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.