A few weeks ago I went to a surprise party for a good friend of mine. The theme of the party was sushi and I thought I’d bring an appetizer. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at potstickers or dumplings for awhile now so this was as good a time as any. While I like the steamed variety, potstickers are actually my favorite. A good potsticker is crunchy and browned on the bottom and then steamed on the top so that the filling is cooked through.
These potstickers were actually easier to make then I thought. And they were very tasty.
Made with love.
I really stressed about this recipe. I was worried about the filling and the technique. But the reality of it is that if you just get a few things right, they are going to be delicious. So if you want to make them, try not to get too worried about that stuff. Most likely, they will be very edible and, if you’re feeding friends, they’ll be impressed.
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No this isn’t about chiseled men and conquering kingdoms. It’s about resolutions! Last year, I made a few resolutions that I wanted to accomplish through 2009. I can proudly say that I accomplished at least one of them last weekend with this post which was my 300th Macheesmo post of the year!
It’s kind of hard to believe that I’ve published that many posts this year. I can honestly say that I’ve learned a lot and still have a ginormous list of recipes and posts that I can’t wait to try.
I’ll probably make some similar goals in 2010 which I’ll post closer to the new year. I might take off a day or two over the next few weeks because I’m going to be out of town for most of the time, but no doubt that you can continue to expect fairly frequent posts throughout the next year.
Here’s a few links!
Blog Envy Holiday Dessert Bake-off Party – Bon Appétit invited 15 awesome food bloggers to NY for a night of baking and eating. Bon Appétit, if you’re listening, I’m keeping my entire 2010 calendar clear in case you deem me worthy of a bake-off invitation next year. Just sayin’… (@ BA)
Here for The Cookies! – Betsy and I are actually considering doing something like this for our wedding. We’re planning on making a bunch of desserts from our childhood and piling them high and deep. Should be a good time. (@ NY Times)
Eater of the Year – Get your bid in now for the 2009 Eater of the Year! I’m thinking Jose Garces is going to take it because WHOA LOOK AT THAT KNIFE. (@ Endless Simmer)
What Matters Now – Ok. So this isn’t food related at all, but I found it very interesting and inspiring so I thought I’d link to it in case you haven’t seen it already. It’s a free PDF mini-book. Each page in the book has a theme and is written by a different author. It’s a great read and makes you think about a lot of different subjects. The authors range from popular bloggers to NY Times best selling authors to just generally smart and thoughtful people. Definitely worth a look. (@ Seth Godin)
Have a good weekend everyone and if you’re traveling, good luck!
Photo by Σταύρος.
I made some kind of elaborate cookies this week on Macheesmo. Ok. I haven’t made anything ridiculously elaborate, but all the cookies so far have been filled or stuffed or layered or something that involves more than one bowl and a baking sheet.
So for the last cookie of the week, I wanted to do something simple. And these browned butter cookies are definitely simple to make. They also happen to be delicious.
I wish you could smell these.
Browned butter cookies are kind of the Holy Grail of holiday cookies. They may not look as colorful or shiny as some of the others, but it would be a horrible mistake to pass them up.
(For those Indiana Jones fans, please do not carry the analogy further than this. You will not turn to dust if you choose a different cookie.)
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For each recipe during cookie week this week, I’m trying to keep a flavor or something from the previous day’s recipe. So I made peppermint whoopie pies yesterday to go with the peppermint bark on Monday. Today’s recipe uses the chocolate from the whoopie pies to make these ganache filled cookies!
Why did I organize the week like this? I have no idea. I like patterns I guess. The real question though is what will I keep from this recipe and use tomorrow?!
These are called thumbprint cookies, but I made mine pretty large so they are more like palm print cookies.
I have huge thumbs.
Even if you make these smaller, they pack a punch! The ganache filling is pretty rich and the chocolate and vanilla flavors are really cranked to 10.
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It’s not very often that I make something pink here at Macheesmo. It’s not a color that I’m very familiar with. But it’s the holidays and so I’m willing to step outside my comfort zone and make something tasty and pink.
That’s how much I love you guys.
Of course, you don’t have to make the filling on peppermint whoppie pies pink, but then they would just kind of look like a ginormous Oreo cookie. Not that that would be bad, but it’s just not what I was going for here.
Anyway, these turned out perfect!
Looks good in pink.
I have a coworker (Hi Sam!) that is actually a master of the whoopie pie. It’s a tricky balance with these guys so I decided to consult her as an expert. She sent me a few recipes and I went to work. I think they turned out pretty fantastic.
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It’s cookie week here at Macheesmo because let’s face it, everybody is going to want to make and eat some cookies over the next few weeks. I’ve been saving and bookmarking recipes for awhile now, but if I made all the recipes that I wanted to try I would have to rename this site and I would weigh approximately 400 pounds.
TIpsy would gain weight also because she is bent on trying to lick butter off the counter anytime I’m not looking.
When I saw a recipe for peppermint bark it reminded me of the bark I made during the summer that was so freakin’ delicious I almost ate my arm off because it was attached to the bark. I figured it was probably worth trying another bark recipe.
How about that?!
This recipe was actually the first time that I used my spiffy new KitchenAid mixer. I know I’ve posted a few recipes where I used it, but there ya go. A Macheesmo secret. I don’t really post recipes in the order that I make them.
