Horchata

You. Guys. 

If you don't know what horchata is, prepare to have your minds BLOWN. The people of Latin America have created the best drink ever. Not kidding.

Think of a ricey-tasting, creamy, cinnamony, sweet drink. That you can suck down by the gallon (at least I can).

You can find jars of this at most Mexican taquerias. Or at really authentic Latin American restaurants. I suggest you ask for it the next time you find yourself in one. You won't be disappointed.

But if you'd like to get a taste for it before you go......

Get out your blender. Toss in the rice. Blitz for several minutes.

Then get a large measuring cup and fill it with 3 cups of water.

Dump in your rice powder - slowly, there will be splashing... Then toss in a cinnamon stick.

You'll just need to cover this with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge over night. Mix it together every few hours until you go to bed, if you remember. But don't worry. There will be settling.

Stir it up before you transfer it back to the blender. Pour the rice water into your blender and liquify that sucker. If it's still a little chunky, you might want to strain it through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. 

Next, pour in the milk (cow or rice, your choice) and sugar. Add vanilla and a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon. Liquify again.

The mixture will get all frothy. And delicious!

Using a silver ladle (or a 1/2c plastic measuring cup) ladle out the horchata into your cute milk glasses.

Top with a dash of cinnamon. And serve.

Horchata

Makes 6 cups

Adapted from David Lebovitz

2/3 c. rice

3 c. warm water

1 cinnamon stick

2 c. milk (or rice milk)

3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 grates of fresh nutmeg (to taste)

1/3 tsp cinnamon

Put the rice in a blender and blitz until finely chopped. So it looks about like coarse corn meal. Fill a medium bowl with 3 cups of warm water. Pour in the rice powder.

Stir it up, and add a cinnamon stick. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours. Or longer. It's ok if you forget it for a day. Stir it occasionally, if you remember.

Once the hours have passed, remove the mixture from the fridge and give it a good stir. Pour the liquid back into the blender carafe. Liquify it for several minutes. If it still seems chunky (or if you want it really smooth), strain the liquid through cheesecloth. 

Add milk, sugar, vanilla, and spices. Blend away until nice and frothy. 

Pour into glasses, add ice, and sprinkle with cinnamon. 

Serve with pistachios.... At least that's how we do it around here....

Coconut Rice with Glazed Mangoes

This is a nice little dessert that doesn't require much attention. And it looks really fancy! Especially if you add a sprig of mint.

Not that you need to be fancy to eat it. 

I was wearing sweatpants when I made it. 

I'm sure that surprises no one. 

In any case, it is a nice dessert to serve to folks at a weeknight dinner party. Or at a sweatpants-wearing party. I should totally invite people over for one of those!

First off, the coconut rice - 

Rice, coconut milk, water, and sugar. Cook till the rice is tender.

Now, we've got to slice up that mango. I use the yellow, champagne mangoes when I can find them (They are in season RIGHT NOW. Run to your grocery store!!). They're my favorite. 

Those mangoes get sauteed in a bit of butter. Just to warm them up. 

Here comes the fun part!

That's maple syrup and rum. Special dark rum from my favorite monkish brother-in-law. He picked it up for us in Hawaii. I'll definitely get more when we finish this bottle. If I can find it. 

Not that I'd be mad if we had to go all the way to Hawaii to get it....

Aloha!

So we wait while the rum and maple syrup caramelize on the mangoes.

It takes a few minutes. Be patient. The liquid gets sticky and concentrated. And delicious. 

Now you're ready to plate!

Create a little ball of rice. Top with glazed mangoes. Dig in!

Coconut Rice with Glazed Mangoes

Makes 4 servings

For Rice:

1 can coconut milk

3 coconut milk cans of water

1 1/2 c. rice

2 tbsp brown sugar

For Glazed Mangoes:

4 mangoes

2 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c. maple syrup

1/4 c. rum (or more)

In a large pot, combine coconut milk and water. Bring to a boil. Add rice and sugar. Let cook for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. If rice gets too thick, add water to thin out.

Slice the mangoes into thin strips. Sautee them in a large pan with the butter. Add the maple syrup, salt, and the rum. Allow to simmer until caramelized, about 5-7 minutes. 

Create firm balls of rice. I packed rice in a small bowl and flipped it out. You can make the balls ahead of time and refrigerate them.

Top the rice balls with hot mangoes. Serve!

Green Onion Dumpling Sauce

As promised: This is my favorite sauce, bar none. Mix in a little soy sauce, and I'd probably eat cardboard covered in this stuff. On dumplings, in noodle soups, on practically all foods Asian.

And, it's super easy to make. 

Take some green onions....

And dice them up super fine. Then grate up ginger and garlic.

Mix the diced green onion, salt, the ginger, and garlic together with a fair amount of vegetable oil (or olive oil if you want to be on the "healthy" side - just know that you can taste the olive). 

I did this in a jar, so I could shake it. 

