Dad's Spaghetti

Thought I would pull this post from the archives for Father's Day because there's not much more that I can say, except that my Dad was the greatest. Oh, I already said that :) Happy Father's Day to all of you awesome Dads who make such an amazing impact on your children, just as my Dad did with me. And a Happy Father's Day to my beautiful Husband who is the greatest doggy daddy ever!

My Dad was a great guy. He was always there for my Sisters and I whether it be at sporting events, dance recitals or just to be there. He was a proud Dad and never missed an opportunity to let us know that. I was a pretty serious dancer growing up with dancing taking up the majority of my time. It's inevitable when your Mom is a dance teacher, you are a dancer, you don't have a choice. I had dance classes five nights a week and ALL DAY SATURDAY. While I loved dancing, I hated Saturdays. it was a lot of work and subsequently I have no reference when people my age speak of Saturday morning cartoons.

There were two things I did love about Saturdays though, every Saturday after classes my Dad picked me up and took me to our favorite Doughnut Shop for my favorite maple dipped doughnut. We would hang out at the shop chit chatting, catching up and enjoying each other's time. After our doughnut date my Dad and I would go home and make his spaghetti together. I got to do the chopping, perched on a chair of course, because I couldn't reach the counter. As the years went on the spaghetti making remained but the chairs got smaller and smaller until I could finally reach the counter all by myself. He loved this recipe and so do I.

The Doughnut Shop and spaghetti making are two of so many fond memories I have with my Dad. It's been years since his passing but every time I make this sauce it brings me back to some wonderful times. I cherish the fact that my Dad took the time out to make a special tradition for just the two of us. Despite the fact that I dreaded the Saturday 8 hour dance intensive, at least I had a couple of things to look forward to when it was over. And for that, I will always love maple dipped doughnuts, this delicious spaghetti sauce and most importantly, my Dad.

Recipe:
1 lb spaghetti
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 large bell pepper, diced (green, red or yellow)
1 large yellow onion, diced
1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 cup water + more to thin to desired consistency
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 small dried bay leaf
pinch red pepper flakes, optional
salt and pepper to taste


Brown the ground beef and sausage in a large skillet. Drain the fat and set the meat aside. Add a little oil to the pan and add the onion, mushrooms and bell pepper. Saute over low-medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent but not browned. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and continue sauteing for 5 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, basil, oregano and bay leaf and stir everything together. Bring the sauce to a high simmer. Reduce the heat to a low simmer. Being careful not to burn your tongue, taste the sauce and season to your liking with salt and pepper. Partially cover and simmer the sauce on low heat for 2 hours, stirring often. You may have to add a little more water throughout the cooking process to thin to your desired consistency.

Cook your spaghetti just until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. Pour the sauce over the pasta and serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Serves 8.

Apple Cider and Spicy Mustard Roasted Pork

I'm a big fan of the pork butt. It's extremely economical, simple to make, so tasty and as my butcher puts it, "it's one of those cuts that you can cook the s#@t out of." Hey, the guy butchers animals for a living, he's a rough and tough farmer and that explanation probably had him showing some restraint. Eloquence aside, this really is one of those cuts that benefits from long, slow cooking times. If you're not familiar with pork butt it's the cut most commonly used to make pulled pork which is also a dish that requires long cooking times until the pork essentially falls apart. I love pulled pork and make it quite often but it is rainy and chilly here today and I wanted a comfort roast-ish meal. Two of my favorite combinations with pork are apples and spicy mustard so a while ago I decided to join the forces and came up with this super simple, utterly delicious roasted pork. I like to serve this pork with roasted potatoes and carrots for a truly old school like-your-grandmama-would-make comfort meal.

