Archive for the 'Appetizer' Category

Vegetarian Gyoza (potstickers)

Published
by
marc
on April 12, 2008
in Appetizer, Asian, Japanese, Party and Vegetarian
. 12 Comments

As I was coming up with a title for this post, half of me wanted to omit the “v” word because as a meat eater, I often skip passed the flimsy vegetarian approximations of dishes that are supposed to contain meat. Why? I guess my experience has been that most veggie approximations are just that… less tasty approximations for people that have made the switch.

So why on earth would I take the porky goodness out of these dumplings? Well, those of you that have been reading along may have noticed that I have a new found obsession with Quinoa. I’ve used it in place of cous cous and suggested it has potential as a substitute for tobiko. Red quinoa even looks a bit like cooked ground meat… which got me thinking… could I possibly sub in quinoa for pork and trick other meat eaters into thinking they were eating pig? A worthy challenge indeed.

I started with my recipe for making regular gyoza, subbed in quinoa for the pork, added shitake mushrooms for a boost in flavor and an egg to help bind everything together. If you’re horribly opposed to a meatless dumpling you could always turn this back into a less animal friendly recipe, but I really do urge you to give this a try. Aside from the fact that Quinoa is cheaper, healthier, and greener, I actually like these better than their meat containing counterparts.

   

1 C cooked quinoa
1 C boiled cabbage squeezed and roughly minced
2 fresh shitake mushrooms minced
1 Tbs minced ginger
2 cloves garlic minced
2 green onions minced
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp mirin (sweet japanese cooking wine)
1/4 tsp finely ground white pepper
salt to taste (usually add about 1/4 tsp but it’s up to you)

1 egg
1 pack gyoza wrappers (small round wonton wrappers)

dipping sauce
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1/4 tsp chili oil (optional)

make the dumplings

Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Boil some cabbage for about 10 minutes, cool, then squeeze any excess liquid out before mincing.

Combine the first 10 ingredients in a bowl and mix, taste and add some more salt if you like. Add in the egg and mix well to combine.

This next part seems to intimidate a lot of people but after a bit of practice it goes really fast. Basically you want to take 1 wrapper in the palm of your hand left hand (if right handed) and spoon a small amount of filling in the center (it’s easier to pleat if you have less, you can always add more in the subsequent ones).

Dip a finger from your other hand in a bowl of water and get the outer 1/4″ of the wrapper wet all around.

Fold the wrapper in half like a taco then starting from the left edge, start sealing the wrapper placing a pleat about once every 1/4″. Don’t worry if your first few look bad, they’ll get better and as long as it’s well sealed, it shouldn’t effect the end result much.

fry the dumplings
Get a non-stick pan (that has a lid) hot over medium heat, then add about a teaspoon of oil. Place the dumplings in the pan with the flat-side down. Cook for about 1 minute or until the bottoms are just turning light brown.

With the lid ready to cover the pan, add about 2 Tbs of water then quickly put the lid down (be very careful as the pan will start spitting hot oil as soon as you put the water in). Turn down the heat and steam the dumplings for about 4 minutes.

Remove the lid, turn up the heat to medium high and let any remaining water evaporate so the dumplings get nice and crisp on the bottom (about another minute). Plate and serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Similar posts

Sunchoke and hamachi carpaccio

Published
by
marc
on April 10, 2008
in Appetizer, Japanese, Salad and Seafood
. 8 Comments

Inspiration can show up when you least expect it. This dish was actually inspired by a Coconut Pana Cotta of all things. What does a creamy Italian desert have in common with a savory sashimi appetizer you ask? Aside from looking incredibly tasty, pana cotta’s are typically creamy dishes that use a tart sauce to offset the fat. In this case, Helen used Yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit with mandarins to cut through the creaminess of the coconut milk and cream.

I suppose I am genetically programed to love Yuzu, yet I’m perpetually surprised at how a mere whiff of its citrusy floral aroma can put a huge smile on my face. I could go on espousing its virtues, but that’s an ode for another post.

