In my previous two posts, I talked about Dinner for the Girls where some of The Lovely Wife's friends came over. This is the last post about that and I feature the Stuffed Peppers that I made.
I've made stuffed peppers before and even posted about it. Usually, I slice the capsicum into quarters and then stuff them but this time I decided to stuff them whole.
I found some lovely 'mini' capsicums at the market and I lobbed of their heads before stuffing them. I realised that the bottoms of the capsicums weren't flat so I would need to stand them in something. I used my muffin pan!
After stuffing them, I place the 'heads' back on top, fastened them together with a toothpick and then baked them.
This is what I did:
Stuffed Peppers with Spiced Beef
Ingredients
12 small capsicums
1 medium onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 tsp oregano
4 red chillis - sliced
500g minced beef
2 slices whole meal bread
3 handfuls sunflower seeds
4-5 Tbsps Tomato Paste
Method
Cut of tops of capsicum and place in a muffin pan or similar container
Sautee onion, garlic and oregano till fragrant. Add in chiilis then then beef and cook well. Make breadcrumbs by whizzing the bread in a food processor. Set aside. Add the tomato paste to the beef and season with salt and pepper. Lightly fry the breadcrumbs and sunflower seeds till crispy and quickly stir into the beef mixture. Spoon into the capsicums and cover with tops. Fasten with a toothpick and bake in a preheated 200C oven for about 20mins or till capsicum is tender.
When it was time to serve the stuffed capsicums, I realised that they woulnd't stand on their own either, so I place each pepper into cupcake moulds.
I actually wanted to use Pine Nuts instead of sunflower seeds but pine nuts are just so blasted expensive in this part of the world.
The Stuffed Peppers turned out really delicious and they looked very colourful too! Next time I do this, I might toast the breadcrumbs and then sprinkle them on top before capping the peppers to get a 'crusty' layer on top. Nonetheless, the addition of breadcrumbs into the meat helped hold the meat together and it didnt all collapse when it was cut into.
This could even work as a main meal if you use large peppers. I will definitely make these again. I think stuffing whole peppers look a lot better, taste a lot better and are easier to do as well!
Monday, 13 July 2009
Stuffed Peppers with Spiced Beef
Friday, 10 July 2009
More about Dinner for the girls...
I posted in my previous post about how The Lovely Wife had a few of her old school mates (nothing old about them though so I guess I should reword that) Ex school mates over for dinner. I didn't take pictures of all the food as I've posted about most of them before.
Lynn however, did take pictures and I am sharing her pics here! It also gives me a chance to be lazy and not write too much of a story as sometimes pictures are better than words!
Thanks Lynn for the photos!
The rice tarts - still in their moulds. I should really have taken them out while they were still hot as some of the rice stuck to the bottom and it didn't hold its shape up as well as they did the last time. 
The Peppers that I had to bake in a muffin pan so that they stood up properly! I'll post the full recipe and more pics soon.
The Olbigatory Salad - compliments of The Lovely Wife...
The Chicken Pie that was very well received. The Lovely Wife still says this is one of her favourite dishes. Somehow, I find that it seems to taste even better the next day. It certainly cuts better after a night in the fridge!
And Dessert was featured and explained in the last post as well! Come back again anytime girls!
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
A dinner for the girls ... ends with a fabulous dessert!
Just this weekend, The Lovely Wife invited some of her old school mates over for a get together. She had asked me earlier if I could cook up a nice dinner for four of her friends. How is a guy supposed to say no to dinner with four lovely ladies?! Errr... I mean FIVE including The Lovely Wife!!
One of the girls, Lynn, has become a good friend of mine as well. The last time she came over, she had told me about some swanky restaurant that she had been too where they had printed individual menu cards with the diner's name on it. She 'insisted' that the next time she came for dinner, I would have to print a menu card for her.
I had planned on individual cards for all the guests but as I ran out of time, I just quickly strung this together - that's my excuse for the Typo Errors!
As you can see from the menu, I stuck to the tried and tested although the Stuffed Peppers were different from anything I had ever done with stuffed capsicum before. I'll post about them soon enough.
I did some small variations on the Mediterranean Rice Tarts where I used beef pepperoni and cheese. I also omitted the bacon from my Chicken Pie and for both dishes, I used Portobello Mushrooms - more out of necessity than choice because the supermarket had run out of white button mushrooms. No complaints though as Portobello's are always good!
