Asian Pork and Shrimp Buns with Soy Dipping Sauce

 

 

Happy New Year!  Chinese New Year that is!  Okay, so this post is a little late.  The year of the horse officially began on January 31, 2014.  However, the Chinese celebrate the Chinese New Year for 15 days so I am actually right in the midst of things here.

We belong to a group called Families with Children from China because our twin daughters are adopted from there.  Our big New Years celebration was last night.  We have a big dance party with a DJ.  Everyone brings a dish.  We have a dragon dance and for fireworks one of the men brings PILES of bubble wrap which we cover the dance floor with and at "midnight" the kids jump all over it until every last bubble is popped.  What a racket! 

This is the dish I brought.  I actually developed the recipe to submit for the Pillsbury bakeoff a couple of years ago but sadly it was rejected.  I really don't know why but all I can say is everyone loves these.  They are pretty easy to do and they look so professional.  Like you went out and bought them or something. So even though Pillsbury will never publish my recipe I do not want to deprive anyone!  Here you go:

Asian Pork and Shrimp Buns with Soy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients for the buns:

4 ounces peeled, deveined shrimp
2 ounces white mushrooms
8 ounces ground pork
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup minced green onions
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1  (8 count) can Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers Refrigerated Biscuits
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 egg
Soy Dipping Sauce (recipe follows)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease a large cookie sheet.

Coarsely chop shrimp and place in a large bowl.  Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the shrimp.

Add the remaining ingredients except the biscuits, sesame seeds, egg and Dipping sauce to the bowl with the shrimp.  Mix well.

Divide each biscuit into 3 pieces.  Cut each lengthwise into 3 strips.  Fold each strip together and then press to seal and shape into a 2 1/2 inch circle. 

Divide the filling among the circles.  Pull and the dough up around the filling and twist to seal the filling in.  Place twisted side down on baking sheet.

Brush the buns with the beaten egg.  Sprinkle each with sesame seeds.  Bake 16 to 18 minutes until golden.  Switch the baking sheet around halfway through for even baking.  Serve with Soy Dipping Sauce.

Soy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon minced green onions

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients until sugar is dissolved.  Serve with buns.

Enjoy!

Mini Loaded Baked Potato Bites

When I was at the produce market picking up jalapenos for my Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers I saw some small creamer potatoes and I started thinking of all the wonderful finger foods you could make with them.  For today's post I made Mini Loaded Baked Potato Bites, a perfect make ahead finger food for parties.  I was torn though.  Last week a food website I was browsing posted mini shepherds pies only they used a pastry crust and did them in a mini muffin tin.  My thoughts were that they were totally missing the boat here.  Why not get the small creamers and make the mini shepherds pie right in the mini potato shells?  So watch for that one to be coming up soon!

These are great for parties.  They can be made ahead right up to the point where they are ready to be baked for the final time.  Just add a few minutes to the baking time if they are coming from the fridge.  These came out so good.  I barely had time to photograph the finished product before they were gone!

Mini Loaded Baked Potato Bites

20 small creamer potatoes
2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 tablespoons sour cream plus more for topping
2 tablespoons real bacon bits plus more for topping
1/2 cup coarsely grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
paprika for garnishing

Preheat oven to 400.  Cut a small slit in each potato so they do not explode like one of mine did.  Bake the potatoes for 20-25 minutes until soft.  Let them cool.

Cut each potato into 2 halves.  Scoop out the centers into a bowl.  Add the butter and sour cream.  Mash into the potatoes.  Mix in the bacon, the coarsely grated cheese, the garlic salt, pepper and cayenne.  Taste and adjust seasoning. 

Lightly spoon the mixture back into the potato shells.  Top each with some of the finely grated cheese.  Sprinkle with paprika. 

Place back into the 400 degree oven and bake on the top rack for 8 minutes and then turn on the broiler for 2 minutes more to lightly toast the tops. 

Let stand for 5 minutes after removing from the oven then transfer to a serving dish and top each with some sour cream, some bacon bits and a dash of paprika. 

Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

I do not usually attend Super Bowl parties but when I do my motivation for doing so is more for the social aspects and, ah, the food.  In fact, of all the glutinous days (Christmas, Thanksgiving), I think the Super Bowl beats them all.  I just can't see "Super Bowl favorites made healthy" as a big draw. 

In the weeks leading up to the big event I browse the internet and drool over pictures of oozing cheese, crisp bacon, glazed chicken wings, etc.  So diet the week before and after.  In fact, diet at Christmas and Thanksgiving and save the calories for the comfort food that counts - the Super Bowl party food.

I will start you out with these Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers.  They are one of my favorites but if you do not like the peppers you can just make the filling and serve it warm with chips. 

For this recipe I started out with 24 jalapenos, 12 green and 12 red.  They were very large, at least 3 inches in length.  There was only a small amount of filling left though not for long because I heated it up and ate it then and there with some chips.

