pita bread

yeah so who the hell makes pita bread from scratch???

THIS GIRL. (oh...and i have two thumbs...) ((get it??))

anyway. i made pesto last weekend and i needed a vehicle to get it into my mouth. i love to toast pita bread and cut it into triangles and dip it in pesto. so when i went grocery shopping i bought the stuff i needed...

and i forgot the darn pita bread!! i got home and i was CRUSHED. and then i thought...HEY! i bet i can make it! so i started cruising the interwebs and i found two recipes that i combined.

pita bread

1 envelope of yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
2 to 2 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water

combine yeast, 1/2 cup water and 1 1/2 tsp. sugar in a mixing cup. let sit until very frothy; about 10-15 mins.

combine 2 cups white flour, 1/2 cup wheat flour, salt and water in kitchenaid with the dough hook attached. add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. if the dough is too sticky, add the remaining 1/2 cup white flour. the dough should be smooth and stick to the dough hook but not to the bowl.

p.s. warm the bowl with very warm water before mixing the dough. :)

remove the hook from the dough and spray the bowl with pam. cover the bowl with a clean towel and set in a warm place for 2-3 hours.

preheat oven to 500 degrees F. on a floured surface, roll the dough into a log shape and cut into 10-12 even pieces. roll each piece into a circle, about 1/4" thick. if you roll it too thin, it will get too crispy. if you actually want it to split like pocket bread, err on the side of thicker.

place dough circles on stoneware pans or pizza stones to bake and bake in batches, one pan at a time for 6-9 minutes, or to desired doneness.

my family ate these as fast as they came out of the oven...and there were no leftovers. my husband even ate pesto. be still my heart!

pesto

i have a giant crush on pesto. i would marry it if were legal to marry food. i love basil...the smell, the flavor...it's probably the perfect herb. i also love garlic and parmesan cheese, so it's only natural that i have great love for pesto.

this year, i finally got to plant some basil. i've always wanted to grow it in pots, but i never have. i vowed this year would be different. my plants are doing well...and they smell amazing. AMAZING.

many people like pesto but seem to think they can't make it at home. i assure you, it's super easy. you do need a food processor, but most of you have one of those, right? RIGHT? pesto is also one of those recipes where you can alter the ingredients to suit your taste. the measurements are only guidelines...not carved in stone. i prefer pesto on toasted pita bread (i'll post a recipe for this soon! SOOO tasty, SOOO easy) but it's also great on pasta, veggies or crackers. i could eat it just plain on a spoon.

pesto makes me happy... and i think it might make you happy, too.

pesto

*1 cup packed basil leaves
*1/2 cup pine nuts* (i buy these at a kitchen specialty store. you can substitute walnuts)
3-4 medium cloves of garlic (more is not better in this case), peeled
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/3-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
pinch kosher salt

i don't wash the basil unless it's really dirty. pat it dry if you need to rinse it. place the basil, garlic, pine nuts and parmesan in a food processor. toss in the pinch o salt. pulse until well blended. turn food processor onto lowest setting and drizzle the olive oil in until the pesto is the consistency you want.

i like to serve this immediately, as it will turn brown over time. it's great tossed with hot pasta. if you want to save it for a few days, pour a thin layer of olive oil on the top to keep it from darkening.

pita bread recipe soon, i promise!!

potstickers

so last week i was wasting time watching food network, as i often do on weekends while waiting for my laundry to fold itself. bobby flay did a throwdown on chinese dumplings, or potstickers as we white folk like to call them.

i've been craving them ever since. like, dying for them. since i love to cook, i thought to myself, "self, you can probably make those. yeah, it looks like it will be a pain in the ass, but i still think you can do it."

so i went out to teh interwebz in search of a recipe and i found quite a few, but none that i loved and was dying to make. here was some of my criteria:

1. i didn't want to make the wrappers from scratch. that seemed like a giant PITA (pain in the you-know-what)and i didn't want to deal with it.

2. i wanted the recipe to include cabbage, because i love cabbage.

