Mahi-Mahi Potstickers

This month's Daring Cooks challenge was to make Chinese dumplings or potstickers. The challenge is hosted by Jen from use real butter. The choice of filling and method of cooking were up to the individual cook (steaming makes dumplings, frying makes potstickers). Having seen recipes including shrimp and other fish before, I decided to make my potstickers using leftover Mahi-Mahi fillets tossed in with some other assorted ingredients.

As important as the filling is the dough itself. It's a simple flour and water dough, allowed to rest and rolled thin. After loading some filling into the dough, the dumplings are pinched and pleated together to seal them for baking.

Potsticker Dough:
2 cups flour

1/2 cup warm water, divided, plus more as needed

Pour the flour into a large bowl and add 1/4 cup warm water. Using your hands, mix together the water and flour. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of water a teaspoon at a time, continuing to mix and add until there are no longer any dry patches or cracks in the dough, and it's slightly sticky to the touch. Roll into a ball and flatten slightly to form a dome, then allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Mahi-Mahi filling:
1 lb. Mahi-Mahi, about 3 medium fillets

3 green onion stalks

2 medium carrots

4 oz. Gruyère cheese

Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 egg, room temperature

Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the mahi-mahi fillets thinly, then mince it until fine. Slice the onion stalks very finely, make sure there aren't any large pieces remaining. Using a vegetable peeler, first peel the outside off of the carrots, and then continue peeling so you get long, thin strips of carrots. Gather these strips together and chop finely. Shred the cheese with the fine side of a shredder, then run your knife through it to break up any additional pieces. Combine the ingredients and add lemon, egg, then salt and pepper to taste. Take a teaspoon of this and fry on the stove-top, then taste to see if it needs additional seasoning.

Assembly:

Cut the rested dough into 1-inch ribbons, then cut each ribbon into 3/4-inch slices. Press each slice down, then roll thin (about 1/16th of an inch).

Place about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of each dumpling.

Press and seal the center portion, wedging the filling in the middle.

Begin to pleat the sides of the dough to form a seal.

Continue pleating until you reach the end.

Repeat with the other side. In a large skillet, add 3 tablespoons oil (something with a high smoke point) and arrange potstickers closely together, as many as you can fit on the bottom of the pan.

Place over high heat and fry the potstickers for about 3 minutes, then add 1/2 cup of water and cover. Boil until all the water has evaporated, then reduce heat to medium-low and uncover. Continue cooking an additional 2-3 minutes, then remove from pan. Serve fried-side up, with sauce of your choice on the side.

I couldn't find any soy sauce handy at the house (I was cooking at my brother's place without him there, and didn't want to venture off to the grocery) so I just had some fish cocktail sauce on the side. The potstickers can be filled with any ingredients of your liking, and many other cooks at the Daring Kitchen have made these, so make sure you check them out. You're sure to find a filling to your liking.

Simple Steakside Mushrooms

I originally copied this recipe down from one of my mom's collections of things to make before leaving for college. It's been about 6 years since then, and this is my first time finally getting around to making these steakside mushrooms. As the name implies, these mushrooms go wonderfully served with a juicy steak, but they can be applied to other things as well; I made mine with some hot sausage, and eventually took those leftovers and made sandwiches.

The sandwiches were easy enough to put together - I just used whatever I had lying around, since I was short on time and didn't want to make a trip to the store. I layered some thinly cut spicy chicken sausage on sourdough, then covered with some of these delicious mushrooms. Topped with slices of cheese and toasted, the sandwich was a surprisingly delicious treat. Funny how sometimes things exceed your expectations in such a way as to surprise you.

Recipe:
1 1/2 lb. Crimini mushrooms, sliced lengthwise
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
Seasoning salt of choice(I used Lawry's)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water

In a large skillet over medium heat, sweat mushrooms until almost all the liquid had been evaporated from them. Add the butter and increase heat to medium-high. Saute mushrooms until brown, then sprinkle liberally with salt to taste. Add Worcestershire sauce and simmer until almost all the sauce is absorbed. Add water and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until mushrooms are tender. Serves 8.
Don't be afraid to be very liberal when adding the salt in this recipe. The mushrooms will thrive in the seasoning. I still haven't gotten around to trying these mushrooms as they were intended to be made - served with a slab of beef. However, seeing how well this recipe turned out, it will be on the top of my list of sides next time the urge to cook steak comes along.

Vegetable Strudel

The May Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prauge by Rick Rodgers. However, I took another turn on this dessert and decided to make a more savory dish, using some vegetables I had leftover in the house. What I ended up with was an onion-based vegetable strudel.

The recipe for the strudel dough itself is easy, and after you let it sit for a sufficient amount of time it's simple to pull extremely thin. I washed off a flat table in our living room and went to work stretching it ever-so-gently. I made sure to get the center thinned out first, so there was extra dough around the edges as I pulled further, giving me more to work with.

You can see that the edges are a bit thicker, so they can still be pulled further. Working from the center out, using hands on both sides of the dough (one on top and one on bottom), going in a circle from the center, I was able to get the dough roughly 2-feet by 3-feet. At that point, it was tissue-paper thin. Enough so I could clearly see my hands through it.

