I have a little secret- I love those reusable bags that you buy at the grocery store. I have about a dozen of them. You know what kind I'm talking about- Raley's, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods-- pretty much every place sells them or gives them away. The problem is I never remember to take them to the store with me. Instead I use them for everything else- carrying food/ingredients to Mr.S' casa, transporting my laundry, returning books to the library, even throwing wet clothes in there after a day at the beach. Mr.S used to make fun of me when we first started dating because he thought the bags were pretty dorky (especially my purple one from Whole Foods with a giant eggplant on it and the enthusiastic statement of, "I Love Veggies!" but he confessed to me a few years ago that he started looking forward to those bags because it usually meant I was going to cook something delicious at his house. And last year, he even bought a few himself...now whether he actually takes them to the store or not, I have no idea...but who am I to judge?☺ Anyhow, I used the bags recently to bring the ingredients over to his house to cook Korean ground beef. Both he and Kidlet #1 gave it the thumbs up, as did my friend Michelle when I gave her some. This is a super versatile recipe and I'm pretty sure I'll be making it a lot now that I'm working. It's easy to throw together and you can use it in tacos, rice bowls (this works fantastically in bibimbap) or in lettuce wraps. You will need some gochujang sauce though- a Korean red pepper paste containing chiles, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, salt (and sometimes a sweetner). You can find it as most Asian supermarkets. It usually comes in a jar or a plastic tub and some brands are spicier/sweeter than others. Gochujang tastes great when used to make marinades, stir-fries or stew. Sometimes I like to mix it with peanut butter and few other condiments and use it as a dressing.



Korean Ground Beef

Ingredients

1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 - 1.25 lbs. ground beef
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 scant cup brown sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (I just use my microplane)
1 heaping teaspoon gochujang
salt and pepper
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

Instructions

1. In a large non-stick skillet, heat up your sesame oil over medium heat. Add your garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add your ground beef. Cook, stirring to break up the crumbles. When it's no longer pink, drain the fat.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together your brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger and gochujang.

3. Add the mixture to the beef. Simmer for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste.


4. Sprinkle in green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Stir. Remove from heat.

5. Serve over rice, with lettuce leaves or with tortillas.

1809 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 498-9200

Who'd have thought that the day before Valentine's Day would be such a busy night for eating out? And on a Tuesday night in the burbs at that? Not me, that's for sure and it was my fault for not making the resi at Roxy's. Nevertheless, with out of town guests (Yelpers Omar B & Mayumi F) in tow, rather than wait 1.5 hours... Alisha & I decided to flip a B & head back towards the grid to check out Dragonfly.

Unlike Roxy's, upon arrival Dragonfly was serene and only had a smattering of tables occupied. Dragonfly's decor exudes a warmness---ruby red walls and persimmon colored accents coupled with dark Bali-esque wood furniture round out the faux Asian look...I'll admit it-- I liked it, it was both trendy (industrial ceilings & dangly lights) yet sexy at the same time. A good date restaurant perhaps, if you go when it's quiet. We were seated by the window by the hostess, who hastily dropped the menus off, with nary a smile, before disappearing into the dark abyss of the rear of the establishment...pretty much never to be seen again.

Our waitress was courteous but was also MIA for a good portion of the night...yep, that dark abyss in the back kept swallowing up the staff one by one. Considering how slow it was, it would have been nice had she checked back a few times. At least she left us with a drink menu to peruse in her absence... I was eyeballing the lychee martini but opted to experience the pomegranate margarita instead, which turned out to be mildly sweet and not too overpowering. A nice choice! BTW, I did notice that the Dragonfly carries Chimay---bonus points for their bar manager! Good call.

Although the service left something to be desired, the food turned out to be pretty tasty. We decided to go "tapas" style with the fusion menu so that we could try a little of this and a little of that. Because I was whining that I was samosa-ed out, we skipped the samosas and chose the BBQ albacore, the asian chicken salad, the Burmese tofu tori with peanut sauce (I love peanut sauce), the calamari and a random sushi roll. The BBQ albacore tuna was so flippin' good--- the menu said it was accompanied with a miso garlic aioli but the sauce was a bit on the spicier side (very similar to the old Taka's) and I tasted no garlic whatsoever. Everyone at the table liked it so much, we requested round 2 for the tuna. My friend that was visiting from Tokyo was alternating between yips of foodie pleasure and happy eating noises while consuming the albacore. In addition, I thought the tofu tori kicked butt...but then again I like pretty much anything when it's coupled with a peanut sauce---tofu, satay, an old shoe ...throw some peanut sauce on it & I'm good to go. The salad was eh, nothing that you can't get pretty much anywhere in midtown. In addition, I wasn't too crazy about the calamari; I feel that a thinner/smaller slicing and a lighter breading would do wonders for improving this dish. As for the sushi roll, there was no salvaging that. Remember that children's rhyme about the Farmer in the Dell, that ends with the "Hi-ho, the derry-ho. The cheese stands alone?" Yeah, well that's Dragonfly's sushi rolls, the nasty roll was left alone. Ick.

Overall, the dining experience was decent & we left satiated. As someone who waited tables for years, I feel that I'm usually lax about service but the staff was nonexistent this go round which irked me. The constant, lengthy disappearances made me want to venture to the back and see what back there was so riveting. Lastly, I think Dragonfly should ditch their sushi menu and do an expanded tapas menu. There'd be more flexibility in choices (work that fusion aspect!) and who the H-E-double hockey sticks doesn't like to indulge in a smattering of delicacies??? I love the idea of tapas, it keeps me from having to reach over with my chopsticks to "take tastes" of my friends dishes when they're not looking.