Gruyere Cheese For The Chinese: A Chinese Cooking Twist

January 25th, 2012

Kung Hei Fat Choi is the Chinese term for their New Year, and this happened just a couple of days ago. Here I am not yet even finished with listing my goals for the coming year, when another kind of New Year steps in. Anyway, because of this, we had a celebration at my son’s house with the Chinese New Year as motif. And one of the dishes presented was shomai, which was a pork shrimp concoction wrapped in wonton.

When the shomais were done, there was still two cups of filling left, thus my daughter in law thought of a way to improvise. She took out phylo dough from the fridge, wrapped up some shiomai filling and baked it for a couple of minutes. I did say it came out as a very creative dish and did not loose its savor. As a matter of fact, it made it more nutritious when baked as against steaming. It had a crispy end with lots of meat to be savored.

And so when I saw a friend posting pictures of Chinese food with fried wontons and my daughter in-law with her phylo dough creation, an idea struck me. I decided to switch my recipe of baked puff pastry spinach gruyere into fried wonton spinach gruyere. Sohere’s the recipe: (actually you are getting two recipes) I just wanted to be creative.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup mushroom
  • 3 tbsp. Butter
  • 1 c. Gruyere Cheese grated
  • 1 pack 8 oz. Frozen spinach thawed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 pack of 25 pcs square wonton wrappers or 1 pack puff pastry
  • oil for frying

Filling: Place pan on stove over medium heat. Melt the butter and sauté mushroom for 5 minutes. Press out as much water off the spinach. In a large bowl, place the cooked mushroom, the spinach and the gruyere cheese. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Mix until combined.

Recipe 1: (using puff pastry) Spray oil on a cookie sheet. Set aside. Thaw out puff pastry. Make the filling as mentioned above Sprinkle a little flour on the table before spreading the thawed out puff pastry. Spread the filling evenly on the rolled out pastry. Roll tightly into a log, making sure that there are no spaces inside when you roll it. Then cut into thin round circles. Place the circles on tray. Place the cut up circles on the tray and bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Serve.

Recipe 2 (with wonton)
Get one sheet of wonton wrapper and place it like a diamond in front of you. Rub the sides with water or egg whites. Place filling at the center and form it like a log. With the pointed tip nearest you, cover the filling until just until slightly concealed. Then fold the opposite edges towards the filling and roll everything until it reaches the other tip. Seal well. This forms like a mini cigarette.

Continue with the remaining wontons and heat oil in pan. Fry the wontons in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with your favorite dip. Enjoy.

And if you want to make this out as an appetizer or as a snack, don’t forget to purchase your cheese at the best cheese shop in town, the Ideal Cheese Shop. And I made two recipes for you today. Didn’t I just say I experienced two New Years within this month? Well it’s a good way to start. Happy Chow!

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Swiss Cheese | No Comments »

Bufala Mozzarella Salad: A Quick Vegetarian Fix

January 19th, 2012

More and more people are going vegetarian these days mainly because of health reasons, I am presupposing. I can’t see any reason aside from what I just mentioned, why these health freaks steer away from juicy steaks, crispy chicken and cholesterolific hamburgers. On second thought, it might be also a belief, but, who knows?

What is more perplexing is when vegetarians go a step further and become vegan, which means that not only do they not eat animals, but they don’t eat animal products as well such as dairy or eggs.

What? No Dairy which means no cheese? Well, how can I live without cheese– the essence of my existence? Well almost. Didn’t I have my first food from my mother’s milk, just like the bull’s had theirs from their mother’s milk as well. And if there is more than enough milk from the bull, they make it into Bufala Mozzarella which by the way, I have a recipe to share and it’s called: Bufala Mozzarella Salad.

  • ¼ c. olive oil
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp. Salt
  • 1 tbsp. Dried basil
  • ½ tsp. Pepper
  • ¼ tsp. Dried oregano
  • 1 round ball buffalla cut into cubes or crumbled

Mix the above and marinade the Bufala Mozzarella in the mixture for an hour or more. Then mix it with the following veggies.

