#marthastewart Archives

Sesame Noodles (Ancient Family Secret)

By threejamigos | August 12, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

Jamie was home for the week so of course, we pulled out the party plates and hosted a happy hour at our house. Though we usually stick to finger foods, we broke out the forks and chopsticks for a delicious, perfect for hot weather dish, Sesame noodles. A combination of soy, vinegar, sesame oil in the dressing packs a flavor punch followed by a spicy kick courtesy of chili oil. The dish is prepped in advance and left to sit overnight for the flavors to meld. Just before serving, give the noodles a last toss, a sprinkle of green onions and sesame seeds on top, and then watch friends gobble it up. Really, that good.

My friend Sarah asked for the recipe for these tasty noodles to which I teasingly replied “it’s an old family recipe”. I had her for a second until I finished with “from my dear Aunt, Martha Stewart”. Yep, the recipe is from Martha Stewart’s Entertaining. An iconic tome filled with delicious recipes and the ABCs on “how to host” a fabulous party. It changed the way my generation viewed “The good life”. I was on a student’s budget when Entertaining was published so the best I could do was pour over the pages of her book and dream. An elegant Manhattan penthouse cocktail party or Hawaiian Luau in the Hampton’s were not within reach but her recipes were. A girl can dream, and eat delicious tasty food.

We served the noodles with grilled flank steak and a cucumber salad. A big hit! The recipe is simple and easy. The hard part happens way before you start making this delicious dish.

FINDING THE INGREDIENTS

The dressing calls for Chinese Black Vinegar and Dark Soy Sauce. Whaat? Isn’t there just one soy sauce to rule them all? Nope. Chinese dark or black soy sauce is actually thicker and less salty than regular Chinese Soy Sauce or Kikkoman Soy Sauce. It is fermented a little longer and contains either molasses or sugar which adds a bit of sweetness.

The other ingredient is Black Chinese Vinegar. Chinese Black Vinegar, also known as Chiankiang Vinegar, is best described as a slightly less sweet Balsamic Vinegar. I did painstaking intensive research (googled it) and found the best substitution (from America’s Test Kitchen) equal parts red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar blended together. I did my own taste test and it did seem to be pretty close in flavor, maybe a touch sweeter than black vinegar.

The Line-up

A picture is worth a whole lotta words so here are my bottles of the different sauces. I prefer Pearl River Dark Soy, it is a little mellower and not quite as salty as Koon Chun. For those of you in my neck of the woods, I will gladly point you in the right direction for where and which ones to buy.

I have added my own twists to this dish of course.

Decrease the amount of salt (the original seemed like a ton) and use kosher salt.

Add 1 -2 tablespoons of oyster sauce to add umami (I know what your thinking noooo, not another sauce. This is optional but everyone should have a bottle of this miracle sauce in their pantry. Make sure it is made by the Lee Kum Kee one with the kid and mom in the boat. Cut chili oil amount by half. I’m a wimp.

Add blanched asparagus, sugar snap peas, snow pears, fresh corn, and-or shredded chicken for a more substantial dish. The sky’s the limit. Garnish with green onions and cilantro (if you like cilantro) and toasted sesame seeds. Voila’ KILLER NOODLE SALAD ready to go!

Old Family Secret (Sesame Noodles)

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian, Asian-American

Keyword Sesame Noodles

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 6

Ingredients

Make this dish the night before
2 pounds chinese egg noodles
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup black soy sauce
3 T black Chinese vinegar
3 T sugar
1 1/2 T salt kosher coarse
2 T hot pepper oil chili oil (start with 1 T it is really spicy with 2)
1/2 cup finely sliced scallions white and green part
Recipe can easily be halved**

Instructions

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the noodles 1 pound at a time. Boil 4-5 minutes, until just tender.
Drain, rinse well under cold running water until chilled, and drain again. Put in a large bowl.
Combine remaining ingredients. Reserve approximately 1/4 of the dressing. Stir the rest into cold noodles, mixing well.
Chill overnight.
Just before serving toss with reserved dressing. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and additional green onions.
Variations: Reduce salt to 1 T kosher, add 1-2 T oyster sauce. Add blanched asparagus or snow peas or sugar snap peas or cucumbers.
For a more substantial dish add shredded chicken or cooked shrimp.

Caldo Verde: Post-Election Comfort Food

By threejamigos | November 13, 2016 | Comments 2 comments

This week called for a very large helping of comfort and kindness. Something to soothe our frazzled nerves and temper our anxiety and fear. I know I could use some, I have half a mind to jump on a plane and go hug my kids. I keep reminding myself, they’ll be home in a week, they’ll be home in a week.

What has helped me survive this week? Humor, thanks Sean, hugs from Grandma. Talking to friends (not ranting, that just makes me crazy but yes I have done a lot of that too). Escape from reality movies, we saw Dr. Strange (despite my stand against using Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One). Listening to audiobooks (instead of the news) and to my favorite music. Thank goodness for Motown and K-Pop. Riding my bike and taking Sammy on walks (yep, lucky I live in California). Going to bookstores. I went to a book signing by Dorie Greenspan at Omnivore Books on Food in the City. That deserves its own special blog post which I will get to very soon.

