A new twist on gyoza!

I've been very busy networking and marketing my business but I wanted to make sure I told you all about my most recent epiphany!  I am going to try to cook things that are out of my usual comfort zone this year and even if the food isn't perfect, I will write about the mistakes I make.  

So... my first attempt to do this was last week - my Aunt was in town and I wanted to try making Gyoza (aka Japanese potstickers).  I had seen a few recipes online but decided on La Fuijimama's "Super Top Secret recipe."  I met Rachael recently (such a doll!) and have spent some time perusing her other recipes - she spent a great deal of time in Japan so I knew these would be great.

I was going attempt to make the wrappers from scratch but didn't have time to do it so I bought gyoza wrappers in the refrigerated section of the regular grocery store.  You can use wonton wrappers if that's what you find, but you'll have to use a biscuit cutter (or a drinking glass) to make those square wrappers round.  

Since we were eating with my mostly vegetarian sister and brother in law, I decided to make one with meat and one with vegetables.  Both actually tasted delicious!  

turkey gyoza mixture

vegetarian gyoza mixture

I followed Rachael's recipe exactly as noted except instead of using pork, I used lean ground turkey meat.  I thought that the meat would end up taking on the flavors of the filling contents (ginger, green onion, miso) and the turkey at the market looked a lot better than the very fatty looking ground pork.  Do check out her recipe as she has amazing photos and very precise directions showing how to pleat the gyoza.

my gyoza before cooking

For the vegetarian gyoza, I mixed a lot of the same flavors but instead of meat included crimini mushrooms (chopped small) and shredded carrot.  I also added hoisin just for another layer of flavor and to help the hard pieces of mushroom soften up a bit.  These sort of "hard" pieces made a few of the gyoza rip and the mixture didn't hold well together.  I might cook down the mushroom a bit next time (although following Rachael's directions did cook all the veggies through).

I found the pleating of the wrappers to be very intuitive.  Once I got a few of them down, I could have done 100 of them.  I was definitely "in the zone" while making them.

One thing to say about storage...  If you aren't going to cook them right away, do not store these on wax paper in a tupperware container, like I did.  Parchment paper worked much better.  Wax paper made the wrappers a little wet/mushy. These gyoza could also be prepared (but not cooked) days ahead of time (say, before the Super Bowl?) and frozen.

Don't go too crazy with the gyoza sauce, it is not complicated to make.  Definitely don't buy any of the bottled sauces in the "Asian aisle" in the grocery store - all you need is three ingredients: soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil.  I threw some roasted sesame seeds in just for a little somethin' extra.

Unfortunately, my first couple of batches stuck to the pan, but I know that I didn't let them brown enough (too afraid of burning them!) I should have allowed more time for them to steam.

Have you attempted to make gyoza before?  How did you do?  What are some recipes that you've been afraid of trying?  I'd love to see some listed below!

Chow for Now!  :)

http://chowfornowchef.com

Comforting meals with some of my favorite moms!

Now, I don't know if I'll ever be a mom, but I am getting a lot of practice being the best aunt (blood related and otherwise). :)

Yesterday, I had a lovely lunch with my friend Diana who, even with an almost four month old in tow provided a very gourmet lunch of seafood terrine and cold cucumber soup.  Where does she find the time?  I think she might secretly have a clone.... I provided a loaf of french bread made earlier that day.  We also had delicious homemade crunchy almond cookies whipped up by my friend, baker and artist, Nicole. Didn't get a picture because we ate them too fast but they were scrumptious!

Today was another day of pampering those whom I adore and it started with providing much needed banana chocolate chip muffins to my very cute, pregnant friend Mandy who, in addition to becoming a good comrade, is also my personal chef guru.  We had a great chat and delicious tea and muffins and discussed, what else?  BABIES!  She is a glowing 5+ months along and I even got to see little boy Unruh kick (or punch) a few times in my visit...no doubt a reaction to the muffins: "more, mommy, more!"

After that visit I headed over to my sister and brother in law's to try out a new recipe that I got from Vegetarian Times.  Don't get excited meat lovers, I am not going veg, but I did subscribe to get some more ideas for my non meat dinners and also for future vegetarian/vegan clients.

I decided to make Poblano White Chili and corn bread.  Both came out really great!

Poblano White Chili
from Oct 2010 Vegetarian Times magazine

3 c cooked white beans or 2 15 oz cans white beans, rinsed and drained
1 recipe Rajas (see below)
2 c low sodium vegetable broth
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 c fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/2 c chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
1 T lime juice
1/4 c low fat milk
3 oz goat cheese
1/4 roasted pumpkin seeds

Rajas:
Roast and peel six  poblano or Anaheim peppers, slice into 1/4 in strips and set aside.  Heat 2 tsp vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 large onion, sliced thin and two cloves of garlic, minced and cook 6-9 minutes or until onion is soft and golden brown.  Add 1 tsp dried oregano and poblano strips and cook 3 or 4 minutes more or until heated through.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chili:
1.  Bring beans, Rajas, broth, oregano and cumin to a simmer in saucepan over medium heat.  Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in corn, cilantro and lime juice.  Season with salt and pepper if desired,  Cook 2 minutes more.

