Scotch. Bacon. And other manly things. - Dairy Foods

Erik and I had an awesome, long weekend.  One of my favorite events was a BBQ with our good friends Kiefer and Diane.  Diane and I drank cocktails, the boys had scotch and I tested a new, very easy appetizer recipe (bacon-wrapped lil' smokies, Erik's idea!).

Kiefer was a natural in front of the camera.
Quick back story.  Diane and I became friends through work.  Diane met Kiefer (one of Erik's best friends) and they immediately hit it off.  Unfortunately, Diane had plans to move to NYC shortly after they began dating.  So now they're seeing each other long distance, but it's working well.  We love hanging with them when Diane is visiting MN. Kiefer is potentially moving out to NYC so they can be together but Erik and I secretly (or not-so-secretly) hope they eventually settle in MN so we can have hundreds more BBQs like ths one.

Diane made Palomas, these were refreshing and perfect for sipping on a patio. 

Palomas

Ingredients

3 oz fresh grapefruit juice
3 oz club soda
2 oz silver tequila
Lime juice (from half a lime)
1 teaspoon agave nectar

Preparation

Mix all ingredients and pour into a glass with ice. 
Villeroy and Boch sent me these awesome scotch glasses and Erik was THRILLED.  We decided to do a "manly" post and I asked him to think of appetizer idea.  He said anything wrapped in bacon would suffice but we wanted to try something new. We've had bacon-wrapped shrimp, bacon-wrapped chesnuts, bacon-wrapped scallops, etc.  So he thought of lil' smokies.  GENIUS. 

Ok so bacon-wrapped lil' smokies don't really pair well with scotch but the scotch drinking happened before dinner.  The guys loved the glasses and the scotch. They would be a great Father's Day or birthday gift for the dudes in your life. 
Can you believe how cooperative they were with my annoying blog antics and all the picture-taking?  I suppose since they got bacon and scotch out of the deal they were fine with it.

It was Erik's idea to drizzle BBQ sauce over the smokies.  

Bacon-wrapped lil' smokies

Ingredients

1 package bacon
1 package lil' smokies
BBQ sauce
toothpicks

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Cut the bacon in half. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and coat with cooking spray.  Wrap each smokie with half a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.  Bake for about 45 minutes or until the bacon is cooked to your liking.  Dip in BBQ sauce.

Disclosure: the scotch glasses were given to me by Villeroy and Boch, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Blinis and sip n' sees - Dairy Foods

{Photo credit: Kitchy Kitchen via TasteSpotting}

First I'd like to say TGIF.  Seriously.  I'd like to add an extra "F" in there if you know what I mean.  The week back to work after a fabulous vacation is not easy.  But I know I shouldn't complain.  The farmers market in Minneapolis was lovely yesterday and the weather has been really nice.

This evening I am co-hosting a Sip n' See baby shower for my friend, Natasha.  I'm sure you remember her blessingway and the first day we met sweet baby Jude?

The (subtle) theme for the shower is a black/white/lime green and city chic.  My friend Shannon came up with almost all of the ideas and Emily and I are bringing some food and drinks (lots of apps, champagne, wine and a vodka bar).

I am making blinis (they are traditionally Russion, Natasha is Russion plus I thought the sophistication of the appetizer fit in nicely with the city chic theme).  I also am made the champagne cupcakes I made for Natasha's blessingway, which she loved.  I spent my evening baking cupcakes and flipping mini pancakes which was fine since it was "no technology Thursday".  Erik apparently didn't get  the memo, and was glued to the TV watching basketball.

What are your weekend plans?

Tomato, basil and mozzarella crostini - Dairy Foods

Tomato, basil and mozarella crostini are the perfect, easy cocktail party appetizer. These little savory bites can be whipped up in about 15 minutes. Very summery and fresh, these apps add a lovely color to your table.

Tomato, basil and mozzarella crostini

Ingredients

1 french baguette
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch fresh basil
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
Fresh mozarella, sliced
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice baguette into 1/2 inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place 1 slice tomato and mozzarella onto each baguette. Baking for about 10-15 minutes, or until mozzarella cheese is completely melted. Season with salt and pepper. Top with one basil leaf.

