Pumpkin Season = Pumpkin Pancake Breakfast!

With the abundance of "Pumpkin Puree" during the holiday season, I decided to make Pumpkin Pancakes with Honey Nutmeg Butter for breakfast this morning.  The pancakes came out nice and fluffy yet still moist and yummy! The perfect breakfast for a Sunday before Thanksgiving!

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon butter (melted and cooled)
1/3 cup walnuts (optional)

Instructions:
1) Combine all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar in a medium bowl.
2) In a separate smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, egg, milk, vanilla and cooled melted butter. Whisk until smooth.
3) Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and fold until they are nicely combined, but do not need to be too smooth. Having a few lumps here and there is good. 4) Heat cast iron skillet or pan over medium-high heat for about 3 mins.  Lightly butter the pan. Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter for one pancake. Drop in a few walnuts into the batter on the pan. Cook until golden brown and flip to the other side.

Honey-Nutmeg Butter

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt

Instructions:
1. Cream the butter with honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon until slightly fluffy and even. Place in a small bowl and refrigerate for about 30 mins. Take out of fridge and give it another mix and they will be ready to use.

Yummy Bibimbop

Bibimbop (BEE-beem-bop) is one of my all-time favorite Korean cuisine.  After doing some research i.e. reading different recipes and watching cooking videos, I realized it's not impossible to make at home. A bonus for me is living in K-Town and having access to the best Korean markets.  This dish can be made in a pan and transferred to a bowl, but since my local Korean market carry authentic hot stone bowls, I decided to cook the rice right in it instead of transferring rice from a rice cooker.  Another advantage of the hot stone bowl is the ability to obtain the nice crispy rice on the bottom of the bowl.  Because the rice continues to cook in the bowl even after its been taken off the burner, by the time you finish eating and reach the bottom of the clay bowl, the rice will be nice and crispy with  a light toasty aroma!

Ingredients:

Steamed white rice

Bulgogi Beef (Sweet marinated beef.  A short cut is to purchase at your local Korean market)

1 carrot, julienned

Cooked bean sprouts,steamed or sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

Cooked spinach,  steamed or sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

Cooked squash, steamed or sauteed in little sesame oil and seasoned with salt

4 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced and sauteed in sesame oil and seasons with salt

1 egg, cooked over easy

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Soysauce, to taste

Gochuchang Paste (Can be found in your local Korean market. See picture below)

Instructions:

1) Cook the meat (Bulgogi) in small pan and set aside. 

2) Cook rice in a rice cooker or in a hot stone bowl as seen in the picture. 

3) If cooking rice in rice cooker, transfer rice into a large slightly shallow bowl.  Place Bulgogi (with juices from cooked meat) and veggies on top of the rice. Place separately so you can see each ingredient nicely arranged on the rice. 

4) Fry the egg over easy and place it on top of everything. 

5) Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with sesame oil and soysauce. 

When ready to eat, mix all ingredients together with some Gougchang paste to taste.  

 Prepare vegetables by cutting and setting aside. 

 Steam or sautee all vegetables and lightly season with sesame oil and salt.

 Arrange vegetables and meat in a way where you can see everything beautifully in the bowl. 

Fry the egg over easy. 

 This is how the bowl should look before the egg is placed on top. 

 This is "Gochuchang Paste" found in your local Korean Market. 

Bibimbap is best accompanied by small side dishes such as Kimchi, pickles and bean sprouts.