Gyozas/Dumplings (To mold or not to mold)

This is more of a post on the mold than a recipe. 

It looks more like a bear trap …for teddy bears … it doesn’t look too menacing.

There’s a Japanese store called Daiso, where most everything is RM5 … which translates to about USD$1.50. This contraption caught my attention and was too weird to ignore. 

Normally I like messing about with my fingers, making shapes and out-of-shapes. 

After messing about with this for awhile, I’ve decided that making and shaping dumplings by hand is way faster altho the mold makes it really neat and uniformed.

These Chinese Jicama Dumplings are made by fiddly fingers … not talking about the recipe, just about the shaping and sealing methods. 

The ones in the main pic, I’d used wanton skins and filled it with a stuffing of minced meat, minced shrimp, chopped spring onions, salt and pepper, cornflour to bind it all together and for a silkier texture and the optional beaten egg, also to bind.

You can also fill it instead with sliced bananas and chocolate for a sweet dessert, fried til crisp and served with ice cream or drizzled with maple syrup. 

Wanton skins aren’t just for savouries.

Lemon Scones & Clotted Cream Substitute

When these came out of the oven, my friend walked into the kitchen and this bit of conversation took place ...


Friend : "What's that?"
Me : "Scones".
Friend : " Why are they that shape and not round?"
Me : " Why must scones always be round?"
Friend : "Dunno. They're always round"
Me      : *roll eyes*


Someone tell me why do scones have to be round? I like to free form my scones. So usually I make them into wedges, like these. Does it make a difference in taste? Nope. Still pretty good. 


'Nuff about the scones. Now, we talk about the clotted cream. Why does it have to be clotted cream? I love mine with big chunks of butter and a good jam. Not necessarily strawberry jam (altho it is strawberry jam in this pic). 
We can find Devonshire clotted cream here .... at a cost. And not too many places carry it. Mascarpone, you can find anywhere. This is a really good substitute I must share with you. You might not even need a jam to go with your scones with this ..... Mascarpone Cream. (Found this on Joy of Baking. I've halved the recipe here).


If you still insist on being a stickler for tradition, knock yourself out, but just try this out and then have an opinion.




SCONES
INGREDIENTS 


3 cups plain flour, sifted
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
grated zest of 1 lemon
6 oz cold butter, diced
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 egg yolk


METHOD


Preheat oven to 180˚C.
In a food processor, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add in cold, diced butter and zap a couple of times until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add 1/4 cup of cream and zap to mix. Add another 1/4 cup and zap again. Add the last 1/4 cup of cream gradually so that the dough just comes together. (I used a little less than 3/4 cup in total).
Turn dough out onto a floured surface. 
Flatten dough gently (do not knead) with your hands or a rolling pin, fold it over, flatten, fold over and flatten again. (This is the secret to a flaky scone). Shape and flatten into a rectangle of about 1 inch thick and cut into wedges or use a round cookie cutter for that traditional scone shape.
Place onto lined baking sheet.
Beat egg yolk into remaining cream and brush the tops of the scones.
Bake for about 18 - 20 mins, until tops are lightly browned.



MASCARPONE CREAM
(Adapted from Joy of Baking)

INGREDIENTS


2 oz mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup cream
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbs caster sugar
zest of lemon (optional)



METHOD


Mix everything together and beat until it holds its shape and resembles whipped cream. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Cardamom Cheese Biscuits

I think I've died and gone to cheese biscuit heaven!

And the fact that this also has the gorgeous aroma of cardamom in it, makes it even more heavenly! (Is there anywhere better than heaven?)

You know how it is when you're looking at a ton of recipes and then one suddenly jumps out of the page and grabs you by the ... uh ... chompbuds, and you just need to make that straight away?

That's how this happened.

Also because I'm a sucker for cheeses.

And a sucker for cardamom.

Double whammy!

I'd cardamomize everything if I could. Cardamom room freshener, cardamom lip balm, cardamom shampoo ... you get the idea.

Go check out Veronika and her brain and her original recipe for this. She calls her's "puffs" altho mine didn't puff as much but still very light and flaky, so I renamed it "biscuits". I did some minor changes as well (as expected), since I know she's adjusting for her egg white allergic, tall, not-so-blond and handsome.

I've also taken the easy way out by using the food processor. Hard-core bakers .... head out to Veronika's.

