Dinner In a Pinch!

I've been prepping a post on my winter coat essentials, but I've been slacking on taking all the necessary photos. So in the meantime, here is a post on my go-to dinner. You know, the dish you make when you don't feel like heading out to the grocery and use whatever is in the cabinet/fridge. I'm Korean, and I've been trying to expand my Korean dish repertoire (mainly to get the husband to eat a bit healthier), so I always have garlic, ginger, and scallions sitting around as well as slices of pork belly in the freezer.

This recipe is adapted from one I saw in Food & Wine magazine a couple years ago, by Hung Huynh the Season 3 winner of Top Chef (love that show!). The end product is a tasty dish that my husband and I absolutely love! Below is my modified recipe for 'Hung's Clay Pot Rice':

Ingredients:
- 1 cup short-grain rice
- mushrooms (I used a handful of beech mushrooms and a handful of enoki mushrooms. 4-5 fresh shiitake mushrooms work well too.)
- 2 scallions, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 thick slice of pork belly, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh giner
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1. In a bowl, cover the rice with water and let soak for 1 hour. Drain the rice.
2. In another bowl, toss the mushrooms and scallions with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and season with salt and pepper. Let marinate for 20 minutes.

3. In a clay pot or medium saucepan, cook the pork belly over moderate heat for about 5 minutes, until the fat is rendered.

4. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.

5. Add the soaked rice and stir.

6. Add the marinated mushrooms and scallions, the water and the remaining 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat.

7. Cover the pot and cook the rice over low heat until tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium and cook the rice, covered, for about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve!

We love this dish with sriracha sauce, which gives it a little extra spice! I also whipped up some hot and sour soup and served it along with some Korean side dishes, which made this an easy weeknight dinner!

What are some of your go-to dinners? I'd love to hear them!

A Lovely Travel Discovery!

Over the summer, I was on a random trip and stayed in a hotel for a few days. My first day there, I noticed a beautiful crystal piece in the bathroom and at first, I thought it was just a mini piece of art. I eventually figured out that it was a jewelry holder, and a beautiful one at that! I fell in love with it - it was so nice to have a safe place to put my rings while washing my face, getting ready for bed, etc. Upon closer inspection I saw that it was made by Nambe, so when I returned home, I looked it up, knowing I just needed to get one! I actually ended up getting two - one for our living room by the front door, and one for my bathroom. I generally don't wear much jewelry on a day to day basis, but I always wear my watch and wedding rings when I go out, and then take them off immediately once I'm home. Here is one of my beloved jewelry holders!

I really wish I had found this gem before I purchased my gifts for my bridesmaids! : ( But I did end up buying them as thank you gifts for a friend who did a reading at my wedding and a friend who sat at the guest book table.


What are some of your (in)significant travel discoveries? Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Making our home...homier!

I got married this past summer (woohoo!), and as the wedding gifts rolled in, our apartment was beginning to look more and more like a home from a 'Hoarders' episode. Okay, well maybe not quite that bad, but you get my drift. After our honeymoon, we were finally able to settle in, clean up, and decorate our place a bit. I'm so excited about the most recent addition to our living room...our new rug!!! I wish I had before and after pictures for you, but I think the rug makes the room feel a lot cozier.

Rug: Sakura (in Straw) by West Elm

I am by no means a design aficionado, so choosing the right pieces for our living room took longer than I anticipated. I'm pretty happy with how the room looks now, but my biggest regret is our coffee table, which I brought with me from my single days in NYC. My mom and I were at Ethan Allen on a random Saturday, and this coffee table was a 50% off floor sample, and she convinced me to buy it. The problem? There are no drawers or shelves, which makes keeping our coffee table tidy very, very difficult!

Do you have any design regrets? And I'd love any feedback on our 'new' living room! I'm looking for a floor lamp, but limited space in the room has made the search challenging...