Pork Pot Stickers (Chinese Dumplings) & Dipping Sauce

I've been having a serious craving for good Chinese food and unfortunately, there's no Chinese food
restaurants in our little town that we like.  We had our wedding catered in '08 by a friend who owned the best Chinese restaurant in town, but the building burned down a few years later and she never reopened it.  We've been without good Chinese food in town and the solution to that - make it ourselves.

While these are mildly time consuming, they're actually fairly easy to make.  If two people can get together and make them, it makes it much faster.  One person can be chopping vegetables while the other is adding them to the pork with the wet ingredients.  Then during assembly time, one person can be scooping the mix onto the wraps while the other pinches and seals the dumplings.  Team work!

We always have a ton of vegetables in our house, so we actually had a lot of the ingredients already and it didn't cost us much at all.  If you have to buy all the vegetables and end up with leftovers, just chop it all up for a salad - we eat cabbage and vegetable salads all the time.  Or soup would be another good option for the leftover cabbage, pepper, onion, carrot... man, you could make a killer soup!  

I went old school for tunes with this recipe and pulled out X's "Nausea".  I got to see them a few times in Chicago.  I always think of John Doe (bass player) in the movie "Great Balls of Fire" as Winona Ryder's dad.  I love that movie.  It's so terrible and cheesy and awesome. -jen

PORK POT STICKERS (CHINESE DUMPLINGS)
Prep Time:  about 45 minutes
Rest Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  6 minutes
Difficulty:  Medium
Makes:  about 80

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 cup cabbage (Napa or green), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup carrots, shredded

  

  We've been buying poblano peppers instead of bell peppers because
  they're significantly cheaper and similar in flavour!

  
  

• 1/2 cup green onions, finely diced
• 1/3 cup bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 4 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Sambal (Asian chili paste)
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce 
• 1 teaspoon Chinese mustard (or Dijon mustard)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon corn starch (plus extra for dusting)
• about 80 round pot sticker/wonton wrappers
• oil for frying (vegetable, canola, peanut, etc)
• water for sealing and steaming

Pork and vegetable mix

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except the wonton wrappers, oil and water) until well mixed.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (but you can refrigerate longer).

Sprinkle a baking sheet lightly with corn starch and set aside.  Have a small bowl of water for your assembly.  I worked with 9 at a time on a cutting board, keeping the unused ones covered with plastic wrap so they don't dry out.  Place 1 teaspoon of filling into center of wrapper.  Wet edge of wrapper and fold over, crimping/pinching edges together to seal.  Place pot sticker on the corn starched baking sheet.

 (If you don't want to cook all 80 pot stickers, you can freeze them uncooked on the baking sheet for about an hour, then put in a freezer bag and freeze for later.)

In a large skillet (that has a fitted lid), heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil over a medium high heat.  Add pot stickers to pan, one at a time, in a single layer. (In our 11" skillet, we could fit 18-20 at once.) Do not over-crowd.  Fry for 2 minutes until light golden-brown.  Add 1/3 cup of water, cover and steam for 2 minutes.  Remove lid and continue to fry for another 2 minutes.  If you do a second batch, just add more oil to the pan and let it get hot before adding your second batch and repeat.

Serve hot with dipping sauce (see recipe below).

I like to put the veggies in,
then pour the wet ingredients over them

POT STICKER DIPPING SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon green onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1 teaspoon Sambal
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce 
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce

In a small bowl, add all ingredients.  You can use immediately, but if you make it before you start assembling your pot stickers and stick it in the fridge to let the flavours marry, it tastes way better!

Buttermilk Pumpkin and Oat Muffins

I don't have anything to intro with.  I had pumpkin puree in the freezer from last fall when we got a ton of sugar pumpkins from a friend.  I knew I'd be home today.  I felt like making muffins.  They were awesome.  There's not much else to say.

