Noodles with Mushrooms and Lemon Ginger Dressing Recipe

Noodles with Mushrooms and Lemon Ginger Dressing

Posted by Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen on May 24, 2009

Filed under Pasta, Quick, Vegetarian

Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of the ever-so-Steamy Kitchen. ~Elise

Because I'm the resident foodie here in my neighborhood, I'm usually the one hosting dinner parties. And that's totally fine by me because of all the recipe development and testing that I have to do every week. I'd rather feed my friends than to see all the food go to waste. But sometimes, the recipe development goes awry and the dish just fails. Yes, so bad it would ruin my rep as the kitchen superstar. In those moments, I whip out my never-fail-save-my-dinner-party dish. Of course, I hide all evidence of the earlier recipe disaster in the trash.

So, what's that dish? Well, honestly it's not even MY recipe, it's part of a recipe from Heidi's 101 Cookbooks blog called Otsu. I've committed to memory the lemon-ginger dressing that's in the Otsu dish and use it for everything - tossed with warm noodles, drizzled on roasted cauliflower, as a salad dressing and even to top grilled fish. Yes, it's that good.

I've left the recipe really flexible for you - in case you want this as your emergency back-up dish too! In this dish, I used some really nice Japanese shimeji mushrooms, but you can use any type of fresh mushrooms that you want, even thinly sliced button mushrooms. The pasta that I used in the photo is dried Japanese udon noodles, but standard dried spaghetti is just as good. For the fresh herbs, just use what you have either growing in the garden or bagged in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

Lemon Ginger Dressing

• 3/4 teaspoon Asian chlli powder (or cayenne)
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 inch section of ginger, peeled and grated
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

The Noodles

• 9 ounces dried noodles (spaghetti, linguine, udon, soba)
• 7 ounces fresh mushrooms (enoki, shimeji, sliced button, sliced shitake)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs (parsley, green onion, cilantro or basil)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Method

1 Make the dressing by combining all ingredients, except for the sesame oil and olive oil in a food processor or hand blender. Run the blender for a few seconds, until all ingredients are combined. With the machine running, drizzle in the oils.

2 In a pot, cook the dried noodles according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.

3 Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add the butter and when the butter starts bubbling, add the mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms for 2 minutes.

4 In a large bowl, toss the cooked noodles with the mushrooms, fresh herbs, sesame seeds and some of the dressing (to taste.)

Serves 4.

Japanese noodles with mushrooms photo by Jaden Hair.

Chocolate Ganache Torte Recipe

source:Simply recipes


Another wonderful recipe from Simple recipes

Chocolate Ganache Torte

Posted by Elise on May 15, 2009

Filed under Dessert

First posted in 2004, but now with photos! Enjoy. ~Elise

This over-the-top chocolate torte flourless cake recipe comes here by way of my friend Rob Kent, who is famous among his friends for showing up at various birthday parties and special events bringing what is affectionately known as "Death by Chocolate". I can only handle eating a piece of Rob's Chocolate Ganache Torte once every few years. It serves at least 20, so it's a great dessert to make for a gathering. Think giant chocolate truffle, in a chocolate cookie pecan crust, covered with a caramel sauce.

Ingredients

The Shell

• One box “Nabisco’s Famous” chocolate wafers, or your favorite chocolate nut cookies
• 2/3 cup pecans
• Melted butter (1/4 cup or less)
• 9 inch spring-form pan

The Filling

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of the best available semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, well chopped into small pieces (use brick chocolate, not chips)
• More melted butter (up to one stick or 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup (or more) heavy whipping cream

The Sauce

• Melted butter (one stick, a 1/2 cup, or a bit more)
• Cane sugar (a pound or less)
• Heavy whipping cream (1 cup - or more)

Method

1 Prepare the crust. Chop/process the wafers and pecans until fine, add enough melted butter to press this into the spring-form pan (along the bottom and halfway up the sides). Bake in oven at 350°F for 20 minutes, put aside.

2 While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In double boiler melt the butter and then add the chocolate. When chocolate is swirl-able, slowly add the whipping cream, stirring slowly, until mixture is blended and smooth. Pour mixture into the prepared shell. Refrigerate for at least four hours.