2.  Warm milk in a separate saucepan.  Add goat cheese and stir until smooth.  Serve chili with goat cheese sauce, pumpkin seeds and cilantro.
-----------------------------------------

For the most part I followed this recipe pretty closely.  To save time you could prepare the Rajas and refrigerate ahead of time.  You can also roast the pumpkin seeds earlier.  I used sliced almonds since that was something I already had in the house and I knew the flavor and crunch would work well.  When using store bought Vegetable broth (or chicken, or beef) do look at the nutritional information.  These products are notorious for having a LOT of sodium.  I picked a brand that had 330 mg per one cup servings... some of the ones I picked up, including popular brands had almost 1000 mg of sodium!  That's way too much. 

This dish was great and the corn bread had a sweet/hot taste that really tasted great with the chili. The chili could easily be made into a meat-based dish by adding sauteed sausage, ground chicken or turkey.

What is your favorite way to pamper a loved one?  Comfort foods?  Chocolate?  Feel free to share here! 

Chow for now!  :)

My diet could use a healthy change. How about some quinoa and vegetables?

After a weekend of more home made breads (french loaf for one house, rolls for another and blueberry almond ricotta muffins for both) I was definitely in need of a healthy dinner.  I have lots of vegetables from the farmers market this weekend and wanted to get them in my body!  And with the heatwave in LA, I wanted to make something that didn't require too much heat in the kitchen.

I started perusing my recently purged cabinets and found a bag of quinoa that I hadn't opened yet.  Quinoa is one of those grains that has become popular in recent years... it is used a lot of vegetarian and gluten free diets because quinoa has lots of fiber, vitamins (especially thiamin, folate and B6), minerals (especially iron and magnesium) and protein that can sometimes be lacking in specialty diets.  When you combine quinoa with some fresh diced vegetables and a delicious low fat dressing, you've got all you need for a great well-rounded dinner.

While the quinoa was cooking, I searched around my kitchen to see what I had to add.  Cucumber, cilantro and carrots sounded like a nice combo.  I made a southwestern dressing of olive oil, lime juice, minced shallots, cumin, Spike and salt and added all ingredients to the quinoa. What a great concoction! Next time I make this, I would add avocado for another layer of flavor, color and texture and maybe even some black beans and corn to let the southwestern theme shine through. 

Quinoa, brown or wild rice, farro, and really any grain can be the base for a healthy dinner as long as you add a variety of vegetables and herbs/spices.  Play around with flavors and let me know what you come up with!

What kinds of foods are you trying to add to your meals to give you a more well rounded diet?  Feel free to share here.

Chow for now!  :)

Vegetarians need not apply

I want to start  off by saying have absolutely nothing against vegetarians (some of my best friends are vegetarians!) and I completely understand wanting to go meat free in this day of corporations buffing up every animal from chicken to swine with corn corn and more corn and hormones and salt water and whatever else.  But I am not sure how one can attend culinary school without being open to trying foods you don't normally eat. 

My team had a big discussion tonight about foods we like/dislike.  For instance, one of my team members doesn't like watermelon, but she tried the balsamic watermelon amuse bouche that we made. She still didn't like it but she TRIED it.  We also have a vegetarian on our team, but she's not in the culinary program, rather is getting a pre-requisite for her MS in nutrition so I give her a pass.  It made me wonder about people who may be vegan, vegetarian, hate orange foods, whatever... how difficult it would be to go through culinary school without tasting everything you cook!  So curious!

Tonight we worked on our chopping again, and also made a very nice meal.  Started with the amuse bouche and an amazing salad of baby greens, candied walnuts (which we made ourselves), dried cranberries, chevre (goat cheese), asian pears and a balsamic vinaigrette.  We also worked on marinades and dry rubs and made a marinaded chicken thigh dish and a really nice dry rub for pork loin (or tenderloin).  The pork recipe is below.  The best hint I can give you is keep your eye on the temperature of the pork.  You don't want underdone OR overdone pork.  It is no bueno.

Cumin Roasted Pork Loin with Apples and Onions

1 lb pork loin, trimmed of fat
1T cumin, ground
1/2 t curry powder
1t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 oz butter
4 oz onions, medium dice
1/2 t garlic, minced
1 medium apple, medium dice
2 oz white wine
2 oz chicken stock

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine cumin, curry, salt and pepper and rub the pork with the mixture.

Heat butter in a saucepan and saute the pork over medium heat until well bronwed on all sides.  Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the pork to a parchment paper lined sheet pan and roast in the oven until cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees.*

While the loin is roasting, reheat the saute pan, adding butter and saute the onions and garlic until transparent.  Add the apples and saute until tender.  Deglaze the pan with the wine and stock.  Bring to a biol and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

Let the meat rest at 10 minutes.  Slice the pork (1/4") and serve on a bed of onions, apples and sauce.

* If you use tenderloin, you will probably only need to cook it in the oven for 10 minutes after browning in the pan.

Do you have a favorite marinade or dry rub recipe that you use often?  Any thoughts on attending culinary school on a special diet?

Chow for now.  :)