Dipping noodles in sauce is the most marvelous idea.

If you, like me, are what Alex calls a “butter,” (short for butterfingers, but meaning generally spastic) sauce dribbles down your chin and splatters across your shirt and a solidly good mess ensues.  Nothing makes me feel two again like struggling to get a mound of wet noodles into my mouth.

Fortunately, the preparation of soba with dipping sauce is not as challenging as the consumption, but it is just as much fun.  This was our first attempt at home-cooked soba, though we’ve had some delicious versions at great places around the city.  To repeat myself, that’s home-cooked, not homemade, for we are not yet that skilled nor unoccupied.  Cooking soba noodles at home basically involves boiling water, throwing in noodles, and concocting a dressing. It’s easier than making just about anything, other than plain boiled pasta.  We fixed up some toppings, but you can go as minimalist as you desire.

Ingredients (serves 2-4)
8 oz. soba noodles
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1 scallion, finely chopped
1 daikon radish, shredded
1 cup shitaki mushrooms, steamed in a bit of water and soy sauce

Instructions:
Boil water and salt it for soba noodles.  Combine stock, mirin and soy sauce, divide into bowls for dipping.  Cook soba noodles according to package instructions, and rinse with cold water.  Assemble soba noodles on plates, and top with scallion, radish and mushrooms.

Yesterday morning, we packed up half of the kitchen and headed to the Union Square Greenmarket to do a cooking demo/promotion for our lovely new cookbook.

The demo went swimmingly — we cooked a delicious eggplant pasta recipe from the book three times in row, and served samples to 300 people (a record for us!).  Fact: Nothing garners a crowd like the aroma of sauteed garlic.

After the event, we came home and used our leftover ingredients to cook the eggplant pasta a fourth time for friends joining us for dinner.  We’re now pretty good at the recipe, so it’s too bad we’re suffering a bit of post-traumatic stress over the idea of it.  In all likelihood, we’ll be frantically chopping eggplants in our dreams for the next few weeks.

So hopefully you understand why we’re not blogging the pasta, despite the fact that it’s incredible fall dish that everyone should make.  Also, we forgot the camera and have no pictures.  (Quick shameless self-promotion:  If you would like the recipe, it’s in the book).

Now, for the main blogging event: pesto hummus — the appetizer to our eggplant pasta supper last night.  We decided to make this dip simply because it utilized ingredients that we had hanging out in our fridge and cabinets.  We were completely shocked by the delightful flavors that resulted.  We scraped the bowl completely clean, and I had even scraped the food processor clean earlier in the afternoon while making the dip.  Though it’s called a pesto hummus, there’s no tahini — so this really ends up tasting more like a pesto bean dip.  We recommend it for any party, to spread on sandwiches, or just for snacking with carrots and crackers.

This recipe should really be adjusted to taste, so please use our recipe as a guideline to create your own delicious masterpiece!

Ingredients (serves 8-10):
2 16-oz. cans chickpeas (drained, liquid reserved)
1 cup packed basil leaves
1/2 clove garlic, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp balsamic vinegar
3 tsp soy sauce
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Combine chickpeas, garlic and basil in the food processor.  Pulse several times.  Add olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce and lemon juice, and pulse (you can add more of these ingredients or less, to taste).  Add reserved chickpea liquid and continue process until mixture is desired consistency (we aimed for the consistency of hummus).  Season with salt and pepper, and serve with raw veggies, crackers, or spread over bread.

This is my last week of classes before exams.  Just as the weather becomes warm and we delirious 1Ls begin to wander out of doors like dazed, caged animals shielding our eyes from the sun, they lock us down again for a month of studying.  It is the cruelest month.

Perhaps unwisely, I took Saturday off from work for something of a “last hoorah” before finals arrive.  It’s wasn’t really a last hoorah, mainly because there weren’t really any preceding hoorahs for it to follow.  Still, I dragged Alex to the farmer’s market at 8 a.m., and we spent the day cooking for beautiful dinner party.

The meal began with these little mushroom toasts — made entirely from local ingredients we found downtown.  We simmered the mushrooms with vinegar and herbs to create a delicious warm mushroom salad, which we spooned onto fresh ricotta spread over toasted rosemary bread.  Our favorite component was the micro-mesclun greens, which we found at a stand featuring so many unique and gorgeous varieties of greens.

These made a wonderful start to a cheerful hoorah, but you can serve them at other types of parties as well, or for yourself as a simple lunch or appetizer.  Also, we’ll probably take another  blogging hiatus until finals conclude in about a month, but we’re already planning a line-up of dishes to cook and share when summer’s here.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 lb. button mushrooms
1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms
1/4 lb. oyster mushrooms
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsely, chopped
1 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped
1 tsp grated lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
4 thin slices rosemary bread, toasted
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 cup micr0-mesclun or other small greens

Instructions:
Heat butter and oil in a pan.  Add mushrooms and 1/4 cup water, then season with salt and pepper.  Cook covered for 15 minutes, then add balsamic vinegar, parsley, tarragon and lemon zest.  Cook for another 5 minutes until liquid is syrupy.  Spread ricotta onto slices of bread, and spoon mushrooms over top.  Top with micro-mesclun and serve.

Keeping calm is a skill that I’m still working on developing.

Alex has it down. He paces his work, and prepares steadily and thoroughly for class. These things keep him calm.