3. i only wanted to use pork as the filling inside. i knew my kids wouldn't be hip on shrimp or other weird crap. when introducing new stuff to them, i know the limits.

4. i didn't want to have to buy tons of expensive ingredients that i might only use one time. what if the recipe didn't turn out? or if my family didn't like it? i don't want to be stuck with a bottle of expensive seasoning i'll never use.

i took a few recipes i found and came up with the version below. i created the dipping sauce all on my own...and you'll just have to trust me when i tell you that it's good, because it does kinda sound weird.

potstickers

*1 package round dumpling wrappers, approx. 60 count
*1 pound lean ground pork
*1 head napa cabbage (use napa, not regular)
*1-2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced finely (ginger is not for everyone...)
*5 green onions, thinly sliced, including the green tops
*1 T cornstarch
*1 T soy sauce
*black pepper
*kosher salt
*vegetable oil for frying

slurry:
*1 T cornstarch
*1/4 cup cold water

dipping sauce:

*1/2 cup soy sauce
*1 tsp. sugar
*1-2 t. brown sugar


begin by preparing the napa cabbage. wash, remove the core and the outside leaves. slice very thin and place into a large bowl. salt with 2-3 tsp kosher salt, mix well. let the cabbage sit for about 10-15 mins. this will draw out the water and the cabbage will become limp. this is an important step and cannot be skipped - or you will have soggy dumplings. after 10-15 mins, place the cabbage into some cheesecloth or into a clean dishtowel and wring all the water out. again, this sounds like a pain in the butt (and it is, this whole recipe is. just do it.)

place the ground pork in a large bowl. add the minced ginger, and sliced green onions, including the green tops. add about 1/4 tsp pepper. by now, you should know that i really don't measure...i just eyeball it. add the sliced, drained cabbage. i wish i had sliced mine thinner and chopped it a bit more. mix well. you'll probably just want to use your hands, like you would mix meatloaf, but a spatula works nicely, too. i didn't add salt to the meat mixture, because i thought the cabbage was salty enough, and the dipping sauce's main ingredient is soy sauce, which is salty on its own.

now, let the fun begin. in a small dish, prepare the slurry. this is what you'll use to make the wrappers stick together. take 1 wrapper and moisten the edges with the slurry. place about 1/2 T of filling in the wrapper and fold the wrapper around the filling, rolling the filling out slightly inside. pinch the wrapper in the middle to seal. then, seal the sides, pleating only ONE side of the wrapper, and do either the right OR the left side first. make sure the bottom is flat. the finished potsticker should look like a purse. kinda. here's a link to show you with pictures how to fold them: http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2008/07/27/potstickers. if you scroll down a bit you can see photos of how they fold them.

trust me, it's not easy. in fact, it really is a PITA (see above). thankfully, i had jake to help me. i entertained him by talking to him with my asian voice:

me: sirry boy. you suck at making potsticker. it take you four hour to make 2 potsticker. you so razy and slow!

jake: (laughing) four hour! hahahah! razy! mom, you're funny.

me: risten, get working. you have lots of potsticker to make.

jake: mom, you are funny. you sound just like a chinese lady.

(dear internet, if you know me at all, you know i am not racist. i'm not making fun of asians. i worked with asians for many years and i love them with all my heart. i'd give my left leg to cook like they can.)

a few things here. first of all, it IS worth your time to make these, even though they are way time consuming and a giant PITA. it looks like you have too much filling for 60 wrappers, but you should turn out ok. we did, and i know my kids ate at least a few plain wrappers along the way.

after you've finished about half of the potstickers, it's time to think about cooking them. i have a large 12-inch skillet with a lid. you need a pan that has a lid. if you don't have a 12-inch skillet, you'll have to fry them in smaller batches. pour enough vegetable oil into the pan to just coat the bottom. i used about 1/3 of a cup. heat the oil over medium heat for several minutes. you don't want to put the potstickers in cold oil or they will get greasy. place about 1/2 of the folded and sealed potstickers into the hot oil. carefully. i burned myself and swore no fewer than 12 times and jake laughed every time. fry the potstickers for about 2-3 minutes, until you can see the edges of the dumplings getting very dark brown. you can lift one up to see if they are the right color.

