Scallops + Soba noodles w/ sugar snap peas & cherry tomatoes in a yuzu miso honey vinaigrette!...

I made this for a post-xmas dinner for my fam in CA, and I've decided to do it for NYE dinner too :) So...onward!

This is the scallops--seared 1.5 min each side with nothign but salt & pepper...plus sauteed in butter with leeks and garlic. LOVE LEEKS!! My mom's pot for some reason--was pretty tough to get super hot--u know how u gauge that it's gonna brown your proteins w/ that sizzle, and apparent when u throw in the garlic and it browns pretty quickly. Couldn't get the same browning/carmelization but..whatebbers, still tastay! me likes scallops!

This is the soba noodles after I've tossed it with the yuzu miso honey vinaigrette plus blanched sugar snap peas and raw cherry tomatoes.

ANNNND...this is the vinaigrette!

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RECIPE to make the Honey-Yuzu vinaigrette (to serve about 6 or more really)...

1 cup yuzu juice (~5 oz)


2 heaping table spoons of miso sauce

3 tablespoons of honey

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup soy sauce

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of lime/lemon juice

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons olive oil (but I think sesame oil is the better way to go).

Tons of pepper, a smidge of salt--but if u like the savory from the miso then maybe nix the salt. I def didn't really like the olive oil in mine so I actually tried to split with 1/2 of it as sesame oil to compensate. Yuzu is pretty frickin' strong--granted the "juice" they provide is pretty...mixed in with a bit of other citrus juices and garlic etc so...eh.

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So...I dunno wtf happened to my memory card but it seems to override images/naming convention so...i effed up on my xmas post :( it was bootiful. Jaime bought us a tree for the apt with quaint lil' ornaments etc--and we had purtay kate spade boxes wrapped all nice and presents that I wrapped myself with an embossed white parchment paper with a cherry tomato red wired ribbon double bowed and all. AND...we had Amadei hot chocolate with some Kahlua and Bailey's AND Jaime's gingerbread cookies!! >:( very displeased to have lost these images!! they were quintessential holiday pics!! boo!

The Lazy Soba/Salad...

What happens when you have excess of dry goods and ingredients? YOU MAKE A SALAD! :) [I don't make casseroles, I'm not THAT white.]
I dunno, I don't COOK-cook lately...I just assemble. So, just had some leftover arugula from my sammich-ing, pickled daikon from my unagi-don days (not THAT long ago). That's also some deli-shaved (whatever u call it) chicken that I shredded hehehhehee :) Talk about leftovers. (You'll have to click for the larger image--the resolution and general shiny factor is de-lovely.)
Also had some soba noodles (bought a pack of the green soba noodles so I wanted to finish this buckwheat one off quick). At Sunrise, they had whatever frickin' greens in their "soba salad" sans meats so I figure the soba sauce makes for good salad dressing. (and that nuoc mam pha, a.k.a. diluted/seasoned fish sauce--or dipping sauce according to the blasphemy/lies the "Vietnamese" restaurants here label it.) Anyway--supposedly it's also called "cha-soba", I'm assuming as in maccha soba. MEH! Pretty no? (pic taken from robskee.com)
That arugula--sure is frickin' bitter w/ the soba sauce. Maybe the liquidy goodness brings out the flavors of arugula (which by the way is a little citrusy if u ask me...citrusy and bitter.) UTTERLY CONFOUNDING!! :)

A while ago I wrote about that ginger salad dressing--I'll take pics of it eventually. Asians--we sauce propahly.

Ohhh the Cakes u/i Make!...

I like to make zees cake. Zees one is very very rich, not too sweet, very moist, and lotsa chocolate. Eet ees ze triple chocolate cake--zees one had Chocolate & Peanut Butter chips...
You know ze recipe ees good when it starts with a stick of butter. or in this case....TWO. and a cup of sour cream, chocolate pudding mix, devil's food cake mix, 5 eggs, a teaspoon of Vanilla extract (but I prefer almond extract)...and to mix it up diff types of chocolate morsels. Bake for 50-55 min @ 375, let sit for 10 min in pan, cool for 15 min or so on rack.

I make eet for ze roomie passing the NY/NJ Bar Exam (that's law, not liquor!!). Zees cake has Butterscotch & White Chocolate chips...
I make eet for birfdays...(but not for mine this year b/c I had Billy's BAAAKERY!!)...
I make eet a lot. I bake eet for Thanksgiving this year. Zees cake has chopped up Andes Mints (b/c I couldn't find the Mint Swirled Chocolate chips)...
I bake eet for my first Xmas dinnah away from home...(star shape! extra festive with Raspberry & Chocolate chips :))...
I also made pan-roasted Chilean Sea Bass with soba noodles, cream of wild mushroom (cremini, portabello, woodsear? i can't remember), and oven baked asparagus wrapped with manchego and prosciutto with a little lemon-butter sauce. And apparently we also drink Riesling in the free Pom glasses :P
I bake tres cakes for ze baby showah complete veeth requisite sprinkles and cream cheese and or lemon frosting, but alas I do not have zee peektures.
I bake eet yust because...and so I stab eet too. Zees one has Caramel and Milk Chocolate chips...
Oh...and WHERE might you find these diff types of chocolate chips? ODDLY ENOUGH...Gristedes. but the one on the UWS had much more selection than anywhere else oddly enough. *shrug*. Happy Baking...

Leftover materials...

Had some extra tomatoes and herbs, excess of soba noodles but no soba sauce so here's what happened:

Here are more pics. just b/c I can. blah di blah blah I buy and make enough food for like five people and then end up eating it forever, which I'm perfectly fine with.

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

and...one more!....

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

so...my bodega (which is pretty much 2 floors under my apt building) rocks, it has mango juice :)

costco has it in little bottles and in bulk. me loves. save the ales.