Recipe: Weeknight Steak and Rice Noodle Salad

Weeknight Steak and Rice Noodle Salad
Bon Appetit Magazine, Apr 2019, p. 64
4.5 stars

I loved this dish but blog contributor thegrandcruman was not as big of a fan because of the fish sauce.  I think this is a good rendition of a cold vermicelli dish found on almost all Vietnamese restaurant menus.  Really tasty to me especially with our modifications below.

Ingredients: skirt steak, rice noodles, Napa cabbage, Persian cucumbers, daikon, mint, dry-roasted peanuts, lime juice, fish sauce, honey, vegetable oil, serrano chiles, garlic, Kosher salt, flaky sea salt

Tips:

• Substituted kale for the Napa cabbage
• Used regular cucumbers
• Not a fan of peanuts so left them out
• Seared some firm tofu with togarashi and added it to the dish
• Made gyoza for the side

Recipe: Better-Than-Takeout Stir-Fried Udon

Better-Than-Takeout Stir-Fried Udon
Bon Appetit Magazine, Apr 2019, p.61
5 stars

This dish was delish!  I love chewy udon noodles -- they're my fave.  This recipe is easy to make for a weeknight meal.  It reminded us of Pei Wei's Dan Dan noodles.

Ingredients: green cabbage, instant udon noodles, ground pork, scallions, ginger, red pepper flakes, mirin, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, vegetable oil

Tips:

• Used kale instead of cabbage and used more than the 4 cups it called for
• Added Sriracha to taste at the table
• Next time, need to double the recipe so there are more leftovers!
• Also add shiitake mushrooms and cucumber

Recipe: Garganelli with Speck, Peas and Scallion Cream

Garganelli with Speck, Peas and Scallion Cream
Food and Wine Magazine, Apr 2019, p.30
5 stars

Delicious, restaurant-worthy dish.
We've made other dishes with peas and mint similar to this one, but this recipe had the most depth of flavor with the garlic and scallion cream.  This is a "I can't wait to eat the leftovers" dish.

Ingredients: garlic, scallions, bronze-cut garganelli pasta, sweet peas, speck, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, mint, lemon zest, lemon juice, unsalted butter, heavy cream, Kosher salt

Tips

• Added red pepper
• Added a little salt as the speck did not impart enough salt to the dish
• Used bronze-cut penne pasta

Recipe: Baked Goat Cheese Salad

Baked Goat Cheese Salad
Food and Wine Magazine, Sep 2018, p. 60
4 stars (5 stars if you love goat cheese)

This recipe was a "Top 40" recipe in the "40 Years of Food & Wine" magazine issue.  I'm not a huge goat cheese fan, but thought we'd give this a whirl.  I thought it was an upscale take on a salad (though we didn't make the croutons this time).  I'd try it again, but what I'm really wanting to try next is a polenta crouton recipe.  If anyone has a good one, let me know!

Ingredients: lettuce, croutons, goat cheese log, plain dry breadcrumbs, dried thyme, red wine vinegar, thyme sprigs, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tip:

• Used panko for the breadcrumbs