Budget Beef & Mushroom Stroganov, Made in Advance

I served this out of a crock-pot, which did a good job of keeping it warm on the buffet table. Stroganov, or stroganoff as it is often spelled, is a classic Russian dish of quickly cooked beef in a sauce of mushrooms, onions and sour cream, generally served with noodles. Rice or boiled potatoes are also good.

Fortunately, the leftover Stroganov was fairly photogenic, as the shot I took at the party wasn't great. Stroganov isn't supposed to keep and reheat well, although I thought mine did okay. Just don't overheat it - get it warm through, but don't boil it. If the sour cream does curdle, add a little more flour to the sauce, cook it for a minute or two, then stir in a little more sour cream.

Like the lasagne, this was a request from the guests of honour at The Party. Stroganov is usually cooked quickly, using tender (and expensive) beef tenderloin, a.k.a. filet mignon. Because I needed to make quite a lot, and because I was going to have to cook it in advance in order to get anything else done on the evening of the party I froze the partially cooked beef and onions, then thawed it and re-heated it with the mushrooms and sour cream on the day of the party. I opted to use plain old stewing beef - a good quality one of course, but it was a much less expensive option. Since cooking, cooling then re-heating stewing beef makes it more tender, it was just fine - tender and not too chewy at all. Normally I only use grass-fed beef but this wasn't, which also would have contributed to the tenderness.

I've scaled down the recipe from what I actually made, but it still makes enough for a party or large family gathering. With the holidays coming up, this is something to consider making. It's always great to be able to do as much cooking as possible in advance, and keep things simple at serving time. Be sure to get stewing beef with as little gristle and fat as possible; consult your butcher. It won't be the cheapest, but it will be a lot less money than tenderloin.

12 to 16 servings
1 1/2 hours of work, divided over several sessions



Start the Stroganov:
1.5 kilos (3 pounds) well-trimmed good stewing beef
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 or 2 large onions
3 or 4 shallots
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups beef stock

Prepare the beef by examining it for gristle or fat, and removing any you find. Slice the chunks of beef about 1/3 of an inch thick, and no larger than bite-sized.

Heat the oil in a large skillet, and brown the beef at high heat on both sides, in batches as the skillet will hold them. The browned beef should then be placed in a container for storage in either the freezer, or the fridge if you are not making it more than a day in advance. Don't put it away yet though, you still need to add the onions. The beef should not necessarily be cooked through, just browned.

Peel and slice the onions and shallots. Put the butter into the skillet (no need to clean it between times) and cook the onions and shallots in it, rather slowly, until soft and golden. Sprinkle over the flour, and add the mustard and salt. Cook for a minute or two, then slowly mix in the broth, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add all this to the beef; now you can seal it up and put it away until wanted.

Start thawing out the beef (if frozen) 24 hours before you wish to serve it. If you are not making it more than a day in advance, it can be kept refrigerated.

Finish the Stroganov:
1 kilo (2 pounds) button mushrooms
250 grams (1/2 pound) shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup unsalted butter, about

1 cup sour cream
3 or 4 tablespoons minced fresh dill
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Clean and halve or quarter the mushrooms. Actually, it's even better if you manage to buy quite small ones to start with; then at worst some of them will need to be halved and the rest can be left whole. But clean them, yes. De-stem the shiitakes and discard* the stems, again cutting the tops in half if they are large.

Then, take some butter - a tablespoon, say - and heat it in a large skillet over high heat. Add whatever quantity of mushrooms you can get in there, and sauté them until nicely browned and soft. Put them in their own coverable dish, to be refrigerated and added to the beef just before heating and serving the Stroganov. Unless you have left the mushrooms until you are already heating the beef in preparation for serving, in which case add them to the beef now. Continue cooking the rest of the mushrooms the same way.

To serve the Stroganov, heat the beef with the mushrooms over medium heat, until very hot throughout. Make sure it is, as it mustn't boil once the sour cream goes in. Stir in the sour cream and dill, and a little more mustard if you think it could use it. Season with black pepper to taste. It can be kept hot in a crock-pot or chafing dish, if that is convenient. Serve over noodles, rice or potatoes. Don't forget to pass the dill pickles.