Recipe:
3 lb pork butt roast (ask your butcher to tie it for you)
1 large clove garlic cut into 1/4" slices (equalling about 6 slices)
1 cup apple cider or apple juice
1 cup water
1/4 cup stoneground spicy mustard or spicy dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a small paring knife, slice 6 slits halfway into the pork. Push the garlic slices into the slits. Prepare the pork by rubbing the mustard over the entire roast. Pour the apple cider and honey into the roasting pan, whisk together and place the roast into the pan. The liquid should ideally come up half way up the roast. If it doesn't in your pan, add a little more water. Cover the roasting pan and place in the oven.
3. Baste the pork with the apple cider every hour or so and roast for 5-6 hours or until the pork is fork tender.
4. Once the pork is tender, remove it from the roasting pan, loosley cover with foil and set aside to rest. Meanwhile, Pour the juices from the roasting pan into a saucepan. Bring the juices to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the juices have reduced slightly to a sauce-like consistency.
5. Carve the roast and serve it with the reduced sauce.

Oven Baked Baby Back Ribs

I am a big fan of ribs. Baby back ribs, short ribs, side ribs, upside down ribs it doesn't matter to me, I like them all. A lot. So one of the things I miss most in the winter months is my husband's wicked BBQ smoked ribs. Don't get me wrong, the man will grill in below 0 temperatures I have seen him do it, freezing and all but it wouldn't be very nice of me to expect him to tend to a slow smoked rack of ribs for hours at a time, would it? I have thought about asking but ya know, we are still technically newlyweds so I'll give it a few more years before I become unreasonable. So, with a fierce craving for ribs I had to turn to the oven and believe me, I was skeptical.

Perhaps it's the fact that my husband's BBQ ribs are so good that had me spoiled but I just thought I might be a little disappointed with the oven so you can imagine my surprise when they came out super tender and really delicious. I followed the advice of my friend Jo, who makes great oven baked ribs and went with the pre boiling method. I like this approach for two reasons; it makes the ribs tender and it cuts down on the cooking time. I'm thrilled with the outcome of the ribs, they totally hit the spot. While I certainly can't wait for warmer temperatures and the smell of BBQ wafting in the air, at least now I don't have to go for months on end without my beloved ribs.

Recipe:
2 lbs pork ribs (either baby back ribs or side rack)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce or homemade BBQ sauce (see recipe below)

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the ribs. Add the garlic powder, salt and pepper to the water as well as the ribs and bring to a boil.
2. Boil the ribs for 45 minutes skimming off any foam that comes to the surface of the water. You may have to add more water during this time to ensure the ribs are covered with water.
3. Carefully remove the ribs from the water and place in a casserole dish. You may want to line the dish with foil to make for an easier cleanup as the sauce from the ribs make it difficult to clean after baking.
4. Pour 1 cup of the BBQ sauce over the ribs, coating the back and front sides of the ribs with sauce.
5. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake the ribs for 45 minutes.
6. Remove the ribs from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove the foil, cover the ribs with the remaining sauce and bake, uncovered another 30 minutes.

Homemade BBQ Sauce Recipe:
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, adjust to taste
pinch of cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Mix all of the ingredients in a saucepan along with the onions and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook the sauce for about 30 minutes or until it has reduced to 2 cups, stirring occasionally. Remove from stove and set aside.

Maple Glazed Baked Ham

Our Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone and once again I am all turkeyed out. I'm so over turkey at the moment that I can't even imagine having to eat it again in just a few short months at Christmas. Nevermind again at American Thanksgiving. Yes, that's right we celebrate both. My Husband's Father is American so I feel it's my duty to celebrate both Canadian and American Thanksgiving. Okay actually it's just my lame excuse to throw a party and overindulge twice without feeling guilty. Trust me, without rationalizing I wouldn't be able to get through life. But back to the turkey, I just can't go there again so soon so we'll be going with ham. Not that I mind at all.

I know American Thanksgiving is still weeks away but due to my dancin' days, I always have a dress rehearsal. I'm not one to wing a new recipe where company is concerned. Of course I had to do a little fusion type thing and throw my Canadian maple syrup spin on this dish but you could easily substitute honey. Either way this ham is delicious. Perhaps the best thing about baking a ham are the leftovers. And just like turkey, no matter how many guests you have, there are always leftovers. I look forward to a week of eggs benedict, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, ham casserole and chef's salad. By next week I'll probably be so over ham that we'll be back to the turkey.

