House of Annie

If at First You Don’t Succeed

When I returned home to Hawaii, I was invited to a party where some Chinese university students were making dumplings. Again, their skill at dumpling skin rolling was impressive. I tried my hand at making one but it came out woefully lopsided.

Since we were living within heavily Asian communities in Honolulu and San Jose, we had ample access to factory-made, store-bought dumpling skins like the ones we used for our Won Ton Soup recipe. Fresh, store-bought skins are good enough for our use. But I secretly harbored the desire to make my own skins at home.

Get Some Tips First

Last October for our Anniversary, I got Annie the Asian Dumplings cookbook by our friend and fellow food blogger Andrea Nguyen. We were both excited to get the book, and pored over all the recipes trying to figure out which ones we wanted to make. The very first recipe is her Basic Dumpling Dough. That’s a very good place to start!

So when we decided to throw a homestyle Japanese dinner party for our friend Paul and his family, we knew gyozas were going to be on the menu. Earlier in the day of the party, I prepared the dough:

Basic Dumpling Dough

taken from “Asian Dumplings” by Andrea Nguyen

Ingredients:

10 ounces (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
about 3/4 cup just-boiled water

Method:

1. Put flour in a bowl and make a well in the center. Stir the flour while you add the water in a steady stream. Keep mixing until you have a shaggy dough.

Mixing Water into Dumpling Dough

2. Knead the dough to bring it together into one large ball.

3. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface (I used a Silpat silicone baking mat) and knead it for a couple of minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. Seal the dough in a zip-top plastic bag and let it rest for up to 2 hours.

Kneaded Dumpling Dough

4. After the rest, pull out the dough and cut it into 4 roughly equal sections. Roll each section into a 1-inch thick log, then cut each log into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a thick coin or disc. Lightly flour the top and bottom of each disc.

5. Andrea recommends using a tortilla press to flatten out each dough disc. We don’t have a tortilla press, so we used two small plates and a cut-up sandwich bag to press them flat.

6. Now here comes the fun part. Holding the flattened disc gently, use a dowel rolling pin to press on just the outer edges of the disc. Roll back and forth once, then rotate the disc. Roll, rotate. Roll, rotate. Add a little flour if necessary to keep it from sticking and tearing.

Rolling out Dumpling Skin

7. You don’t want to make it too thin. It has to be thick enough to hold whatever filling you’re going to put in it. The final dumpling skin should be just over 3 inches in diameter.

Finished Homemade Dumpling Skin

(If you need to see the rolling process in action, Andrea just uploaded a new YouTube video on “How to roll out Asian dumpling wrappers”.)

Try, Try Again

Since Annie was making and wrapping the gyoza, she let me finish rolling out the dumpling skins. And guess what? With enough practice, I got to be good at it! I was more than happy – I was giddy with glee :D

I had finally made my own dumpling skins, skins I could be proud of!

Thanks, Andrea, for your wonderful cookbook! We will definitely be cooking (and posting) more recipes from it in the years to come.

Aloha, Nate

I am entering this post in the Presto Pasta Nights roundup, hosted this week by Once Upon a Feast.

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Fancy Baked Mac and Cheese

The first time I made this baked mac and cheese, I thought the amount of sauce was too much. Being the pake Chinese I was, I added more than the one pound of elbow pasta. I decided I could stretch it out and make a pound and a half.

That was a mistake. My son told me, “Mommy, Aunty Felicia’s mac and cheese is better!” I told him, “Fine! Get her to make it for you from now on!” and went off to sulk.

Well, hellooo? It was my own fault for being cheap by trying to stretch it. I had lost the rich, decadent flavor that was the point of this whole mac and cheese recipe! So the next time around, having learnt my lesson, I stuck to only one pound of pasta (which, by the way, still makes a LOT of mac and cheese).

I did adapt it a little this time but not in a way that makes it less tasty. Instead of gruyere, I used Parmesan (I actually prefer the flavor of Parmesan). And instead of fresh breadcrumb, I used panko (Felicia was the one who gave me that tip) and increased the amount because who doesn’t like a nice breadcrumb topping!

The outcome? Absolutely delicious. My son wolfed it all down and asked for seconds AND thirds! There you go, it’s been given his seal of approval.

(Basking in the warmth of son’s approval).

So if you’re looking for a more fancied up version of Mac and Cheese, do give this recipe a try. This recipe really isn’t too hard. Probably the most time consuming part is the grating of the cheese. Other than that, it’s quite quick to assemble.

(It does involve quite a number of pots, though. That part is no fun when you have to clean up. Thankfully, I have a dishwasher named Nate. ^_^)

Fancy Baked Mac and Cheese

adapted from Ina Garten, Food Network

Ingredients
Kosher salt
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Parmesan (the good kind, please don’t use the pre-grated stuff in the green cylinder), grated (4 cups), original recipe called for Gruyere
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs (or more, I used almost double), original recipe called for fresh bread crumbs

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Set a large pot of water to boil and make sure to salt it well. When boiled, add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
3. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it.
4. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Turn off the heat, add the Parmesan, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

5. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.
6. Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top.

7. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on top of the mac and cheese.

8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the breadcrumb topping is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Annie

I am entering this post in the November 13 edition of Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by Sweet and Savory Says it All.

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I had already been making pasta dishes that I learned from Fine Cooking Magazine based on their “Cooking Without Recipes” article titled “How to Make a Light, Creamy Pasta Sauce” (Fine Cooking, Issue number 50). So I had the right building blocks to figure out how to make Penne Portobello myself.

For the pasta, I’ve used penne as well as farfalle. You are totally free to interchange them as you please or use any other shape of pasta.

