Fried Potstickers

Makes 20 Potstickers

Ingredients
1/2 Lb of Braised Beef (see previous recipe) minced
2 Tb Shredded Carrot
1.5 Tb Mayonnaise
2 Tb Cheddar Cheese
2 Tb Bbq Sauce
2 Tb Glass Noodles (Cooked)
1 Tb Shredded Cabbage

20 Wonton Skins

2 Eggs (beaten)
Bread Crumbs

Directions
Mix the sauce, noodles, cabbage, carrots, beef, mayonnaise, and cheddar cheese.  This is your filling.


Take a Wonton skin and brush it with water.  This will allow it stick and seal more easily.  Now, add approximately 1 Ts of the filling mixture to the bottom third of the Wonton.  Now, fold the Wonton skin over with the next third of the skin, so that the last third is still protruding.  Be sure that the Wonton skin is sealing itself and that there are no air pockets.  Lastly, fold the last third over the first fold.  Thus, the filling is encased and sealed in the Wonton skin.  The folds you are doing here are similar to how you would fold a letter to place in an envelope.  Lastly, connect the two ends to make a "ring".  You may want to even consider wrapping the Wonton around your finger.

Now, cover the potsticker in an egg wash and cover it with bread crumbs.

Lastly, cook the potsticker in hot oil until golden brown.  Once it cools you are ready to eat!

Braised Beef

This recipe creates a tender braised beef that can be used in other recipes.

Ingredients
1 Lb Stewing Beef
16 Oz Light Beer
300 Ml Beef Broth
1/2 Onion, Finely Cut
1 Ts White Wine Vinegar
2 Ts Brown Sugar

Directions
Add all of the ingredients to a medium pot and cook on low for 2.5-3 Hours.  As your reach approximately the 2.5 hour mark, test the tenderness of the beef to see if it is ready.  The beef should be so tender that you do not need a knife to separate it.

After the meat is ready strain it and retain the liquid.  Then separate the beef from the onions.  The onions can be retained or discarded.

The meat can now be used as an ingredient in other recipes.  The cooking liquid can be reduced and mixed with ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and brown sugar to make a barbecue sauce.   

Beef Burgundy

Ingredients
1 Lb of Stewing beef (Cubed)
500 Ml Red Wine
250 Ml Low Sodium Beef Broth
2/3 Onion
1 Large Carrot
2 Potatoes

Directions
In a medium pot, pour in the wine and broth and heat at medium-low heat.  Cut the onion into small, 1 cm pieces and add to the pot.  Also, add the beef to the pot at this time.

Cover the pot and allow the beef to cook in the liquid for approximately 2.5-3 hours.  I would suggest that you start to check the tenderness of the beef at about the 2 hour mark.

For your carrots and potatoes, peel them and cut them into 2 cm pieces.  Try to make sure that the pieces are approximately the same size. The vegetables should be added about 10 minutes before the beef is fully tender.  Thus, it should be added at about the 2 hour and 20 mark.  Also, I would suggest adding the carrots about 3 or 4 minutes before the potatoes as they take a little bit longer to cook.

After the vegetables and beef are cooked, make sure that the stewing broth is the correct consistency.   The liquid remaining should be able to coat a spoon.  Thus, if not enough has cooked down, make sure to raise the heat at the very end of the stewing process to cook down the liquid. 

Sticky Buns

Ingredients 

Dough

1/3 Cup Milk

Tb Butter

Pinch Salt

2 Heaping Tb of Sugar

3 Cups Flour

Egg

2/3 Pack of Yeast + 1 Tb Sugar + ¼ Cup Warm Water

Filling

1.5 Tb Melted Butter

3 Tb Sugar

1.5 Ts Cinnamon

Topping

2 Tb Melted Butter

1.5 Tb Sugar

1 Cup Soaked Raisins

1.5 Tb Brown Sugar

Directions

Make sure that you have your yeast prepped and ready to go with this recipe.  So, firstly, add the yeast sugar and warm water together.  It will take about 5 to 10 minutes to bloom.

In a small frying pan heat the milk to a simmer.  Add the tb butter, pinch of salt and 2 (heaping) tb of sugar to the milk.  Stir on medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar has dissolved.  After the butter melt and the sugar dissolves, turn off the heat and allow the liquid to cool.  When the milk/butter/sugar mixture has reached room temperature, combine it with the yeast in a Cuisinart.  Also at this time, add an egg to the other two liquids in the Cuisinart.

Note: for the Cuisinart, you want to use the plastic dough blade.

Turn the Cuisinart on low and add the flour a few tablespoons at a time making sure that it is blended before adding more. 

After all of the flour has been added, allow the dough to "knead" in the Cuisinart for another minute or two.  When you remove the dough from the cuisinart it should be slightly sticky and have a good elasticity. 

Now, place the dough in a large bowl, covered by a towel.  The dough is going to rise in the bowl and thus the bowl should be put in a warm, dry place.  The rising process will probably take a few hours as the dough will rise to a size that is approximately 3 times its original size. 

After the dough has risen, roll it out onto a floured surface and create a reactance of dough that is 18 inches in length and 12 inches in height.  Then, evenly spread the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon.  On the on the long side closest to you, I would recommend leaving about a 1 inch lip, which does not receive butter, sugar or cinnamon.  After applying the filling, roll your dough.  You are rolling along the shorter side so that you are left, after rolling, with a 18 inch roll. 

Now, slice your rolls.  Slices should be made about 2 inches apart so that you get 9 or 10 rolls.  Now, place the rolls off to the side for just a moment.

