Soba Noodle and Pork Steak with Fresh Asian Vegetables

Soba noodles are Japanese noodles made with buckwheat flour.  From what I have heard, people either really like soba noodles or they really don't like them.  I'd never tried them, but when at an ethnic market, I found a package and thought it would be an interesting experiment! 

That soba noodle package has been patiently resting on the pantry shelf for several months now, and I decided that it was time to try cooking them - no more waiting for the perfect recipe to come up!  As I was rummaging around the kitchen, I also found a package of pork steaks in the freezer that needed to be used up, and thought it would be interesting to combine the two to create a dish.  And then I needed a sauce or topping to bring it all together....

And so, 'Soba Noodle and Pork Steak with Fresh Asian Vegetables' was born.  It actually turned out really, really good (I was surprised that Charlie liked it so much!).  I cooked the soba noodles simply, brined the pork steak for a few hours, and created an Asian vegetable topping that tied everything together. 

By the way, the soba noodles were quite tasty.  They definitely had a whole-wheat-pasta-type-flavor, but I also thought they had a stronger, nuttier taste.  We loved them and I definitely plan to keep experimenting with soba noodles!  

Soba Noodle and Pork Steak with Fresh Asian Vegetables

for the pork steak

• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups water
• sprinkling Old Bay seasoning
• 2 pork steaks, thawed (I think pork chops might work fine as well, though I didn't try it)

for the Asian Vegetable Topping

• 1 finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
• 2 - 4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro (depending on taste)
• squeeze of 1/2 tangerine (or 2 tablespoons orange juice)
• squeeze of 1/2 lime (about 1 tablespoon)
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon seasoned roasted garlic rice vinegar
• 1 to 2 teaspoons Thai sweet chili sauce (depending on hotness)

For the soba noodles

• 1/2 package buckwheat soba noodles
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 quarts boiling water

For the pork steak: Place salt, sugar, water and seasoning in a gallon bag.  Seal and swish around to dissolve salt and sugar.  Add pork steaks.  Place in refrigerator for about 4 hours. When you are ready to put the dish together, heat a skillet over medium to high heat.  Pan fry the pork steaks for about 8 minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature comes to 140 degrees F.  Remove to platter, cover with tin foil and let rest until you are ready to thinly slice and eat. 

For Asian Vegetable Topping: Stir all topping ingredients together in a bowl.  Let sit in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours to allow flavors to meld.

For soba noodles: Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a medium sized pot with the kosher salt.

When water reaches a rolling boil, add noodles and stir well.  As it begins to boil over, add one cup of cold water and stir.  As it begins to boil over again, turn off the heat.  This will take approximately 7 or 8 minutes.  Try a noodle - you want them to be firm-tender (or al dente) - not mushy.  If they are still too firm, let them sit in the hot water for a minute until they are good.  Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. I like to stir in a dash of olive oil while the noodles are in the sieve - it helps keep them from sticking together. 

To put it all together: You can serve this however you wish.  For presentation, I placed a pile of soba noodles at one end of a plate, thinly sliced the pork steak and arranged the topping over the whole thing.  However, when we went to eat it, we stirred it all together anyways.  If you would like, just stir together the soba noodles, the vegetables and the thinly sliced pork steak in a bowl and serve it that way. 

Shrimp Cocktail

Charlie and I love shrimp.  It is what we consider a "special treat -" to us, that means we only buy shrimp once a month or once every couple of months.  So when we do get to eat shrimp, it really is both a special occasion and a treat!

One of our favorite ways to cook shrimp is to use Alton Brown's brining and broiling technique - the brine in particular is really what makes all the difference.  The shrimp come out plump, juicy and bursting with flavor.  In fact, they really don't need any cocktail sauce at all.


The raw, shell on, deveined shrimp rinsed and ready for the brine.

I do the brining in a gallon plastic bag - so easy and I don't have to worry about washing and sanatizing a raw-shellfish-bowl when the brining is done!

