Sichuan Wontons in Chili Oil

My Little Dumpling
Most people when they are learning to cook start off simple. Scrambled eggs. Roast chicken. Pancakes. The first things my daughter taught herself to make were pork dumplings.

To be fair, dim sum and all other Chinese dumplings are basically her favorite food. So, it makes sense that this is what she would want to know how to make. And, this is pretty much her M.O. She finds something that she is interested in, become obsessive about it, and then sets off to master it. And, once she has, she moves on to the next thing. Her current obsession? French Macarons. And there is now almond flour on every surface of my home…

As luck would have it, our cookbook club was cooking through a Chinese cookbook at the time she wanted to learn about dumpling—and there happened to be a wonton recipe that we decided to try. So I figured it would be a fun day of bonding with my daughter and teaching her a new skill. Little did I know I was about to be schooled…

Making the filling for the dumplings is fairly uncomplicated. All you are doing is just mixing the ingredients together. The difficult part of making dumplings is in the folding of the wrapper. They can be tricky and it takes some practice to get it right. The first few that I produced were misshapen and scary and the filling kept squishing out. My (at that time) ten-year-old daughter’s? Perfect. So perfect, in fact, she had to show me and my many years of cooking experience where I was going wrong. I have no idea where she learned to do it, but apparently, my daughter is a dumpling prodigy. And I, a mere mortal, bow to her greatness.

We did end up having a great time working together and the dumplings were so good. The best part was sitting down after it was all done to devour them with spicy chili sauce…

Sichuan Wontons in Chili Oil
Adapted from Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking
by Fuchsia Dunlop
Yields 4 servings, about 15 to 20 wontons

Watermelon Cooler

The perfect summertime fruit.
At Piedmont Grocery, we are loving that delicious watermelons are back in season. They’re crisp, juicy, and sweet!

You can make your own Watermelon Juice or Cooler. Here are two variations of the same recipe, one with no added sugar that highlights the natural flavor of the melon, and the other is more festive, sweet, and bubbly.

Watermelon Juice—or Cooler
Ingredients
6 to 7 pounds of seedless watermelon, cut into cubes
16 ice cubes
Juice of one lime (for the juice)
1 liter Lorina French Sparkling Lemonade (for the cooler)

Directions
Working in batches, puree the the watermelon with ice cubes in a blender. If you are making the watermelon juice, add the lime juice proportionate to the amount of watermelon in the blender (for example, if you are working in two batches, add half the lime juice for each batch.)

If you are making a cooler, after the watermelon is pulverized, slowly add the sparkling lemonade to the blender—set on the lowest speed.

Pour the liquid into a large pitcher or directly in glasses. Make the next batch with the remaining ingredients, until you have used all your ingredients.

For larger quantities, you can use a punch bowl or even a stock pot to hold all the liquid.

Grilled Cherry Milkshakes Recipe

Get ’em while they’re ripe.
These sweet, delicious signs of early summer have arrived in the market, and we can’t get enough of them. They’re only at their peak for about a month—so, don’t hold back!

We love eating them fresh Read more…

Singapore Sling

Travelin’ Man

I used to think that the people who got to travel overseas for work had it pretty good. Not only did they go to other countries and experience other cultures, they got to do it on the company dime. I had a very “Pan-Am” picture in my mind. I now realize international business travel is not as fun or glamorous as it sounds. Though I have not personally experienced it, my husband has, and does, and is currently in Asia. I get to experience it from the other side, and I think I like my side better.

I will admit that I do get a little jealous knowing that he is enjoying maid service and a quiet hotel room—while I am fighting to get the kids to take a shower while loading the dishwasher. And if he is enjoying a gourmet meal while I am dishing up some mac and cheese that’s cool ‘cause he’ll be ready to jump back in to the fray once he gets back, right?

For the next two weeks, my main squeeze will be traveling. During that time, he will be on six different flights and visit five different countries. While that may sound jet-setting, there will be very little down time (sightseeing and maybe jewelry shopping for his awesome wife). His days will be filled with meeting after meeting, and his nights with client dinners, drinking and the occasional Karaoke event. That kind of fun can wear on a guy. He will arrive home exhausted and wrung out with plenty of laundry. For a couple of days after his arrival, he will not be functioning normally—which is fantastic because that next morning, we have to be on the road early for a softball tournament.

Ah, the glamorous life…

Right now, he is in Singapore. Tomorrow it’s Hong Kong. For me? I think I’ll have one of these in his honor…

Singapore Sling