Shrimp Shumai

I've been wanting to make dim sum at home for a while now. I've made steamed pork buns and potstickers before, but I wanted to try my hand at other kinds of steamed dumplings. So, last night, Nick and his daughter Maggie came over to prepare dinner with me. 

Maggie was in charge of making sesame chicken potstickers, and she did a fabulous job! She also made a spicy peanut dipping sauce (recipe at the end of this post) to go with them.

I was in charge of the shrimp shumai, a recipe that I wanted to test so that I can use it in an upcoming cooking class. 

I was very happy with both of these recipes, and I will definitely make them again. They were much easier and not as tedious as I'd expected. 

Today, I'm using the leftover chicken filling (it makes way more than 20!) to make meatballs that I'll eat with rice and veggies. 

Shrimp Shumai


adapted from Mark Bittman

Blueberry-Lemon Pound Cake

Here is another dessert I made recently that was also a big hit. 

I made some food to take to the lake cabin for July 4th weekend....sesame soba noodles, curried chicken salad, and this blueberry-lemon pound cake.

This is a very moist cake, so it's best eaten within a day or two. Also, I highly recommend baking it in a bundt pan instead of a regular cake pan. The first time I made it, in a round cake pan, the middle just didn't quite set before the rest started to burn. You could also divide the batter between 2 loaf pans. 

Blueberry-Lemon Pound Cake

S'mores Pie

I love all things s'mores. But, that's face it...nothing "s'mores inspired" (like cupcakes, tarts, cookies, etc.) come close to the real thing.

Except for this pie.

This pie is easy to make and is decadently delicious. It's a very sophisticated way to cure your s'mores craving...especially when it's too rainy (like it was here last month) or too damn hot & humid (like it is now) to build a campfire.

This award-winning recipe comes from Butter & Scotch, a New York bar and bakery, and I made in in a Girls' Night Out class recently at Kitchen Conservatory. It was a hit.

Be sure to use a good quality MILK chocolate; semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate just doesn't replicate the s'mores taste me all know and love. Don't be intimidated by the homemade marshmallow creme. It's very easy to make...and so much better than the jarred version. Trust me.

S'mores Pie