*Given the price of shiitakes, by "discard" I mean "put them in a dish on the windowsill where they can dry out and be saved to use in the making of stocks and broths".

Smoked Trout Paté, Stuffed in Mushroom Caps If You Are So Inclined

Smoked trout paté is very fast and simple to make, and looks very elegant presented in mushroom caps. The two tastes and textures also go together nicely. However, there's no question that preparing the mushroom caps is tedious - and the paté would be perfectly lovely with crackers or chips as well. You could also thin it with a tad more mayonnaise, and dip an assortment of crudités into it.

About 80 stuffed mushrooms; 2 cups paté
15 minutes to make the paté
30 minutes to prepare the mushroom caps
20 minutes to stuff the mushrooms


Make the Paté:
2 smoked fillets salmon trout (about 500 grams or 1 pound)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1/3 cup chopped chives or green onion
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (optional)
the juice of 1/2 lemon
black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
2 to 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (light is fine)

Peel the skin from the trout fillets. Crumble one of them into the bowl of a food processor, and add all the remaining ingredients. Process until well blended, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Crumble in the other trout fillet, and process again, briefly this time to leave some texture in the fish. Pack into a coverable bowl, and refrigerate until wanted.

Stuff the Mushrooms:
70 to 80 mushrooms, about 1" or a bit less in diameter
allow a few more than you want, as some may break

Wipe the mushrooms carefully with a damp tea-towel or paper towel. Remove the stems, by wiggling and twisting them. If they don't come out completely, remove the remains of the stems with the tip of a vegetable peeler.

Put a teaspoon of the paté into the space left by the stem on each mushroom. Place them on a plate, and keep them covered (a clean, almost dry but not quite tea towel is ideal) and cool until you are ready to serve them.

Butternut Squash & Hazelnut Lasagne

Okay, I know some of you (I'm looking at you, Joanne!) have been waiting with 'bated breath for this recipe. Actually, you could have pretty much had it at any time because I got it from Epicurious, and have not meddled with it much beyond the usual.

I should give a call-out to Presto Pasta Night, now that I finally have some pasta for them. It's at Pots & Plots this week. I should also have taken a picture as the first perfect slice was removed, but I was otherwise occupied and so the photo didn't happen until half the lasagne was gone, alas.

This is the first time I have made this recipe and I thought it was delicious. I'm not completely sure about the presence of the hazelnuts; I love hazelnuts, and indeed most nuts, but I'm not convinced they belong in things. It's a texture problem. However, the flavour was lovely with the squash, onions, cheese etc. It may be just one of those insoluble problems, or maybe I will try it with finely ground hazelnuts next time. And if you happen to be one of the many people who DO like nuts in things, there isn't even any problem at all.

As noted in the directions, I made this ahead of time and froze it before it was baked, and that worked out perfectly.

6 to 8 servings
2 1/2 hours - 1 1/2 hours prep time. But for heavens sake, allow yourself lots of time and assemble it in advance.


Make the Filling:
1 large (1.5 kg or 3 to 4 pound) butternut squash
1 or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup chopped hazelnuts
1 large onion
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons rubbed sage
1 teaspoon rubbed savory
black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the squash in half, and remove the seeds. Peel the squash, and cut it into thin slices. Toss it with the first quantity of oil in a large roasting pan, and roast until barely tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, toast the chopped hazelnuts in a dry skillet until golden brown. Put them aside in a large mixing bowl.

Peel and chop the onion. Heat the second quantity of oil in a large skillet and cook the onions very gently until golden, about half an hour over medium-low heat, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and seasonings, and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Add them to the bowl with the hazelnuts, along with the cooled squash. Mix and set aside.

