January 3rd- Crabmeat Dumplings

     After my last recipe, I found myself suddenly unable to cook. I had no idea why and it was starting to bother me a lot. I cooked 2 recipes I thought would be interesting and delicious for all of you, but they turned out horrible.
     The bottom line was, for some reason I just wasn't feeling inspired.
     To be inspired I had to be happy with what I was cooking, and to be happy with what I was cooking, I had to be cooking what I liked.
     Then it hit me. I'd started trying to cook things that looked impressive instead of things that I simply liked to cook.

     That's when I decided today's recipe would be something I really like to do.
     Dumplings.
     It wasn't a hard decision. It's one of my all time favorite things to cook. I love working with dough yet hate waiting for it to rise, and thousands of different fillings can go into dumplings.I see them as a miracle dish.
     The last thing I did with dumplings was Hawaiian. This time I thought doing something closer to Chinese wouldn't be bad. And so I went with crab meat, thinking I'd make it kind of like a non-deep fried crabmeat-ragoon.

     As usual, even if I'm doing a fun and simple dish, I like the flavors to be different. Something to knock old recipes up a notch. I remembered I had an orange left in the fridge from my Orange roughy, and so this recipe was born.

Here's what you'll need!

The skin:
2 cups All purpose flour
3/4th cup Just boiled water
dash of salt
1 Egg yolk

The Filling:
18 oz Crab meat
9 oz Cream cheese
2 tsp Cracked pepper
2 tsp Blood orange zest
2 tsp Sugar

     Ok...So I didn't have any blood oranges in my fridge. I used Tangerines for the roughy. But the tangerine left in my fridge did give me the idea to go out and get the Blood Orange. It adds an interesting mixture of sweetness and tang to the crab.
     Additionally, since I've already given the instruction on dumplings, you can all follow the  directions on this page for the skin. The only real change you need to make is making 24 instead of 18.

     Cut the dough in half three times and then in thirds and you will come up with 24.

Lets get cooking!


     Mix all the ingredients together for the filling, add 1 tbsp of it to each dumplings and close tightly with your fingers, making sure to get out all of the air that you can. Use a fork to seal if your fingers aren't doing the job.
  Steam them for 15 minutes, I did 12 at a time.
  Also pan-fry them in a small bit of oil until crispy and nicely browned on both sides.

3 or 4 of these on the side of your plate make for a great side dish, But the crab meat and cream cheese mixture makes it taste pretty heavy for a main course.

December 2nd- Hawaiian Style Chinese Dumplings

     When you bite into a Chinese dumpling, aka Pot sticker, the last thing you expect is the bang of ham, pineapple, and cheddar cheese! Though the reactions people gave me upon trying it said that it was anything but unpleasant.

     I've been rolling this recipe around in my head for nearly a month now, and I decided today would be the day that I finally tried it.
     I LOVE making dumplings. it's a lot of work and takes a long time but something about it keeps dragging me back. Crafting every single one right down to the dough has a way of making you care that every single one gets eaten and appreciated to its fullest.

     This batch of dumplings was extra large because I felt that the filling being so much more American, needed a bigger bite. I made them twice the size of your average dumpling and about 2 or 3 alone make a satisfying meal.
     I almost used American cheese, figuring it would blend well with the other ingredients, but I opted for a sharp cheddar that would stand out instead.
     This recipe makes 18 of them. But be sure to make a little extra filling just in case.

Here's what you'll need!

Dumpling dough-
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups just boiled water (cool for about 2 minutes)
1 egg yolk
Filling-
1 1/2 cup ham, chopped small
1 1/2 cup pineapple, also chopped small.
3/4ths cup sharp cheddar cheese, chopped small
18 spinach leaves
Other-
Olive oil or Sesame Oil
Black cracked pepper

If you don't have them, you may also want to invest in a rolling pin, a dough cutter, and a steamer of some sort. I just use a strainer over a pan of water.
Alright.

Lets get cooking!

Make the skin-
      First comes the dough. Boil you water and put your flour in a bowl. Once the water is boiling, take it off of the burner and let cool for about 2 minutes.
     Add the water and egg yolk to your flour and mix it into a dough. You'll likely need to use more flour than I listed. Just keep adding more as you knead until you get a nice soft dough that doesn't stick to your counter or hands... Which should also both be well floured, by the way.

Make the filling-
      Set the dough aside in a covered bowl, and in wok or pan mix your ham, cheese, and pineapple. Stir under low heat until the cheese begins to melt.
     Take the filling off of the burner and set aside and Take your dough back out.

Make the dumpling!-
      Knead the dough briefly and add a bit more flour only if needed. Cut the dough into 3 pieces, then cut those in half. and then cut THOSE into 3 pieces. You will end up with 18 medium sized dough balls. Try your best to cut evenly! (If you want to make traditionally sized dumplings, cut all of those in half one more time.)
      On a surface that should still be well floured and kept that way, form the balls into circles, squish them down your your hand. then roll them flat with a rolling pin. They will get pretty big once they are flattened out. do your best to keep them in a round shape.
      Once all your dough balls have become dumpling sheets, take out your spinach and lay one leaf (slightly smaller than half of the dumpling sheet ) on one side of the sheet, leaving a half inch of room for pressing closed.
      Add a small amount of filling ( 2 tbsp is a good estimate, but feel free to experiment until you've found an amount that will easily close but still makes a mouth full )
      Fold the skin over and press down hard to seal. use fork prongs if your fingers wont do the trick. or a dough cutter as a last resort.

     Now comes the easy part, Just steam them for 12 minutes. Once they're all steamed, break out a frying pan and coat liberally with oil. sprinkle in your preferred amount of black pepper and fry on both sides until golden brown. (I use a lot of pepper and fry 3 or 4 at a time. it only takes maybe a minute and a half for both sides to get done. )
     Be careful not to burn them. they will burn FAST with all that hot oil underneath them!

     As delicious as they are, don't forget to share. They're most fun eaten in groups.

Of course...that doesn't mean you shouldn't get the most!