Daddy Can Cook: Plum Dumplings

Sometimes I forget things.  My forgetfulness usually takes the form of an aptitude to misplace small items.  There is a running joke in my household that anything that is covered by a single sheet of paper is rendered invisible to me.  I laugh along and call myself a rock.

Get it?  

Paper beats rock.

Anyway...

My wife helps me out when I need it.  She always seems to know where I left my phone, or my wallet, or the baby.  But there are some things that I am not allowed to forget.  These things are of such basic importance that I require constant reminders lest I forget them, even for a moment.  She frequently reminds me that I am a wonderful father, a good man, and quite possibly the luckiest person ever to have married her.

 I am also lucky to have been allowed to be a part of her family.  She comes from Bohemian ancestry (Czech yourself b4 you wreck yourself) as well as English, Norwegian, Irish and a smattering of other nationalities.  We've been spending a lot of time with her grandmother lately, who honored me by teaching to me the way of traditional Bohemian plum dumpling-making.

It starts, as most good things do, with potatoes.

Here is what you'll need

4 potatoes peeled, boiled, mashed, and cooled

2 to 3 cups of flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup sugar for optional plum sauce

1 stick butter

7-10 ripe Black Beauty Plums (or 12-16 Italian Prune Plums)

Poppy seeds for topping

Add the egg and salt to the potatoes and mix well.  Mix in the flour, one half cup at a time until the dough reaches the consistency of fresh Play-Doh non-trademarked children's modeling compound.  It should be easy to mold, but not too sticky to manipulate.  There's your dumpling dough.

Now take your plums, they should already be slightly soft, if not you can put them in the microwave for twenty seconds.  Clean them with a wet cloth and roll them in a saucer filled with 1/4 cup of sugar.  Wrap them in 1/4 to 1/2 inch of your dumpling dough and hand roll them to seal all the cracks.  Sealing the cracks is very important otherwise your dumplings will open while cooking and all your plum goodness will be washed away.  Put completed dumplings into a pot of boiling water and boil those suckers until they float.

While your dumplings are boiling, cut up a few plums (2 Black or 4-5 Prunes) and add the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water and boil until the plums are very soft for a plum sauce topping.

Serve dumplings cut up, seeds removed, drenched in butter, topped with plum sauce or sugar, and very liberally covered in poppy seeds for the ultimate in Bohemian comfort food.

Daddy Can Cook: Dinner For Two

Fathers have a lot of responsibilities.  We want to be everything to everyone, and we often find ourselves spread too thin.  Projects at work, raising the kids, and keeping the home in good repair all take time out of our schedule.  And more often than not, the only time you have left to spend with your wife is in a state of mutual torpor.  

The husband with too little time to spend with his wife is one of my most hated stereotypes.  Nevertheless, I often find myself wishing for a few hours to unwind and enjoy the company of my mate.  I find that one of the best ways to get that time is to share a meal.  If you really want her to swoon over you, cook that meal for her.

Here's a tasty (and fairly healthy) meal that will impress.

First off, here's what you'll need.

Main Dish:  Pork Tenderloin with Candied Onions

1 unseasoned pork tenderloin

1 medium red onion

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar

Side Dish #1:  Rosemary Potatoes

3 medium potatoes

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 Tablespoon dried rosemary leaves

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Side Dish #2: Asparagus Spears

1 Bunch of Asparagus Spears

1 Tablespoon Butter

Salad: Spinach and Strawberry Salad

1 Bag of Spinach

10 Medium Strawberries

1 Package of plain crumbled Feta cheese

1 bag of slivered Almonds

Bottle of Raspberry vinaigrette Dressing

Heres how to prep it.  

Call a babysitter or grandparent and have them take the kids to dinner and a movie.

Now wash your spinach and slice your strawberries.  Toss them together in a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.  

