D

Dumplings, Daikon Radish pickles, and Date Bars

I think our first thought for a D-themed meal was roasted duck.  We didn't want to roast the duck ourselves, mind you.  That would be a lot of work.  We knew that the Grand Asia Market had nice roasted ducks hanging up in their restaurant area, and were sorely tempted.

We decided that we needed to cook the meal ourselves, however.  At least this time around.  Our mind was still on asian food, and dumplings sprang to mind pretty quickly.  Daikon radishes soon followed.  We thought about deer, but decided that it was really venison, which will almost certainly be used in the V-themed meal later this year.  Dates were a no-brainer.  And then we stalled.  What else starts with D?  So we stopped our brainstorming session in its tracks and went with what we had.

Mary found a nice nepalese curried pork dumpling recipe that looked pretty easy.  I couldn't help wondering if the people in Nepal had pigs.  But no matter - we made them anyway.  Instead of dumpling dough, we used wonton wrappers.  So perhaps we're on really shaky ground here.  Did we make dumplings or wontons?  I'm still not sure.  But they were tasty.

What we discovered is that steamed dumplings are an industrial process.  It doesn't seem to be worth the effort to make them unless you're going to make a LOT of them.  The recipe called for a pound of ground pork, plus almost that same volume of onions and cilantro*.  We made about two dozen dumplings before we ran out of steaming space, and there was about two-thirds of the meat mixture left over.

What to do with all of that seasoned meat?  We put it into a 8x8 pyrex dish and covered and baked it at 350 for an hour.  We ended up with a sort of curried meatloaf Wellington.  Or something like that.  It tasted just fine, though the dough was a little tough.

Mary made the Daikon radish pickles ahead of time, so I don't know exactly what went into them.  I'll let the recipe do the talking here.  Daikon radish doesn't taste like much, really, but their crispness lent some good contrast to the meal.

There was a dipping sauce for the dumplings that was pretty good, and spicy.  But the spiciness overshadowed subtle flavors of the dumplings themselves.  I had two dumplings with the sauce, and then ate the rest plain.  I did, however, start dipping the daikon radish into the sauce.  So everything worked out.

Mary made the date bars in advance too, so I don't have much commentary on their manufacture.  I do know, however, that we were short one egg for the recipe, but it turned out fine anyway.

* Chinese Parsley is the same thing as Cilantro, according to something Mary read online.  Interesting!

Here are the recipes!
North Indian Nepali Curry Dumplings

adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/North-Indian-Nepali-Curry-Dumplings/Detail.aspx

1 pound ground pork
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon curry powder
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger paste
salt and black pepper to taste
square won-ton wrappers

Combine the ground pork, 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped onion, green onions, garam masala, curry powder, 3 cloves of garlic, ginger paste, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Place a heaping teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of a dumpling wrapper. Moisten the edge of the wrapper with a few drops of water. Fold the dumpling in half and fold into nurses hats. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.

Place a steamer insert into a saucepan, and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the dumplings, recover, and steam until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve with the dipping sauce.


Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, sliced
1 tomato, diced
salt and black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

To make the dipping sauce, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and the chopped onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cover and reduce heat to low and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon cilantro. Pour sauce into the food processor and carefully blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.


Overnight Chinese Daikon Radish Pickles

adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Overnight-Chinese-Daikon-Radish-Pickles/Detail.aspx
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled Daikon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

In a mixing bowl, toss daikon with salt. Cover, and refrigerate until 1 to 2 tablespoons of water is released, about 30 minutes.

Drain and rinse daikon, removing as much salt as possible. Pat dry with a paper towel, and return to bowl. Stir in rice vinegar, black pepper and, if desired, sesame oil. Cover, and refrigerate at least 8 hours.


Date Nut Bars

adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Date-Nut-Bars/Detail.aspx

2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped Dates
2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons of water (had to add this because we were short an egg and the batter was dry.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, dates and nuts. Add the eggs, butter and vanilla; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be very stiff).

Spread in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool bars on a wire rack.