April 27 Menu

After a week long trip away from the family, I'm sure my wife will be thrilled to be back with us and our 12 month old daughter. So this week, I'm going to try and focus on the girls for their reunion - things that they like. This means there will be one or two repeats based and a couple of new ones that my wife is better than I, but I'm willing to iron-chef it out this week. Finally, beginning with this week I will refrain from writing down common household ingredients like salt and black pepper on the shopping list.

Monday - Pasta with Clam Sauce

• We're moving the lentil soup to next week, just so Sydney gets some variety - the spice of life.
• I like fresh pasta, so I put this recipe at the beginning of the week so that the pasta doesn't dry out. Last time, the clam sauce recipe didn't live up to my expectations, so let's try this one.
• http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Linguine-with-White-Clam-Sauce-529
• Marinate BBQ and make broth for Cold Noodle Soup for tomorrow.

Tuesday - Korean Cold Noodle Soup/ Spicy Noodle and Korean BBQ

• Supposedly Tuesday will be a great spring day in Cambridge, so why not preview a summer dish. This dish has two variations, noodles in cold soup and noodles mixed in a spicy sauce/paste with soup on the side. Sydney loves noodles, so she'll probably get that straight up with a maybe some sliced pears on the side.
• http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/naengmyeon
• http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2008/07/killer-kalbi-recipe.html

Wednesday - Noodles in Black Bean Sauce AKA JiaJiang Myun and Miso Soup (moved to Thur since wife has meeting)

• Scratch the bibimbap for jiajiang myun which was the first dish we shared before we dated. I say before because when you date, supposedly ordering jiajiang myun during the date is a faux paus in Seoul, it is a way of sending a quiet message that you are not interested in a second date. Miso is for Sydney.
• http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/jjajangmyun
• Soak black beans for tomorrow morning.

Thursday - Black Bean Soup (moved to Wed)

• Another Sydney favorite from last week but wtih 1/2 jar of salsa, smoked bacon instead of ham hock, and pureed smooth.
• http://crockpotrecipes101.com/blog/2006/09/crockpot-black-bean-soup.html

Friday - Leftovers (because it's nice to clean out the fridge every once in a while)

• No, we do it fairly often and with these plans, there's less to throw away.

Shopping List for me:

• Specialty Store - udon-type noodles, 1/2 lb pork belly, yellow pickled radish, buckwheat noodles
• Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs - cucumber, garlic, bosc pear, italian parsley
• Meats, Fish, Poultry, Dairy - 2 lb beef short ribs, chopped clams, whipping cream, milk, orange juice
• Condiments, Spices, Dried Goods - 1 bag black bean, 1 salsa, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, worcestershire sauce,
• Other - diapers size 3, fresh pasta linguine lemon, sunscreen

Shopping List Addtl:

• Specialty Store - black bean paste,
• Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs - asian radish, sweet potato, zucchini, onion
• Baking - potato starch, corn syrup

Notes for the Week:
1. When cooking kalbi in an apt galley kitchen, be sure to manage the broil, our fire alarm briefly went off - and it's hard wired, meaning, you can't just take the batteries out!
2. My wife urged me to use the pre-packaged cold buckwheat noodles to save some time. So I did.
3. Due to mid-week logistical errors (my wife actually had a girls night on Thurs and I had a boys night on Fri) I can't say how black bean noodle recipe is. Then on Sat, my wife cooked up a storm and used up all the vegetables for her curry dish. Oops!