OMGSNAX!

oh my god, dudes & dudettes! did you miss me? probably not half as much as i missed you! the thing is that i did a whole lot of cooking in february — just not a whole lot of blogging about it. i guess i was reading Julie & Julia & felt annoyed by some self-indulgent whining, & then thought, hey wait a second … I’M a self-indulgent whiner! oh noes!

luckily, i’m totally over it — & just in time for a return to some hardcore recipe experimentation, for i’ve transferred to a new job which means NO MORE EVENING OVERTIME, & that, my friends, is a surefire way to get me back into the non-pasta-with-broccoli-for-dinner routine (uh, not that there’s anything wrong with that!).

so tonight i made these sweet potato wonton-esque things with my new partner-in-crime (kitchen-stylee!), sarah, who was indispensible & without whom there’s no way i would’ve gotten all this chopping of vegetables & stuffing of dumplings finished at a reasonable hour. (as it was, it took THREE HOURS.)

so these are technically called shiao mai, but sarah & i have decided that we’re going to call them dumples. an ugly word for a delicious snack.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup mushroom mince (see below)
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 green onions
2 tablespoons fresh mint
1 package (12 ounces) wonton wrappers
soy sauce, seasoned to taste with white vinegar, sugar, & green onions, for dipping

METHOD
in a bowl, combine the mushroom mince, sweet potato, bread crumbs, egg, soy sauce, sugar, salt, green onions, & mint. mix very well. set up a work space with a clean, dry cutting board, a baking sheet, a small bowl of water, the wonton wrappers, & the sweet potato filling.

divide the stack of wonton wrappers into thirds & trim away the four corners of each stack, reserving the little pasta triangles to toss into your next pot of boiling soup. place 3 of the now octagonal wrappers before you on the cutting board. place about 2 teaspoons filling in the center of each wrapper. now, your job is to coax each wrapper into a tiny, slender version of a paper baking cup filled with cupcake batter. begin by using a table knife to spread out the filling on each wrapper as if it were peanut butter on bread. stop just short of the edge, leaving a thin border of pasta all the way around. then, place one wrapper in your palm &, using the fingers of your other hand, pinch its sides up into a cup. tap its base on the cutting board to firm it up. next, work your way around the exterior, pressing the dull side of the table knife into the sides to even up the little folds & give the dumpling an upright shape, like a column holding up a roof. tap the base again & set the tall but diminutive “cupcake” aside on the baking sheet. fill & shape the remaining dumplings in the same way. place them without touching on the baking sheet. at this point, you can seal the dumplings airtight & refrigerate them for 1 to 2 days, or freeze for up to 1 month. they can be steamed directly from the refrigerator or freezer.

to steam the dumplings, fill the bottom of a steamer or a heavy saucepan with serveral inches of water and bring it to a rolling boil over medium heat. meanwhile, place a batch of the dumplings on a steamer basket or tray. when the steam is steady & strong, place the dumplings over the steam, cover, & adjust the heat to maintain a steady head of steam. cook until the filling firms up & the wrappers are tender & cooked, about 15 minutes. transfer carefully to a serving platter. serve warm with seasoned soy sauce.

INGREDIENTS: MUSHROOM MINCE
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic (8 to 12 cloves)
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped cilantro root, or cilanro stems & leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grond pepper
8 ounces fresh button mushrooms, chopped
4 ounces firm tofu
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons regular soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt

METHOD: MUSHROOM MINCE
in a mini processor, combine the garlic, cilantro, & pepper & grind to a fairly smooth paste. set aside.

chop the mushrooms until they are reduced to a crumbly pile & set aside. chop the tofu into tiny cubes & set aside as well.

in a skillet over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the oil until a bit of mushroom added to the pan sizzles at once, about 1 minute. add the garlic-cilantro paste & toss until fragrant & shiny, 2 to 3 minutes.

add the mushrooms & cook, tossing often, for 5 to 7 minutes. the mushrooms will soften, release their liquid, & brown as they cook. when the liquid has cooked away & mushrooms are shiny & tender, scrape them to the sides of the pan & add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the center. add the tofu & toss until thoroughly combined with the mushrooms & heated through, about 1 minute. add the sugar, water, both soy sauces, & salt & cook, tossing often, until the mixture is moist, evenly colored, & well combined, 2 to 3 minutes. remove from the heat, let cool to room temperature, & refrigerate in a tightly covered container until needed.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
okay, i finally made something with mushrooms — LOTS of mushrooms. are you happy now??? god.

