EDF: Potstickers

Eating Down the Fridge has been a challenge in a sort of different way than I thought it would be. Honestly, I don't run to the store that often. This is 50% because I'm lazy and I loathe going to the grocery store. It's also 50% because even though I can walk to Safeway in 4 minutes and 53 seconds (Dudley clocked it) the Social Safeway is a nuthouse. Well, the people in there may or may not be crazy but I can pretty much guarantee that if you go there any time after 5:30 in the evening you'll be crazy by the time you leave. The lines . . . oh my goodness . . . the lines. They back up through the aisles and there is no respect for an express lane. One night I didn't feel well and all I wanted was grilled cheese and soup. So, even though it was 7 pm on Saturday night (no, date night does not preclude frenetic shopping excursions to the Social Safeway) I went to Safeway to purchase 3 things: soup, bread, and cheese. It took me about 8 minutes to get said items and 30 minutes to check out. There were two guys on a beer run behind me (bad choice by the way, definitely go to the liquor store to get beer on a Saturday night) having a great conversation about people who violate the 15 item limit for the express lane. They started to count the items in the carts as people would put them on the belt (all blatant violators of the rules). Where was I? Oh, I don't go to the grocery store that often anyway. I do, however, buy things thinking that I'm going to make a specific dish that I have on my list and then I never get around to it . . . like these potstickers.

I looked for wonton wrappers forever and ever because I read Mary Ann's, of Meet Me in the Kitchen, post about her Chinese New Year dinner and I wanted to make the potstickers that she always makes. I finally found them and then they sat in my refrigerator. I just never got around to making them. So, this week was the perfect opportunity. I had a a little bit of savoy cabbage leftover from something else, luckily I always try to keep some fresh ginger around, and ground turkey in the freezer, tada! I served them with dumpling sauce and fried rice. The fried rice helped me use up a bunch of veggies that I had hanging around in the drawer.

Turkey Pot Stickers adapted from Cooking Light
from Mary Ann's blog: Meet Me in the Kitchen

2 teaspoons canola oil

2 cups angel hair coleslaw with carrots (I used 1/4 a head of Savoy cabbage)

1/2 cup water

1/2 pound ground turkey breast

1/3 cup minced green onions

1 tablespoon minced peeled gingerroot

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1 egg white

1 garlic clove, minced

30 won ton wrappers

2 teaspoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided

1 cup water, divided

Heat 2 teaspoons canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add coleslaw; cook 9 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. While cabbage cooks, add 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to keep cabbage from sticking to pan. Spoon cabbage into a medium bowl; let cool completely.

Add chicken and next 6 ingredients (chicken through garlic) to bowl; stir well.

Working with 1 won ton wrapper at a time (cover remaining won ton wrappers to keep them from drying out), spoon about 1 tablespoon chicken mixture into the center of each wrapper. Moisten edges of wrapper with water, and bring 2 opposite corners to center, pinching points to seal. Bring the remaining 2 corners to center, pinching points to seal. Pinch 4 edges together to seal. Place pot stickers on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch; cover loosely with a towel to keep them from drying out.

Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place half of pot stickers in bottom of skillet; cook 3 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Add 1/2 cup water to skillet; cover and cook 3 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Place pot stickers on a serving platter; set aside, and keep warm. Wipe skillet with a paper towel. Repeat procedure with remaining vegetable oil, remaining pot stickers, and remaining water.

You can freeze uncooked potstickers- just place on a baking sheet, place in the freezer until frozen and transfer to a Ziploc freezer bag. When ready to cook, thaw and repeat cooking procedure. You can also cook them from a frozen state, it just takes a few more minutes to get them cooked through.

Dumpling Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped fine
• 1 garlic clove, chopped fine
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili oil

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

These potstickers are outstanding! They're insanely good and they're a little labor intensive because you have to make each individual potsticker but the result is definitely worth the effort. I was really, really reluctant to cook the cabbage because I hate the smell of cooked cabbage but I did and I was glad that I did. Dudley absolutely loved them and he is not a ground turkey sort of guy at all. I asked him after he went on and on about how great they were if he knew what kind of meat I used and ground turkey was his last guess. I will definitely make these again . . . as soon as I get back to the store to buy more wonton wrappers!