Flavor-packed Cold Noodle Salad - My latest at Anthology, Zippy Gazpacho with The New York Times, and a Whole Lot More

Crunchy, tangy, punchy, meaty, chewy, spicy. Yep, all that, and almost no cooking to do.

My monthly column at Anthology has been a ongoing affair for two years now (next month!) - how cool is that?!

I made this using somen noodles, shiitake mushrooms, royal burgundy beans, slivered jalapeño, cucumber, Chinese chives, pickled red bell pepper, and mint and cilantro. My choices here serve as a guideline - pictured is an array of possible elements you can incorporate. My hope is that in sharing this as a guideline, it inspires you to play. Experiment with the type of noodles, the pickled and spicy elements. Definitely swap crunchy veg variations to see which harmonize together, and what is freshest at the market. 

These are building blocks to lift-off from and have fun, using your own sensibility and really, what's beautiful when you visit the farmers market. This recipe is one of those I find myself returning to and modifying a bit each time. 

While this seriously tasty preparation takes cues from Asian flavors, this isn't explicitly from a particular culture. More, an interest to eat flavorful food that isn't expensive, and, perfect for picnics on lazy summer days. Though it isn't a saucy pasta dish by any means, don't let the apparent plainness fool you - this dish is packed with flavor.

If you have a few pantry staples - the sauces and vinegar, and pasta - you can make this virtually no-cook recipe without notice. It is a mix-and-match pull-from-what-you-have kind of thing. And the best part? This dish makes for a beautiful presentation and a really satisfying meal for whomever you serve it. 

Cold noodle salad

Serves 4-6

for the noodles

1 pkg noodles, cooked according to the directions on the label 

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tbsp good olive oil

2 tsp fish sauce

1/2-1 tsp soy sauce

1/2-1 tsp rice wine vinegar

allium  

choose one, 2-3 tbsp, divided - finely chop whichever you choose 

Chinese chives

garlic scapes

spring onion

chives

garlic

crunchy

a few handfuls total, a mixture of two or three

green beans, royal burgundy beans, etc
kirby or Persian cucumbers

sweet bell pepper

asparagus

snap peas

green papaya or mango

hakurei turnips

meaty 

choose one - 1-2 cups

mushrooms (any of these is great): button, shiitake, cremini, king trumpet

poached or sautéed fish flaked into pieces, such as salmon or mackerel

poached or sautéed shredded chicken 

cubed and roasted tofu

cooked chickpeas

spicy or pickled - very thinly sliced 

choose two, 2 tbsp (unless you like spicy - then add more)

pickled shallots, onions, peppers, radishes, carrots, summer squash, ginger, cornichons, etc*

sriracha

jalapeño, very thinly sliced or chopped

spicy Japanese yuzu condiment

fresh herbs for garnish

choose two - 1 small handful per serving

cilantro  

mint

parsley

basil

*Store-bought pickle variations work great in a pinch. However, if you make your own pickles, here's a delicious and fun place to incorporate them. 

Cook the pasta and drain. Transfer noodles to a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Use tongs to turn pasta, ensuring all strands get a light coat of oil. Once the noodles have cooled enough to touch, add the the fish sauce, soy sauce, and lime juice, and use your hands to gently separate any remaining clumps. Taste and adjust soy (salty), vinegar (tangy), or fish sauce (savory) to suit your taste. Refrigerate at least a half hour, up to overnight. If you refrigerate overnight, cover in cellophane.

For whichever crunchy elements you chose, chop them. If you chose cucumber as one of your veg, peel the skin if it is tough, or if the cucumber isn't organic. if you were lucky enough to score kirbys or Persian cukes, their seeds are small and you can leave them intact. Otherwise, scrape seeds out with a spoon. 

Chop the beans into thin cross-sections -  little bursts of assertive crunch! I got royal burgundy beans a local farmer friend grew. Basically if you can find any snap-fresh bean, then you won't need to cook them. Ask if you can taste one: it shouldn't be fibrous or tough to chew. 

Choose an allium - a little goes a long way. Chop it finely and reserve a little for table-side garnishing.

Trim mushroom stems and halve or quarter any larger ones. Sauté mushrooms in a little olive oil, on medium high heat in a cast iron or enameled skillet until tender - about 5 minutes - adding a small amount of water (or broth, should you have some on-hand) to keep them juicy. Transfer cooked mushrooms to a bowl and toss together with all the above chopped elements once mushrooms have cooled a bit.

On a mandoline, shave jalapeño or ginger (etc), and add to the mix. If you have pickled veg, chop them as you did the beans and add them in. I sometimes add a little of the brine liquid for added punch. Up to you. 

