I had a butternut squash that needed to be used up and I needed bread. This recipe seemed like a good way of dealing with both things at once.

I probably should've given my starter a bit longer to ferment. It didn't really seem like it had reached peak activity by the time I was mixing up the dough. But I was tired and just wanted some bread, so I went ahead with it all the same. The bread came out fine. The flavour and crumb were nice. The crust was good. I'm sure it would've been nicer with a more active starter, but the results were decent even with my sub-optimal timing.

Butternut Squash Sourdough

Slightly adapted from Sourdough.com

Ingredients

First Preferment

• 25g sourdough starter (100% hydration)
• 50g flour
• 50mL water

Second Preferment

• first preferment
• 125g flour
• 125mL water

Dough

• 264mL water
• 320g butternut squash, roasted and peeled
• 840g flour¹
• 18g coarse sea salt
• 240g second preferment²
• 50g sunflower seeds

Directions

First Preferment

1. Combine starter, flour, and water and mix thoroughly.
2. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 8-12 hours.

Second Preferment

1. Combine first preferment, flour, and water and mix thoroughly.
2. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 4-8 hours.

Dough

1. Combine water and squash in a blender and puré until smooth.
2. Combine flour and salt.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the squash puré and the second preferment (you will not need it all).
4. Mix, working from the centre outward, until just combined and a rough dough is formed.
5. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
6. Turn the dough out onto an oiled surface and knead for 1-2 minutes.
7. Adjust the consistency with more flour or water as needed. The dough should be fairly loose.
8. Return the dough to the covered bowl and rest for another 10 minutes, then knead it (on an oiled surface) for another minute or two.
9. Rest and knead the dough one more time.
10. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rest for 30 minutes.
11. Stretch and fold the dough, then turn it over and rest for another 30-60 minutes.
12. Keep stretching at 30-60 minute intervals for ~3 hours.
13. Flatten the dough into a large rectangle and sprinkle with half the sunflower seeds. Fold the dough into thirds and then shape into a ball. Return to covered bowl to rest for another 30-60 minutes.
14. Flatten the dough again and sprinkle with the remaining seeds. Fold into thirds and shape into a ball.
15. If the dough still seems a bit lethargic, give it a few more stretch-and-folds (at 30-60 minute intervals) until it seems more active.
16. Once the dough seems nice and peppy, divide it into 2-4 equal portions (depending on whether you want large loaves or baguettes).
17. Round each portion, cover, and rest for 30 minutes.
18. Shape each portion as desired and transfer to fridge overnight.
19. In the morning, remove the dough from the fridge and preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F).
20. Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with with cornmeal.
21. Once the oven is preheated, pour a few cups of boiling water into a large pan and place it on the lower oven rack.
22. Transfer your shaped loaves to the prepared pan and slash as desired.
23. Place the baking sheet with the loaves on the middle rack (above the pan of boiling water).
24. Bake at 230°C (450°F) for 10-15 minutes.
25. Reduce heat to 180°C (350°F) and carefully remove the water pan from the oven. Bake for another 5-30 minutes (depending on the size of your loaves).
27. Once loaves are done (sound hollow when underside is tapped), turn the oven off and leave the bread in the hot oven for 10 minutes.
28. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack.

Yet another recipe for korean fire noodles! We heard about this one from Aaron & Claire, too, although they touch on its origins . It seems to be fairly popular and you can find lots of writeups for it on the net, but they're all pretty similar -- noodles, skillet, egg, cheese, green onions.

It came together really quickly and easily, and was pretty tasty, too! I'd make it again; my only complaint is that since it only uses up half of the seasonings, you end up with leftover seasoning packets looking for a new home. Maybe they could be combined with some dried veggies and a Mister Noodles packet to turn it into something edible?

For the cheese, we used mozzarella; mild cheddar or american cheese would also work well, I think.