It's St. Patrick's Day... and there's really nothing Irish about these muffins.  I mean, I'm sure they have pumpkins and muffins in Ireland, so they could be Irish.  But that wasn't really my intention or anything.  I'm just going to use it as an excuse for an Irish tune.  Justin had Dropkick Murphys' "Good Rats" on today, so that's what I'm using.  -jen

BUTTERMILK PUMPKIN AND OAT MUFFINS
Prep Time:  20 minutes
Cook Time:  22-25 minutes
Makes:  12 muffins

Topping:

• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats, uncooked
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Muffins:

• 1.5 cups flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats, uncooked
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup raisins or cranberries
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 orange (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups.

In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients, mix and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans, raisins, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger,  baking soda, salt and orange zest.  Mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fold together just until dry ingredients are moist.  (Do not over-mix.)

Spoon evenly into paper cups.  Sprinkle with topping and bake for 22-25 minutes, until golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes. 

Asian Cabbage Rolls & Cucumber-Tomato Salad

Justin's made an Eastern-European style cabbage rolls a few times and we have a recipe for them here.  But ever since he did, I was thinking of other things we could stuff cabbage rolls with... and I instantly craved an egg roll-type pork filling.  Today I finally remembered to make it, along with a chopped vegetable Asian style salad.

Wow.  I first posted this using a song we already used.  That was smooth.  Let's go with something different.... and angry.  Paint It Black doing "Labor Day".  Because sometimes... it feels like a nine to five death march.  -jen

ASIAN CABBAGE ROLLS
Prep Time:  15-20 minutes
Rest Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  35 minutes
Difficulty:  Medium
Makes:  About 12 rolls

• 1 pound ground pork
•  whole Napa cabbage leaves
• 1.5 cup Napa cabbage, chopped fine
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts, chopped
• 1/3 cup green onions, chopped fine (2-3 medium onions)
• 1/3 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 small jalapeño, finely diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 4 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon Sambal (Asian chili paste)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

On a large cutting board or your counter, use a rolling pin to flatten the whole cabbage leaves, one
leaf at a time.  This will help with the rolling process.  Make sure to break down the ribs.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight.  Drain off any excess juice.  Lay two cabbage leaves out, slightly overlapping with the stems nearest you.  Measure 1/4-1/3 cup of the meat mixture and place in the center of the leaves.  Starting with the stems, carefully roll-up over meat, tucking sides in as you go.

Place rolls seam-side down in a 9x13 baking dish.  (Line with foil for easier clean up!)  Cover tightly with foil and bake at 400 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, until pork is cooked thoroughly (160 degrees).

Serve with Asian Dipping Sauce (recipe below).






ASIAN DIPPING SAUCE
(It's like pot sticker sauce!)

• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons green onion (1 medium onion)
• 1/4-1/2 cup dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Sambal (Asian chili paste)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

CUCUMBER-TOMATO SALAD
Time:   15 minutes
Difficulty:  Easty
Makes:  about 4 cups

• 1 to 1.5 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (about 16)
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped (3 medium onions)
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• juice of 1 lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Split cumbers in half length-wise.  Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and discard.  Dice cucumbers.  Add remaining ingredients and toss.  If you can make this ahead of time, the taste improves after it rests a while. 

Char Siu Pork Ribs (Chinese Barbecue Pork)

I was completely stoked with how the marinade came out for these pork ribs.  These are great as is, just served with a side dish or two.  But I was specifically making them so I could chop them up in the food processor and use them in spring rolls!  I'd happily use this recipe on chicken as well. 

Been listening to old AFI recently, when they were a little faster and a little grittier, so went with "Lower Your Head And Take It In The Body".  -jen

CHAR SIU PORK RIBS (CHINESE BARBECUE PORK)
Prep Time: 6-8 hours for marinating
Cook Time: about 30 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy

• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup hoisen sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce
• 2 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1.5 teaspoons red powdered food colouring
• 3/4 teaspoons orange powdered food colouring
• 1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil
• 4-6 large boneless pork ribs (country-style ribs), about 3 pounds

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients except the pork ribs.  Microwave for 1 minute and whisk again.  Place pork ribs in a gallon sized Ziplock bag and add 2/3 of the char siu sauce to the bag.  Marinate in refrigerator for 6-8 hours.