The piece de resistance was of course the dessert! Lynn had asked for an ice cream cake and I was actually planning on doing that but kind of changed my mind at the last minute. I didn't want to tell The Lovely Wife what I was planning to make either as sometimes, she will wrinkle her pretty little nose at my ideas just because she thinks it may not be up her alley - oftentimes she is completely wrong!
I spent the better part of Saturday morning making the dessert. It is loosely based on Le Kit Cat the famous dessert creted by Michel Richard, renowned chef of Citronelle Restaurant in Washington D.C. (Adapted from Happy in the Kitchen by Michel Richard)
I added an almond meringue base to the recipe, used more cream and added egg yolks to the mousse. This is what I did:
Ingredients
Base:
3 Eggs whites
150 g castor sugar
150 g ground almonds
Bottom Layer:
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
200g ounces milk chocolate, melted and at body temperature
1 1/4 cups crushed corn flakes
Top Layer:
400 ml heavy cream
200g dark or semisweet chocolate
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp Sugar
Method
Make the base. Line a 9" Springform pan with baking paper. Whisk eggs whites till foamy and then add in sugar and whisk till stiff. Fold in ground almonds. Spread meringue mixture into springform and bake in preheated 170C oven for about 40 minutes or till meringue is cooked. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Remove springform and greaseproof paper from meringue. Allow to fully cool then replace into springform.
For the bottom layer, Whip peanut butter and vegetable oil on medium speed until combined and light in color, 2-3 minutes. Reduce to low, add the melted chocolate and mix until combined. Stir in the crushed corn flakes. Pour over almond meringue in springform. Spread into an even layer. Chill in fridge until firm.
For the top layer, melt the chocolate over a double boiler on low heat. While chocolate is melting, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and quickly add into the melted chocolate. Remove from heat and continue whisking till smooth. If chocolate becomes clumpy, add in a little warm cream. Whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Fold a little of the whipped cream into the chocolate, then fold in the remaining cream.
Pour mixture over the peanut layer layer and spread evenly. Slice into rectrangles or cake slices to serve.
My Little princess helped with crunching up the corn flakes and she had a lot of fun doing it.
I had planned on making some miniature Le Kit Cat Almond Meringue Cake but I ran out of the peanut feullantine. What I did though was to make mini Almond Meringue Chocolate Mousse tarts! My mom had come over for lunch as Dad had a function to attend and she just Loved my little dessert! This is the first time I've posted a picture of her on this blog too!
I decorated the dessert with strawberries and when I brought it out, it was welcomed with oohs and ahhs. I want to perfect getting desserts cleanly out of a springform without leaving the sides all messed up. I guess the trick is to line the sides of the springform too...
The dessert itself was simply divine. I have to admit that this is probably one of the nicest desserts I have ever tasted - EVER! All the guests loved it as did The Lovely Wife. She too proclaimed that it was probably one of the best desserts she'd ever tasted. Lynn, ever my foodie-fan, simply oohed and raised her thumb in appreciation as she savoured the dessert. Most everyone had two slices while I sneaked in three!
There was some left over for the next day and I cut it into cake sized slices and took a few more photos. I think the dessert tasted even better the next day! Both the kids loved it too and the leftovers were polished off very quickly.
As I sit here blogging about this dessert, I wish I had saved a piece (or two) as it was really, really delicious. I have to say that this is definitely a dessert that I would make again - and again and again!
Oh, and thanks ladies for a wonderful time! It was a lot of fun having you over for dinner and even more fun watching you all enjoy dessert. It's always nice to be in the company of lovely women who know how to enjoy their dessert!
Saturday, 27 June 2009
How to tell if a tart Bakes Well
Please switch off your handphones as you enter the theatre. The show will commence shortly but first, a word from our sponsors...
The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.
Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.
The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.
With that done, please settle back in your seats and enjoy the movie...
Bond was aging. His ankle hurt whenever he stood for too long – a result of all the wild escapades of his younger days. He looked at the latest Dossier that M had given him. The global economic crisis had seen a stockpile of almonds and butter but HRH Queen E wanted a Bakewell Tart and it was up to him, Bond, James – Agent 007 of MI5, the finest Britain had to offer, to go and make this tart. Bond grimaced slightly as he realised he was more involved these days with baking goodies to satisfy the Royal Family rather than with espionage.