Start your oven preheating to 400 degrees.  Remove both ends and all of the papery skin from the onion and slice thinly.  If you cut it vertically, you'll get slices, cut it horizontally and you'll get rings; use whichever you prefer.  Next you need to cut the pork tenderloin into 1 inch thick medallions.  Place the pork medallions into a very hot skillet for 1 minute on each side, just to get a nice brown crust.  Remove the pork from the skillet and put it into a shallow baking dish.  Do not clean out your skillet, put your sliced onions right in there and let them start cooking.  After the onions have cooked for about a minute, add the olive oil, sugar, and cider vinegar.  Cook onions over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they become soft and slightly translucent.  Spoon the onions into the baking dish, using a spatula to scrape all of the sauce over the meat.  Put the baking dish into the oven and bake uncovered for thirty minutes.  When finished, serve medallions covered with a generous helping of onions and juices from the dish.

Now the side dishes.  Peel and wash the potatoes, then cut them into 1 inch cubes.  Put them into a covered microwaveable dish and microwave on full power for five minutes.  While these are cooking, cut the bottom two inches off of the asparagus stalks and put them into a microwaveable dish with 2 Tablespoons of water. Heat the 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil in a skillet (either clean the one you cooked the pork in or a use a new one) over medium-high heat.  When the potatoes have finished in the microwave put them into the hot skillet and sprinkle the salt and rosemary over them.  Put plastic wrap over the asparagus and microwave on full power for five minutes.  Depending on your confidence in the kitchen, either toss or stir the potatoes until all sides have become a nice golden brown.  When the asparagus finishes in the microwave, drain the water, add the butter and re-cover until the butter melts.  Once the butter has melted, use tongs to toss asparagus until evenly coated.

Now get your salad out of the fridge, portion it into two salad bowls, use your fingers to crumble feta cheese and almonds over the top and drizzle lightly with dressing.  

Plate and serve main dish and think of some conversation to remind your wife why she chose you in the first place.

Daddy Can Cook: Creole Smoked Sausage and Corn Chowder

I love to cook.  And one of my favorite things about cooking is trying out new recipes.  I get about six or seven recipes in my e-mail every day and keep about one or two a week.  When browsing one of my favorite websites, allrecipes.com, I came across this recipe.  I found it intriguing, and have been looking for an opportunity to prepare it for some time now.

I always make a point of reading the comments that go with a recipe that I am going to prepare.  I find that if a recipe modification is mentioned more than a handful of times it is usually a good idea to make that modification yourself.  Fans of the Harry Potter series may recognize this as what I like to call the "Half Blood Prince" effect.

On the AllRecipes site they call this soup a "New Orleans Corn Bisque with Smoked Sausage".  But I disagree with that designation on two points.  First, a bisque is a thick soup made from strained or pureed vegetables or seafood.  A chowder, on the other hand, is a soup that is thickened with flour, usually cream or milk based.  Traditionally a chowder uses crushed ship's biscuit as a thickener, but I've always made it a point not to eat food that would otherwise outlive me, it just seems disrespectful.  Back to the point, this is a chowder and not a bisque as the original recipe claims.  Second I have no idea how the original recipe can claim "New Orleans".  I don't claim any Creole or Cajun ancestry, but neither can this chowder.

I got the opportunity to make this on Wednesday when I volunteered to bring in a dish to the weekly soup dinner our church hosts prior to each Lenten service.  I prepared it as a triple batch, but I'll translate it here to make 8 1-cup servings.

Creole Smoked Sausage and Corn Chowder

Ingredients
1 package (16 oz.) ring-style smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices. I cut mine into little half moons.
1 medium onion, chopped.
1/4 cup butter. You can use margarine, if you can live with the shame.
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. Creole Seasoning. I don't plug specific products, but do yourself a favor and buy Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning.  Trust me.
1 can (14.75 oz) whole kernel corn.
4 cups milk
2 cups cubed potato (1/2 inch chunks). If you have red potatoes, wash them well and leave the skin on, otherwise peel them.


Do all your cutting and chopping beforehand, it will save you time and make the actual cooking so much easier.  I hate the sausage ends that are mostly casing anyway, so I used them to reward my chef's assistant for being such a pretty girl.

Yes you are. YES YOU ARE!

