Yakisoba

A few posts ago, I mentioned my college friend, Alisa. Alisa and I go way back and it feels like we have been friends forever. Yes, she qualifies as a BFF. One of our favorite hangouts was the 3B bar, which no longer exists, but to us, I'm pretty sure the 3 Bs meant beer, boys, and biking (in the little town of Bellingham). But my fondest memories together are the times she would invite me over for her infamous yakisoba and a movie. I'm not sure how many times I've had her yakisoba, but every time, I go back for seconds or thirds because it is that good. Oodles of noodles, vegetables, and salty meat all in one bowl is so comforting, just like an old friend.

Yakisoba
serves 4 to 5

1 1/4 pounds fresh Chinese or Japanese wheat or egg noodles or fresh ramen or
1 pound dried Chinese noodles or chuka soba noodles
1 pound, 6 ounces lean pork or chicken, cut into strips
6 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 cups thinly sliced onions
1 carrot, cut into strips 2 inches long and 1/8-inch wide
4 cups coarsely shredded white or Nappa cabbage
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons sake or dry sherry
4 green onions, thinly sliced
5 sheets toasted and flaked nori (seaweed), (optional)
2 tablespoons slivered red pickled ginger, (optional)

1. Cook the noodles in boiling water until al dente. Fresh noodles are ready in about 1 minute, but dry noodles take a few minutes longer. Drain and rinse in a colander and spread on a kitchen towel to dry slightly.
2. In a large skillet or wok, saute the pork in 2 tablespoons oil over high heat, stirring until the pork is no longer pink.
3. Add the onions and carrot, and stir-fry until the onions begin to turn translucent and the carrot begins to soften. Add the cabbage and stir-fry about a minute more.
4. In a separate bowl, combine soy sauce, sugar, ginger, salt, and sake. Mix well and pour over the cabbage mixture. Toss well and remove from the pan.
5. Heat the remaining 4 tablespoons oil, then add the noodles. Toss the noodles with two wooden or plastic spoons as you would a salad, until the noodles begin to brown. Add the meat and vegetable mixture and toss until well combined.
6. Mound the noodles onto a serving platter or individual plates and garnish with green onions, nori, and pickled ginger.

Cherry Tomato, Melon, and Mint Salad

Summer is here in Seattle and this salad is perfect for when the temps reach the 70 degree mark. The combination of tomatoes and melon might seem odd, but technically, they are both fruits so it's really not such a stretch. In fact, according to Jerry Traunfeld, they make ideal partners. Of course, the riper and sweeter the fruit, the better this simple salad will be.

This perfect-for-a-picnic recipe is from The Herbal Kitchen cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld, former chef of the Herbfarm restaurant. And, yes, this book is autographed, too, "with herbal wishes". So far, everything I've made from this book doesn't disappoint. Every recipe - from the sage martini to tarragon oyster stew - calls for fresh herbs. He even starts off with simple steps to starting your own herb garden. Traunfeld's book inspired me to plant my herb garden and include anise so I can make his delightful anise hyssop tea. If you love savory, you will love this book.

Cherry Tomato, Melon, and Mint Salad

4 cups melon balls, scooped from ripe melon, such as cantaloupe, honeydew, or galia, at room temperature.
2 cups rip cherry tomato halves, at room temperature
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped spearmint
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt.

Gently toss all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. That's it. This salad is best served within an hour of assembling it.

Cheese Plate Assortment

I don't have a Costco card. Sometimes, I think I may be the only one on the planet who doesn't carry the little red and blue photo ID card that admits you and a guest into a warehouse of the masses. Do I really need a flat of 25 Yoplait yogurts? Or the two oversized boxes of Cheerios shrinkwrapped together? As a minimalist, the Costco Way is a little too big for me. But that doesn't stop me from using their cookbook. Yep, it's called Favorite Recipes the Costco Way and it's one of my second shelf books. It's free from Costco and you have to be there at the right time to get one. I got mine from my mother who does not understand why I don't shop by the gallon or case with a grocery cart made for a giant.