this is where it gets scary, unless you have an apron made of steel and a face mask. measure about 1/2 cup water into a measuring cup. VERY CAREFULLY pout it into the skillet and immediately cover with a lid. steam the potstickers for about 5-7 minutes. even our fattest potstickers were cooked all the way through after about 6 minutes. you can remove one from the pan and cut it in half to be sure.

while your slave helper continues to fold the potstickers and the first batch cooks, make the dipping sauce. in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the soy sauce and the sugar. cook on high for approximately 2 minutes. you want it to boil and for all the sugar to dissolve. stir well.

keep folding the second batch of potstickers. at this point you'll be so sick of it you want to die. but your family is salivating over the first batch and you'll really want to be able to eat at least a couple, so keep making them. it won't seem like it, but you will finish.

remove the first batch from the pan with tongs, let cool slightly, and serve with dipping sauce.for the second batch, you may need to add a bit of oil and reheat it. i did not need to do this, but you may. steam them and cook them like you did with the first batch.

total PITA and totally worth it. i'd make them again.

spicy shrimp

this is one of paul's favorite recipes. he loves shrimp. i'm putting this under the appetizer category, but it can totally be a main dish, too. it just depends on where you want to serve it. as a main dish, it will serve 2-4 people but as an appetizer, it will serve 10-12.

here's what you need:

*2 lbs of raw, unpeeled shrimp, 21-26 count. (this refers to how many shrimp are in a pound.) you can use larger shrimp, but if you use smaller ones, they get tricky to peel...
*2 lemons (or 3 or 4...)
*1 stick butter (for future note, margarine is a swear word at my house. i almost NEVER use it. if you use margarine in one of my recipes, i might never speak to you again.)
*1/2 cup olive oil (or so...)
*lots of black pepper
*tabasco sauce
*kosher salt (more on this later)
*1/4 to 1/2 cup worchestershire sauce

rinse off the shrimp in a colander. spread on a cookie sheet in a single layer. drizzle the shrimp with the olive oil and then sprinkle generously with black pepper. and then go ahead and shake on some more. it will look like TONS of pepper, but you are going to peel the shrimp before you eat them, so trust me, it will be ok. seriously use a ton.

now let's talk about kosher salt. you really should buy some for cooking. it's very inexpensive and i thought i'd never say this, but there *is* a major difference between kosher salt and regular salt. i use kosher salt ALL OF THE TIME now. real cooks use kosher salt. it rules. sprinkle the shrimp with kosher salt. again, you will be peeling the shrimp, so they will not be overly salty.

roll the lemons on the counter...this releases the juice. cut them in half and squish out the juice all over the shrimp. yummy.

now grab your worchestershire sauce and shake it all over the shrimp. again, the measurement doesn't need to be exact. go for about 1/2 cup. shake tabasco sauce all over the shrimp - as much or as little as you want. i use about 10-20 shakes o' the bottle. depends on how i'm feeling and how my stomach is doing that day.

now take that glorious stick of butter and cut into little pats. if one stick doesn't seem like enough, use more. i've been known to use two. put the butter all over the shrimp. now is a good time to add more salt and pepper if you'd like.

take this pan of shellfish goodness and put it under your broiler for about 10 minutes. you'll know the shrimp are done when they turn pink. IF you overcook them, they will be rubbery, so don't overcook. :)

now here's the fun part. the sauce is AMAZING to dip bread in, so don't throw it away. grab a loaf of crusty french bread and dip away! or...at my house, i make sticky rice and we put the sauce over rice. put down a bunch of newspaper and peel n' eat the shrimp right off the pan. they won't last for long, i promise.

this recipe is not my own - i got it from the pioneer woman. her recipe website is sooo much better than mine, so don't compare me to her, mmmkay? thanks.