4th Annual Verandah Gourmet Lunar New Year Dinner

 

What a lot of fun this  annual Lunar New Year dinner was! Attendees included co-hostess Mary Ellen T.,  and dinner contributors Sue S., Julie O., Sandy F.,  Kathy A., Sue B., Linda R., and Linda and Donna P. 

The dinner started with conversation, introductions, and Gerry's Midori Martinis and Mary Ellen's Asian Lettuce Wraps and Linda's Sweet and Sour Dip with Rice Crackers.

We moved to the dining room table and first had Julie's Coconut Curry Soup (with chicken) accompanied by white wine, water and teas in glasses and cups. The main courses and sides were Linda P.'s BowTie Pasta with Asian Vinaigrette, Kathy's Hot Cabbage and Chicken (Shanghai Noodles, Sandy's Shrimp Fried Rice (quadrupled for ten) and my Asian Cucumbers. After MUCH eating and conversation and talk, we ended the dinner with Sue S.'s HOMEMADE, delicious fortune cookies, Donna's plum wine, and my trio of ice creams - the same as last year: Green Tea with a candied almond, Ginger-Ginger, and Star Anise. 

Recipes are linked!

Bow-Tie Pasta Salad with Asian Vinaigrette

 From Karen Lee’s The Occasional Vegetarian (1995)

This recipe makes three main servings. Double or triple as you wish for a crowd.

• 1 carrot, scrubbed but not peeled, cut on a slant
• 1-1/2 cups snow peas or sugar snap peas, strung and left whole
• ½ pound bow-tie pasta or other dried or short pasta
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ T sesame oil
• 2 T roasted pine nuts
• 1 T roasted sesame seeds
• 1-1/2 T peanut oil
• 1 clove garlic, chopped (or more to taste
• 1 T pickled or fresh ginger, or more to taste, cut into thin strips (scrubbed but not peeled)
• 1/2cup red or yellow pepper in strips
• 2 whole scallions cut into ¼ inch rounds

Dressing: 2 T sherry vinegar, 2 T soy sauce, ½ T peanut oil, ½ T sesame oil, ¼ tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1. Blanch or steam the carrots for 3 minutes, then add snow peas and cook 2 minutes longer. Remove the vegetables from the steamer and place in a bowl of ice-cold water for 1-2 minutes until cool.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add the bow ties and salt and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and plunge it into ice water. Drain again and then toss with ½ T sesame oil.
3. While pasta is cooking, roast the pine nuts in the oven for 10 minutes, or until light brown. Place wok or iron skillet over high heat for one minute. Turn the heat to low and add sesame seeds. Dry-roast for a few minutes or until they turn brown. Set sesame seeds and pine nuts aside.
4. Heat ½ T peanut oil in the work or skillet for one minute. Add garlic and let it sizzle a few seconds. Add ginger and stir with chopsticks or a wooden spoon for another minute. Set aside.
5. Combine the pasta, ginger, garlic, peppers, scallions, carrots and snow peas in a large bowl. Mix the dressing, add to the bowl and toss well.  

Garnish with the reserved sesame seeds and pine nuts. Serve.

Hot Cabbage and Chicken and Noodles (Shanghai Noodles)

• 3 T oil
• 4 oz chicken breast meat
• 1 lb thick Shanghai noodles
• 4 oz Chinese cabbage
• 4 green onion, thinly sliced
• 2 T soy sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of sesame oil

1. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet and add the chicken cut into thin shreds. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes
2. Meanwhile, cook the noodles in boiling salted water until just tender – about 6-8 minutes. Drain them in a colander and rinse under hot water. Toss in the colander to drain and leave to dry.
3. Add the shredded Chinese cabbage and green onion to the chicken in the wok or skillet along with the soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil.  Cook about 1 minute and toss in the cooked noodles. Stir well and heat through and serve!

Asian Cucumbers

I found this recipe on JoyfulHealthyEats and modified it (see below note).

4 cups Persian or English cucumbers (with minimal seeds compared to our regular cucs) The recipe calls for thinly slicing the cucumbers thin and draining them on paper towels. I did not drain them.

Make the dressing with 1/4 c rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp honey, 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil, 1/4 red pepper flakes and 1/4 tsp sea salt.  Add to the dressing 1/4 cup of finely sliced red onion and 1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper. Add 1 tsp. of sesame seeds. 

Cover the cucumbers with the dressing, mixing well. I use a plastic bag and toss them well, turning the contents over to make sure everything is covered in dressing. 

To this recipe, I added another 1/8 cup of rice vinegar and 1/8 cup of Lemon Cucumber White Balsamic (from the Fort Myers Olive Oil store near the downtown Costco.) I also added 1/4 chopped fresh cilantro.

Italian Stromboli

 For Christmas dinner this year, we decided to make stromboli. It was surprisingly simple and I made it with leftover ingredients two days later. We served it with soup the first time and with warm marinara the second time. 

For the dough:

Add these ingredients in this order to your breadmaker:

• 1-1/2 cups warm water (not boiling)
• 1/3 c olive oil
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2 tsp. yeast

Set the breadmaker on dough which is a 90 minute cycle.*

When the cycle is over, pour out the dough and if making two smaller strombolis, divide in half and let each half rest about 10 minutes. 

With a rolling pin, form the dough into one long rectangle 18x14 or cut in half and roll it into two rectangles 9x14.

*(You can also make the dough the traditional way, adding the yeast to warm water, letting it sit for 5 minutes. Add the flour and salt, drizzling the olive oil as you stir. Then add the yeast and water and continue to stir into a ball. Knead on a lightly-floured board for 5 minutes. Place the dough into a large mixing bowl until coated in some olive oil. Cover with plastic and set in a warm place for 90-120 minutes. Punch it down and separate into three Ziploc bags and use within a few days.  Or just use the breadmaker!)

