recipes

1 comment on "I made dumplings yesterday"

I made some pork and celery dumplings last night and they came out really good. They were surprisingly easy to make!

And I’m very shocked by it, because I’ve always wanted to make dumplings from scratch but held off because I thought they would be too hard for me. But they were really easy.

  • 1-1/4 pound of ground pork
  • 3 or 4 celery stalks finely minced
  • 1/3 cup of finely chopped carrot
  • 2 scallions minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp finely minced ginger
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tsp oyster sauce
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
  • 1/2 C water
  • 2 packages dumpling wrappers or homemade wrappers
  1. If you’re making homemade wrappers, add 4 cups all-purpose flour to a large bowl and gradually mix in 1-1/3 cups of tepid water. It might seem hard, but knead it into a smooth dough. It will take about 10 minutes. Cover with a plate and set aside for 1 hour.

  2. Put the minced celery in a small bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes to release the excess water.

  3. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the carrots for about 2 minutes until they’re slightly softened. Turn off the heat and let them cool.

  4. Squeeze the excess water out of the celery and add them to a large bowl with the ground pork, carrots, ginger, scallions, sugar, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. Using a pair of chopsticks, begin stirring the mixture in one direction, gradually streaming in the Shaoxing wine and water. Mix about 10 minutes until you get an emulsified paste.

  5. If you bought dumpling wrappers, moisten the outer edges of a wrapper and add 1 tablespoon of filling to the center. Pleat the dumpling closed, using additional water to make sure it’s completely sealed. Continue wrapping dumplings until all filling is gone.

  6. If you made your own wrapper dough, divide the dough into small pieces and roll into balls. Use a rolling pin to flatten the balls into thin 3-1/2 inch circles. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of a wrapper and pleat the edges together. Continue wrapping dumplings until all filling is gone.

  7. Pan-fry, steam, or boil dumplings. Lay uncooked dumplings on a parchment paper covered sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until they’re solid, then separate them into Ziploc bags or freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Enjoy.

How to pan-fry dumplings: Add a couple tablespoons vegetable oil to a frying pan over medium heat. Add dumplings and fry until the bottoms of the dumplings are lightly golden brown and flip. Hold up the pan lid to block any splash-back and add about 1/2 cup water to the pan (around the dumplings, not on them!) then immediately put the lid on the pan. Let the dumplings continue cooking about 7 minutes while the water steame away. Then uncover the pan and continue cooking until the pan is dry and the bottoms of the dumplings are crispy.

How to steam dumplings: Add dumplings to a steamer and steam on medium to medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes.

How to boil dumplings: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop in the dumplings and stir them around so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Bring the water back to a boil and cook for 6-8 minutes, depending on the dumpling size. Whenever the water comes to a vigorous boil, add an additional 1/4 cup of cold water to calm things down a little and prevent the dumplings from getting starchy.

Cooking frozen dumplings: Steam for 10 minutes, boil for 8 minutes.

I didn’t have Shaoxing wine, so I used white cooking wine, and I didn’t want to deal with mincing ginger so I bought a tube of ginger paste and used that.

When making the wrappers, I split the dough in two, then formed two long tubes and used a pastry cutter to split the tubes into smaller pieces. Then I cut those pieces in half, and those halves were what I rolled into balls and then tried to flatten into circles. I actually ended up with some pretty large-sized dumplings.

I had a really hard time making my wrappers circle-shaped. Like, none of them were circles. So next time, I’m going to search out my dumpling maker thing and use it to cut perfect circles out of the rolled dough. That just seems much more effective and simple.

I boiled the dumplings because I couldn’t remember the proper way to pan-fry them off the top of my head. And I noticed oil releasing into the water, which kind of surprised me. Then later, when eating them, all the juices trapped inside were like their own tasty soup. I could really taste the sesame oil, but not really the celery.

I’m really thinking about getting a bamboo steamer to cook things more healthier. So if I really get into making my own dumplings it will be worth it to invest in a steamer.

Steamer storage and steamer cost are the biggest hurdles right now. There’s really not a lot of space available in the kitchen. So I have a tendency to buy cooking gadgets, then they take up counter and cabinet space until someone else gets frustrated and they disappear. Then I need them and I’m SOL.

