A house warming crafternoon

On Sunday, our monthly crafternoon session was held at Kelly and Andrew's gorgeous new digs. As Miss Jasmine T was rather well-behaved beforehand, I managed to crack out these peanuty sesame noodles. With mostly warm weather upon us, these noodles are great when eaten cold and won't suffer much from banging about in your bag on the way to a picnic.
I ended up making quite a large batch but if you want to size it down you could divide the ingredients to what you need - as a guide, the dressing should have the consistency of a thick batter, for optimal noodle coverage.

Peanuty sesame noodles
makes enough for around 8-9 people as a side

What you need
For peanut dressing
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter plus a few extra spoons for good luck
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1 thumb of chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons of jarred chili (as the potency of jarred chili can vary quite significantly, you might want to taste a bit first and then adjust quantity accordingly)

for the noodles
4 packs of sharwoods dried egg noodles - 1 pack of spaghetti or somen noodles would work well too
a third of a cucumber, sliced thinly in rounds then cut into thin strips
a handful of mint, finely chopped
a couple of tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds
half an iceberg lettuce, chopped as thinly as you can make it
1 lemon, cut into wedges

The do
Cook the noodles as per instructions, then drain and rinse under cold water. You can leave them in the colander while you prepare the dressing.
In a food processor or blender, throw in the dressing ingredients and blitz until thoroughly combined.
Transfer half the dressing into a very big bowl, throw in the drained noodles, then pour the rest of the dressing on top. Use your hands to evenly coat the noodles with the dressing.
Spread the lettuce and mint evenly over the top and then sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. If you aren't digging in straight away, leave it to hang out in the fridge for a while, then give it a good toss and serve with lemon wedges.

This is should be a hit with everyone except those unfortunate enough to have a peanut allergy - Andrew even came out of isolation and braved a kitchen full of women and a boisterous toddler to get a second helping, so I guess that says something!

Tunes
Kelly's ipod

D&D day

I have to say that I've always found my bloke's secret Dungeons and Dragons life rather intriguing. Every so often they congregate for a game which lasts an entire day - so I, wanting to see want it was all about, offered to cook for them. Unfortunately, I'm still no closer to understanding what it is they actually do with those crazy 20-sided dice, but this is what i made...




What you need
1 cucumber, halved length ways, seeds removed and sliced thinly
2 red capsicum, sliced thinly
1 cup of frozen peas, cooked
noodles, cooked until just soft, rinsed under cold water and drained - I used Chinese quick cooking noodles (Japanese somen or soba noodles would also work a treat. OR thin spaghetti snapped in half before cooking would might also work well)
Japanese mayonnaise
sesame seeds
sesame oil




The do
In a big bowl, add the drained noodles and vegetables. Drizzle with sesame oil and add mayonnaise to taste (because I'm obsessed with Japanese mayonnaise, I added a lot, but some people like less). Using your hands mix everything together thoroughly. Set aside.
In a frying pan on medium flame, heat a few tablespoons of sesame seeds until golden and pour evenly over the top of the salad.



I served these with my corn cakes

Chilly fusilli

Pasta salad is misunderstood. Its vintage association with seventies barbecues and cheap salad bars have done it untold damage (I’m looking at you, Swagman).* But fuck all that because a good one is bloody delicious.

Obviously cold fusilli on its own is not the least bit exciting, which is why you need to dress it with a feisty blend of clingy flavours. Adding a little razzle dazzle on the side can distract from its smorgasbord roots (tonight's grilled and seasoned aubergines come courtesy of the River Café Cook Book) but is not entirely necessary. After chowing it all down, Adam happily declared he could eat this for dinner forever.



* If you have 30 seconds to lose, visit the Swagman link for what is sadly one of the most memorable TV ads of my childhood.

Base salad ingredients (for 2 pretty large serves)
1 big cup of wholeweat fusilli pasta
1/2 a continental cucumber (chopped into small slices)
200g feta cheese
1 handful cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 spring onion, finely chopped
Handful of blanched almonds
Handful of fresh basil leaves

Marinated mushrooms ingredients
250g button mushrooms (halved)
Japanese Soya Sauce
Balsamic Vinegar
A hefty teaspoon of Miso paste mixed with around 1/3 cup of water
1 clove garlic (finely sliced)


Extra dressing
Olive oil
Juice 1 lemon

And you’ll need 1 med-large eggplant/ aubergine.



Doing it
Don't worry too much about quantities. Any leftovers make for killer next day lunch box filler.

Cook your pasta then cool it straight away in cold water and set it aside to drain. Mix all your other salad ingredients together in a large bowl (crumbling the feta with your fingies).

Dry fry the blanched almonds in a hot pan, turning frequently to prevent them burning. Once they are lightly toasted, set them aside to cool then add them to your salad.

The mushroom marinade was entirely spontaneous so use whatever you've got. I mixed a big splash of balsamic vinegar, soya sauce and diluted miso paste in a bowl then thoroughly tossed through the button mushrooms and sliced garlic. Let the mush absorb the juice for a few minutes then pour the whole lot into a hot pan and cook it until the juice has reduced to a caramely sludge. Set aside to cool.

Finely slice your eggplant and grill it on both sides then toss it in olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning.

Thoroughly mix your pasta and mushrooms (with any juice) through the salad then pile it onto a plate alongside your sliced eggplant.