Bao Buns

 These aren't too hard to make but they do take a bit of time and require a steamer. This recipe is for the Ninja Foodi Deluxe but you could steam them in a electric pressure cooker or steamer basket on the stove. You may have to adjust times and methods accordingly. 

There are probably a ton of different fillings you could use as well but I am including my favorite hoisin pork filling.

Place 1/2 cup hot water (105 degrees) in bowl. Sprinkle 1 package of yeast on top. Let sit 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine:

 3 cups all purpose flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Warm 1/2 cup milk to 105 degrees and add 1 Tablespoon of oil. Mix with water and yeast.

Make well in flour and pour in wet ingredients. Mix slightly.

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Turn onto floured surface and knead and add flour to surface until smooth and elastic.

Put into an oiled bowl, flip dough, and cover with a towel.

Place in the oven with a shallow pan of boiling water on the rack below. Let rise for 45-60 minutes or until about doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, prepare your filling.

Brown some ground pork in a skillet. Make sure to break it up into small pieces for your filling. You don't want big chunks of meat. 

After it is cooked, add in some hoisin sauce (or sauce of your choice). You want the meat covered but not wet.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and knead a few times on a lightly floured surface.

Then divide the dough into 24 equal pieces. 

Roll each piece into a circle. Don't roll it too thick or too thin.

Place the dough in your hand and place a bit of pork filling in the middle.

Bring the edges up and pinch and pleat all the way around. Then twist it a bit at the top to seal.

Then place the bun into a standard-sized silicone muffin "paper".

You can double stack these on the racks but don't do more than 6 on each layer.

Fill the bottom of the pot with 1-2 cups of boiling water. And place the rack inside the pot.

If you are doing a double layer, steam the buns for 14-15 minutes. 

If you are doing a single layer, place them on the taller rack and steam for 12-13 minutes. 

I tried this recipe with the pressure cooking lid and the Ninja glass lid. I found they did not steam correctly with the PC lid, even on vent. I would suggest buying the Ninja lid or even finding a glass lid that fits the pot for this recipe.

Start with the lower time and carefully remove the lid as soon as the timer stops. Remove one of the buns with tongs and let sit for about 30 seconds. Try removing it from the silicone mold. If it sticks and doesn't want to come out, put it back, put the lid back on and steam for another 1 minute. Check again the same way. Mine have never taken more than the extra minute.

Eat these right away. 

You can also chill them for the next day or then freeze them. 

To reheat, place frozen or leftover bun on a glass plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for about 1 minute or until heated through. You can also steam them again from frozen in the Foodi for 5-6 minutes or until heated through. 

Pressure Cooker Frozen Potstickers

I love those frozen potstickers from Costco! And the pressure cooker steams them to absolute perfection in only 4 minutes!

Just cover the bottom of the pot with water, put in a steamer rack, place the frozen potstickers on top, put on the lid, set for 4 minutes on vegetable setting and wait.

Quick release the steam and fry in a  bit of sesame oil until lightly browned, if desired.

Serve hot with dipping sauce...

Cheese-Stuffed Christmas Tree

This is absolutely AMAZING! But you have to eat it hot right out of the oven.

First make a batch of Easy Peasy Bread dough.

After the dough rises, split the dough into pieces to make rolls.

Roll the dough around 1/8 of a piece of string cheese.

Place stuffed rolls on a greased baking sheet in a Christmas tree shape.

Brush with an egg beaten with a little water. (it's not absolutely necessary) 

Bake at 450 for 20 minutes or until golden.

Remove from oven and brush generously with melted butter. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese or topping of your choice.

Place back in oven for 2 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve immediately with pasta sauce for dipping.

Cranberry Merlot Meatballs

This is one of my new favorite crock pot meals! I can make it in a snap and it tastes rather fancy and elegant. If I use frozen meatballs, it only takes a minute to throw it all together and cooks on high in only about 3 hours. We love it served over mashed potatoes but is also a lovely appetizer!

Whisk together:

1 can jellied cranberry sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup merlot (or any red wine or cranberry juice)

2 teaspoons stone ground mustard (or any other hot mustard)

Pour over 30-40 meatballs.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 5-6 hours, or until meatballs are hot.

Serve over mashed potatoes or as an appetizer.

Make Your Own Yoshida’s

I LOVE Yoshida’s teriyaki sauce/marinade! It is so versatile and I use it in my stir-frys, rice recipes, teriyaki dishes, as a dipping sauce… everything! I was so disappointed when I learned that it had high fructose corn syrup in it! :o(  (I’m not uber anal about the whole HFCS thing, but I like to avoid it whenever possible.)

But it is ok, because I discovered a substitute that is pretty darn close and pretty darn tasty, too! And now I know why it has HFCS… it has THREE kinds of sugar in it!