To serve, transfer noodles to a serving platter. I created little piles by coiling the noodles around my hand. Do what fits you in the moment. Scatter the crunchy-peppery-meaty mixture onto the piles, leaving a little extra aside for serving. Additional chopped allium is nice table side, too. 

With a final flourish, add the fresh herbs to top. Enjoy!

If you have not already heard, Anthology will be closing their doors at the end of this year. Of course this is very sad news for me as I have loved our flourishing relationship, the numerous online and in-print stories together and the million emails getting it all done. But as anything in life, change happens. The show will still go on.

I imagine the great homes in my future. New and relevant places to continue sharing my voice. I might even update here more… :P If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

For better or worse, I work like a fiend. My Instagram page bears the evidence. I cook new and varied (deeelicious) things, multiple times in a given day. All this of course is mounting to something fantastic, still simmering and melding....

If you're hankering for more of me, visit me there. I have a lot of fun rescuing food. I play extensively on set. Be forewarned: you will get hungry, stat.

Another piece I recently produced for The Times is this terrific, zippy gazpacho. It is a great basic recipe; one to which I added tequila, lime, and a pinch of salt this evening (in a cocktail glass), to reward myself for all the hard work cooking, styling, and shooting I've been up to.

Yes oh yes. Makes me feel like we are still embarking on summer, not that it is almost over….

I have seen the light change at home base. A longer cast of the sun inside, sign of earth's rotation towards autumn. That will mean the pussycats get to bask in more sun spots, but it also means the end of tomato season. Not yet. But, it's a real thing to reckon with and I'm definitely (and defiantly) not ready.

There is an ice cream story on the horizon. And a pop-up dinner. Then there's the story I shot for Saveur Magazine, about craft cocktails at a neighborhood spot called Lou's. And soon, a trip to Maine filled with lots of lobster. I'm still firmly planted in balmy evenings and icy cocktails, see?

For myself…. today I baked a gorgeous fig, black pepper, and smoky blue cheese galette. I hungrily picked the figs from a neighboring tree near a friend's home, sweet reward in itself after a long three-day shoot. After a final round in front of the camera tomorrow, I get to devour it.

Also on the agenda: making a quail egg and roasted tomato pasta with capers and chives. Sounds good, doesn't it? Visit Instagram to see how it turned out!

Maybe I'll convince someone to go foraging again with me, if I can buy myself some free time. In any case, I will eat like a queen. Come sit at the table with me. Eat some of this good food.

French Rustic Collards, Melted Onion, Mushroom Pie and New Work at Birmingham Magazine

I've been on a pie kick. If you didn't see the fabulous meat pies I made for Anthology, you can check them out here. They're part of my monthly column where I produce, cook, and style - and of course shoot! - the process and results. Every bit yummy. I love my work!!

Since it's winter - it SNOWED here yesterday, and I'm in Alabama! - it is the perfect time for soothing foods. So many of us have been affected by the strange turn in weather, with new concepts like Polar Vortex becoming commonplace. That can't be a good thing....right? But, I was temporarily seized by the snowy wonderland outside my windows as I bustled around preparing this dish.

Inspired by the collaboration between Goop and Food52, I thought to throw a recipe in the hat and see what fun it would produce. I had lots of fun making and eating this delightful pie, and I hope you will, too.

The full recipe is here. I'd love to hear if you try your hand at it! And when the time comes to vote, I'll let you all know. :)


Here now are some of my favorites from my feature with the wonderful ladies at Birmingham Magazine. Asked to produce a lifestyle story about a small Basque community relocated to The 'Ham, I spent a day photographing a delightful couple and their three equally sweet young daughters. Full story - minus the images :( -  here. You can request a printed copy by contacting the publisher.

 

It has been tremendous producing diverse work with such good people. I feel blessed.

There's lots to come, like an extra special story at Anthology. It will debut on Valentine's Day. And more... Join me on Instagram for peeks into the projects as I produce them.  Thanks for visiting!!!

Fall Sausage Cassoulet

Recently I discovered the wonderful cuts from Mountain Song Farm, and in an effort to help keep a local and ethical farmer in business, I wanted to share his product with you. Farmer Brad raises Berkshire pigs in their traditional woodland environment, giving them full opportunity to live as hogs should, not confined, fed chemicals, and grown on GMO grains. This heritage pork is juicy, so tender and flavorful - worlds tastier (and healthier) than supermarket pork. Your support aids in the longevity of a small family farm! Please show your love for Mountain Song Farm by purchasing a farm share today. Cuts include rib racks, thick-cut bone-in chops, hickory smoked bacon, smoked jowl, bratwurst, chorizo, and andouille sausages, and more. Call or email farmer Brad and let him know which option you would like, or visit him at Pepper Place Market.

I made a wonderful dish adapted from a (always playful) riff from Jamie Oliver, and well, it was so good that we ate two plates-full and seriously contemplated returning for thirds.

