Sesame noodles / lemony courgette and chickpeas

I remembered about the Brookline farmers' market as I was riding home today.  I was just in time to catch the last few things on the last stall as it was packing up.  And they were exciting things - a bunch of chard (mostly white but some ruby), a handful of garlic flower buds (scapes? they were labelled as), and a hard-sold light-green squash which is apparently super sweet and was only 50c.  $2.50 for the lot - not bad I think.

Anyway, I'll get onto those over the weekend...


For today...

Sesame noodles

60g sesame seeds
2 bundles (200g) soba noodles
3-4 spring onions, thinly sliced
5 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan.  Put the noodles in a pan of boiling, slightly salted water and cook til done (~5-6 min).  Put the noodles under cold water til cold.  Prep the spring onions.  Mix the remaining ingredients in serving bowl. Add the noodles and spring onions and toss.  Add sesame seeds and toss some more.  Chill for an hour before serving, ideally.


Lemony courgette and chickpeas

~250g courgette (1 large, in this case)
zest of half a lemon and juice of ~1 whole lemon
8 basil leaves
3-4 tbsp olive oil
salt
good handful of chickpeas (~100g when cooked)

Zest the lemon into a bowl and squeeze in the juice.  Finely shred the basil and add to the lemon.  Add the olive oil and mix with a fork.  Add the chickpeas and some salt to taste and mix up.  Cut the courgette into thin ribbons lengthwise using a peeler.  Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the ribbons til golden brown and floppy, putting into the bowl with the other ingredients as they are ready.  Toss all together when done, and serve with/on toasted bread if you have some.


I also made the classic silken tofu salad.  Good times.

The lemony courgette was really nice and summery.  Was quite oily, which was not really necessary - could get the olive oil flavour better with less - might try grilling or baking the courgette slices in future to avoid the frying in future, since frying is a pain and adds oil.  Could also cut down the oil overall.

The sesame noodles I made once, years ago, made a mental note that they were good and then never bought any soba noodles.  We got some the other day on our mission to the Chinese supermarket in Quincy so it seemed like time to trot it out again.  I can confirm that it is good, and super simple too.

Polenta + olive oil crackers / spiced carrot and tofu spread

Broken piece of cracker with carrot stuff

I came across these recipes for crackers by Dan Lepard in the Guardian.  Although S was away this weekend and I therefore had to rein in my cooking tendencies through lack of willing tummies, Sarah from the lab next door had a barbeque on Sunday and I decided this was a good enough opportunity to make some crackers.

I liked the look of both recipes, but decided to go for the olive oil / polenta one, as a) I am quite into polenta right now (and also just cracked open a huge tub of honey I bought for some unknown reason that made sense at the time), b) they are more naturally dairy/egg-free - I'm always using olive oil, marg not so much, and c) it would have been silly to do both... right?


Polenta and olive oil crackers

25g uncooked polenta or coarse cornmeal
1 tsp honey
50ml olive oil
300g plain flour, plus more for rolling
½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt

Pour 75ml boiling water over the polenta, stir and leave to swell for five minutes. Stir in the honey and oil. Tip the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, add the polenta and about 50ml cold water, and mix to a dough. Knead for 10-15 seconds, until smooth, then wrap well and leave for 15 minutes, to make it easier to roll. Pinch off walnut-sized balls of dough (about 30g), roll very thinly into slipper shapes and lay on a tray lined with nonstick paper. Brush with water and bake at 200C (180C fan-assisted)/390F/gas mark 6 for 10-12 minutes, until golden and crisp.  Made about 24 (more than the quoted 15).

They worked like a dream - super simple, dough rolled out really nice, cracky and texturally exciting.  Pleasant, slightly salty taste perfect to eat with cheese or with something else...  Like?  This was the next question - decided I should make something to go with them to take to the BBQ.  Was liking a firm tofu / za'atar mash-up as a combo, so ran with that...


Spiced carrot and tofu spread

Half a pack (~8oz) firm tofu
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tbsp za'atar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne
small piece garlic (~1/5 clove)
salt and pepper
~ 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey

Prepare the carrots and put them in a steamer.  Steam for 10-15 min until a fork goes in easily.  Put into a blender with the rest of the ingredients.  Pulse until fairly smooth, but stopping before it is completely homogenised - felt like a slightly lumpy texture would be more appealing.


Crackers and spread both went down well at the party, including with S+C's baby Lenora (who is nearly 1 and has 8 teeth) - confirming the concern I felt when prepping the spread that it was a bit like babyfood (quite yummy babyfood though!).

The best bread I ever made: black olive and sesame bread

I came across this recipe on the Guardian website.  It looked not too taxing and sounded yummy.  Had an evening on my own since S is away right now, so decided to give it a try...

330g jar pitted kalamata olives in brine (used a ~300g tin of black, pitted olives in brine from Trader Joes)
1 tsp fast-action yeast
1 tsp dark brown sugar (used regular sugar)
50g sesame seeds, plus an extra tablespoon to finish
350g strong white flour, plus more for shaping
1 tbsp dried oregano (instead of oregano, thyme and sumac, I used za'atar)
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp sumac, optional but good
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon

Drain the olives, then measure the liquid and top up with warm water to make 250ml (had the right amount of liquid). Cut the olives in half lengthways. Put the strained olives and the liquid into a bowl, then stir in the yeast, sugar and 50g of sesame seeds. Add the flour, mix to a soft, sticky dough, cover and leave for 10 minutes.

Give the dough a short, 10-second knead in the bowl. Cover and leave for 10 minutes more. Repeat this quick knead twice more at 10-minute intervals, then leave the dough, covered, for 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, line the base of a tray with nonstick baking paper, tip za'atar (or finely ground herbs) on to a large dinner plate and mix with a tablespoon of sesame seeds and lemon zest. On another plate, have ready a wet square of kitchen towel.

Pat the dough into a rectangle on a clean worktop dusted with a little flour, then roll it up tightly into a snug scroll, making sure all the olives are tucked in. Next, tightly roll the ends of the loaf, so they pinch in and the loaf has a shape a bit like a lemon. Roll the loaf on the wet towel, then roll it in the herb and spice mix. Place on the tray seam-side down, cover and leave to rise for 90 minutes. Slash the top and bake at 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7 for about 40 minutes.

Bad photo doesn't do amazing bread justice

Super tasty - am having a za'atar moment right now, so happy to use that.  And the nuttiness of sesame plus salty olive taste is wonderful, yet an unusual enough combination to make for a loaf I definitely wouldn't be able to buy.  And I loved the idea of using the brine from the olives - reducing waste and adding taste and colour to the crumb.

Just ate some with a little salad of TJ's cherry tomatoes (they're excellent right now), and freshly-picked mixed baby leaves: rocket and lettuce from the balcony, mustard greens and chives from the community garden (am in my first real week of salad harvest - eating it almost every day!), dressed with olive oil+balsamic vinegar and toasted sunflower seeds... yummm