Asian Fish Balls
Fish balls are kind of like meat balls, but made with fish. Still, they are different, and it is the texture that makes them so special. I had eaten fish balls at Asian restaurants and always loved them. I was curious as to how they were made.
I looked up several recipes online and watched a few videos. After making them, I added them to simmering stock and served with dipping sauces. These are fun to make and serve at parties.
The big difference in making fish balls, as opposed to a traditional meat ball, is that the fish is pureed into a smooth paste. Combined with a few other ingredients, the mixture is very soft. More like a batter or dough in feeling and appearance. The fish batter is also mixed for a long time. It helps to give you the smooth final product you want in fish balls.
Once you make the base, the balls are shaped and simmered until done. The final texture should be smooth and light. Mine are pretty basic, but you can add all sorts of seasonings for different flavors. Different fish will also give you different flavors. Fish balls are usually served in a soup, but they can be added to all sorts of dishes.
When you read the recipe, it sounds like a lot of work. There is some time in prep, but a lot of that is just letting the mixer do its job. I thought they were well worth the effort. I had plenty for dinner with a friend, and extra to freeze.
I used catfish and I really loved the flavor.
Asian Fish Balls
2½ lbs. of raw fish – I used catfish
1¾ c. ice water, divided
4 T. sugar
2 T. dry sherry – not cooking sherry
3 t. salt
4 eggs whites
4 T. cornstarch
Place the fish in a blender add ¾ cup ice water and puree until smooth. Remove fish puree to a stand mixer and add the sugar, sherry and salt. Use the paddle attachment and blend the fish mixture on high for 12-15 minutes. Add the egg whites, one at a time, while the mixer is running, during the 15 minute blending time. Now, with the mixer still running add ½ cup of the ice water, then 2 tablespoons of the cornstarch, blending well each time. Add the rest of the water, then the rest of the cornstarch. This should take about 5 minutes. The mixture should look really smooth and kind of silky. Turn off the mixer and place a small spoonful of the mixture in water- to be sure it floats. Now, you are supposed to squeeze small amounts of the mixture through your hand as you make a fist to form into 1- inch balls. I just used a tablespoon to spoon out the mixture, then used wet hands to form into balls. They aren’t going to be perfectly smooth and round, but that is fine. Have a big bowl of cold water standing by. As you make the balls drop them in the water. They will keep their shape and not stick together- they are soft, but should hold together. Once you have all the dough in balls, get a big pot of water just barely simmering. You don’t want the water to boil. Drop about half of the fish balls into the water at a time. Cook until they float, 2-3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool. Now you are ready to go. It makes a big batch, so feel free to freeze some. You can add your fish balls to soup, sauté in oil until crisp or warm in broth and serve with dipping sauces.
Ginger Curry Pork Bites
These pork appetizers are sure to please any carnivore at your next party. Cubes of pork are marinated for a day or two, before being sauteed. They are full of flavor and easy to make. You can bake or broil them, if you prefer.
I used cornstarch, soy sauce and sherry to start my marinade. Then I added ginger, garlic and curry powder. You can play around with different spices. Garam Masala would work well, too.
I decided to make a peanut sauce to dip them in.
You can serve them as is, or on small skewers. People always seem to love food on sticks. They can also be cooked ahead of time, then just reheated when ready to serve.
Ginger Curry Pork Bites
1-2 lbs. pork, cubed into 1-inch pieces – I used western ribs
½ c. cornstarch
¼ c. soy sauce
¼ c. dry sherry
1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1-2 T. curry powder
2 T. oil
Combine pork cubes with cornstarch, soy sauce, sherry, ginger, garlic and curry powder. Mix well and refrigerate overnight or up to two days. Heat oil in skillet and sauté pork until just cooked through. Serve with peanut sauce on skewers.
Peanut Dipping Sauce
1/3 c. peanut butter
1/3 c. milk or coconut milk
1/3 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1-2 cloves garlic
1 t. fresh grated ginger
1 t. soy sauce
Dash hot red pepper sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Creole Jambalaya
There are so many variations for Jambalaya. I don’t think I ever had a Jambalaya I didn’t like. This Creole dish varies a little with each person who makes it. The assortment of ingredients adds so many layers of flavor.
