28 September 2013

IHCC - Soba Noodles With Eggplant and Mango


Golly! I love noodles! I plan to wax eloquent on this dish, but first...



A few months ago, I'd never heard of Yotam Ottolenghi. Then, I happened upon the I Heart Cooking Club and a unique challenge to devote time to one particular chef. A new challenge group was embarking on exploration of this Israeli/Brit chef with a mad following of folks and a few restaurants in the vicinity of London. Hmm. I wondered who this guy was and so I started digging around on the web and in the library and found recipes so interesting and novel compared to my usual take on food that I knew I had to snag a place on this club's wild ride.

And here I am a few months later, having made some beautiful dishes, explored some new spices ... having eaten really well! My top three dishes flavour-wise are these.




Sweet and Spicy Beef and Pork Pie

Making this full of cinnamon and spice pie and then dropping eggs atop was such a revelation. I've since done the egg drop on a couple other dishes and have loved what a cozy feel it gives. The crust on this pie was ultra crispy and crunchy too - I found that really tasty and fun. For a meat eater, this pie is just drop-dead good!




Stuffed Portabellas With Melting Tallegio

These little baby Portabella mushrooms were just so sumptuous - the herbs and the cheese were soft and delish and mellowed out the strong sun-dried tomatoes that packed a real punch in each little mezze bite!




Spiced Red Lentils

This lentil dish is just pure comfort food - solid basic fare that is nutritious, filling, and such an easy meal to put together after a busy day ... we all need those perfect dishes that are good for you and fast. Don't you think? Otherwise, if you're like me, you go for a cheap food fix that is usually way over there on the junk food side of things.

Good food, all! But this week, I plan to go out with a take on Soba Noodles that sounds so very interesting! I have had a yen for Asian food the past few days, so a pan-seared fillet of salmon is coming off the grill pan tonight with these beautiful noodles that have fried eggplant and cool sweet mango ... this is just beautiful! And with a couple glasses of crisp white wine, I intend to glide into my Friday evening and relax with a good book and some baseball on the television. 

Thanks Yotam for an ever-inspiring take on vegetables and spices --- the past few months have been so refreshing!

Now, about those noodles ... 



This is a dish for saying good bye also ... goodbye to the end of summer and fresh eggplant and herbs from the gardens and sunny lunches and dinners on the back porch. It is such a wonderful riot of flavours! There's the citrus and vinegar sweet dressing that packs a zip from garlic and red chili pepper, the sweet tang of mango, the soft bite of fried eggplant, and all those noodles that slip and slide and cling to green cilantro and basil. The whole wonderful mess drips the dressing, so lean  in on this dish and enjoy!  A pretty perfect meal ... the leftover noodles? Saturday morning breakfast. 


Soba Noodles with Eggplant and Mango
an Ottolenghi recipe from Plenty


Ingredients:

½ c. rice vinegar
3 tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. Kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, mashed
½ fresh red chili pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp. sesame oil
Zest and juice of one lime
1 c. canola or sunflower oil
2 medium-sized eggplants, chopped to ½ -inch cubes
8 – 9 oz. dry soba noodles
2 mangoes, sliced to long thin slivers
1 ½ c. basil leaves, cut to thin ribbons
2 ½ c. fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
½ red onion, cut into thin slivers

Making the Dish:

  1. Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and toss in the garlic and chili pepper. Set aside to cool.
  2. Heat the oil in a deep fry pan and fry the eggplant in batches (single layer in the oil) until it is golden on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a colander that’s placed over a plate. Salt each batch as you take it out of the oil. Let the eggplant cool and drain over the plate. Set the fried eggplant aside to cool.
  3. Boil the water in a stockpot and cook the soba noodles until al dente – about 5 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
  4. Add the lime zest and juice to the dressing and stir well. Toss the noodles with the dressing, the onions, mango, half the green herbs. Carefully fold in the soft eggplant and sprinkle more green herbs atop the dish.
Serves 6 generously

Note: The dish can be served warm or you can let the dish sit for an hour or so to absorb the dressing a bit.








12 comments:

  1. Fabulous. I know I'd love this dish. Have a great weekend, Susan. Blessings...Mary

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  2. I love your choice of goodbye dish....it represents Ottolenghi's cuisine perfectly and is a great end of summer dish.

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  3. A delicious plate of noodles! I like all the veggies and herbs in this dish. So Ottolenghi!
    Will definitely miss looking through his recipes, luckily there's Potluck!

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  4. yum yum yum yum yum! Susan this looks awesome! The colours are so gorgeous and the light, too, in this photo is beautiful! What a wonderful combination of flavours to see off summer- and ottolenghi is also one of my favourite inspirations! :)

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  5. I'm SO glad you've discovered Ottolenghi... I don't know if you remember but I attended a food writing course a couple of years ago and it was hosted by the man himself and he was such a lovely guy and so inspirational... as well as being an amazing cook... your noodles look incredible. I too adore anything noodly!

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    1. I DO remember, Dom! And I am just enamoured with the idea of brushing shoulders with the guy ... he does have a great talent. I just read an article that he wrote in (I think it was The Guardian) talking about the quest to have a child and all the turmoil and chasing about to get a surrogate mother ... he was so honest and forthright about his desire for a child and his need to be upfront about it ... got to admire his perseverance! That on the personal side of his life made me admire him all the more ... I'm so glad I explored his take on cuisine!

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  6. It has been such a fun 6 months, filled with all those new flavours we have all tried :) I have yet to try these noodles...they look & sound amazing, loving the light in these photos Susan :)

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  7. This noodle dish was the first dish I made when I got my copy of Plenty a couple of years ago, and it's still hands down one of my favourite Ottolenghi dishes.

    So glad you shared this journey with us, Susan, and found some dishes that you love. Discovering the food of Ottolenghi a few years ago has definitely changed my life and the way I cook.

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  8. I found myself nodding my head in agreement over your summary of the past 6 months. I also knew nothing about Ottolenghi and found the challenge to be "a wild ride" of flavors and textures in combinations that were unique. I'm glad you mentioned the beef & pork pie again--I needed the reminder!

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  9. Those noodles look so fabulous as do your other favorites. I really am drooling again over those Stuffed Portabellas--I need to make them for a Potluck week. ;-) So glad you enjoyed cooking along with Ottolenghi--I hope you join us for Donna Hay as well.

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  10. Susan - I am so happy that you decided to jump in on the Ottolenghi challenge. It was great getting to know you through your dishes!! I remember each of the favorites you shared above, especially the Sweet and Spicy Beef Pie. I enjoyed reading that you have since dropped eggs on a few other dishes. I think that's what exploring in the kitchen is all about. Learning what you like and going with it. I'm big on eggs myself. I think they are so welcoming and inviting and just give you that extra bit of satisfaction.

    P.S. I could definitely lean in on that soba noodle dish. I meant to make it several times. Just never quite got around to it.

    Hope to see you around when we cook with Donna Hay :)

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  11. This is so unusual. I have 2 small eggplants in the refrigerator and must do something with them soon. This is inspiration.

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