These are best made the day before you plan to cook them so the filling can firm up before you cook them.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

4 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces shredded Mexican blend cheese
2 processed American cheese slices
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (or chili powder)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
24 large jalapeno peppers
1 pound thinly sliced bacon

One day ahead:  Put the cheeses in a bowl an set aside to come to room temperature. 

Cut a slit in each pepper from stem to bottom.  Hold the pepper open in your palm and scrape out the seeds.  (I like to leave some membrane for heat).   I use the small paddle end of a lobster pick for this task. 

Blend the cheeses together. Add the chili powder and cumin and continue to blend.  Add 1/2 the beans and stir them in.  Add the rest of the beans and stir them in.  Some will get mashed but you want texture.  Stuff the peppers with the cheese mixture.

Wrap the peppers in bacon, covering the slit as much as possible.  Put in the fridge overnight so the filling and bacon can firm back up. 

Heat a large non stick skillet (or two) to medium.  Add the peppers, filling side down.  Cook and turn so the bacon browns on all sides and the peppers get nice and tender.  This will take about 20 minutes.  Serve warm.

 

Shrimp Remoulade Stacks

In addition to having many many many cookbooks I have a pantry to match.  It is a whole room.  It is full of all kinds of kitchen appliances.  Some of these I have never even used.  Some are the as seen on TV ones (which only work for the folks on TV by the way).  One gadget that has been on the shelf for a while is called Stacks-thekit.  The box contains 6 metal shapes, 2 squares, 2 triangles and 2 circles in which to stack food along with a matching plunger to push the food down so it can look all fancy and composed on your plate.  It just looked like so much fun, the possibilities for its use ran through my mind and yet I have never used it. 

Well this past weekend I was browsing through one of my cookbooks and came across a recipe for a stacked crab louis.  I decided to make it as a stacked shrimp remoulade, replacing the crab with shrimp and the louis sauce with remoulade sauce. Of course you do not need the stacks kit to make this.  You could save up some empty tuna cans and use those to stack the food in.  Save the lids but watch the edges.  You need something to compress the food so it stays tight as you lift the can off the food. 

I served this to my family as an appetizer.  They thought we were being so fancy!  I made 2 circles and 2 triangles.  I think the next time I make this I will make more of each stacking ingredient so the layers are more apparent but everyone loved the dish.

 

 

Shrimp Remoulade Stacks

Remoulade Sauce:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Tabasco
1 diced green onion (white and green)
1 stack celery, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon anchovy fillets
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.  Chill.

For the shrimp:

8 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined
seasoned salt

Sprinkle shrimp lightly with the seasoned salt.  Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Toss the shrimp in the skillet and stir fry until just cooked through.  Transfer to a bowl and chill.

For the stacks:

1 cup finely shredded lettuce
1 cup diced tomato
1 hard boiled egg, diced
1 cup diced avocado
Chilled shrimp, reserve 4 for garnish, chop the rest
balsamic glaze

Mix the shredded lettuce with a tablespoons of the remoulade sauce.  Divide the lettuce among 4 stack moulds or empty tuna cans that are placed directly on the serving plates. Divide the tomatoes evenly over the lettuce.  Follow this with the egg then the avocado and finally the chopped shrimp.  Tamp down the moulds to lightly compress everything so it will hold together.  Hold the lid in place while removing the mould. 

Drizzle the remoulade sauce over top.  Garnish each serving with a few drops of balsamic glaze. 

Enjoy! 

Cheese Spread

My friend April invited me to be her guest at the Orlando Taste of the Nation Event. We sampled this wonderful cheese spread there. This is my attempt to recreate it. I think it was the hit of my Saturday Night Supper.

Four Cheese Spread with Toasted Pecans and Craisins

4 ounces Brie cheese

4 ounces mild small holed Swiss cheese (such as Lorraine)
1 1/2 ounces Blue cheese

1/3 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Honey to taste

Crackers for serving, I used a flat bread cracker

Remove the rind from the Brie. I use a carrot peeler for this. Combine the cheese in a food processor and process until well blended, scraping down the bowl a couple of times. Put the cheese mixture in a serving dish. Sprinkle with the pecans and cranberries. Drizzle lightly with the honey. Serve with crackers.

This is best served at room temperature.

Bruschetta

I love basil. I have an herb garden that is mostly about growing it and I use it in anything and everything all summer. Recently, I made some delicious pesto and some homemade basil pasta. I used my Atlas pasta machine to roll it out. In fact, I think I will dedicate a Saturday Night Supper just to basil in the very near future. This past weekend I used it in my fresh bruschetta topping. It is so simple and so delicious. The key to the best bruschetta is you must use really good bread and really good tomatoes. If you have that, the rest just happens.

Our grocery store here, Publix, sells this mountain white bread that is just so good and that is what I used. The loaf is a big round loaf so the slices are quite large. I used about 4-5 slices which I cut into 8 squares each to make bite size toasts to go with the topping.

