Dumplings and Pineapple Fried Rice

I decided to try and participate in the Daring Cooks challenge this month, which was to make homemade dumplings. The challenge was put together by Jen of Use Real Butter. She has an awesome site and I've been a loyal follower for quite some time now. I was pretty excited that she picked dumplings, but was curious as to how difficult the process was going to be. I'll let you know right from the get-go I wasn't too thrilled that this would involve dough. The whole reason I never even contemplated doing Daring Bakers is because I'm a bit of a doughphobic. It's just sticky, finicky and destroys a clean kitchen. But this recipe only involved flour and water - how hard could that be? Ha.

Although time consuming, the pork filling was simple to make and smelled delicious. The dough also came together very easily and was pretty manageable to shape into little circles. Making those gash darn pleats were near impossible though. After throwing away like a whole dozen, I decided to scratch the original plan, and to fold them all like mini calzones. Way easier, and they worked fine in the cooking process.

I decided to try all three methods of cooking: steaming, boiling and frying. Steam and boiling were super easy, and yielded tender little pork filled pockets. Frying though, destroyed my kitchen. I've been cooking long enough to know that dumping water into hot oil is going to cause a serious (not to mention dangerous) mess. Not my brightest moment. Did you ever see that episode of The Newlyweds where Jessica Simpson was yelping as the oil burned her? Yeah, that was so me. Frying paid off though, as these were the tastiest of the three methods. No surprise, frying is always the tastiest. 

If you would like to a give these a shot for yourself, please visit Jen here for a step-by-step guide. Thanks Jen for a great challenge! 

I served these along side a fantastic pineapple fried rice, courtesy of Susan from Food Blogga. You can find that recipe here, and should definitely give it a try. It was the perfect mix of sweet and salty, and was devoured in no time!

Sweet Honey Cornbread

I've been seeing a lot of cornbread recipes out there lately, and I have to tell you, I'm a big fan of the sweet versions. The savory ones that have a little kick to them just don't do it for me. Especially since I normally serve cornbread with soups and such that already have a bite to them, so the sweeter versions work to counteract a bit of that heat. Sorry, to all of you who think sweet cornbread is a bunch of bologna, but I like it!

This is my first time making cornbread entirely from scratch, and there really is nothing to it. It's so easy, I don't know why I even bothered with the mix in the first place. You can really taste the honey in these, but they aren't too sweet. They baked up beautifully, with a slightly crisp edge and a moist, crumbly center.  With a nice pat of butter, these are just perfection.

Instead of eating my little disaster of a gumbo, I ate 3 of these for dinner. :)

Sweet Honey Cornbread Muffins

Adapted from Down Home with the Neelys

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup AP flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup honey

• Preheat oven to 400℉.
• Mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, butter and honey.
• Combine the wet and dry, stirring with a wooden spoon just until combined.
• Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and fill each cup with mixture till about 3/4 full.
• Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until just golden brown.

The Creamiest Mashed Potatoes Ever!

So, "what makes these the creamiest mashed potatoes ever," you might ask. Because they are very little potato and a boatload of cream! These are not for your typical Wednesday night. They are ridiculously rich and ridiculously good. In the end, there is no semblance of a potato left. They had the consistency of really great grits (you know, the ones loaded with cream and butter - seeing a trend here?). I served these with the ribs in the last post and they were made even more yummy when loaded up with lots of good gravy.

Best part -- no peeling. Just boil the potatoes and garlic cloves in very salty water, send them through the food mill, and add all the bad for you stuff. Boiling the garlic with the potatoes is really a stroke of genius. It gives the potatoes a garlic taste without being overpowering. I think the next time I make these I actually might increase the amount of potatoes just to give it more texture - but if you like your potatoes creamy, this one is right up your alley.

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

slightly adapted from Secrets of a Restaurant Chef - Anne Burrell

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, washed and quartered

4 cloves of garlic, peeled

salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 stick cold butter, cut into 9 slices

• Place potatoes and garlic in a pot and add water until potatoes are covered by 1-2 inches.
• Generously salt the water (Anne suggests tasting it and making sure it tastes like the sea!).
• Bring the water to a boil and cook for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the potatoes are falling off a fork.
• Drain potatoes and garlic well and then pass, in batches, through the food mill.
• Meanwhile, bring heavy cream to boil in a small pot, then remove from heat.
• Add 1/3 of the cream and butter to the potatoes and mix well.
• Repeat in 2 more batches with remaining cream and butter.
• If needed, add salt to taste.
• Serve, or keep warm by covering with foil and placing in an oven on low heat.

