Weeknight dinners. They're the stuff of countless women's magazine articles, on how to make them faster, cheaper, healthier and hopefully exciting without reaching for a frozen box of processed something. I've tended to handle this problem in one of two ways - the ordering in approach (after all I deserve it - I worked all day), or the slow graze on anything and everything in the kitchen. The latter has been the more popular method recently thanks to my household deficit. So, that means, frankly, that behind the scenes of this blog, I eat a lot of cheese on crackers, or eggs in a basket for dinner. This elaborate feast is often followed by a second course of hummus, or cereal, or frozen dumplings, depending on my mood. That's the truth, and I'm ok with it because at least nothing is processed crap. It works for me, until I get bored and re-inspired that I can do better. I recently found a new option, one that I think you'll love as much as I have. It's a dish that with a bit of advance shopping on the weekend, will have you reaching for that take-out Chinese, or Thai menu a little less in the future.

This discovery was the result of my search to find more Asian-inspired quick dinners, which is just the phase I'm in. Last year all I wanted was Italian. I also realized that my collection of rice noodles, udon noodles, soba noodles, bean threads and various other ingredients I buy on my trips home to Queens were taking over my kitchen cabinet and I had no real plans for them. Don't even ask about my failed attempt to make summer rolls. Last week, on my lunch break I found myself browsing the cookbook section of the New York Public Library, where I found Ken Hom's Quick Wok cookbook. It looked like it could be the solution to my problems. After all, I had almost all the ingredients in my pantry for all the noodle and rice dishes.

The first night I brought this book home dinner plans were another grazing night through the fridge, but I was so anxious to try one of Mr. Hom's recipes that I immediately set out to make this dish, despite the fact that I was missing the star ingredient, ground pork. I prepped the rice noodles (see photo above, the Pad Thai kind) and the ginger and the stir-fry sauce, which is mostly oyster sauce and a little stock. It all came together quicker than I could imagine. As, I was tossing the noodles in the pan and flinging oyster sauce all over my shirt, I realized they looked a little sad. Desperately, I looked for something in the freezer to add to this. Potential options included, frozen sausage, a lone chicken thigh(what was my plan for that?), breakfast sausage, frozen peas, when I spotted a bag of Ikea meatballs that D had bought. Could this work? In a move that was one part genius and one part pathetic, I took a bunch and chopped them up. My brain was mildly disgusted, but my stomach was winning the debate. I quickly added them to the noodles, and told myself it was ingenuity at it's best, and I should send the idea to Ikea Hacker. Now, that you all know how grimy things can get in my kitchen, let me redeem myself and say, after I ate it, I knew the noodles were great and I also knew that I'd have to do better, a lot, lot, better, before I shared this.

This past weekend, off I went to a place where one can find reputable meat, as opposed to cheap bookcases in my neighborhood, The Meat Hook, where I bought enough ground pork (freshly ground when I ordered it) for two weeknight meals of this dish. The flavor of oyster sauce is pretty pungent so I feel like these noodles would work with ground chicken, or beef or maybe even crumbled tofu, depending on what your eating preferences are. One pound of the meat went in the freezer so that I could avoid being tempted to improvise that much ever again. The other pound got made into the kind of noodle dish I could eat week after week for dinner, and if D hadn't finished all the leftovers, I'd be happy to take it for lunch the next day too.

Pork and Oyster Sauce Noodles

Adapted (very little) from Ken Hom's Quick Wok.

8 oz. dried rice noodles

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon light-soy sauce

1 tablespoon oil (canola, peanut, vegetable)

1 pound ground pork

5 tablespoons oyster sauce

3 tablespoons chicken stock

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

6 tablespoons chopped scallions

Prepare noodles by soaking them in a bowl of very hot/boiling water from about 15-20 minutes or until soft. Drain and rinse with cold water. Toss with sesame oil and soy sauce and set aside.

While noodles are soaking, gather all your other ingredients and chop ginger and scallions. It all comes together quick, so be ready. Heat a wok over high heat. Add the oil and meat and stir-fry 2 minutes. Drain off a little of the grease from the meat. Add the oyster sauce, stock and the sugar and continue cooking another 3 minutes, until meat looks mostly cooked through. Add the noodles, ginger, and scallions and stir-fry until everything looks incorporated and meat is cooked through, about 2-3 minutes more.

