Dumplings

I used to live in China. It was a wonderful experience and I miss so much about it- especially my many dear friends. While I was there, I had the chance to travel, to experience many aspects of the culture, and to indulge in one of my favorite things: Chinese food. I was fortunate, too, to have the opportunity to learn how to make many of my favorite dishes including dumplings (called jiaozi in Chinese).

I have many sweet memories of large dumpling-making parties around New Years! So, in honor of these memories and since it's an important part of many of my Chinese friends' New Years celebrations, I made some pork filled jiaozi today. They were so delicious!

I used what I remembered from the past to make my dumplings, but for anyone interested in attempting these at home there is a good recipe at About.com. What I can share with you are two tips I picked up in China for boiling them.

The first is to keep your dumplings turning around in the pot. When they are almost done, you'll see that they will float to the top of the pot. The dumplings are glossy at this point and you should keep boiling them for 1-2 minutes more.

The second tip I have to share is for knowing when they are done. After they have been floating at the surface they will start to puff up. When your dumplings lose some of their glossiness and puff up, they should be done.

Finally, here are some photos from my very first time making jiaozi in China.  Such good memories!

My first apartment in China

Preparing the meat

Preparing the dumplings

My first attempt at making a dumpling

Happy Eats!

Recent Baking

So far this hasn't been much of a cooking blog. And well, I guess that's because I don't create a lot of meals. Like I do with crocheting, I like to find the directions for how to make something, get started and then promptly do my own thing. So in the end, I'm not so much creating as modifying other people's recipes.

One of the recipes my hubby tried recently is worth sharing here. He made some AMAZING soft pretzels. Seriously, these were delish (especially lightly salted with nacho cheese sauce for dipping). Here's the recipe (exactly as we/he made them)-

DOUGH
3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) water

TOPPING
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
pretzel salt

DIRECTIONS
Mix and knead the dough ingredients together—by hand, mixer, or machine—till the dough is cohesive and fairly smooth. It should be slightly sticky; if it seems dry, sprinkle it with a tablespoon or two of water. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface, fold it over a few times to gently deflate it, then divide it into six pieces, each weighing about 3 1/4 ounces. Roll each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope.

In a shallow bowl, mix together the water, sugar and baking soda. Shape each rope into a pretzel, and dip in the baking soda solution; this will help the pretzels brown. Sprinkle with pretzel salt if desired, and bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove them from the oven and serve warm. Yield: 6 large pretzels.

The credit for this recipe goes to King Arthur Flour (sidenote: have you heard of this flour company before? Where'd he find this, I wonder?). And here's a link for these guys. Yum!

Week One

Week one of the new monthly meal plan has been modestly successful. It's definitely helped me to stay on track with our budget and I think my hubby has enjoyed the meals we've been having. On this week's menu was:

Monday: Baked Tilapia with rice and steamed veggies.

Tuesday: Kung Pao Chicken. My hubby would eat this every week... So would I!

Wednesday: Leftover ham and another potato strudel.

Thursday: Was going to be a baked pasta dish, but we were out shopping and decided to get fast food.

Friday: Taco Hotdish (that's Minnesotan for casserole, don'tcha know).

Weekend: Pizza, finish leftovers, and possibly a roast for Sunday.

Happy Eats!!

Easter Dinner

In the past couple years, one of the ways my cooking has been expanded is through my marriage. Specifically, I've gone from a surviving-on-sandwiches single woman to a what-can-I-create-tonight wife. I never thought I could do it. My cooking pre-hubby was focused on survival. Now, though, it's motivated by the challenge of finding delicious recipes that will satisfy the hubby and save us money, too.

With this in mind, here's a preview of some of what we'll be having on Easter: ham and potato strudel. Yum, I can't wait to start cooking. The potato strudel sounds especially appetizing and I'm excited to work with puff pastry as an ingredient (link here for the recipe). And to save us some money, I bought an extra large ham now while they are discounted, and I plan to use the leftovers in the months ahead.

Moroccan Chicken Stew

I made this for dinner tonight. It's my first meal from the new monthly meal plan. Speaking of that, here are before and after pics of that process. I added ingredient lists to help me shop with less hassle, too.

 

The recipe is from an in-flight magazine, but it can be found here, too. I modified the original based on my larger meal plan and our tastes. Here's how I made it.

Moroccan Chicken Stew

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 medium onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed Tomato Soup
1/3 cup raisins
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat the oil in a 5-quart pot over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken from the pot.
2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until they're tender-crisp. Add the cinnamon and curry and cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in the soup and half can of water and heat to a boil. Return the chicken to the pot. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
3. Stir the raisins and chickpeas in the pot. Cook for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the almonds.
4. Serve over rice or couscous.



The verdict? Yummy!

Happy Tastings!
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Something New

This afternoon I'm working on something new: a monthly meal plan. Since the start of the year, we've been working to whittle down our monthly food costs. The process began with a budget which led to couponing (thanks Coupon Mom and Money Saving Mom) which led to building up a pantry. Next, with my hubby's encouragement, we've begun trying to replace buying processed foods with our own from scratch items when possible. For example, he makes pasta and bread for us. I make broth. I know, not nearly as exciting... But it's good broth! Next up on our list of things to try: monthly meal planning. I have been wanting to get started on this since the beginning, but it's seemed like an overwhelming task. Well, not any more. I've got the house to myself, my recipe binder beside me, some online inspiration, a stack of coupons and I'm ready to start planning!
Wish me luck!