Potstickers on Ice

Not a new recipe exactly, more the necessary modifications made in the face of inappropriate ingredients. Vegan potstickers are most likely to be filled with a heavily seasoned mixture of chinese cabbage and mushrooms.

In the absence of those items today's filling comprises shredded onion and carrots, along with a small tin of beansprouts (I'm in France remember!) and a bunch of weed seedlings, in this case magentaspreen, seasoned with a small semi-dry (aka nearly off) chilli and some garlic.

Stir fry everything together adding the garlic and chilli last and allow to cool.

It's usually recommended that potsticker wrappers are bought from the Chinese supermarket, but it's perfectly possible to make your own and they can be as dainty or substantial as you want them to be. I wasn't in the mood for prissy and the robust filling needed a sturdy surrounding so I made a simple flour and water dough, very similar to the lagana paste (or indeed pasta or chapatti or any number of simple pastries) and rolled small portions out thinly filling them as I went. These are probably a bit big for guests but as a substantial lunch in private they weren't at all bad.

Heat some oil that will take a high temperature in a frying pan with a lid and quickly fry the little parcels (I usually make mine like the picture but other shapes are acceptable) so that the bottom becomes crispy and golden then with the heat still high add about 150ml of stock (or water at a pinch) to the pan and put the lid on. Allow to cook, covered for about 10 minutes or so until the stock is absorbed and the dumplings are cooked through. Serve with the dipping sauce of your choice.


Drugs are baad.

This, despite appearances to the contrary, is coconut ice made with brown sugar. It's delicious, but there's a reason I rarely make sweets or cakes. I can't stop eating them.

Very easy to make I did all this entirely by eye so can't give you a proper recipe but there are plenty on the web. Basically you make a sugar syrup boiled to soft ball stage, mix in desiccated coconut and sometimes flavourings or colour and press out in a pan to set. The usual flavour is vanilla which works well and the colouring is often pink, added to just half the batch so that a double layer of pink and white can be formed. I didn't think the vanilla or the pink would be worth the trouble given the brown sugar.

It's incredibly sweet, and fattening and I've nearly finished the entire batch since last night. Drugs are bad.