Cold soba on a hot summer day

The temperature has finally started cool down here.

Those days of 90+ heat were tough and even though it was cooler this morning, I wasn't in the mood for anything warm/hot for breakfast.

From the bottom going clockwise: Cold soba noodles, dipping sauce, pickled wakame with sesame seeds, iced green tea and cold cooked chicken.

To start, I put 1 portion (you can see below they are already bundled together in 1 serving size bundles) into a pan of boiling water. I turned down the heat to keep the noodles at a slow simmer.

I let them simmer for 10 minutes. And while the noodles simmered I made the pickled wakame.

I soaked 2 Tbsp. of dried wakame in warm water until it reconstituted.  Then I drained the seaweed well and put it in a bowl with 2 Tbsp. of mirin and 1Tbsp. of rice vinegar and a pinch of salt and set it aside.


I found an interesting way to prepare soba here. I drained and rinsed them according to those directions and plated the noodles.


This is my favorite noodle dipping sauce I have found. 

It is a soup base but I found most dipping sauces too concentrated and salty for my taste so I prefer this. I chopped some green onions to add to the dipping liquid.


At this point, I drained the wakame and squeezed out any excess pickling liquid. A sprinkle of sesame seeds on top finished this side dish.

And some iced green tea - 

I made sure to include a side of protein. 

This was a great breakfast and a wonderful way to start my hump-day. 

Time to go to work!

Potstickers

Me and the dogs are feeling better after having spent some time away from the noise.

I almost forgot that I needed to stay at home to wait for a FedEx delivery so after we left - we just ended up walking up and down the length of the complex so I could keep an eye out for the delivery man.

Since I was stuck staying home - I decided to make these for lunch:

Potstickers!

 I chopped up half a carrot, half a celery stalk and one green onion.

I added in one of the sweet Italian turkey sausages that I had left over from the insane meat shopping trip a while back.

One turkey sausage mixed with one egg yolk, a dash of soy sauce and the veggies.

And now for the tough part - making the potstickers:

A small bowl of water, potsticker wrappers (covered with a damp towel) and the filling.

I found a great tutorial for folding and cooking the potstickers here.

As you can see, I did an OK job - not a great one - But, all in all, not bad for a first try methinks.

I put half of the potstickers into a plastic bag and they went into the freezer for another meal.

Next, I heated up a saute pan over medium heat. I added in 1 Tbsp. of oil (I used grape seed oil). When the oil is hot, place the potstickers in the pan and saute until the bottoms turn golden brown.

Then I added in 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water into the pan (be careful of the steam), cover immediately and wait.

I usually turn down the heat a bit at this point.

When most of the water has evaporated and the potstickers have steamed - pull them out of the pan and arrange on a plate.

I think a nice golden brown crust really makes the potsticker.

I mixed 1/8th of a cup of Ponzu sauce with 1/8th of a cup of soy sauce for a dipping sauce.

I did set aside some sausage meat so I could make the dogs a snack:

A very cute, teeny tiny turkey sausage ball nestled on of a bed tobiko - all on top of a sweet and crunchy slice of apple.