swei jows

All you have to do in my family to reduce any of us to salivating weirdos, is to say two words.

Swei Jows.

Let me explain. Swei Jows are our family dish. My dad went to Taiwan on his mission for the LDS church in the olden days (sorry Dad, hehe), and he ate these almost every day. They're kind of like boiled pot stickers...at least that's the way we usually try and explain them to newcomers. That, or we shove their faces in it and yell, "See? Aren't they yummy!?"

You should be so lucky.

Anyways, my dad had his birthday last week, so we celebrated by cooking up a couple hundred or so of these yummy treats, and then gorged ourselves.


Here's how you make them, if anything for future generations, should the Swei Jow love get lost in the shuffle somehow.

Swei Jows

1 lb of ground pork
1 egg (per lb of pork)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic
1/2 head shredded cabbage
1 package wonton wraps

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl, fill wraps, and press edges together with water. Boil in water for 5-6 minutes until edges are sealed together and they float to the top. Eat with soy sauce, hot pepper oil, and/or vinegar. (see my lovely instructions below for step by step directions)

Yes, this is really how much filling we use. (I think we usually quadruple the recipe)

You'll need: (as shown in the picture below)

Thanks to my brother Justin for his lovely swei jow instructional hand modeling. He has a future, I think.

So, take some of your filling, and plop it in the middle of your wrapper. (not too much or it will burst open while cooking and everyone will blame each other)

dab some water around the edges, and press together into a half circle shape.

crimp your edges like so...although Justin didn't do the neatest job, it will still taste delicious.

Repeat a bajillion times until you've run out of meat or wrappers, whichever happens first! Once in awhile you run out of both at the same time. I call that the Perfect Storm.

Prepare your bowl...with some soy sauce, hot oil, and vinegar, whichever combo you prefer. I usually do soy sauce with some hot oil. YUM!

Boil for 5-6 minutes or until they float to the top. Next: eat (with chopsticks unless you are chopstick-handicapped like Rory) by dipping into your soy sauce mixture, and try and eat as many as you can before the tray disappears. We have two trays on either end of the table, and everyone is always after the coveted middle spot that gets to eat from both trays.

By the way, liking Swei Jows is one of the requirements for marrying into the Lance family. That, and you have to like camping. Just so you know. In case any of you want to marry one of my siblings someday.

(and yes, Rory passed both tests)

Zuppa Toscana

Zuppa Toscana  
adapted from Annie's Eats
 

Ingredients:
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
4 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks
2 cups fresh kale, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
2.5 cups water
1 cup heavy cream ( i used half and half)
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Place a large stockpot on the stove over medium heat. Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned. Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside. Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for a minute more, just until fragrant. Add the potatoes, kale, chicken broth and water to the pot. Return the sausage to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer on medium-low. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender and cooked through. Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

*** PLEASE tell me you've had the zuppa toscana at olive garden! if you haven't though, try this recipe. it's so deliciously spicy and hearty! rory always gets this when we go, and i get the salad (to be "healthy"), and i always end up snitching spoonfuls from his bowl. now i don't have to! yum.

serve it with these breadsticks and you are GOOD to go!

goodies

plates of goodies for friends and neighbors!

starting at the stars-going clockwise: sugar cookies, jam bars, fudge, peanut butter kiss cookies, and oreo bark. yum!

i'll not be baking for another year, thank you. just kidding.

recipes below:

sugar cookies and royal icing

jam bars

easy fudge

peanut butter kiss cookies

oreo bark

Creamy Chicken and Pasta Bake

i've noticed my food photography got progressively worse as it got darker earlier this winter. last summer, i had great light when i finished dinner...now...not so much. well, anyways, this dish is simple, quick, and so yummy! sorry again about the craptastic pic.

rory was sick all day yesterday and sadie woke up er..being sick last night too...poor things. luckily they're doing better, but cross your fingers/pray i don't get it!


