Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Pot Stickers and Chow Mien

I love those frozen pot stickers you find at the whole sale food stores. I snack on those things like I'm getting paid to. I always wondered how hard could it be to make them myself. So I gave it a shot.
The pot stickers.......
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
1/2 cup shredded green cabbage
1/3 cup chopped green onion (4 medium)
2 teaspoons chopped gingerroot
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1small red bell pepper, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1egg white
1package (10 ounces) round wonton skins
2 cups chicken broth
4 teaspoons soy sauce
Mix all ingredients except wonton skins, broth and soy sauce.
Brush each wonton skin with water. Place slightly less than 1 tablespoon chicken mixture on center of skin. Pinch 5 pleats along edge of half of circle. Fold circle in half over chicken mixture, pressing pleated edge to unpleated edge. Repeat with remaining skins and chicken mixture.
Spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Cook 12 pot stickers at a time in skillet about 3 minutes or until light brown; turn. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Uncover and cook about 1 minute longer or until liquid had evaporated. Repeat with remaining pot stickers, broth and soy sauce.
The Chow Mien....
Ingredients
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
ground black pepper, to taste
2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 (5.6 oz) packages refrigerated Yaki Soba noodles (found in the produce section of the grocery store)
2/3 c. chopped celery (chopped diagonally)
1 medium-sized onion, thinly sliced
2 c. chopped cabbage
In a small bowl combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and black pepper. Set aside.
Remove Yaki Soba from packages and discard included flavoring packets. Rinse noodles well, drain, and set aside.
Heat oil in a large wok or skillet. Add celery and onion and saute for about 1-2 minutes or until onions start to become soft and transparent. Add cabbage and saute an additional minute or so.
Toss Yaki Soba noodles and soy sauce mixture with the vegetables over medium-high heat for an additional 2-3 minutes or until noodles are heated through.
It was so easy to make both the pot stickers and the chow mien. I am going to have to try both again with some changes. First, although I found the pot stickers tasty, I found them soggy as well. Either I did something wrong or I need a different recipe to suit my taste. Also in the chow mien I used Napa cabbage. It worked great in the pot stickers but just didn't taste well in the chow mien. I might try using bok choy next time.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I hope all you moms out there are enjoying your day!

I received a beautiful piece of art by my daughter. It was a lovely portrait of me. Hubby cooked a delicious breakfast and even cleaned up after himself. He bought me roses and a card. I have gotten so many wonderful hugs and kisses from my daughter and its only 10:30 am. I will be going to my own mother's house in a few hours. Then we will come home again for dinner. Hubby is making dinner tonight as well.

I need to start getting ready so I will have to cut this short. Enjoy your mother's day!