Recipe:

1 10 lb smoked ham (let the ham come to room temperature before baking)
whole cloves, about 20

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Prepare the ham by making diagonal slits on the fatty side of the ham in one direction and then again in the opposite direction creating a criss cross pattern.
3. Place individual cloves in the slits of the ham.
4. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil (optional) and place the ham, fat side up, in the pan. Cover with aluminum foil and place the ham in the oven for 30 minutes.
5. Remove the ham from the oven and remove the foil.
6. Brush the ham with the glaze on all sides making sure to get the glaze in the grooves of the slits.
7. Return the ham to the oven, uncovered, and cook for 1 1/2 hours, basting with the glaze every 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the ham reaches 130 F.
8. Turn the oven to broil and bake the ham another 5-10 minutes just to brown the outside.
9. Remove the ham from the oven, baste once again and let the ham rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Glaze:
1/3 cup light maple syrup (can substitute honey if you don't have maple syrup)
2 tablespoons stoneground mustard
1/3 cup pineapple juice
pinch nutmeg
pinch ground ginger
pinch cinnamon

1. Whisk all of the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a high simmer.
3. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and simmer for 8-10 minutes or just until the glaze has thickened slightly.

Egg Rolls

Some of my favorite times in the kitchen are when I have no idea what to make and I have to be crafty. A perfect example of this situation are these egg rolls. The clock was ticking down to dinner time and I didn't have any ideas and even less ingredients to work with. One of the items I did have on hand was ground pork. Seriously, ground pork? What on earth do you make with ground pork? Sure if I had some ground beef to go along with it I could have busted out a meatloaf or some meatballs but just ground pork? Yeesh. But wait-ground pork, cabbage and carrots...I believe Egg Rolls were my only hope. Except I didn't have egg roll wrappers.

Had I not participated in the Daring Cooks Potstickers challenge perhaps I would have been somewhat terrified of making my own egg roll wrappers but during that challenge I must have made about a hundred wonton wrappers so I felt fairly confident that I could make egg roll wrappers. Besides it's not like I had a choice. And I am really happy about that because not only are they very easy to make, much like homemade wonton wrappers, these egg roll wrappers are so much better than store bought. So in conclusion, sometimes an inability to run to the store last minute, a hungry husband on the way home and being forced to be a little creative can result in something pretty cool and very satisfying all around.

Recipe:

Egg Roll Wrappers recipe from Life 123:
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
½ cup cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water to make a paste
1 quart oil for frying, such as peanut, grapeseed or vegetable

1. Mix the flour and salt together.
2. Make a well in the middle and pour in the eggs and water. Using your fingers, gently combine the ingredients to make a dough. If the dough seems a bit too dry, add cold water (a tablespoon at a time).
3. When the dough comes together, knead it for 2 minutes. The dough should be smooth and soft.
4. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
5. Divide the dough in half. Keep half covered while you are working with the first half.
6. Roll the dough out on a floured surface. You will need to form a very thin sheet that is 36 x 12 inches.
7. Cut six inch squares. Stack the squares on a plate dusted with flour. Dust the top of each square with flour to keep them from sticking to each other. You can also use parchment paper between the squares.
8. Follow the same instructions for the second half of the dough. You can either freeze them for later use or use them as they are.

Filling:
1/2 lb ground pork
1 cup cabbage, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, julliened
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small red chili, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar, if using unseasoned add 1/2 teaspoon sugar to the pork mixture

1. In a large skillet, cook pork until it's no longer pink.
2. Add the ginger, garlic, chili and rice vinegar and continue to cook another 5 minutes over low-medium heat.
3. Remove the pork mixture from the pan and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Add a little oil to the same pan and add the cabbage and carrots to the pan. Cook over medium heat for about 6-7 minutes.
5. Set the cabbage and carrots aside to cool slightly.


