Tag: Make ahead

Thai-ish Crispy Dumplings

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I love a dumpling, especially one that arrives golden, crisp, and dangerously easy to keep eating. These Thai-style dumplings are my own loose interpretation. Not exactly authentic, and certainly not something I’d dare present to a grandmother in Bangkok. But they’re savory, crunchy, a little sweet, and deeply satisfying.

Ingredients:

  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil, plus more for deep-frying
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon cilantro stems, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 4 ounces white mushrooms, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 8 ounces ground chicken
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 25-35 wonton skins
  • 3/4 cup sweet chile sauce, for serving
  1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the sliced green onions, garlic, cilantro, white pepper, and mushrooms and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until the onions and mushrooms have softened. Add the chicken, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and water chestnuts and stir with a wooden spoon, breaking up the chicken as you stir. Continue to stir-fry for about 7 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the liquid has evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat and let the filling cool to room temperature.
  2. To assemble the dumplings, lay a wonton wrapper flat on a work surface and put 1 tablespoon of the cooled filling in the center. Dip your finger in a bowl of water and brush the perimeter of the wonton wrapper with your wet finger and fold the wonton over diagonally to make a triangle shape and seal the wonton to close. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling.
  3. To fry the dumplings, pour the oil to a depth of 1 inch into a wok or frying pan and carefully heat to medium-high. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and set aside.
  4. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower a few dumplings into the hot old and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning carefully, until golden brown all over. Using the slotted spoon, transfer the dumplings to the towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the dumplings are cooked.
  5. Serve the dumplings with the sweet chile sauce.

Eggplant Parmesan

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Eggplant Parmesan is proof that restraint is overrated. Fried eggplant, tomato sauce, melted cheese, then more of all three stacked on top. It’s messy, unapologetically rich, and one of the great arguments for treating vegetables less like an obligation and more like an opportunity. (Don’t worry, the eggplant are oven-fried here so that counts for something.)

Ingredients:
  • 4 pounds eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch plants
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing and drizzling
  • 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 3/4 cup pesto
  • Red pepper flakes
  • 1 24-ounce jar marinara sauce
  • 1 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese
  • Basil leaves, for serving
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and grease them.
  2. Place the eggplant in a colander and salt each side. Let it drain for 15 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, and the oregano. Season with salt.
  4. In a separate small bowl, stir together the ricotta, pesto, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
  5. Pat the eggplant dry. Drizzle both sides with olive oil and season with pepper. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets (it’s okay if the slices overlap a little). Roast, rotating the pan halfway through, until the eggplant is soft and beginning to brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
  6. Spread 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking sheet. Arrange 1/4 of the eggplant over the sauce, overlapping is needed to create an even layer. Dollop about half a cup of the ricotta mixture and spread it out evenly. Spread on another half cup marinara sauce. Repeat the layers twice more. Add the remaining eggplant, the remaining marinara, the mozzarella, and top with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
  7. Cover with foil and bake until the mozzarella is melted and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle the bread mixture over the top, and continue baking until the topping is golden, about 15 minutes more. Let stand for about 10 minutes, top with basil, and serve.

Cheeseburger Potstickers

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At first glance, cheeseburger potstickers sound like the sort of thing that should never have happened. Then you take a bite and realize it’s a perfectly logical collision of two great comfort foods. Inspired by a recipe from Shirley Chung, these crispy dumplings pack all the familiar flavors of a cheeseburger into a package that’s a lot more fun to eat.

Ingredients:
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1/3 pound shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
  • Potsticker wrappers
  • Thousand Island dressing, for serving (you can also make an easy version by combining 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup ketchup, and 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish in a bowl)
  1. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, cheddar cheese, red onion, and Worcestershire sauce together, and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Put 1 tablespoon of beef filling in the middle of a potsticker wrapper and fold the potsticker. Repeat to make all the potstickers.
  3. After all the potstickers are folded, heat 2 tablespoons of avocado oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, line up the potstickers flat side down in a pan. Add 1/4 cup of water and cover it with a lid. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 4 minutes, then remove the lid. Increase the heat to medium and allow the bottom of the potstickers to crisp up, about 2 minutes. When they are golden on the bottom, the potstickers are done. Transfer to a serving platter and serve them alongside the dressing.