Bruschetta

Enough slices of bread to make 25-30 bite size toasts

1/4 + 2 tbls olive oil

2 large cloves garlic

2-3 tomatoes (about 2 cups diced)

2 tbls chopped red onion

3 tbls fresh basil sliced into think ribbons

salt and fresh pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 350. Crush one clove garlic into 1/4 cup of olive oil. Brush the garlic oil on one side of the bread slices. Bake the bread on a cookie sheet, checking every 5 minutes until lightly browned.

Dice the tomatoes and mix with the remaining 2 tbls olive oil, the remaining garlic, and the onion and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the toasts.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

These are a very popular treat. I make the filling early in the day and refrigerate it. I fill the wrappers right before cooking but this goes very quickly once the filling is prepped.


Spring Rolls

1.3 oz skein bean thread vermicelli
1/3 cup dried black fungus or tree ear fungus
1/2 lb peeled carrots
1 cup finely shredded green cabbage
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 medium white or yellow onion, quartered
3 scallions
1 lb lean pork, cubed
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dry sherry
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper


One 25 count package spring roll wrappers

1 egg, lightly beaten for sealing the spring rolls

Oil, for deep frying

Soak the noodles in warm water to cover for about 20 minutes. Soak the tree ear fungus in warm water to cover for about 20 minutes.

Using the fine shredding disk, shred the carrots in the food processor. Set aside 2 tbls of the shreds for the dipping sauce. Put the rest in a large bowl. Add the cabbage and the garlic. Chop the onion and the scallions in the food processor and add them to the carrots. Pulse the pork in the food processor 5-6 times until minced and add it to the carrots. By now the noodles and the tree ear fungus should be softened. Drain them well and chop them in the food processor and add them to the pork and carrots. Add the seasonings and mix everything very well.

When I am ready to fill the rolls, I score my filling equally into 8 sections. Then I know to use each section to make 3 spring rolls. This helps me make sure the filling is divided equally between the 25 wrappers. Put a log of filling across the bottom of a wrapper at an angle to the square and start rolling. Then bring in the sides and brush across the top point with egg. Continue rolling the spring roll and seal.

Bring the oil to 350 F and fry the spring rolls, 5 at a time, turning 1-2 times until golden and cooked through - about 5 minutes.

Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce

2 tbls finely shredded carrot
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp crushed red chili pepper
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup water

Combine all ingredients. Stir to dissolve sugar. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Green Olive and Artichoke Tapenade

While this was tasty it was also pretty salty. I think that it will be more successful as a pesto like pasta sauce than as a dip or spread on its own. Since there is plenty leftover I am going to give this option a shot sometime this week. I will report on how it works.

Today is Wednesday, April 28, and I used this tonight as a pasta sauce. While it was much better in this capacity I cannot thoroughly recommend this recipe. Of everything I served at my first dinner this one did not come out the way I imagined it should. So I am going to continue to tinker with tapenades until I come up with a recipe that I find worthy of recommending. In the meantime - enjoy the rest of the menu.

Okay, I was raised in a very frugal household. Nothing went to waste. Indeed, at Easter my daughters decorated a batch of cupcakes. They were bunny cupcakes with marshmallow teeth and noses, M&M eyes and twizzler whiskers and abundant amounts of frosting. A week later 12 or so still remained. So I whirled them up, toppings and all, in the food processor. That became the "sugar" component of the biscotti. I then added the savory part- flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, eggs, etc., but no additional sugar. I baked them as for biscotti. At the end of the crisping part, after I had baked and sliced them and bake them again, I topped each piece with some Easter chocolate that I chopped up from chocolate eggs and mini Easter Hersheys Candy bars. Once it melted I spread it over the biscotti. Boy were they wonderful.

Needless to say, have really been trying to find out where this particular tepenade recipe belongs and think I did today. I toasted up a slice of my homemade bread - more to come on that subject later, and slathered it with the tapenade. I put the bread on a pile of mesclun and topped the whole thing off with a fried egg. It made a fabulous breakfast. I think I will finish it off (the tapenade) tomorrow. In the meantime I will continue to pursue the ultimate tapenade recipe but this one does suit the bill for breakfast with toast and a poached egg.

1/4 cup of pecans, toasted

1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts, drained

1/3 cup of pitted green olives

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tbls capers, drained

1 tbls chopped fresh parsley

1 tbls lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp chopped fresh basil

fresh ground pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until combined but still a little chunky.

Black Bean Hummus

1 can Chickpeas, drained, reserve liquid
2 Chipotle Chilis in Adobo
2 TBLS Sesame Seeds
2 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
1 TBLS Lemon Juice
1 TBLS Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Chipotle Hot Sauce
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 Can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and Pepper to taste


Combine the chickpeas, chipotle chilis, sesame seeds, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, hot sauce, cumin and chili powder in a food processor. Pulse until blended. Add enough of the reserved chickpea liquid to make a spreadable puree. Add the black beans and pulse until combined but still somewhat chunky.