Bond smiled quietly to himself as he perused the recipe for the Bakewell Tart. He so loved tarts – especially the long legged kind in a short skirt and a skimpy top. He almost laughed aloud when he saw that the recipe called for jam. He remembered Tiffany, the Tart from Trafalgar, and how she would smear jam all over her face and upper body just before showering. She claimed it was good for her skin tone but James had always found better uses for the jam. Uses that were a lot more fun and that would always delay her shower…
“Ahhh, such sweet mammaries.” James laughed to himself, chuckling at his pun. He put the recipe away, making a mental note to make it on a Saturday, the day he reserved for these kind of activities.
Saturday came way to fast and James groaned as he looked over at the alarm clock, realising it was time to get up. He looked over (as he usually did) at the sexy woman lying beside him( which was also usually the case). He watched her soft breasts rising and falling as she slept. Bond ran his hand slowly up her thigh but his hand was quickly smacked away.
“I've got my school reunion this morning darling.” The sultry beauty announced as she climbed out of bed, her curves teasing Bond. “Lynn has asked me to be there early and I’ll only be back around 3 so you need to organise lunch for the kids.”
Bond made a mental note to stop cavorting and sleeping with women that had children. It just wasn't good for his reputation and neither was it good for his image that he was expected to look after the children every time the gorgeous woman had something on. It didn’t matter that the children were his…
James stared, almost leeringly, at the women as he watched her swaying hips walk out the door. Briefly he contemplated making his way to the reunion for a surprise visit. No doubt there would be plenty of sashaying hips at the reunion but he dismissed that thought.
“The things I give up for Queen and Country.” James muttered to himself.
Bond opened the freezer and took out the unsalted butter. Butter prices had escalated of late and unsalted butter was even more expensive than normal butter. Bond used the special laser butter knife that Q had designed for him to cut the exact weight required. He used his titanium blade grater to grate the butter and that worked out just great. Next came the part about working the butter into the flour with his fingers.
Bond grimaced at this thought as his fingers were meant for greater things like pulling triggers, breaking necks and of course teasing thighs and other parts of sexy women. Nonetheless, Bond plunged his fingers into the butter and flour and began to rub it in. Surprisingly, his fingers started to hurt after a while and Bond realised he really was getting on in age.
The buttery flour began to resemble breadcrumbs after a while and he quickly mixed in the eggs and water before wrapping the dough in plastic wrap and letting it rest in the fridge.
Glancing at the clock, he realised that he would need to plan his time carefully as not only did he have to sequence the tasks for the tart, he needed to make lunch too!
Bond made some mental notes. “tart dough resting in fridge. Need to warm the jam. Make the creamy tomato chicken pasta sauce. Line the tart pan and put it in freezer for a while. Make the Frangipane. Sounds like a plan!”
James did just that, following that sequence. He warmed the jam, pleased to see how it thinned out a little. Next he spent some time making his creamy tomato chicken pasta and as it simmered, he lined the tart pan and place it in the freezer. As he did so, he marvelled to himself.
“Who says men can’t multi-task huh?”
Then came the Frangipane. Now Bond had never heard of a frangipane before, unless of course you count the Frangipani flower which is certainly not the same thing nor even remotely related in any way.
James dove straight into it, noting that the recipe said that the mixture would curdle. Bond thought back to his Engineering days and figured that this would be right. With only 125 grams of butter, and three eggs, there wouldn’t be enough fat to form an emulsion with the eggs – no matter how hard you whipped the damn thing. It did settle a little with more beating but really looked fine once the flour and almond meal was added in.
Bond did the following in quick succession, he removed the tart from the freezer, spread the jam over it and then covered the whole thing with the Frangipane before deftly slipping it into the oven.
30 minutes later, and Bond surveyed the tart, cooling on the counter. He sprinkled some almonds on it, just like he used to do with Tiffany the Tart from Trafalgar. He had to admit that it wasn't as sultry looking nor as sensous as the two legged tarts he was used to but he had to admit that the feeling of Making a tart instead of Bedding a tart was immensely pleasurable. Very, very satisfying indeed!
There was some dough left over from the tart pan and I made mini tarts shells, planning to also make mini bakewells. Unfortunately, there wasnt enough jam nor frangipane to go around so what I did was to make shortcrust tart shells. The kids had these shells for dessert and although they were empty, they polished off two shells apiece - in one sitting!
It was really difficult not to cut into the tart as I decided to take it for dessert the next day to my parents house for Fathers Day - that explains why I wasn't able to plate the tart as nicely as I wanted to. Nonetheless, the tart was a huge success where everyone really enjoyed it!
