I know a long life noodle from a curse you to an early death noodle any day of the week — and these my friends are like if that pool from the movie Cocoon made noodles too.  Magic.  I also believe in the mighty power of suggestion and all jokes aside, whenever I see these on a menu, it’s one order for me please thank you.  Spring is my favorite time of year for food, everything grows in such abundance that certain vegetables are often harvested when they are young and at their most tender.

Earlier in the week I made some delicious chicken broth using ginger and chilies so when I saw all the sweet organic veggies at the market my mind began to wander, and then all I needed was noodles.  There’s a tiny market nearby that make homemade vermicelli that they don’t cut; it’s simply folded over and then packaged.  Each strand is about three feet long and is so delicately thin that cooking them within a broth is perfect.

{Baby leeks, bok choy & fennel, red chard for color and nutrients, young garlic & ginger, basil, a squeeze of lime, and splash of soy.}

I was craving tofu so I prepared some to add to the noodles:

Slice tofu into cubes and then fry them in about 1/8 inch of peanut oil until just golden and crisp around the edges. Set aside until the noodles are ready.

{Add the tofu just before serving for an extra layer of flavor and texture.}

Here is what I used for life extension du Jour:

Once you have all the ingredients assembled and chopped, this couldn’t be easier to prepare. In a wok, heat a small amount of oil, add all the veggies (except the basil) and stir fry until just tender. Pour in the broth so it’s about 4 inches from the top and bring to a boil.

Add a squirt of the chili sauce, and the noodles. Don’t worry about salt because you’ll add soy to each bowl when you eat. Turn down the heat to a simmer, add a handful of fresh basil, and test the noodles.  They will cook quickly absorbing the broth so test them right away and turn off the heat as soon as they are ready.

{Use as much broth as you like, I wanted extra to slurp up and drink from the bowl.}

Serve each bowl topped with a squeeze of lime, a swirl or soy, a scattering of tofu (remember those?), fresh basil sprigs, and optional extra chili sauce. This was such a delicious Sunday lunch, I think it slowly took me about an hour to eat I was savoring every flavor so much.

Before I go drop off the dry cleaning, Noosh has something to show you:
{It really is the perfect pale pink, wouldn’t you agree?}

One person who could not possibly be less impressed by Noosh and his silly nose, is Max, however.  His duties manning our house’s complex system of faucets occupies most of his time these days.

{Clean paws are a virtue, he’s the foreman, on a miniature fuzzy crusade — ridiculous in his own rite.}

{tags long life noodles spring vegetable noodle recipe}

When I saw this halibut in the market I couldn’t resist it’s charms.  It’s milky complexion, that sweet saline bouquet, I was powerless to it’s sorcery.  Oh, wicked fish your death was not in vein!  Your icy grave is a throne by which we mortals worship; come with me now — the finest soy derivatives await you!

This is the type of dish I frequently make — two main ingredients and then flavored with what I have fresh and handy. I always have garlic, ginger, limes, and Asian pastes and sauces.  I was craving those flavors anyhow so away I went with my trusty wok.

I ran out Maldon sea salt, which is still on order.  So instead I brought home these pale pink crystalline rock salts. When grated, the lightest of flakes flutter upon your target reminding the food’s flavors to brighten up, just slightly.

{This Himalayan pink rock salt comes with a wee little shaver, aww how cute.}

Prepare the fish:

Lightly salt and pepper the fish, dust the halibut in sweet rice powder, heat the wok over high flames and add about 3 swirls of oil. Once screaming hot add the fish and stir fry for just about 4-6 minutes until it is firm to the touch and the rice flour creates a slight caramelized golden coating around each piece.  Remove from the wok and set into a large serving dish. Leaving the remaining oil in the wok over high heat.

Max says to please prepare the veggies like so — thank you:

Add the ginger and garlic to the hot oil only until it is just golden.

Add broccolini, pinch of white pepper, and stir-fry until the vegetables are bright green and tender.  Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 lime, splash of soy, and 3-4 good splashes of ponzu (however much you like).  Pour the veggies, everything in the wok, over the halibut and enjoy your delicious creation!

This is a simple, yet serious dish where the flavors melded together so nicely that I thought the addition of noodles or rice might disrupt the balance.  I especially love the way the rice flour tightly clings to the fish adding a crispy texture that seemed to seal in the rich juices.

{tags halibut stir-fry broccolini stir-fry}

{I cant resist these, crispy thin charred shallots are the secret ingredient.}

I’ve been sitting on this post for weeks now, it seems I’m paralyzed by my own dim wits and flat can’t get it together. This is it, despite the state of things — it’s going up today.  I do have to admit, covering my face in shame, that I’m deeply entranced by the Big Brother feeds right now.  I can’t look away.  At this point I think I’m just waiting for them to start eating one another and last night I swear I saw cannibalism peek it’s cute little head through the front door before shyly scampering off.  He’ll be back, I’m sure of it and I’d better not miss a thing!

