Soup and Snow

My kitchen and pantry are in a really good place now. Meaning I have all of the kitchen tools I need to make most things, and my pantry is appropriately stocked so that I only need to buy a few fresh ingredients for each meal. 

One of the things I purchased on a whim this weekend (which was bad of me because I'm trying to plan every meal here!) were wonton wraps. Reading through one of my cookbooks I had gyoza on my mind, and lean ground beef in the freezer. So I figured, why not? 

In other news, today was a very special day because it SNOWED in Chapel Hill! There have been a couple of other snows in the past year but they have generally been lame, and in the middle of the night. Today's snow started at 6PM and were huge, fluffy, winter-wonderland-y flakes. Granted, the ground was too warm for it to stick - but still made for a great photo op (too bad I didn't take any pictures...). 

But in honor of the snow and cold snap (tonight's low is in the teens!), I decided to make wonton soup. So I started to defrost the ground beef in the microwave (I really hate doing that, but the last minute decision forced me to!). 

In the meantime, I worked on my mise en place. I've been trying to get into the habit of gathering and preparing all of my ingredients before actually starting to cook so everything works as a well-oiled machine. I must say it truly makes a difference! 

Pictured are 1 small yellow onion (diced finely), 5 green onions (finely chopped), 1 tablespoon ginger (minced), 3 large garlic cloves (minced). 

The ground beef was defrosted, so in went the yellow onion, green onion, and garlic. I used my hand to incorporate it all evenly. In a separate bowl, I mixed together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 1 tablespoon sugar, and the ginger. Then I added that into the ground beef. At this point I was able to use a wooden spoon to mix it all together. Smells delicious now - too bad it's raw! 

Now it's time to assemble! I would recommend doing it with someone over a glass of wine and a nice chat, or in front of the TV if you're like me and home alone. This process takes some time! 

These were the wonton wraps I used. I'm not sure different brands matter; this just happens to be what Harris Teeter had. 

The wrappers have a floured side and a non-floured side. Place the wonton flour side down, on a lightly floured surface (the amount I had was too much, but didn't seem to matter). Place a small bit of meat into the middle of the of the wrapper. You'll have to play around with it to see how much you can fit in there. 

Use your finger dipped in water to wet the bottom two edges of the wrapper. I'd recommend a small bowl of warm water to be right next to you instead of running over to the sink to wet your finger every time. Then fold in half and seal the sides. The wrappers feel delicate but an surprisingly handle a firm press to seal the edges. 

Use water again to wet the side corner.

Put the ends together and press together (again, they can handle a firm squish!)

Place finished wontons on a separate plate, and repeat. 

Keep repeating until you can't make anymore wontons because your TV show is now over. I made 24 wontons, and still have some meat leftover but will try to make something else with it. 

Bring some chicken stock to a boil. I've got 6 cups here, but would have liked some more. I like a high soup to wonton ratio. Put the wontons into the boiling broth and cover your pot for 5-7 minutes to cook. I was surprised this was all the time they needed, but it worked! 

Once finished, ladle some into your bowl, garnish with green onions, and enjoy! 

Then take a lame selfie because you're excited about it.

Overall, I'm pretty proud of this dish. Honestly, I'm proud of any Asian dish I happen to make successfully. I'm not sure why Asian food intimidates me the most, but my theory is that I've grown to love my parents' cooking and can't seem to duplicate it. So essentially, I have lots to live up to. 

Things I'd like to try for next time: 

• Use low sodium chicken broth
• Use ground pork or turkey instead of beef
• Add some Sriracha to the broth for a bit of a kick
• Garnish with cilantro (I really love cilantro...)

I have a feeling this will be the first of many wonton things I try. Searching through Pinterest, I saw there are infinite things you can do with these wrappers! 

And just because I'm proud of my pantry stock: the only thing I had to buy for this meal was the wonton wrappers!

Curses of Cooking for One

We're 3 weeks into the new year, and this long weekend seems like a good chance to evaluate progress on my new year's resolutions.