Traditionally, Jambalaya would include smoked sausage or ham, chicken, shellfish, rice, tomatoes and assorted veggies and seasonings.You can see why there are so many variations. For me, it just isn’t Jambalaya without mussels. Lots and lots of mussels.
It is definitely a great dish for a party. It is impossible to make a small batch of Jambalaya!!!
This recipe is a tweaked version I got from a boss of mine a long time ago. I must say, every time I make this for friends or family it gets rave reviews.
The heat level in this dish is really about personal preference and for the people who are going to be eating it. I like it a bit spicier, so I add more cayenne. If I am making it for friends who like their food less spicy, I use less. Of course, you can always serve it with hot sauce on the side, so people can spice it up a little more.
Creole Jambalaya
1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 c. chopped onions
1 c. chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 c. oil
2 c. cubed uncooked chicken
3 c. chicken stock
1 1/2 c. uncooked rice
1 (14.5 oz.) can tomatoes
2-3 t. paprika
Cayenne pepper to taste
Black pepper to taste
1/4 t. ground turmeric
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined, uncooked
1 1/2 c. shelled peas, fresh or frozen
1/2 c. chopped red pepper
1-2 lb. mussels, scrubbed
In Dutch oven cook sausage, onion, celery and garlic in oil until onion is tender. Add remaining ingredients, except shrimp, peas, sweet red peppers and mussels. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer and cook 20 minutes. Stir in shrimp, and peppers, cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir in peas and stick in mussels. Cover and cook 5 more minutes. Discard any mussels which have not opened in 5 minutes. Serves 8.
Mardi Gras King Cake
If you are planning a Mardi Gras party, you will want a King Cake. King Cakes are a long-standing tradition in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. A small plastic baby is often hidden in the cake, although you can use a bean or even a whole pecan or almond.
Tradition has it that the guest who finds the “surprise” in their piece of cake will host next year’s party. Be careful to warn guest so they don’t break a tooth or swallow the “prize”. You can also use a whole nut inside the cake and just set the baby on top of the cake when serving.
The “cake” is really a sweet cinnamon swirl bread. This recipe, with a whole pint of sour cream in the dough, is both rich and tender. The yeast dough is rolled out, spread with butter and cinnamon sugar, and rolled up. Then the dough is shaped into an oval shape.
After it is baked, the king cake is decorated with colorful frostings, sugars or both. Traditionally the colors used are yellow, green and purple, but, hey it’s your cake have fun with it.
If you want just the sugars, and no frosting, then brush the king cake with a beaten egg before baking and sprinkle with the sugar then. Otherwise, you’ll decorate the cake once baked and cooled.
King Cake
1/4 c. butter
16 oz. container sour cream
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. salt
2 packages active dry yeast
1 T. sugar
1/2 c. warm water
2 eggs
6 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. white sugar
2 T. cinnamon
1/2 c. butter, softened
Colored sugars and frostings (recipes follow)
Heat together the first 4 ingredient to about 100 degrees. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in large bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Add butter mixture, eggs and 2 cups of the flour. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed and gradually work in enough flour to form a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic, about ten minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top and cover. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Stir together 1/2 c. sugar with cinnamon and set aside. Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll out one piece of dough into a 28×10-inch rectangle. Spread dough with half of the butter and sprinkle with half of the sugar mixture. Starting at long end roll up jelly roll fashion and pinch seam to seal. Shape dough into an oval shape and pinch ends together. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining piece of dough except remember to add the toy baby, nut or bean if you want the “surprise”. Cover and let rise about 20 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool before decorating with tinted frostings and colored sugars. Makes 2, serving 24.
Frostings
3 c. powdered sugar
3 T. melted butter
3 t. milk
1/2 t. vanilla
Green, yellow, red and blue food coloring
Combine sugar and butter and add enough milk to make the glaze a drizzling consistency. Add vanilla and divide mixture in three small bowls. Tint one bowl yellow, one green and one purple, using both the red and blue food coloring. I often don’t bother to tint the frostings, but rely on the tinted sugars for color.
Tinted sugars
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
Food coloring
Place 1/2 c. sugar in each of three small bags and add a couple of drops of food coloring to each. One use yellow, one green and one both the red and blue for purple. Shake the bags to distribute the color. You should only need a couple of drops of each.