A&C mentioned in passing that it comes from "a comic", and most other writeups -- if they attribute it at all -- just say the same. I got curious and was able to track down the origin point: Mokuyoubi no Furutto ("Furutto on Thursday") by Ishiguro Masakazu, a long-running slice of life manga about a cat. The recipe shows up in chapter 3; I've included English scans (by Wonderland Translations) of the relevant pages (read the panels and speech bubbles right to left):

Interestingly, the cheese doesn't show up in the original recipe, although it appears to be all but universal in other people's takes on it.

Kujirai-style Ramen

Mokuyoubi no Furutto by way of Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 packet korean ramen
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 egg
• mild cheese, thinly sliced
  

Directions

1. Bring 350mL of water to a boil, covered in a skillet.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add the noodles, and cook until they start softening and can be broken up and rearranged, ~1 minute.
   
3. Add any veggie packets and half of the seasoning and/or sauce packets that came with the noodles, and stir them around a bit (I flipped them over).
4. Break an egg over the noodles, then top with cheese and green onions.
5. Cover and cook over medium low until the noodles are done cooking and the egg is set.

Another fire noodle recipe from Aaron & Claire, this one goes heavy on the eggs and cheese to produce a very filling dish. It doesn't include any apart from the green onions, though. For the cheese, we went with a mix of mozzarella and mild cheddar.

Steamed Egg Fire Noodles

Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 green onion, sliced
  
• 1 pack Korean fire noodles
• cheese
  

Directions

1. Whisk together the eggs, salt, and green onion.
2. Pour into a bowl and microwave on high for 90s.
3. Cook the noodles for 1 minute, then drain.
4. Mix noodles with fire sauce and drop into the middle of the partially cooked egg, without stirring.
5. Top with cheese and microwave for another 2-3 minutes.

I am on a bit of a ramen kick right now. More specifically, I'm on a ramyun kick. Ramyun is Korean ramen. The noodles tend to be a little thicker and chewier than the noodles you get in ramen packets from other regions.

TF and I went to the Asian grocery store a couple days ago and got a few packages of Korean fire ramyun. They are... very spicy. But there are some great recipes out there that offer ideas on how to dress them up and make them a little more interesting than standard ramen and, as an added benefit, many of these preparations also help to moderate the spiciness somewhat.

We tried out the creamy fire noodles earlier this week. With all the extra stuff added (and with only half the fire sauce), they were only just barely spicy. I think next time I'd actually add the full amount of fire sauce to them.

Today we tried tuna-mayo fire noodles. These ones (unsurprisingly) came out A LOT spicier than the creamy noodles! The tuna and mayo definitely helped to tone things down a bit. Eating them no longer felt like part of some sort of extreme elimination challenge. But they were still very hot. (Possibly I shouldn't have used the full amount of fire sauce here either, but I didn't want to miss out on any of the delicious flavour!)

If you're like me and enjoy the flavour of the sauce but find the heat a bit intense, you could always try adding more veggies to help tone things down a bit. Or try adding a bit of cheese. Turn it into a bowl of tuna melt ramyun. On the other hand, if you like to turn up the heat on your food, this recipe will probably be right up your alley as is!

Tuna-Mayo Fire Noodles

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1/2 tin tuna
• 2 Tbsp. mayo
• 1 small green onion, chopped
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 onion, minced
• 5-6 slices cucumber, julienned
• other vegetables¹ (optional)
• 1 package Korean fire noodles

Directions

1. Drain the tuna and combine it wiht the mayo, green onion, garlic, and onion and set aside.
2. Prepare the cucumber and whatever other veggies you plan to use.
3. Cook the noodles according to package directions² and then drain most (but not all) of the water. Leave ~1/4 c. of water on the noodles.
4. Mix the fire sauce into the noodles.
5. Top the saucy noodles with the tuna salad and prepared veggies.
6. Garnish with flakes (from the noodle package).

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¹ I think julienned/shredded nappa cabbage would work well. Shredded carrot might also be good. Corn could also be nice, but I think I'd want to use either corn OR cabbage, not both. ^Back
2 The package says to cook the noodles for 3 1/2 minutes, but we like our noodles more al dente than that, so we only cooked them for ~2 minutes. ^Back

This recipe was adapted from a recipe card in Cook's Country. The proportions have been significantly adjusted to match what we had on hand, and the kale is an entirely new addition, but apart from that it's prepared basically as written -- and it turned out great! It really does just need a single pan and a cutting board to prepare, comes together pretty quickly, and was a big hit with everyone. We actually ended up preparing two batches of it two days apart.

