What are You Cooking the Week of September 3, 2017?

[Mike Nolan]

Looking for recipes for soba noodles online made me wonder whether the soba noodles at the Mongolian grills are gluten-free.

[BakerAunt]

I just realized that The L.A. Times article did not say how to cook the fresh soba noodles.

With the dried noodles I was using, the instructions were to put them in boiling water, then wait. When the water is about to boil over, add a cup of cold water. Wait for it to come to boiling again, then remove from heat, strain, and rinse. Perhaps with fresh noodles, they would be added to the boiling water, and be done more quickly?

I also wonder if it could be dried to use later, or if the noodles could be frozen.

[Italiancook]

I have a pot of Cauliflower & Pasta Soup bubbling away on the stove. The recipe is in "Italian Family Recipes from The Romagnolis Table." A quart of it is for a meal. The rest is for the freezer. Around 1 P.M., I'm going to start making chicken broth for the freezer.

For dinner, my husband will grill pork chops. I have some cauliflower leftover from the soup. I'm going to try to replicate a recipe I saw Lidia do on her cooking show. She braised it with a few sliced lemons and a little lemon juice. I also have sautéed mushrooms for dinner. Not sure how lemony cauliflower will go with sautéed mushrooms, but we'll find out.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[Mike Nolan]

I haven't made soba noodles, but I've made lots of wheat-based pasta and some GF (rice flour) pastas.

Fresh pasta cooks very quickly, 2-4 minutes, because you don't have to rehydrate the flour. You can dry fresh pasta or freeze it, but both of those increase cooking times. Be sure to salt the water adequately. (Michael Ruhleman says the water should have enough salt in it to taste like a light broth. I have increased the amount of salt I add to pasta water, it makes a difference. This is one of those times when CIA--where Ruhlman trained--isn't over-salting things.)

[Mike Nolan]

My wife brought me 2 tubs (around 60 pounds) of tomatoes from the UNL test gardens yesterday, so I'm making more tomato relish, I've got a triple batch (30+ pounds of tomatoes, about 10 pounds of onions, 10 large peppers) cooking down now, I'll start a second triple batch later today or tomorrow.

[Rascals1]

I to am blessed with a lot of tomatoes, but my family wants some salsa. I've never made it and was wondering if any of you have.

[Mike Nolan]

Haven't made salsa, but I can tell you that the tomato relish recipe I have posted is excellent on hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches, it even went very well with some fish I made last week.

A salsa is usually just tomatoes, onion, cilantro, hot peppers, lime juice, salt and pepper, chopped up and mixed together raw, though some recipes also have minced garlic. My wife is one of those who has a genetic predisposition against cilantro (it tastes like soap to her), so I never make anything that uses it.

One of the local stores sells a pineapple salsa that is pretty good.

[BakerAunt]

I've not yet been blessed with a lot of tomatoes, so I've not used them for salsa. I will give you my canned tomato version, and maybe you can adjust it.

When I make salsa, I use the Walmart brand Great Value, no salt added, petite diced tomatoes. I chop some onion, dice 2-3 cloves of garlic, then add 1/3 of a 12-oz. jar of Southwestern 505 (medium heat) flame roasted green chile. (I brought two with me from Texas. I have not looked to see if it is available in our Indiana locations.) I mix it all together, then grab the On the Border tortilla chips, which are currently our favorites, as they are less salty than the Tostitos. In addition to coming in jars, I think this brand of chiles is available frozen. There are also canned ones of various brands. I've used Ortega and El Paso.

You will need to pay attention to if the chile peppers are mild, medium, or hot. It should say on the can. I prefer the medium ones.

You can buy fresh chiles. If you do, then wear gloves while you are seeding them, as it can burn your hands. (I've been told this. I've never worked with fresh chiles.) The seeds are what make them hot, I was told.

I've never put in cilantro, as I rarely have it around. After a post on the former Baking Circle about how some people have a genetic disposition for it to taste to them like soap, I stopped putting it in my black bean salad. I would now only serve it as an "add it yourself" ingredient.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

For Friday dinner, I am making Dilled Salmon and Couscous. We will have it with a salad.

[Rascals1]

Thank you Mike it sounds good. lol I started at the front and worked backward took awhile. lol
Thank you BakerAunt I'll sure try it also.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by Rascals1.

[Mike Nolan]

Were you searching the recipes archive in chronological order? Searching for 'tomato relish' should have brought up maybe a dozen or so posts or recipes.

We do need a better recipe search tool, though.

[Rascals1]

no just starting at 1 and going from there. didn't know any other way

[Italiancook]

I made Asparagus Soup using The Neely's recipe from Food Network. It called for a small pinch of red pepper flakes. I did that, then decided it was too small a pinch. Now that I've tasted the soup, I regret that decision. The soup is lovely, but the burn on my tongue afterward is not. Next time, I'll stick with a small pinch so I can enjoy the asparagus flavor more.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--try mixing in some plain yogurt to a serving. Yogurt can help tame the spice.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I made a big pot of soup (yes, it is cool enough for soup here!), using 2 quarts of turkey stock from the freezer, ground turkey, onion, red and yellow bell peppers (from today's farmers' market), celery, carrots, the last of the Baby Bella mushrooms, a zucchini (from a previous farmers' market), and 2 cups of Bob's Red Mill Vegi-Soup blend. I used 2 Tbs. of Penzey's Bouquet Garni. Freshly ground pepper gets added at the end.

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