The noodle/noodle soup place we tried last night was just ok. We ordered the pork & rice noodle soup, and the beef noodles with chili sauce. Some of us liked the food more than others.
In both dishes, the noodles were overcooked, although the thicker noodz in the dry dish – which are made in house & are similar to udon – had a bit more chew. The amount of meat was on the skimpier side in both dishes, but the beef was very flavorful and nice n fatty.
I don’t know if the rice noodles are made in house, but the broth they came in was also not particularly flavorful or complex. The chili sauce wasn’t spicy, either
That said, it’s clearly super-popular with the Chinese student population, and I’m glad the place is filling some void for this type of food & doing good business. It was positively hopping the entire time we were there
hahahaha! the BF calls all his sides “shitty sides” - it came from ordering food at a BBQ place or fried chicken place where the main is good but the sides are all terrible - bad mac and cheese, bland cole slaw, etc. shitty sides! although his are definitely not.
I totally get adding meat. I have added slivered ham sometimes. And it also likes the occasional hit of ginger or garlic (not in the original recipe). I took some liberties this week with the recipe too. I couldn’t help but add the garlic, but also, when sauting the mushrooms, I added butter and wine (cooked down to dry) and then added the soy to the mushrooms (cooked again to dry) and some oyster sauce in place of the dark soy sauce. Once that had all cooked down, then I added the shiitake soaking liquid and checked to see if that needed a little more soy sauce for oomph. I think I am going to keep these changes going forward.
those sound like great edits. the BF tends to stick to a recipe (except for the addition of meat, of course). and we had green garlic in the fridge i thought he would use but he didn’t add any garlic because the recipe didn’t call for it. i would have added it.
Blues skies, smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies, do I see.
(“Blue Skies”, written by Irving Berlin, but the best version I’ve ever heard is from newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Willie Nelson, from his 1978 album “Stardust”. Do yourself a favor and go listen to it. All of it.)
I’m going back to my usual Friday dinner, with a twist: a small NY strip steak, grilled on the grill pan to a perfect medium-rare, with a lime & parsley only chimichurri-type sauce I made up tonight.
A half baked tater with TPSTOB and sour cream on the side, with steamed asparagus.
Oh, there WAS wine.
And I’m gonna enjoy the hell out of the sunshine and 70° weather we’ll be having this weekend!
For a late afternoon snack there were nachos. While I’d never say no to bricklayer-style if offered, I much prefer nachos baked in a single layer on a sheetpan. Here with pickled scallions, guacamole, refried beans, pico de gallo and sour cream. Followed by a siesta and then a margarita. Dinner was albondigas soup - I used some of last night’s leftover red rice in the meatballs (but no mint). Served with a little leftover guac, and chips.
Parmesan risotto with vegetable ragu - “classic” parmesan risotto made with onions, white wine, vegetable broth. Vegetable ragu had eggplants, zucchini, fennel, red pepper, tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, basil and parsley
Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, where are my blue skies? Wind, rain, cold. Hot and spicy Mexican Crab and Tortilla soup hit the spot. Dungeness from the freezer.Topped with jalapenos, cotija cheese and a squirt of lime. A side of avocado, radishes and olives. No tequila so I made a gin Sunrise.
A technique question: What process do you use to get the perfect-looking mound of rice on your gumbo? Press it into a custard cup and invert on the gumbo, then remove any stray grains before photograph? And do you do that for each person’s serving or just for the posting photo?
In our house, rice is spooned from the serving bowl by each person and so never looks this way.
I’m a day late with this post since HO was inaccessible to me for the last 24 hours due to site maintenance. So happy cinco de mayo! Yesterday’s take out lunch was a barbacoa burrito so I made a Greek salad for dinner. Eaten straight out of the mixing bowl because I am getting tired of doing dishes. Ah the benefits of living alone
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
119
That sounds good. Noting for later.
1 Like
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
120
Thinly slice 2 lg peeled sweet potatoes and 2-3 lg beets. Steam the beets for around 5 min in the microwave then add the sweet potatoes and cook 4 minutes more. Drain, mix with olive oil and herbs/seasoning (fresh rosemary and thyme, TJ’s umami powder, etc). Saute a medium shallot in oil and add to the veg. Unroll a prepared pie crust into a pie dish.
4 oz plain goat cheese - spread a thin layer on the pie crust, then mix the remainder with:
1/3 c Ricotta
2 Tbsp Parmesan
1 Egg, beaten
1 minced shallot, sauteed
Toss the potato-beet-shallot mixture with the cheese custard and fill the pie. Brush the crust with an egg wash. Bake 30-40 min until set and cooked through. I think this would work well as a crostada as well.
He actually had a problem where the beets were not cooked through because he did not cook them longer than the sweet potatoes, so we have adjusted the above accordingly.
Hope this helps! Sorry it’s more of an outline than a coherent recipe.