Dipping Sauce:
2 tablespoons chili sauce, such as sambal
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together.

Assembly:
1. Preheat oil to 375 degrees In a large heavy bottomed skillet.
2. Place 2 tablespoons of the cabbage and carrot mixture in the center of the wrapper followed by 2 tablespoons of the pork mixture on top of the cabbage.
3. Sprinkle a few of the chopped scallion and cilantro over the pork.
4. lightly brush the edges of the wrapper with the cornstarch mixture, wetting all of the edges.
5. Fold one corner over the filling. Fold the left and right corners towards the center and roll up towards the last corner. Continue rolling the remaining egg rolls.
6. Carefully place the egg rolls into the hot oil. Fry about 5 minutes or until golden brown turning occasionally.
7. Drain the egg rolls on paper towel and serve with dipping sauce.

The Daring Cooks Challenge-Potstickers

I'm sure most of you have heard of Daring Bakers. If you haven't, they are a group of ridiculously talented food bloggers who are brave enough to participate in baking challenges once a month. That is not me. Yes, I do bake but my baking skill level is fine, definitely not "daring." Daring Cooks on the other hand? Count me in! I recently joined The Daring Kitchen and was thrilled when Jen from Use Real Butter announced our June challenge...Potstickers. I have posted about potstickers before and make them often. However, I always use premade wrappers and in this challenge we had to make our own. Cool. I also usually make my potstickers with ground pork but I loved Jen's shrimp and pork potstickers so I went with that. Good choice on my part, the combination is fantastic. Just to change things up a bit I decided to steam some of the potstickers and deep fry a batch. They were both delicious but the deep fried potstickers looked like little flowers or purses so they win just because.



I'm so happy to be a part of The Daring Kitchen and this challenge was so much fun. I highly doubt I'll ever go back to using premade wrappers again. I was a little concerned about the whole pleating process but after a little practice it's not that difficult. Okay, so mine certainly don't look uber professional but I did it, they all stayed together while cooking and in my world, that equals success! A couple of things to note when making your own wrappers I found is they have to be rolled as thinly as possible. Also, the initial "pinch" is the most important part of pleating. Make sure that first pinch stays together and you're good to go. Finally, don't overfill the wrappers and trust me, you'll want to. Especially when you're getting close to using up all of your filling you will get excited but resist the temptation to overfill. You'll thank me later. With the first challenge down, I can't wait to hear what the next one will involve. Thanks for the inspiration Jen!

Recipe inspired by Use Real Butter: (Jen has a great tutorial on Use Real Butter so click here if you get confused)

Dough: (I had leftover dough which I froze for later use, otherwise simply double the filling recipe.)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup water

Place flour in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the water stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough comes into a ball. You may need to use more or less water so start with less. Once the dough forms a ball, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 2 minutes. The dough should be firm and sticky. Cover the dough and let rest for 15 minutes. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Roll the dough into 1 1/4" strips. Then, cut off 1" pieces of the dough. Shape the pieces into discs and flatten with your hands. Roll the dough into circles, about 3" around. Place about 1 teaspoon of your filling into the center of your dough. Now, if you haven't already, definitely click here to see the pleating process. There is no way I could explain it better :)

Filling:
10 shrimp, raw, deveined
1/4 lb ground pork
3 tablespoons chives, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mince shrimp very finely. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. I like to refrigerate the mixture for about an hour but it's not necessary. After all of your potstickers are made, heat your pan to medium heat with about 3 tablespoons oil, such as grapeseed or canola. Place your potstickers into the hot oil making sure not to crowd the pan. Fry the potstickers for about 5 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Once browned, VERY carefully add 1/2 cup water water to the pan. Cover the pan and steam the potstickers for about 10 minutes (the water should be bubbling the entire time.) When the water has evaporated, remove the lid and allow the potstickers to fry another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. I like to serve the pan fried potstickers with a mixture of soy sauce and rice vinegar with a side of sambal chili sauce.

