mushrooms | SEAT OF MY SOUL

Archive for mushrooms

PORK AND SHRIMP DUMPLINGS

Posted in Cooking, Daily Life, Family, Friends, People, Personal, Random, Recipe with tags cabbage, dumplings, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, oyster sauce, Pork, recipe, sesame oil, shrimp, soy sauce, wonton wrappers on July 2, 2010 by Mandy

Dumplings are a bit of a time commitment to make, but if you can manage, it’ll go by in a flash, and you’ll all be rewarded with more homemade dumplings than you can eat in one sitting. It’s fun and you can stock the freezer, ready to boil for any given easy weeknight dinner.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
½ pound shrimp, peeled, cleaned, tails removed
8 dried Chinese mushrooms (1/2 cup after finely chopped)
1 onion (1/2 cup after diced and browned)
½ cabbage (1 cup after finely shredded)
2 eggs
3 tablespoons mushroom-flavored soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 ½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 packages round wonton wrappers (1 pound each)

Preparation:
1. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for about 15 minutes until softened. Squeeze the excess water out, remove stems, and chop into a fine dice.
2. Dice the onion and brown in a frying pan.
3. Finely shred the cabbage until you have 1 cup.
4. Place the shrimp in a food processor and pulse until it is a chunky mixture. Be careful not to over-process, you don’t want to create a paste.
5. Combine the pork, shrimp, mushrooms, onion, cabbage, 1 beaten egg (reserve the other one to make an egg wash), and all the remaining seasonings.
6. Knead the mixture with your hands until just combined. Cover and chill for 10 minutes.
7. While mixture chills, line a few large baking sheets with paper towels and dust lightly with flour.
8. Take one of the wonton wrappers and place a small mound of filling in the center (don’t over-fill or it will be hard to seal). Dip a finger in the egg wash and dab a little on the bottom half of the wrapper. Fold the top edge over and press to seal, creating a half-moon shape.
9. Moisten the curved edge again, and using the thumb and forefinger of one hand, form pleats. Place the dumplings on the lined baking sheets as you complete them, arranging them in 1 layer so they don’t stick to one another.
10. Cook the dumplings in a pot of boiling water (they’re done when they float), or in a hot pan. If pan-searing, heat vegetable oil in a skillet until hot, but not smoking. Fry the dumplings until the bottoms are lightly golden, about 2-3 minutes, then add ½ cup water, cover with a lid, and cook until the liquid is evaporated and the bottoms of the dumplings are crisp, 8-10 minutes.
11. Serve dumplings immediately with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced green onion
4 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon spice vinegar
½ teaspoon sugar

7 Comments »

BEEF WELLINGTON

Posted in Cooking, Family, Friends, Life, Random, Recipe with tags Beef Wellington, comfort food, dinner, fillet mignon, mushrooms, mustard, parma ham, pastry, potatoes, puff pastry, thyme on June 23, 2010 by Mandy

Sometimes, when dinner rolls around, we all experiment and try to put together something new. Other times, we resort to the classics, maybe not comfort food, but definitely something “established,” and this is one such dish: Beef Wellington. This is timeless: a juicy, tender cut of fillet mignon cooked inside a tight, buttery, flaky package of puff pastry.

INGREDIENTS

– 450 grams of beef fillet
– 450 grams of flat mushrooms
– 5 slices Parma ham
– English mustard (for brushing the meat)
– 225 grams of puff pastry
– 2 egg yolks
– Approximately 10 new potatoes
– 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
– 1 Sprig of thyme
– 1 baby gem lettuce
– Salt and pepper
– Olive oil
– Mustard vinaigrette

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200c.

2. Heat a couple of table spoons of olive oil in a large pan before searing the beef all over until brown. Once seared, allow the meat to cool to ensure you keep the flavours and juices in the meat. Brush generously with English mustard once the meat has cooled down.

3. Dice the flat mushrooms and add them to a food blender to form a puree. Add the puree mixture to a hot, dry pan and allow the water to evaporate from the mushrooms. As soon as the mushroom puree starts to stick together removing from the heat and leave to cool in a bowl.

4. Cut a long piece of cling film and stack the slices of Parma ham ensuring they are slightly overlapping one another. Spread the mushroom mixture evenly over the ham once the slices are laid out.

5. Place the beef fillet in the middle of the sliced ham and keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the outside edge, neatly roll the Parma ham and mushrooms over the beef into a tight barrel shape. Twist the ends to secure the Clingfilm. Keep this refrigerated for 10 -15 minutes to allow the beef Wellington to set, helping keep its shape.

6. Take the pastry and roll it out fairly thinly to a size which will cover the beef fillet. Unwrap the meat from the cling film. Egg wash the edge of the pastry and place the beef in the middle. Roll up the pastry, cut any excess off the ends and fold neatly to the ‘underside’. Turnover and egg wash over the top. Chill again to let the pastry cool for approximately 5 minutes. Egg wash again before baking at 200c for 35 – 40 minutes. Rest 8 -10 minutes before slicing.

7. Part boil the potatoes in salted water. Quarter them and leave the skin on. Sauté in olive oil and butter with the garlic and thyme, until browned and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and remove the thyme and garlic before serving.

8. Separate the outside leaves of the baby gem (leaving the smaller inner ones for salads) and very quickly sauté them in a pan of olive oil with a little salt and pepper – just enough to wilt them.

9. Serve hearty slices of the Wellington alongside the sautéed potatoes and wilted baby gems. A classic mustard vinaigrette makes a great dressing for this dish too… Enjoy!