Ginger Scallion Noodles with a Twist

I love Momofuku anything.  Needless to say, then, when I saw this recipe written up here and here, I knew it would be a matter of time before I made it myself.  

My favorite noodles at Momofuku noodle are the Cold Spicy Noodles for which I have yet to find a recipe (blogsphere - is it out there?).  Since I can't make those, these were a decent substitute for my ramen noodle craving. 

In order to make this a more complete meal, I marinated some shrimp in soy sauce, sriracha, garlic and lime juice briefly and stir-fried them with shredded carrots.  As has been suggested in other interpretations of this dish, you would do well to try the noodles topped with stir-fried chicken, tofu, bok choy or even a gooey poached egg.  

(Side note re: shrimp - I didn't write down my recipe before some useless fact replaced it, but the marinade was good enough to try again.  Look for a recipe in the future.)

The dish also gave me a chance to showcase our very own homegrown scallions! I did use some from the market since I wanted to get some whites in there, but it was nice to have the local touch from the garden.

The taste of these noodles is undeniably good.  My chief complaint is the effort involved in mincing massive quantities of ginger and the hefty kick of eating all the minced ginger left in the bottom of an otherwise empty bowl.  I may experiment with larger slivers of ginger to minimize chopping time and ginger exposure.  Otherwise, with David Chang, how can it not be wonderful? 

Ginger Scallion Noodles
adapted from Momofuku

• 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions (greens and whites; from 1 to 2 large bunches)
• 1/2 cup finely minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
• 1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 3/4 tsp sherry vinegar (try with Shaoxing rice wine!)
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt, or more to taste
• 1 pound ramen noodles

1. Combine scallions, ginger, oil, soy, vinegar, and salt in a bowl. Taste and check for salt, adding more if needed. If possible, let sauce sit for 15-20 minutes before dressing noodles.
2.  While sauce sits, prepare the noodles according to package directions. Drain and toss with Ginger Scallion Sauce.  Enjoy!

Roasted Sea Salt Shrimp and Toasted Israeli Couscous with Feta and Mint

I started out my enjoyment of cheese in a very limited fashion - all Cracker Barrel Cheddar, all the time.  While there are still some cheeses that I'm not rushing out to try, I have expanded my tastes greatly over time.  For my new love of feta, I credit my husband.  A friend showed me that feta really isn't all that strong and really is good, but his insistence on Greek salads for much of the last year at a local pizza joint made me actually start craving feta on my own. 

This salad came about because of one of those cravings.  I have had a box of Trader Joe's Israeli couscous on my shelf for awhile and wanted to use it.  I also have relatively unfettered access to mint from our herb garden (I've been instructed to let the other herbs have a chance to grow before I dive in).  With these three ingredients, I found myself with an interesting couscous salad and a new way to make shrimp.  By combining these two recipes, a regular dish in our household was born. 

I served this with an interesting value wine that I picked up on the $12 and under table at Brooklyn Wine Exchange.  I've found myself looking for white wines as the weather turns bright, but I'm over a lot of the oaky buttery chardonnays that I used to enjoy.  Enter the 2008 Ermita de Nieve Verdejo, a Spanish white with a lot of floral perfume and some pineapple notes that made it crisp enough and bold enough to be very enjoyable with food.  It is touted as a great alternative to sauvignon blanc.  I recommend checking it out if the weather ever heats up again!

Roasted Sea Salt Shrimp (adapted from The Barefoot Contessa, see above)

• 12 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
• olive oil
• sea salt
• fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1. Preheat oven to 400F. (If you have a convection or toaster oven, think about that since it heats up the kitchen way less!)
2. Toss shrimp with olive oil, garlic, sea salt and pepper to taste.  Spread evenly in foil-covered baking dish. 
3. Roast for 5-6 minutes.  (Watch closely.  It's easy to go just a touch over the edge and end up with dry shrimp). 

Toasted Israeli Couscous with Feta and Mint (adapted from Fine Cooking, see above)

Serves 4

• 1 1/3 cup Israeli couscous (one Trader Joe's package)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped mint (spearmint, peppermint or pineapple mint work well)
• 1/2 English cucumber or regular cucumber, peeled, seeded (if necessary) and diced
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in halves or thirds depending on size
• pickled red onions or sliced red onions
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp pickling liquid from onions or red vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup finely diced or crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tsp. lemon zest, optional

1. Add two tablespoons olive oil to heavy saucepan (or large skillet if you want to dirty two pans).  Add couscous and saute gently until golden brown. 
2. Add water or broth as directed by couscous package, roughly 10 minutes. (See original recipe for suggestions if needed.)  Drain and rinse under cool water.  Add couscous to large bowl and toss with cucumber, tomato, onions and mint. 
3. In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and black pepper.  (Add zest if using.)  Add feta to dressing.  Toss dressing with couscous. 
4. Add roasted shrimp or another protein.  Consider grilled chicken, seasoned tofu, pine nuts or other options as well. 
5. NOTE: We ate two servings on the first night and the leftovers one day later.  The dish still tasted fresh and maybe even a bit better as the flavors melded. 

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

 Another spur-of-the-moment baking experience that yielded great results.  After finishing up the Apple and Carrot Nut Bread, I needed another grab-and-go breakfast item and, as usual, wanted to go about it with little or no additional shopping.  

