Chicken and Shiitake Dumplings

Weekends are my time for trying new and adventurous ideas. With no time constraints, (or at least more time than the work week provides) I am able to take on labor intensive and complex recipes. This weekend I took on the challenge of making home-made Chinese dumplings. Seeing how I had never attempted this before, I was a little apprehensive, but with a reliable recipe from Fine Cooking and Thy Tran, a husband who will eat mostly anything, and faith in my own abilities, I was ready to test my limits and go outside my comfort zone.


The first task to accomplish was making my dough. I started off by pouring a cup and a half of all purpose flour on the counter top. After forming a deep well in the middle, I added ½ a cup of cold water. Slowly and carefully, I began to mix in the flour from the walls of my well until the mixture formed a ball of dough. At this point, it was time to begin kneading. I did this for several minutes until the dough was elastic. I cut the dough in half and into two logs, dusted with flour and covered for 30 minutes.

While the dough was resting, I made my dumpling filling. With endless options, I decided to go with a chicken and Shiitake filling. This recipe included roasted chicken, Shiitake mushrooms, spinach, scallions, fresh ginger, soy sauce and fresh black pepper. I started off with shredding the chicken into a medium size bowl. Next I cleaned the Shiitake mushrooms, removed the stems and finely chopped the mushroom caps, before adding to the chicken. I quickly wilted down 6 oz of spinach in a skillet with a little water and just a touch of sugar. After squeezing out the excess moisture, I chopped the spinach and added it to the bowl. Next was the fresh ginger – my favorite ingredient of the whole dish. Never use a substitute for fresh ginger. The quality and flavor cannot be replicated and in all honesty it is not too difficult to do yourself. After removing the skin from the ginger root, I grated about 2 tablespoons worth of ginger and added that to the bowl. Lastly, I mixed in a bit of soy sauce and freshly cracked black pepper before stirring all together. Voila – the filling was done!

With the filling complete, I was able to focus my attention entirely on the shaping of the dumplings. If you have not attempted this before, be aware that this is a long and tedious process for a first timer, but entirely worth the effort in the end. I started by cutting my dough into 36 even pieces. I covered the pieces I was not using with a bit of flour and under a clean kitchen cloth to avoid over drying. With a rolling pin, I began to gently roll each piece of dough into a 3 inch circle. It is important to be as delicate as possible with the dough to avoid a tear and to make your life easier when you begin the filling and folding. Once all the dough is rolled out, the fun begins! Start with scooping about a teaspoon or so of filling onto each individual piece. You want to be careful not to overfill the dumpling or else it will be very difficult to close and you could end up tearing the dough, complicating the cooking process. Once you have added the filling, you will want to seal it closed by pinching and folding one side of the dumpling against the other. This will created a pleated look along the top, with the bulk of the dumpling on the bottom. Continue with this process until all of the dumplings have been formed.

After all of those steps are complete, it is finally time to cook the dumplings. I chose to pan-fry my dumplings in order to create a little crunch. To do so, heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the dumplings and cook for a few minutes, until the undersides are crisp and brown. Pour in ½ a cup of water, cover the pan and boil for a few more minutes. This allows the entire dumpling, filling and top, to cook through until silky and smooth. Once cooked, remove the lid but allow to cook for about 2 more minutes so that the dumplings can dry and crisp up. Finally, remove the dumplings from the pan and begin plating!

Before serving, I quickly whipped up one of Thy Tran’s soy dipping sauces. The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of sugar, ½ teaspoon of sesame oil and 1 chopped scallion. I combined all ingredients and stirred together.

The dumplings were great! I was pleased with the overall texture and the flavor of the filling was exactly what I was hoping for. Although this was a time intensive process, the results were well worth it - my husband has already requested them as appetizers for football weekends! I am glad I took on this challenge and was able to learn a new and fun technique. I know that I will make these over and over again, but for now only on the weekends!

Fresh From the "Garden"

I absolutely love gardening. My friends have joked that this is very old lady of me, but I assure them the benefits are worth it. Unfortunately at this point in time, I do not have a backyard of my own to turn into my oasis, but rather a good size deck off the back of our townhouse. For now this and pots work well, but I am always looking forward to the day that I can take over a yard.

I recently added several more pots of basil and a tomato plant to my “garden” (there are over 20 tomatoes already growing after just a few short weeks! - pictured above). After spending a very enjoyable afternoon at Home Depot – again my friends would surely claim that to be very old lady like – I got to work repotting multiple herbs and vegetables and newly planting yet another round of basil (pictured above). My husband laughs at my excitement over the progress of my plants and my eagerness to check on them every day after arriving home from work, but he never seems to complain when his dinners are filled with fresh herbs and veggies. In fact he raves at the difference they make and I could not agree more. Nothing compares to the freshness your own plants can provide.