I originally wanted to use apricot jam but my little princess thought that blackcurrant was a better idea. I kind of think she was right coz the contrasting colours made the tart look really nice. I also liked the stronger taste of the blackcurrant that complemented the frangipane really nicely.
My two official taste testers simply loved this dessert! My little princess kept asking when she could try the "Tart with filling, not the empty ones we had yesterday." She really enjoyed the tart and as she polished of one slice, she looked up at me and asked "Can I have another piece - bigger this time!"
My son really enjoyed this tart too and you can tell how busy be was stuffing his face. Later, after we had returned home, he asked if he could have another slice. Unfortunately, there was none left...
Now when you have a tart that everyone really enjoys, when your official taste testers declare that they love it and want seconds - THAT is how you tell if a tart Bakes Well. And you know it really Bakes Well when it's a Bakewell Tart! Pardon all my puns!
A Huge Thanks to Jasmine and Anne-Marie for this fabulous challenge. I think this will be something that I will certainly make again - if not in whole, at least some of the components!
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin
One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds
Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.
The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.
When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.
Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film
225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water
Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.
Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract
Frangipane
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula
125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour
Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta
Last weekend, The Lovely Wife went for her old school reunion. One of her close friends organised the brunch meeting so she left early in the morning to help out. The kids and I started off our 'Mummy free day' by going to the supermarket to get some ingredients for their choice of lunch. No surprises that they wanted a pasta. I sometimes wonder why the kids love their pasta so much!
I had decided I was going to make a creamy tomato based pasta and there was some chicken in the fridge as well as some capsicum. So all we really needed to get was some mushrooms and a few other groceries.
I was also busy doing the Daring Baker's challenge for this month - but of course I cant tell you what it is yet! So in between doing this and that for the challenge, I made this pasta sauce.
Ingredients
4 cloves garlic
1 large onion
2 bay leaves
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
500g Chicken breast - cut into strips
200 g portobello mushrooms - cut into strips
3 yellow capsicum - cut into strips
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup cream
Salt
Pepper
Method
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside. Sautee garlic, onion, bay leaves and oregano till fragrant. Add in chicken and cook well. Add in mushrooms and mix well. continue cooking until juices are released. Add in can of tomatoes and allow to simmer. Add in capsicum, mixing well. Pour in the cream and mix well. Allow to simmer. Add a little corn flour mixed with water if needed to thicken the mixture.
I served this with Spaghetti although I contemplated using Penne. I think I made the right choice as the Spaghetti went really well with this sauce.
The dish turned out better than I expected and the kids really loved it. They said this was one of the best pasta's they had ever eaten but I take that with a pinch of salt simply because they were really hungry. We all know that food tastes better when you are really hungry!
The Lovely Wife came home later in the afternoon and she admitted she was a tad hungry as she had eaten brunch rather early and then had only had coffee after that. She proceeded to eat the pasta sauce with some bread and she too declared it a winner in her books.
Well, if everyone in my family loved it, that means it has got to be pretty darn good right?!
It's been a while since I contributed to Presto Pasta Nights the brainchild of my friend Ruth and hosted this week by Kait of Pots and Plots so this is my contribution this time around.
Friday, 19 June 2009
Pseudo Tau Foo Fah
In Malaysia, there is a dessert made out of soy beans called Tau Foo Fah. The best way to describe it would be a pudding made out of soy beans served with a sugar syrup. Both my kids love this and most weekends, when we go to the market, they will each buy a bowl of this pudding and take it home in plastic containers. You can choose whether to have normal sugar syrup or gula melaka and both the kids prefer the Gula Melaka variant. The pudding is sold hot but sometimes, it's nicer when you keep it in the fridge for a while. Hot or cold, it's a favourite - any time of the day.
Making a 'real' Tau Foo Fah is extremely difficult or so I am told. However, making a pseudo Tau Foo Fah is a piece of cake!
This recipe was given to me by one of my friends at work and I tried it out. She said that it wasn't as nice as the one you get from the food stalls but it was a pretty good version nonetheless. She also said it was lovely served with cold lychees in syrup rather than making your own sugar syrup.
This is the recipe.
Ingredients
1 litre soy milk
1 tbsp + 1 tsp Agar-agar powder
600 ml water
1 tin lychees or longan in syrup
Method
Combine agar-agar powder with water and stir well till dissolved. Add the water to the milk and bring to the boil. Pour into a large serving bowl and cover with a piece of plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool before placing in the fridge. Serve with chilled lychees.
