Teriyaki Tofu with Wild Mushrooms & Soba Noodles pg. 189
Bok Choy with Lemon Tahini Sauce pg. 214
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| Teriyaki Tofu |
Today I decided to continue to conquer my fear of tofu. Since I left tofu on a high note yesterday I figured why not really go for it today. I dove in head first with a pretty big recipe. I made Teriyaki Tofu with Wild Mushrooms and Soba Noodles. This recipe was given a "2" in CSK and it deserves it. It is a big one with lots of steps. Just look at the ingredients needed to make this one.
To begin with you need to make the teriyaki marinade. The marinade was fantastic. You need to marinate the tofu before you bake it. So plan on marinating a couple hours before you start to cook.
All was going pretty smoothly as I prepared the dinner. Now I want you to picture a scene from Julie/Julia. Ready? There is a part in the movie when Julie Powell drops her chicken on the floor. She goes on to lay on the floor crying like a child because her meal was ruined. I didn't drop my dinner, but I ruined my meal! I literally felt the tears fill my eyes. What did I do you ask? First let me ask you, have you ever made buckwheat soba noodles? Me either! Until tonight when I had to make them twice. Here is my first batch.
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| Mushy Mess |
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| In the trash! |
In the trash they went. They turned too fricken mushy. I thought tofu was icky wiggly, but I stand corrected buckwheat soba noodles are icky wiggly! So as my husband saw the tears begin to fill my eyes he said, "I will go get more." I love this man. He is so good to me. I picked all the veggies out of my soba mush, and boiled more water. The second batch I kept the noodles
really al dente. Ya know what, the f-ing noodles were still kind of mushy. That pissed me off. (Excuse my language!)
The teriyaki tofu turned out quite beautiful, and if you like tofu I am sure you would love this.
I would love to hear others experiences cooking with buckwheat soba noodles. They are just noodles for goodness sake! That shouldn't have been the most complicated part of this recipe. I know if I had to do it over I would have used some other noodle type. Maybe rice noodles? I spent $6.99 (On sale!) twice on buckwheat soba noodles, and I will never buy them ever again. They tasted pretty good, but the texture was awful. Chef Sarno help me out, any tips?
I also made Bok Choy with Lemon Tahini Sauce because I am obviously a total over achiever.
It was easy to prepare, and tasted quite good. Bok Choy is a little bitter, but I loved the tahini sauce. I wonder what spinach would have tasted like vs the bok choy in this recipe?
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| Bok Choy |
I felt pretty ambitious tonight. I wish I could say it was all a success. Parts of it were really good. The sauces from the Teriyaki Tofu were quite delicious as was the tahini sauce. Not my best meal, but I am proud of myself for giving it a solid effort.
Oh by the way, today I got a nice surprise from none other than Kris Carr herself! Check it out:
That felt pretty cool! What am I saying? It was awesome!! Thanks Kris:)
To begin with you need to make the teriyaki marinade. The marinade was fantastic. You need to marinate the tofu before you bake it. So plan on marinating a couple hours before you start to cook.
All was going pretty smoothly as I prepared the dinner. Now I want you to picture a scene from Julie/Julia. Ready? There is a part in the movie when Julie Powell drops her chicken on the floor. She goes on to lay on the floor crying like a child because her meal was ruined. I didn't drop my dinner, but I ruined my meal! I literally felt the tears fill my eyes. What did I do you ask? First let me ask you, have you ever made buckwheat soba noodles? Me either! Until tonight when I had to make them twice. Here is my first batch.
I would love to hear others experiences cooking with buckwheat soba noodles. They are just noodles for goodness sake! That shouldn't have been the most complicated part of this recipe. I know if I had to do it over I would have used some other noodle type. Maybe rice noodles? I spent $6.99 (On sale!) twice on buckwheat soba noodles, and I will never buy them ever again. They tasted pretty good, but the texture was awful. Chef Sarno help me out, any tips?
I also made Bok Choy with Lemon Tahini Sauce because I am obviously a total over achiever. 
It was easy to prepare, and tasted quite good. Bok Choy is a little bitter, but I loved the tahini sauce. I wonder what spinach would have tasted like vs the bok choy in this recipe? 
That felt pretty cool! What am I saying? It was awesome!! Thanks Kris:) 
I made a simpler version of this a few weeks back because it had so many steps. I stuck with the marinade though and loved it.
ReplyDeleteSoba noodles have an acquired taste and texture, they definitely are not for everyone.
How cool that you got a tweet from KC!
You go girl! Wow, I didn't know that about Soba noodles! I hope Chad will give you a tip.
ReplyDelete:-) that was the part of my dinner I messed up on last night!!!!! darn noodles! but I did not remake them ;) xo
ReplyDeleteI messed up same part of my dinner last night! darn noodles......xo
ReplyDelete:-) that was the part of my dinner I messed up on last night!!!!! darn noodles! but I did not remake them ;) xo
ReplyDeleteFor soba noodles, be sure to use plenty of water and add some oil to the water. After adding noodles, return to a boil then turn heat down a bit so they don't boil to death. The best trick is to rinse with cold water when you drain them. If you need them hot, reserve some of the cooking water when draining and combine with the noodles. Either way, don't let the cooked noodles sit out too long, or toss with some oil. Don't give up, as there are many great, quick soba noodle recipes (I'll share one if you want).
ReplyDeleteI love your project! I just checked out the cookbook and tried my first recipes tonight: Bok Choy with Lemon Tahini Sauce and Hearts-of-Palm-Style Crab Cakes with Remoulade, and both were amazing! The latter was level 2, but I didn't measure and didn't even have several ingredients, which made them pretty quick.
And your apron pic is so cute :)
Thx for the tip! Those noodles were really tricky for me!!
DeleteI just made the lemon tahini sauce with cooked carrots and cilantro, which you might prefer to the bok choy. I didn't bother to blend the sauce and it still turns out great, creamy like my French grandmother's béchamel.
DeleteI am loving this cookbook! I marked at least a dozen recipes I want to make and am only halfway through browsing. I'm inspired by Kris Carr and by you alike!