This recipe fits the bill, especially, because of its flexibility.  I used agave nectar, but that can easily be substituted with an equal amount of honey or maple syrup.  I almost always have a few bananas in the freezer, but you could also use roughly 1 - 1 1/2 cups of another mashed item like pumpkin or sweet potato.  Everything else is pretty much always in my house! 

I have now made these twice and am still enthusiastic about the results.  I've mixed in about 1/2 cup of chopped nuts (whatever you have on hand - for me, it was a mix of walnuts and almonds) on one occasion and then 1 cup of frozen blueberries handpicked in Vermont last season on the second.  Each worked nicely, so I've recommended a "grab bag" of 1/2-3/4 cup mix-ins of your choice.  Leave your variations in the comments if you play with this recipe!

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

• 1/3 cup organic agave nectar
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 large ripe bananas (or 1 1/2 cups pumpkin or sweet potato puree)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 3 tbsp plain whole milk (or lowfat) yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2-3/4 cup mix-ins (nuts, dried fruit, berries - fresh or frozen, grated carrot or zucchini, have fun!)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine all ingredients until well mixed.
3. For 6 large muffins, cook 20 minutes (for 12 regular, cook 10 minutes).  For loaf bread, cook 35-40 minutes.

Ramp Carnival! Spaghetti with Ramps and Ramp-Infused Olive Oil

It's that time again! All of a sudden, whispers of ramps hit Twitter and of course I could think of nothing else.  I hit the Borough Hall Farmers' Market this past weekend and found ramps at Wilklow Orchards and Rexcroft Farm (Wilklow Orchards had given the Twitterworld the heads up on Friday). 

Though I've enjoyed ramps at such local lovelies as Lunetta in Cobble Hill, I'd never cooked with them, so I bought myself one little bunch and resolved to make the Mario Batali Babbo Spaghetti with Ramps recipe that I've been holding onto since last year. 

And to add a little twist, I thought I'd preserve some of them either by pickling the bulbs or making a confit.  The pickling recipes called for loads more ramps than I wanted to invest in right away, so I went with a ramp confit recipe from The Improvisational Cook.  I've had this book around for years, but haven't done much with it.  Now I will - I definitely love the approach.  Take a basic recipe and play with it any number of different ways to get exciting new dishes. 

Because I just had my little bunch of ramps, there are not so many bulbs in my confit, but I was able to infuse about 16 ounces of extra virgin olive oil.  This seems reasonable to me since it is meant to be kept in the fridge for 2-3 weeks and not to be preserved long term.

When I had finished with the infusion, I sauteed some bread crumbs (1 slice of diced whole wheat bread) in just a bit of the infused oil, a nod to the Amateur Gourmet's recent post on bread crumbs and croutons.  I boiled up some spaghetti and sauteed the thin white/purple stems of my ramps in regular olive oil with some chili pepper flakes.  Once the spaghetti was ready, I tossed it in the skillet and added the ramp greens to wilt.  I drizzled a touch more infused oil over the pasta, cracked some black pepper and grated a touch of pecorino, finishing things off with a good sprinkle of breadcrumbs.

The result: light, spring-infused and satisfying.  Love!

Apple and Carrot Nut Bread

I rarely plan my baking ahead of time.  I do work muffins or bread or some treat into my weekly meal plans from time to time, but more often than not, things come up and big planned baking projects go by the wayside.  I do manage, however, to find quick and easy recipes that use exactly what I have in my pantry right about when I am getting the urge to bake.  These recipes, as you might imagine, are far more likely to make it into my day.

One such recipe, Apple-n-Carrot Nut Bread, popped up on fellow Brooklynite blog 30 Bucks a Week not too long ago.  Like the original, I happened to have an apple and some carrots in the crisper, begging for some noble use.  I did not have juice on hand, as the recipe requires, but I did have some vanilla soy milk.  I added about 2 tbsp maple syrup as well since I had the last of the bottle to use up and thought it could never hurt.

The modification I made which I might not recommend is using whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour.  My bread was very tasty and made for a week of hearty breakfasts, but it was definitely on the heavier, healthier tasting side.  Since I ate mine warmed up with a good dose of honey, it didn't really affect me much, but it's just something to consider. 

I also used 1 cup almond slivers and crushed walnuts because I had those around and I didn't have any dried fruit to throw in there.  This worked out well in my household, but feel free to play around with the nut/fruit add-ins for these.  The recipe is extremely flexible.

Apple and Carrot Nut Bread (adapted from 30 Bucks a Week)

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (all-purpose is fine; regular whole wheat is okay, but heavy)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• sea salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup juice (apple or orange), milk or soy milk
• 1 grated apple
• 1 grated carrots (or about 6 baby carrots)
• 1/2 cup dried fruit, optional
• 1/2 cup nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix together dry ingredients in large bowl.
3. Whisk egg, oil and juice together in seperate bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined.
5. Fold in grated apple, carrots, nuts and dried fruit.
6. Grease a loaf pan and coat lightly with flour.  Shake out excess.  (I used a silicone loaf pan and didn't need this step)
7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick in center comes out clean.