Make the Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
5 tablespoons flour
5 cups milk
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt

Without cleaning the large skillet above, melt the butter in it. Cook the garlic gently for a minute or two, then sprinkle in the flour. Mix well, and cook for a minute or two longer. Slowly, oh so slowly, mix in the milk to make a smooth lump-free sauce. Add the bay leaf and salt, and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Assemble the Lasagne:
16 lasagne noodles; but be smart and cook a few extra
450 grams (1 pound) fresh mozzerella
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil, and cook the lasagne noodles for about two-thirds to three-quarters* of the recommended time. They should be barely pliable. Rinse them in cold water at once to stop them cooking any further.

Meanwhile, grate the mozzerella and Parmesan cheeses.

When you are ready to proceed, spread a little of the white sauce in the bottom of your lasagne pan, which should be approximately 9" x 13". Lay down a layer of the semi-cooked, drained noodles. Spread over them about one-third of the squash mixture, top with about one-quarter of the sauce, and one-quarter of the cheeses. Continue in this manner until you have used up all the filling, and have a final, top layer of noodles. Pour (spread) over the rest of the sauce and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

You may now bake the lasagne at 425°F, for 30 to 40 minutes. Cover it with foil if it is getting too brown too soon. Let it rest for 15 minutes before serving.

I froze mine, and semi-thawed** it before baking. As it was in a glass baking dish, I put it into a COLD oven, turned it on to 350°F for about 20 minutes then turned up the heat a bit more and proceeded. I'm not completely sure of the time; just keep an eye on it. Hot, golden-brown and bubbly is the goal, and about an hour from turning on the oven is probable. If you are not making it too far in advance (like a day ahead, or two) keep it covered in the fridge rather than freezing it, but proceed as described for the cold lasagne.





*Help stamp out mushy lasagne - they're going to get cooked some more, yo.

** On account of how I allowed it 24 hours to thaw, and 48 would have been more like it.

Roasted Pepper, Artichoke & Tomato Salad with Sundried Tomato Dressing

This salad should be made somewhat in advance; in particular the roasting of the peppers should be done in good time. However, it's extremely simple to make and does not actually involve much work. There will almost certainly be more dressing than you need, but you can easily use the extra on some other salad. It should keep in the fridge for a week or so.

This is the entire amount of salad I made for The Party, but it was one of the few things to be completely eaten. It's a fair bit of salad but it's hard for me to discern how many servings it would make under more normal circumstances. The photo is of half the recipe. Certainly, it would be very easy to cut the amount made in half. Also, I would think it could be stretched, or diluted (it has a strong, almost relish-like quality as-is) with cooked beans or cooked grains such as barley or rice. Make this one all year with greenhouse peppers and tomatoes. Artichokes, alas, are from "away".

8 to 16 servings
30 minutes prep time, plus 1 hour to roast and cool the peppers


Make the Dressing:
8 large dried tomatoes (1/2 cup, about)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 medium shallot
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
1 teaspoon rubbed oregano
1 teaspoon rubbed basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 or 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Soak the tomatoes in the boiling water until very soft, and the water has cooled. Meanwhile, peel the garlic and shallot. It's probably helpful to halve the shallot. Put them, with all the other ingredients, into a food processor or blender, and process (or blend) until very smooth. Scrape it all out and store it until needed. If you find it too thick you could thin it with a little water.

Make the Salad:
4 large bell peppers in mixed colours
2 398-ml (14 oz) tins of artichoke quarters or hearts
5 or 6 ripe tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Put the peppers in a cast iron skillet or other heavy casserole dish, and roast them for 10 minutes. Turn them a third of the way around, and roast them for another 10 minutes. Turn them so the final third surface of the peppers is now down, and roast for a final 10 minutes. Kitchen fan ON during this process!

Allow the peppers to cool, then cut out the cores. Cut the peppers in halves and discard the seeds. Rinse the halves, and drain them to remove any last lingering seeds. Lay them out on a cutting board, skin up, and peep off the roasted skins. Chop the remaining flesh and put it in your salad bowl.

Rinse and drain the artichokes and chop them in about the same size pieces as the peppers. Likewise, wash and chop the tomatoes.