Spring dinner party details - Dairy Foods

When I host dinner parties it is probably no surprise that I tend to go overboard. This is a problem because it means I end up in the kitchen and not spending time with my guests. This spring dinner party was an exception. The menu I planned was pretty simple. I planned ahead and gave myself 3 hours to prep before guests arrive. I drank wine while I cooked. I relaxed a bit.

I am in love with every dish I made for this dinner party. As mentioned above, they are all easy. Best of all they are delicious and affordable. Because I planned a very meat-light meal (the only meat was the bacon in the pasta), I didn't break the bank.

I think it helped that I chose a theme...spring and also a subtle color scheme of yellow, so I was able to focus and not run in a thousand different directions.  I didn't over-do it on the details (The flowers were $5 from Target). 

As a reminder from last Friday's post, here is the menu:

Appetizers
Caprese skewers
Pears and blue cheese
Goat cheese puff pastry bites

Salad
Spring salad with tangy vinaigrette

Main course
Fettucini with peas, asparagus and pancetta

Dessert
Buttermilk pudding cakes (aka strawberry shortcakes)

I couldn't resist posting a couple photos of the caprese skewers. Aren't they so beautiful? 

Caprese skewers

Ingredients

Grape tomatoes (cherry tomatoes work if you cut them in half)
Fresh mozzarella (the little balls work the best)
Basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Toothpicks

Preparation

Assemble the skewers each with a tomato, half of a mozzarella ball and a small piece of basil.  Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
Have I ever mentioned how much I love blue cheese?  I could eat this entire wedge. 
This lemon, white wine vinaigrette was quite possibly one of the best dressings I've ever had.  It is perfect for spring.  For the table centerpiece, I divided the flowers into mini bud vases. 
The goat cheese appetizers were like little savory bites of airy, buttery goodness. 

Goat cheese puff pastry bites (adapted from a recipe via The Kitchn)

Ingredients

1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, from a 17.3-ounce package (1/2 package)
5 ounces herb goat cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons chopped scallions, for garnish
Preparation

Remove 1 pastry sheet from the puff pastry package and thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Unfold the pastry sheet and place it on a lightly floured cutting board. Using a rolling pin, roll the pastry just enough to remove the fold marks. Using a 1 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out about 35 rounds. Place the rounds on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake until crisp and light golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Put the goat cheese into a sandwich bag and snip a corner.  Pipe a dollup of goat cheese on top of each puff pastry and top with a piece of scallion.
The pasta was amazing.  I loved the flavor the fresh lemon juice and lemon peel added with the cream and all the springy vegetables.  Please excuse the photo, I had to use a flash, which is a huge no-no with food photography.  But by this time it was dark out so I couldn't rely on natural light. 
Last but certainly not least is the beautiful, delicious buttermilk pudding cake I made.  These are basically little strawberry shortcakes.  And the cake part is so easy, it literally took 30 minutes (you use a muffin pan to create individual cakes.)

Whew - this was a long one.  I wanted to include all the recipes (and not just links) but I've been working on this post for two hours and I am sleepy!  Thanks for sticking with me till the end!

I hope this post leaves you a bit inspired to host your own spring dinner party! It really can be an easy, stress-free and affordable evening if you just plan ahead, be focused and drink lots of wine while you cook!

The one thing I want to be sure to end on is the fact that though the food was tasty and the details were pretty...the most important part of the dinner party was spending time with good friends...drinking wine, enjoying each other's company.  There is really nothing better than that.  Thanks for coming over Libby, Jay, Nick and Deanna.  I know you'll all agree how lucky we are to have each other's friendship.

Super (food) Bowl Sunday - Dairy Foods

{Buffalo Chicken Sliders photo credit and recipe: Baked Bree}

Super Bowl to me is all about the food. And because I'm in the advertising biz the commercials are a big deal, too. The football? Not so much.

{Bacon and cheese wrapped tater tots with Tobasco photo credit and recipe: Recipe Girl}

So cheers to Super Bowl Sunday and all the yummy food I get to stuff myself silly with (like these amazing apps I have shown above). What about Weight Watchers you ask? I'm going to pretend I never heard those two words for about a week. Because it's my birthday on Tuesday. And I'll eat tater tots if I want to.