that being said, it, well, wasn’t that bad. at all. in fact, it was really REALLY incredibly good. now maybe that’s b/c the mushrooms weren’t those slimy gross ones that look like smurf houses, or maybe it’s b/c the mince contained enough garlic to kill a horse, but the fact of the matter is that, while i may not be a mushroom convert, i’ve come to the conclusion over the last few months that i can tolerate them as long as they’re not the predominant flavor or texture.

COMPROMISE, KIDS. that’s how we do it in the 314.

now you may have noticed that the directions for the mushroom mince leave off the shallots — no worries, i just added them with the tofu (given where they were in the list of ingredients, that seemed about right), & it all came out just fine. in fact, we weren’t even able to get the cilantro & garlic into a paste at all — sarah smushed everything around in the blender for a bit, & i figured it’d taste good either way (can’t go wrong with garlic!), so it was really more of a fine mince than a paste.

you’d think that 8 ounces of button mushrooms would be overkill — that all this would result in WAY more than 1 cup of the mince. sarah & i thought so, & we flipped through the book to pick out another mushroom mince recipe to make during the week to use the leftovers … but the truth is that it made maybe a cup & a quarter of mince all told, so no big deal. we did use the leftover mashed sweet potato for nefarious purposes (see below), but it really all worked out.

the dumples themselves were a breeze to make — a little time consuming, sure, but that three hours included a lot of chopping and stirfrying and sweet potato boiling time as well as dumple formation. (note: i did substitute cilantro in the filling for mint, as i’m suspicious of fresh mint as a rule, not to mention i already had the cilantro.) now, sarah & i had a problem figuring out how to actually form the shiao mai according to the directions — i mean, i had a good mental picture, but they really wouldn’t do what i thought they should be doing, so instead we made dumplings of various shapes — sarah’s had sort of a star shape, while i mimicked my aunt donna’s crab rangoons & folded them first into triangles & from there, brought two points together into a sort of, um, hug. they stand up & look like little crowns.

once i saw that shape, i was reminded of the goons & decided that i should fry some of these puppies up in addition to steaming them — i’d actually been looking for a good veg goon substitute anyway, b/c what’s not to love about tiny fried appetizers? my aunt fries them in a stockpot full of oil, but i just pan fried them in a little vegetable oil & it worked fine.

taste-wise, they were AMAZING. I AM NOT MESSING AROUND. the soy sauce was wicked salty, but who cares? the dumples didn’t even need it! so freaking good. i would eat these all the time, & i would definitely make them again.

as for the leftover mashed sweet potato, i added some cinnamon sugar & filled a few leftover wonton skins (we didn’t have quite enough savory filling for all 48 skins) — i fried them up & sprinkled more cinnamon sugar on top, & while i didn’t taste any of them personally, sarah, sue, &, of course, daniel said that they were delicious.

i should note that the sweet dumples were all daniel’s idea — well, actually, he suggested that i make some sweet (as he strenuously objects to sweet potatoes made savory), & i hammered out the details.

 

 

 

“Sweet Potato Shiao Mai” from Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott, © 1997.

so i guess it’s finally winter — after all, one freak ice storm & power outage in december does not a season make — & the weather’s got me craving soups all the time. i’d decided over the weekend that potato soup was in my future, but then i neglected to get any ingredients at the store when we went grocery shopping. i checked my recipe bookmarks this afternoon & found this, & once i re-read & it sunk in how easy the soup would be to make, i had a plan.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken vegetable stock
plain yogurt, to serve

METHOD
preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. place the diced sweet potatoes & onions on a baking sheet. drizzle with the olive oil & then season with the cumin, salt, & pepper. toss the vegetables to coat evenly & then spread into one even layer.

place the pan in the oven & roast, stirring every so often, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the onions have caramelized a little & the sweet potatoes have gotten tender. the roasting time will depend on how small the sweet potatoes have been diced.

