Chinese Dumplings

(I am re-posting this because I looked it up yesterday to make it and discovered that I had not included the ingredient list!!  Hellloooo!!? So here it is)

Posted by Lisa

Source: www.allrecipes.com

This was the first time I had ever had or made Chinese dumplings.  I had some ground chicken on hand so I used that instead of the pork.  They were terrific!  I did them two different ways.  The filling and the wrappings were the same but the cooking method differed slightly.  All the kids gobbled them up so I will be making these again.  

Ingredients:

1/2 c soy sauce

1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

1 tbsp finely chopped chinese chives

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp chile garlic sauce (such as sriracha)

1 lb ground pork (I have used ground turkey, and yesterday used cooked shredded chicken)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp finely chopped chinese chives

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

50 dumpling wrappers

1 cup oil for frying

* Combine 1/2 c soy sauce, rice vinegar, 1 tbsp chives, sesame seeds and chile sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

* Mix pork, garlic, egg, 2 tbsp chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger in bowl until thoroughly combined.  Place a dumpling wrapper on a lightly floured surface and spoon about 1 tbsp of filling in the middle...see below.

• Moisten the edges and place a small amount in the center

• Take your won ton wrappers and moisten all the edges with water.
• Put a spoon of filling in the center and, draw up all the corners to the middle and press the seams together until they stick.
• Set aside until they are all formed.
• Some of them I just folded over in the shape of a rectangle

**this is a must!  The sauce totally made it**

• Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan.
• Place the filled wrappers into the pan and gently fry until golden on the bottom.
• I flipped them over too, even though they were folded like these above, and fried them some more.
• Then I transferred to a second pan with about 1/4 an inch of water in it and quickly put the lid on and let it steam until I am sure the insides are done.
• the rectangle shaped ones I just browned in the pan and did not steam.  Those stayed crisper and the browned and steamed ones were soft

Serve with a side of rice and a vegie.  I intended to serve them with vegie fried rice, but I didn't get that far this time!

Cornbread Salad

Posted by: Lisa

A co-worker brought this to a work party and I was surprised at how much I loved it!  This may not be new to you , but it was new to me!  I made it for dinner last night and the family thought it was great.  (except 2 of the boys said the tomatoes had to go)  picky picky.  I varied the recipe slightly and will include those changes below.  

Great salad for summer!

source:  Hometown recipes From Eva Mae Clark

Ingredients:

1 8.5 oz package cornbread mix (I used Jiffy)

1 envelope ranch-style dressing mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 c green pepper, chopped

1/2 c sweet red pepper, chopped (I didn't use those)

1/2 cup onion, chopped (I used green onions)

3 large tomatoes, diced

1 16-oz can pinto beans, drained (I used black beans)

2 cups fresh or frozen corn

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

10 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

Directions:

• Bake the corn bread according to package directions and let cool.  Then crumble into small pieces
• Combine ranch style dressing mix with the sour cream and mayonnaise
• In small bowl, combine the beans, corn, tomatoes and onions

Assemble:

Spread 1/2 of the corn bread crumbs into the bottom of a glass bowl.  Then spread 1/2 of the bean/corn mixture.  Top that with 1/2 the cheese and then 1/2 the dressing then 1/2 the bacon.  Repeat!  

If you have a trifle bowl, use that.  This salad looks really inviting with the layers visible.  For serving, just dig down deep to make sure all layers are scooped up!  And Enjoy.