Homemade crackers and hummus - Dairy Foods

Mmmmmmmm....homemade crackers. They are just pure awesomeness.  I love everything about these crackers; the freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt, the crunch.  And they are really easy to make.  If you have flour, salt, pepper, sugar, butter and milk you can have homemade crackers in about 30 minutes.

Hummus goes really well with these crackers.  And I found the absolute best hummus recipe (see below). 

The cracker dough about to go into the oven.

Freshly baked crackers.  If this isn't beautiful I don't know what is.  Seriously.

Salt and pepper crackers (recipe from My Recipes)

Ingredients

2 cups flour, plus more for rolling
1 tablespoon sugar
About 1 tbsp. salt
About 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2/3 cup milk

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, 1 tbsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Add butter and rub with fingers to work it into the flour mixture until no discernible pieces remain. Stir in milk. (Or you can pulse flour, sugar, 1 tbsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper in a food processor to combine, add butter, pulse until no discernible pieces remain, and whirl in milk.) Turn mixture out onto a floured work surface and knead; form into a ball.

2. Divide dough ball in half. Working with one half at a time, pat each into a rectangle. Roll rectangles paper-thin and transfer each to its own baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut lightly (not necessarily all the way through) into 2-in. squares. (Cut off uneven sides or simply have some uneven crackers.)

3. Bake 10 minutes. Switch position of sheets and continue baking until dough is starting to brown but is still mostly white or golden, about 5 minutes. Let cool on pans. Break into crackers and serve.
I probably didn't get the crackers quite as thin as they should be.  Rolling out the dough was the most challenging part, be sure to have plenty of flour on the counter and rolling pin because the dough is a bit sticky.  I didn't mind thicker crackers.
 


Hummus (recipe adapted from Epicurious)

Ingredients

2 cups drained canned chickpeas, liquid reserved
1/2 cup tahini, with some of its oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling
2 garlic cloves, peeled, or to taste
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon ground cumin or paprika, or to taste, plus a sprinkling for garnish
Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed
Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish
Preparation

1. Put everything except the parsley in a food processor and begin to process; add the chickpea liquid or water as needed to allow the machine to produce a smooth puree.

2. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve, drizzled with the olive oil and sprinkled with a bit more cumin or paprika and some parsley.

Note, I halved this recipe and it was still plenty.  Be sure to add salt and pepper slowly to taste.  I really enjoyed the addition of cumin. 

This is the perfect snack and fairly healthy, too.  Enjoy!

3-cheese mini macs - Dairy Foods

{Photo credit: Food and Wine}

How awesome are these mini mac n' cheese bites? They would be perfect to serve at any party; a cocktail party, children's party, even butler passed at a wedding.  Who doesn't love mac n' cheese?  I wish I had some for breakfast, but that wouldn't be Weight Watcher friendly now would it...

Click here for the recipe from Food and Wine.

Happy Wednesday!

Homemade focaccia - Dairy Foods

There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh bread baking in your oven. I've wanted to bake focaccia since I saw this delicious onion focaccia post on With Style and Grace blog and another one recently on Sunday Suppers.

Now that I've finally made focaccia I realize there is no reason to ever buy it at the store again.  This recipe is awesome and so easy, just a few ingredients are needed and all of them should be in your pantry right now.  It does require some planning ahead as the dough needs to rise overnight.  But it is so worth it.  Trust me.

Click here for the recipe.





My favorite toppings were green olives and tomatoes.  The sundried tomatoes got a bit charred but they still tasted great.  I also used dried rosemary, dried basil and roasted garlic. 

If you've never baked bread do it immediately.  It is warm and comforting and super rewarding.

No-knead focaccia tiles - Dairy Foods

{Photo credit: Better Homes and Gardens Celebrate iPad app}

Have you ever made homemade focaccia?  I might give it a try this weekend.  Doesn't it look so delicous? 

No-knead focaccia tiles (Better Homes and Gardens recipe)

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups warm water
1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Olive oil

Desired toppings, such as roasted pumpkin seeds, oil-packed dried tomatoes, pitted olives, thinly sliced limes, and/or thinly sliced roma tomatoes.