Meanwhile, back at Lazyville ....

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cardamom (I'd suggest a little more for a more pronounced aroma)

125 g cold salted butter, cut into cubes (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 tsp salt)

1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used something called Calico, which is a blend of Cheddar & Monterey Jack and some Pecorino. You can use your own favorite mix)

1 egg

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200˚C.

Place flour, salt (if using), cardamom and baking powder in a food processor. Give it a buzz or two to mix.

Add in cold butter and buzz until you get a sandy mix.

Add in cheese. Buzz to mix.

Add in slightly beaten egg and buzz again until you get a nice soft dough.

Remove from food processor, wrap in plastic and leave in the fridge for about 10 mins.

Roll out to about 1/2 cm thick.

Cut out into shapes using a cookie cutter or just cut into squares or triangles.

Bake for about 10 - 12 mins until cookies are just about turning brown at the edges.

Eat warm or freeze and reheat.

Savoury Pastry Munchies & Bloggers Unplugged

These are about the cutest, chubbiest Christmas trees and stars. So good for a snack, with a good cuppa or/and a/several good beer(s) … kinda like a bowl of peanuts, pretzels .. you know, bar munchies, stuff that you just keep on popping into your mouth and just can't stop munching on. This was inspired at the very last minute by Sissi (go check out her pretty, pretty stars!) and I love her to bits for it. That also saved throwing away the leftover pastry for the Turducken pies. No wastage and soooo easy! Roll, cut, brush eggwash, sprinkle on your favorite toppings and bake. Do you really need a recipe?! Good grief! Okaaay, fiiiine, here ….

INGREDIENTS

leftover puff pastry (ok, it doesn't have to be leftovers)

eggwash

cumin seeds

poppy seeds

sesame seeds

coarse sea salt

whatever

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180˚C.

Roll out pastry to very thin. (Remember to flour your board generously or you'll get out of shape starfish-looking stars like mine when it gets stuck and you try peel them off).

Cut out to desired shapes.

Place on a lined baking tray.

Brush with eggwash, sprinkle with toppings, bake 15 - 20 mins or until golden and puffed.

*Tip: It doesn't have to be any particular shape or size or even a need to use a cookie cutter. Just any odd-shaped tiny bite-sized pieces would do just fine. But if you choose to do that, it might be less time consuming to eggwash your pastry as a larger piece, sprinkle the toppings and then haphazardly chop them up into pieces, otherwise you'll be eggwashing until the turduckens come home!

Bloggers Unplugged

Right. This has been long overdue what with all the hoohah of the season. Sissi tagged me, Charles tagged me and before it starts to seem that I'm being rude not responding to their tags (sorry for the tardiness, guys), here it is …

1. What, or who, inspired you to start a blog?

Hmm …. the 'what' would be when I had to keep typing out and sending out recipes to friends who asked me for them and I got tired of sending the same recipes so many times, I decided to put it all in here and just tell them, "Go look at my blog." :D

The 'who' part would be a little more difficult … let's just say we had some really bad food at a very well known restaurant, paid through our noses and decided we could do better and let people know how easy it is to make stuff at home and not having to bust a hole in your pockets nor suffer the rudeness of chefs and waiters when told their food is crap.

2. Who is your foodie inspiration?

Another hmm … there are quite a number to name here. It would mainly be my mom and mum inlaw.

3. Your greasiest, batter-splattered food/drink book is?

I have a TON of cookbooks! None of them are greasy nor batter-splattered. Tsk. I love my books.

My favorites would be Nyonya Flavors for the taste of home, How to be a Domestic Goddess (Nigella) … I love how she makes things so easy and the way she describes them. (I wish I could write/talk like that). And of course my cooking bible, Joy of Cooking.

4. Tell us about the best thing you have eaten in another country, where was it, what was it?

Gosh, that's hard. At different stages of my life, I have different tastes and that too depends on what I crave for at the time. I can remember clearly enjoying one of the best Veal Steaks in a Trattoria in Assisi. I don't know if it's because we were starving or because of the atmosphere or the company (that's so important as well), but I remembered finishing every morsel and wishing it were a bigger piece.

5. Another food blogger’s table you’d like to eat at?

Everyone's!! It's gonna be one humongous table!

