by Michael Hansen

One of my favorite meals is homemade pot stickers. They’re a little difficult to put together, but always taste like heaven.

You’ll start by chopping up the cabbage in a food processor, then combine it with the pork and other ingredients. Take the mixture out of the processor, then get your hands in there to really mix it.

Here’s where the recipe gets a little tricky. Take a small ball of the mixture, approximately two teaspoons and put it on the wonton wrapper, directly in the middle. Wet the edges of the wrapper with some water and fold over to form a triangle. On the two non-folded edges, fold those over slightly and make little finger nail cuts in the fold – it helps keep it together while it’s boiling. This step took some time to perfect, but now that I’ve got it, I don’t lose any pot stickers while they’re boiling (it’s not fun when the meat and wrapper separate during the boiling process).

The recipe calls for making all of the pot stickers at once, then boiling 10-20 at a time and frying those – and repeat. Trying to make 40-50 pot stickers at once sounds like a nightmare to me, so I usually do seven at a time – once they’re ready to go, I drop them in a medium pot of boiling water for approximately six minutes. With a minute or two left, I turn on my frying pan to medium high and put in the peanut oil so it’s sizzling and ready for the pot stickers as they come out of the boiling water. After boiling for six minutes, I take each pot sticker out, let the excess water drain off, and then put it in the frying pan. After 30 seconds to a minute, I like to swish the pot stickers around to make sure they don’t stick to the frying pan. As they are browning in the pan, I throw another seven in the bowling water and ready another seven to go in. At some point you’ll need to add a little water and add a little peanut oil – just keep an eye on things.

After two or three minutes, flip over the browning pot stickers, cook for another minute or two and then plate. I like to serve mine with a little Siracha and rice vinegar combination (about a 1-to-1 ratio).

This is definitely not a meal for one, so share with friends or family. (And, while eating 21 pot stickers might seem like a good idea at the time, I promise you, it’s not. It’s dizzying, says the guy who loves to eat.)

I also included here a recipe for corned beef leftovers. If you find yourself leaving your family or friend’s St. Patrick’s Day party with a gift of leftover corned beef in hand – this casserole recipe is for you. It offers the taste of corned beef in a comforting dish, perfect for this late winter weather we’re having. The side of cabbage and apples is also delicious.

 

Pot Stickers

Recipe courtesy of Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese (with minor adjustments)

 

Ingredients 

1 pound fatty boneless pork shoulder, ground

½ pound napa cabbage, finely chopped or shredded

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons minced scallion

2 tablespoons minced cilatro

1 tablespoon minded ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

Finely grated zest of half an orange (or a smidge of OJ)

2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Pinch of pepper

About 80 dumpling wrappers

All purpose flour for dusting

Peanut oil, for frying

 

Directions

In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients and mix well.

Fry a tablespoon of the mixture in a small skillet. Taste for seasoning.

Set up a dumpling wrapping station with the wrappers, the filling, a small bowl of water, and a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or dusted with flour. Into the middle of each wrapper, put about two teaspoons of filling and, with your fingertips, dab the edges of the wrapper with a bit of water and fold into a half moon. Pinch and pleat the wrappers. Place on the cookie sheet and repeat 60-80 times.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop in between 10-20 pot stickers and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Scoop out the pot stickers, drain briefly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of peanut oil in a large skillet. When it’s sizzling, add about 10 of the pot stickers. Cook on one side until the skin begins to brown and “thicken.” Flip. Cook on the other side. Repeat with remaining dumplings.

 

Corned beef casserole leftovers

Ingredients

1 pound cooked corned beef, cut into small pieces

Small white onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chili sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

14 oz sauerkraut (1 can), drained

1 ½ cups shredded Swiss cheese

1 can (12 oz) refrigerated biscuit dough

 

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a casserole dish. In a medium skillet, heat butter over medium heat

until bubbly.

Add the chopped onion into the melted butter, cooking until browned (about 8-9 minutes). Set the buttered onions aside.

In a bowl, stir together the corned beef, chili sauce, and mayonnaise.

Next, place the sauerkraut (remember to drain the water out of the can) in the greased casserole dish. On top of this base layer, spoon the corned beef mixture evenly. Add the onions on top of the corned beef mixture, then topped with a 1/2 cup of Swiss cheese.

Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven.

Cut the refrgerated dough into individual halves and place on top of casserole. Place the dish back into the oven for about 18-20 minutes, until biscuits are lightly golden brown. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of cheese on top of the casserole, and bake 3-5 minutes, until melted.

 

Side of cabbage and apples

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 teaspoons canola oil

8 cups sliced green cabbage

2 cups sliced apple

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and oil to the pan (use your wooden spoon to cover the pan well ). Add the sliced cabbage and apples, as well as caraway seeds, and salt to the pan. Cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Then remove the cover and cook five minutes or until cabbage and apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Simply delicious.