Fancy Schmancy

After too many nights of easy to prepare comfort food, I was feeling ready to tackle something a little bit more challenging this weekend. So I planned this lovely dinner for Brad and I, complete with all our fancy china and crystal (thank-you wedding guests!). The star was rack of lamb, served with roasted tomatoes and potatoes. It was delicious!! And really not hard at all, which totally shocked me because lamb just seems like restaurant food and not something that would be all that good when cooked at home. I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything, but this lamb was just as good as many of the places we've been to, and even better than others.

All you have to do is brown the lamb, then rub it with a delicious garlic, herb and olive oil mixture. Then you roast it in the same pan over potatoes that crisp up nicely in the oven and get all those savory lamb juices. At the same time, you roast up some tomatoes with the same garlicy mixture. The whole thing looks and tastes amazing. If I hadn't cooked it myself, I swear I would have believed that it came from the cute little french brasserie down the street.

This would make the most beautiful Valentine's Day dinner for the person you love - or for your pal who has nothing to do on the 14th either. To complete the entire meal, we started with a 1/2 bottle of champagne (a habit we happily picked up while in France after noticing that many patrons ordered a glass of bubbly while they were perusing the wine list), had a lovely salad to start (which I will share with you later this week), and sipped a beautiful Cabernet-Sauvignon that had been recommended to accompany the lamb. If serving on the big V-day, I would definitely advise to not skimp on the bubbly or vino. :)

Provençal Rack of Lamb with Roasted Tomatoes

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine - October 2008

Serves 2

2 Garlic Cloves

Salt and Pepper

2 tsp chopped Thyme

1 tsp chopped Rosemary

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 medium Tomatoes

1 (1-lb) frenched Rack of Lamb, cut in half

2 medium Shallots, thinly sliced

2 medium boiling Potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick

2 Tbsp Water

• Preheat oven to 400℉.
• Mash garlic to a paste with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, using the back of a knife.
• In a small bowl, combine paste with the chopped herbs and 1 Tbsp of oil.
• Half tomatoes and place inside a small, oiled baking dish.
• Drizzle 1/3 of garlic mixture on top of tomatoes, and roast for 30 - 40 minutes, or until tomatoes are tender.
• While tomatoes are cooking, pat dry the lamb and season with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
• In a skillet over medium-high, heat the olive oil until it begins to shimmer.
• Brown lamb on all sides, for about 1 minute per side, or 4-6 minutes total.
• Place lamb aside and discard any excess oil in the pan.
• Heat remaining Tbsp of oil over medium heat and add shallots and potatoes.
• Cook until potatoes start to get slightly brown on the edges, 3-5 minutes.
• Stir in water and half the remaining garlic mixture and turn off heat.
• Rub remaining garlic mixture on the fat side of the lamb, and place, fat side up, on top of potatoes and shallots in pan.
• Roast for about 20-25 minutes for medium-rare, or until lamb is at 130℉ (careful not to touch the bone).
• Place lamb on cutting board and cover loosely with foil for 5-10 minutes.
• Serve with tomatoes and potatoes.

Spoon Cornbread

Since everyone seems to be snowed in and cold (except for my parents - ya, ya, I know it's warm and sunny and I never should have moved above the Mason-Dixon line. I get it.). I thought I would share with ya'll my perfect accompaniment to the soup that we will all be inevitably making. This is like an amped-up version of cornbread. It's quick and easy, and doesn't even require you to pull out a whisk.

It's starts with good ol' Jiffy mix, then you add creamed and regular corn. There's also some sour cream in there to keep the bread nice and moist. I often make this in muffin tins and freeze any extra muffins. They freeze beautifully and will make even a canned soup night seem homey. If you like sweeter cornbread vs. the kind with some heat, this is for you.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years! We are off to Canada for a few days, so assuming I don't become a popsicle while we are there, I will see you all in 2009!

Spoon Cornbread

1 Dozen Muffins

1 package Jiffy Corn Muffin mix (8 1/2-oz.)

appx. 10-oz. Canned Creamed Corn

appx. 10-oz. Canned Kernel Corn, drained

1 cup Sour Cream

2 Eggs

1 stick of Butter, melted

Pam

• Preheat oven to 350℉.
• Mix all ingredients together using a spoon.
• Spray muffin tine with a little Pam, and pour in mixture.
• Bake for appx. 35 minutes, or until tops are golden brown, edges are darkened, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean (if baking in a rectangular pan, bake time will increase to about 1 hour).

