Shanghai Styled Soup Dumplings

My dad, who is originally from the Shanghai region, tells me that dumplings, noodles, and all sorts of bread-oriented foods tend to be more Northern in cuisine since wheat and meat are more readily available. You'll likewise find a plethora of vegetarian dishes the farther south you go within China. While these dumplings are very labor intensive and you'll have the satisfaction that you didn't pay a small ransom to eat at Bellevue's Din Tai Fung restaurant, even though they have a visitor's window that lets you see their prep cooks rolling, filling, and making the very same dumplings.

Think of the last bread recipe you've done then multiply the time you spent waiting for that lazy dough to rise up by two and you get the approximate time it takes for all these ingredients to come together. Good thing gelatin that comes in small neat packages or else we'd be scraping down a length of pig skin for its gelatinous properties.

This recipe ratio comes from Brian Yarvin's A World of Dumplings book. The secret to having soup in a dumpling is to add a small amount of jelled soup to the dumpling before it gets steamed. The heat melts the soup that gently bathes the dumpling in a rich meaty broth, enhancing the elements of the dumpling; or at least that's the idea.

Dumpling making is a group affair, and doing this recipe with others is pleasantly more enjoyable. I should also mention that for this batch, I only made the dough and had the patience to pleat one dumpling. Oh, and I wrote the post and took the pics. :)

Oven Roasted Hamburgers

This method is for those of us who don't own a backyard grill. It's not the best solution and these burgers come out less greasy than if they were to be pan fried. If only I had some brioche buns to go with these. I picked up some lean ground sirloin when it was on sale. Although, with today's meat prices, I'm not sure if "sale" really describes it. These were about $3.50/lb. Try to not knead the meat too much as you mix in the spices. Working the meat too much can make it tough when it cooks.

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Form into 3" diameter patties that are no more than 1" thick. Place patties on a broiler pan. Roast for 14 minutes, or less, depending on how done you want these to be.

An internal temp of 130 to 135 degrees will yield a medium rare burger patty. Once removed from the oven and as the burger cools, it will continue to cook. So, keep that in mind for anyone who enjoys a "medium" or well done burger.

Cornmeal Pound Cake

Last autumn I picked up some stone ground cornmeal from the Grist Mill and thought I'd see if it was still usable. This cake came out pretty heavy and dense. I think it would go well with a fruit or berry compote with a slice of this as its base.

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 c. finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 c. whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Whisk in milk, vanilla extract, and eggs. Gradually stir in flour mixture.

3. Prepare a loaf pan by buttering the insides. Pour in batter.

4. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown on top. Cool in pan on a rack. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely before serving or storing.