A few friends gathered on 08/08/08 to celebrate the vertical infinity number with some serious food fun. And no, we did not watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.  This party was about the number 8, people.

Serveral months ago Aaron grabed a cookbook from work so we could make dim-sum on his Sunday off.  The dim-sum never happened but I remembered this recipe when I wanted to make dumplings and I was craving scallops.

I don’t have any pictures of the raw filling because my hands were. . .scallopy.  I used wild scallops for this dish and was pleased with the results.  Each bite was filled with a well balanced ginger/lemon/scallop taste, truly delightful.  My good buddy Ashby and I folded the dumplings in two styles, gyoza and soup.  I prefered the gyoza half-moon packets, each bite delivered well balanced flavor and moisture content.  I think Ashby prefered the soup dumpling packets!

 I REALLY enjoyed the “dressing” approach instead of the “dipping” approach.  I only used about half the dressing and by using lite soy sauce the flavor was not too salty.

 

Ashby and I were joined by Liz, food-maker, cake-baker extrordinaire.  This lady is so organized!  When I stopped by her house to pick her up she had her spring rolls fully prepped and everything was organized in a laungry basket.  She even purchased Chinese beer for the occasion!  

The spring rolls were crazy delicious.  Rice wrappers packed with an assortment of veggies including squash and the PERFECT ratio of rice noodle to vegetable.  I’m not surprised, Liz always wins.  It was super fun to watch her heat up the deep fryer and stand above it mumbling about “dead soldiers”. 

As the spring rolls luxuriated in the vegetable oil Ashby really started loving the smell. Insisting that everyone walk outside and walk back into the house to fully embrace the aroma.  “Except for you Emily” she said.  ‘Tis true, I couldn’t smell a thing.  However, hours later as I drank a beer with a friend of mine he exclaimed, “Emily, you smell delicious.”  I was stumped and worried because when you can’t smell there are no “delicious” smells just aromas you don’t understand.  I was hesitant, “Um, what do I smell like?”  “Fried deliciousness” he said.  I almost died laughing. I did not think that standing in a room with 6 spring rolls in a fryer would cling to my clothes for so long.  Ah well, if I am ever single again I will buy a Fry Daddy and put it to good use!

Ashby whipped up a special sauce and provided the kitchen.  Have I mentioned how much I love peanut sauce?  I do, I could probably devote an entire post to that condiment.

In all seriousness, this night was so much fun.  Good friends, good convo, good times.

Boiled Ginger Dumplings from Chinese Cooking for Beginners by Helene Siegel.

1/2 pound bay or sea scallops

1 small egg white

3 scallions, white and green minced

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon cornstarch

30 round gyoza wrapers

Dressing – 2 tbl. light soy sauce, 2 tbl. rice viegar 1scallion thinly sliced

1.) Combine the scallops with the edd white on a cutting board and chop finely. Dumplings taste better with larger bits of meat, so don’t be too finicky. Place in a mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients except wrappers and dressing. Combine well. The filling can be reserved in the refridgerator, covered, for up to two hours.

2.) To fill dumplings, have a small bowl of water ready nearby and a baking tray dusted with cornstarch center a generous teaspoonful of filing on each skin.  With a finger diped in water, moisten the outside edge of half of the wrapper. Fold over, pressing the dry dough to the wet to seal and enclose the filing. Then, lifting your hands, moisten the tip and press the 2 points toether to form a small cap.  These can be stuffed several hours in advance.

3.) Combine the dressing in a small bowl. To cook the dumplings bring a large saucepan or stockpot of water to a boil. Salt the water as you would for past, and drop in the dumplings. Stir the dumplings once to avoid sticking and cook until they all rise to the top and bubble there for about 10 seconds.

4.) Drain in a colander, shaking vigorously to remove exces water. Do not be concerned with dumplings that may have lost some filling. Tip out onto a deep plater or bowl, pour on the dressing, and gently toss. Serve immediately.

I’ve been friends with Ashby for over a decade.  Last summer Ashby and I went to San Francisco and ate crepes.  Ashby ordered the nutella crepes and last week Ashby turned 28.  When I lived in Berkeley I ate crepes all the time.  Who doesn’t like crepes?  They are somewhere between and omelet and a pancake but thinner and better that both. I’ve been fawning over the crepe cakes that recently blew up the food blogosphere.   In 2005 the New York Times reviewed The Lady M’s Boutique Crepe Cake.  Martha Stewart later prepared a similar cake and draped the whole thing in dark chocolate, guilding the lily as usual.  I wanted to make Ashby a crepe cake for her birthday and I wanted it to be reminiscent of the street food crepes in San Francisco and the East Bay.  So I added Nutella and aimed to include 28 crepes in the recipe, one for every year of Ashby’s life.  I lost five crepes to a too-hot pan, but 23 crepes seems to suffice!

