Ponzu Soba Noodle Salad with Flank Steak

Ingredients

 ½ cup Ponzu Sauce

2 teaspoons Sambal Oleek (or to taste)

2 cloves roasted Garlic

2 spoonfuls of the Olive Oil the roasted garlic was stored in

8 oz. (uncooked) Soba Noodles

1 bag Coleslaw mix

2 cups shelled Edamame, boiled per package directions, and drained

1 lb. Flank Steak

Montreal Steak Seasoning or Salt and Pepper

Directions

Whisk together the dressing ingredients (Ponzu Sauce thru Olive Oil) in a salad bowl.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add Soba Noodles, cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Add to Salad Bowl along with Edamame and Coleslaw. Toss well. Set aside while making the steak.

Place flank steak on a broiler pan. Season both sides with Montreal Steak Seasoning or Salt and Pepper.

Place under broiler. Broil for 5-6 minutes per side.

Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Thinly slice steak, against the grain.

Serve steak with soba noodle salad.

The Verdict

For the dressing, I used roasted garlic and garlic olive oil because that’s what I had on hand. You could just mince a clove of a garlic and use that instead.

I overseasoned the flank steak – but mixed in with the salad it was still tasty. Also, the recipe called for 5 minutes of resting time for the steak, next time I would do 10, 5 just wasn’t quite enough.

Overall, a good meal. Emma really liked it.

Sarah ate plain soba noodles with soy sauce and shelled edamame.

Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

¼ cup Dried Porcini or Shiitake mushrooms

6 cups Chicken Broth

¼ cup Soy Sauce (I used a premium dark version)

2 tablespoons Sherry

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

1-2 tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 Jalapeno, quartered

2 inches Ginger, peeled and cut into coins

½ medium Onion, cut into 2 pieces

2 Star Anise

Juice of 1 Lime, (Zest first and reserve the zest)

2 Chicken Breasts

2-3 cups Cremini Mushrooms, sliced (amount of mushrooms is based on taste)

½ medium Onion, thinly sliced

Rice Noodles

Cilantro, chopped

Hoisin Sauce

Sriracha Sauce

Directions

Bring 1 cup water to boil, remove from heat, add dried mushrooms. Let steep for about 10 minutes. Combine broth, soy sauce, sherry, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, jalapeno, ginger, onion, star anise, and lime juice in a dutch oven. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. When dried mushrooms are steeped, remove mushrooms, chop and reserve. Strain the steeping liquid through a coffee filter to remove any dirt. Add steeping liquid to the broth. Simmer broth for an additional 5 minutes.

Add chicken breasts to the simmering broth. Poach chicken in the broth until cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Remove chicken, slice into bite sized pieces.

Strain broth, put broth back into the pot. Add chicken, mushrooms, reserved mushrooms, sliced onions, and reserved lime zest. Simmer while cooking the rice noodles.

Place rice noodles in a heatproof bowl. Bring water to a boil. Pour over rice noodles. Let sit until rice noodles are tender. Drain.

To serve: place rice noodles in a bowl, ladle soup over noodles. Serve, allowing diners to add cilantro, hoisin, and sriracha to taste.

The Verdict

MMMMMMM. Good soup for a chilly day. Nice depth of flavor, nice heat level.

Emma really liked it – even added some sriracha to her bowl!

It’s also not very fussy the quantities can really be varied according to taste. The simmering/cooking times are also more of a guideline than strict instructions.

Red Velvet Pancakes

Based on: the Kitchy Kitchen

 Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Salt

3 tablespoons Sugar

2 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 large Egg

3/4 cup Buttermilk

1/4 cup Sour Cream

3 tablespoons Butter, melted

1 tablespoon Red Food Coloring, mine was the gel kind

1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Chocolate Chips (optional)

Butter

Maple Syrup

Directions

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the egg, buttermilk, sour cream, melted butter, red food coloring, and vanilla extract. Whisk just until combined. A little lumpy is fine. If the batter seems too thick, add a little more buttermilk.

Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium high heat. Grease with a small amount of butter. Once melted scoop pancake batter onto griddle in desired size – the girls like silver dollar size pancakes. Add 2 chocolate chips to each pancake. Wait for the pancakes to bubble (2-3 minutes), flip and cook for a minute or two more.

The Verdict

The girls love red velvet cupcakes, and I was seeing red velvet pancakes on food shows and on the internet – so we decided to try them out! Yum! They did turn out very tasty. 

Seared Sea Scallops with Thai Green Curry Spinach

Ingredients

1 12 oz. can Coconut Milk

1-2 tablespoonsThai Green Curry Paste

1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Fish Sauce

1 lb. fresh Spinach, rinsed

½ cup Roasted Red Pepper, chopped

12 Large sea scallops (3 per person)

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Olive Oil

¼ cup Cilantro, chopped

¼ cup Peanuts, chopped

1/3 cup Scallions, chopped

Steamed white rice

Directions

Bring coconut milk to simmer in a large sauté pan. Add green curry paste to taste, we are more in the 2 tablespoon camp. Add Brown Sugar and Fish sauce. Simmer until fully incorporated and slightly cooked down – about 5 minutes. Add spinach and roasted red pepper. Cook until spinach is wilted down. Turn heat down to low and keep warm while cooking the scallops.

Salt and pepper both sides of the scallops. Heat up a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When oil starts to shimmer, place scallops (without crowding) in the skillet. This may have to be done in batches, depending on your skillet size and number of scallops you are cooking. Cook 3 minutes and turn over. Cook 3-4 minutes on second side, making sure to get a good sear on them. Remove from skillet. Cook remaining scallops in same manner (if cooking in batches).

On a large platter, place the thai green curry spinach. Arrange scallops on top of the spinach. Sprinkle with cilantro, green onions, and peanuts.

Serve with steamed white rice.

The Verdict

Delicious! The scallops were cooked perfectly. I love thai curry, this is the first time I’ve made a spinach one – it turned out very tasty. It was a little soupier than normal, next time I’m thinking I should sauté the spinach first then take it out of the pan to get some of the excess water out, than make the curry sauce and add it back in.

Meyer Limoncello: The Beginning

Meyer Limoncello: Part 1

Ingredients

9 Meyer Lemons

3 (ish) cups Vodka

Directions

Take the peel off the lemons, being careful to avoid taking off the pith at the same time.

Place lemon peels in a jar. Pour the vodka over the peels. Let steep for 40 days.

The Verdict

Easy so far. The hard part will be waiting long enough for it to steep.

Salmon Pho

Salmon Pho

From: Cuisine at Home, June 2011

Ingredients

1 cup sliced onion

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cups water

2 cups chicken broth, low-sodium

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp soy sauce, low-sodium

½ teaspoon whole cloves

Cilantro stems from 1 bunch cilantro

Shiitake mushroom stems

6 oz. salmon fillet

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon ground coriander

Salt and pepper

1 cup sliced shiitake mushroom caps

½ cup shredded carrots

¼ chopped scallions

¼ cup thinly sliced onion

1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

1 cup cooked rice noodles

Garnishes:

Bean sprouts

Chopped scallions

Mint leaves

Basil leaves

Cilantro

Thinly sliced jalapeno or Serrano peppers

Lime wedges

Sriracha Sauce

Hoisin Sauce

Directions

Saute 1 cup onion, ginger and garlic in oil over medium high heat. Add water, broth, fish sauce, sugar (1 tablespoon), soy sauce, cloves, cilantro stems, and mushroom stems. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Strain broth through a sieve into a large bowl. Discard solids. Return broth to pot and bring to a simmer. Season salmon with 1 tsp. sugar, coriander, salt and peppter. Add salmon fillet to broth and poach for (about) 5 minutes – depending on how much salmon you are adding. Remove salmon from broth when done.

Bring broth up to a boil. Add mushroom caps, carrots, scallion, onion, and 1 tablespoon cilantro to broth.

Divide salmon and noodles between 2 large soup bowls. Pour broth into bowls.

Serve with garnishes.

The Verdict

Wow….soooooo good. As good as any I’ve had in a restaurant. I would use the same recipe again, and switch up the protein – beef, chicken, or pork - all seems like it would go well.

The girls gave the soup two thumbs up.

We doubled the broth and made extra noodles to have enough for all of us.

Our salmon piece had skin on, so after straining the broth, I poached the salmon in the broth for about 5 minutes. Then after removing it and letting it cool a little, just peeled the skin off. If you have skinless salmon, you can slice it very thin and add it to the soup bowls and it will cook when you pour the hot broth into the bowl.

To cook the rice noodles, I ignore the package directions. I put the rice noodles in a heatproof bowl. Heat up enough water to cover the noodles till boiling, then pour the boiling water over the noodles. Then, depending in the thickness of the rice noodles, let them sit in the hot water for 5-15 minutes. Once they are soft enough, drain and give a quick rinse under cold running water.

Corn, Tomato, and Basil Salad

Corn, Tomato, and Basil Salad

Ingredients

6 ears Corn, shucked

2-3 cloves Garlic, minced

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

½ cup Basil

1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved

3 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions

Cut corn off the cob.

Heat skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add corn and minced garlic. Saute for approximately 5 minutes. Transfer to a salad bowl.

Let corn cool for 10-15 minutes. While corn is cooling, chiffonade basil.

Add remaining ingredients (basil thru olive oil) to corn. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir. If you can wait, let it cool further in the refrigerator.

The Verdict

This is a summer staple since the first time we made it many years ago. So tasty with great summer corn and in season tomatoes also it’s a quick and easy dish.