The shrimp and ice cubes brine for 20 minutes.  As you can see I got as much air out of the bag possible - kind of an at-home 'cryovac infusion' technique. 

The shrimp removed from the brine, tossed in a little olive oil and laid out on a tin-foil lined cookie sheet.
 

The shrimp right out from under the broiler - and into an ice cold bowl they go!  The object is to stop the cooking process immediately.

The lucious shrimp cocktail. 

Hey!  Whose hand is that???  I'm still taking pictures!  [Charlie was excited to enjoy some shrimp.]

Have you ever tried brining shrimp?  What did you think?  Please let me know your thoughts on this recipe if you try it!

Brined Shrimp

• 1 pound frozen deveined, shell-on shrimp, thawed (for this recipe, I use either jumbo or extra large shrimp)
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups ice
• Olive oil
• Dash Old Bay Seasoning

Place a clean cookie sheet in the refrigerator or freezer.  This is to chill the shrimp immediately after they are done broiling. 

Make sure the shrimp are deveined.  Place shrimp in a gallon plastic bag, or large bowl.  Add all remaining ingredients except the olive oil and dash of Old Bay Seasoning.  Swoosh the bag around a little until the sugar and salt is dissolved.  Refrigerate mixture for 20 to 25 minutes - don't let the shrimp sit in the brine any longer, though, as they will get too salty (voice of experience speaking here). While shrimp are brining, place a baking sheet or broiler pan under oven broiler and preheat for 5 minutes.  Remove shrimp from brine and drain thoroughly.  Rinse the shrimp under cold water and dry on paper towels. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with olive oil and sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning, if desired.

Place shrimp onto a sizzling sheet pan and return to broiler immediately. After two minutes, turn the shrimp with a pair of tongs. Return the shrimp to broiler for one minute.  Transfer to the cold cookie sheet and refrigerate immediately, until shrimp have cooled completely.

Once shrimp have chilled, arrange them in a martini glass with cocktail sauce or as desired.

Brined Lamb Chops

I hadn't been planning on sharing this recipe for brined lamb chops, but they were so delicious that I decided I had to share!  I must apologize that there aren't better pictures, but I hadn't planned on posting this recipe. 

This was one of those things where I just threw a bunch of spices and herbs in the brine, and let the whole thing sit in the fridge overnight.  After they were off the grill, we found out that these lamb chops were so delicious and flavorful, they didn't need any type of sauce at all. 

Have you ever tried brining lamb?  How about brining other meats?

Brined Lamb Chops

• 8 lamb chops, thawed
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onions
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 2 quarts water

Place all ingredients except for lamb in a gallon bag or large container.  Stir until the salt is dissolved.  Add lamb chops.  Refrigerate for about 12 hours.  About 1/2 hour before you are ready to cook them, remove from the refrigerator and remove from brine to wire rack.  This will allow the lamb's temperature to come up a little before grilling.

Prepare grill to medium-high heat.  Grill lamb chops to desired doneness, about three minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer lamb chops to platter and let rest for a good 10 minutes or so. Garnish with fresh oregano or mint sprigs and serve.

Smoked Turkey

I still had a small turkey in the freezer that I had bought after Thanksgiving last year, and needed to use it up.  I got the idea to try smoking it - and it really turned out with such a delicious smoked flavor and was so moist.  I am already a HUGE fan of brining turkeys, so I combined the techniques of brining and smoking and we got a great meal (well, a few great meals). 

I started by brining the turkey for about 8 hours (I think more time in the brine wouldn't hurt at all, I just got it brining too late!  I usually brine turkeys overnight).  I used onions, the peel from two lemons, sugar, molasses, kosher salt and a head of garlic.

Then, the "stuffings"- a quartered onion, two whole lemons, a head of garlic, chopped potatoes, and fresh herbs from the garden: variegated thyme, oregano, sage, parsley and rosemary.  These stuffings were just for aromatics.

The stuffed turkey, with a brushing of olive oil and a sprinkle of freshly ground pepper.