Toss with as much of the salad dressing as seems good to you. The salad can be made somewhat in advance and kept refrigerated, although as ever I would leave out the tomatoes until the last minute. "Never, never, put tom-a-toes in the re-friger-a-tor!" That's how that old jingle went, isn't it? If not, that's how it should have gone, because they too originally come from the tropical e-qua-tor. Never chill them; they go mushy and lose anything resembling flavour.




Last year at this time I was not doing much cooking. Last year at this time I froze some pumpkin.

Happy Anniversary! Happy Birthday!

Well, the party is over and I'm happy to report it was very successful. We held it in the room you see above, which was in a local arena (how Canadian!) I took a few pictures at the beginning, but once people started to arrive I put my camera down and mostly forgot to pick it up again, so you won't get any sense of the fact that there were at least 50 people attending. However, there's the room set up and ready above.



Dad brought 13 of his little paintings and we held a silent auction, with the proceeds to be divided between Amnesty International and Canadian Friends Service Committee. It never hurts to clean out the basement a little either...



They also went through their photo collection and pinned up a selection of pictures of them throughout their lives, as well as a few general family photos.



Mostly familiar, but there were a few I hadn't seen before.



This one of Dad drew forth lots of comments and a few sighs... don't we all wish we could stay young, if not forever, at least longer!



The two little girls in the corner are my cousin's children, Julia and Olivia. They set all those places, and they took the guest book around to be signed by everyone, and in general were a great help. It was wonderful to see them - they came up all the way from Pennsylvania for the party (with their Mom, Aunt and Grandma).



A peek at some of the food... I'll be posting recipes for a lot of it, so not too many photos here; althought these are the Baked Scotch Eggs made with quail eggs.



The salad bar...



The vultures are beginning to circle...



And then there was a photo op... there they are! Congratulations, guys!



Happy 75th birthday Dad, and congratulations to you both on your 30th anniversary this year.

Today's the Big Day

Well, if all has gone well by the time this note appears we will have packed our little car to the gills and headed off to host a party for my father George and his partner Trevor. It's Dad's 75th birthday and he and Trevor have now been together for 30 years! Congratulations, guys!

I'll post some photos once the event has actually happened, supposing I have any time to take pictures which is perhaps a rash assumption, *gulp*.

Meanwhile, here's the menu. Many of these items are things I've made before, and some of them you can expect to see posted shortly. Once they are up, I'll add the links. You may note I gave up on the won-tons. They didn't bake well, and I decided I was also, as usual, biting off more than I could chew. So to speak.

Baked Scotch Quail Eggs
Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Smoked Trout
Cheddar Cheese with Quince Paste on Seedy Red Fife Crackers

Mulled Cider
Quaker Punch

*****

Salad Bar
Including
Chick Pea, Egg & Belgian Endive Salad

Roasted Pepper, Tomato & Artichoke Salad
in a Sundried Tomato Dressing

Garden Lettuce* & Assorted Crudités
Italian Salad Dressing
Buttermilk & Herb Dressing

Sauerkraut
Dill Pickles

*****

Spinach Lasagne with Friulano & Ricotta Cheeses

Butternut Squash & Hazelnut Lasagne

Beef Stroganov
Buttered Noodles

*****

Chai Pumpkin Pie
Whipped Cream

Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Tea, Coffee

*Yes! From our garden! I'm amazed; last year at this time we were up to our knees in snow.

Fennel & Celery Salad with Orange-Anise Dressing

Ontario fennel is scarce as hen's teeth. Mostly it comes from the U.S., but last time I was in the grocery store I saw some labelled "product of Canada". I asked the produce department if they could pin it down more than that, but they couldn't. So there's a chance it came from Ontario - although they suspected Quebec was the most likely source. Anyway, in the spirit of lobbying Ontario farmers to grow fennel (no, it is not anise as the grocery stores insist on labelling it) I bought some. This was one of the results.

Anise seed and fennel have similar licorice-like flavours that get along very well, and oranges and cranberries are buddies from way back. You could up the Ontario quotient a bit by throwing in a bit of cut-up apple if you liked.