Add 1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil to the remaining char siu sauce, cover, and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

After marinating, place ribs on a large baking sheet (I recommend lining with foil to make clean up easy because the sugars will burn!)  Roast until rib temperature reaches 120 degrees F (about 20 minutes), turning and basting ribs with remaining sauce every 10 minutes.  When ribs reach 120 degrees internally, turn up heat to 425 degrees F and cook until ribs reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees F (about 10 minutes).  The higher heat at the end helps the charring, but if you're looking for even more of a candied char on the outside, stick 'em under your broiler until they're to your liking.

Asian Salad Dressing & Marinade

Asian Dressing with Chinese Chicken Salad

For years now, when we've wanted an Asian dressing, we've just thrown some crap together.  Some have been good, some have been not-so-good, but we never wrote down what we did.  So a little while ago, I decided I was going to get myself a solid recipe that I could make that would be consistently awesome every time.  Bam!  Here it is!  I love this dressing!  We use it for all kinds of things: green leaf salads with some cucumber, shredded carrot, green onions and cashews; marinade for chicken or pork (but only marinate it for a few hours or the vinegar and lime juice will "cook" the meat and make it kind of mealy); sometimes we'll toss some veggies like broccoli, onions, bell peppers and zucchini with it and then roast them; made a Thai-style 4-bean salad with it.  Very diverse.  Very yummy.

I was in an Elvis mood the other day (because I love Elvis)... but then I remembered U.S. Bombs' "Rocks in Memphis" and had to listen to it again.  You think Lisa Marie has even heard this song?  -jen

ASIAN SALAD DRESSING AND MARINADE
Time:  all of like... 5 minutes, maybe, if you measure slowly
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  1.5 cups

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons hoisen
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• juice and zest of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon hot mustard (or any mustard)
• dash of sriracha (or more, if you want it spicy)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
• 1 cup canola (or vegetable) oil

Combine all ingredients together in a blender and blend for a few seconds!  You can store this in your refrigerator for a few weeks at least.  It should emulsify pretty well, so there shouldn't be much separation.  Just give it a quick shake before use!

Spiced Cider & Pumpkin Bread

Homemade pumpkin puree

I don't really get into the baking mood much, but on Christmas morning this year, I was overcome with the notorious holiday baking bug.  We had two sugar pumpkins getting pretty ripe, so we cut those suckers up and roasted them, then pureed the roasted insides.  I had some delicious, dark cider left over in the fridge, and thought I'd use that and mulling spices in the pumpkin bread!  It was great!  Not especially sweet, but very moist and spiced!  I think I might make this a Christmas tradition.

And nothing says Christmas like busting out some old school Agent Orange being "Too Young To Die".  (And, you know... pumpkins... orange... etc.)  -jen

Roasting sugar pumpkins

SPICED CIDER & PUMPKIN BREAD
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:  60 minutes
Yields:  2 loaves 

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup apple cider
• 4 and 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice 
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously coat 2 loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Combine brown sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and cider.  Add flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, cardamom, orange zest and baking powder and mix until thoroughly combined.  Stir in pecans and divide batter equally into the two loaf pans.  Bake for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool on baking rack until room temp.

Note:  If you'd like to make your own pumpkin puree, quarter a sugar pumpkin and roast at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.  Let cool, remove skin, and puree in a food processor or with an stick blender.  A medium sugar pumpkin will yield about 2 cups of puree.  

Thai Chicken Salad

I'd grabbed a Chinese chicken salad at our local co-op the other day for lunch.  Forgetting how much I love Chinese chicken salad, I came home and told Justin we should come up with one that we dig.  So instead of Chinese, we went with Thai!  I don't think we ever get tired of the combination of cilantro, basil, and mint!  I was a little leery of the chipotle in the dressing (begrudgingly inspired by Bobby Flay), but it was really great!  We both ate giant bowls of this and in between mouthfuls, we just kept exclaiming how awesome the salad was (and how awesome we are!)

For music... well, this is how the conversation went.  Me: What do you want to use for music?  J:  I dunno.  Me:  Did we use Screeching Weasel yet?  J:  "What We Hate" is my favourite of theirs.  Me:  I like that one too.

