Asian-Italian Fusion Dumplings

After a few months of staring at each other, going to bed at 8:30, spending too much money at bars, actually going to the gym, whittling our own furniture, and (gasp!) reading, John and I broke down and ordered basic cable from Comcast. Trust me, if Rabbit Ears still worked for the TV, we'd use them. You know how they said that the over-75 set was throwing a fit at the digital switch? Well... let's just say we weren't too happy about it either.

So, when you only have 13 channels in English (I won't count Telemundo unless I go out and get some Berlitz Tapes, but I do love me some Rai every one and a while since I can actually understand it) PBS becomes more of a choice thing to watch. Ming Tsai the friggin' genius owner of Blue Ginger (The. Best. Restaurant. Ever. GO THERE!) has a show on PBS called Simply Ming, where he cooks with a guest and serves up some delish East Meets West cuisine. A few episodes ago he had the most important guest of all -- his mom -- and they made some amazing looking shaomai and other Asian dumplings.

In an East Meets West moment, John and I cooked up some Italian sausage-stuffed dumplings for some guests that came over this weekend. Here's how:

Round won-ton wrappers (makes little more than 1 package- we froze the rest)

4 Hot Italian sausages (take casing off)

Red Pepper (1/2)

Taiwan cabbage (1 head)

Carrots (1 medium)

Scallions (1 bunch - white part only)

Celery (1-2 stalks)

Ginger (fresh, 2 tbsp. diced)

3 Cloves garlic (diced)

Chicken stock (1/4 cup)

Soy sauce (1/4 cup)

Sesame oil (drizzle)

Dipping Sauce

Soy sauce (1/2 cup)

Rice wine vinegar (1/2 cup)

Sesame oil (drizzle)

Sriracha sauce (a few drops depending on how much you like spice)

Cook the sausage first and drain it (break it up into little pieces). Then add the vegetables (sliced and diced into very small pieces) and sauces and cook it down until everything's soft.

The hard part is stuffing these things - it takes forever. Of course, I did this part. If you have a round Won Ton wrapper, dip your finger in a bowl of water and trace the edge of the dumpling with your finger so it creates an adhesive. Put the stuffing in the middle (not too much) and fold in half. Then stick the two ends together if you're feeling saucy. We steamed these dumplings in a bamboo steamer, but you can pan-fry them as well in a little oil.

Speaking of sauce, in a small bowl mix the ingredients for the dipping sauce. It's the best part!

These things disappeared faster than a Masshole when he hits your parked car (No, that's never happened to me.)

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage and Zucchini

We found ourselves in a situation where we were out of almost anything it would take to make an acceptable meal, and finally went to the store earlier last week. We've been pretty busy this week (John's birthday!) so haven't had a ton of time or motivation to blog. But don't worry, we're still here. 

In San Francisco, John worked at Scala's Bistro, a restaurant in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in Union Square (If Tara is reading this she remembers the free dinners we used to get. The girlfriend of a chef doesn't get to actually hang out with her significant other, instead she gets appeased with free food. I guess the mentality is that chewing prevents one from bitching?)

Anyway, one of the best dishes at Scala's is the orecchiette pasta (pasta from my family's region of Italy, which means "little ears" in Italian - love or leave that visual when you actually eat this dish.) Here's a loose interpretation of it:

Red pepper (1/2)

Zucchini (1/2)

Balsamic vinegar (3 tbsp)

Olive Oil (2 tbsp)

Garlic (2 clove)

Spicy italian sausage (4)

White wine (enough to deglaze pan)

Chicken Stock 1 cup

Spicy red pepper flakes (pinch)

Butter (2 tbsp)

Flat-leaf parsley (1/4 cup diced)

Parmegiano Reggiano (grated)

Orecchiette (dry, 1 lb.)

Sauce: Dice the red pepper and zucchini and toss them in a pan with the balsamic vinegar until they're almost fully cooked. Then add the garlic, olive oil, and sausage (removed from casing and broken up into small pieces) and cook until the sausage is done. Add enough white wine to deglaze the pan (just to get the crispy bits off the bottom of the pan). Then add chicken stock and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and allow it to simmer down a bit. Once it's cooked down, add a few tablespoons of butter to make the sauce nice and creamy. Stir in the parsley (always add fresh herbs at the end!) Toss in the pasta and finish with some Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta: Also, you should have been boiling the pasta while this was going on... Man, I bet you're kicking yourself now!

