Prawn and Turkey Dumplings - Potstickers

I'm not entirely sure what country or culture these come from and I'm sure I've had versions in a variety of asian restaurants.
This recipe is a Korean one and it seemed to easy to be true. After making a version of them I know this will become a regular for our family.

I used turkey mince and minced prawns, button mushrooms and sweet chilli sauce. I'm sure you could easily use a whole range of different fillings. I'm looking forward to experimenting in the future.

I cooked them fresh as per the instructions below. It was ok but the dumpling wrapper was a bit chewy.

We only used half the wrapper I had bought from a local asian supermarket and there was a lot of mixture so I made up more and froze them separately on baking paper (to be put in a bag together later). The frozen dumplings I cooked in a pan with water and oil - instructions are below.

I bought a dumpling dipping sauce from the local asian fruit and vege shop and we also used soy sauce as a dipping sauce. I'm sure a sauce of soy, sesame oil and chilli would be great too.

The picture is of the fried version, the dumplings cooked in oil and water were browed on one side and steamed on the other.

With some of the extra wrappers I made a mozzarella and basil wonton there recipe is here.

Turkey and Prawn Dumplings

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound ground pork (or around 500 gms of turkey mince and minced prawns)
• 1 cup shredded green cabbage
• 3 ounces shiitake mushrooms, diced (finely chopped button mushrooms)
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon hoisin
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha*, or more, to taste (sweet chilli sauce)
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 36 2-inch won ton wrappers
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Soy sauce, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large bowl, combine pork, cabbage, mushrooms, garlic, green onions, hoisin, ginger, sesame oil, chill sauce and white pepper.
• To assemble the dumplings, place wrappers on a work surface. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the pork mixture into the center of each wrapper. Using your finger, rub the edges of the wrappers with water. Fold the dough over the filling to create a half-moon shape, pinching the edges to seal.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potstickers in a single layer and cook until golden and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side.
• Serve immediately with soy sauce, if desired.

If cooking from frozen add half cup of water and a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Cook frozen dumplings in pan covered until the water has gone and the dumplings are browned on one side. This will take about 15 minutes.

NOTES

*Sriracha is an Asian-style hot chili sauce and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store.

Retro and Delicious - Prawn Cocktail

Isabella and I often have sushi for lunch while out shopping. Earlier this week she had sushi and I had prawns and salmon with a seafood sauce. It got me thinking about how much I loved prawn cocktails as a child. It was a real treat although they were usually small tinned shrimps rather than large prawns we had. I even bought ice-burg lettuce for the base.

We all loved this as a started with Isabella gobbling as much as the rest of us and asking for more.









Chopped ice-burg and rocket
Sliced and chopped tomato
Large cold cooked prawns
Thousand Island dressing
Coriander
Fresh lime to squeeze over
Salt and pepper.

Marinated Seafood, Avocado and Coconut Cream Salad

This recipe is one of my mothers that I have modified a bit. There are all sorts of variations to this dish from different cultures. If you use raw fish, it is essentially 'cooked' in the lime juice.
It is pretty quick to prepare and the bonus is that the majority of the preparation occurs in advance of serving it.
It is divine really cold on a hot day. It's great marinated for 30 minutes but even better overnight.
It could be served in avocado halves but I've just served it in individual bowls here.
I never stick to the exact recipe so it tastes a bit different every time but is always yummy!



Seafood, Avocado and Coconut Cream Salad 

Ingredients
2 firm avocados diced
2 cans coconut milk
1 large red red onion thinly sliced
2 red capsicum chopped
2 tomatoes (deseeded) chopped
2-4 chillies
1 tbsp honey
juice 2 limes (or more)
500g cold seafood - ideally uncooked (prawns, mussels, surimi/crab, raw white fish thinly sliced or salmon)
1/4 cup chopped coriander.

Method
Whisk together coconut milk, onions, chillies, capsicum, honey, lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
Fold in seafood, cover and marinate in fridge for at least 30 minutes
10 minutes before serving fold in avocados and coriander.

John's / Jamie's Prawn and Pea Risotto with Basil

Tonight's dinner was cooked by John (my husband). This recipe is one he has made a number of times before. His inspiration was from a Jamie Oliver iPhone application, a similar recipe can be found here. The iPhone and now iPad application is a great one to cook by. It is broken into an initial list of ingredients and then step by step set of instructions. Well worth the investment!

Every one had a very clean plate at the end of the meal and even Isabella (3) wanted more after devouring her first serving.