~HarperWCK

Heroes & Villains at Amazon
0 comments on "Cheap Food: Instant oatmeal; Rotisserie chicken"

CHEAP FOOD pt 2

I guess I’m a very simple person. I want my food to be food, and I don’t need a lot of the extras that some people want. Like, eating shaved gold just seems like a ludicrous waste of money and gold to me.

Instant Oatmeal

I buy the packets of instant oatmeal, though I really only eat the apple cinnamon flavor. I leave the other flavors for other people because I’m nice like that 😛 (Seriously: You don’t want everyone in your family to like the same things, because that way leads to all your favorite cookies and snacks being eaten before you can get to them. If each person has their own tastes, there’s no fighting over the ice cream or the lunch meat or the chips, and nobody has to hide their food to keep others from getting to it first.)

Anyways, I like the instant oatmeal packets because 1) they’re convenient, 2) once you pour the oatmeal in a bowl the paper packet can be used as a measuring cup for the water, and 3) you don’t have to worry about someone accidently dumping the whole canister or using it all without saying anything so there’s only powder left in the bottom.

My favorite flavor is the apple cinnamon, and my least favorite flavor is the maple and brown sugar. And of course, EVERY box of mixed flavors includes the maple and brown sugar because of course.

I’ve found though, that buying a bag of frozen blueberries is very convenient. They’re tasty, you can use them in all kinds of recipes, and they’re pretty cheap.

So, if I have to eat the maple and brown sugar flavored instant oatmeal, I can doctor it up by adding a handful of frozen blueberries before putting the bowl in the microwave and it actually becomes pretty tasty. And on special occasions, when I take the oatmeal out of the microwave, I can top it with a small scatter of chocolate chips and they’ll be a little added treat.

The apple cinnamon oatmeal is always good as-is. But all instant oatmeal makes a tasty and filling meal, whether it comes from a packet or a canister you have to doctor yourself.

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

I shop at Safeway and I have a For U account, which means I get rewards points for buying groceries. $1 = 1 point, and 100 points = 1 reward point, and there’s usually offers to earn 2x or 4x points.

Anyways, you can redeem the rewards points for various things (the offers change so you have to keep an eye out). Like, 1 reward point can get you 2 cans of vegetables or a container of sour cream, 3 rewards can get you a box of ice cream sandwiches or a package of ground turkey, and 4 rewards can be redeemed for a whole rotisserie chicken.

I usually go for the chicken, especially now that the price is so high, and if I do things right I can get at least 2 family meals out of one chicken.

Spicy chicken and rice–Take about half the chicken breast meat and shred it. Sprinkle with a little salt, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper. If you’ve got some diced green onion that will add some nice flavor. Add a few drops of sesame oil, and mix the chicken until every bit is coated with flavor. Eat with rice.

Chicken noodle soup–Strip off all the meat and set aside. Simmer the bones and skin with or without vegetable scraps to make a broth. Remove the bones and discard. Strain the broth and set aside. Sauté chopped onion and celery, maybe some crushed garlic and chopped peppers, then add the broth to the pan and raise to a simmer with some chopped carrots and other vegetables (bok choy, peas, potatoes, spinach, kale, cabbage, etc.) and egg noodles if you want noodles. Chop up some chicken and add to the soup. Season to taste. Can be eaten with noodles or served over rice.

Chicken salad–Chop up some chicken, celery, and onions and mix with mayonnaise for chicken salad sandwiches. Some people like to add diced apple, grapes, shredded carrot, shredded cheese, chopped broccoli, etc. Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate at least 20 minutes to let the flavors develop. You can serve on bread, wrapped in a tortilla, stuffed in a pita, with lettuce and tomato and a slice of cheese, or even mixed together with like a rotini or a shell pasta as a pasta salad.

Chicken and kimchi–Add kimchi and some kimchi juice to a pan and cook about 2 minutes, then add chopped or shredded chicken and mix together. Cook until the kimchi is tender and the chicken is hot. Serve with rice.

Seriously: Cooked kimchi is a different experience from uncooked kimchi. It’s good uncooked, it’s good fried, it’s good in soups, and every way is a different taste experience.

