• Chocolate fondue with orange biscotti (I LOVE FONDUE)
• Strawberry tart

I swear the people next to us probably thought that we were food critics because after every bit there was a discussion about the contrasting textures and the flavors...it was a sight to see!

Since having been back with my Dad and Jef, there are some additional things that we tried that definitely should be noted

• Coca (Catalonian Flatbread) oven roasted mushrooms, fresh ricotta, truffled boschetto, herbs
• Crispy Duck Confit Tatsoi Salad with frisee, whole grain mustard & Forum Vinegar
• Brussel sprouts roasted with apples
• Venison with an apple chutney
• Lamb Meatballs spiced butternut squash foam, toasted sesame seeds and lebne

Overall Alta is one my absolute favorite places in Manhattan and for good reason. All the plates are reasonable priced between 6.50 - 15 dollars. Everything is made to order and comes out as its ready, oh and the food is amazing!!

If you are ever in Manhattan this would be my suggestion for a light dinner (or heavier dinner depending on how much you order) and if you get a big group together (I'd say 8+ people) I would definitely suggest doing the "whole shebang" for $350 and sampling EVERYTHING on the menu!!

Alta
64 W. 10 (at 6th ave)
NY, NY 10011
(212) 505-7777

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