I had a couple of vague resolutions relating to food:

1. Try creating a new dish of food every week
2. Eat less preservatives

In general, the idea is simply to cook more at home, bring lunch to school, and eat out less often. Now, when I say "eat out" I generally mean the unhealthy stuff - I still want to explore new dishes at nice restaurants! And actually, I feel like one of the "curses" of learning how to cook more meals is that I generally don't want to eat at places with meals I feel like I could make myself. 

One of the steps I tried to start out with was to make a weekly meal plan. Figuring out what to make has fed my addictions to Food Network and Pinterest. Last week was rather successful; here's what I made: 

• Bread pudding - I had half a French baguette that was reaching its last breath, so I tried making my first bread pudding ever. It turned out pretty well (although I have nothing to compare it to!). That brings me to another curse of cooking more: there's no one to eat these dishes along with me! 
• Orange Chicken - This turned out very yummy too. But if I were to do it again, I wouldn't bread it. The breading ended up coming off and just lingered in the sauce. 
• Shrimp and Mango Salsa Two Ways - This was something I made without a recipe. I've made tons of pico de gallo, so the mango salsa was just another variation. Along with the shrimp and fixin's, I was able to make a few meals two different ways! 
• Noodles with Peanut Butter Sauce - No pictures unfortunately, but this was a delicious recipe that came from "In The Small Kitchen" by Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine. I bought this cookbook when Errol and I moved in together - and had a small kitchen! 

Overall, I've had a successful few weeks of not letting professional responsibilities get in the way of responsibilities to myself. 

Cook-venture: Shrimp and Mango Salsa (Two Ways)

I had a mango that was ready to be eaten, and a craving for some red onion and cilantro (weird, I know) so I decided to combine the three to make a salsa! Combine that with the easiest protein to make: shrimp! I always have a bag of raw frozen shrimp and use as needed. It thaws quickly in warm water, and cooks even faster. Shrimp absorbs any flavor you want it to and is the perfect bite size. I know it probably doesn't sound great to keep frozen shrimp, but until I can afford to buy it fresh on the regular, this is how it goes!

Making these in two different ways reminded me of when Errol and I went to Cancun and essentially lived on tortilla chips and corn tortillas added with some sort of seasoned meat and pico de gallo or guacamole (and can't forget plenty of margaritas). That was the life...

Tip: To cut mango into pieces, cut a grid (be careful not to cut all the way through the skin) and spoon out the pieces. After taking these out, still chopped them up a bit for the salsa, but you could also just eat it this way alone.

Salsa: Combine pieces of salsa, small dices of red onion, and chopped cilantro to taste (I like more red onion than most people). Add some dashes of lime and let flavors marinate at least 1 hour. I waited overnight, but not by choice - already had something else made to eat. 

Crema: Mix plain Greek yogurt, taco seasoning, and a few dashes of lime juice. I used 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, and 2 teaspoonsful of taco seasoning. I love substituting Greek yogurt for sour cream - it works perfectly! 

Shrimp: At salt, pepper, taco seasoning, and lime juice to shrimp in a bowl and let marinate for 30 minutes. Melt a pat of butter or olive oil onto a skillet at medium-high heat. Once hot enough, put about 4-6 shrimp (per serving) into the skill. Once the tails of the shrimp are pink (1-2 minutes), turn over until shrimp is all pink. 

Way #1 - Taco: Assemble the taco like you would prefer to eat one (nice instructions, eh?). I put shrimp first, then salsa, then Greek yogurt, and cheese. I will admit to microwaving for 15 seconds to melt the cheese (probably a huge cooking faux pas!) 

Way #2 - Tostada: Put a flour tortilla into a toaster oven and toast until firm but not burned. Put a layer of the Greek yogurt onto the bottom to make a base for the other ingredients to stick to. Spread shrimp evenly across the tortilla. Top with mango salsa! 

Things I learned for next time:

• Use smaller tortillas. I think what I got were one size too big. 
• Try corn tortillas (these are flour). 
• Use a firmer mango for a bit more of a sour kick and texture.
• Make a slaw, or just use shredded cabbage to fill out the taco (again, for texture)