3 Prepare the sauce before serving (the sauce, served warm, should accompany the torte, served cold.) Melt butter over fairly high heat. Add sugar until saturated (the heat must be high enough for the sugar to dissolve; when no more will dissolve, the solution is saturated). Stirring only occasionally, let the mixture “burn” just enough to turn into a rich caramel. Add the cream, stirring briskly until well blended and smooth. Strain if necessary for smoothness.

One nine-inch torte has been known to serve twenty adults, so be careful...

Note from Rob:
This torte was conceived by Freshfields restaurant in West Cornwall, CT. Astoundingly, they give away recipes, and I was merely brave enough to have asked for it. - RHK

Links:
Michael Ruhlman writes about ganache

Smoked Salmon, Dill, and Goat Cheese Quiche Recipe

Smoked Salmon, Dill, and Goat Cheese Quiche

Posted by Elise on May 6, 2009

Filed under Breakfast and Brunch, Egg

One of my favorite recipes on this site is the smoked salmon and goat cheese toasts; I just love the blending of flavors of the herbed goat cheese, the salmon, and lemon zest on crunchy buttered toasts. When trying to come up with a good quiche to serve for a Mother's Day brunch, I spied some smoked salmon in the fridge and here you have it - an appetizer morphed into a custard. Fresh dill is added because, well, dill just tastes good with salmon. But feel free to use another favorite herb if dill's not your thing. For the filling, I followed Michael Ruhlman's basic ratio for quiche filling, which is essentially 1/2 cup of milk or cream for every large egg. This produces a delicate, creamy custard for your quiche. If you want something sturdier, feel free to add another egg. We like it as is. In fact, when I asked if my mother or father thought it could use another egg, I got a clear "it's perfect as it is, don't mess with it." High praise from those two!

Do you have any particularly favorite quiche combinations? If so, please let us know about it in the comments.

Smoked Salmon, Dill, and Goat Cheese Quiche Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pie dough (see Pâte Brisée recipe)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 medium shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
• 4 ounces smoked salmon, chopped
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Roll out dough into a 12-inch circle. Place it into a 10-by-1 1/2-inch round tart pan (with or without a removable bottom), pressing dough into corners. Place in freezer to chill for 30 minutes.

2 Preheat oven to 350°. Line pastry with aluminum foil or parchment paper, pressing into the corners and edges. Fill at least two-thirds with baking weights - dried beans, rice, or ceramic or metal pie weights. Bake first for 15 minutes, remove from oven and let cool a few minutes. Carefully remove aluminum foil or parchment paper and weights. Poke the bottom of the pie pan with the tongs of a fork (fork holes are for any air to escape) and return to oven. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until just lightly golden. Place on a wire rack to cool while

Coleslaw

fonte:Simply recipes

Southwestern Coleslaw

If the seasoned rice vinegar adds too much sweetness for your taste, sprinkle in a little lemon juice. If you are using unsweetened rice vinegar, to get the right balance of acidity and sweet, sprinkle a little sugar over the salad and toss.

Ingredients

• 4 cups thinly sliced cabbage (about 1/3 to 1/2 cabbage)*
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (or plain rice vinegar with added sugar to taste)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

* a mandoline will make slicing cabbage much much easier than using a knife.

Method

Combine cabbage, grated carrot, radish slices, cilantro, onions in a serving bowl. Add the olive oil and toss to coat. Then add the seasoned rice vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

Pecan Meringue Cookies Recipe

fonte:Simply recipes

Pecan Meringue Cookies

Posted by Elise on Apr 11, 2009

From the recipe archive, Happy Easter! ~Elise

A reader of Simply Recipes recently left a comment on our Pavlova recipe with a recipe for what she calls "Easter Cookies" (called "Resurrection cookies" by another reader). The commenter, Linda, describes them as a meringue cookie with pecans that you put into a 300°F oven the night before Easter, turn off the heat, and go to bed. The next morning you wake up to sweet, light clouds of pecan fluffiness. I adjusted the recipe a little, based on what I learned from Shuna's egg whites class. They are delightful little clouds, and quite sweet. Thank you Linda!