Not very inspiring, but still a great song from a band we love.  -jen

THAI CHICKEN SALAD
Time:  20 minutes prep at most
Difficulty:  If you can use a knife, you can do it, Nicky!
Serves: 6-8 

• 2-3 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
• 1/2 head Napa cabbage, shredded
• 2 heads Romaine lettuce, shredded
• 4 medium carrots, shredded
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 4 medium scallions, sliced long and thin
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup basil, chopped
• 1/4 cup mint, chopped
• 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter (creamy or chunky, whichever you prefer)
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced chipotle pepper
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon fish oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon lime zest
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• crunchy chow mein noodles

In a large bowl, mix chicken, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, scallions, cilantro, basil, mint and almonds.

In a smaller bowl, whisk vinegar, peanut butter, ginger, chipotle, soy sauce, honey, fish oil, sesame oil, lime zest, and lime juice.  Whisk in vegetable oil until completely blended.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Pour dressing onto salad and toss.  Toss your salad until you can toss it no more.  TOSS IT!!!  Then serve with crunchy chow mein noodles on top (don't mix them in, they'll get soggy).

Tip:  If you think you'll have leftovers, don't mix the dressing with all the greens.  Just pour the dressing on your individual servings, that way your greens don't get soggy in the fridge.

Miso Salmon With Cilantro-Ginger Sauce

I'm walking out of work one day last week, around six o'clock, and in the parking lot is a coworker, standing at the back of his pickup.  He asks me if I'd like some fresh-caught salmon... as if anybody would say no.  Even if you didn't like salmon, you would take fresh salmon, when offered, and then gift it to a friend, who will then think you are probably the most amazing friend they've ever had.  So of course I wanted some of his salmon!  And so on a piece of cardboard on his tailgate, he proceeded to fillet a three foot salmon that he just caught five miles off the coast, and I came home with a giant slab of salmon tail!

We eat a lot of fish, but for some reason, not a lot of salmon.  Justin had a few ideas for cooking it, but I was looking for something just a little different.  I'm not going to lie - I didn't make this recipe up off the top of my head.  I've never even cooked with miso before this (but I will be cooking with it again soon!)  I found a recipe by an infamously evil woman, and though it nearly shamed me to use it... well, it just sounded damn good, and who am I to let morals and ethics stand in the way of delicious grub?  I changed the recipe up a little, so it's not an exact duplicate.  I can't say if my way is better or not, because I've never tried the recipe in its original form.  But mine was delicious... so why even bother with the Mistress of All That Is Dark and Crafty's version?  The cilantro-ginger sauce alone was so delicious that we've already begun to come up with other uses!

For some reason, when I was trying to think of some good nautical themed music for this dish, the first song that popped into my head seemed perfect!  Jawbreaker's, "The Boat Dreams From The Hill".  Fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, but the lyrics also depress the hell out of me, even if they sing "fishy flutter on its rudder".  Maybe the song is apropos.  It's upbeat, but also depressing.  And this dish is delicious, albeit stolen from a villain!  And so I give you salmon and Jawbreaker.  -jen

 

 

MISO SALMON WITH CILANTRO-GINGER SAUCE

• 1 cup white miso
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed, plus one 1 teaspoon
• 4-6 large salmon fillets
• 1.5 cups fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 large shallot, peeled and quartered
• 1 serrano chili, seeded
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (or 2 cloves)
• 1 piece fresh ginger (about 2" in length), peeled and quartered
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

In a medium saucepan combine miso, vinegar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/3 cup water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until miso and sugar have dissolved; cool to room temperature. Marinate salmon in the miso sauce, refrigerated for at least 2 hours.  

 In a blender, combine cilantro, lime juice, shallot, chili, garlic, ginger, oil, and remaining teaspoon of brown sugar. Blend until mixture is smooth.

Heat broiler with the rack in the highest position. Place salmon skin-side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet and broil until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Salmon will flake from skin easily.  Serve with cilantro-ginger sauce.