braaaaaains

Well, not really.

But that's what we called them when we were kids. My brother and I that is. We were odd kids (you're surprised, I'm sure) and if we could come up with an alternative name for something, the grosser the better, we did. So we called wonton soup "gopher brain soup." They do look like little brains.

Prepare for the apocalypse.

Wonton Soup

What you need:

• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 inch chunk of ginger
• 1 star anise
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 3 tsp rice wine vinegar (or some kind of rice wine)
• 3 green onions
• 2 c chicken broth (or pork or beef)
• wonton wrappers (about 25)
• baby bok choy (optional)

What you gotta do:

First, get your broth simering with some flavourants. One clove of garlic, the star anise (I'm kinda at the bottom of my bag and have only broken pieces left), and the lemongrass. You can leave out the lemongrass if you can't find it, but the star anise really makes the flavour in the broth.

While that simmers, mostly covered, over medium heat, make the wontons.

Yes, we are making wontons. It's not difficult and a lot faster than you think.

In a bowl, combine the pork, the other 2 cloves of garlic (after you mince them), the ginger (finely minced or grated on a microplane grater), the green onion (keep a bit of the greener parts off to the side for garnish), the pepper, the soy sauce, the sesame oil, and the vinegar.

My ginger looks a little odd in the bowl because it was blue. I once went to a restaurant called Blue Ginger, and I thought it was just a name, but nope; ginger can be blue.

Lemongrass is purple too!

So, mix up your pork with all the seasonings. It will be a nice moist meatball by the time you're done.

Now, the wrapping. Get yourself set up with a plate or two, a small dish of water, and some damp paper towels.

Use your 1 tsp measuring spoon to scoop a tsp of meaty filling onto a wonton wrapper.

I can get these at my usual grocery, but they were nearly impossible to find in Texas, and Recipe Guy and I had to go to 3 or 4 stores before we finally found them. Mine are in the frozen section, but you can sometimes find them near the vegetables. I don't know why. That's just where they were.

Wet the wonton wrapper and start folding. Folding is a two-hand job (handjob) so it's a bit tough to take pictures of. But here goes.

Fold the wrapper into a triangle and stick the top points together.

Push the two points that are sticking out in toward the points that are stuck together. You'll end up with a kind of four pointed star. Flatten the star so that you have a chubby little packet that's round on the bottom and flat at the top.

I hope that makes sense.

Once you get into the groove, they take seconds to make. It's not surprising that the wonton wrappers come in packages of about 500. You could easily make the whole package into wontons in no time. (no, it's not really a packet of 500, probably closer to 200, but still, that's a lot of wontons)

Okay, now for the cooking. You can boil these little dumplings right in the broth if you like, but I prefer to cook them separately. There are a couple reasons.

If you are making 500 wontons, you're going to be cooking them in batches. Much easier to do in a big pot of water. The 500 can be boiled and then kept in a container in the fridge for a good few days. Once they're cooked, drain them and drop them in the container with a few drops of peanut or sesame oil to keep them from sticking together; keep the broth in a separate container and make wonton soup whenever you want.

You can freeze them too, individually, on a cookie sheet then drop them in a bag and they'll be good for at least a couple months.

The other reason I prefer to cook them alone is the flour on the wrappers. It will cloud and thicken the broth and that's not the ideal aesthetic. You want the broth clear and light. Ideally. 

So, I dropped mine into a large pot of boiling water. Give them a stir right away so they don't stick to the bottom.

When they're done, they'll be floating, just like perogies or ravioli. They take about 7 minutes to cook. No, it's not a lot of time. It's just enough time to fish the anise etc. out of the chicken broth, trim and rinse the bok choy, and toss it in the broth.

By the time the wontons are done, the bok choy will be too.

For the final seasoning, put a splash of soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil in the bottom of the bowl.

Drain the wontons, and drop them into the bowl, then ladle the broth on top. Garnish with the green onions.

Gopher brain soup for dinner!

Hey, I need some brains over here. It's midterm time, and once again it's all about the calculus.

And once again, I missed an ingredient in the ingredients pic.

Quick! What was it??

(this is a test and the result will go on your permanent record. forever.)

Apple Crisp

As promised, I’ve made a recipe with apples.  Hubby and I went for a drive over the weekend to see the fall colors.  While we were out, we stopped at an orchard and picked up some apples.  Like everything else, apples bought directly from where they were grown are so much better than the ones shipped from across the country.  Then I had the task of figuring out the best way to put them to use.  My first thought was to make apple sauce, but that sounded a bit boring.  I’m not really that much of a pie making person.  I prefer to leave that to the professionals.  Lose the crust and add lots of spicy, crumbly topping, and now you’re talking.  Apple crisp is such a simple dessert, yet it’s fabulous enough that you’ll even see posh versions of it in fancy restaurants.  It’s really the perfect thing for those of us who are slightly pastry impaired.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 4 medium sized apples
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon corn starch
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup oats
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

First up is the topping.  In a bowl, mix together everything but the butter. 

Then, reserve 1 Tablespoon of the butter for the baking dish, and throw the other 7 Tablespoons into the bowl. 

Using a fork, smoosh everything around until you get a nice crumbly mixture. 

Set that aside, preheat the oven to 350° and we’ll start on the apples.  As always when baking with apples, it’s best to use a variety of them if you can. First, squeeze 2 Tablespoons into a mixing bowl.  You could use one of these gadgets for processing the apples.  They definitely make short work of peeling, coring, and slicing. 

My problem with them is that I don’t particularly like thin slices for crisp.  So this is how I like to do it.  Peel the apple, then cut off the 4 sides leaving the core. 

Then, cut those into chunks. 

Drop them into the bowl and toss them with the lemon juice as you go. 

Now, into a small dish go the corn starch, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. 

Mix them together until everything is evenly distributed and there are no more lumps of cornstarch or anything. 

Sprinkle that over the apples. 

Toss or stir until they’re all evenly coated. 

I like to use a large shallow pie pan for this.  It makes for a good fruit to crisp ratio and also allows the apples to cook evenly.  This dish isn’t rocket science, though, so use whatever size pan suits you.  If you want it to be a bit fancier, you can even bake individual servings in small ramekins.  Personally, I like the more rustic approach.  Whatever you’re using, butter it liberally. 

Pour in the apples, making sure to scrape every last bit of juicy goodness from the bowl. 

Spread them to the edges of the pan and level them out. 

Sprinkle on the topping.  As mentioned when I made sweet potato crisp, there is no such thing as too much topping.

Now into the oven for 45 minutes.  When it’s ready it will be nice and bubbly around the edges and beginning to brown on top.  Look at that beauty!  Isn’t it amazing what a little time in the oven can do?  Not to mention, your house will be filled with the aroma of baking apples and spicy, buttery goodness.

Now for the hard part.  Any fruit crisp really needs to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.  It’ll be hard, but I promise it’s worth the wait.  Top with some good vanilla ice cream, because I’m pretty sure it’s blasphemous to serve apple crisp without it, and enjoy. 

What are you making with apples this fall?