Sometimes a nice Chinese dinner is just the thing!

Despite the fact that we had just had Chinese food the night before, when I asked Shells what she wanted for dinner a couple of weekends ago she didn't hesitate to say "Dumplings!"  Never one to say no, I headed off to the store to figure out what to make.

I decided I wanted to have some fun with this dinner, so in addition to dumplings I pulled together the ingredients for shumai and some spring rolls.

For the shumai, I went with a very simple filling of scallops and shrimp.  When I prepare this I try to dice the shrimp a bit more finely and the scallops a little larger so that the shrimp cook a little faster.  You don't have to do this, but I find that it helps make the scallops a little less rubbery.

I tossed the ingredients together and then filled them into wonton wrappers, pinching them up into a package with an open top.  To cook them I used a bamboo steamer until the shrimp were pink.

For the next course I went a little different and made a fried spring roll.  At this point our dinner deviated a little bit from the traditional as well.

For the stuffing of these spring rolls I roasted a batch of short ribs and then combined the short rib meat with sliced carrots and shiitake mushrooms.  I had pre cooked the mushrooms, but not the carrots to ensure that they would provide a little crunch in the finished product.  To cook them I put about 1/4" oil in my wok, heated over medium high heat and then fried the spring rolls, turning three times to ensure each side was cooked evenly.  If you use more oil you can cook them quicker, but then you have more oil to dispose of!

The finished product was crispy and delicious, especially dipped in a mix of sweet chili and sriracha.

For the final course, it wasn't really a surprise what I was going to make.  Our dumplings are a tried and true crowd pleaser, so of course I wouldn't change a thing ... right?  RIGHT?


Wrong!  Rather than go with our traditional pork stuffed dumplings, I decided to change it up and go with a ground veal filling.  I still mixed it with the traditional bok choy and other ingredients, and I still cooked them with a combined steam and then fry preparation.  At the end of the day they looked, and tasted, just as good as always!

Veal ... the other, other white meat!

I know that veal can be a divisive food, but it is so TASTY that I just don't care.  I went to Whole Foods with my heart set on a steak, but when I saw these beautiful veal rib chops I just had to get them instead.  Veal in hand I went back and grabbed some asparagus and figured I would serve it with some polenta, but it just felt like maybe I needed something more!

Mushroom sauce, that's what I was going to need!  Back to the veggie aisle I went and grabbed a large handful of Shiitake mushrooms and a box of Kitchen Basics veal stock (you know, because why not?).

Mushroom Veal Sauce

1 container Kitchen Basics veal stock

1/2 lb Shiitake mushrooms

Salt & Pepper to taste (you don't need much salt as the stock has a good bit in it)

For this sauce I put about 2 cups of stock into a saute pan and then tossed in all but 1 large mushroom (washed and stems removed of course).  I put the pan on low heat and went to watch TV for about an hour.  Ok, I did check the pan occasionally to ensure the liquid wasn't boiling off.  After the hour was up I transferred the contents to the Vitamix, added the salt and pepper, and blended until smooth.  Back to the pan the sauce went and I returned it to a burner with a "warm" setting to keep it warm while everything else finished cooking.  Take the reserve mushroom and slice thinly, and using either a saute pan or a broiler cook until lightly crispy and then serve on top of the veal to accompany the sauce, eat and enjoy!