Decorate the cake by making bands of the colored frostings and then sprinkling on the sugars.
Wonton Soup
For me, Wonton soup always brings back memories of going out for Chinese food with my family, when I was a kid. The restaurant would serve it family style, and my mom or dad would ladle out everyone’s soup. It always looked and smelled wonderful. Tasted wonderful, too. Even more special, because we only had it when we out to dinner.
The one problem I find when trying to make this soup at home is finding wonton wrappers that are thick enough. The square ones I find at the neighborhood grocery store are OK, but thinner than the ones in Wonton Soup at a restaurant. At a local Asian grocery I have found round wrappers that are labelled for dumplings and are thicker. That is what I used. They worked out better. You can play around with fillings. I often add shrimp as both a filling, and to the soup itself.
Wonton Soup
1½ lb. chicken
1 head bok choy, or 4-5 baby bok choy
3 T. hoisen sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
24 won ton wrappers
2 qts. chicken stock
1 t. ginger
1 t. hot pepper sauce
Chopped green onions
Sesame oil
Bake the chicken until cooked. I used boneless chicken thighs, but even leftover roasted chicken would work. You can also used pork. Once cooled, I minced enough of the chicken to give me 1 cup of meat. The rest I cut into thin strips. I then took stems from the bok choy and minced enough of them to make 1 cup. Combine the minced chicken with minced bok choy, the hoisen and the garlic. This is the filling for your wontons. Slice more of the bok choy- using mainly the leaves, into thin shreds. This will go into the soup later, along with the strips of chicken. You should have at least a couple of cups of the shredded bok choy, but more is OK, too. To make the wontons place one on your work surface and spoon a rounded teaspoon of the filling into the middle of it. Moisten edge with water, fold in half and press to seal. I used round wrappers, but square wrappers are fine, too. Repeat with remaining wontons and fillings until done. Bring stock to a boil and add the ginger and hot sauce. Add the wontons to the simmering stock. Simmer gently for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the strips of chicken and the shredded bok choy greens. Cook about 5-6 minutes longer. Finish soup with chopped green onions and a drizzle of sesame oil. Serves 6-8
Chicken (or Pork) Lo Mein
Lo Mein is an easy dish to prepare and everyone seems to love it. I used cooked chicken in this one, but pork works great. too. The real trick is to not overcook the very fine pasta traditionally used in lo mein. Follow package directions, but cook a little under done. That way, when you mix all the hot ingredients together, the noodles get a chance to soak up all those flavors and not get mushy.
Chicken Lo Mein
1 onion, chopped
2 T. oil
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/2 c. green peas- you could also use green beans
2 c. diced cooked chicken- pork works too
8 oz. angel hair pasta -I use a very fine noodle I get at the Asian market
soy sauce to taste
Hoisen sauce or oyster sauce to taste- you could also use stir-fry sauce
sesame oil
chopped green onions
Heat water for pasta. Heat oil in skillet and cook onion until browned. Add water chestnuts and cook 1 minute longer. While onion is cooking, cook pasta. Add peas to onion mixture and stir to combine. Add the chicken and heat through. Drain pasta and toss into chicken mixture. Season with soy sauce and what ever Asian sauce you have on hand. Drizzle with sesame oil and top with green onions. Serves 4.
Chocolate Waffles
These waffles can make a great start to Valentine’s Day, or any day for that matter. Chocolate for breakfast? Why not? They also make a wonderful dessert.
The waffle batter has cocoa in it, for the chocolate flavor, but I added some cinnamon and nutmeg for a little spice. The flavor is wonderful.
Top them with whatever you like. For breakfast, warm maple syrup or a dusting of powdered sugar work well.
For dessert try topping them with whipped cream and berries. Or you can add a scoop of ice cream and hot fudge. If you like, you can even add some chocolate chips to the batter for a stronger chocolate taste.
Chocolate Waffles
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 t. vanilla
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. each baking powder and baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
Beat first three ingredients until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. Stir in milk. Beat in dry ingredients just until blended. Bake until waffles are cooked through. Makes 4 cups batter. Serve with whipped butter or sour cream and fresh fruit. I like them just dusted with powdered sugar, too.