6. What is the one kitchen gadget you would ask Santa for this year (money no object of course)?

Too late now to ask Santa for anything. He'd probably forget this next year but it's worth a try …

Dear Santa,

Remember the range oven you brought about 15 years ago or so? Well, the door is almost falling off its hinges now. I've been good and haven't asked for a new one and have been struggling with all my baking stuff for so long, I think it's about time I threw that out, don't you think? It has certainly served me well and I love it to bits, that's why I've kept it slogging away for that long. Poor thing. I'm hoping you'll remember this request for next Christmas. Maybe if you just put it in the calendar on your Ipad or Blackberry (that I don't have), it might help you get a little more organized. Just a suggestion.

Rest well, dear old man. See you next year. Love lots. Ping.

PS. Just another teeny request … throw in a chest freezer too if it's not too much trouble. Thanks xxoo.

7. Who taught you how to cook?

Self taught and then from everyone I've clicked! :D

8. I’m coming to you for dinner, what is your signature dish?

Haha! There are friends who know me well enough to tell you not to expect the usual and normal stuff when you eat here. It's always something different. Nothing exotic or strange, just regular dishes done in my own way. Therefore, the answer to this would be …. DIFFERENT.

9. What is your guilty food pleasure?

This one's easy ….. FOOD.

10. Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn?

I actually have a brain. I just pretend to look and sound stupid.

Was I suppose to tag people? I can't remember. I'll do it anyway coz I had fun with this and here's hoping this short list of taggees will have some fun with the questions too. No obligations.

1. Veronica @ QuayPoCooks

2. Veronika @ Eattheroses

3. Veronica @ Veronica's Kitchen

Can you tell I'm having fun with the Veronic(k)as from different ends of the world?

Christmas Buffet 2011

Turducken Pie

Turkey + Duck + Chicken = Turducken, has been around for awhile now, but I've only recently been opened to the idea of making one myself. Instead of the usual chicken-in-duck-in-turkey roll (who says it has to be that way anyway?), I've deconstructed and reconstructed it into a pie! Not surprised? Guess you know me quite well ... PING STRIKES AGAIN!!! Nyahaha!! (Say it with your tongue sticking to the roof of your mouth and in a seriously nasal tone). A blogger friend made a comment recently and made me realise I can't seem to stick to the basic recipe of most dishes. I guess that could probably be termed "weird", "strange", "stubborn", but maybe for a better choice of word ... "eccentric". Yeah, I prefer that one.

Anyway, this was part of the buffet for our Christmas Eve family dinner, with a few good friends. Over the next few posts, I will feature some of the goodies we had that night. And if you figure you want to make them and 25th December has passed, doesn't the song say we have 12 days of Christmas? Party on, folks! Also, something to keep in mind for next Christmas.

For this recipe... I've preroasted the meats, seasoned with just thick caramel soy, molasses and a little oil. You can always season it anyway you like.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup diced roasted turkey meat

1 cup diced roasted duck meat

1 cup diced roasted chicken meat

1 1/2 - 2 cups finely chopped leaks, white parts only

1 1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup flour

1 cup diced parboiled waxy potatoes

1 tbs dijon mustard

1 cup grated cheese (I used a mix of 3/4 cup grated strong cheddar and 1/4 cup grated mozzarella)

puff pastry (I used store bought stuff), or you can use shortcrust (see Quickie Quiche post)

salt and pepper to taste (depending on how salty your cheddar is and if you used salted bacon)

lightly beaten egg for eggwash

grapeseed oil and butter for frying

Ingredients I'd love to have put in but didn't due to fussy eaters and 'non-kosherness' :

chopped cooked bacon

fresh thyme

freshly grated nutmeg

METHOD

Heat butter & oil in pan.

Saute chopped leeks over medium heat until soft.

Stir in flour and stir until lightly browned.

Add milk to the leeks, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in mustard and cheeses.

Stir in meats and potatoes. Also add in bacon, if using, herbs and spices.

Season to taste.

Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 C, roll and cut out pastry to desired size (you can make hand held sizes like what I did here or make bigger ones).

Press cutout pastry into muffin/pie pans. Fill pastry, brush edges with eggwash, cover with more pastry.

Brush the tops with eggwash, poke a teeny hole on top for it to breathe and bake for 18- 20 mins or until golden.

Serve warm. That's when the cheese gets all sticky, melty, gooey and yummy!


*Freezes well cooked or uncooked.

