Tag: dumplings

Ricotta and Spinach Dumplings with Sausage & Cherry Tomatoes

What do you do with leftover dumplings?? You cook them with chicken sausage, add basil, some roasted cherry tomatoes and make a delicious dish!

2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Transfer the tomatoes to a lined cookie sheet. Add the oil and salt, mix well and roast in oven for 40 minutes. Take out and let cool.

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 to 5 chicken sausage links, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, grated
4 to 5 leftover dumplings with sauce
Salt
1 cup fresh basil, torn

Heat a frying pan with the oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sausage and brown on medium high heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the dumplings with the sauce and simmer, covered for 10 minutes. Check for seasonings and top with fresh basil.

Day Four- Bullet Train to Kyoto

Day four started early- we eat breakfast and left to take a nine o’clock bullet train to Kyoto. I am absolutely amazed at the train system in this city. Everything is well planned, well thought of- anything you can imagine is taken care of- a pleasure to travel if you are anal like me. I am very impressed. Did I mention how clean the bathrooms are?? Anywhere you go, from a tiny little bathroom at a train station to the one in the bullet train- spotless. I realize this is a food blog, but I thought I would mention a few things that have stood out in my mind as a traveler who does not look forward to using public bathrooms.

Speaking of food, we got to the train station early and decided to buy some snacks. We came across a department store that had a food section- which seems quite common here. The society seems to be obsessed with food… my kind of people. We bought something called rasq- which are kind of like biscotti but not as dense. If you can imagine sticks of lightly sweetened pound cake that are double baked. I grew up eating them in India- we would dip them in tea. Anyway, we bought a bag of rasq and two triangular shaped rice cakes- made of different kinds of fried rice of sorts.

Did I mention there is coffee all over the place? I was expecting tons of tea- but not coffee. There are vending machines everywhere with a variety of drinks including lots of iced coffee or cafe au lait. I bought a bottle and it was delicious. We ate the rice cakes, rasq and washed them down with the delicious coffee.

The ride to Kyoto was approximately two and half hours. We reached our hotel and decided to eat at one of the restaurants below the establishment. Soba noodles in a broth for me and a bowl of rice with egg for my husband. We finished and grabbed two French pastries from the hotel lobby- there is food everywhere in this country- amazing! We had a mango mousse and a green tea pastry-absolutely delicious.

After a short break, we ventured out into Kyoto. It was raining so we stuck to the covered outdoor markets. We stopped for coffee and some green tea cake- it was all yummy. The coffee was lightly sweetened with a hint of caramel- I think I want that for breakfast tomorrow! We then moved on to a outdoor food market and sampled lots of things including fried chicken and shrimp dumplings.

We were almost full when we came across a small bar and decided to go in. As we were waiting to be seated, I saw some kind of meat being cooked on a griddle – I asked the hostess and she told me it was chili beef- I told her I wanted that. We sat down and ordered beer and chu-hi, which is a hard lemonade kind of drink- very yummy. Our beef dish came and it was absolutely delicious- very flavorful, a bit spicy but not over powering. It was a perfect end to the day.

We walked back to our hotel via ‘the restaurant row’. It is narrow alley of restaurant after bar after restaurant. An amazing selection- we couldn’t believe it. The Japanese really like to eat- and eat well. We plan to be back there for a meal tomorrow- stay tuned.

A Great Idea For Leftovers: Wonton Soup and Sauteed Dumplings

wonton-soup2

My daughter loves dumplings! She really didn’t start eating them until I practically forced her to try them at several different occasions. Now, she wants to go eat dim sum every weekend. We go to a local Chinese restaurant to have the delicious dumplings. We sit down and the dumplings start coming our way immediately- we are literally done in 15 minutes- no joke! Sia covets everything stuffed with shrimp. My favorite is a chive dumpling- it is absolutely delicious. It is shaped like a fat disk and I can’t get enough of them.

Packing lunch for Sia has always been a challenge. She does not like/eat sandwiches. She likes proper food- that’s what I get for not giving her a sandwich when she was really young. Anyway, I am always struggling to come up with different ideas. Once she started eating dumplings- I began buying them from Trader Joes and Whole Foods. They come in all different varieties- some that include veggies in them as well. I cook a few for her and put them in her thermos- she loves it!

Sia has been asking me how they make the dumplings at the restaurant. I usually explain the procedure to her, but, I am not sure if it actually registers- the glazed look on her face is usually not a good sign. She kept wondering why we haven’t made them at home yet- I really didn’t have an answer for her- there really was no reason we couldn’t. Especially since I have watched many people use them to make dumplings on television as well as fresh raviolis! So, when I saw the wonton skins at the store the other day, I grabbed them. I decided to use all the leftover proteins I had in the fridge and make a wonton soup- which she loves; as well as the classic sauteed dumplings. Well, she was thrilled to be able to watch me put the dumplings together and most importantly, she loved the way they tasted-mission accomplished. I can’t wait to make my own raviolis now!