Alternately, if you want to deep fry the potstickers, heat 3" of grapeseed or canola oil to 350 degrees in a heavy bottom deep skillet or deep fryer. Place the gyoza into the hot oil. Fry on one side for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Flip the potstickers and fry another 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towel. Serve with sweet chili sauce.

Makes about 20 potstickers.

Swedish Meatballs

Everybody likes Swedish Meatballs right? I have even heard of people trekking to Ikea just for the Swedish Meatballs. I'm not kidding. It's like the meatballs have some kind of special powers. Like I said, everyone likes Swedish Meatballs. Which is why they have been served at cocktail parties probably since the beginning of time. I don't know if this an authentic recipe, in fact, I doubt it is. But it's good, really, really good and sometimes that's all that matters. The best thing about serving these for guests is that they can be made the night before and simply reheated the next day. Some might even say that they are better the next day. And as far as I'm concerned, that holds definite special powers.

I wish you all a fantastic New Year full of lots of love, laughter and of course, great food!

RECIPE (courtesy of Alton Brown and the Food Network)
2 slices fresh white bread
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
A pinch plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 pound ground chuck
3/4 pound ground pork
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups beef broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Tear the bread into pieces and place in a small mixing bowl along with the milk. Set aside. In a 12-inch straight sided saute pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sweat until the onions are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the bread and milk mixture, ground chuck, pork, egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and onions. Beat on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into 1"rounds. Heat the remaining butter in the saute pan over medium-low heat, or in an electric skillet set to 250 degrees F. Add the meatballs and saute until golden brown on all sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the meatballs to an ovenproof dish using a slotted spoon and place in the warmed oven. Once all of the meatballs are cooked, decrease the heat to low and add the flour to the pan or skillet. Whisk until lightly browned, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add the beef stock and whisk until sauce begins to thicken. Add the cream and continue to cook until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Remove the meatballs from the oven, cover with the gravy and serve.

Jamie Oliver's Spaghetti and Sausage Meatballs

I've been completely immersed in my new Jamie at Home Cookbook for the past couple of weeks. I can't stop browsing the beautiful photographs and the wonderful simple recipes. Since receiving the book for my birthday, I've made the spinach and mushroom calzone which was so delicious that I ate it too fast to take a picture. I've also made the asparagus soup which I'll post on later, and these spaghetti and sausage meatballs.

It pains me to say that after many, many hours slaving away in the kitchen all day making meatballs, that this is the best spaghetti and meatballs I've ever had. I've recently learned a few things on simplicity. Much like the many hours spent on meatballs, I used to spend all afternoon making tomato sauce. That is until I didn't have an afternoon to spare and I tried out this 5 minute tomato sauce from 101 Cookbooks. The sauce was amazing. Like the tomato sauce, I'll never spend hours making meatballs again. It's just simply not necessary.

RECIPE courtesy of Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home Cookbook:
Olive oil
8 good quality pork sausages
1 LB spaghetti
Sea salt
11 oz fresh peas, in their pods
Parmesan cheese for serving
a few sprigs of fresh marjoram, thyme, or rosemary, leaves picked

Heat a large saucepan and add a good amount of olive oil. Using scissors or a knife, cut the sausages into about 1 inch pieces. Remove the sausage from the casing and place them into the pan. Saute on all sides until they are a nice brown color on all sides. Add the herbs and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Boil the spaghetti according to package instructions and heat up the tomato sauce. When the spaghetti is done cooking and the tomato sauce is heated, twirl a bunch of spaghetti onto a plate, followed by a ladle of tomato sauce and top with the sausage meatballs. Finish everything with a good grating of Parmesan cheese and a shelling of the peas.

Jamie's Tomato Sauce is as follows, however, I always use my 5 minute tomato sauce:
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
a small bunch of fresh picked basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
1 14 oz cans of good quality plum tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
good quality balsamic vinegar

Heat a pan and pour in the olive oil. Add the garlic and chopped basil stalks, move them around for a minute or two. Put some small basil leaves aside for later, and sprinkle the rest into the pan. Add the tomatoes and season carefully to taste. Bring to a simmer, break up your tomatoes a bit more with a spoon and add a swig of balsamic vinegar.