You might expect that the recipes call for a long list of ingredients to serve a big crowd. That would be the Costco Way, wouldn't it? On the contrary, the recipes are elegant and the servings are to a normal proportion (4-6 on average). Of course most of the main ingredients you can get at Costco and the book helps you with brand recommendations (nice advertising for them). I noted the brands in this recipe, but don't let the brands scare you off. You can get the ingredients (any brand) at practically any grocery store.

Last week, I made the Cheese Plate Assortment. I've always wondered how to make a good cheese plate. What cheese goes with what? This recipe makes it easy with a combination of hard and soft cheeses. Serve it at your next summer cocktail party. It even makes a nice light dinner with a salad and bread. For presentation, I garnished the brie (white cheese) with rosemary and the gouda (yellow cheese) with thyme. I also got creative with my dishes. I used an overturned bowl to create a pedestal for the blue cheese.


Cheese Plate Assortment

HARD CHEESES
8 0z Aged Gouda
8 oz Spanish Manchego
8oz English Blue Stilton

SOFT CHEESES
10-12 oz Delice de Bourgogne Triple Creme Brie
8 oz Formaggio Marinated Fresh Mozzarella Balls

Crackers or fresh bread (I used an olive bread from the farmers market)

Fresh or dried fruits and nuts (I used dried cranberries and a can of mixed nuts)

1. Bring all hard cheeses to room temperature by removing from refrigeration 1-2 hours before serving. Arrange wedges on a cheese plate. A piece of slate or marble, a serving tray or a cutting board will also work.
2. Approximately 30 minutes before serving, remove the soft cheeses from refrigeration. Arrange on a cheese plate.
3. Serve with crackers or bread. Garnish with fresh or dried fruits and nuts. Makes 8-12 servings.

TIP: A well-assembled cheese plate can be the perfect appetizer before a casual dinner with friends, or a perfect complement to the desert course at a formal dinner. A combination of hard cheeses and soft cheeses will make a great cheese plate. To distinguish hard cheeses from soft cheeses, press lightly with your thumb - hard cheese hold no mark.

1970s Moms' Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake

Do you recall what your mother used make when you were a kid? Did it have fruit and jiggle? Did she make the house smell like Nestle Tollhouse? Was your birthday cake homemade or processed from a box? Mine was processed and pink. Always. Betty Crocker still crashes my birthday party every year with her Cherry Chip cake in a box. Mixed with eggs, water, and oil and baked for 45 minutes, it is so candyland delicious, especially a la mode (vanilla a la mode).

But on Sunday, I did something different. I made the Mother's Day menu from my next Second Shelf book, Sunday Suppers at Lucques. The menu includes my mother's favorite, chocolate cake. It is appropriately named 1970s Moms' Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake. The entire menu - pea soup, lobster salad, grilled skirt steak, and the cake with homemade vanilla ice cream - took me two days to prepare and it was worth it. Sunday Suppers is one of the more advanced cook books I own and I save it for special occasions. I admit that I skipped around with the ingredients in the recipes to make it more do-able (and I need to learn how to pronounce aioli). But the fact that I was able to skip around and still succeed with this menu, makes me more advanced than I thought. I did not, however, skip with the 1970s Moms' Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake. That would be a sin.

While chocolate is not necessarily seasonal, I love that this cookbook is organized by season. Each chapter begins with a glossary of in-season, market fresh ingredients. It is much easier and cheaper, for example, to make pea soup with fresh peas in the spring than it is in the winter and this book helps you realize that. Fresh ingredients just makes your cooking better and it is helpful to know what is in season for your recipes.

Despite the difficulty of her recipes, Suzanne Goin, owner of Lucques in Los Angeles, is forgiving. In her recipe for the bundt cake, she notes that this cake sinks every time, so don't try to make it perfect. She says, "While it's not the glamourpuss of the pastry kitchen, it's so rich and delicious you won't care!"

