Author: Annie

Soba Noodles with Summer Squash and Mango

Soba Noodles with Summer Squash and Mango // Serious Crust
Soba Noodles with Summer Squash and Mango // Serious Crust
Soba Noodles with Summer Squash and Mango // Serious Crust
Soba Noodles with Summer Squash and Mango // Serious Crust

Soba noodles have become a staple in my kitchen. I have always liked them, but as the weather has been slowly getting warmer, and there’s lovely produce all around, they have been appearing more often in my kitchen. I love them with a light sauce made of rice vinegar and lime juice. But the true beauty of soba noodles, to me, is that they are delicious cold. The day after you make them, and they’ve been sitting in whatever sauce you’ve tossed them with, they become ultra flavorful and refreshing. I am a big fan. And I think you should be too.

Jonah came home this week, on Monday actually, and I had a feeling that cooking might not be exactly what he wanted to do the moment he stepped of the plane. So on Sunday night I made a big batch of soba noodles tossed with roasted zucchini, fresh mango, and a light citrus-y sauce. I ate a small bowl, and threw the rest in the fridge, knowing that it would be delicious the next day for dinner with some roasted green beens (also in the fridge).

I love how colorful this dish is, how summery it is, and how packed with flavor. I think it’d make a great cold side dish for a summer party (4th of July, anyone?), and it makes great leftovers to take to the office for lunch. You can add some seared tofu, or maybe even some grilled chicken.

Soba Noodles with Summer Squash and Mango

Ingredients

2 zucchini, julienned
2 summer squash, julienned
olive oil
salt
1 9-oz package buckwheat soba noodles
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeño, finely chopped (and seeded, if you’re not feeling the heat)
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 Tbl sesame oil
1 ripe mango, peeled and julienned
~1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
~1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
optional but recommended: chopped peanuts to top (I used about 1/4 cup), lime wedges

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Toss the julienned zucchini and squash with olive oil and salt. Spread on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until lightly browned, tossing halfway through. Set aside to cool.

Cook the soba noodles as instructed on the package. Usually, this means boil them for about 4 minutes, drain them, rinse them with cold water, drain them, and spread them out on a dish towel to try.

While boiling the water for the noodles, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small pot over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add garlic and jalapeño. Allow to cool, then add the lime juice and zest as well as the sesame oil. Whisk to combine. Put the soba noodles in a bowl, and toss with the dressing. Add the squash, mango, herbs, and nuts to the noodles, tossing to combine. Garnish with a sprinkle more of chopped peanuts and a lime wedge. Enjoy with a light beer on a hot day.

Weekend Finds 6:29:14

Dang. It’s almost July. I apologize for my absence of late. Things have been a little busy lately, and Jonah hasn’t been here to cook me dinner, so I haven’t had as much time for writing and recipe researching as I’d like. Yesterday I was able to hit up the Organic Beer Festival here in Portland, and it was lovely, despite the clouds. Here are the weekend finds.

1. Bicycle Pizza Slicer

Fixie Bike Pizza Cutter // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
For the biking, cooking hipster in your life.

I found this pizza cutter via Food Republic, and it immediately made me think of Jonah (who makes pizzas and rides bikes). I think it would make an adorable little gift. You can find it for sale on this website. I also like their salami sticky notes.

2. How to cut a cake. Better.

Cut Cake Better // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
The new and improved cake cutting technique.

This video has been circling the internet (at least, in my food-centric newsfeeds). It’s pretty great, and teaches us a new, much more sensible way to cut a cake. Keep that pastry fresh and moist longer.

3. Pancake in a rice cooker…?

Rice Cooker Pancake // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Don’t you want to punch a hole in this pancake? I do.

Jonah discovered this method for making basically a large, thick pancake in your rice cooker. I’m not sure I believe that it will work, but I’m willing to give it a shot. Because how hilarious does that thing look?

4. Green Rice Salad with Corn and Nectarines

Green Rice Salad from Not Without Salt // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
I love the bright colors in this salad from Not Without Salt.

I’ll be honest, as far as summer salads go, this one from Not Without Salt has officially skyrocketed to the top of my list. Rice with cilantro, parsley, and jalapeño, topped with nectarines, grilled corn, and queso fresco? This is going on my July 4th menu.

5. Car Trunk Organizers

Trunk Organizer // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Trunk organizers even come in pretty patterns like this, with a cooler in the middle.

You know that feeling when you go to the grocery store, grab a 6 pack of beer, a bag of apples, maybe some chips, etc. You pack it all into the car and as you’re pulling out of the parking lot, you hear the sound. The sound of your apples falling onto your chips, crushing every one of them, the apples roll out into your trunk, and the beer bottles tip over out of their little cardboard case, and then spend the next 10 minutes clinking around in your trunk, no doubt bruising some apples. There is a thing that can stop all of that from happening. Read all about it here.

Apricot Foldover Pie

Apricot Foldover Pie // Serious Crust
Apricot Foldover Pie // Serious Crust
Apricot Foldover Pie // Serious Crust
Apricot Foldover Pie // Serious Crust

I’ve been wanting to make this apricot foldover pie for a few weeks now. I’ve been dreaming about how soft the apricots will get, and how homey and rustic the crust will taste with whole wheat pastry flour. And yesterday was the perfect excuse, as it was Jonah’s last night before he left for 2 weeks in Europe for work. Hard life he leads, that guy.

So he heads to work, I whip up the dough and throw it in the fridge to chill before running to the store to pick up fruit. I found the most tender apricots and the juiciest raspberries to use for this pie. In fact, I couldn’t help myself and ate a couple raspberries on the approximately 2 minute drive back to my house.