Chocolate Shortbread Hearts
I never met a shortbread cookie I didn’t like. These are no exception. With the addition of cocoa, you end up with a cookie that has the traditional delicate texture of shortbread, with the added bonus of a rich, chocolate flavor.
They are great just plain, dusted with powdered sugar or, my favorite way, brushed with a little melted bittersweet chocolate.
Simple, tasty and a nice treat for the chocolate lovers you love.
Chocolate Shortbread
1 c. butter, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa
1/4 t. salt
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
Toppings: Optional, you can dust with powdered sugar or melt a little chocolate and spread over half of the cookies.
Beat together butter and sugar until well blended. Mix together dry ingredients and slowly beat into butter mixture, stirring it in at the end. Roll out dough about 1/4 inch thick and cut out with cookie cutters. Re-roll scraps and cut out the remaining dough. Place on an un-greased baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees until cookies are firm around the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool. Melt chocolate and dip cookies in it or use chocolate to hold 2 cookies together.
Chocolate Crepes
These chocolate crepes make a great dessert, or breakfast, for Valentine’s Day. The crepes pair nicely with fresh berries, but you could add any number of fillings. Ice cream, jam, pudding, custard or whipped cream all work well.
I topped mine with berries and whipped cream. You could also add some shaved chocolate as a topping.
If you haven’t made crepes, this might be just the recipe to convince you. They aren’t that hard to make. It just takes a little practice.
I often make a double batch of the crepes, then freeze some, between layers of wax paper. That way I can have crepes whenever I want.
You can fill these crepes with all sorts of stuff. I had fresh berries, so that is what I used. I added some Kahlua to the batter for a little extra flavor and it worked out just great.
You can have all the components ready, then just assemble when ready to serve. Such a lovely dessert.
Here is the recipe.
Chocolate Crepes
1 c. flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
¼ c. cocoa
3 T. sugar
¼ c. Kahlua or other coffee flavored liqueur or ¼ c. strong coffee
1/4 c. butter, melted and cooled
Mix all ingredients in blender (except butter) until smooth, scraping sides often. Add butter and blend well. Let stand for 30 minutes before using, or batter can be refrigerated, covered, overnight. Beat again, just before using.
Heat 6 or 7 inch skillet. Brush with butter or oil and pour in about 1 tablespoon of batter, tipping pan to cover bottom of pan completely with batter. Cook until edges start to brown, turn over and cook until lightly browned (about 2 minutes per side.)
Crepes can be made day ahead or even frozen between sheets of waxed paper and frozen. Makes 18.
Strawberry filling: I just sliced a couple of pounds of berries and added a little sugar- about ½ cup- a tablespoon of vanilla and a healthy dash of cinnamon.
When filling the crepes I spooned some berries down the center of the crepe and added some whipped cream. Folded over, topped with a few berries and another bit of whipped cream.
Mom’s Spanish Rice
One of my favorite rice dishes is Spanish Rice. When I was a kid my Mom would make it as a side dish for roasted chicken or pork chops. The addition of peppers and tomatoes elevates humble rice in a simple and tasty way. I canned a lot of tomatoes, so using them in more dishes is always a good thing.
It can be made with or without bacon. For a recent class I opted not to add the bacon. Even if you opt to leave the bacon out, this classic dish is always a hit. The bacon adds a nice, smoky flavor, if used.
Mom’s Spanish Rice
1 lb. bacon, chopped up, optional or 3 T. oil
1½ c. long grain rice – I used Jasmine rice*
1 onion, chopped
2 sweet peppers, any color, seeded and chopped
2 c. chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
1 (14 oz.) can whole tomatoes, cut up – I used a pint of home canned tomatoes
2 T. fresh chopped parsley
1 T. chopped fresh chives, optional, or green onion
salt and pepper to taste
Cook bacon in skillet. Spoon out all but a couple of tablespoons of the fat. If using oil instead of bacon, just heat the oil in the skillet and add the onion and rice. Add rice and onion to bacon, cooking until onions are tender. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, covered until rice is cooked, about 20 minutes. Makes 5 cups.
* When using a brown rice cooking time will increase to about 40 minutes. You might need a little more liquid.
To rinse or not to rinse. It’s a personal choice whether you rinse your rice before cooking. I usually rinse my rice before cooking.
