and so much more

I've been an absent little foodie, but finally I have blog fodder.

• My latest food obsession: oatmeal. But not those packets of dust, chemicals and sugar that yield of bowl of runny goo. Nope. I like the real, thick, chewy, nutty oatmeal. With a sprinkling of dried cranberries or wild blueberries from Trader Joe's, a half-dozen pecans or almonds and some soymilk and flaxmeal, this healthful, fiber-filled meal is almost like dessert. Sometimes I even drizzle on some organic REAL maple syrup (which at Trader Joe's was actually cheaper than the regular real maple syrup for whatever reason. Oh, decadence and fiber.
• Like Polly, I've been hearing about Terry's Turf Club lately. Business reporter -- and my cubicle neighbor -- John Eckberg first told me about it a couple of months ago. Then my friend Bri brought it up, and last week I got an invitation to a birthday party: at Terry's! I hear they have an awesome portobello burger, but I'm heading there after dinner at Seny on Friday. Seny is tapas, so maybe I'll just nibble (I hear they've worked out the kinks and the food is excellent but small).
• I had a Comet burrito two Fridays ago for the first time in a LONG time. They're as big as Chipotle's, only better. The tofu, which I hear is marinated in grape jelly, is addictive. Can anyone confirm or deny? I think I should test that theory. Might be fabulous... or distasterous.
• Tabitha and I made sugar cookies. Turns out, I don't like making sugar cookies. It takes for-ev-er. And it's messy. And there's no health-ing up sugar cookies. I try to add or substitute flax meal, oat bran, applesauce, etc. to baked goods. But with sugar cookies, it's harder. They're more temperamental, with so many steps: rolling, cutting, frosting. I've decided instead of cookies, I'll give granola and trail mix this year. And if I make it with cashews, which I can't eat, I won't be tempted to eat it myself.
• Fred and I ate at Riverside the other night, and I realized how much I missed that place. The waitresses, Adrian and Briana, are attentive and kind. Bruce and Seo-hyun (I know I misspelled her name!) are really talented! The soft tofu stew is my favorite, mostly because it's a comfort food for me. That was my typical lunch each day in Korea. I tried everything, but after a few months I settled on soon dubu baek bahn (soft tofu stew) as my go-to meal. When I walked in to Kimbap Chungkuk down the street from my school, the ajuma at the counter often called to the kitchen before I could speak. Riverside's is perfect: Oysters to flavor the broth (sometimes clams), plenty of chili oil, mushrooms carrots and onions, a generous glob of soft tofu and an egg that poaches in the spicy, boiling broth. The egg is key: The yolk adds a richness to the broth. Yum. Dip in spoonfuls of rice. Ah.
  Owner Mark Jang was working that night and came out of the kitchen to see how we liked the new side dishes: anchovies with hot peppers (little dried ones. the kind with tiny eyes. I forgot my rule against eating things with eyes. delicious!), jellyfish with Korean horseradish, some sweet bellflower root. Fred loves the simple sides: watercress or spinach with sesame oil. I love the dried mushroom, squid and radish dishes. They're crunchy and chewy with really rich flavor. I love Korean food.
• A bunch of Enquirer folks headed to Palomino last night for their great happy hour to get a head-start on a certain Foodie Report editor's birthday. Who's birthday? Hint: She's fabulous. That narrows it down, doesn't it?! :) We love their happy hour; $3 drinks, $5 pizzas and half-price appetizers, along with the BEST mojitos! A non-blogger and fellow mojito lover had one complaint: pizza con vongole. When you see on the menu that there are clams are your pizza, you probably don't expect the clams to be in shells. It's a great presentation, and I'm sure the clams are perfectly cooked, but they're really hard to eat. She said, "I had to eat the clams, then eat the pizza. I wanted pizza with clams." I've had that pizza, and she's right. It's awkward to eat. Do you pry the clams from the shells with a fork or your fingers? Put them back on the pizza or eat them first? And what do you do with the shells? After a couple of mojitos, that's WAY too many decisions. That said, cheap (good) food and drinks can't be beat.
• Fred loves the stuffed grape leaves at Mythos, so we've been there once a week since the new place opened on Fourth Street. The lines are long but move quickly. I had the veggie moussaka, which is a bit heavy for lunch and has a load of cream sauce on it. It was good though, and with a Greek salad included in that and most every meal, it's a good deal, too. Anyone else been there?
• And finally (this post will soon end, worry not, loyal readers) my dear friend Rob, a former college roommate, is coming home for Christmas. He's a hip, fabulous guy who lives the posh life in D.C. I'm going to show him that Queen City's way better than it was the last time he was home, more than six months ago. We're going to start with a drink at Twist, followed by a walk to Fountain Square. (He's never seen Fountain Square 2.0.) I'm thinking dinner at Via Vite, Nada or Sung (Ooh, or Riverside) then maybe Below Zero or Cue. It's so nice to have too many options for dinner and drinks!

Blatant self-promotion

I hadn't intended to post a link to this, but Liz Foreman, our multimedia directrice extraordinaire, sent me the html coding.
I debuted on the NetCast last Friday. We did a "User's Guide to Korean Food." It was great fun. Thanks to Riverside Korean Restaurant in Covington for their help!

A Korea state of mind

I spent a year teaching English in South Korea, and I fell in love with the people, the culture, and most importantly, the food. Korea is where I learned to love spicy food, and that wonderful feeling that comes after your mouth is on fire. Pleasure after pain, it's a great feeling!

I'm lucky to live in Covington, where we have a delicious, authentic Korean restaurant, Riverside.
But quite often, I get a hankering for Korean food at home.

Polly gave me this barbecue sauce the other day. Annie Chun's line of prepackaged products is pretty good, as far as processed food goes. There's no corn syrup in this sauce, and I can pronounce every ingredient. I tried it on vegetables and grains, and I liked it. It's tangy, just like the barbecue marinade I remember from the bulgogi (fire-meat) and kalbi (ribs) I ate there.

Barbecue in Korea is quite different than here. Year-round, groups gather at small tables, sometimes inside but more often outside, with a grill inside. Some restaurants have gas grill-tables, while at others, a man brings your table a can full of hot coals.

You line up meat, tofu, kimchi and vegetables -- ooh, and whole cloves of garlic on the grill and pull the goodies off as it's ready. The meat goes on in one piece, then is cut into bite-size pieces with kitchen shears as it cooks.

Wrap it up with a few seasoned scallions, a slice of pickled daikon radish, some hot pepper-bean paste and that roasted garlic inside a piece of romaine lettuce, pop the entire thing in your mouth and wash it down with a shot of soju or a sip of mekju. It's especially comforting food on a bitterly cold winter's night in Seoul. When you leave, your belly's full, and everyone on the subway can smell the meat, soju, kimchi and charcoal fumes still clinging to your hair and clothes.

Annie Chun's sauce would make a great marinade with your protein of choice. Here are some tips on making your own Korean BBQ at home! You don't need a grill table to do it. (Annie Chun's products are available at Kroger, Wild Oats, Meijer and more...)

Tonight, my childhood friend Sarah is coming to visit. She loves kimchi as much as I do. We taught in Korea together, and we shared my 300-square-foot apartment (yes, 30x10 feet!) for two weeks when she first arrived. And our friendship survived. We're going to Riverside for dolsot bibimbap and kimchi bokum and will no doubt test our spicy-food threshold.

Any other kimchi lovers out there?