try this at home

Admit it. Most of us love these dumpling sort of treats. Most of us are acquainted with them through Italian stuffed pastas, and more than a few of us are acquainted also with the Asian sort of dim sum.



However, a visit to the local Japanese restaurant inspired some Swedish fusion ideas. Those little satchels are not your ordinary dumplings. However, one probably does not need to have Swedish leftovers in order to make these since the ingredients are familiar to most Western culture homes. It's almost like a shepherd's pie dumpling, come to think of it ...

Swedish Dumplings

Leftover roast 2-3 good hearty slices minced
1 cooked potato (any style, mashed, gratin etc.)
1/2 leek (be sure to rinse it well) minced
3 inch knob of extra sharp cheddar minced

1 large package of defrosted dumpling skins (gyoza or dumpling, not wonton)

1 t olive oil

optional: chives/garlic shoots/slim green onion shoots for garnish
food processor

Directions: There is a singularly easy way to make the filling, and it proceeds like this ... take out a food processor and coarsely chop each ingredient separately and put together in a bowl and mush together until all the ingredients seem evenly distributed.

If you're planning on making these as a fun appetizer, go ahead and make purses -- gather up the edges and squash together (the potato filling is great for this part since you need no water to seal them).

Place the dumplings in a nonstick pan over medium high heat with 1 t olive oil and heat for about 1-3 minutes checking the bottoms of the dumplings to see whether they're nice and golden brown. Then take 1/3 c of water and pour it into the pan and cover the pan with the lid leaving it slightly ajar and lower the heat and cook for about 5-7 minutes longer until the water has evaporated. Since the ingredients inside are already cooked, the only pressing matter is making sure the skins are well cooked and translucent.

For a nice presentation for a fancy appetizer tie with a chive or a garlic shoot and serve with a bit of warm gravy poured out in that very fancy way restaurants like these days (a very thin line of it) or that other fancy balsamic vinegar sweet sauce thing they like to daub plates with these days.

*Another option is to fold the dumplings shui mai style with an opening at the top and top it with a cooked pea which would make it an extremely charming shepherd's pie dumpling.

Have fun with your food!