Move Over, Rachel Ray

I am swamped with school work. I still want to cook, though, and it is how I unwind. Picked up some random stuff from the store on my way home and figured out the perfect thing to make: the noodle thing. I can never remember what my family calls it but it's like a ragu of chopped or ground pork with mushrooms, carrots, onions, dried tofu, garlic, etc... I don't remember exactly what's in it and that's exactly the point- I don't care!

a meal for well under ten bucks with plenty more for the week

This is what I picked up from the store, in total under ten bucks. I don't have dried shiitakes at home, so I figured that the fresh shiitake/crimini/oyster blend on sale would do fine. Ignore the ginger- didn't need that. Also, no dried tofu. Oh well.

Put a pot of water on the stove to boil for the pasta (what ought to have been Chinese egg noodles, sometimes called wonton noodles, kinda like the noodles you get in lo mein). Chop everything up. Start with the garlic and pork. Brown. Add everything else. Cook. Add some dry sherry, tamari soy, cracked pepper and a little sugar. Let simmer, covered, to caramelize a bit. DONE.

the noodle thing with slices of roasted acorn squash

I served it up with some slices of acorn squash I had roasted over the weekend and chopped cilantro. Flavors are great- soy/garlic/meat with a little sugar marries extremely well. Onions and carrots have a natural sweetness, so not much more sugar is needed there. Oh, and I chopped up a Thai chili that I found in the fridge and added that. Talk about awesome improvisation in under a half hour. I can't help but be smug right now.

And now, back to my thermo hw.

Noodle Bowls Made With Leftovers

Here's an improvised variation on what to do with that ramen stock.  I had some leftover chicken thighs in the fridge that I had braised in a fermented black bean and rice wine sauce.  In addition to the noodles I have pre-cooked in the fridge, I sliced up the meat, cooked the sauce with the stock, poached an egg in it, and voila, breakfast (yes, breakfast).

improvised noodle bowl breakfast

Roasted Pork Butt + Noodle Soup Stock (ramen)

Atlanta is suffering from a lack of motivation in clearing snow/ice from the roads, so the entire region has been shut down.  The first two days of school at Georgia Tech have been cancelled, so I've been cooped up in the house cooking.  Luckily, the fridge is well stocked from my trip to the Dekalb Farmer's Market on Friday.

Lots of pork.  First, the 7lb pork butt was cured and then roasted for five hours and finished off under the broiler with a brown sugar glaze to caramelize.  I invited a bunch of folks over for a snow-in party with board games and was surprised that most of them trekked through the snow/ice to make it.  Popular butt.

Roasted pork butt with caramelized brown sugar glaze

I served the tender, savory, pulled-pork style meat over steamed rice with a magical ginger/scallion oil, cumin carrots and sauteed spinach.

Simultaneously simmering throughout the day was a ramen stock I like to make using pork bones from the market and, if I have any, scrap chicken bones from the freezer.  That cooks for at least six hours with ginger, onions and kombu (seaweed) for umami.  It produced about three quarts that I have in the fridge now.

Home-style ramen noodle bowl

Silky soft scrap meat from the pork bones, Chinese wonton noodles (egg noodles), a poached egg and a dash of tamari soy combined in the soup stock produced a veritable ramen noodle bowl for my breakfast/lunch today.  It's simple wintry comfort food at its finest.