Stir-fried wheat noodles with kohlrabi and basil

Another example of random inspiration — I wondered idly last night what a search on kohlrabi and noodles would do in Google and found this recipe via Food and Wine.

It’s important to note that as ever I made some necessary on the fly changes — I had no rice noodles so made do with wheat, while the kohlrabi didn’t end up browning much and I substituted tofu in place of the red pepper (and, implicitly, the mung bean sprouts) in order to ensure some protein was included. Point being, though, this worked very well!

“Hiyashi chuuka: Japanese Chinese-style cold noodles”

So went the description from the webpage I took the basic recipe from, the extremely wonderful justhungry.com, which I’ve used before for various Japanese-inspired dishes in particular.

It was a VERY hot and wonderful day down here — spring has sprung! — and I wanted to have a cooler dish for dinner after some spring cleaning. Being near Mitsuwa, as always, helped, so besides the main entree itself and the accompanying mustard, I snagged a bean cake and some good sake because, hey, why not? Made for a lovely meal, in fact the first this year on the balcony table.

The idea of the dish is that noodles have to be prepared in the proper fashion — again, refer to the excellent page I’ve linked for details — but that anything can top it so long as it’s good cold. This is not as colorful as it could have been — should have snagged some ginger — but the combination of baked tofu, kohlrabi and cabbage still worked very well. Highly recommended if you want to give it a try.

Kohlrabi with white sauce

Not bad, though I think I should have chopped the parsley more finely… Recipe from my CSA mailout; soy milk and creamer equivalents used (as well as margarine in place of butter):

—

4 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons white pepper
1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

1. Place the kohlrabi and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Cover with water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until kohlrabi can be pierced with a fork, but remains firm, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking water. Place kohlrabi in a bowl, and cover.

2. Place the butter into the same saucepan, and melt over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, and stir until the mixture becomes paste-like and golden brown. Gradually whisk the milk and reserved cooking water from the kohlrabi into the flour mixture, stirring until thick and smooth. Stir in the cream, 1 teaspoon salt, nutmeg, white pepper, and parsley until well blended. Continue whisking until sauce thickens, then cook 10 minutes more. Stir in the kohlrabi, tossing to coat evenly with sauce.

Three recipes thanks to Angelic Organics and Farmer John

I’ve spoken before about Angelic Organics, whose founder, John Peterson, has gained deserved fame as one of the key faces of the CSA movement. A couple of years back my friend Greg gave me a copy of the excellent Farmer John’s Cookbook and I’ve dipped in and out of it many times.

In the past couple of weeks I’ve gone ahead and tried a slew of recipes from the book, all of which were winners. I won’t post them here since I really encourage you to buy the book, but various sample recipes are available through the Angelic Organics site.

That first photo you see is of a simple sauteed kohlrabi — very tasty and a nice difference from the steaming of kohlrabi I’ve done several times before. Rich, but not overly so, and flavored just right.

The other day, meanwhile, I took a pumpkin which hadn’t been sacrificed to Halloween purposes and adapted a recipe in the book to create a pumpkin basil soup that was almost ridiculously good:

And earlier tonight, something I couldn’t imagine existing before I read it in the book — cucumber with risotto. Cooking cucumber seemed counterintuitive but I went ahead and…

Very, very delicious. Now, what to try next…

Another look at kohlrabi

Some time ago I posted this entry on kohlrabi greens, which has steadily become one of my more popular posts for whatever reason. It could well be a general unfamiliarity with kohlrabi or just the time of year, but in any event, am glad the post has gained the interest it has!

Today, somewhat at a loss for what to do with one kohlrabi I had around — no leaves in this case — I found this recipe, which while basic is precisely what I wanted. I had to do some substitutions, though — no parsley or savory around, so some dried tarragon and a couple of spice blends did the trick, and very nicely at that.

—

1 lb Kohlrabi; peeled and cubed
.. (2 1/2 cups)
1 tb Butter
2 ts Dijon mustard
1 tb Snipped fresh parsley
1/2 ts Dried savory; crushed

Cook kohlrabi, covered, in enough boiling water to
cover in a medium saucepan for about 10 minutes or
till crisp tender. Drain well. Add the remaining
ingredients. Cook and stir over low heat till
kohlrabi is coated.

A St. Patrick’s dinner of sorts

So there are potatoes in there — and carrots and kohlrabi. Lightily oiled and then roasted for a bit, topped with shredded Irish cheddar with porter in it, along with some seasonings. A stout ale (American but hey) and some frozen Thin Mints, and frankly who needed anything more green than the kohlrabi? Cheers and see you all again next year for something maybe similar!

The joy of kohlrabi greens

Sure, there’s the kohlrabi itself, but don’t forget the leaves. Cooked up a touch, tossed with soy sauce and a bit of sesame oil, topped with shichimi — good eats! (That and a basic but good stir-fry makes a fine meal.)

Next time around I’ll probably just steam the leaves but if you’d like to try it it’s quite simple:

Ingredients
1 large bunch kohlrabi with greens
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
~ Good quality soy sauce, to taste
~ Shichimi, to garnish (see note)

Steps

1. Tear the leaves away from tough ribs and stems. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the kohlrabi leaves, and boil until tender, 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the age of the leaves. Fish out a leaf and taste it after 1 minute to determine cooking time.

2. Drain the greens in a colander and push on them with a spatula to remove as much water as possible. Roughly chop the cooked greens and place them on a serving plate. Toss with the sesame oil and soy sauce to taste. Sprinkle with shichimi and serve as a side dish with rice and steamed fish or a meat stir-fry.