House Renovation #2 and Crab Wontons

The painter is finished and the walls and ceilings look great! 

House renovation #2 coming up - hard wood floors.

In lieu of vacation this year, as well as a nod to our crazy economy, we are investing in some much needed renovations to the house. 

KC, our shepherd who died last August, was the first dog to do major "oops" on the carpeting... then along came Holly Bear (now nine months old) and well, you get the idea. 

So carpeting is coming up in the living areas and hallways and hardwood is going down. Ugg... 

I hate having the house in an uproar, but it has to be done. 

Before I have wood workers crawling all over my home I've got some major cooking to do. I'm going to start with a crowd pleaser. Everyone loves these Crab Wontons. They are easy to make, feed many and freeze and reheat beautifully so you can make them in advance. I made these last night after the house was [somewhat] back in order.

While you're at it, make two batches. Eat one, freeze the other and use it as your "go-to" when company stops by:

Crab Wontons: makes 48 wontons 

1 package wonton wrappers

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

4 ounces jumbo lump crabmeat 

1 stalk celery, minced

1/4 red bell pepper, minced

dash of worcestershire sauce

pinch salt

pinch pepper

Oil for frying (use peanut or canola)

Duck Sauce for dipping

Mince the celery and pepper - and I do mean mince:

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, crab, worcestershire, bell pepper, celery, salt and pepper and blend well. 

Lay out 9 to 12 wonton wrappers in front of you. If you're new to this, start with 9 and work slowly. Have water and a small pastry brush ready to help you seal the wontons. Place 1/2 teaspoon of the crab filling slightly off center of the wonton wrapper. Brush edges with a little water.

Fold in half, pressing the sides and ends together to form a tight seal. 

Now, take the wonton in your hand, make a fold with your finger at the top of the wonton and pull the two pointed edges together at the top, folding over slightly to seal. 

Place on waxed paper and continue filling and folding until all your wontons are filled. 

Now you're ready to fry the wontons. Fill your dutch oven or deep fat fryer with 2-3 inches of oil. Heat oil to 350 degrees F. Working quickly, fry only 6-8 wontons at a time. Do not crowd. The wontons only take about 2 minutes. Remove when golden and drain on paper towels. 

Continue frying until all your wontons are cooked. They are a thing of beauty as they come out of the fryer - but watch out! That filling is hot! 

Now, you can eat these right away, serve warm with duck sauce for dipping OR store in your fridge for a day OR you can freeze them once they are cool in a ziplock bag for up to a month. 

Reheat in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes. Keep your eye on them, they will heat quickly. No need to defrost before reheating. 

A Cook's Notes: Make these when no one else is home. If you do make them with others in the house be prepared to double the batch as they will disappear as they come out of the fryer... they are just that good.

PS - What is your "go-to" appetizer or hors doerve when company stops by?

Quitting Cold Turkey and Turkey Burgers

I did something yesterday that I have never done in my entire life. In my big, crazy imagination I would have never dreamed this is something I would do. 

But I did it. And I did it Cold Turkey. 

I returned a Kitchen Gadget. 

Not just any kitchen gadget mind you, a Deluxe, Fully Automatic Juice Extractor. The cadillac of juicers. I had it. It was mine. And I gave it back - willingly.

To understand what a momentous accomplishment this was, you have to understand how I feel about all things kitchen. I love, yes adore, dream about, collect and envy all things kitcheny. 

Mixers - have two.

Full immersion blender - check

Regular Blender - got it.

Food Processor - yeahhh

Pasta Maker - duh

Bread Machine - yes

Microwave - puhlease

Platters, cutters, shapers, rollers, slicers, scoops, whisks, spatulas, spreaders, you name it, I've got at least two. I even have a specialty avocado slicer and grapefruit sectioner thing. I've got two muddlers (in case one ceases to muddle?)

The only thing missing was a Deluxe, Fully Automatic Juice Extractor. Oh, I had admired them from afar for quite sometime. Whenever I ventured into the kitchen section of [insert any store name here] I eyed them up. Compared their virtues, priced them out, felt them up. 

And then, a few weeks ago with The Best Husband In The World in hand I took the leap. I bought the top of the house, the biggest and the best, the juicer with more gadgets than any other juice ever manufactured anywhere, I bought the long sought after, Deluxe, Fully Automatic Juice Extractor. I brought that baby home and planted it on my kitchen counter. 

Dreams of freshly made juice danced in my head. I imagined myself every morning grinding all manner of plant material into a nutritious concoction that would instantly slim my thighs and make me the envy of middle aged women everywhere. Why, I was even going to BLOG about my superior juice making skills. Oh, yes - I had dreams.

Then reality stepped in. A month passed and the Deluxe, Fully Automatic Juice Extractor laughed at my non-juicing. Still in its original box,  it taunted me and dared me to make juice. But no fruits or vegetables sprang forth to give their life to juicing. My thighs stayed the same (slightly jiggly) size.