Melt your butter over medium heat and add the onions.  While the onions are cooking, brown up the smoked sausage in a separate pan. Cook the onions, stirring frequently, until they become tender and transparent.  Mix together your flour and Creole seasoning and pour over the onions.  At this point you're making a roux with the flour and butter which will be the thickening agent for your chowder.  This will get thick and pasty and you need to let it cook for a few minutes while stirring it constantly.  Then you add the milk.  At first the flour/butter mixture will form clumps but if you keep stirring it will smooth out and become a thick and creamy base for your chowder.  Constantly stir the mixture until it is boiling.  Pro Tip: milk does not boil like water, if it does that means you're scorching the hell out of your soup.  Once your milk starts steaming and becomes frothy at the top, it is boiling. Add your sausage, corn, and potatoes to the boiling chowder base and keep stirring as it returns to a boil.  Lower the heat and add Creole seasoning to taste.  Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 35 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Serve with chopped parsley and grated cheddar garnish. (I didn't do this, but I am usually very pro-cheese and pro-herb)

That is what I did and it made a pretty great soup.  I cannot vouch for it's Creole authenticity, but it is tasty either way.  When I cook this again (and I definitely plan to) here is what I will do differently:

Prepare a double batch.  It is absolutely a "better the next day" dish.

Use Andouille sausage. Adds another level of Creole authenticity, plus it is extra delicious.

Use half the amount of sausage and replace it with equal weight of peeled and de-veined shrimp. O hell yeah.

Use skim milk.  The roux will thicken it either way, and with the butter and sausage you don't really need the extra fat.

Add half again as many potatoes.  The potatoes do a great job absorbing the flavors and always bring a smile to these Irish eyes.

So that's about it.  If you do try this dish please leave a comment and let me know how it worked out, or let me know if you tried any successful recipe modifications.  Happy Cooking!

Daddy Can Cook!

I'm actually a pretty good cook.  It came about mostly by accident.  My parents have been divorced as long as I can remember, and both of them married excellent cooks.  My stepfather is a remarkable gourmet chef.  He makes excellent Italian fare and I would objectively categorize his cheesecakes as the best cheesecake ever to have been tasted by anyone, ever.  My stepmother ran a diner for years before my father married her.  Her comfort food is everything comfort food should be, delicious, simple, and delicious again.  While growing up I learned recipes from both of them, but more importantly I learned to follow directions, explore, be safe, and have fun while in the kitchen.

I started cooking shortly after I started living on my own.  My roommate and I would go the the grocery store long after reasonable people went to bed, then stay up all night concocting comestibles in our bachelor pad.  It was during that time that we put together a recipe for beef stew.  Although saying that we put it together doesn't do it justice.  We were chosen to be vessels, vessels for knowledge of how to make Stew.  Whatever deity chose us and gave us this recipe I do not know, but He loves us and wants us to be happy.  The Stew alone is proof of that.  To this day I get requests from my family to make that stew, and I usually give in and make it once or twice each winter.

I think every family has a few old standby recipes.  Ours is no different.  We're always finding new recipes to add to our repertoire, and occasionally we find those we would just as soon forget.  Occasionally, I will share those old standbys and noteworthy discoveries with you, my readers.  And I hope you will share yours with me.  I will be sure to try out any recipes that I receive and will give my opinions here on the blog.


Here's the first recipe I'm going to share.  I've always considered deviled eggs the king of holiday appetizers.  But my affections do not normally transfer to egg salad.  I've always considered egg salad to be an unfinished potato salad.  This recipe changed my mind.  It gives an easy-to-make egg salad recipe the deviled egg flavor that I find delectable.  Here's how to make it.


Deviled Egg Salad.
You need:
8 hard-boiled eggs
1/3 cup light mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp paprika
1 large stalk of celery
salt, pepper, and sugar to taste


Slice eggs in half and remove yolks.  Smash yolks with fork.  Add salad dressing, mustard, cider vinegar, and paprika.  Mix until smooth.  Add salt, pepper to taste.  Add just enough sugar to cut the tartness from the vinegar and mustard.  You will need slightly less salt and more sugar if you use mayonnaise instead of salad dressing.  Cut egg whites to small chunks and chop celery.  Mix both into yolk mixture.  Serve.


I like this on lightly toasted bread with topped with tomato slices.  Hope you enjoy it.