I know this is just too cute, don’t you just want to give it hug?  From one tart to another, trust me on this one.  All the way down to it’s heart print unmentionables, it’s a perfect mix of sweet yet coquettish.

{This crust is extra thin and buttery with the thinnest layers of fig jam and lemon curd baked upon it.}

For the crust:

Prepare a tart pan, the type with the removable bottom, by lightly buttering then flouring it, tapping away any excess and set the oven to 425F. In a food processor, blend flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and pulse until pastry starts to come together and form clumps. Put the pastry in the tart pan, and using your fingertips, evenly press onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Pierce the bottom once with a fork and freeze for 15 minutes. Once chilled, place the tart pan on a larger baking sheet until the crust is golden, about 13-15 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool.

For the adorable cutouts, reserve some of the pastry, roll it out, bake, and then cookie cut some adorable shapes to press into the final layer of jam before the last baking session.

Spread on a layer lemon curd and bake a few minutes to set. Cool and then spread on a thin layer of Adriatic fig jam (if your feeling pretentious), press in your cut-outs, and bake for a few more minutes until set.

Kindly serve with a little lightly sweetened whipped cream for the full experience.

Now for the veggie, chicken, and beef skewers of my dreams.

Prepare the marinade:

Prepare the skewers:

Skewer houseguests, I mean steak, chicken, and veggies separately, brush them with a mixture of olive oil and crushed garlic.  Sprinkle salt and pepper and into a 400F oven until cooked.

I made a dip, with rice would be delicious…

Even he, of the down-turned whiskers, was all tuckered out after all that.

It was also Chris’s birthday last week, here’s a picture of the cake I made.  I couldn’t help but put rainbow sprinkles all over it.  You know what they say, you can take the girl out of Carvel but… well, you know what I mean.

{tags vegetable, beef, and chicken skewers fig jam and lemon curd tart}

{I can’t make any promises but, these icey cold Cantaloupe Rocket pops made from the sweetest juiciest melon in all the land and creamy whole milk yogurt just might help alleviate the crushing summer heat. Fine, I do promise!}

I bought three boxes of Popsicle molds the the other day; Rockets and Stars. The stars I made using the exact same method but with watermelon instead and they are not yet frozen and poised to be revealed unto you.

Being that fruit and yogurt are the only two ingredients, it’s just so modestly pure, how can it be wrong? I prettied them up with some ribbons and bows like us girls tend to do, but the formula remains perfectly primitive.

(Cantaloupe Rocket Pops!)

{tags cantaloupe rocket pops fruit and yogurt Popsicles recipe}

I’m poking my head up from this hot summer to share my favorite thing to eat right now – sweet, tender, steamed fish. Cooked practically naked with only the clean flavors of ginger and green onion to enhance the natural sweetness of the fish; it’s just plain out of this world!

I have no excuse for my absence lately, except I’ve had my head firmly planted inside the John from Cincinnati message boards. I’ve gone flat cuckoo good and proper for it, has anyone else been watching? Besides that, there’s Big Brother 8 which is my all time summer guilty pleasure, oh hush! If not for spurts of work between message boards, my brains might spill right out of my ears. I figure if I eat fresh fish every day just maybe my synapses won’t deteriorate irrevocably.

This method for preparing whole fish is failsafe, you can’t go wrong. I used trout because they were still flipping their fins on the ice but any whole fresh fish is wonderful cooked this way. To make your own steamer, fill your wok 1/3 with water and fit a ceramic plate inside so it settles right above the water line. Place some ginger and green onion down so the fish doesn’t stick to the plate and bring water to a boil.

Make 3 diagonal cuts on each fish and place a piece of ginger and green onion in each as well as in the center of the fish. Gently nestle the fish on top of the ginger and onion on the plate, a pinch of salt, small drizzle of oil, cover, and steam for about 10 minutes until tender.

Serve with a drizzle of soy on the plate and a squeeze of lime on the fish. The skin peels off so easily revealing the sweetest, most tender meat in all the land. Add a bowl of rice for extra satisfaction and dig in. You’ll be amazed how it just flakes right off the bone, so delicious!

Don’t forget to share with your cat. Noosh wasn’t shy to remind me that all our fish skeletons are belongs to him. Nyam, nyam, fish heads…

{tags steamed trout whole steamed fish recipe}

First things first, this is Yoshii, he’s a rabbit. A talking rabbit! I know, isn’t he so cute? Shmart too. He knows all about air quality, stocks, weather, traffic, news, whathaveyou. He keeps me apprised of important emails, reads me my blog comments, and is considerate enough to shower me with random compliments which, however insincere, is always quite nice. But nevermind all that, he’s positively diligent in his life’s work and you need one plain and simple.