4 servings
20 minutes prep time


Make the Salad:
1/2 of a medium head of fennel
1 large celery stalk
1 1/2 clementines
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Trim the fennel, discarding the tough round stalks at the top and a slice of the thick base. Rinse the remainder, and slice it as thinly as you can. Chop it up a little as well. Clean and trim the celery stalk and slice it in the same way. Peel the first clementine, and divide it in sections. Cut the sections in half, and discard the seeds. Add the pieces to the salad. Cut the second clementine in half. Reserve half for the dressing, and peel the remaining half. Pick out any seeds, and pull it apart into segments. Add them to the salad. Add the cranberries.


Make the Dressing:
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (light is fine)
the juice of 1/2 clementine
1/4 teaspoon anise seed, finely ground
salt & pepper to taste

Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl. Squeeze in the juice of the clementine, discarding any seeds. Grind the anise seed, and add it along with a grind of salt and pepper. Mix until smooth.

Toss the salad in the dressing. It can be served at once, or kept chilled for up to 2 or 3 hours.

Cheese & Potato Soup

We put some kale in this - I don't know why it vanished so completely when the time came to take a picture. Camera-shy, I guess. (Actually, this is a photo of the leftovers, and I think it had been mostly fished out by then.) It made a very nice addition to a classic soup.

Just about everyone likes this, and it's easily made ahead of time. You can certainly add the milk and cheese and simply reheat the soup later - it reheats quite well - but we were taking this to a pot-luck and it was easiest to keep the milk and cheese separate until the final heating for transportation purposes. It's also helpful to finish the soup at a later time if you need to keep it in a smaller container until serving time, on account of fridge space or the lack thereof.

Anyway, potatoes and cheese; cheese and potatoes. I've said it before: what could possibly go wrong?

6 to 8 servings
1 hour - 30 minutes prep time


6 to 8 medium potatoes (about 1 kilo, or 2 pounds)
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

1 large onion
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour

5 cups of milk
2 cups finely shredded kale (optional)
2 to 3 cups shredded old Cheddar cheese

Scrub the potatoes, and cut off any bad spots. Chop them in dice. Put them in a large pot with the water and salt, and bring to a boil. Boil about 20 minutes, until tender.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion. Peel and mince the garlic. Melt the butter in a large skillet and cook the onion very gently until it begins to turn golden. Don't let it brown. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes more. Sprinkle the flour in and mix well, again cooking for a few minutes more.

Mash the potatoes in their cooking water, and stir in the floured onion mixture. Cook the soup until thickened.

At this point, you can finish the soup and serve it, or if you prefer it can be cooled and refrigerated until about 15 minutes before you wish to serve it.

Heat the soup gently, stirring constantly. Have the kale ready, if you are using it - it should be washed and chopped finely - add it to the soup once it is hot, and stir it in well. Slowly mix in the soup, and continue cooking and stirring until it thickens again.

Mix in the cheese, until just melted. Serve the soup at once. Pass it with extra grated cheese if you are feeling extravagant. If you haven't got any kale, it would be nice to at least garnish it with some chopped parsley.

Mission Manure - Accomplished!

Remember that great big pile of manure on the driveway?! It's now all moved...



And what a relief that is. We snuggled up a bunch of it around the cauliflowers; I'm hoping if I pile some leaves on top they will survive the winter and produce some cauliflowers next spring. But wait! What's that? It's our second cauliflower already! The only problem is that I doubt it's going to get much bigger, given the lack of light at the moment. I guess I'll leave it and see until the weather gets cold - we seem to be having a second summer at the moment; at least it's still nicely above freezing and it isn't raining every day - how astonishing.



Not sure how to handle the cold frames over the winter. I'm a bit worried about them being damaged by the weight of the snow. I worry even more that once they are hidden under snow and the electric fence is down that the deer will step on them. However, right now they are still out there doing their thing.



When I first wrote about the cold frames, I didn't think they were doing much. But by now you can really see the difference between the outside lettuces and the inside lettuces, which were both planted at the same time.



