Cooking with Tea – Fresh Matcha Noodles

 

Rolling fresh matcha noodles

Matcha Pasta Dough

So I adore fresh pasta.  With the help of my hand crank pasta machine (thank you Nelson), I have arrived at the point where I can quickly whip up a fresh batch for dinner.  One night, I was on my craze of adding tea to everything I cook, so I became daring and added Japanese Matcha Powder to my whole wheat flour and egg combination.  It was probably about 1/4 cup of matcha into the mix substituting the flour, of course.  I easily combined the dough according to the online recipes from my dear friend Martha (Stewart).

The most thrilling part of the whole experience was the smell of the noodles when rolling out the dough.  The matcha added this incredible fragrance to the blend.  I rolled the dough into sheets and then hand cut some for pappardelle style noodles and left the others in full sheets.  With the full sheets I made an awesome veggie lasagna of zucchini ribbons, kale, fresh tomato sauce, garlic, ground tofu (for protein), spinach, and parmesan cheese (on top).  The green tea noodles added this sweet vegetal aroma to the entire dish and it was a hit among coworkers.  I have yet again earned another cooking with tea pat on the back.  Hip hip!

Carrot, Red Pepper, & White Tea Soup! Boom, boom, shake, shake.

Yummers!

I daringly ventured into a new world of truth and beauty by creating a delicious, organic, and vegetarian tea-based soup.  Now I don’t mean to toot my own horn (but of course I do) but this was the first soup of my many lifetime soup creations where the moment after I blended the elixir I said, “Damn, it’s perfect!”  I subscribe to the Eatwell CSA farm delivery box and the bi-weekly deliveries of organic produce always challenge me to venture into new avenues of cooking I previously wouldn’t go.  Check them out here.  Eatwell Farm.  Here’s a simple way you can create it:

Ingredients:  8-10 Large Carrots (peeled and chunky chopped), 1 Medium Yellow Onion (Chopped), 3 Cloves Garlic (Chopped), 4-5 Red Bell Peppers (Deseeded and chopped in chunks), 1 tsp chili flakes, a large pot of brewed White Peony Tea (Bai Mu Dan), one vegetable bouillon cube.

Go for it:  Stove over medium heat: With olive oil saute onions and garlic ’til sizzlely good, add chili flakes for the kick and continue sauteing, throw in carrots and saute another 3 minutes, throw in peppers and go for it for 2 more minutes.  Pour in your pre-brewed White Peony tea (enough to cover all veggies) and add the bouillon cube.  Stir up and heat up to a boil.  Once at a boil, cover and lower temperature to a simmer.  Simmer about 30 minutes.  Throw in some fresh herbs (I chose oregano) and pepper.  Recover and cook about 10 mins.  Breathe in the amazing smells of the white tea symphony.  With a handblender, blend up your concoction.  Taste and fall in love or re-season to your taste then fall passionately in love.

The white tea adds an incredible woodiness to the soup which lingers on the tongue after the ripe flavors of carrot and pepper dissipate.

Get creative and post your renditions in the comments!

The white peony tea used for the brew

Carrots Peppers are a sizzlin'

White Peony Tea Added to Soup

Tea Sake RTD (Ready to Drink)

Green tea one on the right

Heck Yes!  A green tea flavored sake bottled drink by Sake2Me.  I discovered this beverage while on the Big Island of Hawaii at a rather interesting little liquor store with an amazing selection.  After trying it, I love it!  It is an unexpected first flavor that kind of has a grittiness to it, but it can be a beautiful symphony for those who love green tea, sake, and a nice cold rice-wine cooler.  It was a bit pricey, but everything is pricey in Hawaii so I may not have a fair mainland grasp on the prices over here in CA.  Check it out… www.sake2me.com