One-Pan Tortellini with Sausage, Cherry Tomatoes, and Kale

Cook's Country, December/January 2019, recipe card

Ingredients

• 500g italian sausage, peeled
• 4-6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1L chicken broth
• 400g frozen cheese tortellini
• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 500mL chopped frozen kale
• freshly grated parmesan
  

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up, until browned.
3. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
4. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, uncovered.
5. Add the tortellini and cook until not quite done.
6. Add the cherry tomatoes and kale and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until tomatoes are softened and kale is warmed through.
7. Stir in parmesan and serve.

I got some fire/volcano ramen for TF to try a little while back. She actually really liked it. Even though it did nearly melt her face off. It was quite tasty but they DO NOT mess around with the heat levels!

Then, a few months ago, I ran across an Aaron & Claire video full of fire ramen recipes. The recipes were recommended for people who "want to feel the taste of fire ramen but can't handle the spice". There were six recipes in the video and I'd like to try them all eventually, but this creamy, saucy version looked particularly appealing to me.

We adjusted the recipe a little bit to suit our tastes and what we had on hand. We used ham instead of bacon, added some chicken and some frozen peas, and used two packages of ramen (but the sauce from only one). Overall, I feel like we stayed pretty true to the original recipe though. And boy was it good! Really delicious! I would definitely make this again. TF and I are actually planning on heading back out to the Asian grocery store tomorrow to get a bunch more fire ramen so that we can try all the other recipes from the video.

Creamy Fire Ramen

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4-5 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 100g mushrooms, sliced
• 100g ham, chopped
• 100g cooked chicken, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 packages fire ramen
• 1/2 c. frozen peas
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add garlic and cook until oil is nicely infused.
3. Add onion and cook until softened.
4. Add mushrooms, ham, and chicken and cook until mushrooms are done and everything is heated through.
5. Add butter.
6. Once butter has melted, add cream and fire ramen sauce. Use just one packet of the fire sauce for a final dish that's flavourful with a gentle, fairly mellow burn. Use both packets for a more intensely spicy kick.
7. Add the peas and stir in the Parmesan.
8. Cook until heated through.
9. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles.¹
10. Drain the noodles and stir them into the sauce.
11. Dish up the noodles and garnish with extra Parmesan and the nori-sesame mixture from the ramen packets.

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¹ The package says to cook the noodles for 3 1/2 minutes, but we felt like they'd reached a good level of doneness after ~2 1/2. Follow your own judgement on this. ^Back

Caesar dressing is traditionally made with raw egg yolk. You make an emulsion of egg yolk and olive oil and season it with garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, Parmesane cheese, salt, and pepper, and sometimes mustard and/or Worcestershire sauce. This is delicious and works very well. It does, however, leave you with the problem of what to do with the leftover egg white. Plus some people are squeamish about eating raw eggs.

This recipe solves that problem by using mayonnaise as the base. Mayo is just an emulsion of egg (either whole eggs or egg yolks) and oil. It usually has vinegar, mustard, salt, and various other things added, but the basic idea of "beat a bunch of oil into some egg" is still there. It's not quite as "from scratch" as traditional caesar dressing, but it still gives you some leeway to tweak it and adjust it to your tastes. And it means you don't need to be quite so careful about mixing it since the emulsification step is already done for you!

I quite like the idea of using mayo to streamline and simplify the process. The egg and oil are still there, they're just premixed and have a bit of seasoning and acid added to them. I think it works quite well.

Easy Caesar Salad Dressing

Slightly adapted from Once Upon a Chef

Ingredients

• 1 small anchovy
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. Roman or Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Directions

1. Heat the anchovy in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it and then mash it up with a fork.
2. Add the garlic, lemon juice, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce and stir (with fork or whisk) to combine.
3. Whisk in the mayonnaise, Parmesan, and pepper.