Seaweed and Noodle Salad with Salmon Teriyaki

Do you remember that list of 50 best cookbooks of all time from The Observer last August? (The top 10 are listed here.) That list was the reason I had to add Nigella’s How to Eat to my collection. I had failed to collect any of her books for the longest time, and I have no idea why that was because I always enjoy her show when I catch it on the Food Network. I did buy Nigella Christmas last year when it was marked down some ridiculous amount right after the holidays, but I didn’t have any of her earlier classics. How to Eat is what I would call a conversational cookbook. It’s written exactly as Nigella speaks, and she conveys her ideas about eating, entertaining, and planning and executing all sorts of meals. The text moves from one topic to another, and sometimes the recipes are really just written descriptions of how she puts a dish together. Mostly though, the recipes appear throughout the text in the conventional way with ingredients listed followed by instructions. It was interesting to read what types of dishes she chose for weekend Sunday lunch parties as opposed dinner parties. The lunches were chicken, pasta, cold meats, or stews, and the dinners were always three courses with seasonally appropriate roasted meats, vegetables, and dessert that usually involved fruit. There were many potato dishes, and many dishes with peas, and most of the desserts were creamy, pillowy creations. Most of the menus seemed a little heavy. Maybe it was because I had read through the book over the course of a few days rather than dipping in and out at different times, but when I arrived at the low fat chapter, it was refreshing to see some lighter fare. Or, I was just in the mood for that. As soon as I read about the noodle salad with sea vegetables and simple teriyaki sauce for fish, I had a dinner plan.

The noodle salad included both dried arame and wakame seaweed. If you’re not sure if you’ll like these, I recommend starting with arame and letting that be your gateway seaweed. It’s very mild in flavor and looks like skinny black pasta once rehydrated. Wakame is only slightly less mild, but it does taste a little more of the sea. Rehydrated, it looks like thawed, frozen, chopped spinach. Both were rehydrated in cool water and then drained. A dressing was made for the noodles with soy sauce, sake, mirin, rice vinegar, sugar, dashi, and sesame oil. I didn’t locate any dashi with no MSG, so I bought some bonito flakes and made a simple broth with a little boiling water. And, speaking of sake, I branched out in an attempt to learn more and tried an unfiltered option. The flavor was lightly floral compared to the last sake I used, and it seemed like a kinder, gentler sort of sake. Next, soba noodles were boiled, drained, rinsed, and drained again. The noodles were tossed with the dressing, the seaweeds, some sliced scallions, and I added some sliced orange bell pepper just because I had it on hand. The noodles can sit at room temperature, or they can be served cold. As they sat, I made the teriyaki sauce for the salmon from soy sauce, sake, mirin, and a pinch of sugar. The sauce was cooked in a pan just to dissolve the sugar while the fish was seared in a skillet. After searing the fish on both sides, the sauce was added and was used to baste the fish. The fish was removed so as not to overcook, and the sauce was left to thicken.

I served the noodles topped by the fish with the thickened teriyaki sauce poured over top. I knew this was going to be a good meal. For me, these flavors never disappoint. I made extra noodles, and the next day I enjoyed them cold from the refrigerator for lunch with chunks of tofu instead of salmon. Next time, I’ll probably add broccoli or greens. It’s great to learn this kind of adaptable dish that you can make a little differently each time you serve it.

X Cookies

Something about these cookies intrigued me. The photo I saw of them was fetching, the technique for making them was interesting, and I don’t think I’d ever seen cookies like these before. I came across them in Baking with Julia, and the recipe was contributed by Nick Malgieri. They’re like a Sicilian homemade Fig Newton except for the shape of course. A fig filling, and let me tell you that was one amazing fig filling, was wrapped in dough, rolled into a long cylinder, and cut into pieces which were sliced on the ends and pulled into an X. This was a little bit of a project compared to simpler drop cookies, but I thought the process was fun since it worked exactly as described with no problems. Regarding that filling, it was a grown-up kind of fig filling full of aromatic and delicious things mixed with dried figs like almonds, apricot preserves, golden raisins, candied orange peel, chocolate, dark rum, and cinnamon. I tasted the filling just after it was pureed and realized it could have been served in bowls for dessert all by itself. There’s only a small amount of chocolate, so it doesn’t taste like a chocolate Fig Newton, but the chocolate with all the other filling ingredients makes it a sophisticated mix of flavors. And, the shape is an X which is appropriate for Valentine’s Day even though I didn’t make any O’s, right?

