Baked Wontons

Coconut-Peanut Dipping Sauce with Cucumbers

 

Fried Tofu Squares (to also dip in the Peanut Sauce)

 

Vegetable Soup with Noodles and Hot Chili Powder

 

Wontons

Asian food is a new direction for The Piccolo Gourmet. It's not that we don't like this type of food—we just never think to make it, really. And yes, I will be honest, it intimidates me a little. "Stick with what you know", I told myself, "And stick to items with which you are comfortable". The majority of our education and experience has been with Western European cuisine, so why stray from the path? Let's try to make something cross-cultural—fusion—as people like to call it. And that is exactly what we did.

Wonton wrappers: Cute, slimy, fun. You can fill wontons with whatever you like, which is the best part of making your own dumplings. I filled ours with Neufchâtel, minced asparagus, yellow peppers, and a touch of pimentón. Other combinations that I had in my head were: goat cheese with pears, pimientos de pardron with manchego, fava (or white bean) puree with sea salt and herbs. I know, I know, the only Asian ingredient I used were wonton wrappers. But hey, use what you are comfortable with, right? 

I was cooking with friends and Jennifer, who is Korean, taught me that before I bake my wontons (which was what I did) to steam them first. Truth: My wontons came out kind of too crunchy, but not entirely inedible. (We did eat them all.) The steaming would have absolutely helped—great to know for next time—and, yes, there will be a next time.

MATERIALS:
4 oz Neufchâtel
1 cup Minced vegetables of your choice
1 heavy pinch of sea salt
1 dash of pimentón or smoked paprika
1 dash of dried thyme, oregano, garlic, or a mix of all three
1 pkg wonton wrappers

TECHNIQUE
1. Mix all your ingredients together
2. Dip entire wonton wrapper in water and cup this in your hand
3. Drop a small spoon of cheese mixture in the center of the wonton
4. Fold in edges and pinch together
5. Steam these for little bit (not sure how long Jennifer would recommend)
6. Bake in a preheated 350C oven on a greased sheet until golden on the edges, about 20 minutes.
7. EAT!!

The dinner was a full Asian-themed meal that we all shared family-style. We had Baked Vegetable-Cheese Wontons (obviously), Coconut-Peanut dipping sauce alongside Fried Tofu Squares and sliced Cucumbers, Spicy Vegetarian Noodle Soup, and Dessert Wontons that were stuffed with Nutella and Banana. Hmmm... on second thought, this might become a catagory in the future for the Piccolo Gourmet: Themed-Cooking with Friends. I guess you will have to check back in the future!

Sweet Cheese Kugel

When the dough from a Börek doesn't work out, what do you do? You save the un-cooked portions, unravel them, use these pieces as noodles. Well, at least that what we decided to do. We made a sweet Noodle Kugel (the versions for this dish are in the hundreds, so pick which ever you find in a cookbook or online that strikes interest. We included the one we used at the bottom of this post JUST in case).

Kugel, a mixture of noodles, cheese and egg, hails from Eastern Europe, so we were staying in the same zone of the world as our project-gone-wrong-but-good-education Börek. Serve this with a Butter Lettuce, Pepper, and Cheese salad, and you have yourself a pretty awesome meal.

 

Butter Lettuce Salad

 

Sweet Cheese Kugel

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces (400 gm) broad egg noodles, or saved pieces of unsuccessful Börek :-(
• 4 Tbsp. (50 gm) butter, melted
• 1 pound (500 gm) cottage cheese
• 1 package Neufchatel cheese
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup crushed cornflakes (we used whole grain)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4-1/2 cup sugar
• 
  

Preparation:

1. Cook noodles in boiling water according to package direction. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. In a large bowl, mix the noodles with the melted butter, cheeses, eggs, sugar and vanilla. 

3. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan. 

4. In a separate bowl, mix the cornflakes, cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle the cornflake mixture on top of the noodle mixture. 

Börek

Making the Dough 

 

 

Twisting the cheese-filled dough into a coil.

 

Bake and break apart to share.

Note: This was a trial and a recipe / technique will follow later in the future. This was extremely difficult to make in a small space and our dining room table (covered with a bedsheet) became our work space. Look for upcoming comments from Charlie -- he made lots of notes on his experiment, but doesn't feel comfortable yet with sharing a recipe. We will keep you posted! 