Desired seasonings, such as smoked paprika, ground cumin, oregano, and/or sea salt.

Preparation

In a large bowl combine 3 cups of flour, the yeast, and the salt. Add water (120 to 130 degrees F.). Stir until all is moistened. The mixture will be a soft, sticky dough. Cover bowl and let dough stand at room temperature for 12-24 hours.

Line a 15x10x1 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Brush parchment paper with olive oil. With a fork, stir the remaining 1 cup flour into the dough. Turn dough out onto prepared pan. Using well-oiled hands or a rubber spatula, gently push dough into pan (dough will be sticky). Cover; let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until puffy.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Using a sharp floured knife, score dough into 6 portions. Gently press desired toppings into surface of dough. Brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with desired seasonings. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Transfer to wire rack. Cut into 6 tiles. Serve warm.

If you've ever made homemade focaccia let me know how it went.  Wish me luck!

Crispy, Sweet and Sticky Chicken Wings Recipes

Who doesn’t like chicken wings? I for one am crazy over it. These crispy, sweet and sticky wings are addictive. The hint of ginger and a bit of chili flakes compliments really well with the wings. This was indeed a finger licking good. Even Carlos who is not a big fan of wings ate a whole lot of it. If you like wings do give this recipe a try and I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Ingredients:

12 chicken wings – clean, cut and tips removed

Marinate for the wings:

1 tbsp of ginger juice
3/4 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Coating:

1 egg
3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp cornstarch

Sweet Sauce

½ cup water
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
Some chili flakes
Some toasted sesame for garnish

1. Marinate the chicken wings for at least 2 hours. Combined both flour and mix well. Add in the beaten egg to the wings follows by the flour. Mix it with your hand until they’re thoroughly coated.
2. Heat up some oil and deep fry the wings over medium high heat in two batches (do not overcrowd it or else you wings won’t be crispy) until golden brown. Remove and drain well on paper towel.
3. In another large pan, combined water, sugar, honey, soy sauce, ginger and vinegar. Bring it up to a boil and cook until the mixture becomes thick and syrupy or until it started to foam (it should be thick like honey)
4. Turn off the heat; add in the fried wings, sesame seeds and chili flakes. Stir and toss until the sauce completely coated the wings. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Savory cupcakes - Dairy Foods

I love to bake (I'm sure you know that by now!) but as I've mentioned before, I am more of a savory/salty vs. sweet kind of gal. I would take baguette with butter over a brownie anyday. So lately I've been trying more savory baking items such as crackers and these savory cupcakes.

If you Google savory cupcakes you're likely to get a something like a vanilla cupcake with a piece of bacon on top. I'm sure those are delicous as well but I wanted something 100% savory, not a blend of sweet/savory.

This is where these little beauties come in. I was brainstorming the other day how I could make a cupcake really savory and decided to use the cheddar herb bread recipe I made not too long ago.

I dropped the dough into mini cupcake liners and topped with a creamy goat cheese mixture I made. And to top it off, a piece of scallion.


Savory cupcakes

Cheddar herb bread (the "cake" part of the cupcake) ingredients, adapted from BHG

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. dried cilantro or parsley
1 Tbsp. dried rosemary
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter (cold)
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Goat cheese "frosting" ingredients

1 container goat cheese crumbles
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons milk
1 green onion / scallion

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a mini muffin pan with liners.  Mix the first six ingredients (flour through salt) in a bowl.

With a pastry blender (or using your hands), cut in 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the cheddar cheese. In a bowl combine 3/4 cup milk and 1 egg, slightly beaten. Add to crumb mixture all at once. Stir quickly with a fork to moisten. Drop a tablespoon of the dough into the prepared mini muffin pan.

Bake 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes (this is where you will really need to watch the baking time...since these are so tiny they bake fast and you don't want them to dry out).

Make the "frosting"

Let the goat cheese crumbles come to room temperature.  In a bowl, mix the goat cheese, parsley and milk until smooth consistency, add more milk if too thick.  Put the goat cheese in a ziplock bag and snip the corner with a scissors.  Pipe the goat cheese onto the fully cooled cupcake and top with a slice of scallion.