Tuscan Ribolita with Tomato Garlic Bread

Everybody pull out your slow cookers yet again, I have a heck of a soup for you to try. It's hearty and warm and will give your house the most mouth watering smell. Forget lilac, I want a ribolita candle. It's also very quick to throw together and is fairly healthy considering it is totally meat-free and has lots of veggies and beans (you know how the song goes...).

I made this the other day when the hubby and L had another one of their little jam sessions, and  we all thought it was completely soul satisfying and perfectly flavored. The hubby even said that it was better than the soup he gets for lunch most days at Hale and Hearty. Considering these are on just about every corner of NYC, my culinary ego is feeling a little puffed today. :) This is the first recipe I've made from this cookbook, so I will definitely be going back for more.

I normally serve a soup up with some kind of sandwich or salad, as I usually don't find soups satisfying enough on their own. Every meal needs something to literally bite into, not just sip, in my opinion. But the bread cubes in the ribolita really do the trick and make it hearty enough in its own right. Nevertheless, I made up some toasted bread and rubbed it with tomato and garlic to serve alongside. For something so simple, it sure tasted good and the tomatoey bread was a great compliment to the soup.

Tuscan Ribolita

Adapted from Slow Cooker - Willams-Sonoma

1/4 cup olive oil, plus some for drizzling

2 yellow onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup tomato paste

8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

6 cups canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 bunch kale or savoy cabbage, coarsely chopped

4 carrots, coarsely chopped

2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced

Salt and pepper

3 cups day-old crusty bread

Parmesan cheese shavings (optional)

• Warm olive oil over medium heat in a frying pan.
• Add onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened.
• Stir in tomato paste and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
• Add broth to the pan and bring to a boil.
• Remove from heat once the liquid begins to boil.
• Place beans, kale, carrots, celery, and thyme in slow cooker.
• Add 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
• Add in the broth.
• Cook in slow cooker for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
• Stir bread into soup about 10 minutes before serving.
• Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
• Optionally, each serving can be drizzled with olive oil and parmesan shavings.

Tomato Garlic Bread

Slices of crusty bread (I used ciabatta)

Garlic cloves, peeled

Tomatoes, halved

EVOO

Coarse Salt

• Lay the slices of bread over a grill pan for a few minutes on each side until they are toasted and have nice markings.
• Rub each piece of toast with a garlic clove then the cut side of the tomato half.
• Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and follow with a sprinkle of salt.

Ellie's Maple-Mustard Chicken & Orange Sweet Potatoes

As of yesterday, the soon-to-be-hubby and I are exactly 2 months away from our wedding. That means that not only is it time for me to crackdown on the last little details, but it's also time for us to switch into healthy eating mode - pronto. Neither of us are out of shape and I already run 5 days a week, but there is just something about a wedding that makes you want to look and feel your best. I think the whole few hundred people watching you, coupled with pictures that will be immortalized amongst your family for many years to to come would probably get to anyone. Plus, my first dress fitting is tomorrow and bloated is not the feeling I'm going for.

So last night we decided to start our healthy eating kick with a dish from the Food Network's very own registered dietitian, Ellie Krieger. Ellie always cooks with an eye towards health, but also makes food that looks pretty darn appetizing. I'm a pretty hard critic when it comes to "health food" though. I don't want something that just tastes good, I want something that tastes just as good as the full-fat, high-calorie, oh-so-delicious meal it's trying to replace. Girl has to have her standards. We went to Canyon Ranch once and ate nothing but healthy meals the whole time we were there. People always rave about their food, but let me tell you, by the end of 5 days you will be begging for a piece of white toast.

Due to my overwhelming fear of that big white dress I have to put on tomorrow though, I decided to give it a shot. We made maple-mustard chicken thighs with a side of mashed sweet potatoes with orange essence. The chicken thighs are really simple to make, just coat the thighs with some of the sauce and throw 'em in the oven for close to an hour. The chicken comes out of the oven super moist and almost falling off the bone. The maple-mustard sauce forms a thick coating and definitely gives the meat some flavor. Although I'm a big fan of mustard, I personally found the mustard flavor a bit overpowering. It's very intense, so if I was to make it again I might cut back on the amount of sauce I coated the thighs in. If you do not absolutely love mustard, then this probably is not the recipe for you.

