Today I made pot-stickers and broccoli florets. The pot-stickers were already formed and frozen. I thought it would be simply a matter of dumpling them into boiling water and letting them boil for 8 minutes, but the whole operation from start to finish took nearly 90 minutes! It took a little while for me to decide which pot I would use and which skillet to later brown them. Bringing 8 cups of water to boil also takes a little while. Then bringing the frozen dumplings back to boil took more time. My pot was almost big enough to contain 8 cups water and 45 dumplings while boiling, but at full boil I had to keep taking the lid off and stirring. Meanwhile I made some coffee. I usually make 3 pots of coffee at a time and keep them in thermal carafes. No matter how often I clean my coffee-maker, it runs fairly slowly, so one pot takes about 10 minutes. The whole operation takes 30 minutes. But these increments dove-tailed well with the stages of preparing the pot-stickers. After boiling them for 8 minutes, I drained them and browned them in a skillet w/ olive oil. To fit them into my skillet, I had to divide them into 3 batches. As I finished each batch, I placed them back into the still-hot pot I had used to boil them, having had prepared the bottom of the pot with spinach leaves. I had seen in a Chinese restaurant where they had put cabbage leaves on the bottom and around the sides of the pot-sticker pot; I assumed it was to keep them moist. I didn't have any cabbage on hand, so I used what I had: spinach!
To prepare the broccoli florets, I used a bag of frozen florets I could steam in the microwave in the bag. That took 5 minutes. Then I transferred them to the skillet where I seasoned them with olive oil, ground ginger, black pepper, and salt.
I served all this with 2 sauce selections: soy and spicy garlic sauce with pineapple juice (both by the same company that had made the pot-stickers).
For such a simple meal with so much prep already done ahead of time, I was surprised it still took me almost an hour and a half from start to finish! I used as few pots and utensils as possible: my mom's copper-bottom chili pot with lid, a new "green" skillet, 1 strainer, 1 wooden spoon, and 1 metal strainer-spoon. All of these are very easy to clean, which was admittedly a large part of my planning!
Another factor in this endeavor was the fact that the stove-top igniters aren't working so I had to light the burner with a match. This is easy to do, but the last time I had hand-lit a gas stove, it exploded on me, so I was quite wary and cautious of how I did this.
Still, how do I account for 90 minutes? NINETY minutes!!!
2: Read dumpling instructions for stove-top cooking
6: Select pots, lids, etc., and stage everything I would need
2: Read instructions for dumplings again
2: Light burner
10: Bring 8 cups water to boil
10: Dump in dumplings and bring it all to boil again
8: Boil for designated time
1: Drain
1: Prep skillet
7: Brown 15 dumplings
1: Prep pot w/ spinach leaves
1: Transfer browned dumplings to pot
1: Prep skillet again
7: Brown second batch of 15 dumplings
1: Transfer to pot
1: Prep skillet 3rd time
7: Brown third batch of dumplings
1: Transfer to pot
5: Steam broccoli florets
1: Prep skillet
7: Season florets in skillet
2: Choose plates and dipping bowls
3: Snip soy sauce packets and pour into serving cup
3: Wipe up spills, clean skillet asap and put away
These are of course just guesstimates of how I spent my time The only steps when I actually timed the activity was while I boiled the pot-stickers and when I steamed the florets. But I started at 11:00 a.m. and finished at 12:30 p.m. I was expecting John at 12:30 and he was 5 minutes late, so I had 5 minutes to lay down before he came home.
If I had prepared only 15 of the dumplings, would it have taken 1/3 the time? I could certainly save the time needed for browning the 2 extra batches, but I would have to figure out how much water I need to boil only 15 and factor how long it takes that to boil, plus bringing it to re-boil having had dumped in the dumplings...
This way I can now simply warm-up the already-prepared dumplings in the microwave the next time I want to eat them. However, 45 dumplings is really too many for just 2 people even if I spread them out across 3 means. And who wants to eat that many dumplings in 1 week?
Even though this was an extravagant experiment, I'm glad I did it because it gives me more confidence using the stove.
To prepare the broccoli florets, I used a bag of frozen florets I could steam in the microwave in the bag. That took 5 minutes. Then I transferred them to the skillet where I seasoned them with olive oil, ground ginger, black pepper, and salt.
I served all this with 2 sauce selections: soy and spicy garlic sauce with pineapple juice (both by the same company that had made the pot-stickers).
For such a simple meal with so much prep already done ahead of time, I was surprised it still took me almost an hour and a half from start to finish! I used as few pots and utensils as possible: my mom's copper-bottom chili pot with lid, a new "green" skillet, 1 strainer, 1 wooden spoon, and 1 metal strainer-spoon. All of these are very easy to clean, which was admittedly a large part of my planning!
Another factor in this endeavor was the fact that the stove-top igniters aren't working so I had to light the burner with a match. This is easy to do, but the last time I had hand-lit a gas stove, it exploded on me, so I was quite wary and cautious of how I did this.
Still, how do I account for 90 minutes? NINETY minutes!!!
2: Read dumpling instructions for stove-top cooking
6: Select pots, lids, etc., and stage everything I would need
2: Read instructions for dumplings again
2: Light burner
10: Bring 8 cups water to boil
10: Dump in dumplings and bring it all to boil again
8: Boil for designated time
1: Drain
1: Prep skillet
7: Brown 15 dumplings
1: Prep pot w/ spinach leaves
1: Transfer browned dumplings to pot
1: Prep skillet again
7: Brown second batch of 15 dumplings
1: Transfer to pot
1: Prep skillet 3rd time
7: Brown third batch of dumplings
1: Transfer to pot
5: Steam broccoli florets
1: Prep skillet
7: Season florets in skillet
2: Choose plates and dipping bowls
3: Snip soy sauce packets and pour into serving cup
3: Wipe up spills, clean skillet asap and put away
These are of course just guesstimates of how I spent my time The only steps when I actually timed the activity was while I boiled the pot-stickers and when I steamed the florets. But I started at 11:00 a.m. and finished at 12:30 p.m. I was expecting John at 12:30 and he was 5 minutes late, so I had 5 minutes to lay down before he came home.
If I had prepared only 15 of the dumplings, would it have taken 1/3 the time? I could certainly save the time needed for browning the 2 extra batches, but I would have to figure out how much water I need to boil only 15 and factor how long it takes that to boil, plus bringing it to re-boil having had dumped in the dumplings...
This way I can now simply warm-up the already-prepared dumplings in the microwave the next time I want to eat them. However, 45 dumplings is really too many for just 2 people even if I spread them out across 3 means. And who wants to eat that many dumplings in 1 week?
Even though this was an extravagant experiment, I'm glad I did it because it gives me more confidence using the stove.
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