Salade de haricots au fromage de chèvre

I'll be the first to admit it: I'm on a French kick. And I have no idea what initiated this. All I know is that if I have another lettuce-based salad, this vegetarian is going to go off the deep end. I just could not take it any more.

French-style green beans, or hericot verts,  were on sale at the grocery. And they looked gorgeous. Luscious, if that's possible. I walked by, they gave me a wink, and said "Hubba, hubba. Où allez-vous, monsieur"? Into the basket they went.

With Mastering the Art of French Cooking in storage (...psst! The Piccolo Gourmet has moved [!] ), I had to turn to another source. I saw a recipe that was simple enough. And it was. And equally as delicious. It also required 2 of my favorite foods (goat cheese and lima beans), so I was sold.

Steam fresh green beans (12 oz. or so) and set aside. Boil frozen artichoke hearts and lima beans (your desired amount; I used 5 or 6 ounces of each) in salted water . Drain and set aside. Chop up a large handful of fresh herbs and throw them in a large bowl. Add a heavy dash of olive oil, all of your vegetables, and stir to coat. Add salt and a dash of white wine vinegar. Dollop your servings with goat cheese or  fromage de chèvre and a heavy crush of black peppercorns.

Done. And a healthy, quick dinner for after work. Quelle merveille!

Soupe aux tomates de style portugais

The air conditioning is slowly rising from only one of the three vents in our rented apartment. It is 80F outside with 80% humidity. We only have one small fan spinning at its maximum speed. Case in point: It is hot. 

Sticky, sweaty hot.   

My mind went directly to gazpacho for this afternoon's kitchen project, but the hidden goal behind making this meal was that I wanted to use up what was in the fridge. And summer always exhausts me of salads. I needed to make... soup. Hot. Soup. 

Dear Reader, as you are well aware, this is not our first time making something completely ridiculous when the conditions are severe. One might recall the post when I baked a bread in 95 degree weather. Or when Charlie made impromptu pasta from scratch when...well, we were out of boxed pasta and the store was closed. If we want to do something we just do it.

The fridge was bursting with leftover "dippables" from the  hummus I had made the week before. Celery stalks. Carrot sticks. Um, hello? Chop these guys together with some onion and you have instant mirepoix.  Combine this with the forgotten fresh herbs in the fridge and BAM! All arrows were pointing to France. OK. A French vegetable-based soup it was. But wait! I have garlic. And spinach. And limas. Garlic, spinach, and limas are a classic Portuguese combination. OK, so my brain was ending the fiasco here: A Portuguese-inspired, French-style soup. Phew. This will be a fun, creative time in the kitchen. All of a sudden, I don't feel so hot. I guess I'm just excited.

Before I start listing ingredients, I cannot stress this enough, people: Use clean water to make any soup, bean, or rice dish. Leave the tap to water your plants with. I learned this trick while living in Spain and it really does make a difference. Either use filtered water (Brita, Pür, or the like), or buy a bottle of mineral water.


MATERIALS
5 garlic cloves
Half a bottle of young red wine (ex. a French Boujoulais or a Portuguese Douro)
Fresh herbs de provence, off-the-stalk (and minced), about 2-3 Tbsps.
1 large onion
4-5 celery stalks (and their leaves)
4-5 large carrots
1/2 - 1 lb. cherry tomatoes
large can of crushed tomatoes
2 large red bell peppers
5-9 oz. of spinach and/or rocket
8-9 oz. of organic, frozen lima beans
1/2 -3/4 liter of mineral water

1 tsp butter

4 bay leaves

olive oil

sea salt

Food Processor

- Serves 6  -

WHAT TO DO:
Using my food processor made this whole experiment easier and faster. Especially when your small kitchen can barely has the surface area for a cutting board. After you rough chop all the above vegetables, simply chop them finely in the food processor, but seperately. These need to go into the pot (with oil and butter) in a specific order.

1. Onion. Sautée lightly then add

2. Carrots and

4. Red Peppers and
4. Celery and let them cook together with a liberal dash of salt.

When the liquid starts to get released from this mix, add the garlic (mince it), and herbs (de-stem and give these guys a whirl in the processor as well.) 

Turn up the heat and add your wine. Let it reduce almost completely. Then you add your can of crushed tomatoes and processed greens.

While this is in your pan, puree your cherry tomatoes and add those as well. Cover, and let it come to a boil.

When the pot is gently bubbling, add your limas. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. When the beans are done, so is the soup. Test for salt.  Enjoy.