i feel so parental. adopted an olive tree.

so for christmas, my amazing woman and bibimblog cofounder got me something way outside the box.

i like outside the box.

through this company nudo, she adpoted an olive tree somewhere in italy, on some small farming collectives grove... a tree is being adpoted, or more accurately put, sponsored by me. this also get me a couple shipments of the olive oil produced from olives grown in that grove.

first reaction was like, whoa, thats freaking cool! i never heard of that. what a cool gift to find someone really into supporting local small businesses and has a love of cooking...

then, the dark side of me peeps out and i started to think, what a scam! sell "adoption" papers to people all over the world, saying youre helping sustain a small farm... then bail out to some sunny tropical island!

well, i fight off all thoughts that this is a scam and i focus more on the idea that this is a brilliant way for to help subsidize costs for small farms trying to fight back big corporate farms.

its been about six months since i received those first adoption papers and i finally received my first shipment of olive oil. it included a small note stating what i was thinking before.

apparently the olive oil industry is plagued by big corporate farming also. they get companies that come in, suck every penny out of the land, take every short cut possible and maximize profits. hell, olive oil "made in italy" doesnt even have to be made from olives from italy, just bottled there. high quality olive oil should be cold pressed.... big corporate farms use heat to extract more oil, ending up with an inferior product.

well, i had my doubts about this adoption program and even though im no olive oil expert, having tasted some good locally made products, (did you know that theres a restaurant in mill valley that has a olive oil press in use right IN the restaurant?) i was quite impressed with this olive oil.

i have to be honest, this is probably some of the best olive oil ive ever tasted. bright, complex, interesting... its really good stuff.

worth the price of adoption? yes. of course you end up paying a bit more than you should for good olive oil, but knowing that you helped a small local farmer stay in business just a bit longer, fighting off evil corporate farms? thats worth the premium.

if you want good food, you need support small farmers who dedicate their lives to producing quality ingredients.

good job homie, good job

damn, i use super frou frou cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil. im so hella san francisco.

seoul sausage

so a buddy of ours moved down to los angeles and started up a business making these hybird sausages.

i thought it was a good idea.

then about a year later, i finally tried them.

ok, correct that, hes freaking brillant.

seoul sausage company. the name hints at pretty much what it is. korean bbq, kalbi, bulgogi, ddae jee bulgogi..... these things all come to mind. ok, so you stick them meats into sausage form.... i get it.

no you dont.

its not until you actually eat one until you really get it.

so homie needed a hand with some manly man work stuff and i just happened to be available, actually, one of my employees was. i was probably working or something... no really, i do work.

he gave a little ice box full of some of his goods in return. nice.

so one night, i pull a few of them sausages out and decided to try them.

i never couldve imagined ten years ago that i would be eating kalbi in tube form

i had a pot of al chi gae (spicy pollack roe stew) going so i just popped these two bad boys into there to simmer a bit. hell, if a brat could benefit from a hot beer and onion bath, kalbi in tube form should do well with its other brothers.

fully cooked? yes. done? no.

these guys need a bit of color. into the broiler they went. a few minutes on each side.

*basic cooking info warning!!!*

so why didnt i put them into the broiler in the begining? well, other than the tiny bit of seasoning a hot bath in the al chi gae might give, simmering it under lower heat help thoroughly cook it. if i have put it under a high heat broiler, the outside would be burnt and the middle raw. pretty easy stuff.

now theyre ready



wow. delicious. super tasty. totally get that whole kalbi thing going. the spicy ddae jee bulgogi one was freaking good too. 

i just kept thinking, why didnt i think of this? this is super tasty... and the real brilliant side of this whole thing? this is super round eyes friendly.

ive had a lot of round eye friends tell me its quite intimidating walking into a korean restaurant. unfamilar foods. not the friendliest staff.... strange scents... wait you cook your own food?....

well this is korean food in a round eye friendly form. everyone knows hot dogs. round eyes would go nutz over this. easy to eat. no chopsticks. in a form they are used to. flavors they want to explore.

mr seoul sausage. i salute you. good job. good luck. and its awesome you can do what your doing. go on with your badass self.