1970s Moms' Double Chocolate Bundt Cake

5 oz bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped, plus 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into small slivers

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus a little more for greasing the pan.

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 extra-large eggs

3 extra-large egg yolks

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

Vanilla ice cream (homemade or store-bought)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly butter a Bundt pan.

Place the 5 oz of the coarsely chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract in a small oven-proof saucepan. Put the pan in the oven to melt the ingredients as the oven preheats. When melted, remove from the oven, and stir to combine.

Meanwhile, whisk together 3/4 cup water and the cocoa powder in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly to avoid burning the cocoa. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in the salt.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and yolks together for a few seconds to combine. Pour in the sugar and whip at high speed 5 to 6 minutes, until very pale yellow and thick enough to hold a ribbon when you lift the whisk away from the bowl.

Meanwhile, add the coca powder mixture to the melted chocolate (using a rubber spatula to be sure to get all of the cocoa). Transfer the egg mixture to a large bowl, and fold in the melted chocolate and then the creme fraiche.

Gently fold the dry ingredients into the batter in thirds, being careful not to deflate it, but making sure to combine them well.

Pour half the batter into the Bundt pan and sprinkle the chocolate slivers on top. Pour in the remaining batter and bake 25 minutes, until the cake is just set but still very moist. Cool for 30 minutes, and invert onto a plate. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Lemon Chicken with Croutons

I'm still on my Ina kick. The next cookbook from the shelf is Barefoot in Paris (also autographed by the great cook). What I like about her is that she takes simple ingredients and turns them into something special with relatively easy recipes. In the one I'm about to share with you, she takes a simple roast chicken and adds lemon. Okay, so that's pretty common. The kicker is the croutons that soak up all the delicious goodness that comes out of a roast chicken. In Ina's words: How good is that?

This chicken is perfect to surprise your mom for Mother's Day. She will be pleased, thinking that you did listen to her all these years when she told you that roasting a chicken will bring comfort and happiness into your home. When she tells you how good this is, remind her that she's always right.

Lemon Chicken with Croutons

1 (4- to 5-pound) roasting chicken

1 large yellow onion, sliced

Good olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons, quartered

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

6 cups (3/4-inch) bread cubes (1 baguette or round boule)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Take the giblets out of the chicken and wash it inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers. Toss the onion with a little olive oil in a small roasting pan. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper. Place the lemons inside the chicken. Pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels, brush it with the melted butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the thigh. Cover with foil and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. (The onions may burn, but the flavor is good.)

Meanwhile, heat a large saute pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until very hot. Lower the heat to medium-low and saute the bread cubes, tossing frequently until nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add more olive oil, as needed, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the croutons on a serving platter. Slice the chicken and place it, plus all the pan juices, over the croutons. Sprinkle with salt and serve warm.

I served this chicken with easy fresh green beans sauted with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Top Shelf: Spring Barrel Tasting 2009

This past weekend was Spring Barrel Tasting in the Yakima Valley. One of my best friends from college, Alisa, lives in Prosser with her husband, Jordan Ferrier, and their three beautiful boys. Jordan is a wine maker at Hogue Cellars (on the right, with Ray, a wine maker from Chateau St. Michelle). Jordan takes pride in his knowledge of wine chemistry, which makes him the perfect tour guide for this event. I felt lucky to be with Alisa and Jordan, as they chauffeured me from winery to winery.

Our first stop was Goose Ridge Estate Vineyards and Winery. One of the reasons they call it Spring Barrel Tasting is because wineries offer tastings straight from the barrel. There's nothing like the oaky, non-filtered taste of a good red wine and the barrel at Goose Ridge was very satisfying. I am a fan of the pinot wines, however, which seems to be the trendy "flaveur" these days. I took home the pinot gris for a nice price of only $8 a bottle.