meanwhile, place the stock in a medium saucepan & bring to a simmer. when the onions & sweet potatoes have finished roasting, scrape them into a blender & then pour in the stock. purée until smooth & then pour back into the the saucepan.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
(still working out the photo kinks, honest. i’ve been meaning to start up again but have had battery issues recently.)

so i didn’t realize till after i made the soup (& consumed three bowls) that this is not only lowfat (perfect for my health-conscious mother), but also vegan (perfect for those of us who strive to be socially conscious in our eating habits)! i will admit to being a little apprehensive about the cumin, which i think drowns out the sweet potatoeyness of sweet potatoes, but it actually didn’t overwhelm at all in this instance.

notwithstanding almost losing a hand while cutting the obscenely huge sweet potato, to which i say THANK GOD FOR DANIEL’S DULL KNIVES, although my grandpa the butcher tells me that you’re more likely to cut yourself on a dull blade than a sharp one (as a sharp one will cut what you want it to cut & a dull one will, oh, i don’t know, slip around & make your job much more difficult) — NOTWITHSTANDING a near miss on a hospital visit! — i followed these directions slavishly & was rewarded with a sniffariffic & savory soup. (if a tiny bit thinner than i like. but really that’s just splitting hairs.)

the downside: it looks like baby food. & after spending more time than is normal smelling tiny pouches of baby food over the weekend (daniel’s step-brother’s girlfriend is having a baby, so there were naturally some odd games taking place at her shower), i have to say that looking like baby food isn’t a way to win over the hearts & minds of the people.

that being said, it tasted divine, & my only thought is that perhaps i’d leave a portion of the sweet potatoes in as chunks. i happened to be using an old worn-out blender so this happened naturally anyway — i suspect an immersion blender is really the best way to get a good creamy purée here — but next time, i’d leave more & do it intentionally.

& there WILL be a next time. although sadly neither daniel nor bart even stooped to tasting the soup, i will persevere.

sweet potato soup: a delicious (if unpopular) selection.

 

 

 

“Roasted Sweet Potato & Red Onion Soup” from cooking blog Well Fed.

i bought a sweet potato. i had to use it. end of story.

ps, what exactly makes these “louisiana”-style? i know i’m no expert, but i DID spend three of my formative childhood years in new orleans & i’ve never encountered anything like this. TRUTH IN ADVERTISING PLZ.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 pound sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter, melted

METHOD
place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water & cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. drain, & immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. drain, remove skins, chop, & mash.

in a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, & nutmeg. mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk, & butter in a separate medium bowl. blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.

preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls & cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i considered adding brown sugar or, at the very least, cinnamon — after all, according to most sweet potato fans, the SWEET is the good part. (i’d be inclined to agree, as i don’t really like potatoes so i know it can’t be the POTATO part.) however, i refrained from doctoring the recipe b/c i didn’t want to be responsible for its failure if indeed it were to fail. (spoiler alert: IT DID.)

so ok, first off, & i’m not ashamed to admit this, i don’t know how to mash potatoes. i mean, i understand it conceptually — cook, then smush — but how long to cook? peeled or not peeled? whole or chopped? i liked this recipe b/c it seemed like a no-brainer, but when i followed the directions & the center of the sweet potato was still raw after i’d already slip-skinned it & chopped it? i wasn’t sure. so i just stuck the sweet potato chunks back in some boiling water for another ten minutes & hoped that waterlogging wouldn’t be a surprise issue.

tender but firm

three cheers for katy’s potato masher

the rest of the recipe went off without a hitch, including the actual pancake making part (thanks to my early-year tutorial from daniel), but then there was the reality of the thing, namely: i don’t like pancakes. i guess i thought maybe these would be more sweet potatoey & less, uh, pancakey, but no.

flapjack central

on the plus side, i’ve renewed my conviction that i do, indeed, detest pancakes. that texture — YUCK.

daniel said, “well, they can’t all be winners,” & continued eating his. i asked if he wanted to finish mine, too, & he quickly said, “oh NO, i wouldn’t go that far.” so there you have it. tolerable enough for him to clean his own plate (due to an aversion to being wasteful), but not good enough for him to have seconds.

shoulda made the sweet potato latkes instead.

 

 

“Louisiana Sweet Potato Pancakes” from allrecipes.com.