Blog about things I find interesting, or incredibly stupid.
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While this isn’t much of a food blog, I do post about it from time to time. One of my favorite cheap and healthy (and filling) meals is Soba Noodles in a peanut/sesame sauce. There are a few different ways to do this from boiling + sautéing, boiling only, making it into a soup, noodles and sauce alone or adding mixed veges. My favorite type is boiling + sautéing with mixed veges. Yeah it looks like a lot of ingredients, but you either have most of them already or they basically keep forever (especially the frozen stuff).
Cooking instructions (Warning, I don’t really measure):
Boil a small amount of chicken broth (or water if you want to reduce sodium, sissy) maybe about 1/3 of a cup in a sauce pan and throw in 1 bunch (they come pre-wrapped usually, you’ll see what I mean when you open the package) of Soba noodles for every 2 people, or 1 if you’re me. Boil them for about 2 minutes, then throw in a large handful of whatever veges you’re putting in for about another 2-3 minutes, the veges can literally be anything, less cooking time if they’re not frozen though. Shut off heat and toss in any frozen dumplings/wontons if you are adding those too. Mix around a bit with a large spoon. Strain and move to a hot skillet that has already a bit of sesame oil (teaspoon?) and a little bit of butter or olive oil too, and anything from the onion family. Now add about a teaspoon of sesame seeds, about the same amount of tahini (if you’re using it, just use more sesame oil if not) and a handful of any nuts (‘buttered or otherwise) you’re adding too. Lower the heat to medium and mix around a lot, but not too hard that you pierce the wontons, etc. Lastly add Rooster sauce, Soy Sauce, ginger powder and Garlic to taste. (This part is entirely up to you, but maybe a half teaspoon of each? Totally guessing).
Total cook time including the boiling is about 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!
Soup version: just don't strain and eliminate the sauté part, adding stuff in the same order. You'd probably want to use more onion, soy and rooster sauce for the soup version.
Pic is from a slightly different version, peapods and carrots instead of Edamame/mixed veges
I rarely actually write down/type out recipes I like to make, I'm more of an in-my-head type of guy. But a friend asked me to send him how to make a dish he's a big fan of. He was going to his 'rents for July 4th weekend and wanted something differerent than hot dogs and burgers.
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I like a BIG hangar/skirt steak best, but London Broil/flank can be substituted as well. Ironically more expensive steaks (filet, sirloin, strip) usually don't turn out better in this type of recipe. Skirt steak is perfect for due to the acidity of the marinade and the slicing method, you'd be surprised how incredibly tender it is if marinated/cooked/sliced correctly. For each ~1.5-2lbs of beef, marinate (preferably overnight, but even a full day or more is best) in the fridge in a freezer bag:
All ingredient quantities are approximate (I don't really measure...ever), if you don't have one of them don't worry it'll still turn out fine.
·1/2-2/3 of a bottle of Peter Luger's sauce (Kind of the point of this recipe, however some red wine vinegar, tomato paste with a little bit of horseradish and pepper can probably be close enough)
·1/8 of a cup or so of worchester sauce (or soy sauce)
·2 tablespoons of chopped garlic
·chopped scallions or onion powder
·3 or 4 bay leaves
·splash or 2 of some red wine (doesn't matter what kind, or even if a bit vinegary)
·teaspoon of black pepper
·a few teaspoons of lemon juice
Seal it up in a freezer bag after shaking vigorously careful to remove as much air as possible, then put in fridge for at least 4 hours.
To cook:
Grill directly over flame (coal or gas are both fine) on very high heat, you want the edges to sear, but the middle to stay rare.
Brushing a bit of olive oil on this can guarantee that (be careful how much!)
Probably only 5-7 minutes total (depending on how hot) on the grill
once satisfied with how much its cooked, remove from heat, wrap in foil for ~5 minutes.
Then slice perpendicular to the grain with a very sharp carving knife into 1/4-1/2" thick slices.
Serve with a beer!
Here's a good video about the slicing (go to 2:06). (I like my marinade better, but his cooking method is spot on)
at 3:24 in the video though, I do slightly disagree with the angle he says to slice. I like the 45 degrees if you're fork and knifing it. In a fajita though it doesn't matter.
End result below
Photo courtesy of my friend's July 4th weekend in upstate NY
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Some optional steps...
This one is shredded Mozz, Gruyere and Parmesan
·Purposely cook twice as much in order to have leftovers for one of the most amazing sandwiches you’ll ever have*
My Sandwich recipe (Skirt steak and Kale cheesesteak):
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·Leftover sliced steak (see recipe above)
·Fresh Mozzarella
·Another cheese to be shredded (Gruyere, Parmesan, Fontina, Asiago, any combo of them)
·Sauteed Kale (see recipe and pic below)
·Chopped garlic
·butter
This one is missing the kale, on a rosemary ciabatta roll
·Olive oil
·Salt and Pepper
·Amaroso Rolls (or close, or a baguette if you aren't close enough to Philadelphia)
·some onion slices, sauteed in a pan (olive oil and salt, then reuse the pan for the kale)
·Powdered thyme or sage (something savory)
Brush some olive oil, chopped garlic, salt, pepper and thyme/sage into the rolls.
Add reheated steak (microwave for 30 seconds is fine, you just don't want it cold-cold)
add a layer of freshly cooked Kale
add a layer of the onions you cooked first
Add a layer of fresh Mozz slices (thin)
add whatever cheese you have left
put in (toaster) oven under a layer of foil at 300 degrees for ~10-15 min (however crispy you want the bread).
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Sauteed Kale:
A bunch of chopped/rinsed Kale (regular, tricolor, whatever)
Put in a deep frying pan with a little bit of water and olive oil on the bottom
add some salt, garlic (powder or chopped) and drizzle some olive oil over it
put on high for a few minutes and cover to start it steaming
lower heat and toss around for another 2 or 3 min
stop cooking when its as bright green as this ----------->
