Steamed Dumplings (Shrimp or Vegetarian)

Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumplings

Make about 20-24 steamed dumplings

As shared from the kitchen of Once Upon a Plate

This recipe was given to me by a good friend over 20 years ago. It's a tried and true!

If you prefer you can make your own dumpling dough, this is the shortcut method using store bought wonton wrappers. The dough will not be as tender as traditional dumpling dough; it's thinner and a little more chewy, but it is a good quick version.

Ingredients:

8-10 medium raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut into small bits
1/2 pound lean ground pork
1 green onion/scallion (both white and green parts, finely chopped)
a few shakes of ground white pepper
1 teaspoon extra dry (Cocktail) Sherry; non-sweet
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 package square wonton wrappers

Filling:

In a medium-size bowl mix the shrimp, ground pork, green onion, gringer and remaining ingredients (except wrappers) together with a fork until well combined.

To fill dumplings:

Place one wrapper on work surface (keep remaining wrappers in the package so they don't dry out). Portion a small spoonful (scant 1 teaspoon) of the filling in the center of the wrapper. (Don't overfill or you will not be able to seal tightly.) Dip your finger in water, moisten the edges of the wrapper, bring all corners up so they meet over the center of the filling (forming a pyramid shape), pinch seams to form a tight seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers.

Arrange the dumplings in a bamboo steamer (line bottom of each steamer section with parchment paper or a lettuce leaf), I spray parchment paper lightly with cooking spray (not necessary if using lettuce leaf.) Steam for 10 to 12 minutes.

Serve right away with drizzle or dipping sauce of your choice:

Suggestions for drizzles/dips:

-Sweet Hot Chilli Sauce (from the bottle)
-Soy-Rice Vinegar: Equal parts rice vinegar and soy sauce (may add a few drops of water if flavor is too strong)
-Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce: Equal parts black vinegar, soy sauce, thinly sliced scallions, few drops hot sesame oil and a bit of water)

Can keep dumplings warm in a 200*(F) oven, loosely covered with foil for up to 1/2 hour.



Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings

adapted from Alton Brown
35 to 40 Dumplings
Note: I half this recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 pound firm tofu
1/2 cup coarsely grated carrots
1/2 cup shredded Napa cabbage (or regular cabbage, cut angel hair style)
2 tablespoons finely chopped red pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bowl of water, plus additional water for steamer
35 to 40 small wonton wrappers (Fewer if you are halving the recipe)
Non-stick vegetable spray, for the steamer

First extract as much liquid as possible from tofu using this method:

Cut the tofu in half horizontally and lay between layers of paper towels. Place on a plate, top with another plate, and place a weight on top (a 14-ounce can of vegetables works well). Let stand 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, cut the tofu into 1/4-inch cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the carrots, cabbage, red pepper, scallions, ginger, cilantro, soy sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, egg, salt, and pepper. Lightly stir to combine.

Proceed to fill wrappers, and steam as directed in preceding recipe.

Hope you enjoy!

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Pacific Coast Seafood Chowder

Pacific Coast Seafood Chowder

~From the Kitchen of Once Upon a Plate

8 to 12 servings, depending upon portion size

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 or 2 slices of bacon, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
1 medium onion (about 3-inches in diameter), small dice
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups (about 2 or 3 medium size) potatoes, peeled, and cut into ½-inch to ¾-inch dice)
¼ to ½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
32 –ounces* chicken broth (homemade, canned, or boxed). May substitute part of chicken broth with bottled clam juice
2 cups milk (or more depending upon how thin you like your chowder)
Seafood:

(Total 1 ½ pound Seafood) ---Choose one or a combination of the following to equal approximately 1 ½ pounds:

- Shrimp, medium size (31 to 40 count per pound) raw, peeled, deveined,
- clam meat or 2- [6 ½ ounce] cans chopped clams with juice,
- diced raw, boneless firm-flesh fish (cod, halibut, snapper, salmon.)

1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon white pepper, ground
½ teaspoon hot sauce, OR a sprinkling of Cayenne powder; optional (more or less, to your liking)

Note: I don’t season with salt until the end of cooking time as the bacon, butter, chicken & clam broth add salt to the dish.

Method:
In a small bowl with a fork mix the butter and flour until thick paste forms; thoroughly blended and smooth. Set aside. (This is Beurre Manié, the classic French sauce thickener.)

• In a large pot or Dutch/French oven heat oil over medium heat and brown bacon until just crisp.
• With a slotted spoon remove crisped bacon and set aside.
• Remove all but 1 ½ Tablespoons oil/bacon fat from the pot.
• Add diced onions, celery and carrots to pot and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don’t allow them to brown, just begin to soften.
• Next add minced garlic and diced potatoes to the pot; stir for a minute or two.
• Add bay leaf and thyme, then chicken broth (clam juice if using)
• Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes and carrots are just tender.
• Stir in milk until mixture reaches a simmer.
• Stir in Beurre Manie, 1 tablespoonful at a time, stirring all the while, allowing each addition to dissolve and thicken the liquid before adding the next tablespoonful. Reduce heat slightly, if necessary so mixture does not scorch.
• Add seafood and reserved bacon; simmer gently until the shrimp and fish are just cooked through. This will only take a couple of minutes. Do not overcook.
• Taste for seasonings and adjust chowder to your taste.

If chowder is thicker than you like add additional broth or milk and heat through until hot. Ladle into bowls or mugs and garnish with fresh minced parsley or fresh thyme leaves. Serve hot.