Christmas Buffet 2011

Disclaimer: Quality of photos are not up to the usual standards due to ravenous guests' growling tummies.

Submitted to: Your Recipe. My Kitchen

Chinese Jicama Dumplings

'Jicama Dumplings', or in Hokkien Chinese, 'Chai Kueh'. Not to be mistaken for 'Pot Stickers', altho these could easily stick to a pot if you let them.

I was never into Chai Kueh in my younger days, but then, I've never really been into very traditional Chinese foods and snacks. The olden day Chinese would have me burnt on a stake .... wait, i think I've got my wires crossed. Oh, never mind.

Anyway, one day, a friend brought these dumplings over and claimed they were so good, they'd knock my Chinese senses from being dormant for way too long. And, you know what? They did! Not only were my senses awakened, I actually crave for them often. Then one day, TRAGEDY! They stopped selling them! I am so doomed! Oh woe is me and all that drama stuff!

You never know you have it in you until something drastic happens and you find out just how risilient and capable you are (ahem).

Tragedy no more, crave no more!

After scouring the net, I've found several good recipes. The main ingredient is basically yam bean/jicama, then all the other variations come in as in every other recipe.... carrots, bean sprouts, tofu and chinese chives versions. I made mine as how I remembered it to be.

The most important part of this dumpling is actually the skin. Now, this is where I'd got a little confused and had to decide on what to do. Some recipes add glutinous rice flour and some don't. I'm assuming that it makes a whiter looking dough rather than the translucent one that I'm looking for. So, I omitted that.

I'm very happy with the results, filling and skin both altho I would roll out the skin a little thinner the next time. I wasn't sure how elastic the dough would be and if they'd tear while I'm wrapping.

Most of the recipes encourage you to use quite a lot of oil for the dough and also to brush more on while steaming since this is a seriously gooey, sticky, fragile skin. But I'm trying to reduce as much oil as possible without causing the skin to be dry and non-elastic and mainly not have them swimming in oil like some I've seen sold at the stalls. Eck.

INGREDIENTS (FILLING)

about 400 g Jicama / Yam Bean / Bangkuang

about 100 g carrots

2 tbs dried shrimps

5 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbs oyster sauce

2 tbs light soy sauce

1 tbs sugar

1/2 cup water

oil for frying

METHOD (FILLING)

Rinse and soak dried shrimps until soft. (About 20 mins)

Peel and shred or finely julienne yam bean and carrots into about 3" long strips.

Drain soaked shrimps and squeeze out water. Chop coarsely.

Heat a little oil and saute the garlic and shrimp until fragrant.

Stir in both veges until slightly cooked.

Add in oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and water.

Stir to coat evenly.

Lower heat, cover and simmer. Give it a stir every now and then. Check often to see if you need to add more water.

Cook until vege is soft and translucent but still holding its shape (not too mushy).

Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I didn't add any)

Turn off heat and leave to cool.

INGREDIENTS (SKIN)

165 g wheat starch

85 g tapioca flour

420 g hot boiling water

3 - 5 tbs oil (I used 3 tbs)

METHOD (SKIN)

Combine wheat starch and tapioca flour in a large, heatproof mixing bowl.

Stir in boiling water until you get an almost translucent dough.

* Note: This was tough to do as the dough was very sticky and firm so I gave up and transferred to my Kenwood Chef mixer with a dough hook to mix and knead.

Once you get a nice translucent dough, cover and leave to rest for about 10 mins.

Add in the oil 1 tbs at a time and knead well after each addition. Keep at it until all 3 tbs oil are used up.

Remove from bowl and shape into a long log and divide into about 30 - 35 pieces, depending on how big you want your dumplings to be.

Prepare the steamer.

Oil the base of your steaming tray. (Some people use parchment paper)

Roll out the little balls of dough into circles (I rolled mine to about 3" in diameter).

Work quickly or the skin will dry up and become too brittle to wrap. Cover with a damp cloth in between.

Spoon a good tbs of jicama filling into the center of the skin.

Bring the two ends together, pleat and pinch to seal.

Arrange the dumplings onto well-oiled steaming tray and steam for 15 - 18 mins or until skin is translucent.

Serve warm with chilli sauce.

Dumplings can be kept in the freezer uncooked.

Place frozen dumplings directly into steamer and steam for about 15 - 18 mins or until translucent.

*Remember to oil the tray your dumplings sit on or use parchment paper to line.