Then I simply topped with the ingredients I had on hand, rolled, and baked. I threw in a few extras to make sure it'd be good and tasty, but I was surprised at how easily strudel could come together - it always seemed much more complicated to me.

Recipe:

Strudel dough:
1 1/3 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to coat the dough
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Knead together all the ingredients, smacking harshly on a flat surface occasionally to get rid of any air bubbles. If the dough feels too dry, add water by half-teaspoons. After everything has come together, continue kneading until a soft ball with a rough surface forms. Shape into a ball and lightly oil the surface, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to sit at room temperature for 90 minutes. After it's sufficiently rested, lightly flour a clean, large working space (at least 2-feet by 3-feet wide) and begin pulling the dough from the center out. There are some videos online that can demonstrate this better than words can.

Filling:
3 large onions, sliced thickly
2 large shallots, diced
Large bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 lb. carrots, sliced thickly
6 medium stalks of celery, sliced thickly
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
2 fresh sprigs of oregano, leaves pulled and chopped
Worcestershire sauce to taste

Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Top the pulled strudel dough on one side with the filling, working in layers to ensure that all the slices will have a little bit of everything. After adding it all together, carefully fold over the dough with filling inward towards the remaining dough. It's okay if a few holes appear in the dough here - they'll be covered up by the remaining layers of dough as you continue rolling. Continue rolling the dough onto itself until it has all been used up, then shape so it can fit onto a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the outside begins to turn golden brown and the vegetables inside have softened. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

This can easily be either a main or side dish, and the variations you could make on it are nearly endless. You can fill it with choice vegetables of your own, and different varieties of cheese. You could add some pre-cooked beef, or even put in some sauce. Whatever you feel like putting into this, a strudel is a great way to combine all your ingredients into something that comes out with a flaky crust, and becomes easily transportable.

Pennsylvania Dutch Stuffing

I was never very fond of stuffing while growing up. A mass of bread crumbs stuffed up a poor bird? No thank you. Besides, the flavors were never really that great, and the dish tended to come out either too dry or wet. That all changed when my mom started making this traditional stuffing, a dish with enough great flavors to allow it to stand as its own dish, and perfect texture.

This particular stuffing has apples in it, adding more depth and complexity to the flavors. It ties all the other vegetables together nicely with the meat. The stuffing can be baked in a casserole dish, or inside the turkey if you wish. I personally prefer staying away from stuffing it up the turkey because it complicates cooking time and could end up making the dressing dry - not worth it for the added flavor of a few turkey juices.

Recipe:
1 lb. breakfast sausage
3/4 cup raw bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 cup chopped celery
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 small apples, cored and chopped
1 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon thyme
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chopped walnuts
12 oz. dry stuffing bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the breakfast sausage and bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking up any large chunks that remain. Once browned, add the onion, celery, mushrooms, apples, parsley, sage, and thyme (in a pinch, you can use poultry seasoning in place of the sage or thyme). Sauté, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until tender. Stir in the chicken broth and walnuts, then add the bread crumbs (more or less depending on how dry you want it). Add salt and pepper to taste. If baking in a casserole dish, butter a 2 1/2-quart dish and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Slide stuffing into dish and spread evenly, but without compressing the stuffing. Bake 1 hour, and allow to cool uncovered before serving. Serves 10.

Sure, stuffing is traditionally served during thanksgiving, but this dish is delicious enough to be a comfort food anytime during the winter months.

Buttermilk Cornbread

Some of the previous recipes I've made had small amounts of buttermilk in them, meaning I had a mostly-full container of buttermilk in my refrigerator. Conveniently, a friend of mine was having a potluck last weekend, so I decided to mix something up with the buttermilk. I ended up with a cornbread with savory flavor.

Recipe:

2 c. yellow cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 c. buttermilk
1 large egg
1/3 c. butter, melted - plus extra for top of loaf

Preheat oven to 425ºC, and butter an 8x8 glass baking dish. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together with a whisk. Add the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter, then mix until combined. Pour into the glass baking dish and place into the middle of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a crust begins to form on top. Pull the cornbread out of the oven and brush the top with a stick of butter. Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then turn upside-down to dislodge the cornbread. Cut and serve warm. Serves 8.

Always a good comfort food, this is perfect for the upcoming holidays. One of my favorites growing up was having a hot bowl of homemade chili and eating some cornbread on the side. If you want to add a hint of sweet flavor, throwing in a couple tablespoons of honey could do wonders to this dish.

Classic Mashed Potatoes

With the holidays coming up, I thought it'd be a good time to get a classic comfort food posted in here. These mashed potatoes are nice and creamy, with enough flavor that they can be eaten by themselves. No gravy necessary.

Recipe:
4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
16 oz. sour cream
3 T. fresh chives, chopped
Salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add the roughly cubed potatoes. Boil until soft enough that a knife stuck into the middle of a cube comes back out without effort. Drain the water and roughly mash the potatoes. Add sour cream and chives, and mash with a potato masher or the back of a large spoon until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste, serve warm.

This may not be the healthiest way to make mashed potatoes, but it definitely comes out wonderfully. It's always great to have these as a side to a wide variety of dishes, particularly steak or Thanksgiving turkey.