Soba Noodles with Shitake Mushrooms (adapted from Mark Bittman)

Ingredients:

8 inch dried kombu seaweed
one baggy of dried fish (bonito) flakes
4-5 shitake mushrooms
1/3 cup of Soy sauce
1/3 cup of Rice wine
1 Tbspn of sugar
1 Quart or a liter of water
a bunch of spinach, kale, collard greens or other green you like
1 lb of soba noodles

Dashi

Start by preparing a Dashi. Dashi is a simple broth made of kombu (dried seaweed) and bonito flakes.
Place the water in big pot over low fire. Cook the kombu in the water until tender. Be careful not to let the water boil. When the seaweed is tender, remove and discard. Turn off the stove and add the fish flakes and let sit for a few minutes. Drain the broth and discard the flakes.

Noodles

Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. While the soba noodles are cooking add the soy sauce, the rice wine and the sugar to the Dashi. When the noodles are done rinse them and add them to the broth. Reheat and add your greens and the previously hydrated Shitake mushrooms (chopped and with any hard parts removed).

To hydrate the mushrooms place them in warm water as if they were teabags. You can add the water used to rehydrate the mushrooms to the noodle soup.

Guacamole (my way)

There are a few things that are so quick and easy to make and so rewarding. The hardest part: Find a ripe avocado when you want it. Guacamole goes well with almost anything. Any type of meat, quesadillas, tortilla chips, nachos, tacos or with any other Mexican "garnacha" (Mexican word for fast food. Including: Huaraches, tostadas, tlacoyos, sopes, etc..)

The ingredients are: 1 medium to big avocado, about 1/2 cup of finely chopped white onion. 1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro (or parsley), 1 tomato, the juice of one lime, about 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
1. In a deep bowl place the chopped onion and the lime juice. Do this while you chop the tomato and the cilantro to allow the lime acid to "acid cook" the onion.
2. Peel the avocado and cut in chunks and place in the bowl.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. Using a fork, start mixing and mashing the avocado until you get a creamy texture .
4. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Note: you can make spicy guacamole by adding a pinch of the chile of your choice. My favorite is habanero...I highly recommend to roast any kind in of chile you use to add a n extra smokey flavour.

Basmati rice with shrimp

Perfect with a cold beer :)


Reserved shrimp

Pre-cooking the rice with olive oil and garlic


For this rice I followed the basic steps for paella. It should be enough for a dinner for 2. I didn't have azafran one of the key ingredients for paella, and I substituted the classic avanda rice for basmati, but I think this recipe worked very well.

Ingredients:

I used about 1/2 lb of shrimp, 1/2 cup of basmati rice, 3 cloves of garlic (or to taste,) about 2 teaspoons of pimenton (paprika),1 cup of shrimp broth, 1 table spoon of olive oil, one wedge of lime or lemon and salt and pepper to taste.

Process:

1. Peel the shrimp leaving the tails on (you can butterfly it if you like) and save the shells.
2. In a small pot put 1 1/2 cups of water the shrimp shells and 1 teaspoon of salt. Make the water boil for at least 5 min to make a broth.
3. meanwhile you are making the broth, mince the 3 cloves of garlic. In a 8in skillet heat the olive oil under medium-low fire. Add the garlic and bring down the fire to low
making sure to burn the garlic. Cook for about 1min.
4. Add the shrimp and cook for about 2 min and reserve, make sure to leave the garlic in the skillet. Squeeze the lemon wedge over the reserved shrimp ( It's OK to under cook the shrimp. You will add the shrimp back later)
5. Add the rice to the skillet and pre-cook i t with the garlic for 2 min under low fire. Meanwhile turn of the fire on the broth pot.
6. Add 1 cup of broth to the skillet with the rice and disperse the rice uniformly on the skillet. Let the rice cook undisturbed until the broth is gone. I f the rice is drying to fast bring the fire as low as possible and with a soup spoon add small quantities of broth or water as needed.
7. When the rice is close to be done, arrange the shrimp over the rice. You can use a slice of lemon/lime an parsley for garnish.
8. Cover the skillet until the rice is done and the shrimp fully cooked.

Roasted Squash/Pumpkin Soup with Goat Cheese

This is a great and easy recipe from my friend Alicia. Perfect for all of those who get lots of pumpkins and squashes with their CSA shares.

1. Cut one medium pumpkin in quarters and remove the seeds.
2. Rub the pumpkin quarters with a mixture of olive oil and minced garlic. Add salt fresh ground pepper and little bit of sugar (optional.)
3. Place the pumpkin in a 500 oven for about 30 min or until is cooked.
4. Remove the skin and discard. Put the pumpkin in a blender and mix with about two cups of chicken, or vegetable broth. (You can control the texture of the soup by reducing or increasing the amount of broth)
5. Serve with little pieces of goat cheese and parsley (optional.)

Hot Smoked Salmon

Last summer I learned how to hot smoke fish. I followed the recipe used by Mark Bittman in "Fish." There are three ways smoke fish; using a gas grill, using charcoal grill and on your stove top. I used a small charcoal grill which was perfect for a hot summer day...I've been thinking in try the stove top method this winter.

Pizza

Home made pizza. Toppings: Kale, Artichokes, Gorgonzola and Parmesan cheese. If you want to know more about this recipe leave your question on the comments section.

Basa with shrimp, potatoes, onions and basil

Walking yesterday through Chinatown in search of something for dinner, I found two good-looking Basa fillets (about $4.50/ lb). The Basa is native to Southeast Asia and it is mostly farm raised these days. If you are concerned about buying locally caught this is not your fish. However it appears as a "good alternative" under the pocket guide for US fish consumers published by the Monterey Aquarium.

The cooking method is a very simple recipe from Mark Bittman's book "Fish." It works with almost any fish fillet (not sure about salmon.) First, you need a piece of aluminium foil big enough to wrap your fillet. Place the extended aluminum foil on a work surface and then place a layer of thinly sliced potatoes and onions, add salt and pepper and a few drops of olive oil, place your fillet over the potatoes/onion layer and top it with two butterfly cut shrimps (optional). Then add some fresh herbs from your choice. In this case I used basil and a bit of cilantro. Before closing your wrap, add a little bit of salt, pepper and paprika or other seasoning of your choice.
Put your wrapped fillet in a 450 oven for about 20 to 25 minutes...usually you can smell it when it is done. You can open the wrap and check if the fish is fully cooked.