I absolutely loved these.  They are rustic and cheesy with a creamy, salty topping.  Perfect for a savory loving gal.  So what other type of savory cupcake should I try?  Probably something with a blue cheese topping ( I LOVE blue cheese)...hmmm, maybe some type of bread with a bit of buffalo sauce baked in and topped with blue cheese? 

So what do you think?  Are these totally weird or cool?

Vegetable tarte tatin - Dairy Foods

{Photo credit: Food Network}

The residents of MN had yet another snow storm yesterday.  That meant an hour and a half commute for me (30 minutes on the train, an hour drive home) plus getting my car stuck trying to get up my driveway.  Today is the "official" first day of winter and yet we have more snow on the ground than pretty much the entire season last year (I just made that up but it sounds about right).

What better way to spend a cold, winter evening than sipping a glass of red wine and enjoying this gorgeous vegetable tarte tatin.  I discovered this recipe while flipping through the pages of the latest issue of Food Network magazine.  It is made up of hearty root vegetables and buttery puff pastry.  I plan to make this over the holiday weekend.

Vegetable tarte tatin (recipe from Food Network)

Ingredients

2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

1 small onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

4 cloves garlic, halved

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon small fresh sage leaves

1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

6 ounces mozzarella, grated (about 1 cup)

1 8.5-ounce sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

All-purpose flour, for dusting

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss both kinds of potatoes, the parsnips, onion, garlic, olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet; bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, mix 2 tablespoons water and the sugar in a skillet and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan, until amber, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar and 1/4teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pour the caramel into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish and spread with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the sage and oregano on top.

Arrange the roasted potatoes and parsnips in a single snug layer on top of the caramel. Scatter the onion and garlic over the roasted vegetables; sprinkle evenly with the mozzarella.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface into a 9-by-13-inch rectangle. Pierce the pastry all over with a fork, then lay it on top of the mozzarella, folding the edges under to fit, if necessary. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking until the dough is cooked through, 15 to 20 more minutes.

Let the tart cool 10 minutes in the baking dish, then carefully invert it onto a cutting board. Replace any vegetables that stick to the dish, if necessary.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes Recipes

If there is a choice between French fries or sweet potato fries I will definitely pick the latter. But not many restaurants serve this so I will normally make it myself. I baked this instead of frying it so it's much healthier. The baked sweet potato wedges might not be as crispy as the fried one but they tasted just as good. They are slightly crispy on the outside and sweet and soft on the inside. I like serving this with a mix of mayo and ketchup.

Ingredients:

2 pounds sweet potatoes – about 3 large ones
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp paprika (or any type of spices of your choice)

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degree F. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut the potatoes into long wedges.
2. Put the sweet potatoes in a large bowl and add in the oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Mix well.
3. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil; spread the sweet potatoes out on a single layer on the baking pan.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, turning them after 15 minutes and bake them until soft and golden brown.
5. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Note: The baking time depends on how thick you cut your wedges. If you like to add extra sweetness and caramelization to your sweet potatoes, you can always add a tsp of sugar to to the seasonings.

Corn Fritters Recipes

I made these sometime ago when corns were at their peak during summer. I will usually grill or boil it but this time I made some fritters out of it. I used a bit of oil to pan fried them in a non stick pan and it turn out more like a pancakes. The fritters were crispy on the edges and tender in the middle. We had this with my homemade chili sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups corn kernels
1/2 cup chopped shrimps
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 small onion
¼ cup chopped cilantro
4 spring onions – chopped
2 red chilies – chopped
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Salt and pepper to taste
enough water to hold the batter together

1. Put one cup of corn kernels, shrimps, and onions in a food processor. Give it a few pulses until all ingredients are roughly chopped. Remove to a mixing bowl.
2. Add in all the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Set it aside to rest for 15 minutes.
3. Heat up some vegetable oil (just enough oil) to coat the bottom of a non stick frying pan. Drop 1 tbsp of batter into the pan. Fry both side of the fritters until golden brown (about 2 minute per side).
4. Transfer fritters to paper towels to drain the oil. Serve immediately with some chili sauce.