This dish layers thin slices of crisp sunchoke with thin slices of hamachi(yellowtail) sashimi. It’s topped with a drizzle of olive oil and yuzu with a sprinkling of cherrywood smoked sea salt. The creamy smooth hamachi plays very nicely with the crisp sunchoke and tart Yuzu. If you can get your hands on smoked salt, it adds a wonderful meaty depth that infuses both character and body to the flavors in this dish.

While the ingredients on the list might seem intimidating to source, there’s not many of them. The key is to use fresh, high quality ingredients, then to nail the presentation. You could substitute Meyer Lemon or Lime for the Yuzu and tuna for the yellow tail if you had to. Just make sure the ingredients you’re using are of the best quality.

    

2-3 young sunchokes peeled
1/4 lbs sashimi grade hamachi
good quality olive oil
yuzu juice (fresh if possible, but bottled works as well)
smoked sea salt

shiso and tobiko for garnish(optional)

Using a mandoline slice the sunchokes into a bowl of ice water. This removes any extra starch and makes the sunchokes even more crisp. When they’re nice and cold, thoroughly dry each slice using paper towels.

Make sure your hands are cold and dry (put them in some ice water). Using a very sharp knife (use a sashimi knife if you have one), slice the hamachi using the weight of the knife in a single smooth stroke towards you (start cutting at the back of the knife and end at the tip).

Arrange them on a cold plate how you like and drizzle some yuzu, then some olive oil on top. Finish with a sprinkling of sea salt and serve immediately.

Similar posts

Sunchokes with a warm butter lemon dressing

Published
by
marc
on April 7, 2008
in Appetizer, Salad and Vegetable
. 5 Comments

Sunchokes with a warm butter lemon dressing

I got some sunchokes at the Greenmarket on Saturday and while I love their crisp texture, I’m always a bit stumped as to what to do with them. Sunchokes (a.k.a. Jerusalem artichokes) are the root tubers that grow on a certain species of sunflower. They look a bit like knobby ginger but have a slightly sweet nutty flavor and crisp texture of jicama or water-chestnuts.

If they’re young and fresh, you can either cook them or eat them raw. If they’re older, they tend to get a little starchy so they’re best cooked. I lucked out and found some beautiful young’uns with smooth delicate skin on Saturday, so I decided to go with a raw preparation.

The dressing adds a nice richness that compliments the nuttiness of the sunchokes and walnuts while the mint pulls it back a bit keeping it relatively light and refreshing.

salad
4 small sunchokes peeled and sliced
1-2 Tbs candied walnuts crumbled
4-6 mint leaves sliced into thin ribbons

dressing
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 Tsp kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

garnish
Pecorino Romano shaved with a vegetable peeler

To make the dressing, melt the butter with lemon juice in the microwave until the butter is just melted. Whisk to combine and add the salt and pepper.

Toss the sunchokes, walnuts and mint with the dressing and top with Pecorino Romano. Serve immediately.

Similar posts

Almost spring salad with honey roast garlic lemonette

Published
by
marc
on April 6, 2008
in Appetizer, Salad and Vegetable
. 8 Comments

Beet, apple and blue goat cheese salad with honey roast garlic lemonette

I’ve been craving spring for weeks now, but the weather around here has been a tease at best. Yesterday was the first Saturday with the slightest semblance of spring, so I headed up to the Union Square Greenmarket in hopes of finding asparagus, ramps, and maybe even some fiddleheads…

Not surprisingly, I was disappointed with the same old root veggies that the vendors have been hawking all winter, but the sprout vendor seemed to have an unusually large selection of sprouts, and I found a delightful bleu goat cheese. My mind was already assembling the beginnings of a schizophrenic salad, dreaming of a day soon when the stalls will be overflowing with tender green goodness.

Field cress, Miner lettuce, and MizunaSo it’s Sunday, gloomy and cold again. On goes the oven and in go a head of aging garlic I had sitting around, and a couple beets. Meanwhile my mind is being tantalized by the baby greens in the fridge and some bright yellow lemons. Torn between a winter salad and spring salad, I came to a delicious compromise.