And you're done! Ready for dumplings.

Green Onion Dumpling Sauce

Makes 1 8 oz jar

3 to 4 green onions

1 tsp + grated ginger (I like ginger, I added more)

1 large clove (or 2 small) garlic, grated

1/4 tsp salt

vegetable oil or olive oil

Finely dice the green onions. In your 8 oz jar, combine ginger, garlic, salt and green onions. 

Fill the jar with oil leaving about an inch of headspace. Screw on the lid and shake to combine. Mix with a spoon if that doesn't work.

Use on dumplings, soups, noodles, or anything else your heart desires.


Mmmmmmm.

Steamed Pork Dumplings

I love dumplings. I'd definitely list them as one of the foods I'd want on my desert island. Along with tres leches cake and a nicely smoked brisket. It's an eclectic food culture on my island. 

I'm fairly sure that I had dumplings twice a month when we lived in DC. There was a little Chinese food place that I had on speed dial. They knew my order. One order vegetable dumplings, one order pork dumplings, and one General Tsao's Chicken (for Mr. S). In fact, one time I called from a different phone and they took down our address wrong. But the driver took one look at what was in the bag and called Mr. S's phone number to confirm it was us. 

He got a big tip. 

But since we moved to California, I haven't found a restaurant that will deliver to us. But I have found an Asian grocery with all the necessities.....

Start off with the napa cabbage. Chop it down and then blitz it in a food processor.

Move the cabbage shreds into a colander. Mix in a 1/2 tsp of salt. Cover it with a plate and weight it down to force the water out of it. 

Wait for about 10 minutes. While you're waiting - 

Dice 3 or 4 green onions. Whites and greens.

 Then grate up some ginger on your microplane zester.

Pull out the necessary liquids - sesame oil, soy sauce, and the prettiest bottle of rice wine for under $2.00 at the store. It's pink. I was sold. 

Put the ground pork, chopped green onions, ginger, liquids, black pepper, and crushed red pepper in the food processor.

If you're using low-sodium soy sauce (or like things salty) toss in a 1/4 tsp salt too. Blitz the mixture 4 to 5 times, or until everything's combined. 

In a large bowl, mix the cabbage with the meat mixture. 

Get out your dumpling wrappers. You'll find them in your grocery store, they are typically near the bagged salads or fresh herbs. Or tofu, if you know where that is. In my Asian grocery store I had lots of choices. I picked these. You'll probably have the choice of round or square. Go round.

Now, get a small bowl of water and set up your station:

Place about a tablespoon of the pork mixture in the center of a wrapper.

Then dip your finger in the water and wet the outside edge of the wrapper. All the way around.

Now, you have 2 choices. You can create fold the wrapper over and seal the edges, creating a half moon shaped pouch. 

Or. 

You can get all fancy-like and make a beggar's purse. Here's what it's supposed to look like:

To create all the little folds, here's what you do:

Pick up the wrapper with the meat in the center and gently cup it in your hand. Pinch the wrapper together at one end. Fold one side a little, over your finger. Pinch the wrinkle down onto the other side of the wrapper. Continue the folding and pinching until you come to the other side. You'll make a bit of a curve on the top. 

Ta da! Now you make your dumpling army.

You'll notice that most of them are *ahem* a bit imperfect. That's totally ok. They'll cook up juuuuuust fine. 

To cook them, warm up your steaming apparatus.

Load up your steamer basket. Be sure to line it with the extra cabbage leaves. Or you can use cupcake liners. Apparently those work well too. Let the dumplings steam for 10 minutes. When they come out they are all wrinkly. Yum!

Cover them in green onion sauce (bonus recipe tomorrow) and soy sauce. Ready to eat!

Steamed Pork Dumplings

Makes around 40, depending on how full you want them

Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

1 lb napa cabbage

1/2 tsp salt

1 lb ground pork

3 green onions, diced

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp rice wine

1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

4-5 twists of fresh black pepper (1/4 tsp)

1/3 tsp crushed red pepper flake

1 package round dumpling wrappers

Chop up the napa cabbage and place in the bowl of an electric food processor. Blitz the cabbage for 4 to 5 pulses, until finely diced. Remove cabbage from processor and place in strainer. Mix 1/2 tsp of salt into the cabbage. Top the cabbage with a plate and something heavy to weigh it down. Wait 10 minutes for water to drain from cabbage. (don't skip this step or your dumplings will be too watery)

While the cabbage is draining, put the pork, green onions, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine, black pepper, red pepper, and a 1/4 tsp salt into the food processor. Blitz for several pulses until combined. 

Once the cabbage has drained, squeeze out the last of the water with your hands (you should get a 1/3 c. or so in the bottom of the bowl). In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and the pork mixture. 

Ready your dumpling station - have a small bowl of water and your wrappers out where you can easily reach them. Also, cover a pan with waxed paper (or parchment) and dust with a thin layer of flour. 