Prawn Fritter/Cucur Udang Recipes

This is one of the favorite tea time snacks in Malaysia and you can usually find stalls selling them by road side stall in the afternoon or at the night market. This is something so readily available back home and I don’t usually make them. But here in the US when craving strike I have to make it myself. The last time I made this was in 2007 when my sisters came to visit us so it is time to make some for my evening tea and keep some for my mee rebus.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup tempura flour/mix
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4cups water (the amount of water depend on how thick you like the batter to be)
Small bunch Chinese chives – cut into 1” length
1 cup of bean sprouts
1 tsp chicken granules
½ tsp turmeric powder
Salt and pepper to taste
20 medium size shrimps/prawns – clean and leave the head and tail intact
Oil for frying

1. Combine the flour, tempura flour, baking powder, turmeric, chicken granules and salt into a mixing bowl. Add water and mix it with a spoon to make a fairly thick batter. Leave the batter aside to rest for 15 minutes. Then stir in the chives and bean sprouts.
2. Heat the oil for deep frying over medium heat. Place a medium size ladle in the oil to and heat it for 2 minutes. Remove the ladle from the oil and allowing excess oil to drip off.
3. Spoon enough batter to fill the ladle almost to the top and press a prawn into the center of the batter and gently lower the ladle into the oil.
4. After 2 to 3 minutes, when the base of the fritter has formed a crust, gently loosen the out the fritter from ladle by using small knife and allow it to continue frying until golden brown.
5. Refill the ladle with more batter and continue until all the batter is used up.
6. Remove fritters and drain the oil on paper towel. Allow the fritters to cool down before cutting it into cubes and serve with some chili sauce.

I am submitting this dish to Muhibbah Malaysia Monday

For more details please refer here

Ginger shrimp potstickers with spicy peanut dipping sauce - Dairy Foods

Sometimes a birthday is just another day. And sometimes birthdays are really special. That was the case for my mom's birthday last weekend. My immediate family got together as we always do; casually, we cook my mom's favorite meal (mock chow mein, which is sort of like a casserole) and sit around the kitchen table.

This celebration was a little different though...my entire family is in this really happy state-of-mind. We kept toasting to all the things to be thankful for and celebrate; my promotion at work, my sister's recent wedding, my younger brother's raise. It just went on and on. Then my dad stood up and gave a speech...yes, the kind you would hear at a wedding or anniversary party. So the nine of us just sort of looked at each other like "what the hell is he going to say"?

Well, I won't remember word for word, but he basically told my mom she was the best thing that ever happened to him and how much he appreciates her for many reasons but especially because she gave up working outside of the home to raise his children and how we all turned out to be happy, respectful, successful adults and how proud he is of our family.  Ok, he said it much more eloquently than that.  But you get the idea.  And by the end of it my mom was crying, I was crying, even my sister was crying (who is not really a cryer, by the way).

So like I said, it was a special day.  And it made me realize how amazing my family is and how lucky I am.  

My mom loves shrimp and ginger so when I found this recipe for ginger shrimp potstickers it sounded perfect for her birthday celebration.  These are fairly easy to make, it takes a few steps to get there, but the end result is totally worth it.  Don't forget about the dipping sauce, it's the best part.

Ginger Shrimp Potstickers with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce (recipe adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

3/4 cup shredded green cabbage (I used purple)
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup matchstick-cut carrots
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound cooked peeled small shrimp
Dash of hot sauce
24 wonton wrappers
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
1 cup water, divided

Sauce:

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek)
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Preparation

1. To prepare pot stickers, combine first 10 ingredients in a food processor; pulse 4 times or until coarsely chopped. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to prevent drying), spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons shrimp mixture into center of each wrapper. Moisten edges of dough with water; bring 2 opposite corners to center, pinching points to seal. Bring remaining 2 corners to center, pinching points to seal. Pinch 4 edges together to seal. Place pot stickers on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch.

2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 12 pot stickers to pan; cook 2 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Slowly add 1/2 cup water to pan; cover and cook 4 minutes. Uncover and cook 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil, 12 pot stickers, and 1/2 cup water.

3. To prepare sauce, combine 1/4 cup water and next 5 ingredients (through sugar) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Serve sauce with pot stickers. Garnish with chopped green onions, if desired.

Thank you so much for stopping by Eat Drink Pretty on your busy Friday.  I hope you have an amazing weekend!