  • 20 pcs. Grape tomatoes or 6 Roma tomatoes quartered
  • 1 small cucumber sliced
  • 1 small red pepper sliced
  • 1 small green pepper, sliced
  • 1 small red onion, sliced
  • Greek olives (optional)

Prepare the vegetables and place in a serving bowl. Add the marinated Bufala Mozzarella Cheese to the vegetables above. Toss well and serve.

Vegetarians or vegans can do away with cheese substitutions in the form of other plant products derived from grains which processed, could be made to look like cheese. Thus even with the above recipe, this can be modified and if one is vegan, they just do away with the cheese component. Crumbled tofu could be a substitute for the above recipe. However every original recipe is always best with original ingredients.

Anyway, back for as long as I can remember, vegans didn’t become such the moment they were born. Can you imagine giving a newborn baby carrot juice or soy milk. It’s possible though, but generally, we all started with mother’s milk, which to every infant is the best food ever. And speaking about the best cheese, it’s found in only in the gourmet cheese shop online, the Ideal Cheese Shop. And you don’t want to miss that.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Italian Cheese | No Comments »

Hot Squash With Stilton On A Cool Night

January 10th, 2012

It’s still winter although the snow hasn’t come, but the weather is still chilly, your hands and feet get frozen if you expose them even for such a short while. So it comes to no surprise that a hot meal is always what we crave for.

After the holidays, it’s always comforting to just prepare a simple meal of soup and salad, or just soup, bread and a glass of wine. If I’m lucky, I’d end it up with lots of fruit and still more wine. Then I would say I had a complete day.

This is what I did a couple of days ago. It is not only a recipe but also a run through of my thoughts when I came home that night. And therefore I shall call my article:

Hot Squash with Stilton on a Cool Night

  • 1 butternut squash
  • half of an onion
  • about 2 oz. Blue Stilton Cheese
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil
  • 1 8 oz can chicken broth
  • 1 french baguette
  • 1 bottle of your favorite wine

Turn oven on ‘roast’ temperature. Take out the butternut from pantry and peel the butternut squash. Get a pan and place cut up squash. Half an onion and place with squash. Sprinkle olive oil, and dash with a little bit of salt and pepper. If you like, spread some of your favorite herbs. I didn’t have any so I didn’t include it here. But normally I do.

Place the pan in the oven and set for 20 minutes roasting. Go to facebook and check for any news. Nothing much, except that your best friend is having a ball in the tropical islands while you’re slaving away in this cosmopolitan city of New York, freezing. Feel depress.

Move away from the computer and switch on the television for some news. While listening check on your roasted butternut squash and see if it is soft enough to handle. Remove from pan. Mash the squash along with the onions. Transfer to a pot, and add the can of chicken broth. If your broth is too thick, and you want a thinner consistency, add water and a bouillon cube. Now that will add more flavor. Turn on heat, and let boil until bubbly enough.

Meanwhile get your bottle of wine, and pour yourself a glass. Go back to the television and see what’s on. As you watch the news, there are too many killings around the world, too many politicians promising stuff they can’t keep (it’s political season once again), and the stock market is going down which means too many jobs will be lost. Feel more depressed.

Go back to the pot, by then it’s boiling and is calling for you as if to say, “sssslurp me!” For better texture you get your immersion blender to smoothen the soup, but decided, “I like it chunky”. You turn off the heat, and scoop some soup in a bowl. You top the soup with the tasty, yummy, delectable mouth watering Blue Stilton Cheese on top. The aroma of your cooking is just so memorable. It can’t get any better than this, you say.

Then you remember that a few hours ago you passed by your favorite cheese shop, the Ideal Cheese Shop. And you said to yourself, you need some cheese loving and you got the blue stilton because they always have it the best. This is a sure cure for depression. And now it has come to pass. You are happy.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in English Cheese | No Comments »

« Older Entries