We've also got some spinach seedlings coming along in the larger of the 2 coldframes. My idea was that they were for the spring, but if they keep growing for another month we may actually get some this fall. All those white spots are crushed eggshells - the plants aren't the only thing that enjoys the heat of the coldframes. We noticed a lot of holes in the leaves as soon as they got big enough that a hole wouldn't make them disappear completely. The eggshells seem to be helping, which confirms my guess that slugs are the culprits.



The lettuce outside is still doing well, in spite of two heavy frosts that had them frozen solid for hours. Just a little frost burn around the tips. I'm hoping to use this for the salad bar at The Party. Speaking of which, time to get back to work...

Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder

I hauled this piece of lamb out of the freezer a couple days ago, as I was attempting to make room for all the lasagne which will ultimately be going to The Party. Since I spent the day working on those lasagne, I wanted a very easy way to cook the lamb; no fuss at all. I kept the seasonings very simple and classic, and roasted it slowly like pulled pork. Mmm, amazingly good... and practically no work at all, not even carving.

Next time I think I would try to remove some of the fat from the top first. You want a very thin, or even intermittant layer to keep it moist, but lamb fat quickly becomes too much of a good thing. I spent quite a long time (i.e. about 15 minutes) de-fatting the pan juices.

4 to 6 servings
7 hours - 30 minutes prep time


1 2 to 3 kilogram (5 to 7 pounds) bone-in shoulder of lamb
1 head garlic
3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
salt & pepper
2 cups beef or chicken broth

2 tablespoons arrowroot
1/4 cup beef or chicken stock

Peel and slice the garlic, and place about a third of it in the bottom of a casserole which will fit the lamb fairly snuggly, with 1 or 2 sprigs of rosemary. Pull the meat loose from the ribs, so far as you are able, and spread half the remaining garlic slices in the gap thus formed, and add another sprig of rosemary. Place the lamb shoulder in the casserole, and spread the remaining garlic and rosemary on top.

Put the lid on the casserole, or if it doesn't have a lid, cover it with foil so that it is well sealed. Put the casserole in the oven and turn it on to 250°F. Roast the lamb for about 6 hours (you probably have lee-way of about half an hour on either side) until the lamb is so tender it just falls apart. You can wiggle a bone to find out.

When it is done, remove it to a serving dish, cover it and set it aside for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, skim the fat from the pan juices, and strain them into a pot. Mix the starch with the remaining cold stock until it is well dissolved, and mix it into the pot of pan juices. Bring to a simmer, strirring constantly, at which point it should be thickened, and the starch clear.

Finish the roast by pulling it to pieces, removing and discarding all large pieces of fat and all the bones and gristle. Pass with the gravy.




Last year at this time I made Pear Pie with Dried Apricots & Ginger and, not coincidentally, Spelt Pie Crust.

Pork & Jerusalem Artichoke Won-Tons

Jerusalem artichokes, if cooked only briefly, have nice mild crunch to them, much like water-chestnuts, so unlike my other won-tons these ones seem fairly traditional.

If you don't want so many won-tons, either cut the recipe in half, or form the leftover filling into little meatballs. Brown them, then add them to broth to simmer for about 10 minutes. You can add any leftover won-ton wrappers, cut in strips like noodles as well if you like. Much less work, and very tasty.

72 won-tons, at least
1 hour prep time, also at least


450 grams (1 pound) lean ground pork
6 to 10 large Jerusalem artichokes
1 small leek
2 to 3 cloves of garlic
2 to 3 tablespoons finely minced or grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt

1 package won-ton wrappers

Peel the Jerusalem artichokes, putting them in icy cold water to soak as you work. When they are all peeled, chop them fairly finely and put them in a mixing bowl. Trim the leek, discarding any tough dark green parts and the roots. Mince the leek very, very finely, and add it to the bowl. Peel and mince the garlic, and peel and mince or grate the ginger. Into the bowl they go along with the pork, the sesame oil and salt. Using your clean hands, mix the filling thoroughly.

