Daring Cooks/Dumplings

So, when this post is posted, I will probably still be dancing away at the wedding I am going to this weekend. Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have learned how to post-date posting. So far the word post has appeared five times in this post (6). At least I will be dancing because seriously after all the dumplings I have made and ate this week, I am starting to look like one.

This month's Daring Cook's Challenge was hosted by Jen at Use Real Butter. And boy, did she pick a challenge. Aside from the fact that I really have no experience in dumpling making, nor have I ever watched anyone make a dumpling, we also had to make the wrappers ourselves. Jen obviously gave us perfect instructions on how to make and fold them, but I still faced some challenges determining how thick they should be. I ended up making them twice, because the first time the dough yielded about 10 dumplings, with absurdly thick wrappers, so I knew that wasn't right. When I finally understood (I think) what 1/16th of an inch means I got the hang of rolling and wrapping pretty fast.

We had creative license on the filling, but I wanted to try to stick to Asian or Asian-inspired flavors. That is not easy in Italy, where the supermarket doesn't even have a foreign foods aisle, so I made the pork potstickers that Jen suggested. I am very glad I did. They were perfect, my hands still smell like garlic and onions from all the chopping, but they are worth it. Tender and flavorful, I finally got my Asian food fix, which totally surprised me because I really have very little experience making Asian food. Although I am surprisingly good at eating it.

Speaking of surprising, in my rice pudding post I mentioned that there was a super top-secret surprise coming your way. Drumroll please. For this challenge, I took my creative license to another level and decided to make a sweet dumpling, a Coconut-Ginger Rice Pudding Dumpling with passion fruit curd to be exact. This was a bigger surprise than I expected, because even though I theoretically knew what was coming, I actually had no idea. These plump little rice pudding clouds exploded in my mouth. The passion fruit curd was the ideal contrast to the creaminess of the pudding, and complemented its coconut and ginger undertones. I cannot wait to make them again for someone other than myself, not only because I practically ate all of them myself, but also because they are so good that I just want to share the love.

Recipes:

• For the dumplings visit Use Real Butter, Jen has all the info there and great step-by-step photos and instructions.
• For the Rice Pudding, Coconut Ginger Rice Pudding

Passion Fruit Curd
(adapted from Martha Stewart)

3 large egg yolks, strained
Zest of 1/2 lime
1/4 cup passion fruit juice (I pressed the inside of about 6 passion fruits in a sieve, to yield this)
6 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1) Combine yolks, zest, juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk to combine. Set over medium heat, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to stir sides and bottom of pan. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat back of wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes.
2) Remove saucepan from heat. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until consistency is smooth.
3) Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin from forming; wrap tightly. Let cool; refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour. Store refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Creativity/Arancine Maki

On occasion, I amaze myself. Usually I don't see myself as very special or different from the rest of the world; I mean, yes, I am a kind and warm hearted person, but so are many others (thankfully). When I decided to write this blog I really hesitated, because like I say in the description, I'm still trying to figure out what differentiates me from others on many levels. First, as a person and secondly as a foodie, what makes my passion, skills and talents different from the next persons? Sometimes I am reading restaurant menus and I come across a creative dish and the whole thing seems so obvious, but then I started to doubt myself and wonder why, if it is so obvious, I wasn't able to come up with it myself.

But Like I said, on occasion I amaze myself and today I did so by making what I like to call Arancine Maki. Essentially, this is the classic sicilian dish Arancine, a fried, stuffed ball of risotto. Rather than shaping it into a ball and formed a log which I then friend and sliced in rounds like the Japanese Maki. Arancine means little oranges, this dish is called that way because of its shape and the orangey golden color it takes on when it is fried. Traditionally, you can either get an arancina rossa or arancina bianca depending on what they are filled with the rossa is filled with meat sauce and peas and the bianca with ham and mozzarella and some bechamel.

Because I was working on my creativity (and dealing with limited ingredients in my fridge) I used zucchini and goat cheese. The green zucchini emulated the seaweed used in traditional sushi and the goat cheese added a perfect tang to the sweet risotto and zucchini. Garnished with some reduced balsamic vinegar (soy sauce) it was the perfect balance of creamy, smooth and tart. I was so pround of this dish because not only was it delicious, but it was different, something that I had never seen before. And now that I made it, I can only think of a other variations, sweet, savory, traditional, untraditional. The funny thing about creativity is that the more you use it the more creative you feel. After this experiment, I just keep coming up with more and more great ideas (which I promise to eventually share), I am totally loving it!
Arancine Maki
makes 8-12 pieces

1 c. prepared saffron risotto (slightly overcooked, make sure it is thick and sticky)
2 tbsp. grated parmiggiano reggiano or grana padano
1 zucchini ribboned with a vegetable peeler
2 tbsp. soft goat cheese
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
oil for frying
syrupy balsamic for garnish

1. Sprinkle a sushi roller with some of the bread crumbs and spread the risotto into a 7" x 7" square. Lay the zucchini strips overlapping on the rice square, make sure to trim any overhang.
2. Crumble goat cheese across the middle and roll up like sushi. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.
3. Heat up oil for frying. Dip roll in egg and then in the bread crumbs. Fry until deeply golden.
4. Drain on paper towels and then slice in rounds. Serve hot.