Place about a tablespoon of filling into the center of a wrapper. Wet your finger and use it to wet the edges of the wrapper, all the way around. Pick the dumpling up in your hand and, using your thumb and forefinger, pinch together the side of the dumpling. Make a small fold on the outer wrapper and pinch it to the inner wrapper. Continue like this until you have completed your "beggar's purse." (See photos for clearer instruction)

Wrap all the dumpling meat in the wrappers and place on the floured paper. You can steam them and eat them (about 10 per person, if making a meal of them) or you can freeze them and steam them later. 

Steam the dumplings in a steamer basket or rice cooker on a bed of cabbage leaves (or cupcake liners) for 10 minutes, or until cooked.

Emergency Cookies

I don't know about you all, but sometimes there are things that only cookies can solve. Not fussy-takes-you-all-day cookies, but quick-get-in-my-mouth-now cookies. 

Then there are times when 10 people could possibly be coming over to your house in 30 minutes and you need to have something sweet to serve. That may or may not have been me last night. 

Many years ago (I think I was in high school), my intelligent and beautiful mother stumbled upon this recipe. 

I don't even remember where she found it. It's photocopied out of a book, and has been "improved upon" several times over. 

But it is my go-to, and quite possibly my favorite. 

It's a simple recipe, starting with soft butter and sugar.

Beat it until fluffy. Then add vanilla and beat it in. 

Next, beat in the flour and salt. Be sure that your beater is on the lowest speed so that you don't send flour everywhere... not that that's ever happened to me or anything. 

The dough will look a lot like coarse sand. This is good. Promise.

Now, add the spices - nutmeg, cinnamon, and espresso powder. 

Mix it all together and stir in the chocolate chips. 

Now, pour the sandy pile on a baking sheet and pat it down. 

I pat mine so that it's about the thickness of a chocolate chip.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, until golden brown. 

While it's still warm - wait no more than a minute or two after it comes out of the oven - take a large knife and cut into squares. You're ready to serve!

Emergency Cookies

(Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies)

Makes several dozen

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 c. flour 

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp espresso powder

3/4 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla. Add flour and salt. Beat until the mixture resembles coarse sand. 

Beat in nutmeg, cinnamon, and espresso powder. Stir in chocolate chips.

Dump sand-like mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Pat it down hard, till it's about the thickness of a chocolate chip, and in one large circle. 

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown. Once you remove the cookie from the oven, wait no more than 1 to 2 minutes before cutting it into small squares. 

Pan-Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I know, I know. Who doesn't know how to make lettuce wraps, right?

Saute ground chicken, add some veg, shove it in lettuce. Not hard. 

However - I would heartily suggest that you move away from the soy sauce. There are lots of other flavors on the Asian continent. Let's give them a shot! (and yes, you can use soy sauce, but let's just use a little. Ok?)

First - the basic veg. Onions, garlic, and carrots. All diced to a similar size.

These need about 4-5 minutes in a hot pan with a bit of oil. You want the onions and carrots to be just soft.

Next, add in that ground chicken. Or turkey. Or whatever other chopped up poultry you've got around. Brown it up a bit. Then add in a chopped up jalapeno. Or a bird's eye chili, or a serrano. You are free to make the heat-factor decision.

Here comes the fun part. Add turmeric, curry powder, salt, and ginger. Bringing a little sub-continent to the skillet! Then toss in peas. And if I'd thought of it, I'd have roasted off cauliflower and potatoes and tossed them in too. Please, think and roast!

Dismantle your lettuce (butter or iceberg, your choice) and toss in the delicious mixture. 

If you are itching for that soy sauce bottle, here's my suggestion - 

Add lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, and fish sauce. Use for dipping/drizzling as desired. You don't need much!

Top your lettuce cups with chopped cilantro. Serve with coconut rice. Mmmmmm! So good. 

Pan-Asian Lettuce Wraps

Makes 6-8 (depending on how much you stuff them)

1 tbsp olive oil

3/4 c. diced carrots

1 small onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 package ground chicken or turkey

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp salt

3/4 c. frozen peas, defrosted

roasted diced potatoes and cauliflower (small pieces, 400 degrees, 15-20 minutes. optional)

chopped cilantro (for topping)
iceberg or butter lettuce, with leaves individually separated

Sauce:

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp brown sugar

Put the oil, carrots, onion, and garlic in a large skillet. Saute until just soft (4 to 5 minutes). Add ground poultry and begin to brown and break into small pieces. Add spices and salt (more or less as you please, heck, you could even add some cardamom if you're feeling fancy).  

Saute until meat is cooked. Add peas. Cook for 2 minutes more, until peas are warm. Toss in roasted potatoes and cauliflower, if using. Place 1/2 c. to 3/4 c. of the mixture in a piece of lettuce. Top with sauce and chopped cilantro. Roll up and enjoy!

For the sauce, mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Done.

You'll need several of these to fill you up. They may be healthy, but they are also delicious!