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Every other weekend, I review a cookbook in an attempt to lend some guidance in a field that has become overrun. These days everyone is writing cookbooks and it’s incredibly upsetting to buy a dud and have it sit on your shelf for years – staring at you, mocking your poor judgment.
I gave a few copies of “How to Roast a Lamb” away a few weeks ago and unfortunately the people who won have yet to receive it because the book is on back order! The publisher is telling me that they are going to ship them out soon though. After reading this book, I can see how it’s on back order. It’s really a stunning cookbook and is very transparent about not only Greek food, but also the life of a chef. In this case, chef Michael Psilakis.
The structure of this book is odd for someone who reads a lot of cookbooks. It’s not structured by meal or type of food, or anything like that. Instead, it’s structured off the life of the author. Each chapter is sort of based around periods in this chef’s life: childhood, growing up, family, fishing, restaurant life, etc. It’s an interesting way to structure a book and because of that structure it reads more like a biography than a cookbook.
But don’t worry. The recipes are there. And they are legit.
My Father’s Garden
After a well-written and interesting introduction (and some family photos), along with some basic Greek ingredients that show up throughout the book, Chef Michael gets into the first chapter. Here he talks about his youth, gardening with his father. He talks about planting seeds and how he learned about vegetables and where they come from. One section really got to me, because I had a similar talk with my father growing up:
And those vegetables! I can still remember the vivid tastes, smells, and textures. “Smell this,” my father said as he held a ripe tomato under my nose. “What do you smell?”
“Dirt,” I answered.
“Earth,” he corrected me. “You smell the earth.”
I’ll be honest. I don’t smell earth anymore on most of the tomatoes I buy and eat. Sometimes I almost forget that that’s where they come from.
This chapter has a ton of fantastic recipes in it. Great salads are included like the shaved fennel, cabbage, olive, onion and graviera salad. There are some family style dishes like the stewed English peas & mushrooms. But all of the dishes in the chapter originate from the author’s childhood garden. And while you may not be able to recreate that garden, he makes the flavors accessible.
Open Water
Seafood is very important to the Greek diet. This chapter shows that. It’s one of the longer chapters in the book and while some of the recipes are kind of ambitious (octopus), some are very simple (grilled swordfish with braised cauliflower). The freshness of these dishes are amazing. The idea is to take something straight from the sea and bring it to the table. When you do that, you don’t need a lot of other flavors. It’s simple and wonderful.
I’m going to skip around a bit because besides these first to chapters, there are nine other fairly lengthy chapters in the book and I won’t spoil all of the surprises for you. Each chapter though starts with a story – where and when the recipes originated – and then has on average 10 recipes in it that are all very delicious sounding.
But What About The Lamb?!
If you just see the cover, there’s a fear that it’s an entire book about how to roast lamb. While interesting, it’s not very applicable to my daily life. That said, when I got into the book, I got to page 80 or so and thought… wait a second, there hasn’t been a single lamb recipe yet! What’s the deal with the lamb?!
Have no fear though. The lamb does come. Eventually there is an entire chapter on the lamb and goat. If anything in this chapter, you get a sense of respect for meat that is unfortunately lacking in our culture. Every piece of the lamb is used and there are some interesting resulting recipes. There are some delicious sounding recipes for lamb heart and lamb tongue. Now if I could only get my hands on some…
The Ambitious Anthos
One very interesting part of this book is following the Chef’s journey through his restaurant career. This all culminates in Anthos, the Chef’s NYC restaurant. Chef Michael did something really cool in this chapter. He gives some of the actual recipes that he uses or has used at Anthos. It’s cool because after reading through the book you can see where the recipes came from. You can see how he got to his smoked octopus recipe (sort of).
As for the recipes though, they all look delicious, but you would have to have some guts to try them. I’m not saying I won’t try one someday, but they are very serious recipes. The poached halibut dish, for example, has an astounding 49 ingredients. It’s amazing to read and the photography is great, but I’m not sure that most readers will be making much out of this chapter.
That said, this chapter acts as a climax in the book. I don’t think the intent is that you would necessarily try these (although I bet he would be thrilled if you did). Instead, he just wants to finish the story. It’s a cool chapter, even if it’s not exactly practical.
The Aegean Pantry
Right after this intense foodie chapter, we do a complete 180. This chapter is the exact opposite. It’s the basics of Greek cooking. In fact, the recipes in this chapter are used in about 80% of the recipes in the book. So this chapter is basically essential. The recipes are simple – most just a few ingredients – but the flavors are serious. Recipes like garlic confit and artichoke confit are included along with an assortment of vinaigrettes and sauces. These are the things you would find in any Greek grandmother kitchen if you started rummaging around.
These are the recipes I’ll definitely be trying.
I must say that I really loved “How to Roast a Lamb.” The recipes are clean and delicious, but more importantly, I think the book gives you a sense of the respect that the Greek culture has for food. It’s something that I really admire and I feel like everyone can learn something from their simple and flavorful take on food.
Use quality ingredients, appreciate those ingredients, enjoy those ingredients with people you care about. Who doesn’t want to do those things?! That’s what this book is about and if you agree with that then you’ll love this book.
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