Souper Freak

I know I said that the dinner I made last week was the best ever….but I might have lied.

Tonight I wowed myself by making something so delectably gourmet that I can hardly believe it came out of my kitchen. But it did!

As proof, I just asked Tyler for a statement about tonight’s couch dining experience. He explained that his jaw was still dropped too far down on the ground to comment. He’s also assured me how much he really, really, really, really, really loves me. (Most nights he just really, really, really loves me.) Isn’t there some saying about the way to a man’s heart?

So what is this phenomenal meal?!? Well, part of it wasn’t even made from scratch — first step was simply throwing some Trader Joe’s vegetarian pot stickers and organic frozen peas into a steamer. (The best home cook knows how and when to “cheat.”)

The real magic was in the sauce: a blend of ground, toasted sesame seeds, pine nuts and sunflower seeds mixed with some dashes and splashes of sesame oil, mirin, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and cayenne pepper. THIS is the part of tonight’s dinner that tastes like it came out of some ultra-high-end Japanese restaurant.

I also pan-fried some sliced tofu, which I was slightly disappointed by: I think I cooked it so carefully in order to brown it on all sides that I ended up drying it out. Next time I think I’ll just lightly saute the tofu — I think the soft texture will add to the overall heavenliness of the dish.

I chopped up about four green onions (scallions) and put it all together: the steamed potstickers and peas, pan-fried tofu, and lots of finely sliced green onion, coated in the slightly grainy, sweet, mouth-wateringly salty and deliciously nutty sauce.

And of course the inspiration came from my new obsession, the food blog 101 Cookbooks. The recipe calls for soba noodles instead of potstickers, but I am so delighted with my genius substitution! You can (and should!) visit her site for the original Black Sesame Otsu recipe.

What took this over the top was that alongside this masterpiece I made some fantastic cauliflower steamed and sauteed in a light ginger broth. This was especially ideal because we poured some of the extra sauce over the (rather dried-out) pan-fried tofu. This was all so good together that I’d say you almost have to make both recipes if you plan to try one.

The only downside of tonight’s dinner is that it doesn’t photograph very well! I think it’s partly because the original recipe calls for black sesame seeds and I used regular ones (since they’re what I had) resulting in a pretty monochromatic plate. You’ll just have to trust me that it tastes AMAZING regardless of how it might look here! (Remember, I’m a home cook, not a food photographer!)