[Stephanie Brim]

Please don't kill me, but I was watching Food Network and caught the first episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay. I normally dislike anything on that channel except for Iron Chef (both, and generally just because of the creativity involved in the cooking), but the show is actually interesting.

Chowder was the theme this week and they both made some good ones. No recipes were really given away, though, other than listing the main ingredients. I have access to locally procured cream, butter, and veggies, and I'm wanting to make a chowder. I'm thinking lobster, potato, and leek as my main ingredients, but may do crab and lobster because it isn't exactly cheap around here.

Also, before that, I was thinking about dumplings. I need to work on desserts more than main dishes, so I thought about replacing the meat I'd use in my main dish dumplings with 'meat' - apples, raisins, and pecans. Add candied ginger and brown sugar, wrap in thinly rolled dough, and deep fat fry until crispy. Could be good, but dunno. What would you guys put in?

Comments? I'm thinking out loud here. I'm making a bit more money now with a second job and can splurge a bit more on food choices. I still want to make simple dishes as well, but more complex dishes with more flavor and creativity would be fun.

[Mikeb]

Originally Posted by Stephanie Brim

Please don't kill me, but I was watching Food Network and caught the first episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay. I normally dislike anything on that channel except for Iron Chef (both, and generally just because of the creativity involved in the cooking), but the show is actually interesting.

Chowder was the theme this week and they both made some good ones. No recipes were really given away, though, other than listing the main ingredients. I have access to locally procured cream, butter, and veggies, and I'm wanting to make a chowder. I'm thinking lobster, potato, and leek as my main ingredients, but may do crab and lobster because it isn't exactly cheap around here.

Also, before that, I was thinking about dumplings. I need to work on desserts more than main dishes, so I thought about replacing the meat I'd use in my main dish dumplings with 'meat' - apples, raisins, and pecans. Add candied ginger and brown sugar, wrap in thinly rolled dough, and deep fat fry until crispy. Could be good, but dunno. What would you guys put in?

Comments? I'm thinking out loud here. I'm making a bit more money now with a second job and can splurge a bit more on food choices. I still want to make simple dishes as well, but more complex dishes with more flavor and creativity would be fun.

Dumplings filled with apple, raisins and nuts are actually pretty classic fare, they're very good. Serve with custard sauce or some fruit compote on the side.

[Stephanie Brim]

I was actually thinking of pairing an ice cream with the dumplings. And don't think of them as dumplings...the end product would be more like a fruit-filled wonton than a dumpling, per se.

[Mikeb]

The ones I'm used to have a pastry dough exterior folded over the filling like a perogy (half-moon shape), then dusted with sugar and baked (I'm sure fried would work well too). We also do boiled ones with a potato dough instead of pastry.

[Stephanie Brim]

Oooh...potato dough is a nice idea.

I think the first thing I'm going to do, though, is play around with herb and spice ideas for the chowder. I was also thinking last night that a cheesy corn chowder wouldn't be a bad idea with all the sweetcorn that's popping up around here. You can get it cheap and it's generally the good stuff: candy corn, white corn, or peaches and cream.

[scott123]

Just an FYI, but I believe McDonald's apple pies are deep fried.