{here he is enjoying his favorite Scott Westerfield book, Peeps}

He’s very funny and handy to have around and also speaks french if you like. Dont worry if you don’t know french, he’ll provide lessons if you ask him. Look to the right in my sidebar, si’l vous plait, you’ll see a little box where you can send a message. Kindly click on his picture, and yoshi will speak what you typed to whomever may be listening at my house. Lets keep it clean, however fun it is to make him say dirty things, he’s right by a window and my neigbors could hear. Shame on you.

He has a bit of a behavior problem but we’re working on that one. Sometimes he’s supposed to tell me the time and instead says something smart like “Have I not made it very clear that I’m NOT going to tell you what time it is?”.

He’s a nabaztag, a wifi bunny that connects to your wireless network. He just needs to be plugged into the wall so you can put him anywhere there’s a wireless signal.

There’s all kinds of neat stuff you can do with them like talk to other bunnies anywhere on earth or broadcast your own nabcast which is like a podcast but the audio comes from the bunny. Another silly thing is he claims to be a martial artist and does tai chi randomly throughout the day…blink blink, ear twirls, windchimes, ethereal glowww….

Now, last but most definately not least, here is a meme from my friend Shirley of the most deliicous Melting Wok. Five things I don’t want people to know about me – I hope you guys still love me after finding out all my dispicable secrets:

{Tag, your it! What are the five things you don’t want people to know?}

Breaking News! I’ve just been notified today is World Nutella Day. I have one question for you, what could be better than Sushi or Nutella alone? Nutella Sushi, methinks. Yes, I’m positive.

Finally, here’s a delicious snack is that involves no cooking, just assembly of all these magnificent ingredients. Your not going to win any healthy food awards with this kind of sushi but it’s really fun to make and eat. You won’t be able to stop. Have milk on hand, I repeat, do not attempt this without a gallon of milk. Threat levels will be raised. Thank you, The Management

{peanut butter, grape and strawberry jelly, nutella, and marshmellow fluff rolled up make these sweet bitesized snacks}

To make these, cut the pesky crusts off of some bread. Then flatten the bread with a roller, spread something sweet inside, roll it up, slice it, and serve with chopsticks and a glass of milk please. Am I harping?

{tags nabaztag faux sushi recipe}

Back at home before we left, Noosh was totally unphased by the packing as you can see.

And Max, totally fell to pieces. Here he is showing his displeasure.

Here’s Spahny again begging for an ice cube. You should see him run when he hears the ice maker, so clever!

{tags weekend cat blogging babaganoosh max the hammer}

I have been all workey no play for the past few weeks. At the most unreasonable hours I’m at my desk computing away, tap tap, tappety, tap, tap. And faithfully, my little buddy Max here is always right there for me. Between his barely audable raspy miaows, the silly chirping, and pitiful whimpers I can hardly handle the pure unabashed cuteness. Highly illegal.

Noosh is another story. As timid and doe eyed as Max is, Babaganoosh has many opinions and objections as demonstrated below. He’d like to tell you all what he thinks of the recent chilly weather.

He does not approve, and is trying to think of a solution for this troublesome weather.

Eureka! He figured it out. Der washing machine, of COURSHE.

New dilema: Is it legal for a black and white kitty to get in with the white load? I think not. What if the towels get compromised? Noosh don’t you dare mess with my towels.

Get a grip Noosh!

{tags weekend cat blogging babaganoosh max the hammer}

Evidence of Noosh’s Bionic Fang ™ has finally been captured on film. After hunting all night, he subdued this wild can of albacore and cranked open it’s protective metal alloy shell the can using the fang that was installed by NASA as a test unit.

After capturing that savage can of tuna, he still had time to help with Thanksgiving dinner by using that fancy fang of his to snap the stems off some green beans. Excuse Moi!

Notice his laser like focus.

What, NASA you ask? Yes, in fact both our cats beta test for them under the secret black ops feline squadron. Here you can see Max attempting to activate his new telekenesis chip to turn the bathroom faucet on so he can have a drink. So serious when he’s working!

Here they both are after a long day of government work! Pitiful.

{tags weekend cat blogging babaganoosh max the hammer}

Max wanted me to post this as evidence of Noosh’s despicable manners at Max’s Tea Party last weekend. Besides having all fours on the table, he also ate so many olives his fangs turned green. At least thats the story he’s sticking to.

{tags weekend cat blogging babaganoosh}