A friend of mine mentioned that she made soba noodles one night for dinner.  I couldn’t get soba out of my head.  I could think of eating nothing else until I had a fill of buckwheat spaghetti.  And cilantro.  I needed lots of cilantro.

Dining companion:  No Reservations – Brittany

1. Cook soba noodles according to directions.  Mine cooked much quicker than semolina noodles.

2. Saute one minced clove of garlic and a few shiitake mushrooms, sliced, in a few teaspoons of sesame oil over medium heat.

3. Add roughly chopped kale (a good handful or more) to the soba during the last minute or so of cooking.

4. Drain the noodles, take the garlic mixture off the heat and toss with noodles.

5. Add the juice of one lime, fresh cilantro and a good shot of Asian chili sauce.

Craving fulfilled.
But as I still have over half of a box of soba noodles left, except to see them again soon.

I saw a caramelized apple and cheddar grilled cheese sandwich on Tastespotting and wanted something similar.  Caramelized apples.  Why not caramelized apples and onions?  No cheddar in the fridge.  Manchego.  Some arugula for good measure.

Dining companion:  April’s Bon Appetit

For this sandwich, I …

1. Sauteed (one) sliced onion in a little olive oil and butter over med-high heat.  Kept watch, stirred often.  Still got some too-dark bits.  About 10 minutes later (or longer if you have more time, I was hungry), added a chopped apple (I had Pink Ladies) and a little salt and pepper.  Continued to stir and saute until apple was tender.

2. Drizzled some pain au lait (post to follow eventually) with a little truffle oil and broiled in the oven until lightly toasted. (Only a few minutes, keep watch.)

3. Layered some manchego, arugula, apple-onion mix, and more manchego.  Broiled again until toasty and cheese was nicely melted.  (Again, not long.)

Is it cheating if I have cereal for breakfast?

In an attempt to spend more time on myself, cook more and thus, blog more, I bring you my first Solo Suppers Beyond Cereal.  Quick posts of the meals I decide to make myself instead of assembling a bowl of cereal.  Living alone just makes it too easy to be lazy.  Especially when the event of dinner centres around good television or a good magazine.  Tonight it was Real Time with Bill Maher accompanied by broiled halibut, steamed Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes au gratin.

Halibut:  broiled for 10 minutes, glazed before cooking with an eyeballed mix of a little olive oil, a little honey, a little more dijon mustard, salt, pepper and chili flakes.

Brussels sprouts:  trimmed, large ones halved, steamed for about 8 minutes.

Potatoes:  Yukon golds boiled until tender, mashed with about 2 tablespoons of warm milk and a little melted butter, salt and pepper.  Topped with a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese.  Broiled for about 5 minutes (with fish).

… is to follow the real recipe!

Remember when I tried to make the Momofuku compost cookie?

Well, I just found out that the actual recipe has been posted.  On Regis and Kelly’s website of all places.  And there’s quite an interesting secret step involving the eggs.

Happy baking if you try them.

Momofuku Compost Cookie
c/o Live with Regis and Kelly

When our $600 gas range, purchased twelve years ago during our university student years and selected because it was the absolute cheapest gas option we could find, decided to start taking one hour to heat to barely 300 degrees, we questioned the sense in fixing it. It seemed like the perfect moment to seize the opportunity and go shopping! Off we went with dreams of Wolf and Viking, paired with the reality that those were beyond our budget comfort zone. We thought we would settle for a Kitchen Aid, and then we saw it. The Bertazzoni.

No bells and whistles. Beautiful timeless design. Really quite affordable compared to its Wolf and Viking companions. Built to last forever, to live in an old Italian country house, and to be passed down to future generations. We were sold on the pretty, functional, old world beauty.

I was giddy with excitement when the lovely Italian appeared in my kitchen last weekend, and it has been cooking romance ever since. It seemed only appropriate to break it in with a proper Italian Sunday dinner, and so with hopes to try out everything from the range top to the oven, the decision was made easy. Osso Buco with truffle honey polenta and steamed asparagus with Parmigiano Regiano.

I called upon a tried and true recipe from the NAIT Culinary Arts “Tour of the Mediterranean” class that Cream and I attended a couple of years ago, and it did not disappoint. This classic veal shank stew is tender and rich with red wine, tomatoes, fresh sage, garlic, and onion, and it falls apart the way only a dish that slow cooks can. If you are searching for elusive veal shanks in Edmonton, The Italian Centre Shop stocks them in their frozen section. And if you are looking for the perfect vessel, I always reach for the jewel of my kitchen, the Le Creuset French Oven. Worth every penny, it gets used more than any other pot or pan in my cucina. With a few recipe additions and modifications of my own, this Osso Buco was a perfect Sunday dinner paired with a crusty loaf from the Treestone Bakery and followed by Duchess Bake Shop treats.

Here it is modified to generously serve two, or double it to serve four.

Osso Buco

2 veal shanks
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1 large onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 bunch Italian parsley, minced
1 – 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes, hand crushed with juice
1 sprig of fresh sage
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 cup good red wine (I like a nice Italian Primitivo)
Parmigiano Regiano rind (a nice addition if you have one)
kosher salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Salt and pepper the veal shanks and dip them into the flour so that they are well coated. Shake off excess flour. In your large French/Dutch oven, or a large heavy bottomed cast iron pan or skillet, heat 1 tbsp each of butter and olive oil. Sear the shanks in the hot pan for 4 to 6 minutes until golden brown on both sides. Remove and set aside.

In the same pan heat the remaining butter and olive oil. When heated, add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and Italian parsley. Saute for 10 minutes until soft.

Next add the tomatoes, sage, bay leaf, beef stock, wine, Parmigiano rind, kosher salt, and fresh black pepper. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

If using a French/Dutch oven, nestle the veal shanks into the vegetable mixture and cover. Or if using a roasting pan, put a layer of the vegetable mixture on the bottom, add your veal shanks, cover with remaining vegetable mixture, and then cover with foil.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 3 hours (or more for extra tenderness). Check the pan from time to time to ensure that it doesn’t dry out. Add a little more wine if required. Remove Parmigiano rind and bay leaf before serving.

I like to serve it over truffle honey polenta (see Cream’s last post on perfect polenta and mix in a dollop of honey and a tablespoon or more of truffle oil to taste before serving), and steamed asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil, fleur de sel, and a generous shaving of Parmigiano Regiano. And don’t forget to dip your crusty bread into the marrow.

Finito.