A layer of sweet roast beets with a layer of crisp juicy apple topped with some mizuna, cress and miner lettuce that are dressed in a mellow garlic lemonette (lemon+vinaigrette) all topped with some salty barnyardy bleu goat cheese and some crunchy candied walnuts. Wow, that was a mouthful, but so is the flavor of this salad:-)

for roasting
1 beet washed and wrapped in foil
1 head garlic, tops chopped off, drizzled with EVOO and wrapped in foil

for salad
1/2 apple peeled cored and mandolined into “o”s (leave them stuck together to keep them from turning brown)
2 C baby greens (I used mizuna, field cress and miner lettuce)
bleu goat cheese
candied walnuts
fresh ground black pepper

for dressing
1 clove roast garlic mashed
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1/4 tsp honey
1/4 tsp kosher salt (add a little more if you feel it needs it)
fresh ground black pepper

Put the foil wrapped beet(s) and garlic on a baking sheet in a 375 degree oven. The garlic will be done in about 35 minutes, but the beets will need at least an hour (or until you can stick a knife all the way through).

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together. Peel the beet and slice into 1/8″ thick slices. Dress the beets with enough dressing to coat.

To assemble the salad, just put down 3 pieces of beet on a plate, put 1 or 2 slices of apple on top. Lightly dress the greens with some of the dressing (you won’t need it all), and place a handful of greens on top of the beets and apple. Top with some crumbled bleu goat cheese, candied walnuts and some fresh ground pepper.

Similar posts

Creamed corn and sharp cheddar souffle

Published
by
marc
on March 30, 2008
in Appetizer, Dinner and Vegetable
. 5 Comments

Creamed corn and sharp cheddar souffle

I’ve always avoided making souffles telling myself that they were too complicated. Somewhere in the back of my mind was a voice telling me how easily they can go wrong.

I had a late lunch today and wanted something light for dinner. A picture of a light fluffy corn souffle entered into my head. Before I had a chance to dismiss it as a misplaced thought, another part of my brain thought about it for a second wondering how hard could it be?. After all, it’s been decades since I’ve ruined a sponge cake (I think I was about 10), and how hard could folding some whipped egg whites into a béchamel be?

As it turns out, souffles are actually quite forgiving. For this one, I make the béchamel with buttermilk which makes the cheddar taste extra sharp. Together with the corn and shallots it makes for a pot of fluffy goodness that goes nicely with a salad. Though delightful on its own, in retrospect I think this would have gone well with a pureed fresh tomato, or maybe some pico de gallo.

Now that I know how simple these are, my mind is buzzing with ideas. Tomato basil mozzarella, curried cauliflower, apple brie honey… and those are just the savory ones! For desert I’m thinking chestnut maple, coconut lime, or mexican chocolate!

3 eggs separated

1 Tbs shallots minced
1 Tbs good quality olive oil
3 Tbs flour
3/4 C buttermilk (or milk if you want it less “sharp”)
1/2 C creamed corn

1/4 C freshly grated parmesan
1/2 C freshly grated aged cheddar
1 Tbs chives chopped
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and butter 6 ramekins, then put them into a pan thats big enough to hold all of them.

Separate the eggs whites into the bowl of an electric mixer and put the egg yolks into a large bowl. It’s important that you don’t get any egg yolk into the whites as it will not fluff if there is any yolk or oil in it.

In a saucepan, fry the shallots in the olive oil until lightly browned. Add the flour and cook for another minute or two.

Turn down to low and whisk the buttermilk into the roux and get all the lumps out. Add the creamed corn and cook until it thickens.

Pour the béchamel into the bowl with the egg yolks and whisk together. Add the cheese, chives, then salt and pepper to taste.

Boil some water.

In a clean, dry bowl whisk the egg whites until firm peaks form. Put a third of the egg whites into the other bowl and use a silicon spatula to gently fold it to combine. Repeat twice more until it’s all well combined.

Spoon this mixture into the ramekins, flatten off the tops and put them in the oven. Tempting as it may be, do not open the oven until they are done. While most ovens don’t actually stay at the temperature you set it for, your souffle should take about 20 minutes to bake.

Similar posts