Have a small bowl of cold water standing by, and also a plate or tray to put the finished won-tons. Put a teaspoon of the filling - no more - onto a wonton wrapper. Dip a finger in the water, and wet 2 sides of the wrapper along the edge. Fold the wrapper in half, dry sides to wet sides, and pinch sealed. Dampen the three corners slightly, and fold the outside corners in and up, pinching them against the top corner. Set the finished won-ton on the plate or tray, and do it again. And again... until you have finished all of the filling or the wrappers, you have made enough, or you just can't stand it any more.

Cook the won-tons the same way as pot-stickers; by cooking them in a heavily oiled pan on one side for 1 or 2 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn them over, and add about half a cup of water. Cook steadily until the water has evaporated, and the dumplings are firm. Add a little more water if needed. Lift them out carefully, and serve them with a dipping sauce of 1 teaspoon soy sauce to 2 teaspoons rice vinegar, if you like.

You can also put them in chicken broth and cook them for 10 minutes for soup, or deep fry them.





Last year at this time I made Swedish Meatballs.

Potato & Green Onion Won-Tons

You won't get these in a Chinese restaurants because I invented them. They taste vaguely Chinese-ish, and they're vegetarian.They are very cheap to make (providing the maker is not getting paid, because they are definitely labour-intensive) and they can be made in advance, which is what I plan to do for the birthday/anniversary party this month. I'm experimenting; I'm happy with the filling but I need to figure out the best way to cook them as an appetizer. I cooked them like pot-stickers here, and we enjoyed them but I would like them crunchier for appetizers. Maybe brushing them with oil then baking them will work. I'll update the recipe once I have a plan. You could also serve them simmered in chicken or miso soup for about 10 minutes.

Yes, I'm using purchased won-ton wrappers here. Life is too short, etc.

Note: the plan to bake them really didn't work. They were hard and crunchy, rather than nicely crunchy. Edible, but just not great. Oh well. Cook 'em in a pan as described, or soup 'em.

60 or more wontons
1 hour prep time, not including baking the potatoes


4 cups chopped cooled baked potatoes ( 3 large)

2 to 3 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
4 green onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt

1 package won-ton wrappers (about 75?)

Have your cooled baked potatoes ready, and chop the flesh of them finely. It's up to you whether to include the skins or not. I assumed not, but when I looked at the mixture, I thought it could use a bit more texture and put in half of them.

Add the finely (finely!) minced ginger, the chopped green onions, the sesame oil and the salt, and mix well.

Have a little bowl of cold water standing by, also a plate or tray for the finished won-tons. You may wish to have a little plate for the won-ton in progress, as well. Put a teaspoon or less of the filling in the centre of a won-ton wrapper. Do not over fill them. Dip a finger in the water, and brush the water along two sides of the square wrapper. Fold it in half, over the filling, forming a triangular shape. Pinch sealed along the edges - the water will make them stick. Dampen the three corners of the triangle slightly, and fold the two opposite corners inwards and up, towards the top corner. Pinch sealed, and place the won-ton thus formed on your plate or tray. Continue until you have finished filling all the won-ton wrappers, run out of filling, have enough, or are about to have an attack of screaming insano-boredom, whichever comes first.

At this point the finished won-tons can be covered with a very slightly damp tea-towel, and cooked somewhat later, but within the hour is best. As noted, you can add them to soup and simmer for about 10 minutes before serving.

To cook as pot-stickers, put enough oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet into said skillet, and cover the bottom.* This should be a tablespoonful or two. Heat over medium-high heat, and quickly add won-tons to fill the pan. When they have browned nicely on the bottom, which should take about a minute or two, flip them over and carefully pour in about half a cup of water all around them. Reduce the heat to medium-low heat, and continue cooking for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the water has evaporated and they are beginning to sizzle in the oil again.

Lift them out carefully, and serve at once, with the following sauce, if liked.

Sauce:
1 teaspoon soya sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar

Mix in a little bowl, and use to dip the won-tons. Make a little bowl of sauce for each diner.




Last year at this time I made Broccoli with Miso-Mustard Dressing.


*I'm typing this at 1:00 a.m. Does it show much?