FEATURED RECIPES:
Easy Potato and Lamb Curry Puffs
Karipap Daging Lembu
If your curry powder contains salt, don't add the salt during cooking. Wait until the filling is cooked and then add salt to taste.
Makes 8 pastries
Filling Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 teaspoons curry powder, Sun Brand preferred
- 2 tablespoons chopped shallot
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 ounces ground lamb or other ground meat, coarsely chopped to loosen
- 1/2 cup diced Yukon Gold potato
- 1/4 cup water
- Generous 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Brown sugar (optional)
- 1 pound puff pastry, thawed according to package direction
- 1 egg, beaten
- To make the filling, put the curry powder, shallot, ginger, garlic, and water in an electric mini-chopper. Process to a paste, scraping down the sides occasionally. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside near the stove.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the spice paste and gently cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, until it has darkened and become richly fragrant. Add the lamb and use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir and mash the meat into small pieces. Cook for 30 to 60 seconds, or until most of the meat has begun to brown. Add the potato, stir, and then add the water and salt. Cover, lower the heat slightly, and cook for 5 minutes, or until the potato is tender and there is little liquid remaining.
- Remove from the heat and use the spoon or spatula to mash half of the potato and make the mixture cohere a bit. Taste and add extra salt, as needed. Mix in a pinch or two of brown sugar if the filling is too spicy. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool completely before using. The filling can be prepared up to 2 days in advance, covered in plastic wrap, and refrigerated. Return it to room temperature before using. Makes 3/4 cup.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven according to the package directions (usually 375º to 400ºF).
- Work with 1 sheet of pastry at a time to form the puffs. Roll a pastry sheet out to about 10 inches square, if it's smaller than that, and then cut it into 4 squares, each about 5 inches a side.
- Put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the filling atop each square, moisten 2 adjoining edges with water, fold the other side over to form a triangle, and press closed. Use the tines of a fork to press on the edges to seal well, then place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling.
- Brush with beaten egg, then bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for about 5 minutes before eating. Cut in half to serve as a cocktail nibble.
Recipe courtesy of Andrea Nguyen, author of Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas and More (Ten Speed Press, 2009).
The Shanghai Tiger
This cocktail recipe uses lychee syrup, but you could substitute with puree, or liquor if need be.
Ingredients:
- 1 can lychees in syrup
- Ice
- 1 cup unsweetened pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed if possible)
- 1/2 cup vodka
- Drain lychees in a colander over a bowl; reserve 1 cup of syrup. Discard remaining liquid.
- Combine 1 cup lychee syrup, grapefruit juice, and vodka in a large martini shaker filled halfway with ice; shake until well chilled. Strain 1/2 cup of the syrup mixture into either a rock glass filled with ice or up in a martini glass; garnish each serving with 1 lychee.
Recipe courtesy of Jennifer Spiegel, co-owner of Fork & Spoon Event Productions
Décor inspiration:
Use colors such as tangerine orange, reds, pinks and golds to create a festive table:
Centerpiece idea:
Supplies:
- 3-5 small paper lanterns
- 3-5- bamboo sticks approximately 16" long
- 1 can of white spray paint
- 1 medium height glass vase
- 6 cups of white rice, or white beans
- Decorative ribbon
- Spray paint your bamboo sticks white and let dry
- Tie lanterns onto the end of the bamboo sticks with decorative ribbon or raffia
- Fill a vase with rice or white dry beans
- Place bamboo sticks with lanterns into rice for a beautiful centerpiece
Websites: http://www.asiandumplingtips.com | http://www.forkandspoonproductions.com
About Andrea Nguyen:
Andrea Nguyen is an author, freelance writer and cooking teacher based in Northern California. This site exists to promote conversation and contribution from Vietnamese food enthusiasts -- as well as curious cooks and eaters! As a contributing editor to SAVEUR
About Jennifer Spiegel, Owner/Proprietor of Fork & Spoon Productions:
Jennifer Spiegel thought she was going to be a movie director. Growing up in Los Angeles as the daughter of a prominent writer/producer father, Jennifer, following in dad's footsteps, was the first woman accepted into the Directing Program of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. But, after two years, lured by the romance of living abroad, Spiegel left school and move to Florence, Italy, to steep herself in art history and learn Italian.
When she returned to the states, Spiegel continued school at UCLA and worked with the West Coast Stylist for Metropolitan Home Magazine and the Los Angeles Sunday Times Magazine. She also worked as a food stylist for clients including Starbucks, Lee Bailey Southern Foods and Architectural Digest.
Coupling her love of visual design, color, and composition with an on-going passion to cook, Spiegel attended the Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, NY, and spent the next fifteen years as a chef: honing her skills at nationally acclaimed restaurants like Postrio, Spago and Hawthorne Lane.
Always an enthusiastic party thrower, it was a fluke that Fork & Spoon Productions was born. Spiegel recalls, "My friend was distressed over a dinner party and I agreed to assist as a one time favor. The party was a success, people started talking, and two weeks later, I was printing business cards!"
In retrospect, the passion for visual and performing arts, coupled with a keen eye, love of cooking and talent for styling provide the perfect backdrop for Jennifer's success as the proprietor of Fork and Spoon Productions.
EVENT INFORMATION:
Please join Andrea at Fork & Spoon Productions:
In celebration of 2010, and the Year of the Tiger (which begins on February 14th this year), we have teamed up with acclaimed cookbook author and "Saveur" contributing editor, Andrea Nguyen, to prepare you a fantastic Asian feast with a cooking demonstration and book signing. For a limited six week period from January 15th to February 28th, we will customize your very own Chinese banquet, featuring favorites from Andrea's new cookbook - that has just been rated one of the 10 best cookbooks of 2009 by NPR - "Asian Dumplings."
Then, as an added bonus, Chef Andrea will provide a dumpling demonstration and sign copies of her book, at a special, friend of the family price. The hostess will receive her copy with our compliments. This party costs $185 per person, not including tax and gratuity, and is available for a minimum of ten people.
We are truly excited to present this one of a kind event, and hope you will call us soon at (415) 552-7130 to take advantage of this rare opportunity. You can also go to our website at www.forkandspoonproductions.com
Draeger's San Mateo for an Asian Dumplings Hands-on Class
Wednesday, 3/3/2010, 6:30pm
Draeger's Cooking School
San Mateo
Details: http://www.draegerscookingschool.com
