7 Layer Greek Dip

A while back one of our board members brought a similar dip to one of our meetings. I have to confess that my original thought of cream cheese and hummus combined was not a good one. It turned out to be exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. Despite the fact that fresh, local veggies have not yet arrived to Fairbanks, this dip has a perfect fresh and spring like flavor.
I immediately searched  online for the recipe and when I found this one that I thought I would fancy up a bit. Maybe use fresh herbs instead of dried, and make my own hummus and homemade pita chips. In the end I just got lazy. You know what? It was still pretty good, ok really good. The only thing I would do differently next time is use fresh, warm pita triangles instead of the store bought pita chips. The dip, I won't change at all. Sometimes when life gets a little crazy it's nice to have something simple to bring to a party.

 

Sanha Pakoras (Chickpea-Flour Fritters)

It is not often that I make a full Indian meal for just the two of us anymore. When this arrived from Rebecca last week I knew it was time for a complete Indian dinner to appear in our kitchen: 

A little warning about these fritters, they are really good in the way that deep fried items are too good. If there are only two of you I recommend cutting the recipe in half. The measurements may already seem small, but this recipe makes about 20 pakoras and if you have very limited willpower you may just eat all 20. Not that this has every happened in our house. 

One last note, these are absolutely amazing served with Spicy Apple Chutney. So amazing that I can not ever imagine eating them without it again. It is a good thing that I won't have to as Rebecca has shared the recipe. I'll let her decide if she would like to share it with the rest of you. 

Sanha Pakoras (Chickpea-Flour Fritters)

from Ajanta Cookbook

1 cup chickpea flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup finely diced potatoes

1/2 cup onion chopped

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon salt

1 inch piece of giner chopped

1 teaspoon chili flakes

1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro

Oil for deep frying

In a large mixing bowl combine chickpea flour, baking powder, and potatoes. Add the remaining ingredients with the exception of oil to the bowl of a food processor and pulse for 10-15 seconds. Add mixture to the flour mixture and add just enough water (about three tablespoons) to make a thick paste resembling chunky hummus. 

Heat about 1 inch of oil on medium high heat in a heavy bottom saucepot. Using a large spoon or tablespoon size cookie scoop drop several dollops of the paste into the hot oil and deep-fry, turning once until golden brown. Frying too many pakoras at one time will reduce the temperature of the oil and the pakoras will fall apart and soak up too much oil. Fry in small batches. Remove pakoras from oil and set on tray or platter lined with paper towel. Repeat until the entire mixture is finished. 

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

15-18 Medium size mushrooms
1 package cream cheese

1 can of lump white crab meat well drained

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 green onions finely chopped

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

6-8 drops Tabasco

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 tbsp. white wine or cooking sherry

approx 1/8 cup breadcrumbs for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash mushrooms and remove stems (reserve 1/2 of the mushroom stems). Place mushrooms cap side up on a baking rack and make sure they are thoroughly dry before filling. Once dry place mushrooms cap side down in a glass baking dish.

Finely chop the reserved mushroom stems and add to large mixing bowl with remaining ingredients except bread crumbs. Mix on low setting until ingredients are well blended.
Put mixture in pastry bag or quart size ziploc bag with a very small corner snipped off. Pipe filling into mushrooms.

Sprinkle tops with bread crumbs.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bread crumbs turn brown. Makes 15-18 stuffed mushrooms.

Steamed Pork and Cabbage Dumplings

I have a really bad habit of not reading recipes all the way through before deciding what I am going to make for dinner. Usually I just read through the ingredient list, make sure I have everything (although I have gone wrong here as well) and dive in. Most of the time this works out fine, sometimes we don't eat dinner until 10pm! Last night I picked up my second to last share of the season from our Calypso Farm CSA. There was a lovely head of romanesco along with a nice bunch of cilantro in our share.

Even thought we just had Cilantro Noodle Bowls for dinner last week, I decided to make this recipe again. I actually served the dish warm this week and cooked the romanesco a little longer than the recipe recommended. It was really yummy last week, but this week I thought it was even better. I also tossed in some radish greens with the romanesco, mostly because they were there, but it added a nice flavor.

It was the second part of our dinner that I got in a little over my head. I have been wanting to make potstickers or pork dumplings for a while and I thought I would give it a go. Let's just say that I missed the part in the recipe about letting the cabbage sit for 1/2 hour and the part about letting the filling chill for 1/2 hour. So, I skipped that whole part altogether and just pushed on. The only thing I couldn't figure out is why I had so much extra filling. I made 18 dumplings and it barely made a dent in the bowl of filling. The dog still ended up eating 6 of the dumplings. In any case I actually read the recipe afterward and discovered that if you use wonton wrappers (which I did) the recipe makes 40 dumplings. I also found out that you can freeze them and cook them up later. So, I will make the rest of the dumplings tomorrow after work (the filling will be nice and chilled by then) and freeze them. In the end with all my errors they still turned out really well and actually looked like real steamed dumplings. I loved the fresh ginger flavor. These may be the best steamed dumplings I have ever eaten. The sauce (bottom of page)also has a really good flavor and I highly recommend you use the chili oil.The recipe came from the recent Cook's Illustrated Specialty publication, Fall Entertaining. One last note: I steamed the dumplings on a rack in a roasting pan. I don't really like them browned.

STEAMED PORK AND CABBAGE DUMPLINGS
INGREDIENTS
Filling
3 cups minced napa cabbage leaves (about 1/2 medium head)
3/4 teaspoon table salt

3/4 pound ground pork
4 minced scallions (about 6 tablespoons)
2 egg whites , lightly beaten
4 teaspoons soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons minced or grated fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper


Dumplings
24 round gyoza or wonton wrappers
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water , plus extra for brushing

1. For the filling:: Toss cabbage with the salt in colander set over a bowl and let stand until cabbage begins to wilt, about 20 minutes. Press the cabbage gently with rubber spatula to squeeze out any excess moisture, the transfer to a medium bowl. Add the remaining filling ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until mixture is cold, at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
2. For the dumplings: Working with 4 wrappers at a time (keep the remaining wrappers covered with plastic wrap), follow the photos below to fill, seal, and shape the dumplings using a generous 1 teaspoon of the chilled filling per dumpling. Transfer the dumplings to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling; you should have about 24 dumplings. (The dumplings can be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 1 day, or frozen for up to 1 month. Once frozen, the dumplings can be transferred to a zipper-lock bag to save space in the freezer; do not thaw before cooking.)
3. Line a large plate with a double layer of paper towels; set aside. Brush 1 tablespoon of the oil over the bottom of a 12-inch nonstick skillet and arrange half of the dumplings in the skillet, with a flat side facing down (overlapping just slightly if necessary). Place the skillet over medium-high heat and cook the dumplings, without moving, until golden brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes.
4. Reduce the heat to low, add 1⁄2 cup of the water, and cover immediately. Continue to cook, covered, until most of the water is absorbed and the wrappers are slightly translucent, about 10 minutes. Uncover the skillet, increase the heat to medium-high, and continue to cook, without stirring, until the dumpling bottoms are well browned and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes more. Slide the dumplings onto the paper towel-lined plate, browned side facing down, and let drain briefly. Transfer the dumplings to a serving platter and serve with scallion dipping sauce (see related recipe). Let the skillet cool until just warm, then wipe it clean with a wad of paper towels and repeat step 3 with the remaining dumplings, oil, and water.


SCALLION DIPPING SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon chili oil (optional)
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 medium scallion , white and green parts, minced

Combine all ingredients in bowl and serve.