Pot Stickers

Pot stickers from Toronto, Hong Kong, Toronto again, Singapore, and my unworthy ones in Florida

Pot stickers.  How can you not love these?  how can you not go to the ends of the earth to try every variety?  The first time I had really good pot stickers was when I first moved to LA.  So magical, so transcendental.  I've been making my own for years but I still experiment and play with the fillings and try new ways to cook them.  I had some in Toronto a couple of years back that had a magical crust, which I've been trying to reproduce with moderate success.  But the ones I had in Hong Kong at Peking Shui Jiao Wang were so perfectly cooked I could cry.  


For New Years I figured it would be good to show you my attempts at making pot stickers and a few tricks I've learned.  Once you make your own you will never want to look at those frozen bags of dumplings in the store ever again never mind cook them.  

Gringo Chicken Tacos

I turned this frozen hunk of chicken and a few other ingredients into what I call Gringo Tacos.
Frozen chicken in the bag.  Something you used to find at only the big box stores but now many others carry them now.  I hate to admit it but I usually keep a bag of these in the freezer just in case.

Yesterday was a just in case day.  I came up with something that was supper yummy and figured I better put it up here before I forget how I did it.  Plus, it isn't Asian!  

Gringo because I fried the tortillas a little bit.  Instead of the traditional street style of warmed fresh tortillas or grilled flour ones I ran these through some oil just like a Gringo.

Keep reading for how I put this together.

Some other time I'll show you more traditional street tacos.

Bell Wine

Small wineries making interesting things.  Besides Spanish and South American wines these are the type of wines I love to drink and Bell Wines is a great example.  Anthony Bell started Bell Wines in 1991 and has really done interesting things with different Cabernet clones.  What has all ways fascinated me is the scientific approach he has taken in understanding clonal variation and other important topics in regard to his craft.  He is a scientist as well as a master craftsman to my view of things.  As someone who has studied genetic variation in other biological systems it is fascinating to see it done in the pursuit of creating such wonderful wines.

I first tried Bell Wines about 5 or 6 years ago at the sun cost wine festival.  Anthony had a little table with some interesting things that stood out from a festival that was dominated by way too many Merlots that year.  Tasting his great Cabs and his lovely claret was a real treat.  For some reason he loves coming to this part of the country and hold wine tasting and dinners that allow you to sample some amazing things.  The other interesting thing I find is how he has worked out relationships with other vineyards to grow the clones he is interested in so you get a melding of terre and the clonal variations.  The "yummy" Syrah they produce from the Canterbury vineyard in the Sierra foothills is a great example.

If you chose to give their wine a try, you can't go wrong with the Syrah, Claret and the lovely Sauvignon Blanc.   These three wines have a special place in my memory and on my table.  While I've enjoyed just about everything Bell wine creates and the Cabernets are amazing by the way, these three are a great place to start in exploring their wines.

Thanks Anthony and your staff for making such great things!

Bell Wines at the 9th Sun Coast Wine Festival

Key West

Earlier this mouth Mr. Choppy and some friends went down to Key West.  There is the drunken crazy Key West but there is also the Key West of old homes, quiet streets, and good food.  I've reviewed a number of places and posted to my Yelp! page.  So here is the link to go check those out key west on yelp.  I'm planing on updating some of them and adding one or two more but Key West as a foodie destination is one of my favorites.

I also encountered two great wines on this trip.  A 2006 Bonarda from Finca El Reposo and 2009 Altos Las Hormigas Malbec.  I would love to get you a link to the altos web site but it seems to be down.  Taking a quick online both of these are available in the $9 to $10 range.  While I paid restaurant prices when I tried them, I would say they are well worth tracking down at this price point and getting a case.  Here is an interesting page about Bonarda in general that I'm now going to go and spend some time reading as I love many of the Argentinean wines.

Bread Making Fun II

I've all ways loved good bread.  So making my own should be a no brainer, right?  Well when I lived somewhere that you could get great rustic breads and baguettes down the street and they were reasonably priced why make your own?  But that is no longer the case, the only places I've found bread I like are a bit of a hike and paying $5 is kind of crazy.  Plus I've gotten so sick of grocery store "artisan" breads that don't live up the name I decided it was time to get serious about baking.

I started with baguettes, but that was before I started this blog and lately I've been making this rustic type show here based on a Chiabatta recipe in Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread.  Things are coming out pretty good and these are a decent example.  The shaping and prep is pretty easy with this bread and it is making for some killer sandwich making and the best grilled cheese with this bread.

Mapo Tofu

Don't turn your nose up at tofu, when cooked properly it is amazing.  And even better when cooked with pork!  Mapo tofu is one of those dishes that are a touch stone for me.   For many years it was what I used to judge if a Chinese restaurant really knew what it was doing and if I should come back.  The combination of tofu, pork, and spice served on rice is one of those great pleasures.  Since moving to Florida I've found this to be a mistake and almost every time I've ordered it I've been disappointed.  Most places in florida serve up a bland version overly thickened with corn starch.  So I've stopped ordering it.  Except from Lucky Star in Bradenton or if I travel to Toronto or California.

I've made various versions of Mapo tofu since I started cooking.  Originally I worked from a recipe from the frugal gourmet's book, The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines: China, Greece, and Rome.  But more recently I've found what I consider a better starting point in Fuchia Dunlop's book Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking.  What I do is a variation on both of these but they are good starting points.

(click to see how I make this)