Again, as with so many events and holidays, for me, it’s all about the food, and so, even though for other people, the Superbowl might be about the actual game, or this year about Taylor Swift, I made some snack for this evening — here you go for your 2024 lineup; recipes after the jump:
Clockwise from top left…
St. Louis-style Toasted Ravioli
Bacony Poutine-ish Potato Skins
Nandos-inspired Peri Peri Wings
Baked BBQ Ranch Pulled Pork Taquitos
Happy Lunar New Year! It’s called Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia, and I this grandiose plan to make these dumplings called Buuz. Sometimes I can be overly ambitious, but somehow I sort of got these done.
These Buuz (Mongolian Dumplings) are traditionally made of yak or mutton meat. Enter my first dilemma: yak is impossible to find in greater Boston (no kidding, right?) and mutton too — or I had to buy a frozen 4 pound block and then what was I going to do with the rest of the mutton? Lamb would have been the obvious choice, but I don’t eat veal or lamb. Goat meat from the halal butcher right around the corner? I went with bison instead because I know what bison tastes like, I like it, and I could buy a 1/2 pound without having leftovers. Dilemma number 2 is that I actually am not great at making any dumplings, but I was bound-and-determined not to let the year of the dragon get me on the first day, so I managed to make a dozen, even if some of them are a little misshapen.
Final tidbit of trivia? Buuz are evidently served with ketchup. Yup, ketchup. Because ketchup is a delicacy in Mongolia. Or something. Although I guess that I could see if being a hard thing to get in Ulaanbaatar. Again, this seemed a bit strange to me, so I mixed together my usual dumpling dipping sauce. That wasn’t in the steamer basket when I steamed the buuz; I just put it there for presentation.
So, Happy New Year! May you have a prosperous, happy and healthy year.
Lunchtime! Back at it with the “Filled Pasta/Dumplings” topic, this time headed to Eastern Europe with this Potato Pierogi Skillet with Kielbasa and Cabbage dish. True comfort food with cabbage, sausage and pierogi. You could also make a similar dish with sauerkraut (just a different iteration of cabbage) and I did put a little bit of whole grain mustard in this to give it a little zip. Double the recipe to feed a crowd.
Item Number two for Filled Pasta / Dumpling Week in this week’s Ingredient of the Week. I made something pretty over-the-top decadent yet comfort food at the same time. This riff on Lobster Mac & Cheese uses tortellini, a creamy cheese sauce and a healthy portion of Maine Lobster — you can swap out your favorite crustacean for crab meat or even shrimp/prawns of you don’t have lobster handy. Very rich, but also very yummy. Maybe the perfect thing for the seafood lover in your life for Valentine’s Day.
Long-time followers of this here Cup of Sugar :: Pinch of Salt page will know that even though I find Valentine’s Day silly, I always manage to make a few varieties of Valentine’s Day Cookies. This year is no different so I present his year’s four varieties: Red Currant Lemon Linzer Cookies, Valentine’s Day Shortbread Blossoms, Baci di Dama (Lady’s Kisses) and Double Chocolate M&M Cookies. Recipes follow after the jump: