Cooking with Blobby

When 710 sent me this recipe, I should have made it immediately, as Spicy Pork Noodle Soup screams 'cold weather' and earlier last week it had dropped from 78 to 31. We wet back to the 70s, so it doesn't seem like soup weather............but I had already acquired the ingredients. 

Luckily (?) temps are on their way down to the 20s - again. It even snowed a bit yesterday morning. So Spicy Pork Noodle Soup it was. 

It looked easy enough and it seemed different enough that it could be very good. 

I guess we're about to find out, no? 

Ingredients 

Yield: 4 servings 

12 ounces thin dry noodles (such as ramen or soba) 

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 

½ pound ground pork 

 Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

4 garlic cloves, minced 

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger 

1 bird’s-eye chile (optional), sliced 

1 teaspoon ground turmeric 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

4 cups chicken stock 

6 ounces snow peas, thinly sliced on the diagonal (see Tip for other seasonal options) 

3 scallions, thinly sliced 

Preparation 

Step 1 Prepare the noodles: Boil the noodles in a pot or saucepan according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water to halt the cooking. 

Step 2 Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high. Add the pork and spread it into an even layer, then cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until well browned underneath. Season the pork with salt and pepper while it browns. Break up the pork into small pieces with a wooden spoon. 

Step 3 Add the garlic, ginger, chile (if using), turmeric and cumin, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant. 

Ooops. I forgot to put in the chile at this point. No worries. 

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Step 4 Just before serving, slide the snow peas into the hot broth. 

Step 5 Divide the noodles among bowls and ladle the soup over top. Garnish with scallions. 

Tip This evergreen soup was created with springtime snow peas in mind, but is great for any season (or craving!): A mix of fresh corn kernels and chopped tomatoes would be delicious in the summer, as would thinly sliced winter greens like kale during the winter.

A few take aways:  I would use less oil next time. Like half of what it called for. It's a lot. And I did cut the ginger by about half. To me - a little goes a LONG way and I like ginger, but I don't love it. It was the the right call. 

I'd also cut the noodle total in half. 12 oz is a lot of ramen. Far more than the 4 cups of stock used. I will have ramen for days and days. 

As you saw I did use peppers. But for the life of me - almost every recipe I see has a certain name of a chile, and no store carries any chile by that name. And since I'm not fluent in Scoville heat levels, whatever I bought was a crap shoot. And I used two instead of one. It brought the heat, but nothing over the top. 

You can see, it's a pretty dish. In the title pic you can see a lime too. Asian cooking almost screams 'lime' and I should have used it, but I forgot. It would have brought a brightness to it. 

I also might have added more stock. The liquid / noodle ratio was off - not so much for dinner itself, but for leftovers. As for the pork, you may as well used ground turkey or chicken. The flavours are never really coming from the protein in this dish. 

710 really liked it. Said he wasn't sure what to expect when he sent it to me, but it wasn't what the final product was. I liked it. I didn't love. But I think there might be too much ginger. And even a little too much cumin. 

Still it was good and very different. I'm all for that. As we are moving into the warmer months, I doubt I'd come back to this until later in the Autumn, but I'd try it again. 

Cooking with Blobby

Once again, the weather has turned cold. In a 24 hour period, temps dropped by 40°F . 

I know I said I was over Winter a while ago, but I can't stress it enough now. And we are expecting snow and wintery mix on Saturday. So...........yay!

Dog walks are freezing. I can't imagine the throngs of folks who showed up to a St. Paddy's parade yesterday. You'd never catch me there (though hold that thought). 

Yet, as I was walking the dog - and freezing - I thought, soup sounds like a good idea. 

My friend George made a potato / green onion soup months back which was just wonderful. While I could have - and should have? - asked him for the recipe, I figure I could do this on my own, right? 

Well.............let's see how true that was. 

Ingredients 

2 tablespoons (30g) Unsalted Butter

½ cup (70g) Yellow Onions, small dice (¼ inch) 

¼ cup (35g) Celery, small dice (¼ inch) 

3 each Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced 

¼ cup (34g) All Purpose Flour 

2 quarts (~2 liters) Vegetable Stock 

1 lb. (454g) Yellow Potatoes, large dice (1 inch) 

1 teaspoon (3g) Kosher Salt 

1 teaspoon Pepper

½ cup Heavy Cream 

½ cup Sour Cream 

2 cups (160g) Shredded Cheddar Cheese 

1 cup (100g) Green Onions (sliced) 

Nutmeg (just a sprinkle) 

Dried Thyme (just a sprinkle)

Parmasean Rind

It seems like a lot of ingredients, but if you do the dicing first, it comes together very very quickly. 

Preparation 

1. To prepare the soup, in a large heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat, and begin to sauté the onions. While stirring often, cook the onions for 2-3 minutes until they are translucent but no color. 

2. Add the celery, and garlic, continue to cook the vegetables for an additional 2-3 minutes all while trying to avoid any color. 

3. Add the flour and stir while cooking for about 1-2 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. 

4. While stirring gradually pour in the vegetable stock, the flour should be incorporated into the stock and will begin to thicken slightly. 

5. Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, and heavy cream. Cook the soup, stirring occasionally at a simmer until the potatoes are tender (approximately 15-20 minutes). 

6. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream, cheddar cheese, and green onions.

7. Allow cooling just slightly before serving. Enjoy!

First off, it was really good. Filling but not heavy. We paired it with toasted cheese sandwiches, since while I was making it was were living inside of a snow globe. It just all felt like comfort food. 

I always am very careful about salt, and while I added it slowly over time, the full teaspoon was needed. 

The cheese was a nice touch, but.......it made it all very stringy. More so than I thought it would. I might cut that in half next time. 

But it probably would give 5-6 servings. We have leftovers, which is good, as the weather is supposed to be spotty at best for another week. 

Coming Down

Honestly, nothing of note today.

Winter Storm Advisory has been in effect for a day and still has another to go. Maybe two. 

The run yesterday was just awful. The all purpose trails were snow covered, but it was covering ice. So, we opted for the roads. And while they were clear, the traffic was not great. One of the guys turned around with me at the 1.5 mile mark. Ironically, for the next 1.5 not a single car was on the road. 

This was before 'the storm'. 

According to the weather apps we are supposed to get 5-10" of snow (so......probably 4). 

I texted folks in the group saying I wouldn't be there on Sunday (today). I mean, even if we don't get the snow, the ice is still on the paths. It's just safer to hit the gym and the treadmill. 

And the high temp today is supposed to be in the teens. 

I can stay at home with the dog and husband and hunker down as needed. Sounds like a lunch of grilled cheese and soup is in order, no? 

If we are to have dinner, I might need to hit the store after the gym. Of course, if we do get 10", well then, it's probably eggs for dinner. Or pasta. Or both. 

Once again - not even 'winter' yet. 

Song by: the Cult

Ridiculous

Pet Pics?

We got 'em. 

Last week I was in Columbus and the folks there were hoping that Ridic would make last week's post. No such luck. I had pre-drafted before I left home so I wouldn't have to blog all weekend. 

....because I'm smart. 

So Ridic makes an appearance this week. And I have enough shots taken where he can probably include him next week too. 

Here we go!

Ridic was loving my pets, but he's a little skittish. 

I had to win him over each and every time I came back in the room. Like a gay bar in the '90s. 

Shep out in a park in Shaker. Bored by it all, it seems. 

Bailey looking back to make sure her ward is still doing their duty. 

One kitten up high. Don't ask me which - I don't know. 

More fall foliage Shep. 

The angle is weird. It looks like an AI pumpkin photoshopped on his back. 

Same kitten, just closer. 

Being told it was past dinner time. 

Ridic is a tall boy. But oh so handsome. 

Song by: Bowling for Soup

Cooking with Blobby

This isn't cooking. No heat was involved. None. 

Yet it was messier and more time consuming than I expected. Not to say it is over the top, but I wanted neater and quicker.  .....like my sex. 

710 forwarded me a recipe on the Best Gazpacho.  

Eyes were rolled. 

I've attempted Gazpacho before - almost a decade ago. I don't remember it going well. I do remember me not making it ever again. Until now. 

I like the cold soup. 710 really likes it. There is little I won't do for the man. And it is still hovering around 90°F. It seemed like the right time. 

This recipe was similar to the last. A few differences that seemingly made it easier. Blender instead of food processor - which is pretty much equal. And a few less ingredients. No bread. No green pepper - though there is a different kind of pepper used this time. Maybe it was all just a wash. 

Let's get into it - shall we? 

Ingredients 

Yield: 8 to 12 servings, about 1 quart 

About 2 pounds ripe red tomatoes, cored and roughly cut into chunks 

1 Italian frying (cubanelle) pepper or another long, light green pepper, such as Anaheim, cored, seeded and roughly cut into chunks 

1 cucumber, about 8 inches long, peeled and roughly cut into chunks 

1 small mild onion (white or red), peeled and roughly cut into chunks 

1 clove garlic 

2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, more to taste 

Salt  

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste, plus more for drizzling 

Procedure

Step 1 Combine tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and garlic in a blender or, if using a hand blender, in a deep bowl. (If necessary, work in batches.) Blend at high speed until very smooth, at least 2 minutes, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. I

I would have liked to use the immersion blender, but it was on the fritz big time, so I had to transfer (in batches). More mess. More dirty appliances. 

Step 2 With the motor running, add the vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture will turn bright orange or dark pink and become smooth and emulsified, like a salad dressing. If it still seems watery, drizzle in more olive oil until texture is creamy. 

I also added a tablespoon of tomato paste. The hot house tomatoes just don't have the bigger flavour. I think adding it helped. That ingredient is not on the above list. 

There is difficulty slowly pouring olive oil in a blender and taking a picture at the same time - which is why you don't have one. 

Step 3 Strain the mixture through a strainer or a food mill, pushing all the liquid through with a spatula or the back of a ladle. Discard the solids. Transfer to a large pitcher (preferably glass) and chill until very cold, at least 6 hours or overnight. 

I did and didn't do this part. The blender, doing much of the work already made things mostly smooth. I tried to get it through a strainer I had, but all that was coming through was watered down liquid. Even if I could have gotten the rest through it would have been more like watered down tomato juice - and I didn't want that. 

I gave up and threw it all in a glass bowl (I don't have a large glass pitcher!) and put in in the fridge for a few hours. 

Step 4 Before serving, adjust the seasonings with salt and vinegar. If soup is very thick, stir in a few tablespoons ice water. Serve in glasses, over ice if desired, or in a bowl. A few drops of olive oil on top are a nice touch.

I garnished with some cucumber, tomato, onion and pepper. There was a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar too. It did not need additional salt. 

This was a side to our salmon dinner last evening. It was light. It was flavourful. It was cool. Literally. The garnishes added a nice texture. 

I would do this one again. It came out much better than last. 

Cooking with Blobby

Food. I'm all about the food lately, it seems. 

With me being incapacitated, I've had some time to stray off our normal rotations of dinner. This is good for me, and good for us. There is a certain comfort in the good old stand-bys, but it is also good to not tire of them. 

And it's great to attempt new things, even if they don't alway work out. 

This one, in both of our estimations, worked out. 

I have a few things to work out on this, but I'll address those as we go. I can totally see doing this again - but better. 

It is all fairly simple. I didn't have to go out and buy any ingredients we didn't have. As things come together and cook, clean-up happens along the way, so it's pretty much done except for your final pan and whatever you use to plate your fud. 

Full disclosure: I forgot to put the spinach in the above picture.  Sorry. 

Ingredients

6 Chicken Thighs (boneless/skinless) 

1 French Onion Soup Mix 

3T Olive Oil 

2 Onions, chopped (or 1 large one - like I used)

1.5 cups Long Grain Rice 

2 cups Chicken stock 

3 tbsp sour cream (could use heavy cream or cream cheese) 

1 large handful of spinach leaves 

I forgot to take an image of my onions. But I'm sure you get the idea. 

In a large frying pan, sauté onions with some butter/oil and some salt. Once cooked through (about 7 minutes), remove from pan and set aside. 

Coat your chicken with French onion soup mix.  Next time I'd use a larger bowl to do this. In this shallow bowl things did not evenly distribute. 

Heat 3tbsp of oil in the same large frying pan and sear chicken on both sides (about 2 minutes each side) until nice and golden. Remove from pan. 

There was probably enough oil / butter from the onions. Next time I would not add more oil (or at least not a much) for the chicken. I think the amount I ended up with kept the chicken searing as well as it should. It all turned out ok and all, but you know.......searing will help with the flavour. 

In the same pan, add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring. 

Then add the stock, sour cream and salt some and bring to a simmer (3-4 minutes). 

The sour cream will eventually mix better, but at first it looks a bit curdled. Stir or whisk if you please. 

Add the onions and chicken back into the pan; place some spinach into the pan and then cover and continue to simmer for 20-25 minutes

You don't have to stir a thing, not really. The rice is below the spinach and chicken, just make sure to get what you want. 