Do not roll the dough too thin or it will break when you are rolling. 

Cover the rectangles with these ingredients in this order and leave 1-2 inches free of filling on each side:

• 2 oz mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 lb. Genoa salami
• 1/4 sliced pepperoni 
• 1/2 cup cooked sausage
• another 2 oz mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup drained fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 1 T chopped basil
• another2 oz. mozzarella cheese
• 2 oz. parmesan cheese

Roll the stromboli by folding in the sides and rolling the dough tightly.

Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Brush with an egg wash (egg whisked with 1 T water.)  Cut a few slits in the top of each stromboli. Brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, more chopped herbs and sesame seeds. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Serve with marinara.

Creamy Tuscan Chickpea Soup

This soup is just what the doctor ordered for a cold night when I am burning the candle at both ends with events and holiday chores! Serve with bread ... or not! The recipe is from Food & Wine and I modified it a bit, making a bit creamier broth.

1T olive oil
1 lb of spicy Italian sausage, out of casings and broken or cut into 1/2 pieces
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large stalk of celery, chopped
1/2 cup of finely chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes without oil (but now patted out)
4 large garlic cloves, minced (and more if you prefer)
8 cups chicken stock
2 (15 oz) cans of chickpeas or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups greens (I prefer large spinach leaves)
1/2 cup grated Italian cheeses
1/4 -1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T chopped fresh basil leaves
3/4 c. kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste or garnish.
More cheese to garnish - basil leaves to garnish

Place 1 T olive oil in a Dutch oven or a big pot and heat to just hot. 

Add the sausage and cook, stirring often about 5-8 minutes until the sausage is browned (but it will cook more with the rest of the ingredients.) Add the onion and celery and cook for 4-6 minutes until the vegetables soften. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and the garlic. Cook until fragrant, about one minute. Stir in the stock and the chickpeas and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until these flavors meld.

Add 4 cups of spinach - large spinach or baby spinach - or kale, torn without stems. Add 2 T chopped fresh basil and 3/4 tsp. salt. 

In a medium saucepan, make a roux of 4 T butter and 4 T flour or Wondra (cook the butter until just melted and stir in the Wondra to a dough. Cook on low heat until the flour cooks. 

Add one cup of the hot broth from the soup to the roux in the saucepan. Add more broth util you have a  sauce. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream and stir.  Add this to the soup.  Add 1/2 cup of any mixture of Italian cheeses. 

Serve! This soup can be reheated, but do not boil. 

Ginger-Ginger Chewy Cookies and Chewy Chai Gingerbread Cookies

This holiday season I had to make cookies - something I don't seem to ever make consistently well. But I love ginger, so I decided to try the Gingerbread Chewy Cookies from Pinch of Yum for the Wareham Garden Club's Holly Fair on December 5. The cookie recipe included a maple glaze, but if I have a hard time baking cookies, I have a harder time decorating them (e.g. messier.) I tried the glaze and decorative sugar candies and gave up on that.

The cookies are delicious! Nice and chewy with a snap. And a week later they are still good. I made four batches - 3 dozen for the Holly Fair in cellophane bags with 3 each so one dozen bags.  I made them smaller than the recipe called for because the golf ball-sized balls in the recipe spread into 3" to 3-1/2" cookies on the first try.

As far as the Chai Gingerbread below this recipe, the cookies are softer but just as delicious. Not quite the chewy snap as the first recipe. 

Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Glaze (note my modifications*) 

3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/3 c. molasses
2-1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1-2 tsps. ground ginger *I used the full two tsps.

Because I'm a ginger addict,  I added:

*1 T. Ginger People Ginger Syrup to the batter before the dry ingredients to each batch

* About 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger to each batch

*1/2 tsp. ginger extract to each batch

Granulated sugar for rolling 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment on baking sheets. I used 12x9 cookie sheets with 3 to a row for the smaller balls. The smaller balls do not run into each other. 

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and add the egg and molasses and mix.

Stir the flour, baking soda, salt and ginger together. Add the dry to the wet and incorporate into a soft dough. I used a handmixer the first times I made these; I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer the second time. It depends on your energy!

Scoop in small balls about the size of a generous melon ball, roll in the sugar, and bake for 9-11 minutes. If you overbake, the cookie will have more of a snap. If you underbake, they could be too wet and doughy.

Maple glaze: 1 T melted butter, 1 T maple syrup, 1-1/2 cups confectioners sugar, 2 T milk and a pinch of salt.  Whisk together. It will be thick. Dip or spread the cookie adding sugar decorations as you like.

Chewy Chai Gingerbread Cookies (note my modifications) from NY Times

Note: I made this Chai spice mix recommended in the NYT recipe and used the whole mix for a double batch of cookies:

2 tsp. ground ginger; 1 tsp ground cardamom; 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/8 tsp ground cloves and 1/8 tsp ground black pepper. 

I made the same size balls,12 to a sheet on parchment paper baked in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Blend 1 c granulated sugar and the whole spice mix above.

Mix this with:

1 cup of neutral-flavored oil such as Canola

Whisk together

Add 2 eggs and whisk. Add 1/2 cup of molasses* and whisk.

Mix 4 cups flour with 2 tsps baking soda and 1 tsp. salt.  Add this to the wet ingredients above - I found I needed a hand mixer to mix this all together but you could do it by hand.

*I added 2 T. ginger syrup when I added the molasses and added 1/2 cup of chopped candied ginger to the batter. 

Roll in sugar. Do not overbake. Bake 10 minutes until the cookie tops are dry, puffed and cracked. Slide the parchment sheets with cookies onto a cooling rack. Decorate if you want!