Sausage Cassoulet

6-8 sausage links - I used Mt. Song chorizo (killer flavor) and andouille
5 rashers bacon, cut crossways into 1/2-inch thick slices
3 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
a good handful of mixed fresh thyme and rosemary, tied in a bunch with kitchen twine
2 bay leaves
a large handful dried porcini mushrooms, crumbled into small bits
2 cans cherry or plum tomatoes and their juices
2-3 cups cannellini beans (soaked and cooked, or canned)
1/2 loaf day-old good crusty bread, torn into chunky pieces
good olive oil
2 tbsp duck fat
1/3 bottle red wine
sea salt and freshly cracked pepper

Boil 1 1/2 cups water, remove from heat and add porcinis, covering to rehydrate. In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, fry bacon until brown on both sides. Add garlic, shallots, carrot, celery, and herb bunch and sauté for a few minutes further. Strain mushrooms from their liquid and add to the pan, stirring occasionally. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). After a few minutes with the porcinis sauteeing, pour in red wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add in the tomatoes, the beans, and the porcini liquid and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a medium sauté pan, melt the duck fat (or simply use a good glug of olive oil, if no duck fat can be located) and brown the sausages on all sides over medium heat. Just a couple minutes a side should do it, as the greater cooking will be done in the oven. Pour bacon-bean mixture into a roasting pan and push the sausages into the stew, allowing most of their surfaces to remain exposed so that they crisp up in the oven. In the remaining fat from the sausage sauté, toss the bread pieces with to coat, and then place atop the roasting mixture. Place into oven and roast for 20 minutes or until the bread and sausages become golden brown. Remove the herb bunch and serve with a crisp green salad or lightly wilted greens, such as spinach or chard.

Enjoy, and support your local farmers!

Food: Bites from Southern Living Magazine

Though you don't necessarily see it on my blog, I have been shooting more than ever before. The rate at which stories are produced, edited, processed, and turned in to the grid to be put into production is dizzying. The pace is certainly different from the freelance life!

Here are some of my favorites from the past little while. I hope you enjoy....

From a series called "Quick Fix Suppers" - these, from the September issue.

Some images - like these - have plentiful empty space for copy in the layout. Below is the way these apple hand pies ran in print -

Here is another kind of work I often produce. Shot on white, they are cut from the background and dropped into one or another layout....

Here's another from the QFS series, which ran in October's issue. We did two versions - which do you prefer?

Some recipes are available online, like this, this, and this. And, this and this! Search SL online if something intrigues you here and you want to find out more. :)

Here is another story which ran in September's issue. My favorites -

These are part of a brunch story. The veggie hash recipe is here, and the fantastic breakfast pizza (who knew?!), here.

Maybe by now you're hungry. That means we've done our job well.....

Look for more of my work at the magazine, soon. November's issue and Christmas (yes, already) are *right* around the corner!

And..... please look out for more personal work. I realize more now than ever how precious my own voice is, even in the midst of producing impressive and varied work for one of the longest-running magazines around. Stay tuned. xxx

Finding Time and Losing It

I'm having a hard time managing the life I used to have with the new one I have committed to. I feel badly about not having the chance to birth (and complete) new stories here. It's kind of funny, actually. When I started the blog, I thought it would "be good to do" and worried about what my voice would be "out there," wondering what I would write about. And now? I pine to have time to create personal work and share my adventures here with you all.

It's not that I'm not taking pictures. Quite the contrary. I am shooting more than I ever have... It's the personal, down-time which lacks. My hope is that this is all part of a larger transition, and that I will be able to work stories in again as a more regular part of my life. That - as everything settles - this space will show itself.

But for now I live in the margins of my larger commitments, practice some yoga at home - to of course offset the gobs more eating I do in the SL test kitchens (oh boy) - and say hi to my pussy cats and wonderful home.

Here's to living, those great and small moments I cherish.....

One of our sweethearts, Maya

Some of the numerous *leftover* bouquets around our home, thanks to a stylist who creates arrangements for local weddings

Personal artifacts in my world...

At this point, my work is now appearing in the magazine! I thought to share some outtakes from the current issue. These are some of my favorites, from a Birmingham-based what's-great-around-town story. I hope you'll agree....

Good summer sipping at Little Donkey

 

Not much has changed since when they opened in 1907! At the wonderful Peanut Depot

 

A favorite meat& three destination: Johnny's, on left

One more thing -

I'd done a series for a Manhattan restaurant which is soon to go live, work shot on my very last day in the city. No pressure. :) 

Working with the chef was great. His talent for bursts of color, freshness of ingredients, and interest in seasonal fare aligned with my own philosophy for good eating, and he trusted in our collaboration. So good. Here are a few of my favorites, with more you can be sure to look forward to.....