Kimchi and Carrot Top Mung Bean Pancakes

Mung bean pancakes with kinchi and fresh carrot tops.

The best thing about these Korean inspired pancakes is that you can use any leftovers you have in the fridge to create your personal favorite combination. These make for a hearty and nutritious breakfast for those with a savory palate but they are just as good any other time they are served.

For the omnivores out there you can add your meats, poultry, and seafood bits to this mung bean and glutinous rice batter too.

Mung bean pancakes with kinchi and fresh carrot tops.

The mung beans and the glutinous rice make up the starch in this combo so for those looking for a gluten free option this is a great recipe to add to your list!

Korean Mung Bean Pancakes

INGREDIENTS//Yields 12 pancakes

• 2 cups dried and peeled mung beans
• 1/4 cup glutinous rice
• 1 large free-range egg
• 1 cup kimchi or a combination of vegetables (mung bean sprouts, scallions, carrot tops, etc)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation

The mung beans and glutinous rice needs to be soaked for at least a few hours (approx. 5-6 hrs)

Dip

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari (gluten-free option)
• 1 tablepoon black vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili spice (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl combine your mung beans and your glutinous rice. Rinse several times under cold water until the the water is not cloudy. Then cover with water and soak overnight or for the day.

Drain the bean and rice mixture and save a cup of its liquid on the side.

In a food processor or blender grind the bean and rice mixture together while adding some of the water that was saved on the side until the consistency is slightly creamy with a sand-like texture. Use as much water necessary to loosen the batter while grinding the mixture.

In another mixing bowl combine your vegetables of choice. I usually add any leftover kimchi which makes these pancakes very flavorful. I used some fresh carrot tops that I had on hand so I added that to the blend.

Add your egg, sesame oil, white pepper, and salt and stir the combination together.

Mix it in with your mung bean and glutinous rice batter.

In a large skillet, heat some vegetable oil over medium heat and spread it all over the pan.

Scoop a ladle full of your batter and drizzle it onto the skillet to make medium size pancakes. Depending on the size of your skillet you can make a few at a time.

Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until each side is golden brown.

Serve with a soy sauce and black vinegar dip on the side.

Risotto with Patty Pan Squash

It’s a bird…It’s a plane…It’s a patty pan! For those who don’t know, it’s a summer squash that has an eye catching disc-like shape, kind of like a flying saucer. Well, it certainly caught my eye. I mean, I’ve seen it before but never dared to buy it. It’s pretty and all but who knows what it’s like on the inside.

Mushroom and corn risotto served in a scallop shaped patty pan.

I am just resigned to own this vegetable since it turned up in my AMAP ( CSA ) basket this week so I started to procure recipes from my fellow Amapien members. There’s a photo of my AMAP pick-up spot here. It seems like most people like to make gratins out of things that are tasteless. I was beginning to wonder if this was what my scallop shaped squash had to offer me.

I was adamant on keeping its shell as a decorative serving piece so all I had to do was stuff it, right? I love eating rice with most anything so I decided on making a risotto since it’s creamy in its own right and not in a gratin-like way. It turned out to be a great combo. I kept the patty pan flesh cooking in its shell and simply scooped it out when cooked and left it inside. I then filled the shell up with the risotto and stirred it around to mix it up.

Patty pan squash tastes like a yellow squash to me. It has a very moist flesh so it helps keep the risotto light and loose.

Bon appétit!

Risotto Patty Pan Squash

INGREDIENTS//Serves 3-4

• 1 patty pan squash per person if you want to stuff it in its shell (patîsson in French)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cob corn, boiled and cut into kernels (1 tin of corn kernels will work too)
• 300 grams risotto rice
• 75 milliliters white wine
• 1 liter vegetable stock or your stock of preference
• 2-3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, grated.
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 200 grams crimini mushrooms, cleaned and chopped (champignon de Paris rose is what I get in France)
• 1 lemon, zest
• 3-4 sprigs of flat parsley, leaves only

PREPARATION

Slice the top of the pattypan off so that it forms a lid. Scoop out the seeds. Place the pattypan cut side up in a baking dish with a half inch of water and drizzle some olive oil over the pattypan.

Boil a liter of water to prepare your stock so that it is ready when you start to cook the risotto.

Place your mushrooms in a baking dish, drizzle some olive oil and add the parsley to the mix and toss.

Let the boiled corn cool down. Stand the ear up on a flat side (cut it flat if need be) and hold the top of the ear with your hand while sawing downwards to cut off the corn. This will give you about a half cup of corn kernels. Place it aside until ready for use.

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).

Place the pattypan in the oven and let it cook for 35-40 minutes.

I place my mushrooms in the oven at the same time. It cooks more or less about the same time.

Roast the pattypan and mushrooms in the oven while starting the risotto (cook time is about 30 min).

In a large pan, heat up some olive oil over medium heat and then add the onions. Cook them for about 10 minutes. Do not brown them!

Add the risotto rice and stir with a wooden spoon. Move it around until the rice turns translucent.

Add the white wine. It will sizzle and it should start to evaporate. Continuously stir the rice (patience is the key to making risotto). Apparently, stirring releases its starch which gives it the creamy factor.

As the rice starts to dry up, add a ladleful of simmering stock and continue to stir. When it starts to thicken up and get starchy, add another ladleful of stock and stir slowly.

Keep repeating this process until the rice is cooked. Most or all of the stock will have been used.

When it is cooked, add some lemon zest, stir in the butter and then the Parmesan cheese.

Take the roasted mushrooms and combine it with the risotto. Add the corn kernels and stir.

Place the cooked pattypan on a serving dish or individual plate.

Take a spoon and scoop the flesh around in the pattypan.

Fill the patty pan with the risotto while mixing in the flesh inside the patty pan.

Adjust with black pepper.

Garnish with a little sprig of parsley and serve.


NOTE

You’ll have to buy a patty pan for each person if you want to serve and stuff the risotto in it. Otherwise, you can just scoop out the flesh of the one patty pan and combine it with the risotto towards the end and serve the portions directly on your plates.

Cauliflower Parsnip Purée

The parsnip seems to be a star vegetable this winter.  It just had a portrait write-up about it in the French journal Libération with a soup recipe included by Alain Ducasse.

Parsnip is the je ne sais quoi in soups and it's what adds that special something to the stock of the pot-au-feu.  In the ancient times, the Roman Emperor Tiberius imported this vegetable from Germania and it was used to strike the bell in the bell tower.  In the Middle Ages, it was one of the vegetables cultivated by the monasteries.  It was overshadowed by the growing popularity of the potatoes in the 18th century and has just finally made its comeback to the dining room table.

Cauliflower Parsnip Purée

INGREDIENTS//Serves 6

• 1 Parsnip, peeled and chopped
• 500 grams cauliflower, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, roasted
• 2 dollops crème fraîche
• 30 grams butter
• 1/2 bunch chives


INSTRUCTIONS

In a large pot of water add some coarse sea salt and the parsnip and bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer.

Cook for 15 minutes or until you can stab a fork through the parsnips.  

Add the cauliflower and cook until tender.

Pour your parsnips and cauliflower into a colander and drain.

Transfer it to a large mixing bowl (if mashing by hand) otherwise transfer into a food processor.

Combine the rest of the ingredients, garlic and crème fraîche. 

Mash with a fork or blend it all together in your food processor.  Adjust accordingly with some coarse sea salt. 

Garnish with some chopped chives.