** For this recipe I use 32-ounces of chicken broth, and keep one- 14.5 ounce can nearby to add more broth as needed.

Enjoy!

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Shellfish Roast

Shellfish Roast
2 servings

Note: Soft shell crabs, crawfish, petite lobster tails, mussels, etc. can be substituted or added to this roast, depending upon what is available. Mix the shellfish anyway you like to make enough for 2 servings.

4 raw scampi, or colossal prawns, halved and cleaned
6 raw large prawns, halved and cleaned
Sea Scallops, 3 to 6, if desired bake on scallop shells (optional)
about 8 or so small clams in the shell

For the mixture to spread on the seafood before baking:

5 tablespoons of butter (I use a combination of butter and olive oil)*
1 tablespoon salted capers, rinsed and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon thyme leaves (lemon thyme leaves are very good in this recipe, if you have them)
cracked black pepper
lemon halves, to serve

Preheat oven to 400* (F)

Arrange prepared shellfish on a large, shallow baking dish or pan lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Mix together the butter, capers, garlic, chili, lemon rind, thyme and pepper. Spread or dot butter over the shellfish. Drizzle with olive oil, if using.

Place in hot oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until seafood is just cooked through. Serve with lemon halves.

* I mix the garlic, capers, chili flakes, lemon zest with 3 tablespoons butter for the spread. Then drizzle about 2 tablespoons olive oil over the seafood.

Enjoy!

Recipe inspired by Donna Hay

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Spicy Chicken* , Cucumber and Mint Salad

With huge thanks to Pam at "Sidewalk Shoes" for sharing this recipe from Donna Hay’s Magazine.

Spicy Chicken, Cucumber and Mint Salad
Serves 4

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
500g chicken mince (just over 17 ounces ~ so I just use a pound/16 ounces) *
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 birdseye chillies, chopped*
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce*
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 Lebanese or European ("hot house") cucumber, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Vietnamese mint leaves*
1/4 cup spearmint leaves*
1/4 cup round mint leaves*

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat. Cook the chicken (or your choice of meat), in batches, for a few minutes-- until browned, break up any big chunks with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for 1 minute. Stir-in the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. To serve, toss the cucumber, onion, and mint with the meat mixture.


* NOTES:

1.) You may substitute ground beef, turkey or pork for the chicken. I'm going to try it with prawns as well.

2.) If you don't care for fish sauce, substitute soy sauce (diluted with a bit of water), or perhaps Oyster Sauce.

3.) The first time I made this I substituted a fresh finely minced jalapeno pepper for the birds eye chilis ~ the second time I made it I used dried red chili flakes to taste, both worked very well in this recipe.

4.) I use a mix of common mints that grow in my garden, and cut the amounts substantially ~ 1/4 cup, loosely packed or less is plenty for our tastes ~ I just like a hint of mint.

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay's magazine.

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Grilled Shrimp & Grapefruit Spinach Salad with Sweet Curry Dressing

... and toasted pecans!

The salad assembly is fairly straight forward as you can see from the photo, so I'll give you my rough proportions for the dressing. Please ~ by all means, adjust the amount of ingredients to your own tastes.

Sweet Curry Ginger Dressing
Easily doubled, tripled or quadrupled

Very good on grilled shrimp, chicken, pork tenderloin, or grilled seafood

1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon canola (or other mild vegetable oil)
1/2 to 1 heaping teaspoon Madras brand curry powder
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard (such as Coleman's)
1 to 2 teaspoons fresh ginger; peeled and finely minced, or grated on a microplane to taste. (We love ginger so I use about 2 teaspoons of finely grated. Reduce or increase to your taste.)
2 to 3 teaspoons agave syrup, or honey; more or less depending upon how sweet the grapefruit juice is
Pinch of sea salt

You may also like a little freshly grated garlic as well; it's up to you! :)

Whisk all ingredients and chill until ready to serve. Whisk again before serving.

Sweet Kate's Sweet Mustard Shrimp

I call her SWEET Kate because she so generously shares her fabulous recipe with us...
Do stop by her wonderful blog and say hello!

Sweet Mustard Shrimp

I (Mari) put my notes in brackets ~ I had to adjust because of a family member's dietary restrictions.


1/4 cup Old Style Dijon Mustard (Maille)
2 tsp dry mustard
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
6 Tbsp sugar [I have to substitute agave syrup because of diet restrictions] ---it worked GREAT!
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil [I reduce, again because of dietary restrictions]
2 Tbsp fresh dill, minced (dried can be used)
2 Tbsp red onion, chopped (I slivered it)
2 lbs medium shrimp, cooked (fresh or frozen)*

Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl. Whisk in the oil. Stir in the dill and onion. Chill, tightly covered.

If you are using fresh shrimp, peel and de-vein the shrimp. Steam until done. If you are using frozen cooked shrimp, defrost in a colander under cool water.

Place the marinade into a large Ziploc bag and add the shrimp. Seal tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. Serve over a bed of greens.

Variation: The fresh uncooked shrimp may be marinated and then placed on a skewer and grilled on the barbecue. Grill over medium heat. When the tails begin to turn pink flip the skewers over and continue to cook until the shrimp tails are pink and the meat is opaque (white.)

Kate notes: *I have used both fresh and frozen shrimp. The dish turns out perfect with either one.

This recipe is... From Kate at A Spoonful of Thyme (click to visit!)

Thank you Kate!

I recently served it with "Good Old Pea Salad", it was a good side for these shrimp. It is listed just below this recipe, or click HERE if you would like the Pea Salad recipe.

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