In a 10 inch baking dish, place the topping ingredients evenly at the bottom (sugar, butter, brown sugar and raisins).  Then, evenly distribute your cinnamon rolls onto the baking dish.

You now need to let the baking dish sit for about an hour as the rolls' dough will rise a second time. 

After an hour, cook the rolls in the oven at 180 degrees C for approximately 25 minutes. 

After the sticky buns have cooked through, invert the pan on a clean surface.  You will now have the "sticky" part on the top.

Allow the buns to cool to room temperature and you are now ready to eat!

Spanish Omelet

Makes one omelet, which can serve approximately 5 people

Ingredients:
6 Eggs
2 Large Potatoes (Washed)
Large Onion
Fresh Cilantro
White Wine Vinegar
Honey
Water
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
First you need to prepare the onions and the potatoes.
For the potatoes, you can leave the skin on. Slice the potatoes into
¼ inch slices. Next, season them liberally with salt and pepper.
Then, place them in a skillet over medium heat with about 2-3 Tb of
olive oil. Allow the potatoes to fry until they are soft. I would
suggest that you keep the temperature on a low enough level that the
potatoes cook through and soften, but do not brown. Once all of the
potatoes are cooked, retain the oil and place the potatoes off to the
side.

For the onions, cut them into thin, inch-long, strings. Fry them in a
skillet with about a Tb of olive oil. As the onions get to be
translucent, add about a ¼ cup of water, with 2 Tb of vinegar, 2 Ts of
Honey, and a pinch of salt. Constantly stir the onions, and allow the
liquid to cook off. The vinegar and honey will infuse a little bit of
sweet and sour flavor which will compliment the rich nature of the
omelet. Once the liquid is cooked off, place the onions off to the
side.

Now you are ready to assemble your omelet.

You need a 10 inch frying pan, lightly greased.

In the pan, assemble the potatoes, onions and cilantro in a "lasagna"
fashion. Cover the bottom of the pan with potato slices, then some
onions (appx 1/3 of your total onions) evenly spread and lastly, some
cilantro. Continue this process until you have used up all of your
potato and onion. You should be able to create 3 solid layers of
potato, onion and cilantro.

Now, take your 6 eggs and beat them in a mixing bowl. Then, pour the
eggs over the layers in the frying pan.

The omelet is now ready to be cooked. Place it on the stove over
medium heat and allow the eggs to cook through. This will take a long
time as there is a lot of egg to cook.

When the omelet has mostly cooked through, you need to flip the omelet
to allow the omelet to cook through. This is not an easy process.
The best way to do this is to place a large plate on the top of the
frying pan and flip the pan over, thus flipping the omelet over onto
the plate. Then, gently, slide the omelet back on to the skillet.

Allow the omelet to cook for a few minutes and then you are ready to eat.
This dish can be served hot or cold.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes approximately 15 small to medium cookies.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Sugar
1 Cup Flour
Egg
¾ Vanilla Extract
½ Ts Baking Soda
1 Stick Margarine
½ Cup Dark Chocolate Morsels.

Directions:
First, before beginning, make sure that the margarine is removed from
the refrigerator an hour before baking.

In a large mixing bowl, combine (cream) the two sugars and margarine.
Mix the ingredients until they are smooth. Next, add the egg and
again, stir until evenly mixed. Now, add the vanilla, baking soda and
some of the flour. You do not want to add the flour all at once as it
will be difficult to mix. Keep adding flour and stirring, until the
whole cup of flour has been added. Lastly, stir in the chocolate.

Note: be careful to not stir too much as it will make the cookie dough
a bit tough.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.

On a lightly greased baking sheet, spoon out the cookie dough using a
teaspoon. You do not need to flatten to cookie. Make sure that you
leave about 2 inches in between each cookie.

Place the cookies in the oven on the middle rack.

Cooking time should be approximately 15 minutes. The cookies will be
ready when they turn a golden brown.

Once the cookies are removed from the oven, allow the
cookies to rest for about ten minutes and then enjoy!

Pulled Pork Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 4 or 5 People

Ingredients
2.5 Cups Pipe Regate Pasta
1 Tb Butter
1.5 Tb Flour
1.5 + .5 Cup Cheddar Cheese (Sharp)
1 Tb Cream Cheese
10 Oz Milk
2 Tb Beer
1.25 +.5 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1 Cup Pulled Pork (obtained from previous recipe)
2 Tb +2Tb Bread Crumbs
Salt

Directions
Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente. I just wanted to note
that the reason I chose Pipe Regate is that they are similar to
traditional macaroni, but a little bit larger in size. Thus, they are
easier to stab with a fork. When the pasta is cooked, strain it and
place it off to the side.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Then, add the flour
to make a roux. When the two ingredients have been mixed into a
paste, add the milk. Stir the milk with the roux until the mixture
thickens.

Once the mixture has thickened, add 1.5 cups of cheddar cheese. Stir
the cheese sauce until it is smooth and velvety. Once it reaches a
smooth consistency, add the cream cheese, a pinch of salt and the
beer. Again, stir until smooth. Once these ingredients are mixed,
place the cheese sauce off to the side.

Now, in a mixing bowl, mix the pasta, cheese sauce, 1.5 cups of
Parmesan, 2 Tb of bread crumb, 1 egg and the pulled pork. Stir gently
until everything is evenly distributed.

Pour the macaroni and cheese into a 10 inch baking dish. Then, top
the macaroni with a half-cup of Cheddar and Parmesan Cheese, as well
as, 2 Tb of bread crumbs.

The macaroni is now ready to be baked in the oven. Place the macaroni
and cheese in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 20
minutes. Be sure that the top is melted and brown. You are now ready
to eat.