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multipurposegoddessThis is an October recipe, but I have collard greens now. I only got a little under a pound, so I had to cut the recipe in half, which is fine except that I forgot to cut the water in half for the long stewing of the greens. Given the diameter of the pot I was using, I might have needed that much water to cover, anyway, but the pot liquor ended up a little thin. I'll try heating up the leftovers on the stovetop tomorrow and hope that thickens it up.
Other than that minor issue, this is delicious. Pretty easy, takes a long time but the vast majority of the time is just the greens stewing and not needing any attention at all. The dumplings are super simple - just cornbread, fat (I used schmaltz instead of rendered salt pork, because I had that (I suppose I should mention that I used corned beef in place of the salt pork in the greens, again because it's what I had. That worked really really well) and water, no leavening or egg, so they stay pretty dense. Of course, the first thing I do with regular cornbread is crumble it over the greens, so dense chunks work fine for me. Since the dumplings are so dense and moist from being cooked in with the greens, though, they are not as useful for sopping up the bowl as baked cornbread, but they serve well enough.
I really like the one-pot-ness of this recipe - some of these dumplings are so fiddly and take a lot of room and make for a lot of dishwashing, it's a relief to hit any that aren't like that.
Checking off "Make Dumplings" on my To Do List has moved that recurrence into "Due within the last month" which is within range of what I am working on catching up on. So I may try another recipe soon. I have my eye on some New Year's appropriate steamed rice muffins
Edited at 3 PM to add: went ahead and started the Wealth of Steamed Rice Muffins (Fot Gao) since I had all the ingredients and it's another super simple recipe. Rice flour, sugar, water, baking powder, so another wheat-free vegan dumpling (come to think of it, the cornbread recipe couls easily be made vegan or vegetarian, and is already wheat-free. Convenient!) I made half the recipe because the full recipe is 6-12 servings, and my batter just about fit into 6 muffin cups, so my confusion over muffin sizing continues (in this case, it's what the recipe says it should make, though I filled them up to the brim, not 2/3). The batter is very tasty (and very sweet) and I expect the muffins to be good when they are done steaming in a few minutes.
{Upon actually finishing the steaming, they ended up kind of oblong (deformation of the silicone muffin liner) and not as explodey about the top as I expected. not sure if that is from filling them too full, not letting the batter develop long enough before steaming, stirring too much and letting the baking powder use up all it's juice before steaming, or some other thing/ Regardless, it's not a fatal flaw for feeding just me, and they go nicely with tea}
This is a January recipe, from China, and they are a New Year's treat.
.
In non-dumpling news, weight plates with (I hope) a wide enough hole to fit around my iron tree came today, so I should be able to get that set up again. Yay. It'll be good to have the goldfinches and sparrows out where I can see them - I hear them rustling around in the potato vine and cheeping at one another, but without a feeder they don't show themselves much.
Other than that minor issue, this is delicious. Pretty easy, takes a long time but the vast majority of the time is just the greens stewing and not needing any attention at all. The dumplings are super simple - just cornbread, fat (I used schmaltz instead of rendered salt pork, because I had that (I suppose I should mention that I used corned beef in place of the salt pork in the greens, again because it's what I had. That worked really really well) and water, no leavening or egg, so they stay pretty dense. Of course, the first thing I do with regular cornbread is crumble it over the greens, so dense chunks work fine for me. Since the dumplings are so dense and moist from being cooked in with the greens, though, they are not as useful for sopping up the bowl as baked cornbread, but they serve well enough.
I really like the one-pot-ness of this recipe - some of these dumplings are so fiddly and take a lot of room and make for a lot of dishwashing, it's a relief to hit any that aren't like that.
Checking off "Make Dumplings" on my To Do List has moved that recurrence into "Due within the last month" which is within range of what I am working on catching up on. So I may try another recipe soon. I have my eye on some New Year's appropriate steamed rice muffins
Edited at 3 PM to add: went ahead and started the Wealth of Steamed Rice Muffins (Fot Gao) since I had all the ingredients and it's another super simple recipe. Rice flour, sugar, water, baking powder, so another wheat-free vegan dumpling (come to think of it, the cornbread recipe couls easily be made vegan or vegetarian, and is already wheat-free. Convenient!) I made half the recipe because the full recipe is 6-12 servings, and my batter just about fit into 6 muffin cups, so my confusion over muffin sizing continues (in this case, it's what the recipe says it should make, though I filled them up to the brim, not 2/3). The batter is very tasty (and very sweet) and I expect the muffins to be good when they are done steaming in a few minutes.
{Upon actually finishing the steaming, they ended up kind of oblong (deformation of the silicone muffin liner) and not as explodey about the top as I expected. not sure if that is from filling them too full, not letting the batter develop long enough before steaming, stirring too much and letting the baking powder use up all it's juice before steaming, or some other thing/ Regardless, it's not a fatal flaw for feeding just me, and they go nicely with tea}
This is a January recipe, from China, and they are a New Year's treat.
.
In non-dumpling news, weight plates with (I hope) a wide enough hole to fit around my iron tree came today, so I should be able to get that set up again. Yay. It'll be good to have the goldfinches and sparrows out where I can see them - I hear them rustling around in the potato vine and cheeping at one another, but without a feeder they don't show themselves much.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-01 08:02 pm (UTC)I ran out of my winter feed, and was debating stopping feeding for the spring since I'll have to quit when I'm gone over the summer anyway. But I was supposed to go to a workshop this weekend, and taxes blew out that cash, so I didn't go, which is a roundabout way of saying although I don't have enough cash for the event, I should have enough for birdseed.
And I'm hatching this plan where I lure my punk band singer buddy out to stay in the house while we're gone this summer, so maybe his partner will love birds and could keep feeding while I'm gone?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-01 09:00 pm (UTC)That sounds like a win-win sort of plan, if it works out.
I always feel like on the days I don't feed them the goldfinches, etc., will feel all betrayed, like they are counting on the buffet I set out, but they aren't. They'd rather have the easy access to flax seeds, of course, but if it isn't there they just move on to the next possible food source. And when I do have food again, they don't hold a grudge but are right out there eating again very quickly.
Well, except for the hummingbirds, who will complain if their feeders are empty. I don't dare leave them unfed for long.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-01 09:06 pm (UTC)And you're right about the hummingbirds! Not only with they complain mightily, but they will come round to the front door, then to my office window, looking for me, and buzzing resentfully if I let it go empty!
Which reminds me, I just bought a big bag of sugar. Time to make nectar!