Other things to use a rotisserie chicken for:

  • chicken fried rice (use yesterday’s rice)
  • make some chicken gravy and add chopped chicken to serve over mashed potatoes
  • sauté onions and peppers to serve in a wrap with shredded chicken
  • chop up chicken to use in a Caesar salad
  • mac and cheese with chunks of chicken

There’s lots of things to be done with a rotisserie chicken. Especially if it’s a “free” chicken.

~Harper Kingsley
https://www.harperkingsley.net/blog
https://twitter.com/harperkingsley0
https://paypal.me/harperkingsley
https://kimichee.com.
https://patreon.com/harperkingsley.
https://ko-fi.com/harperwck.
https://amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0.

Allies & Enemies at Amazon
0 comments on "Cheap food: Egg soup; Flour soup"

CHEAP FOOD

I make food. I don’t call myself a chef or anything formal like that, but I do make the food my family eats and there’s very few complaints.

I would probably write a cookbook if I had formal training and some official record of amounts. But I cook more by feel and taste than anything, adding ingredients in the amounts that please me in the moment.

So here’s some "recipes," though I leave the amounts of spice to the tastes of the eater. You know what you like best after all.

EGG "SOUP"

  • eggs
  • water
  • green onions, chopped
  • jalapenos, cut in rings (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

One of the things I liked eating as a kid was a kind of egg soup that was both cheap and easy to make. It can be eaten with rice or alone.

You set some water to boiling, then crack in eggs while stirring. You don’t want to whip the eggs, as you want there to be solid bits of white and yolk, but if you mix in the first egg it will flavor the water into a more broth-y flavor, and the following eggs can be broken up to cook without thoroughly mixing together. (A nice swirl of white and yellow without there being whole yolks.) Season with salt and pepper.

Add the green onions and jalapenos and simmer until the jalapenos are tender and the egg has formed a semi-solid. Sort of like a jell-o or a pudding consistency, where the egg can be cut with a spoon and eaten right out of the pan.

More water if you want it more soupy, less water if you want it to be a delicate egg dish. You can add some bouillon or a few drops of sesame oil to the broth, but it tastes good with just the eggs and green onions as the base flavor.

If you don’t have green onions or jalapenos, you can flavor the eggs with a little crushed red pepper, garlic powder, sesame oil, and salt and pepper. Maybe a small splash of soy sauce if you like.

FLOUR SOUP

  • flour
  • water

Whatever anyone says, flour and water is all that’s needed to make noodles. And if you don’t have a pasta press or the willingness to roll out and cut noodles, you can make a dough that you spoon or tear directly into your soup broth.

You mix flour with water in a bowl to a consistency of cooked oatmeal–not watery and not solid, but thick enough that if you scoop some up with a spoon it won’t immediately plop off,

I like to add salt, garlic powder, and paprika to my "dough" mix, as it will cook in the flavor, but you can leave it plain or add other flavors if you like.

You mix the "dough," cover it, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. This will cool it and give it a chance to thicken a bit.

When you’re ready to cook, you make a broth and add whatever vegetables and meat you’d like, then when it’s about 10 minutes from being done, you raise it to a soft boil and drop the dough in to cook, lowering the heat to a simmer once the dough is added.

I use a metal spoon and I keep my dough bits to about the size of my pinkie tip. If you drop in bigger bits you’ve got to cook them longer, or pea-sized bits cook shorter. You can tell the dough is cooked when you cut it in half and it’s no longer doughy in the middle and it doesn’t taste of flour (has kind of a translucence to it). You might have to experiment a bit, so if you want to cook a few pieces in a simmering broth to see how long it takes, it’s cool. Just put the rest of the dough back in the fridge until you’re ready.

Now, when adding the dough, I like to dip my spoon in the hot broth first, then I scoop the dough from the bowl a bit at a time, working from one edge inward (don’t scoop from the middle!).

Using a metal spoon–regular cutlery, nothing special–I try to aim for scooping about 1/3 of the spoons bowl. Like, not mounded, just a dip of the dough. And because the spoon is wet and hot, the dough will fall right off into the soup bloop.

I drop the dough into the bubbling soup a spoon at a time, making sure that the drops don’t touch each other and not stirring until the dough has a few seconds to add a skin around itself–you’re making soup, not lumpy gravy.

Once the dough is beginning to solidify, you can stir it down into the soup to free up the surface for more dough.

