Gyoza

Gyoza, or Potstickers, are one of our favorite foods to eat because they cook quickly and are in a way, a meal in themselves.  Flavorful and a finger-food for those of us who have yet to master the art of chopsticks (and of course 2 year olds!)  Almost all of us adore them.  Recently, I ventured into making them myself rather than buying them out of the freezer section at the grocery store.  Except for the skins.  For now.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Ground meat (pork, beef or chicken)
1/2 medium Cabbage, shredded
4 med. Carrots, shredded
6 crimini mushrooms, diced or shredded
1 small onion diced (or leek or green onion
fresh ginger, shredded, 1 med branch
minced garlic, 2 tbsp
salt, pepper to taste
soy sauce, 2 tbsp
gyoza skins, about 1 1/2 pkgs

Filling:

mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
fill a small bowl with a couple of table spoons of water
line two cookie sheets with wax paper for freezing finished gyoza






Place a gyoza skin in the palm of one hand, use the other to place approximately 1 tbsp of filling on the middle.  Wet the edge of one side of the skin with water.



Fold the skin nearly in half around the filling.  Pinch one side to the other utilizing approximately 6 small folds on one side.  The resulting gyoza will end up in a slight half-moon shape with a flat bottom side.



Cooking:
(Fresh or frozen)
In a heavy frying pan (I like cast iron, but use your favorite), heat about 2 tbsp of oil over med-high heat (just shy of smoking).




Set gyoza in pan with space in between.  My size 8 pan holds about 10.
allow to fry until edges brown and gyoza release from bottom of pan.










Quickly pour in about 2 tbsp of water and cover until water evaporates.








When gyoza release from pan and are browned on the bottom, they are done!


Dip in soy sauce, gyoza sauce or your favorite sauce and Enjoy!



My home-made Gyoza came out beautifully!  There is a bit more ginger in these than many people are used to but it tastes great!  I also thought about making a veggie-only, adding more mushrooms, less meat in general, and about all the different versions I could make as the fresh veggies changed during the summer.

Every family has their own taste preferences.  Think of this recipe as a guide.  Mix, Match and change it around as you like until you find it perfect for your family!

Have Fun!

Stuffed Lamb

This Recipe comes from a book in my personal collection called "Over the Open Fire" by Pamela Alford with Johnny Nix.  This cookbook is for cooking over an open fire, usualy with cast iron however they also list how the recipes would be done in a kitchen and I always add notes to recipes I provide.

"Stuffed Rack of Lamb"

Notes: use cookware similarly sized and scaled to the amount of meat you are working with.  Also, any other cut of meat that you could stuff works as well, adjust cooking times and temperatures appropriately.  shoulder roasts, legs work well, as do chops: just cut from the side for stuffing.

Serving Size: 8
14" deep Cast Iron Dutch Oven
10" Skillet

Stuffed Rack
1 rack of lamb
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs fresh parsley
3 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup onion, minced
3 tbsp butter

Basting Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 cup deli mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
4 tsp lemon juice
1 tbs water
1/4 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ginger, ground
1 tbs soy sauce

Instructions
With a knife sharpener from a knife block, poke a large hole all the way through the rack of lamb.  combine garlic, parsley, olive oil, butter and onion to make a paste.  stuff the paste into the hole in the lamb, as much as possible!    Stand rack bones up on a meat trivet and bake at 400' for 20 minutes.  mix the basting ingredients and bring to a boil.  reduce the oven ehat to 350' and baste every 20 minutes.  Total roasting time is approximately 1 hour 20 minutes, depending on the size of the rack.

Notes: For cuts like roasts or legs, I would monitor for doneness starting at about 40 minutes.  For chops, 20-30 minutes.  It may be a good idea, for chops especially, to consider marinating in the basting sauce after cutting for the stuffing but prior to stuffing and roasting.

Happy Eating!