Soup You Eat With a Fork

Mark Bittman (NY Times) recently did "Noodles in Soy Broth", which reminded me of Laksa. It's a thai-style noodle soup, like ramen for grown-ups. It's easy, fast, endlessly variable and uses curry paste. Yum! So I decided to make some for lunch.

Today's version included:
Rice noodles
About a tsp. each red and yellow curry paste
1 carrot, shaved into ribbons
1/4 of a monstrously large portobello mushroom that's been languishing in my fridge
1/4 cup green beans
Soy/tamari sauce, fish sauce and rice vinegar (not essential but do add complexity)
Cilantro

I boiled the rice noodles in one pot, and in another I brought almost two cups of water to a boil. Once it did, I poured in a pretty hefty dose of tamari sauce, (I'd guess 2-3 tablespoons), a splash each of the fish sauce and vinegar, about 2 tsp. of the curry paste and the mushroom, sliced very thinly.

I brought it to a boil again to cook the mushrooms for about a minute, and then added the green beans and carrot. The noodles were transferred from their pot and combined with the vegetables. I used tongs to heap the noodles and veg into a bowl and then poured the clear, dark broth in after them (this helps to avoid splashing your counter and self with lava-hot soup). I had maybe a tablespoon of fresh cilantro bumming around in the fridge too, so that went on top.

I cannot tell you how delicious it was. It was so clean and simple, but with tons of lip-smacking flavor and a little background heat from the curry paste. It was so good I'm thinking about making it again for dinner!

Other soup options: I've used a healthy splash of coconut milk in the past and it is, of course, delicious. Shrimp, tofu or even an egg would be good in there too. Red cabbage, edamame, zucchini, or spinach (or other dark greens) are all good options. Maybe some crushed peanuts, or scallions, or ginger! See? Endless variety... A nice balance seems to be one part protein to 3 parts vegetable.

The best part though is that the noodles, soy sauce, fish sauce and curry paste are all things that last forever in the pantry or fridge, so you can just poke around the fridge and freezer to see what you've got, and then just chuck it into the pot.

Intense flavor, minimal effort.

Mayo, 5 ways

In a recent food science class we made mayonnaise. Most of the class grimaced when we were given the assignment, but I was sort of excited: I'd always wanted to try it but hadn't had the nerve (or the full cup of olive oil to potentially ruin). Each person in the class used a different method or oil. Hand mixers, blenders, whisks, food processors and immersion blenders whirred to life and peanut, olive, and canola oils were lined up in our kitchens. My partner and I started with a cooked egg base that included dried mustard, vinegar and pepper. Our oil of choice, olive, was dribbled and then thinly streamed in. I nearly broke a sweat beating mine and my arm was seriously tired when I was done, but it was so cool to watch it come together under my whisk. Once the mayonnaises had emulsified we set them out in little dishes to compare with the rest of the class's.

The immersion blender, food processor and blender all made perfect emulsions, fluffy and rich. The two whisked mayonnaises were....well, less perfect. My whisked version had come out lovely and thick, but it broke emulsion about 5 minutes later. Perhaps my partner had been too eager in her oil pouring near the end? The flavor was a little off as well with a bitter aftertaste, even though my partner and I had used the same base and oil.

The best tasting mayo, in my opinion, was the blender canola oil one that had been made with a raw egg base. It was rich, but light on the tongue. The best color, and the silkiest was my partner's olive oil batch, but even hers had a bit of that bitter background flavor. Maybe the oil had started to turn? In any case, our instructor said we could take home our mayos if we liked. Everyone declined, leaving me to scoop up 2 batches! That's like money in the bank, people! I took the blender one and my partner's olive oil batch and mixed them together, which ameliorated the bitter flavor. So now I have this lovely glass jar of fluffy cream-colored mayonnaise sitting in my fridge. I wasn't sure what I might do with it but inspiration struck today. I made a dip and a spread: one with dill and mustard to dip crudite and steamed green beans (I cut the richness with some plain yogurt), and the other with a dollop of pesto to use as a spread on crackers or sandwiches. Mm. And...there's still a cup and a half left!

Curry Love

I recently threw an informal "dinner party" and was able to introduce three friends to my version of a thai-style curry. We shopped for the ingredients together and then went to my place to cook. Cramming four people in my little kitchen, pots and skillets bubbling away, and Santana playing in the background made for a very intimate, family feel. Before dinner was done we snacked on my homemade egg rolls (lightly sauteed cabbage and carrot, with mounds of garlic and ginger, rolled up and baked til crispy).

When the rice was done, I squeezed in a lime's worth of juice and showered it with cilantro, salt and pepper. Next, a yogurt sauce was stirred together, before the curry was finished off with coconut milk. Then, we feasted.

My 'recipe' is adapted from a fish curry I made long ago that didn't turn out very well... But I tweaked and experiemented and came up with what I think is a delicious, complex, and well-balanced vegetarian curry. The base is sweet potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, onion and bell pepper. Flavoring comes from thai red curry paste, lime, coconut milk, and cilantro. Everything is topped off with the tangy, cool yogurt sauce that tames the fire. And, I love to have an ice-cold ginger-beer (Reed's) alongside, the sweet-spiciness is a perfect match with the curry.

Yum.

Incredible Edible Eggs

My friend R. brought me back a dozen huge beautiful eggs from her parent's organic farm. Bliss! And free! What more can you ask for?

So, of course, I will be immediately cooking and eating two of these magnificent eggs with their glowing orange yolk for lunch. I can't think to obscure these eggs by putting them into baked goods or the like (though think of the possibilities - crepes, ice cream, cake, muffins...).

I think the egg obsession began when I went to Italy for a school trip back in...oh, god...2001. We were staying at a farm in Cumae, smack between the Bay of Naples and the Mediterranean Sea. For breakfast one day our host made us eggs over-easy, and I believe that it was the first time I'd had free range eggs. When the yolk broke on my plate the color was a revelation, as was the intense, rich flavor, so....eggy. Ever since then I've been greedily accepting any offers of free farm eggs that come my way. I pine for someone to start selling them at our local farmer's markets...in fact, I can't believe no one's been doing this!

I'd love to own a few chickens someday, but no roosters. I chicken-sat once and had a mean run-in with a ridiculously fluffy white rooster named Dickie-Bob, who stalked me up the hill to the house and pecked at my toenails. Dickie-Bob would run up behind me while my back was turned, but as soon as I stopped, he'd turn to the side and look into the middle distance and was all "Oh...fancy meeting you here."

Chickens. I tell, ya.

One

Ah, my first blog post. Like the world needs another food blog....but, as a rabid food lover, I've got to have an outlet right? One does get tired of having people's eyes glaze over when you talk about your passion (Mmmm, glaze).

I'm a 20 something living on the west coast of Wisconsin...bet you didn't realize there was a west coast of WI, right? I've got a day job, but my love of food has led me back to school full-time to study nutrition. I devour books, magazines, blogs and websites devoted to food. I'm the girl at the gym with Gourmet or Bon Appetit magazine balanced on the treadmill. I'm the one who is reminded of tomatoes when she sees the rounded cheerfulness of a bright red VW bug rolling down the road, and thinks that a plate of garlic sauteed spinach, toasted ciabatta and a couple of fried eggs with oozing (not runny!) yolk is the best lunch in the world.

I'm not trying to reinvent anything, or find blogosphere fame. All I want to be able to do is gush about the foods that bring me joy, and why.