Golden Potstickers

I'm writing this post from 35,000 feet. We're rocketing through the clouds at 550 m.p.h, the wilds of Canada are below me, and I'm wedged into my seat on a nine hour flight. London is the destination, my hit list is long, and I've got some good stuff to eat tucked under my seat right now. I was on a bit of a dumpling bender leading up to my departure. In part, because I knew I wanted to pack a luck box full of them for the marathon flight.

Let me start of by saying, these aren't traditional in any way. I've simply cobbled favorite aspects of different dumplings I've loved, in the past, into this version. Caramelized shallots (or onions) and pureed yellow split peas make the filling. They somewhat resemble momos in shape. And I tend to serve them nestled deep into a bed of arugula (when I'm not on a plane) in an attempt to get some greens in the mix.

I'd argue, these dumplings are the distant (west coast?) cousin of these. My favorite dumplings ever. Today's recipe, my friends, is the slacker's version. I didn't make the wrappers from scratch. I use the folding style that comes most natural to me (basically, crimp & pinch), I use yellow split peas because I always have them on hand. And, because I love the golden, crisped footprint you get with the potsticker cooking method (instead of steaming) that's how it goes down. So here we are.

Just so you know - there are a couple simple components at play here. You make a scallion oil, to drizzle. There's a chile-spiked, salty sweet dipping sauce, a! nd then the dumplings. Before cooking my airplane potstickers, I cooked a plate for Wayne to take to a birthday picnic the other day. Up above you can see what that looked like - served over a bed of arugula, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, drizzled with the sauces. Easy finger food.

I know a number of you were curious about my carry-on packing. Here's a shot of everything going with me (sort of hard to see though). As well as a beautiful shot from the sky. Just after take-off our pilot banked north, then east, through the Golden Gate. We flew directly over San Francisco, and if you look, you can see the big darkened square mid-right - Golden Gate Park. And the dark patch at the bottom - the Presidio. It was a real treat and a spectacular way to start the trip. xo -h

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