The soya bean 'jelly' doesn't really solidify but is firm enough to scoop out. When serving, I used a flat spoon to skim a layer of the soy bean jelly - just like the real Tau Foo Fah is served.
The kids loved this version although they prefer the original one. Still, this is a really easy dessert to make. It kind of resembles the Almond Jelly with Lychee desserts you sometimes find in restuarants but I think I prefer this to the almond jelly. This is a great dessert to make quickly, something that tastes great and a dessert that most people will be surprised was home made!
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Dumpling my way to be a Daring Cook!
For those of you not in the know, The Daring Bakers have formed another group known as the Daring Cooks and there is a whole new website called The Daring Kitchen. Now how cool is that?!!
The Daring Cooks had their first challenge last month which I sadly missed. I almost missed the challenge this month too but managed to sneak in in - just under the wire. So I guess that makes me a Daring Cook - and only one challenge late!!
Now the beauty about being a Daring Cook is that it gives you the opportunity to make something that you wouldn't normally do. Take this month's challenge for example. I'd happily make dumplings. In fact The Lovely Wife has made them before BUT, and this is the important point, I would always use ready made wrappers or wanton wrappers. NEVER would I have ever dreamt of attempting my own dumpling wrappers!
So I need to thank my friend Jen from use real butter for picking this great challenge.
I have to admit that when I saw the challenge posted, I was really excited. As I mentioned before, never would I have thought of making my own dumpling dough. As excited as I was though, I couldn't find the time to fit this in. It didn't help that I was a little unwell for a while nor that we went on a short vacation during the school holidays. Before I knew it, it was the 13th of June only ONE DAY before the posting date! Aaaarrrggghhhh!!
I actually, seriously contemplated just throwing in the towel and waiting for next months challenge. But that wouldn't be very Daring would it...
So I stuck in, and just after lunch, I made the dough. For the filling, I decided to mince some chicken, toss in some soy sauce and sesame oil and some chopped spring onions. Pretty basic I know, but I just wanted to test these little babies out.
The dough came together fairly easily and I used method 2 - Jen's mother's method - of adding 1/4 cup water to the flour and then slowly adding in more water. I ended up with slightly more than 1/2 a cup of water and the dough seemed fairly dry although after resting, it became a bit more supple.
Rolling it out was fairly easy and I didn't have too much trouble with folding the dumplings. I actually contemplated making potstickers as well as steamed dumplings but I was feeling a little lazy - not to mention an itchy throat and nose with flu symptons!
I also used lettuce to line my steamer rather than the napa cabbage called for in the recipe.
After placing the dumplings in the steamer, I was feeling rather proud of myself and waltzed out into the living room where the kids and The Lovely Wife were watching tele. 
The Cocky Rooster in me puffed out its chest and jiggled a jig as I proudly raised my arms and crowed "I can make dumplings now, I can make dumplings now!"
Tghe Lovely Wife looked up at me strutting and puffing and brought me down to earth. "You dont know how it will turn out . Remember Pride comes before the Fall" she said. The Lovely Wife is always keeping me in check.
My son however, had other ideas. He quickly retorted. "Mummy, Daddy said he CAN make dumplings. It doesnt matter if it is nice or not. He didn't say he can make nice dumplings." That's my son, Michael, ever the genius!
My Princess Sarah though had the most faith in Daddy.
"Mummy, if Daddy makes it, then it WILL be nice." she stated with a smile. Ahhh, my ever trusting Daughter!
6 minutes later, I took the dumplings out and plated them. 
The kids were very eager to try them out...
They both proclaimed that the dumplings were indeed nice! Only problem though was that some of the plated bits were a bit tough and rubbery. Still tasty though as we all polished them off very quickly! We ate them with Chilli & Garlic sauce and it was very, very tasty.
Lessons learnt would be to roll out the dough a little more thinly the next time. My pleating would need some improvement too as although it looked fine the pleated area was a little tough and rubbery, as mentioned earlier. All in all though a very succesful and tasty effort. Still tasty though!
Once again, thanks to Jen for this great challenge!
Ingredients
dough:
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for worksurface
meat filling:
200 g mince chicken
3 stalks green onions, chopped
1 inch ginger - pounded
1 - 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp (28g) sesame oil
Method
Filling:
Combine all the ingredients together and set aside.
Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).
Make the dough, Method 2 (Jen's mom’s instructions): In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.
Both dough methods: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges.
Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.
To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.
To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes.
To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.
