Soup Dumplings

I LOVE making dumplings, ravioli, etc. -- they are like little gifts that you bite into for a surprise of ground meat, cheese, beets, whatever. With so many types of wrappers sold today it can be relatively quick and easy. You also can make them ahead of time and pull them straight from the freezer and into whatever you are cooking them in.

I'd love to hear about any type of stuffed goodie any reader out there likes to or wants to make. Send in a comment!

Last night I tinkered with a dish I've made a few times before -- shrimp dumplings in broth, sort of a seafood take on wonton soup. Previously I have added some mushrooms to the broth, but last night I went a step further and really made it a deep mushroom-flavored broth. It was a very satisfying hot soup on a chilly night. The recipe is pretty simple, though the dumplings can take a little time assembling. It makes enough for soup for two, plus dumplings left over that make terrific appetizers. Who doesn't like dumplings?

1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 green onions, chopped
1 egg
4-5 water chestnuts, diced
1 tspn soy sauce
1 tspn sesame oil
1/4 tspn chili garlic sauce*

Put three-fourths of the shrimp and all the other ingredients in the food processor. Pulse until blended and transfer to medium size bowl. Chop the other 1/4 lb of shrimp into 1/2 inch pieces, add to bowl and mix thoroughly.

Fill a small bowl with cold water. On a clean surface place one wonton wrapper (Cover the open wonton wrapper package with a towel to keep from drying out). Place one heaping tablespoon of shrimp mixture on the wrapper, slightly toward one side. Brush edges of wrapper with cold water, and fold one side over the filling, to create dumpling. Press down on all sides to seal, and make sure to get all the air out or the dumplings will open when cooked. Place dumpling on a lightly floured cookie sheet, and cover with a wet towel (not terry cloth). Continue making dumplings until all the filling or wrappers are used up. Cover tray (sans towel) with plastic wrap and place in freezer.

1/4 cup dried mushrooms
8 ounces mixed mushrooms, sliced or roughly chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
2 green onions, finely chopped
pinch of salt

In a small bowl, pour one cup boiling water over dried mushrooms. Let sit for 30 minutes. Remove mushrooms and finely chop. Pour water in small bowl through a paper towel into another small bowl to remove any grit or dirt.

In a medium pot, heat one tablespoon vegetable oil over medium heat. Add fresh mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. Add stock, chopped reconstituted mushrooms and liquid from small bowl and simmer for 30 minutes. Add green onions and salt.

Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Carefully put 10 dumplings into water. Using a slotted spoon, remove dumplings when they float to the top and place 5 into each soup bowl. Spoon mushroom broth and mushrooms over dumplings.

Yum!