Dumplings!

I was on a mission today, and that mission was dumplings! I thought my plans were thwarted early on when the nice butcher at the market informed me that they were out of ground pork. So, instead I chose a mixture of pork, veal and beef. I also bought shrimp to make yummy pork and shrimp (er, pork/veal/beef and shrimp) shu mai. Here's how it went down...

1/2 lb. shrimp
1/4 lb. ground pork
1 1/2 cloves of garlic
Tablespoon of ginger (fresh)
One green onion, chopped finely
Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 Tablespoon sesame oil
Lemon juice, about a teaspoon
About a tablespoon of cornstarch
A little salt
A little freshly ground pepper

Pre-packaged round dumpling wrappers (Or make your own. Personally, I don't have the patience.) Napa cabbage.

Ground that all in a food processor. (There should still be small chunks of shrimp)
Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture into the middle of each wrapper. Make an "ok" sign with your fingers and start pinching the wrapper. The top of the dumpling should be open.

Line a bamboo steamer with leaves of Napa cabbage and place the dumplings on top of the leaves. Steam for about 12 minutes. Eat!

*Most of the ones I made were shu mai shaped but I got bored of that after a while and made several in a different, half-moon shape, more like gyoza. The picture above shows a couple shu mai shaped dumplings and some of those half-moon ones. They were awesome.

baileys chocolate mousse

This is a heavy, but delicious mousse, almost opposite to what it should be, best served with something that cleanses the pallette.


2 egg yolks
1 dessert spn honey
1/2 lb chocolate
2oz (125g) butter
375ml double cream
50 mls baileys


melt the chocolate and butter in a bain marie.
whisk the yolks and honey as light as they will go
semi-whisk the cream until soft peaks, add the baileys, make it a bit stiffer
add the chocolate to the eggs, thouroughly mix
slowly fold in mixtures, I suggest chocolate to cream

when fully folded , set in fridge.

serving suggestion ..
1 scoop mousse, 1 scoop vanilla icecream, 1 scoop sticky berries

Wild Mushroom Tagliatelle

I saw this recipe while watching Gordon Ramsay's F Word on BBCAmerica. It is exactly the type of thing I want to make for dinner.


Ingredients
8-10 large black field, parasol or portabella mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1/2 tsp salt
500g fresh egg tagliatelle
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
2 tbsp butter
50g freshly grated vegetarian Parmesan
Fresh tarragon leaves, to garnish


1. Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, ready for the pasta. Clean the mushrooms (with kitchen towel or a pastry brush, not under the tap) and slice as finely as possible.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the garlic and fry gently. As soon as it starts to become transparent and tender – about 1 minute – add the mushrooms and salt. Stir gently once, then cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.
3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until al dente. Drain briefly and quickly return to the saucepan. Fold the lemon zest and juice into the pasta with the butter, mushrooms and their juices. Check the seasoning. Fold in the Parmesan, garnish with tarragon and serve immediately.


Now, I don’t see why you have to use vegetarian Parmesan. What is vegetarian Parmesan anyway? I’ll be using regular Parmesan for this one. Unfortunately, our pasta roller is back in Ontario so I’ll be using dried pasta, unless I can find better at a specialty shop.

These are the recipes I love. The making of the pasta notwithstanding, the speed at which you can make this thing is great.

cullen skink

This is a soup I learned in my last job, at first I felt sick even thinking about it, but not only does it work, it was the staple of my existance for 11 months.

"Cullen" is the village/town on the east coast, "skink" is a scots/gaelic/old word for soup.

for house ....
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 block of butter(4oz,125g or thereabouts)
4 large potatoes
3 pieces of smoked haddock
1 litre of milk
parsley
seasoning.

cube potatoes-not too big, not to small (the body of this soup is milk, and they have to be cooked,too big will curdle the milk and too small will turn them to mush)I recommened 1cm3 for house recipe

sweat onions off in butter on a low heat, its important not to cook/colour the butter

add potatoes,sautee- slowly! butter is a big part of this dish and Beurre noisette would not only make it look disgusting but make it taste even more so.

In the mean time sort out the smoked haddock, remove the bone down the middle of the fillets(keep them for stock if you dont mind the soup only lasting a day), chop the fillets into cubes, 2cm at an estimate.

by now the potatoes should be softend a bit, add the milk and simmer until potatoes are soft but still have bite.

add smoked haddock and pepper,leave one minute, turn off heat,leave a few mins.

Add a good pinch of fresh chopped parsley to a bowl and serve, making sure everyone has equal amounts of substance and fluid lol

Dandelion update

Well, I finally managed to try out the dandelion greens I bought ages ago. I sauteed them in a little olive oil with garlic. And the verdict? Disgusting. Far too bitter for my delicate little taste buds. I think I'll have to blanch them first and then saute to cut the bitterness a bit. I still have some left so expect a dandelion update update in the near future.