[TW COOK] Cheap meals that are awesome.

Lamb said:
yeah, got mine at a wal-mart. it's either in the hot sauce section or the "asian" aisle

how do you fold the wontons? whatever i was doing was not fucking working. that, or i had way too much filler
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Yeah, you want usually between 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspon, it depends on the size of the wantons, they're not always the exact same size, some of them were slightly bigger than others, the bigger ones can hold more filling. You kind of have to gauge it off the size of the wantons.

Basically how I start is this:


1. Take a wanton wrap, place it on your work surface - I usually lay down some wax paper to make cleanup easier, then wet two adjacent edges with egg white or water, until they become sticky.

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2. Place your filling into the center, again, gauge it based on the sizes of the wantons, you don't want them swelled way up, just a little bit is often plenty.

3. Then you take your wanton by the dry corner, and fold it over to the wet corner, and gently press them together, if you work quickly they won't dry, and it'll stick. Then gently press the sides together starting from the corners you just placed together, careful not to force the filling out as you do this, once you get to the bottom, before you seal it, work the air out of your wanton wrap before sealing it shut.

If you seal it shut with too much air, it will fall apart while cooking.

4. Once you've got the edges sealed, take each side of the wanton, and create two pleats, which is folding the wanting edges over themselves, and do this two times on each edge of the wanton, this helps keep them together as well, and helps give them a flat side to cook on.

5. To actually cook them, I very light oil a pan with either vegetable or olive oil, until it's extremely hot - but not smoking, place a few potstickers in the pan, and let them sit there for about 2 minutes, if they're frozen I sometimes give them a little bit more time, up to another minute on the pan.

6. Once the time is up, quickly dump in 1/3-1/2 a cup of your choice of broth, I've used both chicken and beef broth - it's a matter of taste. I've even used boiled chicken bouillon, not as good as actual broth, but it works in a pinch and is easy enough to prepare while your oil is heating up. After you dump in your broth, quickly cover, reduce your heat a little, and let it sit for another 2 minutes, again, I increase this time if they're frozen.

7. Uncover, if cooked right, there really won't be much of any broth in the pan, ideally there shouldn't really be any. Gently pull off your pot stickers - if they're really stuck you can use a spatula to gently move them off, but they should come off on their own.


There's a great episode of Good Eats that covers the topic of making wantons, and covers a number of ways to cook them, although the recipe they offer wasn't terribly great, and they don't really discuss sauces hardly at all.

 
cook ramen. throw an egg in there, maybe some seaweed. boil down to noodles and a thick sauce

separate a whole chicken or about 8 thighs, put it in a large roasting pan. slice and throw in several potatoes, a turnip, celery, carrots, leeks, onions, and whatever other veggies you like. cover with a couple cans of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup. Cook for an hour or so, till the potatoes are done (they take longer than the chicken)

Take fresh zucchini (green or yellow) and slice it into 1/4" thick round slices. Salt lightly (or pepper or put your favorite seasoning on it). Bake till they're soft and chewy.
 
Breaded Chicken Alfredo

Take some chicken breast and coat it in egg and then Italian bread crumbs
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Put it in a baking dish, pour a jar of Alfredo Sauce over it. Cook for awhile. Top with diced tomatoes and maybe some fresh mozzarella or parmesan a few minutes before the chicken is done.

I like to serve it with some pasta and garlic bread.

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One my Gf does. Get an already cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shred it up. Cook up a box of Zataran's Jumbalaya, mix in the tasty flavorful chicken.

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Another real simple one we eat all of the time, but it is a bit more pricey. Cook up some penne pasta, and wash it so it is cold. Coat it well with some Italian dressing, we make our own with a dressing packet and oil/vinegar. Mix in some cubed fresh mozzarella, sliced black olives and pepperoni slices. Best served very cold.

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Myzithra pasta is also a real quick make. Cook up some spaghetti pasta, then saute it in plenty of browned butter. Grate a bunch of Myzithra cheese on top, and serve with french bread.
 
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