Next stop was Gamache Vintners, located atop the White Bluffs of the Columbia Valley. This family-owned estate offered free tastes with a sold out malbec to die for. The sign, at right, welcomed you into their tasting room.

The next two wineries are my favorite: Bookwalter Winery and Chandler Reach Vineyards. I am not a wine snob, but I am a sucker for romantic scenery. Yes, the wines were good. The No 22 and No 23 reds at Bookwalter are worth a case or two, but the grounds are worth the trip alone. Cozy up on the lush sofa in the tiny lounge and share the Salumi plate or take your party outside on the patio with the fireplace that overlooks the vineyards. If you consider yourself a wine snob, they got you covered, too. (Above: Taking a break at the Bookwalter grounds, Alisa sits with her brother, Andres, former chef at local Seattle restaurant Stumbling Goat).

Chandler Reach Vineyards is not your average winery. It's a villa. Take a walk around the place and you feel like you're thousands of miles away in Tuscany. Stop in, grab a glass (or bottle) of vino and take it outside to one of the cute little cafe tables. Better yet, sit on the green grass, take off your shoes, and experience the views of Rattlesnake Hills on one side, Horse Heaven Hills on the other, and the Yakima River flowing right through the valley.

After lingering on the grass at Chandler Reach, we stopped for a tour at Mercer Estates. Mike Hogue partnered with the Mercer family to create this winery. He walked us through the lots, stopping to pour us a sip as he explained the process from grape, to barrel, to bottling, to production.

Our last stop was Desert Wind Winery. Absolutely beautiful. If you love wine and views of the hills and river, stay here. This was the only winery I saw where you can actually spend an entire weekend. Perfect for a girls weekend get-away, or a romantic setting with the one you love. Where the other wineries were either free or only charged a $5 tasting fee, this one was a bit pricey, forcing you to pay $10 for five tastes and a tacky wine glass. But the Barbera barrel tasting is outstanding and the Chardonnay Bare Naked is worth the name.

Cheddar Corn Chowder

You may think that I've become a slacker lately. But I've become very good friends with Ina Garten. She and I have been very close in the kitchen this week and it all started with her Cheddar Corn Chowder from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. My signed cookbook; yes, as in autographed. I am a huge fan and I stood in a very long line, while eight months pregnant in heels at the UW Bookstore to get it. I was wearing my red vintage coat with the fur collar and she complimented me on it. I remember like it was yesterday. When I had the time, before children, I used to watch her show religiously on the Food Network. The set is amazing. Her kitchen fabulous. I always wondered if her show was actually filmed in her house. So I took this opportunity to ask her and with a big friendly laugh, she said yes, almost as if it was an invitation for tea.

This soup is sold at her store, The Barefoot Contessa, in the Hamptons on Long Island, NY and is a best seller (she sold the store in 1996, but she is still affiliated). This soup can be made year round with fresh corn in the summer or frozen corn in the winter. What makes this soup special is the melted cheese and crisp bacon topping (didn't I say bacon makes everything better?).

Cheddar Corn Chowder
8 ounces bacon, chopped

1/4 cup good olive oil

6 cups chopped yellow onions (4 large onions)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

12 cups chicken stock

6 cups medium-diced white boiling potatoes, unpeeled (2 pounds)

10 cups corn kernels, fresh (10 ears) or frozen (3 pounds)

2 cups half-and-half

1/2 pound sharp white Cheddar cheese, grated

In a large stockpot on medium-high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cobs and blanch the kernels for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain. (If using frozen corn, you can skip this step.) Add the cornto the soup, then add the half-and-half and Cheddar. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a garnish of bacon.

Next, I'm making her Vegetable Coleslaw for an al fresco dinner in the back yard of Hogue wine maker, Jordan Ferrier, in Prosser, Washington. I was just there last weekend, and I am going back for Spring Barrel Tasting. My next post will tell the story.