I finally had to admit, I was never going to make juice. I did not need (gasp) a Deluxe, Fully Automatic Juice Extractor with every bell and whistle known to the world of juicers. 

With a resolve I have never known before I packed up that Deluxe, Fully Automatic Juice Extractor and took it back to whence it came AND here comes the COLD TURKEY part, I did not buy any kitchen gadget to replace it. (okay, full disclosure, I did buy one little, itty, bitty new whisk - I mean I was there, in the store anyway....) but with the exception of that one little whisk, I did it COLD TURKEY.  phew. 

To celebrate my new found will power and dominance over all things kitcheny, we're having these Turkey Burgers tonight. 

They are one of Bobby Flay's favorites and my family's too. 

Cheyenne Burger's ala Bobby Flay* (makes 5 burgers)

1 1/4 pounds Ground Turkey Meat, divided into five 1/4 pound burgers

Onion Rings (recipe follows)

BBQ Sauce (my family is addicted to Sweet Baby Ray's - but use your favorite)

Cheddar Cheese

10 strips bacon, fried crisp

5 round rolls, split, buttered lightly and toasted on inside.

Use 90 percent lean turkey - you need a little fat to keep the burgers from getting dry.

Preheat Grill to Medium High

Grill the burgers at least 5-7 minutes per side. 

Fry the bacon

Slice the cheddar cheese.

Grill the buttered rolls, cut side down for 1 minute.

To assemble (this is how I do it)

Place 2 strips bacon on burgers in an X pattern. Top with cheese. Grill, covered for another minute or two to melt cheese. Transfer to bottom half of roll. 

Slather on the BBQ sauce.

Top with two or three onion rings. 

Top with other half of roll.

Onion Rings:

Vidalia Onion - cut into thin rings. 

Preheat oil in kettle to 360 degrees F. 

Dredge onion rings in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper. (I like a little smoked paprika in there too)

Dip into buttermilk seasoned with salt and pepper, then dredge in more flour.

Fry until golden, then drain on brown paper bags. 

Serve extra onion rings on the side. If you have to have something to drink, just go out and buy some juice. 

* I always give credit where credit is due. Any time I use someone else's recipe, I will duly note it. Especially if it's Bobby Flay. I just admire and like his cooking style. Simple, direct, good flavors, bold, with readily available ingredients. Our cooking styles are similar.

 In fact, there are lot of similarities between Bobby Flay and myself. For instance, he has red hair. I have red hair. He cooks, I cook. I bet he owns a lot of kitchen gadgets, I own a lot of kitchen gadgets. Heck, we are practically cousins me and that Bobby Flay. 

Back to New Jersey and Fish & Chips

I'm back in New Jersey after five days in Pennsylvania (future blogs on THAT). My dad is recovering from his surgery and is home and resting. (more about THAT in future blogs and the sorry state of health care in this country).

But for now, no ranting. Whenever I have been out of town one of the first things one of the middles or kidadults or the best husband in the world will ask me when I get home is for a specific food. I guess they miss my cooking and hopefully, a little bit of just me. 

The red-headed Middle asked me for Fish & Chips. Here is the recipe and a few tips for really great, crispy, non-greasy fish. 

Fish & Chips (American Style) - that's my apology for my across the pond friends, where Fish & Chips is a national past-time. (feeds 4-6 people easily)

2 pounds Cod

1 bag frozen "steak" cut fries

1 1/4 cup rice flour, divided

1 tablespoon kosher salt

6 grinds of fresh black pepper

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 egg

1 12 ounce can club soda

Vegetable or Canola oil for frying

2 brown paper bags

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Take your fish out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Cut into 4 inch pieces. Dry thoroughly. Shake the fish in 1/4 cup rice flour. Meanwhile:

Begin heating the oil (about 3 inches deep) in a big kettle. Oil should be 350 degrees.

Mix 1 cup rice flour with salt, pepper and baking powder. Beat egg slightly. Add to rice flour mixture and add club soda to make a thick batter. (start with 3/4 can and adjust as needed).

Take rice flour coated fish and dip into batter, place into hot oil and fry for about 10 minutes or until crisp and golden. Transfer to brown paper bag lined cookie sheet with a cooling rack placed on it. This will insure that the fish drains properly AND stays crisp. See cooks notes below. 

Place in oven to keep hot.

Add fries to same oil and fry until golden. Drain fries on brown paper bags. 

Serve fish and fries with cole slaw on the side. Lemon wedges, malt vinegar (for drizzling on fish) and store bought tartar sauce. 

A Cook's Notes: use brown paper bags to drain grease from fish. Paper towels absorb oil, and your fish will sit on grease soaked towels and become soggy. Placing the fish on a rack with brown paper bags on the bottom will insure crisp, grease free fish. 

If you don't have or can't find rice flour, use all purpose flour, sifted.