Recipes by Ingredient + Prep – Page 42 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Ham Hock Xiao Long Bao with Butternut Burst

I wanted to accomplish two things with this version of the Shanghainese xiao long bao, or soup dumplings: make my own dumpling wrap from scratch and put a spin to it by using butternut squash soup for October’s Supper with Strangers instead of the traditional stock made from pork skin and chicken broth. Although I was proud at making my first edibles ones without trying too hard, the soup didn’t burst as much as I would have liked. But now that I know that I’m capable of making them, I’ll take some other time to make the traditional version and make my Chinese friends proud.

Allow yourself some extra time to make the butternut squash soup and the ham hock filling first and save the dumpling-making a couple of hours before serving. (I made a whole batch of soup and only used 2 cups for the xiao long bao.) For my first try, I kneaded the dough by hand, but for our Supper, I found a pasta maker extremely helpful in making the dough as thin and pliable as I needed it to be. A small 2-layer bamboo steamer in Chinatown is $10 and it can fit about ten xiao long baos.

Ingredients:
For the roasted butternut squash soup:
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, sliced in half
1 carrot, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
fresh thyme
1 tbsp powdered gelatin
oil, salt, pepper

1. Make the butternut squash soup. Drizzle some oil on squash and season with thyme, salt and pepper. Roast squash in oven until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the squash meat to a bowl.
2. Combine carrot, celery and onion in a large stockpot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Simmer until carrot is soft. Add the squash meat. Season with thyme, salt and pepper. Cook and stir occasionally while mashing some of the vegetables with the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. Start with a small batch of the squash mixture and purée in food processor. Return each batch to another stockpot and simmer again. Add more water to make a soup consistency. Season to taste.
4. Transfer 2 cups of the soup to a small saucepan for the xiao long bao. Add powdered gelatin and let sit for 2 minutes. Stir bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour into a small ice cube tray and refrigerate until ready to make the xiao long baos. Serve the rest as a soup starter another day.

For the ham hock:
3 smoked ham hocks, soaked in water overnight, then drained when ready to use
1 carrot, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 small knob of ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Make the ham hock filling. Combine ham hocks, carrot, celery, onion and bay leaves in a large stockpot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Remove the impurities that rise to the top using a slotted spoon. Simmer for 2 to 3 hours or until the ham hocks are tender. When cooked, set the ham hocks aside and let cool. Discard the rest.
2. When cool enough to handle, remove the ham hock meat from the bones and roughly chop. In a small bowl, combine meat with ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil. Refrigerate until ready to make the xiao long baos.

For the xiao long bao wrappers:
2 cups of flour, and more for your work surface
1/3 cup of hot water
2/3 cup of room temperature water
5 leaves of napa cabbage

1. Make the xiao long baos wrappers. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the hot water and incorporate with your hands. Add the other 2/3 cup of water and mix to make dough. On a floured surface, use your hands to knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it becomes soft, smooth and bounces back slowly when you poke with your finger. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.
2. Divide dough into 3 portions. Using one portion at a time while rest of the dough is covered in plastic wrap, roll into a snake. Chop the snaked dough in 1-inch pieces. Feed each inch into a pasta maker and roll out, using thickest setting first and moving on to the 2nd and then the 3rd, until the dough is thin but pliable enough. I made one wrapper and assembled a xiao long bao one at a time to keep the dough from drying up.
3. Assemble the xiao long baos. Fill each wrapper with 1 tbsp of ham hock filling and a cube of butternut squash soup gelatin. Pinch and pleat the edges of the wrapper and twist to seal. Set assembled ones in a large bowl covered with a wet paper towel to keep moist until ready to steam.
4. Boil a large pot of water. Line each layer of the bamboo steamer with napa cabbage leaves. Place a few xiao long baos on each layer, cover and put on top of the pot of boiling water to steam for 10 to 15 minutes. They are cooked when translucent and moist.

Winter Squash and Apple with Orzo

A drive up to Massachusetts to visit old friends and see the foliage was canceled at the last minute after the Dr. was called in to work. He made up for it by changing the car reservations and driving us closer from the city and letting me drag him to Stuart’s Farm’s apple orchard and pumpkin patch. The apples were still out, but there was no picking that needed to be done to the pumpkins–you can just “pick” one from the batch the farmers had already selected.

The drive was beautiful though. We both gasped when we saw the colors of the leaves while driving over Croton Point Park. The water was as still along the reservoir. It was definitely fall and the night called for us to test the squashes we brought home with us. Use wild rice instead of orzo if you want this dish to be heftier.

