lo mein

With the abundance of fresh veggies and with the addition of noodles, lo mein was an easy choice, though prep would be essential to the recipe.

A slicing of the veggies was done using the rotary slicer of the kitchen aid attachment.

One of those recipes, the more you look the more variations you find , you settle as with most “authentic” recipes to the ingredients you have available to the village or are grown locally.

I didn’t  get to list all the sauce ingredients and amounts, but loosely followed several recipes that I researched by listing all the ingredients that compose the sauce to get an idea of the basics. I modified it by adding a bit more cornstarch and a good amount of stock as I prefer s saucy-er thick coating to the dish.

The sauce was a build up from the basic soy sauce/rice wine/sugar combo. Some of the associated components are: soy sauce, rice wine, fish sauce, shrimp paste, chili paste, ginger root, galangal root, garlic, sugar, honey, salt and pepper with sesame oil.

The sauce, less the stock.

The veggies are the same deal, use what you have. Pea pods and the baby bok choy were included as they were fresh and attractive from the market. The carrot was also crunchy as they were fresh, large diameter and not very tapered as the packaged carrots were.

Stir fry the veggies in oil.

 

While stir frying the veggies, prep the noodles, I used rice noodles instead of the wheat noodles, so just a brief toss in hot water is all that’s needed, drain and add to wok.

 

Mix well , then add the sauce… serve….

 

 

 

The result is as good or better result than restaurant  because you have control of the ingredients. So if you like salad with noodles with a sauce here it is.

I made this dish twice and this post is a compilation of the pictures from both.

Processing…..

It’s one of those days, back from the market the fresh food laid out, recipes floating around what to do to capture the freshness of the purchase. Usually a simple salad is prepared or just tasting the produce with bread is a way to assess the flavors. It’s also a time to have a fresh fruit bowl as a meal.

Tomatoes, still coming  from the garden need to be processed. Some have been scalded, cooled and peeled for the freezer. A real easy way to process tomatoes is to juice them, a bowl filled with fresh picked cherry tomatoes yielded about 20 ounces of juice. The pulp was the chefs treat , good smeared on bread with salt and pepper. Having an attachment for juicing for the mixer makes this an easy task, a worthwhile purchase years ago. Just before bottling, strained with a filter type bag.

 

Processing tomato juice

Tomato juice

One of the other uses for tomato is salsa. Onion, shallot, chives, hot peppers are just some of the additions along with cilantro and various seeds.

tomato salsa over water spinach on flour tortilla, just one of the uses of the cherry tomato.

Other preparations are, water spinach pesto, and basil pesto although I use the term basil loosely, some of the labeling from the market, and my tasting disagree , but I’m not familiar with different type  of basil, none the less the green leaves were mixed with garlic, chives, oil, and salt and pepper via the food processor yielding a very concentrated paste. The home made pesto guarantees an easy way to incorporate the greens into your diet without cooking and as a bread lover a meal in itself when applied to fresh bread or crackers. Dressing pasta is also a favorite of the pesto.  Another leafy green with a lemony flavour was added to each pesto. Also as it was time to bottle Kombucha some of the lemony leaves were added to each bottle. Green beans were trimmed and frozen.

 

Processing water spinach

As a traditional pesto might include Parmesan cheese, none was available at the time. Also some pecans and toasted sesame seeds were added to some of the pesto.

I find a pleasant surprise when I unwrapped the pork belly, atop there were ribs, which I trimmed for an additional meal. 

Trimmed pork belly, ready for freezing or immediate meal.

Mango can be made into a chutney for a flavorful addition to a meal or a dessert.

 

Two plates for dinner, gnocchi

Had the time to make some gnocchi during the week, not fancy but a good use for potatoes and flour, frozen, ready for use.

One plate, no picture,  was small scallops sauté , side of spinach and gnocchi, the other was brocolli, mushrooms and gnocchi. Parsley, oregano, and butter garnish.

Grille/pizza night

Light the grille ! both propane and charcoal, pizza was the goal, I ended up also making flatbread, and spinach pies, my daughter manned the propane grille for her pizza, I’m the charcoal guy, if you don’t mind the char. 

It’s also in the news today a report of a famous foodie that took his life, we must always be reminded that no matter what industry,  it may take it’s toll,  we don’t know or may never know the details and respect the privacy of persons involved. Some  social media postings are too quick to judge , slander and defame someone who is unable to defend themselves.

Quick meal

Having ingredients on hand makes it easy to prepare a quick meal, a bowl of soup is nourishing in the fact that it  provides you with some liquid supplement instead of drinking just plain water along with the ingredients.

broth

shredded carrot

diced precooked duck meat

chopped spinach

ginger garlic paste

rice, (cooked previously)

chopped onion

smoked dried jalapeño peppers (Optional per bowl)

 

 

 

 

Salad supper

Later….  Steamed pork smoked neck bone meat, with BBQ sauce

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Lamb wraps

Some shredded lamb, sauteed veggies, leeks etc. served with leaf spinach rolled in a wrap.

Just a few pics.

chicken thighs with greens, mushrooms and bulgar wheat.

       saute onions After browning the chicken thighs in a bit of oil,(not shown), gently toast the bulgar wheat, and add garlic!

 

Add the recommended amount of water or stock, about 3/1 ratio water to  bulgar.

Bring to a boil then cover simmer.

 

after about ten minutes, add the browned thighs and mushrooms.

 

like so…

decided to add these greens also, bout’ half a bag

Now cover and let simmer another 10 minutes or so.

Done…

Plate it up…

delicious and filling meal.

chicken vegetable noodle soup

Even though it’s late July doesn’t mean soup is off the table. Cooler nights, vegetable stock in the fridge and pieces and gizzards from a chicken in the freezer…. soup.
a basic recipe, for all those who make their own soup, just peruse the pictures.

It seems like a lot of work but make a small portion of noodle dough *. Set aside covered for an hour.

To two mason jars of vegetable stock, previously made, add the back and gizzards from a chicken and simmer in a stock pot with some star anise.  Season slightly.

Dice baby carrots, sweet red onion, lettuce, greens, sliced thin broccoli what ever else you desire.

(Warning ! This recipe has several pans) In a fry pan saute each of the soup additions in oil,butter,bacon fat etc.
I saute and season each separately. Set aside.

After the simmering broth has loosened the meat from the chicken pieces,

strain broth into a smaller container and pour back into the stockpot. Set the chicken pieces to cool.

Set up the stock to simmer and add the sauteed adjuncts.

De-bone and dice the meat from the chicken pieces, dice the gizzards. Add to the soup.

Proceed to roll out noodle dough and cut into desired shape, here wide short noodles. Boil in a pot of water,

with a strainer spoon, add to the broth.

Simmer and serve with shaved Parmesan.

 

*noodle dough

• 2/3 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oil

mix, knead, set aside, covered.

Orange garlic Kale medley sauté

For once , instead of the skillet, the Stainless steel Faberware fry pan was used.
Olive oil and butter, smashed garlic about 3 cloves, sautéed till fragrant
Add kale medley mix

Dash of salt, cook till wilted,
Add clementine orange, peeled and ground (I ran several through the smoothie machine (blender with a spout) and had them in the fridge. I suppose you could have just used the wedges if you wanted.

Complete cooking…

I served the orange garlic kale medley as a side to a BBQ chicken thigh and rice ( not shown).

Organic and ready to use.
A quick side dish, maybe onion added next time or some other type of fruit.