THE LAST OF THE APPLES!!

The rest of the apples had been sitting in the fridge for days, and I felt powerless against them. But, not one to roll over and die like that, today I decided to battle the rest of the apples like Steven Segal in that movie where he goes into a coma for nine years, but emerges to kick ass and take names. 

John and I and some of our friends spent the morning running a 5k in the freezing rain, which made me feel motivated to be a little healthier. Then I took down a diner breakfast at Uncommon Ground in Watertown that three people could probably split. (It was worth it.)

Anyway, the point of my story is that I searched the internet for a (at least quasi) healthy apple recipe that would use up the rest of our crop. I found this Low Fat Apple Bread recipe online, and luckily I had all of the ingredients on hand. (I made a cup of fresh, unsweetened apple sauce by cooking down about 3 apples with some water). Instead of making a single loaf, I decided to portion them out into muffins. My coworkers will hopefully help me eat these this week.

Remember how I said John refused to let me throw away the apple cores? (Or peels, for that matter?) Today, I have to say he took a page from Alton Brown's book and decided to make apple pectin (which can be used to thicken the filling for apple pies, make jelly, or create fruit-based sauces for meat dishes). He basically boiled all the cores and peels in a giant pot for an hour or so, and I'm assuming he'll strain out the solids. We'll freeze the remnants and probably use it around Thanksgiving. Here's a bit more about pectin. It's also pictured in the first photo of this post. If you can't tell that the second photo is the muffins, I have no words.

Holy Pancake Batman! (Starring: apples)

There are many things in this life I've never done. Among those things, I'd count jumping out of a plane, actually cleaning vertical blinds, and making pancakes without the presence of Bisquick. Luckily John's there to change that. 

This could be breakfast. This could be dinner. It's how us poor people (and not the "New Poor" for those who watch Always Sunny) have always disguised using low-cost pantry ingredients as a fun activity called "Breakfast For Dinner." Tonight we made a souflee-inspired pancake with caramelized apples. 

Mix the following in a large mixing bowl. In our case the Joyce Chen wok made another appearance.

1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. sugar

2 eggs

1/2 milk

Pinch of salt

Then, sear the following ingredients in a large frying pan until the apples become caramelized:

1-2 Apples, sliced thin

Cinnamon 

2 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. Butter

Place the pancake batter over the sizzling apples and just flip it (flip it good!)

Warning: Split this with someone because it's massive!

Apples Day 3: Mulliga-WHAT?!

Using the leftover Chicken Normandy, brown rice, and spinach, we decided to make an improvised version of a popular soup. Mullagatawny is a curry-flavored soup, which means "pepper water" when translated into English. I am not making this stuff up, even though I tend to do that sometimes. OK, I do that a lot. But I always try to sound smart.

Here are the pantry/fridge ingredients we already had and used to make this soup:

Green apples (1)

Chicken broth (almost a full box)

Curry that we got from Chateau Felice Wine Club - oh hey, wine snobs! (a few teaspoons)

Onions (about a quarter of a medium onion)

Garlic (1 clove)

Celery (about 2 stalks)

(Salt and pepper to taste) - always implicit (except in desserts, smartass.) and I sometimes forget to say it.

We purchased:

Coconut milk - $2.50 (1/2 can)

Carrots - $1 for a bunch (2 carrots)

When making a soup, make sure to dice everything small enough so it can fit on a spoon - that's John's rule of thumb. Nothing tees John off worse than a huge carrot on his spoon. Like the Incredible Hulk, you wouldn't like him when he's angry. 

First dice the apple, carrots, celery, garlic and onion and sautee for a few minutes in a stock pot. Then add the leftover chicken, spinach, and brown rice. This is super simple - just add all of the liquids and spices and just let it simmer for a while. 

We should win the Nobel Prize for innovation. Do they have one of those?

Chicken Normandy

So, remember when I said we weren't vegans? This recipe involves bacon. 'Nuff said. 

After a long day of bringing home said bacon, I arrived home to John feverishly slicing two of the Red Delicious apples we'd picked the day before. 

