The Abilene High School culinary team has been working and is ready for the Kansas ProStart competition being held in Wichita March 3-4. Below are the recipes they are preparing. See the story I wrote about this competition, "Abilene High School Students Cook Up Talent!" on the Abilene Kansas blog. All photos were taken by Sarah Geiger
Teia Potter’s POTSTICKERS Makes 2 portions
Pan frying is the
technique employed in this dish. It’s a shallow frying method where the food is
only partially covered in oil. Teia drops her potstickers in oil that is hot enough to ensure that the moisture in them
can escape in the form of steam. The force of that steam also keeps the oil
from soaking into the potstickers. Concerning the origin of her recipe,
she explained, “It’s a mix between what I found online and my mom’s family
recipe for egg rolls.”
Ingredients
Potsticker Filling
¼ lb. ground pork
⅛ cup (2 tablespoons)
chopped scallions (green onions)
1 ⅛ teaspoon grated
ginger root
3 tablespoons
vegetable oil
2 tablespoons
finely chopped cabbage
1 tablespoon soy
sauce
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6 wonton skins
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Sauce
1 tablespoon
granulated sugar
1 tablespoon rice
vinegar
1 tablespoon water
¼ teaspoon sesame
oil
--
Additional vegetable oil for pan frying
Directions
Potsticker Filling: Brown the pork in a skillet. Combine
cooked pot with remaining ingredients.
To Assemble Pot Stickers: Brush
edges of the skin lightly with water; place about a rounded ½ teaspoon of the
pork mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold, shape and seal edges.
Pan Frying: Heat just enough
additional vegetable oil to partially cover pot stickers as they fry.
Sauce: Mix together sauce
ingredients and serve as an accompaniment to pot stickers.
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| Teia works on plating her potstickers. |
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| Teia’s offering includes three potstickers with dipping sauce. |
Issaih Lopez’s KUNG
PAO BEEF Makes 4 servings
After consulting with
Mrs. Farr, his culinary instructor, Issaih decided to use a cookie cutter to
mold the rice that accompanies his Asian entrée. He also noted, “I combined two
recipes but the first time I made this dish, we determined it was too salty.”
He tried two more adjustments, and after his third try, he said, “I got it just
right this time!”
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs. boneless beef sirloin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine or
sherry
1 egg white, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons peanut or corn
oil
4 dried red chiles, split
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ tablespoon grated ginger
root
1 teaspoon Szechwan pepper,
toasted and crushed
2 scallions (green onions),
cut in ½” pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut in
pieces
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine or
sherry
2 tablespoons Chinese black
vinegar or balsamic
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch,
dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
⅓ cup roasted peanuts
Directions
Trim fat from the steak and
cut into 1” cubes. Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine/sherry, egg
white and salt in a glass bowl. Add the beef and stir to coat. Marinate for 1
hour, covered in the refrigerator.
Place peanut/corn oil in a
wok, swirling to coat the sides, and place over high heat. Add the chilies and
cook until they begin to darken. Add the garlic, ginger and Szechwan pepper;
continue to cook to infuse the oil. Add the scallions and bell pepper. Remove
the steak from the marinade and add it to the wok. Stir-fry the beef for 3
minutes until brown. Blend in soy sauce, rice wine, Chinese vinegar, sugar and
chicken broth. Dissolve the cornstarch slurry and add it to the sauce,
stirring, to thicken. Sprinkle in the peanuts and stir to coat. Serve over
rice.
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| Issaih Lopez stirs the ingredients for his Kung Pao Beef as Stephanie Mikulecky assists in the background. |
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| Rice accompanies Issaih’s entrée dish that is garnished with a carrot flower. |
Addie Alvarez’s STRAWBERRY-FILLED
WONTON CUPS
Addie found the
strawberry filling recipe online but had to tweak it to adjust the sweetness.
She adds that filling and chocolate sauce to squeeze bottles for ease in
dispensing, and to create the eye-catching chocolate designs on her dessert
plate. She put her own spin on this dish by creating flower-shaped wonton cups
that hold the sauce.
Strawberry Filling (this makes enough for several
serving)
1 cup fresh strawberries
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons
cornstarch
Mix ingredients together on a stovetop in a pan, mashing the
strawberries. Cook over medium heat until the mixture becomes a thick paste.
Wonton Cups (ingredients & instructions for 1
serving of 3 wonton cups)
3 wonton skins
1 tablespoon
vegetable oil
1 tablespoon
granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Using a cookie cutter, cut each wonton skin into a flower
design. Lightly fry the skins in a pan with a small amount of hot oil. Remove and
place them in the bottom of a small bowl (the bowl of a measuring cup works,
too), allowing the skins to form into a cup shape. Mix sugar with cinnamon and
sprinkle this mixture over the cup shapes.
Garnishes
Chocolate plating
sauce
Whipped cream
(made by whisking ½ cup heavy whipping cream with 1 tablespoon
granulated sugar)
Whole
strawberries, partially cut lengthwise and fanned, then dusted with granulated
sugar (1 per
dessert plate)
To Assemble: Decorate dessert plate with chocolate sauce.
Arrange 3 wonton flower cups on plate and fill with strawberry mixture; top
each with a dollop of whipped cream. Add a fanned and sugared strawberry to
each plate.
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| Addie sprinkles cinnamon sugar over a lightly fried, flower-shaped wonton dessert cup. |
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| Pleasing to look at, delicious to eat—Addie’s Strawberry-filled Wonton Cups. |