Using a digital probe thermometer is the only way I cook turkeys anymore.  Time to go on the big green egg!  We put hickory chips in our little smoke box. 
 

The finished turkey, about three hours later!  The skin browned beautifully, and left the meat protected and moist inside. 

Slices off the finished turkey - can you see how moist it is?  It tasted delicately smokey, with such a nice freshness from the lemon and garlic.  It was a big hit with Charlie too!

Smoked Turkey

For the brine:

• 1 turkey, the one I used was about 10 pounds
• 1 gallon water
• peeled fresh rind off 2 lemons
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 onions, quartered
• 1 head garlic, with the top and bottom sliced off
• a couple of trays of ice cubes

For the aromatics:

• 2 lemons, quartered
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 cup roughly chopped potatoes
• 1 head garlic, top and bottom sliced off again
• Several sprigs of fresh herbs; I used parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano

For the outside:

• olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

To smoke this turkey, we used our big green egg.  However, I looked it up and it looks like you can smoke turkeys in – of course – a smoker, on a Weber, a gas grill with a wood chip smoke box or with whatever you have.  The reason we like our big green egg so much is because it holds at a certain temperature so well (even for hours).  In this recipe, I will just share how we did it on the big green egg.  

For the brine, bring water to a just-over-lukewarm-temperature in a large pot (we just want to be able to dissolve the sugar and kosher salt, which is harder to do in cold water).  Add all of the brine ingredients: lemons, kosher salt, sugar, molasses, onions and garlic.  Heat and stir just until the salt and sugar is dissolved.  Immediately remove from heat.  Once it has cooled, add the rinsed turkey (remove the neck and giblets and save for another use) to the brine (making sure the turkey is completely covered).  You can either put the turkey and brine in a large 2 ½ gallon resealable plastic bag, or any container that is large enough to hold both turkey and brine, or leave it in the large pot.  I left mine in the large pot.  Lastly, sprinkle a couple dozen ice cubes in the pot.  Refrigerate at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.  

Preheat the big green egg to around 350, without the plate setter.   If using wood chips (recommended), soak them in water for about an hour.  

Remove turkey from the brine, rinse well and pat dry.  Discard the brining liquid and solids.  Stuff the turkey with the lemons, onions, potatoes, garlic and herbs.  I really jammed mine in there!  It’ll be ok if the ingredients are a little squished.  Brush the outside of the turkey with olive oil and season with desired amount of freshly ground black pepper.  I also folded the wings under the body so we didn’t have to worry about them burning.  Now, outside to the smoker!

You can either scatter about one cup of the hickory chips over the hot coals, or if you have a little wood-chip-smoke-box, put them in there and set the box right in the coals.  Then, place the plate setter (legs up) in the egg.  Put a drip pan on top of the plate setter (or make your own out of tin foil like we did!).  Put on the wire grate.  Place digital thermometer probe into deepest part of the breast (I know this sounds wrong – but keep reading!  We “accidentally” came up with this great technique!).   Once the turkey is settled on the wire rack, close the lid of the big green egg.  The temperature should level out to around 300ºF.  Cook for about 2 ½ hours, until the instant thermometer registers 165ºF.  During this time, feel free to add more wood chips based on how smokey you want your meat!

Remove the turkey from the smoker and let rest for a good 20 minutes. Carve the white meat and serve immediately.  The white meat with be perfect – but the dark meat will be a little bit underdone.  Just enjoy the white meat for this meal!  Here’s what we found out: if you carve all of the white meat off the turkey, leaving just the slightly underdone thighs and drumsticks – the next day you can place the whole rest of the bird on a cookie sheet, cover it with tin foil and roast it in the oven at 300ºF for about an hour and a half – the dark meat will now be perfectly cooked and melt in your mouth.  This way (even though it’s a little more work and you have to split up your meals) you can have perfectly cooked white and dark meat!

Note: if you aren't into this technique and want to eat the white and dark meat together, place the digital thermometer probe into the deepest part of the turkey thigh and cook until the meat registers 165ºF.