And of course, Cooking and Baking

Posed the age-old question…If you could pick only one food to eat every day for the rest of your life, (asked by my kid Jordan, the “What if? Kid” right after asking “If you could pick a superpower, what would it be) I think I would say SOUP. I love soup. My Dad often made soup as part of our evening meal. It was amazing, he would start with a pot of water, add slices of meat, and seasonings such as ginger and scallions, assorted vegetables, and voila’, a delicious tasty soup in minutes.

So this week I turned to my ultimate comfort food, soup. I found a recipe for Caldo Verde in Martha Stewart’s book Vegetables and it screamed make me, make me! So I did. A hearty Portuguese soup with potatoes, onions, collard greens, and chorizo or linguica. Delicious. It was warm and filling with a hint of bitterness (appropriate for this week) from the greens and spice from the sausage. I loved it and I think you will too. The recipe fills a nice-sized pot so share with a neighbor or friend…comfort and kindness. It will help get you through rough days.

As always tweak the recipe to your liking. The original recipe calls for kale or collard greens, you can substitute greens with less bite such as chard or spinach. Russet potatoes can be replaced by Yukon Golds giving the rustic soup a smoother less starchy texture. In place of chorizo, try linguica or any spicy sausage. For additional smokiness, saute a couple of strips of bacon along with the sausage and add to the soup. Serve with slices of crusty French Bread slathered with butter (we deserve it).

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Caldo Verde: Comfort Food for My Election Blues

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus some for drizzling
1 large onion finely chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
2.5 pounds russet potatoes about 5 medium peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
8 cups low sodium chicken stock
8 ounces firm chorizo or linguica halved lengthwise
10-12 ounces kale tough stems trimmed and leaves thinly sliced, or collard greens
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring periodically until softened, approximately 4 minutes.
Add potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add chorizo or linguine and cook until browned, approximately 3-4 minutes on each side.
If desired in the same pan, saute' 2 slices of bacon that have been cut into 1/2 inche pieces.
Transfer chorizo to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle thinly slice on the diagonal crosswise. Transfer bacon to a paper towel to drain.
Puree soup with a hand blender or in a regular blender in batches. Do not fill more than halfway if using a blender.
Return to pot and stir in greens, simmer additional 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve soup drizzled with oil and topped with chorizo and bacon.
Optional garnish with cilantro if desired.

Review: Martha Stewart’s Vegetables

By threejamigos | November 6, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

Early adopter. That’s how I would describe myself when it comes to Martha Stewart. Years ago I invested in a copy of Entertaining the book that put her on the map. In a tiny apartment, on a student’s budget, I dreamed of hosting a Hawaiian luau or an elegant holiday soiree’. Ok, never did the luau or soiree’ but I have used many of her recipes and tweaked her entertaining ideas.

But it has been quite awhile since I have picked up one of her books. But Vegetables caught my eye. We have made a concerted effort to eat more vegetables and less meat, this book was right up our alley. First, this is not a vegetarian cookbook. Though vegetables are definitely the star of this book there are quite a few recipes that contain meat or seafood. Each and every recipe has a beautiful photo of the finish dish. How cool is that? The photos are up close, clean with simple backgrounds so focus stays on the food. The book is divided by type of vegetable such as bulbs, roots, tubers, greens and stems. Each chapter starts with an introduction covering seasonality, buying, storing, prepping, flavor pairings and cooking. Recipes are straight forward and uncomplicated. Helpful hints are offered in sidebars. As I flipped through the pages I bookmarked quite a few recipes to try.

Always looking for new ways to serve carrots I tried rainbow carrots and chard. The vegetables are steamed and drizzled with a citrus vinaigrette. Colorful and appetizing perfect for a summer or fall meal. Quick and easy. I tackled the recipe for leek and parsnip soup next. Parsnips, I have to admit, is not a vegetable I cook very often, actually ever. Loved it. The parsnips give the soup a sweet earthy flavor, a nice twist to the classic potato leek soup. I also managed to make the lone dessert recipe in the book. Cornmeal shortcakes with corn ice cream and blueberry compote. I substituted vanilla ice cream for the corn ice cream but if Santa brings me an ice cream maker with its own compressor (hint hint) I’ll definitely try the corn ice cream. The shortcakes were buttery with a slight crunch from the cornmeal and the lemony blueberry compote a lovely accompaniment.

I received this book from Blogging for Books and I recommend it to anyone wanting to expand their “veggieverse”. It’s filled with simple, delicious recipes with gorgeous photos and plenty of valuable information. It’s a good thing.

Here is a link to Cornmeal Shortcakes from Martha Stewart’s Living. It is not exactly the same as the one in the cookbook. The difference being instead of 3 cups of all purpose flour the book’s recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups AP flour and 3/4 cup fine cornmeal.