Now for the potatoes -- oh what to say. These suckers were anything but fantastic. They had a really strange flavor with the combination of the buttermilk and orange juice, and I personally didn't care for it in the least. Hubby-to-be didn't eat more than one bite (and that says a lot!). All in, my advice is to steer clear of this recipe and just bake yourself a nice sweet potato with a good pat of butter.

Okay, strike one for the healthy meal ideas. We might need to wait a little while before we try that again...

Ellie's Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs (all nutritional information can be found at this link)
Adapted from Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger - Ellie Krieger

4 large bone-in chicken thighs, with the skins removed
2 tablespoons French mustard (grainy kind)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 tablespoons maple syrup

• Preheat the oven to 375° F.
• After removing the skin from the chicken, rinse each thigh under water then dry with paper towels.
• In a small bowl, mix together the 2 mustards, chopped garlic, marjoram and syrup.
• Place the thighs in a glass baking dish and spread the maple-mustard mixture on top of each piece.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes, and make a small cut in one thigh to ensure the chicken is cooked all the way through (no pink).
  

Ellie's Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Orange Essence
Adapted from Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger - Ellie Krieger

4 sweet potatoes
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter (for topping if desired)

• Bring a pot with a steamer attachment to a boil.
• Peel the potatoes and cut into a large dice.
• Place the potatoes inside the steamer and steam for about 8 minutes, or until they are fork tender.
• Transfer the potatoes to a medium sized bowl and stir in the buttermilk and orange juice.
• Mash the potatoes with a fork so that they are smooth but with a few chunks.
• Add in the zest, salt and nutmeg and stir to combine.
• Serve immediately and top each individual serving with a pat of butter, if desired.

Rachel's Broccoli Rabe with Sausage

As promised, here is the Broccoli Rabe with Sausage that I made the other night to go along with the Shallota Flavor Spaghetti. Although I thought it was a rather strange combination of foods at first, it was actually a pretty decent accompaniment to the spaghetti. It added a vegetable and a bit of protein to the meal which otherwise would have been lacking. Unfortunately, there were some mixed emotions over this one in our house though. I thought it was pretty bland tasting, but the soon-to-be-hubby just loved it. I chalk it up to the fact that he would probably eat grass if it had a bit of sausage mixed in. Broccoli rabe can be rather bitter, and this just never seemed to cook out enough for me. If you decide to make this and like spicy food, I would definitely add some chili flakes or something just to give it a little more zing.

Making it was a breeze though. Rachel came up with a nice way of preparing the whole thing - boil water in a deep skillet and then drain the pasta and use the same pan to saute it all together. I never would have thought to boil a veggie in a big pan! I actually used our big non-stick wok and it worked perfectly. Although I wasn't head-over-heels for this one, I'll give it an A+ for clean-up.

Broccoli Rabe with Sausage
Adapted from 30 Minute Meals - Rachel Ray

1 large bundle broccoli rabe (1 1/4 - 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt
2 tablespoons EVOO
1 pound bulk Italian hot or sweet sausage (or a combination)

• Fill a large saute pan or wok about 3/4 full of water and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Chop the broccoli rabe into a few inch pieces, trimming off the stalky ends.
• Add a handful of salt to the boiling water then add the broccoli pieces and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Carefully drain the broccoli rabe and water from the pan.
• Using the same pan, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat.
• Add sausage and use a wood spoon to break it apart as it begins to brown.
• After sausage is browned (6-7 minutes), add the broccoli rabe back into the pan and toss to combine with sausage.

Mary's German Potato Salad

I find that I'm very partial to which tv cooks I decide to trust with my dinner, so when a new one shows up on the scene I'm always a bit skeptical. Enter Mary Nolan. As skeptical as I am, her title sold me on her show - Chic and Easy. This totally defines my personal style and the way I like things. Although I'm a bit uneasy about my abilities to produce anything "chic" in the kitchen, I was quite intrigued by the "easy" aspect.

After watching this show, I have to be honest, I was not feeling so tight with Mary. She uses a lot of "I" language and did not seem all too relatable. She also made a comment about how her grandparents used to own a farm with chickens and how she loved meeting the chickens before they were served up at dinner...totally creepy! I'm all for eating locally and knowing what you're putting into your body, but this was a little extreme. Needless to say, we will not be discussing the chicken dish she made on that show.