Sri Lankan Eggplant Moju

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When eggplants start showing up everywhere this time of year, I know exactly what I’m making. Sri Lankan eggplant moju takes a humble vegetable and turns it into something unforgettable: sweet, sour, deeply savory, and impossible to stop picking at straight from the bowl. Eat this with rice and you’ve got a perfect summer meal.

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium eggplant, sliced into 1 inch-thick slices
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup avocado oil, for deep-frying
  • 4 yellow banana peppers, sliced into 1/2 inch-thick strips
  • 3 teaspoons sugar

For the spice paste:

  • 1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Sri Lankan curry powder
  • 5 cloves
  • 5 cardamom pods, lightly bruised in a mortar and pestle
  • 1 1/2-inch piece cinnamon stick
  • 2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
  • Bottom 4 inches of a lemongrass stalk, rough outer layers removed and insides finely chopped
  • 12 curry leaves
  • 4 inch piece pandan leaf, roughly chopped (optional)
  1. In a colander, mix the eggplant slices with 1 teaspoon of salt. Set them aside while you make the spice paste.
  2. Make the spice paste: grind everything together in a spice grinder to form a paste. Place in a small bowl and set aside while you cook the eggplant.
  3. Put one of the thinly sliced red onions in a bowl with 1/4 cup vinegar and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let it pickle while you make the eggplant.
  4. Pour the oil into a large frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, gently add the slices of eggplant into the oil in one layer (you may need to do this in batches) and fry for about 4 minutes for each side, until golden on both sides. Gently transfer eggplant to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat with the rest of the eggplant.
  5. Once you’ve fried all the eggplant, fry the remaining 2 onions in the hot oil for about five minutes, until golden brown, then add the fried onions alongside the eggplant to drain.
  6. Fry the banana peppers in the same way for three or four minutes, and add to the plate of eggplant and onion.
  7. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the pan into a bowl to discard once cool. Place the pan over medium-high heat and cook the spice paste for 2-3 minutes, until it begins to brown. Add all of the vegetables, along with the rest of the vinegar, a splash of water, and the sugar. Stir gently to coat in the mixture and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, until most of the liquid has bubbled away and the eggplant is shiny. Top with the pickled onions and serve warm or at room temperature.

Hot and Sour Wontons

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Hot and sour wontons are one of those dishes that make it almost impossible to settle for a bland meal. Tender dumplings swimming in chili oil, black vinegar, garlic, and spice: sharp, rich, and unapologetically bold. Learning to make them at home felt less like a project and more like a necessity.

Ingredients:

For the wontons:

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 green onions (or Chinese chives), minced
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
  • 40-50 square wonton wrappers

For the sauce:

  • 1/4 cup chile oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 3 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar or a mixture of 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

To serve:

  • 2 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
  • Small handful cilantro leaves, chopped
  1. Make the sauce: Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside until ready to use.
  2. Make the wontons: Combine the chicken, salt, sugar, pepper, green ionions, garlic, and wine in a medium bowl and knead and turn with clean hands until the mixture is homogenous and starting to feel tacky, about 1 minute.
  3. Fill the wontons, using a tablespoon of filling per skin. Use your fingertip to add a thin layer of water around all the edges of the wrapper. Pull two corners together and pinch them shut to form a triangle, then seal up the edges of the triangle, making sure to push out as much air as possible. Moisten the folded corners, then pull them toward each other, making them meet and cross in the center. Repeat until you’ve made all your wontons.
  4. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Cook about 20 wontons at a time until they are completely cooked through, about four minutes. Drain the wontons and transfer to a warm serving platter. Repeat with the remaining wontons and spoon the sauce on top of the cooked wontons. Sprinkle with peanuts and minced cilantro and serve.