Pecan Meringue Cookies Recipe

Notes on working with egg whites. Before you start, remove eggs from refrigerator and let them come to room temperature. (A couple of hours will do, or if you are rushed for time, immerse them in warm water for 10 minutes.) Make sure that all bowls, hands, and utensils that might touch the eggs are clean and free from oils. To separate the eggs, crack them in half and gently move the yolk from one egg shell half to another, allowing the egg white to drip down into a clean container.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole pecans (preferably lightly roasted - 8-10 min at 250°F)
• 3 egg whites
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Method

1 Preheat oven to 300°F.

2 Place pecans in zipper baggie and beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Set aside.

3 Put egg whites into a standup mixer bowl. Add salt. Start the mixer speed on low, gradually increasing the speed until soft peaks start to become visible and the egg white bubbles are very small and uniform, about 2 to 3 minutes.

4 Increase the speed to medium-high, and slowly add the sugar to the egg whites. Continue to whip the eggs and sugar for a few minutes. Then add the vinegar to the bowl. Increase speed to high and whip the egg whites until they fluff up and become glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 4-5 minutes.

5 Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the pecan pieces. Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or Silpat.

6 Put the cookies sheet in the 300°F oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Leave them in the oven overnight. In the morning they should be ready - crisp on the outside, light and airy on the inside. If they are a little marshmallowy or chewy on the inside in the morning, just let them dry out for a few more hours.

Makes 12-24 cookies, depending on the size.

Links:
Egg Whites and Sugar Combine in Traditional Easter or Passover Meringue - from the Boston Globe.

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe

Source:Simply recipes

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Posted by Elise on Mar 27, 2009

Did you know that ranch dressing is the number one most popular type of salad dressing sold in America? Overtaking even the omnipresent Italian. According to Robb Walsh of the Houston Press Ranch likely got its start as buttermilk dressing, a cowboy favorite because buttermilk was widely available in the early part of the last century. Ranch dressing is essentially a buttermilk mayonnaise dressing spiffed up with herbs. It was popularized by Clorox, when they figured out a way to make their Hidden Valley brand shelf stable. (According to Slate, the dressing is shelf stable to 150 days or about 5 months. A rather scary thought.) Ranch dressing is very easy to make, especially if you have leftover buttermilk from baking, or making pancakes or soda bread. The base is just buttermilk and mayonnaise. Everything else you essentially just add to taste — some dry mustard, salt and pepper, a little paprika, herbs like chives, onion greens, parsley and/or dill. Add some crumbled blue cheese, and you have a luscious blue cheese dressing.

Khoreshe Karafs --Celery Stew

Ingredients

1 cup Dried Parsley

cup Dried Mint Leaves

1 Celery
1 large Onion
1 lb. Stew Meat
2 tablespoons Lime Juice
cup Grapeseed Oil
Salt

Directions

Prior to Cooking:
Pour the whole dried herbs (Parsley and Mint) in a fine sieve and soak it in a large bowl of warm water for half an hour to one hour. Wash the celery and chop it into one inch length pieces.

1. Chop one onion, heat ½ of the oil in a large pot over medium heat sauté the onion for 5 minutes
2. Add the herbs (make sure there is no extra water in the herb) to the onion. Sauté, stirring together for another 5 minutes till all its water is vaporized.
3. Add meat and three glasses of water to the pot; cover the pot over low heat for 30 minutes.
4. Heat the rest of the oil in a saucepan and sauté the celery for 10 minutes.
5. Add sautéed celery salt and lemon juice to the pot.
6. Cover the pot over low heat for 1 hour.
7. Check the tenderness of meat and celery, also taste for seasoning.

Suggested Sidedish: Rice (Chelo)

Note:

- You can use fresh herbs instead of dried herbs which in that case you need 3 cups chopped fresh parsley, 1 cup finely chopped mint.
You may serve the stew with Chelow (white rice), Kateh (Iranian-style steamed rice), or bread.