Ingredients:
a small acorn squash, halved, seeded and cut into small chunks
1 apple, cored, halved, sliced
1 small sweet potato, peeled, cut into small chunks
a handful of shallots, peeled
1 cup of orzo
a handful of cilantro, finely chopped
a dollop of honey
lime juice
oil, salt, pepper

1. Toss the squash, potato and shallots in a large bowl with a splash of oil, salt and pepper. Turn out onto a large baking pan. Roast for about 30 minutes. Then remove from oven and add the apples. Using tongs, slip the squash and potatoes to make sure the other sides are browning, too. Roast for another 10. The squash and potatoes should be tender and the onions caramelized.
2. In the meantime, cook the orzo. Boil some water and cook the orzo for about 10 minutes. Drain and fluff with a fork to avoid sticking. Set aside until ready to assemble the dish.
3. In the meantime, make the dressing. In a small bowl, combine some olive oil, cilantro, honey and some lime juice. You might need to drop in a splash of warm water or two to dilute the honey. Season with salt and pepper.
4. To assemble everything, use a large bowl and toss roasted vegetables together with the orzo and the cilantro-lime dressing. I use my hands to make sure that the vegetables are evenly distributed.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

Most vegetable soups are thin and clean. I wanted to add some texture to this so I added rice to the carrot-ginger batch before puréeing it in the blender. The final result felt like oatmeal in my mouth and a flavorful soup that was heartier than usual.

Ingredients:
2 large carrots, peeled, chopped in large chunks
1 small- to medium-sized ginger, peeled, chopped
1/4 cup of rice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red onion, roughly chopped
6 sprigs of thyme
a handful of parsley, roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
oil, salt, pepper

1. In a stockpot, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic until slightly brown. Add onions and cook until soft, but do not brown. Add ginger, parsley, thyme and bay leaves and cook until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add carrots, rice and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until carrots are exceedingly tender, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to help cook the rice. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.
3. When cool, remove bay and discard bay leaves. Purée soup in blender in batches. Season with salt and pepper.

Vegetable and Dduk Chungol, Korean Hotpot

Have you seen that Anthony Bourdain episode shot in Seoul? I caught a rerun over the weekend and I salivated during the part when they ate a hot spicy soup with noodles after arriving in the country all jet-lagged and grouchy. He said it immediately made him feel better.

After two weeks of drinking almost everyday, I needed to recuperate, too. The Dr. said I made a chigae, or a soup, but because of all the vegetables I happily tossed in, I made a chungol or a hotpot with noodles. I’m sure his mother won’t approve that I bastardize a soup she can make with her eyes closed, but I liked how my hearty version turned out. It immediately made me feel better.

When reheating leftovers–oh, there will be plenty–add a small amount of water and another tablespoon of kochujang sauce.

Ingredients:
a handful of Korean dduk
a fistful of glass noodles
1 green bell pepper, seeded, chopped
2 eggplants, chopped in thick rounds only before adding to the pot
2 small potatoes, peeled, chopped
1 bunch of scallions, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
4 tbsps kochujang, or Korean red pepper paste
ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp peanut oil
salt

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the peanut oil. Add the ginger-garlic paste and scallions. Sauté and avoid burning the paste. Add the chopped eggplants and bell pepper. Toss and cook until they are half-cooked.
2. In the meantime, bowl some water in a small pot and cook the dduk for 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Back to the large pot of vegetables, add 3 cups of water and stir in the kochujang. Add the dduk and the potatoes. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt.
4. Remove pot from heat and stir in the noodles. The noodles will cook in the soup’s remaining heat. Serve immediately with rice.

Lamb Stew with Corn

Oh my goodness, I thought, as I caught a whiff of the lamb stew that had been simmering for almost three hours. I’ve been copying the Dr. in the kitchen lately and it was no different last night. After spending a nice weekend hiking outside and walking around the city, I was ready to sit in front of Mad Men and sulk with a warm bowl of stew on my lap. After he told me he was making lamb stew for dinner, I knew I had to do the same. It would have been better if I just watched him cook for us, but I wanted to do my own version and compete. The idea of adding corn came from a Mexican tripe stew we bought last week in east Harlem after a late night out.

I think mine had a good chance of winning.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of lamb chuck chops
1 corn on the cob, chopped in 4 pieces
2 cups of red wine
2 cups of vegetable broth
a handful of parsley, chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of mint
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red onion, chopped
2 tbsps paprika
2 bay leaves
oil, salt, pepper

1. Season lamb chuck chops with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, add some oil and brown all sides of the lamb. Remove from the pot and set aside.
2. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the used oil. Try to get the darkest bits out from the oil. In the remaining oil, sauté the garlic until light brown and the onions until soft. Add the paprika, thyme, parsley and bay leaves.
3. Return the browned lamb in the pot and add the red wine. Let boil and then lower the heat to simmer for 20 minutes or until the red wine has reduced. Stir in broth, cover the pot and simmer for up to 3 hours.
4. After 1 hour, add the corn. After the next hour, turn the corn just to make sure the other ends get some brown sauce in them, too. The meat should be falling off the bone by the third hour. Remove pot from heat, uncover and stir in mint leaves.