I cut up the fruit and mix up the filling. All is going well until I try to start rolling out the dough. I was working up a sweat, I kid you not. It’s so tough, and it’s starting to get huge – way bigger than needed to fill the pie dish with some overhang. But no matter, I drape it into the pie dish, pour in the filling, and then start folding up the edges. As I’m folding it all up, I realize how thick the crust is despite having rolled it out to be far bigger than necessary. I knew something must be wrong. I go back to check the recipe, and there is my glaring mistake. I misread 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour for 1 1/2 cups. So, you know, I basically doubled the flour.

At this point, I have to leave for work in about 40 minutes. What else could I do? I dump the filling back into the mixing bowl, toss the original crust, and start from square 1. Instead of chilling the dough for the prescribed 30 minutes, I stuck mine in the freezer for about 5. Rolled it out, filled it up, and threw it in the oven, asking my roommate Sophie to take it out when the timer beeped.

And it came out beautifully. Rustic, perfectly golden, all that. I can only imagine what a disaster it would’ve been trying to eat that crust if I hadn’t discovered my mistake and started over. But there you have it. It all works out in the end. And everyone makes mistakes.

Apricot Foldover Pie

Note: I like cardamom. A lot. So I used 1/2 tsp of it. However, it is a strong flavor. I suggest smelling it, and seeing if it’s something you would like lots of or a little of, and then add either 1/4 or 1/2 tsp based on your whiff.

Ingredients

Pie Dough

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbl sugar
12 Tbl (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/4 cup ice water, plus a few Tbl if needed

Apricot Filling

7-8 cups apricots, pitted and quartered (a little over 2 lbs)
1-2 cups raspberries (optional, though if you aren’t using raspberries, you’ll want to use more apricots)
1/3-2/3 cup sugar, plus 1 Tbl
3 Tbl AP flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp cardamom
2 Tbl unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Pie Dough

To make the dough, mix the flours, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add the chunks of butter, and cut them in with a pastry knife. You can also use an electric mixer with the paddle attachment (that’s what I did) or a food processor. Blend until the butter is roughly the size of uncooked chickpeas. In a separate small bowl, mix the egg yolk, vinegar, and 1/4 cup of ice water. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture 2 Tbl at a time, until the dough starts to come together. If you need to add extra ice water, do so 1 Tbl at a time. Make the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to two days.

Apricot Filling

When the dough is fully chilled, start to preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Taste a slice of your apricots – if they are sweet, use 1/3 cup sugar, if they’re less sweet add a little more. In a large bowl, toss the quartered apricots, raspberries, sugar, flour, and spices together. Set aside.

Roll the chilled dough out into a circle about 1/8 of an inch thick. Transfer it into a 9-inch pie plate, leaving the edges of dough hanging over the plate (you’ll have lots of excess dough, don’t trim it unless you are just aiming for a more even appearance). Pour the fruit into the pie crust, and gently fold the excess dough over the top of the fruit. Brush the dough with the melted butter, pouring any extra into the fruit. Sprinkle the dough with about 1 Tbl of sugar.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and set the pie plate on the sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 450, then turn the oven down to 375 degrees F. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown at the edges and the fruit is bubbling. Allow to cool before serving with some fresh whipped cream.

Weekend Finds 6:15:14

My summer craziness has begun! How about yours? Hopefully these weekend finds can help us slow down a bit and remember to enjoy the summer season.

1. Romesco Sauce

Romesco Sauce // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Romesco is made with roasted bell peppers, toasted almonds, tomato paste, garlic, oil, and spices.

I’ve had romesco sauce plenty of times, but it was really last summer when my dad put it over some roasted cauliflower that it won my heart. I think grilling season is a perfect time of year to keep a batch of the stuff in your fridge, as it makes a really flavor packed topping for those lightly charred vegetables.

2. PedalPalooza 2014

PedalPalooza 2014, PDX // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Get your pedal on!

So Portland, being the bike-centric city we are, has this month-long event called Pedalpalooza, with all these themed bike rides around the city. Jonah’s co-worker even led a Beyoncé themed ride last week! But there are a few rides for foodies: today there’s a homebrews and community gardens ride, tomorrow there’s a food cart ride, on Wednesday there’s a bees vs. Monsanto ride (yes, you dress up as bees and farmers and stop at the offices of food influencers in the city), and on Friday there’s both a coffee and carousing ride as well as breakfast on bridges (a stand set up with coffee and donuts where you can stop on your way to work). And of course, Friday night, there’s a champagne ride. So what else do you need? Get riding!

3. Warm-weather Whiskey Drinks

Warm Weather Whiskey Drinks // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Whiskey in the morning, whiskey in the evening, whiskey at bath too! (Ok, maybe not in the morning or at bath time.)

I’ll be honest, when I think of whiskey, I often think of being in a cozy bar on a cold night. But that shouldn’t really be the case. You can drink whiskey year round, and Saveur is going to give you a little help. Check out these refreshing whiskey cocktails, perfect for a hot day.

4. Time Magazine says “Eat Butter.”

Time: Eat Butter // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Let’s learn about fats!

Have you seen the new Time Magazine cover? I’m glad my roommate subscribes, because I’ll admit I’m looking forward to reading this article about how fat isn’t really the bad guy everyone thinks it is.

5. Jamaica

Jamaica // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
I love the ruby hue of this cold refreshing hibiscus tea!

I gotta say, if you’ve never had jamaica, you’re missing out. It’s a refreshing, tart, fruity drink, a la lemonade, and is perfect for summer time. I love hibiscus tea, and this is really just a cold version of that. I found bulk hibiscus at my grocery store, but you can usually find bags of the petals in the latin foods section. In case you needed another reason to make this beverage, it’s also a great mixer for cocktails.