A frugal, filling, satisfying meal

For our Sunday dinner, I unearthed from the freezer a pound and a half of thinly sliced beef that had been marinating in Korean bulgogi sauce since mid-June, when I bought a whole Australian tenderloin for filet mignon for only $2.99 a pound at ShopRite with a store card.

I am not going to tell you this free-range, grass-fed beef melted in our mouths. But it was tender and flavorful, and cooked in about 10 to 15 minutes on the stovetop. Wrapped in red-lettuce leaves with kimchi,  soybean paste, steamed rice and scallion salad, it made a fun meal last night. We also steamed three kinds of Korean dumplings from Best Dumpling in Englewood, but I failed miserably at making an egg souffle, a traditional accompaniment for Korean barbecue.

To get tender Korean barbecue, I had to trim the tenderloin carefully. Now, I have only a couple of steaks left, but I missed last week's sale on the Australian beef, which was going for $3.99 a pound with the ShopRite card. I'll wait, though, reminding myself that the last time we ate Korean "mystery meat" barbecue at a restaurant, it cost more than $80 for three and the service was just-so-so. See earlier post, "Korean restaurant falls off list of favorites."