Long time no see! I know it’s been a long while but I hope you’ll quickly forget my absence if I’ll post my signature dish. I guess everyone has a signature dish, a dish that you love to cook and that others love to eat. If I would have to choose, I think that my signature dish would be dumplings or actually potstickers, fried dumplings. They take some time to prepare, but they are sure worth every minute. Sometimes when my guests arrive I’m still folding the dumplings but the guests are more than willing to help out as it’s a very nice way to spend time together. And sometimes I’ve even asked my girl friends to come earlier so we can fold the dumplings together while chatting and laughing.

I’m not saying that my recipe is a genuine Chinese one, because it probably isn’t. But trust me when I say that it’s scrumptious! The dough recipe I’ve found online and it’s extremely to work with. I prefer it to the ready made dumpling wrappers that you can buy in Chinese stores. The filling is my own and it contains lots of cilantro/coriander since I love it. Serve the fried potstickers with a dipping sauce. I like to serve them with 2-3 different dipping sauces for variety (make sure to serve one small bowl per person and sauce). The uncooked dumplings freeze very well, just make sure to freeze them individually on a tray first so that they won’t stick to each other. When cooking frozen dumplings, add a couple of minutes to the steaming process.

Dumpling dough (from Chow):
(Enough for around 30 dumplings depending on size)
2 cups flour
3/4 cups boiling water

Put the flour in the bowl of your food processor. Put lid on and start the machine. While running, add the boiling water through the feeding tube. Stop the machine a couple of seconds after you’ve added the water. The dough should look crumbly and when you pinch it, it should hold it’s shape.
Transfer the dough to your work surface and carefully, making sure not to burn yourself, knead it with the heel of your hands for 30 seconds. You should now have an elastic dough. Put the dough in a ziploc plastic bag and seal. Let the dough rest for at least 15 minutes but not more than 2 hours. You’ll quickly see that the hot dough will steam up the plastic bag.

While the dough is resting start on the filling. Feel free to play around with the quantities.

Dagmar’s dumpling filling:
(makes maybe 60-100 dumplings depending on size)

800 gram minced meat of your choice
250 ml spring onions, finely chopped
150 ml fresh cilantro/coriander, finely chopped
7 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp light soya
1 tsp maldon sea salt
2 tsp Maizena
fresh pepper

In a big bowl combine all ingredients.

Now it’s time to fold the dumplings! I use a pasta machine to roll out the dough to a thickness of number 6 marked on the machine.

Cut out rounds with a glass or a dumpling mold. I’ve bought my molds in Poland and in the US at Bath Bed and Beyond. But to be honest I prefer to fold my dumplings by hand. There’s something relaxing with folding each dumpling carefully with your hands. But it’s up to you. On the below pictures you’ll see dumplings made with both a mold and by hand.

Fill each round with filling, the quantity is depending on the size of the rounds. When using the above dough, you don’t need to add water when folding the dumplings..

This is a dumpling made with a mold:

The below ones are folded by hand, in a crescent shaped form. Compared with the one made with the mold, the crescent formed ones have a flat and nice bottom that is easier to fry. Google to find descriptions on how to fold it. Or just play around.

Cover the dumplings with plastic foil while you’re working. The below ones are hand folded.

To cook the dumplings as potstickers pour 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. When hot, put the dumplings in the pan. Make sure to cook them in batches. Fry until golden and then add 1/3 – 1/2 glass of water and quickly cover the frying pan with a lid. Let the dumplings steam for 6-7 minutes. Remove the lid and re-crisp the dumplings. If there is any water left in the pan, let it boil off first. When cooking frozen dumplings, add a couple of minutes to the steaming process.

Serve the potstickers with a dipping sauce, for example this one:

Basic dipping sauce:

4 tbsp soya
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
finely chopped chili

Mix the sauce ingredients and divide between small bowls.

These potstickers are made with the mold, which is seen on the flat shape. The ones seen in the very first photo of this post were hand wrapped.

It’s only November but I’m already dreaming about summer. Despite the fact that I really look forward to our upcoming New York trip I almost regret not booking a beach vacation instead. But only almost :-)

The above photo was taken at my parents in law’s house on the west coast of Sweden. I love their terrace which is facing the sea. I can sit there for hours watching the boats go by while the sea gulls are flying around. The dish on the photo is a very tasty and easy to make mackerel. You start with frying fresh mackerel fillets, then you add cream and parsley and let it simmer. Salt and pepper, and serve with boiled summer potatoes. Swedish summer in a nutshell!

The amazing view from their balcony.

Lately I’m cooking a lot of Asian influenced food. The fridge contains fish sauce, oyster sauce, different soya sauces and chili. I have fresh cilantro on the kitchen counter and yesterday I even planted some cilantro seeds as my consumtion is so high. These little skewers and dipping sauce was one of the dishes that I cooked for an Asian dinner some weeks before Christmas. The recipe is from Olive; it’s easy, delicious and I’ve modified it a bit.

Chicken skewers with sweet chili and peanut dipping sauce

Marinade:
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp honey
3 spring onions, chopped
2 tsp vegetable oil
4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes

Dipping sauce:
150 ml rice vinegar
100 gram caster sugar
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 red chili, finely chopped
1 tbsp roasted peanuts, very finely chopped

Soak as many wooden skewers as you have chicken breat cubes (around 15) in water. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a food processor. Pour the marinade into a bowl and add the chicken breast cubes. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Heat rice vinegar and sugar in a small sauce pan. Let simmer for around 5 minutes until it thickens a bit. Cool and add the remaining ingredients.

Skewer the chicken and cook it on a grill or frying pan until brown. Serve with the dipping sauce. I always divide dipping sauce in individual small bowls, one for each guest.

The barbecue season is coming to an end with autumn knocking on the door. But there is still time for that last barbecue dinner. Even if you’ve cleanead the terrace and stowed your grill in the garage, you should definitly consider to take it out again and make these lovely bacon wrapped corncobs. The recipe is from my colleague F and I can’t thank him enough for it. Bacon and corn, two of my favourite ingredients, are a heavenly combination.

Take one fresh corncob per person. Remove corn husks from corncobs and boil in salted water for 10 minutes. Remove from water and let cool. Wrap each corncob in 3-4 rashes of bacon (or pancetta), secure with tooth picks. Grill on a barbecue until the bacon is crispy and nicely coloured. Be careful not to burn, make sure to turn regularely. Eat while still warm, don’t forget to remove the toothpicks!