The pastry and the filling were both made in a food processor, and cleaning between steps wasn’t even necessary. The pastry, or pasta frolla, was made by pulsing flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the food processor before adding chopped, cold butter. The butter was cut into the flour by pulsing, and then eggs were added and mixed to form a dough. The dough was kneaded briefly, formed into a log, and covered and set aside. The bowl of the food processor was set back in place, and the filling was made in it next. That was a pureed mix of chopped dried figs, toasted and chopped almonds, apricot preserves, golden raisins, candied orange peel, and yes I was thrilled to use my own candied orange peel again, chopped semisweet chocolate, dark rum, and cinnamon. There are great tips in the recipe such as reminding you that the dried fruit will not become softer or moister after baking. Therefore, if your dried fruits are too dry, they should be plumped in water and drained before using. Although I was tempted to stop there and just eat the filling with a spoon or maybe save a little to plop on top of yogurt for breakfast the next morning, I did continue with the recipe by forming the filling into a log and cutting that into 12 pieces. The pastry was also cut into 12 pieces. Working with one piece of pastry at a time, it was rolled against the countertop into a rope 15 inches long. Then, it was flattened into a three inch wide rectangle. Don’t even bother with a rolling pin. The dough is very easy to press and flatten into the rectangular shape. Just have some flour nearby to sprinkle on the counter to prevent sticking. Next, one piece of filling was rolled into a 15 inch long rope and set on the pastry. The pastry was rolled around the filling and pressed to seal. That filled rope shape was cut into three inch long pieces. Each piece was cut on each end so the ends could be pulled out to form an X shape. It’s really more complicated to write this than it was to do it. The cookies were baked, cooled, and then topped with confectioners’ sugar.

Even though these cookies involved a pastry dough and rolling and shaping, they were far easier than I expected. The dough behaved perfectly, and making the X shapes was quick and painless. The recipe makes a lot of cookies, five dozen in fact, and they keep well for about a week at room temperature. I stashed several of them in the freezer since even we couldn’t get through that many in one week. Whether it was the shape, the fun of making them, or that incredible filling, these have found a place on my favorites list.

Cheryl Tan, What Are You Reading?

Cheryl Tan is a New York-based writer with experience as a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal, In Style magazine and the Baltimore Sun. Her stories have also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Marie Claire, Every Day With Rachael Ray, Family Circle, Bloomberg Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, The (Portland) Oregonian, The (Topeka) Capital-Journal, The (Singapore) Straits Times and Elle.com. She is also a regular contributor to The Atlantic Food Channel. I've been following Cheryl on Twitter where she mentions her travels, her work, and where she organized the Let's Lunch group that always cooks up great things with a given theme. You can check on what Cheryl has cooked lately on her food blog as well. Last spring and also last December, Cheryl was an artist in residence at the Yaddo artists' colony, where she was working on her memoir. That memoir, A Tiger in the Kitchen, will be released tomorrow February 8, and it tells the story of how she discovered her Singaporean family by learning to cook with them. I knew I'd hear some good recommendations when I asked Cheryl, what are you reading?

Cheryl:
I have a big stack of books I've been dipping in and out of recently--these are a few:

The Oysters of Locmariaquer by Eleanor Clark

I'm in love with this book -- it's a wonderful narrative about a little town in Brittany, France, where the famous Belon oysters are cultivated. You learn about the people, the stories, the history of these oysters -- I adore travel narratives that share the tales behind what's on your plate. Clark won the 1964 National Book Award for this work -- a great achievement for a food narrative.

Alice, Let's Eat by Calvin Trillin

Trillin is one of my absolute favorite writers -- so insightful, so funny, always spot on. I'm enjoying reading about his eating journey in America and Europe with his wife, Alice, by his side. I always come away from reading his pieces and books -- Travels With Alice is another favorite -- feeling like I've been there, sitting at that table elbow to elbow right next to them. The best travel writing does that for you.

Travels With Barley: A Journey Through Beer Culture in America by Ken Wells

Ken Wells is one of the most engaging writers I know and his appetite for life really comes across in this book -- it's a hugely entertaining account of his journey across America, following the Mississippi River from Minnesota to Louisiana, talking to beer makers, drinkers and experts. (While drinking some beer, of course.) I'm not a huge beer drinker but I'm enjoying learning about beer culture and lore in the U.S. -- and I now want to see the World's Largest Six-Pack in Lacrosse, Wisconsin!

The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry

This is just an enchanting book about a detective who enters the dreams of a murdered man in order to solve a crime. The writing is lovely and filled with charming little details -- I was hooked from the moment I saw the word "umbrellist" used to describe the protagonist on the first page. I recently met Jedediah Berry at Yaddo, an artists' colony in upstate New York, where we were both working on our books. He's an unusual, fascinating guy, which made me really want to read his book -- which, just like Jed, is turning out to be a real treat so far.

The Sweet Spot: Asian-Inspired Desserts by Pichet Ong

Having just celebrated Chinese new year, I have Asian cookies and sweets on my mind. It's always around this time of year that I pull out Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot and leaf through it, looking for treats to make to celebrate the lunar new year. It's hands down the best book on Asian desserts out there -- there are some recipes for traditional favorites of mine (mango sticky rice, fried bananas) as well as modern desserts he's created. I love that he uses ingredients like Horlicks (the British malted milk drink) and kumquats that you don't often see in American desserts. My favorite recipe in there, though, is his lemongrass frozen yogurt recipe -- it's incredibly easy and makes for a refreshing end to any meal. My guests always love it when I pull that out of the freezer for dessert.

Thank you for participating, Cheryl. Check back to see who answers the question next time and what other books are recommended.

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