The art of the perfect dumpling: The ultimate comfort food

I'm about four months along in my pregnancy now and there is one thing I crave on a near-daily basis: Shrimp and pork pot stickers with hot sauce. Make that two, crab salad with creme fraiche sandwiches. But that's a whole other post. So when I saw the class for "hands-on dumplings" I signed up right away. All cultures have their own version of dumplings. For Armenians, it's mante, which I wrote about for the Toronto Star a while back. You can find my article here, if you are interested.
In any case, we learned to make three different kinds of Chinese dumplings: Fried dumplings with pork, shrimp, Chinese mushrooms; bamboo shoots; pork pot stickers; boiled pork dumplings to go in chicken broth.

I learned a few key tips that will make it easy for me to duplicate these at home:

1. Use pork if you can, because that's the traditional filling and it is more sweet. If you must use chicken, you will need to include some fat by way of vegetable oil. Perhaps a tablespoon or two.
2. Don't get greedy when you are filling the dumplings. Aim for about a teaspoon to a teaspoon-and-a-half of filling depending on how large your wrapper is. If you overfill them, they will burst while cooking.
3. Squeeze out any excess air when closing the dumplings. Again, they could burst, or puff up while cooking.
4. If you make a large batch of wonton dumplings, freeze them on a cookie sheet, then store them in Ziploc baggies until you are ready to use them. Do not defrost. Simply plop into your soup broth and they are good to go.
5. This should be an obvious one, but... taste, taste, taste. You should even be tasting your ground meat mixture as you go along. Place a tiny amount in a dish and microwave it until it is cooked. Taste it to see if it needs more seasoning at that point.

If you are still not intimidated by the prospect of making dumplings, try this recipe for pork dumplings. They are the easiest to make, to store, and you will have a homemade soup in minutes if you freeze them. Here's the recipe as imparted to us by Florence Kwok, who teaches at Upstairs at Loblaws, LCBO, and other cooking schools.

Ingredients for pork dumplings:

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/4 pound shrimp
• 1 box, 1o oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out *Please note, the traditional recipe would call for watercress or bok choy leaves, but that makes this recipe more complicated
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sesame seed oil
• 1 tbsp soy
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp chicken powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper (white pepper is the traditional seasoning to use, but black is fine too)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 egg
• Wrappers (the round ones worked well)
• Chicken broth (homemade is preferable, but you can just buy the ready-made stock too)
• Thinly sliced green onions for garnish
• Sesame oil

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well mixed.
2. Place 1 heaping spoonful of filling in centre of wrapper. We edges of wrapper with water and fold in half. Pinch to seal tightly.
3. Bring large pot of water to boil, drop few dumplings at a time, and boil for about four minutes.
4. Serve with hot chicken broth, garnish with green onions, and a couple of drops of aromatic sesame oil.

Maple apple cinnamon cake

Ever had guests coming over for coffee, but you have nothing on hand to serve? This happens to me a lot, particularly because I try not to buy sweets that I will be tempted to snack on.

I have, in the past, made a run for the 24-hour grocery store that's within walking distance. But usually that results in serving stale desserts that I normally wouldn't be caught dead eating.

Fortunately, I can whip up a quick coffee cake that is as indulgent as its aroma is pleasing to guests as they walk through the door.

This recipe is one of those such coffee cakes. Bonus, you can safely tell your guests it's a more nutritious recipe, thanks to Rose Reisman, who finds easy alternatives to fattening ingredients such as butter and sugar.

Try maple syrup, applesauce, or even low-fat yogurt. You won't even know the difference.

This recipe is from my dog-eared copy of Reisman's "Divine Indulgences."

Ingredients for cake:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 large egg

2 large egg whites

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 low-fat yogurt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup diced, peeled apples

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

Ingredients for icing:

1 cup icing sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp water

Adapted directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray.

2. In large bowl, using whisk or electric mixer, beat together brown sugar, cinnamon, egg, egg whites, applesauce, maple syrup, yogurt, oil, and vanilla.

3. In another bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and baking soda. With a wooden spoon, stir the dry mixture into the applesauce one until everything is properly mixed. Pour into pan

4. Place pan in centre of oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out dry. Let cool.

5. Meantime you can make the icing by beating together the icing sugar, syrup and water. If you need to, add extra water to achieve spreading consistency. Spread icing over cooled cake.

Substitutions:

None. I happened to have everything on hand, which greatly endeared me to the ingredients.

Would I make this again?

Yes, I would. This cake kept well for several times, wrapped tightly on my kitchen counter.

Grade:

Four stars out of five. While this cake was delicious and easy to make, as my niece remarked, it tasted better several days later. Also, while it was moist than fluffy and light, this might not be to everyone's liking.

Gordon Ramsay on my 'bun in the oven'

If you've been reading my blog for a while, or if you know me in person, you'll know I'm somewhat enamoured with Gordon Ramsay. I watch all his shows, have interviewed both Gordon and his wife, Tana Ramsay, and own several of their cookbooks.

So you can imagine my delight when my colleague presented me with his new cookbook at work the other day. Gordon Ramsay was in Toronto on a promotional tour for his latest book, Healthy Appetite, and he had just appeared on a television show at my workplace.

I clapped my hands in glee, but my colleague urged me to open the book. Inside, I found a personalized inscription from Gordon himself that told me "Well done on your bun in the oven."

I bounded down the stairs (as quickly as a pregnant woman can bound down stairs) and hugged my colleague's lovely girlfriend, who was the producer that made it happen for me. This is one cookbook that will never be blemished by an oil splatter.

I've lost my taste for chocolate

I have something to confess. I've got a bun in the oven and I've lost my taste for chocolate.

I used to eat at least a piece of chocolate every day. In fact, sometimes I wasn't able to last until I got home and I'd go to the vending machine at my workplace to buy a chocolate bar. Other times, I'd eat a piece of chocolate as I cooked dinner.

I didn't realize it at the time, but soon after starting this blog, I became pregnant.


Now, though, I realize in looking over my past blog posts that not only have I lost my taste for chocolate, I've been reaching, more and more, for butterscotch and caramel.


And my cravings are reflected in my postings, from butterscotch pudding to sticky toffee pudding to Bahama Mama banana rum cake, it's become evident that my taste buds are yearning for stronger flavours, rich with depth and intensity. Chocolate? Is barely anywhere to be found.


That's not all. On certain days, I can barely stand the sight of chicken and favour vegetarian recipes instead. And I can't get enough savoury foods like couscous, shrimp, apples, milk, cheese.


One thing I know for sure, this baby is going to eat well.