Creamy Chicken and Pasta Bake
adapted from Kraft Foods

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups small pasta (bow tie, rotini...)pasta, uncooked

1 small bunch broccoli, cut into florets (about 3 cups)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, cubed

1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese

HEAT oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli for the last 3 min.
MEANWHILE, heat large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 min. or until no longer pink, stirring frequently. Stir in broth; simmer 3 min. or until chicken is done. Add cream cheese; cook and stir on low heat 1 min. or until cream cheese is melted. Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella.
DRAIN pasta and broccoli. Add to chicken mixture; mix lightly. Spoon into 8-inch sq. baking dish; cover.
BAKE 15 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake, uncovered, 3 min. or until melted. Let stand 5 min.

***the kraft recipe calls for 2 oz. cream cheese, but i like the sauce to be thicker, so i use 4 oz. changes shown above! :D

Navajo Tacos

i've actually never tried navajo tacos...i don't know if the way we made them was legit or not, but they were pretty dang tasty nonetheless! rory was frustrated that i called them tacos. he thinks they don't fold well...i don't think you're supposed to fold them, hun. anyways, the bread was a snap to make and easy to cook as well. filling, inexpensive, and easy! three of my favorite words. ;) i just made some taco meat and added a can of pinto beans, to top them off. and of course, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, and lettuce. 
  Navajo Tacos
from Chocolate on my Cranium

2 cups flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 - 1 cup hot water
oil for frying

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in mixing bowl. Add the water a little at a time to make a soft dough. Knead a few times then let rest. You can actually let this rest for up to an hour but we cook them right away.

Pinch off balls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll out each ball on a floured surface with a rolling pin until dough is about 1/8 thick. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a deep pan to about 375 degrees. Fry dough one piece at a time until golden. Turn to cook other side. Drain on paper towels. If done correctly the fry bread will puff up with several bubbles in the dough. Makes about 7 pieces of fry bread.

Pile them high with chili or beans, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, sliced olives, diced tomatoes, sour cream, and salsa. For dessert you can slather them with honey and butter. YUM!

Olive Oil Pizza Dough/Garlic Chicken Pizza

so when i was a teen, friday nights, my brother and i would go to papa murphy's and get a huge garlic chicken pizza to split...and eat it all! (pretty evenly too, i might add) i always said that their garlic chicken pizza was the thing i would choose to eat if someone made me choose only one thing to ever eat again. yumm. so of course, i had to try and recreate it at home! and this was pretty darn close.


Olive Oil Pizza Dough
from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

(makes about 4 pizzas)

2 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the water, yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil in a 5-quart, lidded container (or bowl).

Mix the flour in, without kneading. Use a wooden spoon, a stand mixer, or a food processor.

Cover, not airtight, and let sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, until the dough rises and then flattens on top.

Store in the fridge, keep it covered, but not air tight, and use within 12 days.

On the day you are going to make pizza, bring the dough out of the fridge. Dust the surface of the dough with some flour and pull off a one pound chunk (using a serrated knife or kitchen shears), a about grapefruit size. Put the rest of the dough back in the fridge to be used another day. Using floured hands quickly shape into a ball and then roll out to the thickness you like, just like you roll any other pizza dough. Using flour when needed to keep it from sticking. There is no need for it to rest, you can proceed directly with your pizza recipe!

so...it seems their garlicky sauce is a combo of ranch dressing and garlic! huh. so simple. so, mix up your sauce of ranch dressing and chopped garlic (whatever amount you need...rory doesn't eat this so it's just me, and janae if she's over. she always manages to make it over on pizza night. hmmm...) spread it on your dough, and top with cooked diced chicken (i use canned stuff to make it super easy), chopped tomatoes and green onions, and mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 525 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. then....devour! yumm...

Black and White Bean Dip

yum.

Black and White Bean Dip
from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

1 can black beans

1 can white beans

1 can of corn

7 oz. salsa verde

2 cups shredded co-jack cheese

4-6 chopped roma tomatoes

garlic salt to taste

avocado – optional

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Rinse and drain both cans of beans. Drain the can of corn. Squeeze the liquid out of tomatoes before chopping so the dip doesn’t turn runny. Put all ingredients except avocado in a bowl and mix together. Spray a shallow baking dish with nonstick spray before spooning in the bean mixture. Sprinkle a little cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the dip is heated through. Remove from the oven and top with diced avocado. Serve with tortilla chips.