Best of Fabulous! 2009

Wow, I can hardly believe that it's been a year since I started this blog. At first I started the blog to keep me motivated to cook at home and save money. I married my hubby when we were both in college and with all the credits we were taking, plus work, we never really cooked much at home. So I didn't even know that I even had the talent in cooking or baking. Well, now, everyone in the family wants me to cook or bake rolls whenever I visit them.

I would like to thank everyone who takes the time to leave a kind comment on my blog. You're definitely who keeps me going. 2009 was a great year for me. And I hope yours was awesome, too.

These are some of the best main-dish recipes that I use often. Enjoy and Happy New Year!!

Bourbon Chicken

This is one of the best chicken recipes I've come across! I've had bourbon chicken at different restaurants and yet this homemade recipe is my family's favorite!

Tang-Su-Yuk: Korean Sweet and Sour Pork

Tang-Su-Yuk is one of the most popular Korean-Chinese dishes. I would have never thought to make this at home until I found this recipe on a Korean website. It tasted just as good as the ones I used to have at restaurants in Korea.

Orange Chicken

I've made this tangy and sweet orange chicken dish a number of times this year. Whenever my appetite is down, I make this dish.

Hot Pastrami Sandwich

My husband and I go to this sandwich shop in town and they make the best hot sandwiches ever! We tried to replicate their recipe by remembering what they had in their hot pastrami sandwich and it was a huge success! I just love the cream cheese in the sandwich!

Perfect Couscous Sidedish

I had never had couscous until I made this great side dish. It goes well with saucy chicken or any pasta dish. Just have this instead of pasta. This couscous has a great flavor and the pine nuts make it even better!

Cream Cheese Californian Rolls

Many people tend to think that making sushi at home is extremely difficult but it's not. It's as simple as making your own sandwich. It's also easy to find these Californian rolls ingredients. We added a little cream cheese to it and it was excellent. You can definitely do without cream cheese, though.

Vietnamese Chicken Wrap

These wraps are so healthy and the bean sprouts in the wraps give a great crunchiness to each bite. The peanut sauce also adds a great flavor to this healthy snack.

Spicy Tangerine Beef

This one is my mother-in-law's favorite dish ever. I made this for her when she came up to visit and she loved it so much, she made it for her friends once and asked me to make some more when I came down to visit a couple of months ago. It is a great recipe for those who enjoy spicy food and a little bit of sweetness.

Bu-Dae-Ji-Gae: Korean Army Base Soup

My husband asks for this pretty much every month. You may think it's weird when you see all the ingredients in the soup but somehow when all those ingredients mix together, it tastes fantastic! If you want to know the background for this great soup, click on the recipe. It's pretty interesting.

Bul-go-gi: Korean BBQ

At every family gathering, I'm asked to make this dish. The funny thing is that none of my husband's family is Korean. But yet they go crazy over this simple BBQ beef. 

Indonesian Chili Shrimp

My family loves anything curry. We always try to find great curry recipes off of cookbooks we have. We found this great curry recipe on our Ethnic Cuisine cookbook that we got for our wedding. Oh my husband still talks about how good it was. 

Kimchi Tofu

When you need a perfect side dish for any Asian dishes, make this. It's really simple to make and super healthy, too!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I got this amazing recipe from "My Kitchen Cafe". It is seriously that best sweet and sour sauce I've ever had!

Mandu: Pork Potstickers

We're actually making these for New Year's! Oh we used to make these every New Year's in Korea. It's yummy!

Thin Crust Garlic Chicken Pizza

This pizza is absolutely my favorite! I make this pizza all the time now. I love the garlic flavor in this pizza.

Jap-Chae: Korean Noodles and Vegetables

Jap-Chae is a traditional Korean noodle dish that we have on big holidays such as New Year's and Chu-Seok (Korean Thanksgiving Day). It takes a little time to make it but it is definitely worth all the time and effort you put in to making this delicious dish.

Duen-Jang-Ji-Gae: Korean Style Miso Soup
Duen-Jang-Ji-Gae is my favorite Korean soup that I love to have with Korean BBQ or just rice and Kimchi. It has a little stronger flavor than the Japanese miso but that's what I love about this soup.

Well, you made it through the best fabulous 2009 list for main dishes! Happy New Year and hope all the good luck comes in your way!

Sook the Cook