I’ve never made pastry cream before! This vibrant yellow concoction is egg yolks, cornstarch and sugar.  I later whisked it together with some warm vanilla-laden milk.

 

I used a vanilla bean from Madagascar and when the bean pod and scrapping began to simmer on the stove I could FEEL the love.  Even though I could not smell the aroma it was a relaxing experience.  I pressed the pastry cream through a seive and the resulting product was what you might find on the inside of an excellent and authentic eclair.  It was delicious.

This is a dark and murky picutre is of my light and fluffy crepe pile.  To save counter space I stacked my crepes and seperated them with parchment paper.  Crepes are very hot when you flip them in the pan.  The pinky on my right hand took the brunt of the burn and I’m not sure why.  I used to roast coffee for a living and I would often emerse my hand in to a tray of 400 degree beans after I dropped them from the roaster.  Sometimes this was an intentional experiement (to crack open a bean or check the uniformity of the roast color) and sometimes it was not.  Anyway, that burns a bit more then flipping a crepe so I was somewhat prepared.  I should blog about roasting coffee.  I ofter wonder if I was the world’s first anosmic coffee roaster.

I really enjoyed “assembling” the final pastry cream.  I was using a hand whisk and I could not get the refridgerated cream to properly combine with the heavy cream so I threw the whole mixture in the food processor.  I know,  I’m a miracle worker.  I divided the finished cream into two halves and I added one cup of Nutella to one half.  I stirred the mixture until it was shiny.  I enthusiasticaly recommend trying Nutella pastry cream on a crepe cake or on cardboard.

 This photo does not do the cake justice.  I need to get a digital camera.  I served the cake with raspberries.  We cut thin slices.  I think it was delicious and I liked the addition of the Nutella.  I will make this cake again and I think a thin layer of seedless jam would really add another dimension!  Here is the reciepe for the Nutella Crepe Cake.

THE NUTELLA CREPE CAKE

For the crêpes batter:

6 tablespoons butter
3 cups milk
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tbsp. sugar
Pinch salt
vegetable oil

For the vanilla pastry cream:

2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
3 1/2 tbsp. butter

Finish the pastry cream. . .

2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons Kirsch
icing sugar (optional)

THE DAY BEFORE: MAKE THE CREPE BATTER AND PASTRY CREAM

Crepe Batter:  For the batter, cook the butter in a small pan until brown like hazelnuts. Set aside. In another small pan, heat the milk until steaming; cool for 10 minutes. In a mixer on medium-low speed, beat together the eggs, flour, sugar and salt. Slowly add the hot milk and browned butter. Pour into a container with a spout, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Pastry Cream: Bring 2 cups of milk to a boil.  Score a vanilla bean length wise and remove scrape the seeds from it’s interior and add them to the milk.  Throw the gutted bean into the milk. Turn off the heat and stir to incorporate the vanilla then set aside for 10 minutes.

In a medium heavy-bottomed pan, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, then place pan over high heat and bring to a boil, whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes. Press the pastry cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the small bowl.  Allow this pastry cream to cool a bit, but keep stirring. Stir in the butter. When completely cool, cover and refrigerate.

THE DAY OF:  MAKE THE CREPES AND ASSEMBLE THIS MONSTROSITY

Bring the batter to room temperature and place a nonstick or seasoned 9-inch crepe pan over medium heat. Swab the surface with the oil; add about 3 tablespoons batter and swirl to cover the surface. Cook until the bottom just begins to brown, about 1 minute, and then carefully lift an edge. While this edge is lifted count to 20, then flip the crepe with your hands.  Yes, they are hot. Cook on the other side for no longer than 30 seconds. Flip the crepe onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Repeat until you have 20 perfect crepes.

Finish the pastry cream. Whip the heavy cream with the tablespoon sugar and the Kirsch. It won’t hold stiff peaks but that’s okay. Fold it into the pastry cream.  If you have any problems combining the heavy cream and the pastry cream, just throw them in to the food processor together.  That’s what I did, it was excellent.

Divide the finished pastry cream in half, add one cup of Nutella to half of the icing.  Mix by hand until smooth, shiny and delicious.

Lay 1 crepe on a cake plate. Using an icing spatula, completely cover with a thin layer of pastry cream (about 1/4 cup).  Don’t go too easy on the pastry cream and if you are not careful you will have a lot left over. Cover with a crepe and repeat, alternating a layer of pastry cream with a layer of Nutella cream, to make a stack of 20, with the best-looking crepe on top. Chill for at least 2 hours. Set out for 30 minutes before serving. Slice like a cake.