The potato salad, however, looked totally delicious and was unlike any potato salad I had seen before. This is not your typical backyard picnic potato salad. This one is served hot with a heaping pile of bacon. It's practically a meal in and of itself (and considering that I totally burnt the pre-marinated roast from the grocer that was supposed to be the main part of the meal, it was exactly that). It was tasty and very easy, but it certainly was not chic! In fact, it looked a bit of a mess. If you can get past the physical aspects, this is definitely worth making when the weather is a little cooler, as it is rather heavy. The combination of the bacon and the mustardy type sauce was just awesome, and it's already been requested to make a repeat appearance by my soon-to-be hubby. It would certainly make a nice replacement to the tried-and-true mashed potatoes, or even as a main course if the rest of your meal seems to hit a bit of a snag ;)


Thanks Mary - I'll keep watching and trying and maybe we'll end up BFFs after all!

Mary's German Potato Salad
Adapted from Chic and Easy - Mary Nolan

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (I used 4 medium sized)
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced chives (These are meant for garnishing -- I'm lazy and didn't add them.

• Put the potatoes in a pot and fill with water until it is a few inches above the spuds. Add some salt to the water and up the heat until the water starts to boil.*
• Cook potatoes for 15-20 minutes or until they feel tender when you poke them with a fork. I would say it's definitely more on the 20 minute side, as when I was eating the salad it seemed like they could have been a bit softer in the center.
• When the potatoes have cooked, drain and slice them. I chopped them up a bit as I didn't want to huge pieces, but size to whatever your heart desires.
• While the potatoes are cooking, fry up your bacon until it's nice and crispy over medium-high heat.
• Blot it on a paper towel lined plate and discard of bacon grease until there is only about 1/4 cup left in the pan.**
• In the bacon pan, turn the heat down to medium and toss in the chopped onion. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the onions start to look slightly clear.
• In a small bowel combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard and salt.
• Whisk vinegar mixture into the pan containing the cooked onions until it begins to boil a bit and thickens up.
• Add potatoes and toss to combine with sauce.
• Place in serving bowl and crumble bacon over top.
• Serve immediately.

*I boiled the water first and then went to add the potatoes before realizing I did it backwards. I started over, but have no idea if it would have made a difference. I think it might have just increased cooking time -- thoughts?

**Note - it is not a good idea to put bacon grease down your kitchen drain or to attempt to pour it into a disposable plastic bottle because you think you have devised a "smart" way of disposing of it. Not that I think anyone would ever actually do something so unintelligent....

It's Summer!

You know it's finally summertime when the weather gets uncomfortably warm, you have a strange desire to go to work in your bathing suit and BBQ invites flood your inbox. Even though barbecuing in the city generally entails standing over a stove with a grill plate and turning the A/C off to imitate the "outside," New Yorkers will use any excuse to throw a party and socialize with friends, and there is no better way to do that than by having a good-ole BBQ. So this year, I'm coming prepared. No, I won't be venturing into the uncharted territory of throwing one of those wonderful parties myself, but I most certainly hope to be attending my share and will want to bring a stellar accompaniment to all that "grilled" meat.

So this year I'm coming with Nigella's coleslaw. This dish is super simple if you are lucky enough to own one of those Cuisinart choppers (thank-you wedding registry!). Otherwise, you could chop everything up with a knife at the small cost of your time and sanity, or just go to the grocery store and buy one of those pre-chopped coleslaw packages (if only life was full of decisions of these sorts...).

This dish is not only simple and yummy, but it screams summertime, and will be sure to make you a standout at any BBQ.

Nigella's New Orleans Coleslaw
Adapted from Nigella Express - Nigella Lawson, 2007

1 head white or savoy cabbage, about 2 pounds before prepared
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
4 scallions
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Salt & Pepper
2/3 cup chopped pecans (I used candied pecans because it was all I had and they made it delicious! If you have them or can find them I would definitely give it a try.)

• In the food processor chop up the cabbage into thin strips.
• Peel and grate the carrots.
• Slice the celery and scallions pretty finely.
• Combine the mayo, buttermilk, syrup and vinegar together in the bottom of a large bowl and whisk together. Add all the veggies on top and toss to combine.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. (For those of you who don't quite understand this line and have no idea what their "taste" for salt and pepper might be - like me - than just add a little bit-by-bit and keep tasting along the way. It's like blush, it's easy to add but hard to take away!).
• Top with pecans.
• Bring to BBQ and impressive friends/relatives/the cute guy who just moved into the neighborhood.