They’re not lovely perfect noodles–they’re like small spreading lumps–but if they’re thoroughly cooked they add a heartiness to a soup as chewy "noodles."

For my broth, I like fish bouillon, but you can use beef, chicken, or vegetable bouillon–whatever you like. If you’ve got leftover cooked meat you can chop that up and add it, same with canned clams and clam juice if you want a more seafood flavor. For vegetables I like spinach, kale, cabbage, zucchini, and bok choy, but depending on the flavor profile you’re going for you could add okra, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, potatoes, carrots, or peas, whatever you like. You can even use kimchi for a spicy "vinegary" kick.

I like a fish broth with a splash of soy sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic powder, a little mirin, and then a few drops of sesame oil when the soup’s almost done.

Add the dough when the broth is boiling, then lower to a simmer until the "noodles" are thoroughly cooked.

You can eat the soup alone or with a side dish of white rice if you need it to go farther and be more filling.

More food posts to come…

~Harper Kingsley
https://www.harperkingsley.net/blog
https://twitter.com/harperkingsley0
https://paypal.me/harperkingsley
https://kimichee.com.
https://patreon.com/harperkingsley.
https://ko-fi.com/harperwck.
https://amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0.

The Way of the Househusband 01 at Amazon
1 comment on "While I’m thinking of it: The wrong way to make pizza"

The Kid and I made pizza tonight and ruined it.

I’ve made my own pizza before — it’s super easy — and I usually line my cookie sheet with tinfoil to keep the mess to a minimum. But tonight I wanted to try waxed paper. Big mistake.

The pizza came out with its own paper wrapper that refused to peel off. It was a terrible situation, and an otherwise beautiful and lovingly prepared pizza was ruined.

I should have taken some pictures to show you. Looking at the beauty of the pre-baked pizza would have made you weep, especially when we were trying to get the paper off and ended up just eating all the pepperoni and cheese.

Next time I make pizza, I’ll take some pics to show you how it’s supposed to look.

*

Easy Pizza

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 pkg active dry yeast
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Seasonings to taste
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
  • 1 cup warm water
  • spaghetti or pizza sauce
  • mozzarella cheese
  • toppings

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 375-degrees F.
  • Wrap a cookie sheet with tinfoil. Or use a pizza pan if you don’t like rectangular pizza.
  • In a large bowl add 3 cups flour, 1 pkg active dry yeast, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp white sugar, and seasonings (I usually add garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Makes the crust not so bland. If you don’t have any spices, you can have a plain crust and it tastes fine.)
  • Add 2 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil and 1 cup warm water. Mix with your hand, kneading into the bowl. Keep stretching and folding the dough until there’s no loose flour or crumbly bits and the dough becomes smooth and easy to work.
  • At this point you can either use the dough as is, or cover and let sit for half an hour. I usually just throw it on the pan because I’m hungry/impatient or both.
  • Plop the dough in the middle of the tinfoiled baking sheet, and working from the middle toward the edges, use your fingers and palms to spread the dough. It will seem like there’s not nearly enough dough, but keep working it and it will stretch to cover a whole 15″ x 10″ pan. Try to keep the same thickness across the whole pizza and you can add a bit of a lip around the edge to give yourself some crust if you like it.
  • Spread with spaghetti or pizza sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Arrange your toppings as you like. (I like Canadian bacon, diced tomatoes, black olives, and jalapenos, though pepperoni pizza is always a classic. You can even change up the sauce and experiment a little.)
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let stand at least 5 minutes before cutting. (Give your cheese a chance to firm up before slicing. Otherwise you’ll start cutting and all your toppings will slide off.)

Making a pizza at home can feed your family for less than $5 per pizza.

(Prego spaghetti sauce: $1.88-2.50 a jar and you only need a small amount; Canadian bacon or pepperoni: $2-3 for a package and you can make 2-3 pizzas if you don’t eat all the slices; shredded mozzarella cheese: $1.50-3 for a package; flour: $3 for a whole bag; white sugar: $2-3 for a whole bag; active dry yeast packets: $1.50-3 comes 3-to-a-pack; salt: $0.50-0.90 for a canister; Italian seasoning: $0.50-2 for a shaker bottle; and garlic powder: $0.50-2 for a shaker.)