Holubchi (Cabbage Rolls)

Take two from the book, cabbage rolls. I love cabbage rolls and I've made them several times in the past. To my surprise, my personal recipe that I just kind of made up by taste is almost identical to the one in the book. I must say, making cabbage rolls takes some work and a bit of time but it's so worth the effort. Actually, the real and only effort involved is preparing the cabbage leaves and that, if anything, just takes patience.

So there you have it, we are officially two for two with the book and these recipes so far are not just good, they are outstanding. I can't wait to make another and considering I have some mashed potatoes in the freezer waiting to be used, I think it might be potato dumplings. We'll see though, there are so many recipes in the book that are truly inspiring so things change fairly quickly.

RECIPE:

Cabbage Rolls:
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup cooked long grain rice
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 TBSP parsley
1 onion, finely diced
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 TBSP salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 large head of green cabbage

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove core from cabbage. Place cabbage in large pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes or just until slightly wilted. Remove from water, rinse with cold water and drain. When leaves are cool enough to handle, cut out the thickest part of the rib and set aside. Be sure to save all of the cabbage leaves that are torn or not suitable for the rolls themselves. Saute onions on low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes and then add the garlic to the pan. Saute another 3-4 minutes and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together meat, rice, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, paprika and the slightly cooled onion and garlic mixture. In a casserole dish, place the torn and unusable leaves of cabbage on the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Place 1 TBSP mixture on cabbage leaf, tuck the sides in and roll. Place the roll, seam side down onto the cabbage leaves in the casserole dish. Continue rolling and placing the rolls snugly together until the dish is full. Pour sauce over all of the rolls and place extra unusable cabbage leaves over top of the rolls, sealing the top. Cover dish with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 1.5 hours. (if your casserole dish is fairly shallow, place the covered dish on a large baking pan in case it drips.)

Sauce:
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
1 TBSP sugar
salt & pepper to taste


Place all ingredients in the blender and puree until smooth. Pour sauce into a large saucepan and heat through.

Makes about 12 cabbage rolls

Gyoza Queen

I suppose I should begin with a confession...we have eaten these 3 days this week so far and it's not due to a lack of food in the fridge. We were having friends over for dinner last week and they love Asian cuisine so I thought I'd try my hand at making gyoza. It was my first time making them from scratch and I don't usually try out first timers on company but these are our best friends so if things didn't work out we could have always ordered pizza. I was using wonton wrappers instead of gyoza wrappers so I wasn't sure if that was going to be problematic. I also opted to use ground chicken insead of the traditional pork so I suppose you can say there's nothing really authentic about these at all. None of these details will matter to you though after just one bite, which will probably be followed by about 20 more.

Even though this was my first time making gyoza, I really lucked out because they could not have been easier to make. Next time I'm making them for company I will prepare the filling the night before, make the gyoza the morning of and just fry them up as needed. Our dinner guests were so thrilled with the delicious dumplings, the serving platter was empty in seconds, which brings me to a very important point....make lots! I must confess, I'm already planning on making these again next week, I just can't help myself, I'm officially hooked.

RECIPE:

Gyoza:
wonton or gyoza wrappers
1/2 lb ground chicken or pork
1 egg white
2 TBS soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 TBS fresh ginger, grated
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 scallions, finely diced
3/4 cup boiled green cabbage

In large bowl combine all ingredients, mix well. Place a spoonful of meat mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper. Dip fingertips in water and wet the edge of wrapper, fold over and seal closed. Use a fork to gently press down on the edges of the dumpling. Continue until all of the meat mixture is used. In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Brown dumplings in oil on one side. When bottoms are brown and crispy, add enough water to fill pan halfway. Cover pan and steam over medium heat for 8 - 10 minutes, until dumplings are cooked through. Serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soya sauce or tamari
1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS hot chili sauce such as Sambal

Makes about 40 dumlings.