These thighs were huge - almost breast sized. Joyce DeWitt breasts, not Suzanne Sommers ones. 

The chicken was done well. Temps higher than it should have been,  but still moist. The rice, save one bikte, was cooked well. The one, slightly undercooked. 

The onion soup mix was fine. There was one bit that was a little overpowering. I believe that stemmed from the smaller bowl in which it was mixed. I don't think things were distributed as evenly as it could have been. 

It's a nice warm dish - we had our first really cool fall evening, so it was nicely timed. 

Cooking with Blobby

If you come at me enough with some half decent looking recipe, I'm probably gonna try it. So when NYT kept coming about a French Onion Macaroni and Cheese, how strong willed was I going to be in the first place? 

Months ago, when I saw it, 710 didn't seem overly thrilled with the prospect, so I just didn't tell him I was making it. And honestly, what better time to make it then when we were creeping to sub-zero weather? I mean, doesn't this just scream cold weather comfort food? 

I didn't stick 100% to the Times' version. For one, due to not having as much cheese as they wanted on hand (and honestly, 16 oz of Gruyère is like $25!). While the recipe says it serves 6-8, I'm not sure who they're serving.  I cut everything by half (full version is below though) and that would still serve 6-8. 

It's a lot of ingredients and when things start to happen, it comes together quickly, so the best thing I can say is prep any and everything in advance. Still, due to timing, I had everything cleaned up before it came out oven. 

INGREDIENTS 

Yield: 6 to 8 servings (again, I cut everything in half and still easily could serve 6-8)

Kosher salt 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan 

2 pounds yellow or Vidalia onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced   

5 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more thyme leaves for garnish 

1 fresh or dried bay leaf (optional) (and I didn't use)

Black pepper 

1 pound cavatappi or elbow pasta 

1 baguette, cut into ½-inch slices 

1 garlic clove 

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar 

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

4 cups whole milk 

16 ounces Gruyère, grated (about 5 cups) 

12 ounces white Cheddar, grated (about 4 cups)

1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard (not in the NYT version, but I did it anyway)

1-2 tablespoons of  Worchestire Sauce (not in the NYT verison either)

Step 1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. (If you’re planning to bake the macaroni and cheese in a baking dish instead of a skillet, butter 9-by-13-inch baking dish or other 3-quart casserole.) 

Step 2 Meanwhile, in a deep, large (12-inch) ovenproof skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, thyme sprigs and bay leaf, if using, and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid, baking sheet or foil and cook, stirring once or twice, until the onions are softened, 3 to 5 minutes. 

Seriously, chop your onions and grate your cheese before you do any of the above. You'll thank me later. 

Step 3 Uncover and continue to cook on medium-high, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. If the onions look dry, add a few tablespoons of water at a time to prevent them from burning, scraping up any browned bits that are stuck to the bottom of the skillet. (You will need to do this several times.) 

No additional moisture needed added, but if you do, consider beef stock instead of water, to give it that French onion soup vibe. 

Step 4 While the onions are cooking, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Cook the pasta in the boiling water until 2 minutes shy of al dente; drain and set aside. Rub one side of each baguette slice with garlic. 

Macaroni only takes 5 minutes to cook, and if they want you to do it 2 minutes less, you might consider starting the pasta after you make the Béchamel. I cooked for the full 5 minutes, btw.

Step 5 When the onions are a deep golden brown, discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf and deglaze the skillet with the vinegar until evaporated (actually, take out the onions too - they'll go back in), scraping up browned bits as you go, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. When melted, add the flour and cook, stirring, until the flour begins to stick to the bottom of the pan and has turned a light golden brown, about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, whisking often. 

Step 6 Reserve 1 cup of the Gruyère. Carefully add the remaining Gruyère and all the Cheddar to the caramelized onion mixture and carefully stir until melted. If your pan is big enough, add the cooked pasta and stir to combine, or combine the sauce and pasta in the prepared dish. 

Step 7 Spread the pasta mixture in an even layer in the prepared dish, then top with the baguette slices, garlic-side up. Sprinkle the toasts with the reserved 1 cup Gruyère and season with pepper. Place the skillet or dish on a sheet pan and bake until bubbly and brown in spots, 10 to 15 minutes. If you like a crispier top, broil for a few minutes. Let cool slightly, then garnish with fresh thyme leaves

It came out great - and very onion-y, which was kind of the point. It reheats nicely. As I said, half the recipe makes 6-8 servings and so far we're only done with four.