June 2 – June 8, 2025

Monday:                               Leftover Forever Roasted Pork with Salad

Tuesday:                               Pork Posole

Wednesday:                       Chicken Salad with Bibb Lettuce, Crostini

Thursday:                             Pasta with Sausage and Spinach

Friday:                                   Charred Pepper and Sausage Sandwiches

Saturday:                              Tomato and Sausage Pizza

    

Sunday:                                 Garlic Ginger Steak and Noodle Salad

We go new age and wet noodle

I have been nonplussed by the rise of ramen and noodle houses across the Pittsburgh landscape.  I mean, we are clearly not a meat-and-potatoes and red sauce town any more, but neither are we the quinoa capital of the Mid-Atlantic.  And I confess to being continually disappointed by the NYT Saturday section “What to Cook Next Week” because it’s filled with tofu and ancient grain and, yes, cold noodle salads.  But hey, the Times knows it readership and has concluded that cold noodles warm their hearts.  I shiver to think what this means for the future.  [Sometimes when I begin to play with words the words take over.  I’d apologize if I thought there was any hope of reform, but it will probably require a cold day in hell before I do.]

I haven’t warmed up to cold noodles yet, but I’ve begun a journey that may end there.  Our dinner on Sunday combined our red meat approach to life with a Thai-inspired salad and dressing, to create a true fusion of Chinese (origin of Udon noodles and soy sauce), Middle Eastern (toasted sesame oil), Oceanian and Micronesian (ginger), African (peanuts), South American (chili), French (skirt is a kind of bistro steak – beefy but chewy), and modern American (grape seed oil).  It is a curious sign of our times that that you can find all of these ingredients in a typical American supermarket.  And that is astonishing to a seventy-six year old who grew up thinking that chop suey was all that Chinese people ate, that noodles were a German invention, that Oceania was somewhere near the New Jersey Shore and that Micronesia was a tiny insect.  Also, I would have thought it cheap of Mom to give us skirt steak instead of Porterhouse or New York strip.

But, as I say, such is the culinary diversity and exuberance of our times.  So it seemed not unreasonable to subject my family to this mash-up of a dining experience.  And after I tasted the salad (before serving it – always taste your food before serving – while you may not be able to change it much at least you can give people a heads up on what’s wrong with it), I knew that I had a keeper on my hands.  Not that my ungrateful clan would ever think of giving me a trophy or just some cash to show their appreciation.  But at least they didn’t complain – and I’ll settle for that.

Ginger Garlic Steak and Noodle Salad

(adapted from Katie Lee Biegel)

Note:  This looks like a long, complicated recipe.  In fact, it’s an easy recipe with a long list of ingredients.  The result is worth the shopping and the work.

Timing:      5 hours, 20 minutes – 7 hours, twenty minutes (most inactive)

Details:  4-6 hours to marinate meat, 1 hour to bring meat to room temp,

18 mintues to cook and rest meat (salad and noodles can be prepared while meat

is coming to room temperature)    

Ingredients:     

Some ingredients (garlic, fresh ginger, and limes) are called for in both parts of recipe.

For steak:    1 pound skirt steak (or substitue steak of your choice – skirt steak

                    is beefy, and a bit chewy, like a bistro steak in France, hangar                        

                    steak is similar, but strip steak would work as would filet mignon)

                    ¼ cup vegetable oil

                    ¼ cup brown sugar

                    2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

                   1 tablespoon minced garlic (we used garlic powder)

                    1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (untoasted works, but not as well)

                    Kosher salt and ground black pepper

                    1 lime

For Salad:    4 ounces Udon noodles (you can sub spaghetti)

                   ½ cup vegetable oil

                   2 tablespoons soy sauce

                   2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

                   1 tablespoon honey

                   1 tablespoon dijon mustard

                   2 tablespoons sesame oil

                   1 teaspoon grated garlic

                   1 teaspoon grated ginger

                   1 teaspoon kosher salt

                   Juice of 1 ½ limes

                   2 cups, finely shredded napa cabbage

                   1 bunch Tuscan kale, stemmed and finely shredded (if you use regular

                     kale, massage it with a bit of salt to soften, before you shred it)

                   1 cup carrot ribbons

                   1 cup whole cilantro leaves (we used parsley)

                   ½ cup whole fresh mint leaves (you can round this out with parsley)

                   4 scallions sliced thin

                   1 Fresno or japapeno pepper, sliced into thin rings

                   1 cup sliced mango – this is a key ingredient

                   ½ cup chopped, roasted and salted peanuts

                   Lime wedges for serving

Prep:

                   In a wide, shalleow container with a lid, add the vegetable oil, soy

                     sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic and sesame oil and whisk to combine.

                     Add the steak and cover and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.

                     Allow steak to come to room temperature, still covered for 1 hour.

                   While steak is coming to room temperature, cook udon noodles or

                   spaghetti according to package instructions, and assemble, chop, grate

                   and slice all ingredients for salad and assemble wet ingredients.

                   Make the dressing  In a small bowl, combine vegetable oil, soy sauce

                   vinegar, honey, mustard, sesame oil, garlic, ginger salt and lime

                   juice.  Whisk well to combine (whisk again before using).

                   15 minutes before cooking steak, heat a grill or grill pan to medium

                     high.

                   Remove steak from marinade and pat dry, then sprinkle with salt and

                   pepper.

Cook and assemble salad

Cook steak on the pre-heated grill or grill pan for 3 – 4 minutes per side (you can always cook it longer, if it’s too rare).

Remove steak to cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and kale, then add the carrots, cilantro, mint, scallions, chili pepper and noodles and toss to combine.  Now add the amount of dressing you like and toss to coat.  Add the mango and toss gently.  Sprinkle the salad with the peanuts.

Slice the steak and fan over the top of the salad.

Serve salad and steak on individual plates with lime wedges on the side.