Ginger-Garlic Noodle Stir Fry, English Pancakes, Acorn Squash Soup

See the recipe for this English Pancake below.  Check out my other recipes too...

Ginger-Garlic Noodle Stir-Fry
This Forks Over Knives recipe is actually pretty good as originally written, but I added more soy, and  a bit of heat to the sauce.  Good combination of ingredients all in all.

6 oz dry Noodles -- Asian soba or glass noodles, or just ordinary spaghetti
1 thumb-sized piece Ginger, sliced
4 large cloves Garlic, sliced
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Corn Starch or Arrowroot Powder (thickener)
2-3 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
6-8 Green Onions, sliced in to 1" pieces
4 oz sliced Mushrooms
1 cup thin-sliced rounds of Carrot
1-2 cups Broccoli florets
1 head Bok Choy, sliced crosswise into 1/4" pieces
1/4 cup raw unsalted Cashews

Cook the pasta to package directions.  Drain, rinse, reserve.  Whisk to combine the soy sauce, vinegar, corn starch, 1/2 cup water and one clove of minced garlic.  Reserve.  Prep all the veggies.
Add the other veggies, except for the broccoli and mushrooms. 

Stir and fry things another few minutes until things start to soften.  Finally add the mushrooms, broccoli and sauce.  Stir and fry until the sauce starts to thicken.  Remove from heat.

Pour boiling water over the noodles to reheat them, drain, then pile them in a large serving bowl and spoon the stir fry over the top.  

Serve family style with tongs so diners can serve themselves.  Serves 2 with nice leftovers for lunch the next day.

Surprise Acorn Squash Soup
We eat lots of squash -- acorn, butternut, spaghetti and others.  This is a new soup ingredient for me though; I usually use Butternut for soups.

2 Acorn Squash
1 Onion, diced
4 cloves Garlic
4 cups veggie broth or water
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cumin
Salt & Pepper to taste
1-2 cups non-dairy "Milk" -- we prefer unsweetened Almond "Milk"
{Surprise} 2/3 cup shredded Carrots

*Optional -- 1 Tbsp Turmeric.  This adds to the richness and color of the soup.  I had Toasted Coconut flavored almond milk, left behind by a guests, that I was trying to use up, and it was just too sweet in this soup.  A tablespoon of Turmeric did the trick -- took it back towards Savory rather than sweet; plus it gave me a better color!

Halve, seed, and cook the squash -- roast it, or microwave (my choice) until the flesh is tender.  Cool, reserve the flesh and discard the skin.

In your soup pot, in a splash of oil, saute the onion and garlic until it's going translucent.  Add the squash, spices and broth.   Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the "milk", stir, and transfer to a food processor.  Take the soup for a spin to make it nice and creamy.  Return to your soup pot, add the shredded carrots, and heat it through before serving.

English Pancakes
As I write this it's Monday Feb 24th.  Tomorrow, we realized, is Shrove Tuesday -- the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.  Not that either of us are particularly religious.  But Sally reminded me that Shrove Tuesday, in the UK is also known as Pancake Day.... and why didn't I make English style pancakes as part of Tuesday's dinner.

Never one to turn down a food challenge (I knew English pancakes were more like French crepes than American breakfast slabs) I did a quick search for recipes, and I found a recipe by Delia Smith the famous British chef and cookbook author.   It's hard to go wrong with a recipe this simple...

4 oz AP Flour, well sifted
pinch of salt
2 Eggs
7 oz Milk plus 3 oz Water
2 oz Butter
Sliced Lemon
Sugar 

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with the sieve held high to achieve maximum aeration.  Make a well in the center and break the eggs into it.  Use a whisk to incorporate the flour and eggs.

Gradually add the milky water to the flour and keep whisking and scraping the bowl to get all the flour in the batter.    Do a little experiment here to find a spoon, coffee scoop, ladle or whatever you have to hold about 2 Tbsp of batter.  You'll use that measure to put the batter in the pan for each pancake.

Melt the butter and whisk 2 Tbsp of it into the batter.  The rest of the butter gets used to wipe the pan between each pancake you make, using a wad of paper towel.

Use a small skillet -- 7" or 8" --  and get it really hot.  Then reduce the burner to medium as you start to make the pancakes.

As soon as the batter hits the pan, start to swirl it to spread the batter into a thin disk. The first side should only take about 30 seconds to cook. 

 Lift the edge of the cake to make sure it's turning golden.  Flip the pancake with the same palette knife or other thin spatula and cook the second side for just a few seconds -- 5 or so.  Then slide the pancake onto a warm plate to form a stack.

Sprinkle each pancake with bit of sugar and squeeze of lemon.  Roll, slice and devour!  This is really a dessert pancake.  You don't want to eat more than a couple of these at a sitting.