Chinese Egg Noodles with Five-Spice Pork

I got this recipe from www.finecooking.com.

It's easy, fast, economical, tasty, and it has bacon in it. Need I say more?

Cook it and eat it now.

Yum Hum Hummus

"God bless the chickpea." -- Dr. Michael Mitchell (George Clooney's guest character on the sitcom Friends)

I agree with Dr. Mitchell. The humble chickpea is blessed. It can be ground to make flour. It can be ground into a paste for falafel. It can be tossed whole into salads, soups and pasta. It can be roasted whole to make a delicious, crunchy snack. It's full of protein, fiber, calcium, and it's low in fat. What's not to love? My favorite way to process the chickpea is to puree it into a hummus.

Here's my recipe:

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons tahini (a sesame paste)

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil , plus extra for drizzling if desired

1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 garlic clove, minced (or more, if you're a garlic lover like me)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch cayenne (or more to taste)

Directions:

Combine lemon juice and water in small bowl or measuring cup. Whisk together tahini and olive oil in second small bowl or measuring cup.

Process chickpeas, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne in food processor until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down bowl with a spatula. With machine running, add lemon juice-water mixture in steady stream through feed tube. Scrape down bowl and continue to process for 1 minute. With machine running, add oil-tahini mixture in steady stream through feed tube; continue to process until hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.

Done! Get your favorite dippers and dip away. You can also flavor the hummus any way you desire. I use the base recipe above and add whatever I'm in the mood for at the end of processing: sundried tomatoes and basil, roasted red pepper, roasted garlic, jalapeno...the possibilities are endless. What flavors do you think would be good in hummus?

Dining Out #5: Boom Noodle

In light of an upcoming trip to Tokyo, we've been seeking out the local Japanese eateries in the neighborhood. We stumbled upon Boom Noodle on Capitol Hill. We tried them out for happy hour. It was great!

And I just love the name of the place. Straight from their website: "In Japan today there is a popular term, “my boom” that means, “The thing I am currently obsessed with.” Our “my boom” is Japanese cuisine, and we are grateful to you for letting us create our food for you."

For starters, we had the pork gyoza and fresh spring rolls. The gyoza was great -- fresh, hot, crispy (pan-fried, not deep-fried) and delish. The spring rolls...meh. They're a cold appetizer, but these were almost icy cold. I've had better elsewhere.

For the entrees, I had the Tokyo Ramen (braised pork with egg noodles in a soy-seasoned chicken/pork broth) and The BF had the Okonomiyaki (braised pork and cabbage pancakes with shoestring veggies). Both were delicious. The ramen is definitely in separate class from the dried stuff you get in the package that you probably made in college. The half egg surprised me a bit, but it was delicious in the soup.

Oh, and the drinks? The lovely pink one you see is the Kyoto Blossom: absolut pear, triple sec, lemon juice and grenadine. The green one is a Cucumber Gimlet: house gin, muddled lime and cucumber with a splash of simple syrup.

All in all, a great happy hour. Great food and drinks at a great price. I think the total tab with drinks came to under $40. Thumbs up!