He found the following leftover ingredients in our fridge and pantry: 

Brown rice

All-purpose flour

Apple cider

Fresh thyme (we used it in a previous recipe, and wrapped in a wet paper towel so it would keep)

Onion

Skim milk

Bacon (which we froze after making for breakfast awhile ago)

And went to the store for these ingredients: 

Brandy (which we don't typically have because we're not 75-year-olds) = $10

Chicken breasts (3) - $6

Fresh spinach - $2

He started by dicing up what probably would be the equivalent of 2 or 3 slices of bacon into tiny pieces and sauteeing them in a grill pan. He took the bits out after they were browned and left the grease behind (like any good man conscious of his woman's desires to lose 5-1o lbs, he proceeded to cook the rest of our meal in bacon grease.) An extra few miles on the treadmill for me.

Cut the chicken breasts in half to make 6 pieces. This will maximize your leftovers, and you really only should eat half anyway. Dredge the chicken in flour and fry it in the bacon grease until its just almost done. Then remove and drain the grease on a paper towel. 

Throw about 1/4 of an onion, diced, into the bacon grease. Then add the apple slices and sautee for a few minutes. 

Listen to me here, because you could lose an eyebrow if not. Let me say this again - WARNING - if you don't listen to me kiss your eyebrows goodbye. Remove the pan from the flame, STAND BACK, and then add 1/2 cup of brandy to the pan. Put it back on the stove and STAY BACK! It will set on fire...

After the brandy cooks down, add about a cup of apple cider, some fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Reduce that and add a touch of milk. If needed, throw a little extra flour in the sauce to thicken it up. Don't forget to add the bacon bits at the end for that nice little touch of salt for this otherwise sweet dish.

We'll probably be able to eat this meal 2-3 more times, depending on how hungry we are... Not to mention, we'll have to start drinking Brandy, and maybe playing shuffleboard.

Peck & Pantry Apple Crisp

Before you hit the apple orchard, the bag marked "peck" always looks so small. I looked at John and said, "Should we get the half bushel?" Keep in mind there are only two of us (plus one fruit-averse dog). 

We settled on the peck. $15.00.

25 apples later we filed into the car and headed home (after stopping at a pumpkin patch and picking up an 18-pound pumpkin, which we'll respectively cook and post about later). We left with the unofficial Nashoba Valley variety pack, which included Rhode Island Greening, Roxbury Russett, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Macintosh, among others. 

What to do with 25 apples and so little time? We hit the pantry and fridge to see if we had all of the makings of a crisp. Luckily, we already had the following:

Old-fashioned oats

Light brown sugar

All-purpose flour

Honey

Vegan Smart Balance Light (disclaimer: neither John nor I are vegan, but this apple crisp is servable to our vegan friends out there)

Apple Cider

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Lemon juice

(We used 9 apples of mixed variety for this recipe - mostly the tart ones, but threw in a few in-season Red Delicious for shits and giggles.)

We didn't use a recipe, so I'll attempt to tell you how everything was done below. I normally don't do the "eyeballing" thing for baking, since it's pretty dangerous territory, but a crisp is somewhat hard to mess up. When in doubt, just taste things and (however hard this might be) try to be logical. A couple rules of thumb:

1) After you peel and slice the apples into cubes, coat them with lemon juice so they don't get brown. Then add enough honey to glaze the apples, sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg to taste, and toss them around in a big mixing bowl. Or, if you're ghetto like us and don't have a mixing bowl, use an oversized Joyce Chen wok. (I went to throw out the apple cores, but then John "tsk, tsk, tsk'ed" me like a grandma. These will make a cameo in a future post.)

2) Melt your Vegan Smart Balance Light (VSBL) or if you're a purist, butter (We did about the equivalent of 1/2 cup VSBL and then added in about 1/4 cup of apple cider to lighten things up a bit). Then toss it into your oats, brown sugar, and flour. Make sure the texture resembles what you'd expect an apple crisp topping to look like. If it's too runny, lay off the cider and add more oats. If it's too dry, add more cider. (I know, rocket science, right?)

3) Load the apples into a 9x13 Pyrex pan and sprinkle on the topping. Pack it down and put it in the oven at 350 for about an hour. (If the topping starts looking too brown, add some foil to the top of the pan.)

So, do I have to tell you to wait for it to cool off before eating it? We're new to this food blogging thing and aren't ready for a lawsuit a la the McDonald's Coffee Incident. 

-e