Serves 4 normal people, or 2 people with a warped sense of normal serving sizes.

I have a weakness for all things British. It has been like this ever since I was informed at the age of twelve that my maternal great-grandfather's family emigrated from London. That changed everything. After that I suddenly preferred my tea with milk, I insisted that we buy crumpets from the supermarket, and informed most everyone who would listen that I was going to Oxford for law school. I had a wild imagination. Luckily, I also had a grand-mum who entertained my nonsense without much of a thought. I'd like to tell you that these strange affinities have dwindled with age, but in fact they haven't. Two Fat Ladies, Rosemary & Thyme, and all sorts of things I should not have an interest in for another forty to fifty years really make me happy. So, when I bought one of my first cookbooks after college, I quickly took note of a recipe called Kedgeree, which was described as an Anglo-Indian inspired brunch dish. This wasn't a dish I'd ever heard of or seen in a restaurant. If I was to get back to my "roots" as a proud Union Jack waiving citizen, I needed to know more.

I have learned there are as many variations on this dish as there were colonies in the British Empire at the turn of the last century. Yet almost all them require some sort of smoked fish as the main ingredient. Now, I'm no stranger to smoked fish having grown up in New York, but eating lox on a bagel is a very different experience. As a kid, there were other types of smoked fish that appeared on the brunch table when we had company over, but they were things I thought only the old people ate (read - relatives visiting from Florida). Smoked sable, chubbs, and whitefish were foods I didn't dare try back then. Things have changed a bit, and today there are hardly any fish I dislike, so when I saw this beautiful locally caught smoked trout in the market, I was excited. But, come Sunday morning when I found myself skinning and deboning this trout for my first meal of the day, hands covered with fish grease and pin bones multiplying every time I looked down, I suddenly felt more like a pain au chocolat than Kedgeree.

It is a good thing it took me all these years to try this dish, having stored it away in the back of my mind. I am much less squeemish than I used to be, so although the fish preparation was messy and a bit of a pain in the arse, I managed to make it through. And I'm glad I did, because basmati rice cooked with curry powder, ginger, and garlic topped with a creamy sauce of fish and tomatoes is something worth working for. Enlivened by some fresh cilantro, the fish and rice combo was a dish that you want to keep eating because it's both different and familiar. I guess that is what's great about these old-fashioned cross-culinary inventions. Take two familiar tastes and put them together and you'll get something new to be excited about. Of course, Kedgeree isn't new to those in the know, but it was new to me, and I think it makes an excellent lunch or dinner option. Although, for brunch I'm sticking with my pastries and bagels and lox. After all, I am only one-eighth British.

Kedgeree Adapted from the Williams-Sonoma New England cookbook by Molly Stevens. You should feel free to vary the type of fish in this recipe for whatever is local to your area, and of course always check that it is a sustainable choice. Here's a link if you're not sure.

1 Tbsp butter + 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 2 teaspoons, peeled and minced ginger 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 teaspoons, Madras curry powder Pinch of cayenene pepper 1 cup basmati rice 2 cups water 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 lb. smoked trout or other locally available fish, skinned and flaked 2 large tomatoes or about 1/2 can diced tomatoes 1/4 cup of heavy cream 1 scallion, chopped (optional) handful of chopped cilantro

In a heavy saucepan, heat the butter and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, until softened. Takes about 10 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, curry and cayenne and stir until the ginger and garlic are fragrant and softened, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir well to coat the grains.

Add the water, and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, give it a stir, lower the stove to low heat, and cover with a lid. Let the rice cook for about 20 minutes. Do not open the lid.

Meanwhile prep the tomatoes and the fish. Take care to remove the fish bones before flaking it. Take a skillet and warm the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Toss in scallion (if your using it) and the fish. Cook until heated through about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the cream and stir to combine. Sauce should be a light pink. Let cook for 3 minutes and taste it. Add a bit more cream if the smoked fish flavor still needs mellowing out.

To serve, fluff the cooked rice with a fork and put a big old scoop in a bowl. Top with fish and a bit of sauce and the chopped cilantro.

Pork and oyster sauce noodles with a side of confession

Kedgeree - it's what's not for breakfast