This recipe makes enough but not too much. If you need more, I suppose you can double it.

1 cup soy sauce

3 oz (3/8 cup) sugar

3 oz (3/8 cup) brown sugar

1/8 cup finely sliced green onions

1 teaspoon of ground or finely minced ginger

2 cloves of minced garlic

1/2 cup honey

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over med.-high heat, stirring often, until it comes to a boil and sugars all dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool before serving as a dipping sauce or marinade. You can use it right away as a sauce.

Christmas Sausage Wreath

Here’s another fun finger food for your next holiday party! Be sure to cut up a red pepper for a fun red ribbon!

1-2 tubes of crescent rolls

1 pkg of Little Smokies

Open up the tube of crescent rolls and press the two triangles of dough into rectangles. Using a pizza cutter, cut the rectangles into 8 strips each.

Roll one sausage into each strip of dough and place in a circle shape on a large baking sheet.

Bake at 375 for 11-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Garnish with pepper ribbon and serve with mustard for dipping.

Bagel Wreath

When I am throwing a party I like the food to be simple yet fun and tasty, too! This one turned out to be all three…

Spread mini bagels with cream cheese.

Sprinkle with dill weed to taste.

Finely chop fresh veggies. I used a mixture of bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, & broccoli.

Sprinkle veggies on top of bagels.

Place in a circle on a plate.

Garnish with a red bell pepper cut to look like a bow.

*You can also cut each bagel into smaller pieces if you want them to be bite-sized pieces.

Fresh Cranberry Salsa

This is my version of my friend Krisitn’s recipe for cranberry salsa. It’s pretty spicy but can easily be toned down to suit less hearty taste buds… It can be served over cream cheese with Wheat Thins or plain with tortilla chips.

1 bag fresh cranberries, washed & drained

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger

1/2-1 cup cilantro leaves

4-8 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno pepper

juice of 1 lime

zest of 1 orange (optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until chopped but not pureed.

Chill until read to serve.

Rhubarb Chutney

I made this recipe up all by myself! I had some ginger and rhubarb left over from the last couple of recipes and I LOVE chutney, so I gave this combination a whirl… I think it turned out perfectly! It is so yummy that I find myself sneaking a spoonful almost every time I open the fridge!!! :o) But I think it would be really good on chicken or pork or over cream cheese with crackers…

3 cups chopped rhubarb

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup cider vinegar

2 small tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped

2/3 cup raisins

1-2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1-2 Tablespoons chopped candied ginger

6 peppercorns

4 whole cloves

Bring rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice and vinegar to a boil.

Then add remaining ingredients and simmer until rhubarb and apples are tender and the chutney is a bit thick.

Then spoon into jars and let cool on counter before putting in fridge.

Salad Rolls

These little tidbits are so fresh and delicious! I think they would make an excellent light summer lunch. This recipe is from my friend Betsy (but was given to me by my friend Lori). I didn’t have all the ingredients, but I think you can be pretty creative with this one. We decided some little salad shrimp with the the perfect addition!

The sauce is also very light and a bit spicy, just what it needs!

3 oz rice noodles, boil for 2 minutes and then rinse in cold water and drain well

2 cups bean sprouts (I didn’t have any and used finely shredded cabbage, but I think a combo of the two would be really good)

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

2 tsp fresh ginger

4 cloves finely minced garlic

spinach or lettuce leaves

rice wrappers

Sauce

Whisk together

1/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon chili sauce

dash ginger

Combine first six salad roll ingredients in a bowl and let sit for about a half hour to let the flavors marry a bit.

Soak rice wrappers in hot water until soft.

Yes, it is in there. You just can’t see it! :o)

Roll 1/4 cup filling into the wrapper. Top filling with lettuce or spinach leaves. (I used a little too much filling in mine, but I was in a hurry…)

Cover prepared salad rolls with a damp towel until serving.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

We love poppers, but I don’t love making them! They are a lot of work and are gone in a flash! So when my friend posted this recipe I also knew (like she did) it would be a keeper!

I made a few changes but it turned out great! We like them pretty hot and spicy! Serve it hot from the oven with tortilla chips! I also think it would be good spread on a toasted bagel for lunch…

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayo (I would use less, I don’t like mayo)

1 can diced chilies (for a more spicy dip, I would use canned diced hot chilies or jalapenos)

3 fresh jalapenos, finely chopped (leave in seeds for more spice)

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup finely shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix cream cheese, sour cream and mayo until smooth.

Stir in chilies and jalapenos.

Spread in a glass pie plate. (At this point you can bake it right away or let it sit covered overnight in fridge.)

Just before baking, mix the bread crumbs and cheese in a small bowl and sprinkle on top of dip.

Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through. After it’s heated through, you can place it under the broiler for a browner top if you want.