  

Although I believe with the right tools and a little care and dedication, anyone can grow an herb or vegetable plant of their own, starting from scratch may not be for everyone. If you are hesitatant to take that leap of faith right now but do not want to lose out on the benefits, stop by your local farmer’s market and see what they have to offer. I am all for supporting local farmers and the freshness cannot be underestimated. Most farmer's markets will have plenty of flowers, herbs, and vegetable plants for sale. Some will sell smaller bunches of herbs that the buyer would need to replant in a larger pot or in the ground, but you can sometimes find a vendor who has already done all the dirty work and potted the plant for you. From there all that is required is sunlight, water and a few fabulous recipes. You never know, adding fresh basil to homemade pasta just may change your life or at the very least your meal.

Happy gardening!

Chocolate Chip Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

I find bananas to be an extremely underappreciated ingredient and flavor. They are so versatile and are one of the few foods that can take you from day to night. Who doesn't enjoy banana pancakes, banana bread, banana smoothies, banana cream pie, banana cookies, chocolate dipped bananas, banana ice cream, banana cake, banana chips, or banana splits? Bananas can be fried, mashed, frozen, diced, sliced or just eaten whole. On this Sunday while my husband was flipping between the World Cup and the US Open, I found myself reaching for our browning bananas and trying to determine what I could quickly whip up before they became wasted money. I finally settled on Chocolate Chip Banana Cupcakes. These little babies are amazing because not only will they satisfy your taste buds, but they are quick to prepare and so simple that my 4 year old niece could master them. They are perfect for a Wednesday afternoon or you can always use the frosting to nicely dress them up and wow your friends at the next dinner party. Either way, these little bites of heaven will not disappoint.


The recipe I use originates from the Williams-Sonoma cookbook Baking, however, I tend to stray somewhat from recipes based on what I am feeling and what ingredients I have on hand. Here is how I made these today:


1 ½ cups of flour


¾ cup of sugar


1 ½ teaspoons baking soda


¼ teaspoon of salt


3 Large bananas mashed


½ cup butter melted


1 large egg


3 tablespoons of low-fat milk – add lemon juice


¾ cup milk chocolate chips


First add the dry ingredients together in one bowl. Next mash the bananas, add the melted butter and egg (at room temperature). Now, the original recipe calls for buttermilk, but I was fresh out, so instead I used low-fat milk and added a few drops of lemon juice to make my buttermilk substitute. This worked great, but feel free to use buttermilk if you have that available. After adding the milk substance of your choice to the banana mixture, slowly added in the dry ingredients. The last step - add your chocolate chips. I was all out of semi-sweet (the husband had requested chocolate chip cookies earlier in the week) so I used milk chocolate chips and found these to work wonderfully.


Bake at 350 for 20 – 25 minutes. I made these cupcakes a little bit smaller so they did not require the full 25 minutes. If you make full sized cupcakes, be sure to bake for the full cooking time.


Quick Chocolate Frosting:

½ cup of melted butter


4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped and melted


1 ½ cups of confectioner’s sugar


3 tablespoons of milk (add more as needed)


Let the cupcakes cools completely before frosting, otherwise you will have melting frosting on your hands. Enjoy with a glass of ice cold milk!

Welcome to and bread!

and bread is the result of a childhood dream. I always hoped to one day own my own restaurant or bakery. My husband and I sometimes contemplate what life would be like if that dream were to ever become a reality. One day he semi-jokingly told me that he would like to open a sandwich shop (his love for sandwiches is surpassed by none) and call it “Meat and Cheese.” I quickly remarked that I would open a bakery next to “Meat and Cheese” and call it “and bread.” As for now these physical establishments remain dreams, but and bread now has roots.


What you can expect: and bread is dedicated to all things food. From baking and cooking, to amazing new restaurants finds, dinner parties, nutrition and more, and bread is for anyone who enjoys a good meal. Whether you are a novice cook, long time executive chef, or just a foodie at heart, and bread was made for you. Here you will find recipes ranging from homemade cupcakes, mouth watering Kansas City barbeque, to simple summer salads. I will keep you updated on any new restaurants I find in various cities, thoughts on trendy cookbooks or non-fiction culinary pieces, my favorite go to snacks, nutrition and so much more. Please feel free to share your thoughts or start up a discussion with other readers. I hope you enjoy all that and bread has to offer!