Quick and Easy Pasta Recipe

This recipe is a quick and easy dish. From start to finish, I can normally whip up this meal in half an hour or less. Basically, while your pot of water is boiling for the pasta, you can be prepping all the ingredients and when you put the pasta in to boil, you can start to cook the sauce. Once the pasta is done, all you have to do is incorporate the pasta in the sauce and add a little cream and that's it, you're ready to eat! Easy huh?

And the ingredients that go in the sauce is really up to you. In this one, I am going to use mushrooms and (because I do like lots of veggies), I also add onions, bell peppers, asparagus, sundried tomatoes, and spinach. I find that any combination of these veggies (other vegetables I've used include zucchini, peas, cauliflower and fresh tomatoes) make a really yummy pasta.

You can also vary your protein. I normally try to go with two different types of meat to complement the rest of the ingredients. Sometimes, I will throw in some bulk Italian sausage (about 1/2 lb) and some kielbasa sausage or bacon. At other times, I've just used chicken and sausage or made it a seafood dish by adding shrimp. When I use shrimp though, I keep it more simple—just a veggie or two and let the shrimp be the star. Play around and find your favorites!

Linguine with Pancetta, Zucchini, Shallots, and Homegrown Cherry Tomatoes

The Trick to Tasty Pasta

The trick to making your pasta sauce taste really yummy is to give it a nice liquid ingredient. I always keep a bottle each of dry and sweet vermouth in my pantry (they last a lot longer than a bottle of opened wine as they are fortified) and they really add a delicious flavor component to the finished dish as well as in helping to scrape up all the nice brown bits while cooking. Other liquids you can choose to add include chicken stock, marsala wine, brandy, vodka, and clam juice. After adding your liquids, you do want to reduce it to really give it a punch.

Right at the end is when you add the cream (and not too much--about 1/2 cup is plenty) to enrich the sauce and give it some body. It won't make the sauce so thick and heavy the way a lot of cream sauces are in restaurants but it will give your pasta a more luxuriant mouth feel.

Finally, don't forget to toss all the ingredients together and add final touches like grated cheese or leafy herbs to add one more layer of flavor to your final pasta dish.

Penne with Sausage, Spinach and Mushrooms

How to Boil Pasta

One word on boiling pasta. Growing up, my mom used to boil pasta in a medium sized pot and add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of oil. I didn't know any better for a long time and did the same. After watching Food TV and also reading cookbooks, I've come to realize that how you cook your pasta is KEY to how the whole dish will taste.

If you plan to cook the whole pound of pasta, you will need:

• a big pot of water (4 quarts).
• to salt liberally (at least 2 Tbsp--I never bother to measure, I just taste my water, if it tastes like the sea, you've salted it enough).
• to forget the oil. Oil does nothing for the pasta.
• to stir the pasta several times through the cooking time-this helps ensure the pasta doesn't clump together.

And when it's cooked through (follow cooking times on the package but also bite into it to make sure it's cooked through), save a cup of the water and drain. Do NOT rinse in cold water. The saved water can be added if the pasta starts to clump a little (I use this more when I'm making spaghetti or other noodle pasta, I don't need it as much with farfalle).

Save a Cup of Pasta Water

Brighten Up the Flavors

One final trick—soy sauce. Yes, soy sauce. Right at the end, I always add a bit of soy sauce to my sauce. You won’t notice it but it will brighten up all the other flavors because of its umami. If your sauce still doesn’t come alive after that, you can do my second trick and add a bit of lemon juice. That always works for me. But try the soy sauce trick first. You’ll be amazed.

Farfalle with Mushrooms and Sausage in a Light Cream Sauce

adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine

Ingredients
1 lb farfalle (bowtie) pasta (I’m partial to Barilla brand pasta)
4 qts water
2 Tbsp salt

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb bulk sweet Italian sausage or 1/3 lb bacon, sliced to cubes
1/2 lb polska kielbasa, large diced
1 onion, diced
1 cup asparagus, sliced on a diagonal (about 8 spears)
2 cups sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas this time but you can use white button or portobellos or even shiitakes if you want)
1 bell pepper (any color you like), diced
2 large handfuls of spinach (about 1 bunch or 2 cups baby spinach)
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (the ones packed in olive oil), make sure to get some of that oil into the pasta too (it adds a lot of flavor)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or combination of your choice of dried herbs)
1/2 cup dry vermouth (sweet vermouth will work too)
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste and don’t forget the dash of soy sauce (about 1 Tbsp)
Garnish: grated Parmesan and chopped parsley

Method:
1. Bring water to boil in large pot. Add salt and throw in pasta. Give it a stir every so often while cooking. Follow timing on your pasta box. Check to make sure pasta is done. Drain pasta and do not rinse in cold water.
2. While water is boiling, prep ingredients and start cooking. Add pasta to cook as you continue to make your sauce.
3. In a large stainless steel pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add bacon or Italian sausage and sauté till bacon is slightly crisp or sausage is halfway done. Add kielbasa sausages and continue to cook till lightly browned.
4. Throw in diced onion and sauté till onions are soft. Add Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Toss in the asparagus, mushrooms and peppers. Sauté for 1-2 minutes till mushrooms start to wilt.
6. Add sundried tomatoes.
7. Add vermouth and chicken broth. Bring to boil and then simmer till reduced by about half.
8. Throw in the spinach now and let it wilt in the sauce.
9. Add cooked pasta to sauce and toss around to coat pasta. Add in heavy cream and additional flavorings (like soy sauce or lemon juice) and toss. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Farfalle with Asparagus, Spinach, Mushrooms and Sausage

Plate up and garnish with parmesan cheese and parsley. Sometimes, the pasta is so flavorful already that I omit this step.

If you want to spice up your pasta, feel free to add some dried red chili flakes or Tabasco to your sauce.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Annie

This article was entered into the Presto Pasta Nights roundup, hosted this week by Ben of What's Cooking

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