A Perfect Feast

These Shrimp and Asparagus Shumai are packed with flavor, and are a delightful starter for a home-cooked Chinese dinner. What could be better than making your Chinese restaurant favorites at home any time you have a craving?

Instead of the asparagus, feel free to substitute a different vegetable, that maybe you already have on hand. You could always use chopped cabbage, peas, or sliced snow/snap peas instead of the asparagus. Or, you could leave out the shrimp, and make an all vegetable dumpling. The wrappers I bought said they were vegan, so by replacing the shrimp with more veggies, this could be a completely vegan dish.

Shrimp and Asparagus Shumai

Chinese dumplings filled with shrimp and asparagus with a Chili and Soy Dipping Sauce.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 42 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4

Equipment

• Bamboo or other steamer
• Food processor

Ingredients

  

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For Shrimp and Asparagus Shumai:

• ½ pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined chopped
• ½ cup steamed asparagus chopped
• 2 scallions chopped
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp white wine
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 24 round pot sticker wrappers
• 6 leaves of lettuce
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch

For Soy and Chili Dipping Sauce:

• 3 tbsp. white wine
• 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili paste
• 2 scallion
• 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

 

For the Shrimp and Asparagus Shumai:

• In a food processor, combine all the ingredients, and pulse about 10 times until everything is ground together.
• Lay the dumpling wrappers out on a parchment lined, cornstarch dusted, baking sheet. Put one teaspoon of filling in the middle of each wrapper, and then moisten the edges with water. Raise one side of the dumpling straight up and pinch into a pleat. Repeat on all sides of the dumpling.
• Fill a Dutch oven with and inch of water, and bring it to a boil. Line your steamer with lettuce leaves and place the shumai on top of the leaves. Steam for 12 minutes. Serve with dipping sauce.

For Soy Chili Dipping Sauce:

• Mix all ingredients together and serve.

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Breakfast foods can get so boring, but these Funfetti Ebelskivers are a great way to make mornings exciting again. These little confetti filled Danish pancakes are light and sweet, and so much fun to eat.

I first learned about ebelskivers when shopping at Bestemors, a Scandinavian import shop in Mystic, Connecticut. They had ebelskiver pans in all different sizes, and I was very intrigued since my whole family loved pancakes. I bought my little cast iron ebelskiver pan that day, and have been making all different kinds of ebelskivers almost every weekend.

Ebelskivers are very easy to make, but frying them can be tricky. I’ve found the best way to turn them over is using two wooden skewers, but you can also rotate them using a butter knife.

Funfetti Ebelskivers

Fluffy little pancakes, strewn with confetti candy, and topped with a sugar glaze.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Danish

Servings 4

Equipment

• ebelskiver pan
• electric mixer

Ingredients

  

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• 2 eggs, whites and yolks sperated
• 1 cup whole milk , plus 2 tsp for glaze
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tbsp butter for greasing the pan
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour 120g
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 4 tbsp confetti candy
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar 60g

Instructions

 

• In a small bowl stir together the two egg yolks, the milk, butter, and vanilla.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs/milk/butter mixture, and stir until just combined. Add 4 tbsp. of the confetti, and stir.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the two egg whites until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the eggs into the batter.
• For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar with 2 tsp. milk, and stir until combined.
• Heat the ebelskiver pan on medium heat and melt a dot of butter in each well. When the butter melts, fill each well to the top. Use two wooden skewers to turn the ebelskiver over when it turns brown on the bottom. When both sides are brown remove to a plate. Drizzle with the glaze and top with more confetti.
• Repeat with two more batches.

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If you adore gnocchi or know someone who does, you must try making these Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Pomodoro Sauce and Basil. They are tender with a delicious potato and Parmesan flavor, and although they are time consuming, they are fun to make. I have tried many gnocchi recipes over the years, which usually ended with a frustrating pile of potato mush. But, I continued to search for a good gnocchi making method for three reasons. First of all, my family loves gnocchi. Secondly, gnocchi make a great, filling, meatless meal, which is something that can be hard to find. Lastly, gnocchi are endlessly versatile, they can be made with different vegetables and seasonings and tossed with different sauces, and they taste great in soup.

Thanks to all of my gnocchi disasters, I have learned a lot about making foolproof gnocchi. Follow these tips, and your gnocchi will come out perfectly every time:

• Measure all your ingredients carefully, especially your potatoes and flour. This is not a recipe where you can use handfuls or pinches of things.
• Add ricotta cheese to your mixture. It is the glue that will keep your gnocchi from dissolving in the boiling water.
• If you don’t want to cook the gnocchi right away, you can cover them with plastic wrap, and refrigerate them for three hours before cooking them.
• Only cook one scoop of gnocchi at a time.

This is a great recipe to make with kids. They can easily make the dough logs and roll them on the fork.

Finally, I must add that this is a very inexpensive dish to prepare. It only uses a few ingredients and they are fairly cheap to purchase, if you don’t already have them around the house.

Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Pomodoro Sauce and Basil

Italian potato dumplings with a sweet fresh tomato sauce.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 6

Equipment

• potato ricer or food mill

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 cups flour (240 g)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 6 plum tomatoes
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup fresh basil sliced

Instructions

 

• Prick potatoes all over with a fork, and bake in a 425 degree oven, directly on the rack, for 40 minutes, or until tender when tested with a fork.
• Meanwhile prepare the Pomodoro Sauce. Remove the stems from the plum tomatoes, and blanch in a small pot of boiling water. Cook until the skin begins to separate from the tomato, and then drain and peel and chop.
• In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and cook the onion and garlic on low heat until softened. Add the tomatoes, red wine, red pepper flakes, the bay leaf, and a pinch of salt. Simmer 20 minutes, take out bay leaf, and set aside.
• When the potatoes are done baking, scoop them out of their shells, and rice them into a large bowl. Add the cheeses, eggs, and salt. Stir gently together. Add the flour, and as gently as possible, knead the dough into a ball.
• Remove a golf ball sized piece of dough, and on a floured board, roll into a thin log, about a 1/2 inch thick. Cut the log into 3/4 inch pieces. Place them onto a floured parchment lined pan. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
• Boil a large pot of salted water. Drop in one ladle full of gnocchi at a time. Using a slotted spoon remove the gnocchi as soon as they float to the top. Drop them into a colander as they’re done, so they dry completely. Repeat until all the gnocchi are cooked.
• Meanwhile, reheat the Pomodoro Sauce.
• In a very large skillet melt half the butter and cook half the gnocchi, until they’re coated in butter. Repeat with remainder of butter and gnocchi. Top with sauce, and basil.

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