Me? I could pace my work perfectly, over-prepare for class, and still freak out over nothing. I’ve tried yoga, scented candles, and hanging seascapes on the wall of my bedroom. Somehow, the idea that something is supposed to calm me cancels the otherwise calming effect.

So it’s not surprising, then, that things that I don’t intend to calm me actually have the most calming effects. Like these cucumber sandwiches, taken from VeganYumYum. It makes no sense, but just thinking about how simple and pretty they are makes me smile and relax.

They’re so refreshing and light for summer — cucumbers always taste like spa to me. We set them out before a casual dinner for roommates, and though we initially thought they were too pretty to eat, one taste was enough to change our minds.

Ingredients (serves 6):
4 pickle-sized cucumbers (or 1 large cucumber cut in half)
1/2 whole wheat bagette, sliced into 12 1/2-inch rounds
4-6 oz. whipped cream cheese
salt and pepper (to taste)
flat leaf parsley (for garnish)

Instructions:
Using a peeler, begin to peel one edge of the cucumber until a flat surface is created. Then, continue to peel of very thin pieces of cucumber, and set aside. Repeat until you’ve peeled all of the cucumber. Spread thin layers of cream cheese over bread slices, then gently place cucumber slices over each slice of bread, overlapping cucumber slightly. Turn bread slices over, and use a sharp knife to cut around the edge of the bread to remove excess cucumber. Carefully turn bread slices cucumber-side up, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Some things about cooking always amaze me.

Like the fact that you can have bowl of ugly (and delicious) goop, but if you spoon if over freshly toasted sliced bread, it suddenly looks like a beautiful and professional appetizer.

When I was staring at this shrimp and peach salad in the bowl before serving it, I was sure that the recipe wouldn’t rack up enough style points to make it to the blog. And now look at the pictures! They’re gorgeous! Why? I don’t know. It’s a mystery.

We originally planned to make this a shrimp crostini with fresh beans, but when we arrived at the farm stand to buy them, there were no fresh beans to be found. There were some beautiful peaches, however, so we snagged some and figured we’d improvise from there. We wanted a strong lime flavor so that the mixture would have a ceviche-esque feel, and we think we achieved exactly the result we were seeking.

These are perfect for setting out before a meal, or just serve the shrimp salad on a sandwich or over a salad for a tasty lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 peaches, halved with pits removed
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp mayonnaise
juice of 3 limes
salt and pepper to taste
1 baguette (or similar amount of other bread), sliced into small pieces and toasted

Instructions:
Preheat grill to high. Place peach halves on the grill, and cook them for about 3 minutes on each side, until just softened. Remove, then place shrimp on skewers then grill if you have skewers around (they have to be pre-soaked, though), or just place shrimp on the grill. Cook shrimp for about 2 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Dice both shrimp and peaches into 1/2-inch cubes, then place in a bowl. Whisk together honey, mustard, lime juice, mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings, then pour of shrimp and peaches and gently stir to coat. Arrange toasted bread on a platter, then scoop mixture onto the pieces of bread and serve.

We lied.

We said that the posts this week would be written in advance since we are on vacation, but I’m writing this one now. Now is not in advance.

See, we just spent the day touring Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in the pouring rain, and we decided to treat ourselves to a brief siesta (mainly to dry off) before venturing out again. Since there’s wireless, I thought this might be the perfect time to share some unbelievable recipes from our pre-trip stop in Connecticut.

We made this flatbread and dip for pre-dinner snack (some will call this “appetizer”), and it floored everyone who tasted it. That, or Alex’s parents are superb fibbers. The grilled bread (adapted from this Baking Bites recipe) was so amazing! We threw raw dough onto the grill, and seconds later it became toasty, warm, beautifully-charred bread.

The baba ghanoush recipe is no less impressive. One summer, my mom made this recipe every single day, and each day she’d say that it wasn’t precisely correct. Then, one evening at the end of the summer, she announced that she’d done it right, and she stopped making it for about five years. Now we do it sporadically, and it’s a treat every time.

We can’t say enough wonderful things about these two delicious dishes, not to mention that magic that happens when they’re combined! This is probably among the most delicious combinations we’ve ever conjured, full of summery, grilled flavors that we love.

Flatbread
Ingredients:
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup water, slightly warm
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup cake glour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
olive oil
sea salt
optional sesame seeds or a sprinkle of sumac for garnish

Instructions:
Combine yeast and water in a small bowl. Stir, then let rest for about 10 minutes, until foamy. In a food processor, combine flours, salt, and sugar. Pulse for 5 seconds, and continue pulsing while adding the water mixture. Continue for about 1-2 minutes, until dough becomes smooth. Divide dough into balls, place them on a floured surface and cover them. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Then, flatten balls into thin disks, and preheat grill to 500 or high and lightly grease. Place dough on grill and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until browned.

Baba Ghanoush
Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants
2 cloves garlic, mashed
juice of two lemons
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup grenadine or pomegranate syrup
salt

Instructions:
Preheat grill to high. Place whole eggplants on grill. Cook each eggplant 10 minutes on one side, then rotate eggplants every 10 minutes for 40 minutes, until eggplants are completely charred black and soft all over. Remove from grill, and place in a bath of cold water until cool. Once eggplants are cool, remove skin and place flesh in a large bowl. Remove as many seeds as possible without taking out enormous chunks of the eggplant. Using a fork, pull apart pieces of the eggplant as though you are shredding chicken — it’s okay if some chunks remain. Stir in tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and grenadine/syrup, then salt and adjust seasonings to taste.