Spicy Chicken Wonton Soup with Shrimp

Chicken filled Wontons and shrimp flavor this dish.

My husband, loves this chocked full of flavor soup and after devouring two large bowl fulls proclaimed it a "do again" (term our second daughter-in-law coined for make it again regularly please).

My adaptation is from a recipe given on sunshineandsmile.com for Chicken Wonton soup but it is jazzed up a bit for our tastes!!

Yields 6 servings.

Ingredients for the wontons:

1 pkg. wonton wrappers, prefer thin
2 C. chicken, uncooked and cut into 1/2 " cubes
1/2 pound cleaned and deveined shrimp
1 C. finely sliced green onions, include the green tops
3 cloves fresh garlic finely chopped
2 t. freshly grated ginger
1 egg, separate, add yolk for filling and save the white to seal the wontons
1 T. Sriracha Chili sauce
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
1 T. soy sauce

Place all of the ingredients except the wonton wrappers and the egg white into the bowl of the food processor and pulse just enough to combine well. Do not over process. You do not want to make a paste. More like a meat loaf consistency.

I usually fill 3 or 4 at a time by placing 3 or 4 wrappers on a large flat diner plate and placing a scant teaspoon full of the filling to the side of the center of each separated wonton. Using my finger I dampen the 4 edges of the wrapper with egg white. Fold to form a triangle, sealing the edges as you press any trapped air from the dumpling. It is important they seal well and that the filling does not leak. Set these aside a few minutes and prepare the broth. You should refrigerate them on a tray if you are not going to proceed and finish the soup at this time.

Ingredients for the soup:

1 onion chopped fine
3 carrots sliced thin
1 small bunch bok choy
2 stalks of lemon grass
6 C. chicken broth
1 T. Sriracha Chili Sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a deep heavy bottomed pan and add the onions and season with salt and pepper. Saute until translucent. Add the carrots and chili sauce to the pan, then stir in the broth and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer.

Pound the lemon grass to release its essence and split the stalks in half. Drop them into the broth and cook for 15 minutes.

Add the bok choy and wontons and cook 5 minutes, add the peeled and deveined shrimp and cook 2-3 minutes until translucent.  Remove the lemon grass and discard.

Serve hot in large flat bowls to feast first on the aroma and sight of this dish.

Ginger

Ginger Stores Beautifully in the Freezer.

I've just returned home from a short road trip to Henderson, Ky.  I visited my dear friend Mickey who is in my opinion an angel here on earth.  She just spreads goodness wherever she may be or in whatever direction she directs her energy.  She prepared for me a batch of ointment that relieves my knee pain and I am very grateful to her.

She also gave me some GALANGAL ROOT (Sometimes called  Galangal Ginger) which I am not familiar with but am keen to find out about!! 

Galangal Root

If anyone has used galangal and has recipes for it's use I would love to hear from you. 

In the course of the conversation we spoke of regular ginger and the storage of it. I told Mickey I have kept it stored in my freezer for years and it is just wonderful. You never loose it. It never spoils or shrivels or rots. You just pull it out as needed and peel it as much as needed and proceed to slice it off or better yet, it just grates off beautifully!! I keep it in a plastic bag tucked into the shelf where it stands ready at all times to add it's wonderful pungency as needed.

Micky was clear that I should share this storage hint on the blog so here it is and I hope you are as happy with the result as I have been.

Smoked BBQ Ribs and Rub for St. Louis Style Pork Ribs

Ready to eat ribs.

Brian's 67th birthday is Tuesday the 2nd of August and we celebrated his birthday by having him, at his request, smoke ribs for diner on Sunday. Our tradition is that you pick the diner menu or restaurant and we get on it and try to do what your heart desires for you!!

Brian wanted to smoke St. Louis style ribs. We have almost always made baby back ribs so this was a change. I spoke with our butcher Randy and he prepared them by cutting the rib tips off of three full slabs. I purchased them at the regular spare ribs price, had the tips removed and freezer wrapped for later use in two package portions. These will be great slow cooked in the crock pot or roasted over sauerkraut on a weeknight supper menu.

Seasoning for Ribs and Pork.

Next I prepared a rub or dry seasoning for the ribs:

1/2 C. coarse kosher salt
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 T. onion powder
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. lemon pepper
1 T. ground black pepper
3 T. paprika
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cayenne pepper

Mix altogether and season meat generously about an hour before cooking. Store seasoning in an airtight container for use later.

Seasoned St. Louis Style Pork Ribs.

We cook our seasoned ribs over a pan of liquid and with wet wood chips in a smoker. The liquid can be water infused with any ripe fruit you have or beer or wine. The wood chips are also your choice. We have used numerous fruit woods as well as hickory chips. These were smoked for 8 hours over a low heat around 225-250 degrees. They were great!!

The birthday menu was BBQ ribs, Asian Slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, cubed watermelon, as well as a Devil's Food layer cake with chocolate butter cream frosting and vanilla ice cream. We sang "Happy Birthday" and a good time was had by all.