Sometimes idea's fail in a big big way

Have you ever thought on an idea...and you thought about it...and thought about it.....and everything in your person tells you it might not be a great idea, but you go for it anyway???

Yea, I did it. And here are my results.

First Brainstorm:

I wanted to try to bake bok choy without any oil. I also thought that a teriyaki sesame sauce would enhance the flavor because it would be baked into it instead of sliding off due to the oil....

Second Brainstorm:

To make a pot sticker without using any oil and steam it.

Ginger Scallion Tofu Pot stickers

Ingredients:

1/2 pkg. organic extra firm tofu, pressed heavily

1/2 inch piece of ginger, scraped and minced

1 small pkg. scallions, minced

1 head of Napa Cabbage, shredded extra fine

3 tbls. soy sauce

The tip of a tsp. red red chili paste

1 clove garlic, minced

16 pot sticker wrappers

In a medium bowl, crumble tofu with your hands until very fine. Add ginger, scallions,and garlic, mix together to incorporate the flavors. In a large heavy skillet, water saute the cabbage and chili paste together with the soy sauce. Cook until completely wilted, drain any excess water. Mix with the tofu. Let cool completely.

Remove wontons from wrapper and separate. Taking a wonton in your hand place 1 tsp of filling in center wet the edges and seal making sure filling does not escape from the sides. Repeat until all are done. In a nonstick skillet bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil. In a single layer place dumplings, not touching over the bottom. Cover with a lid and steam about 8 minutes, remove and continue until all dumplings are steamed. Serve with jalapeno shoyu.

Jalapeno shoyu

1/2 c. shoyu sauce

1/2 jalapeno, sliced thin seeds intact

1/4 tsp. red chili paste

Mix and set aside.

Here is the bok choy after baking. I am less than impressed with my results...

I am not going to give a recipe until I tweek it some more. I think it needs less sweet, more savory.

The texture is good, but the taste is less than stellar. Perhaps a higher heat and less cooking time would help also.

Our dinner

I am my worst critic and I know that. But this was sooo not what I was going for. Kaiti happily gobbled it down and said the pot stickers were spot on as far as texture and taste. I think they could be firmer, perhaps next time I will use gluten as the base and make more of a meat pot sticker.

Why do I show you my failures?

I show you my mess ups and mistakes to let you know that no matter how trained or prepared you are, there will always be something you cannot control in the kitchen. People just starting out can see that even though I was a caterer, and an accomplished cook, I make mistakes too.

Being able to show you where I mess up will let you see that I am a person just like you. My pictures will be out of focus, I will burn the biscuits and occasionally something will taste bad.

I want to inspire everyone to cook and take the risk in the kitchen. Have fun, don't be too hard on yourself.

Because honestly what do you have to lose?