Potstickers

A little know secret about me is that I'm addicted to The Food Network. I don't usually go for the cooking shows with their fancy recipes and what not, but there was recently an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats that caught my attention. He did a show on Potsticker's, (which is something that Glenn happens to love) and the recipe seemed pretty easy. So I bought all the ingredients and enlisted the help of my trusty sous chef Garrett and we went for it.
Garrett is always my accomplice in my adventures because he likes figuring things out and he is especially game if it involves food. Two years ago when I was canning peaches for the first time Garrett and his curious nature happened by and my sidekick was born.
The fun part about potstickers was the unsticking. The first batch quickly attracted the girls and William and we had an audience for a while. First you cook them in the pan for two minutes and they end up sticking to the bottom, hence the name, then you add some chicken broth and cover the pan and let it steam for 2 more minutes. Then they are unstuck just like magic! When you add the broth the pan steams and sizzles like crazy so that's the exciting part.

Here's the recipe. I'd recommend it, it's easier than it looks and quite tasty! On the adult scale I'd give them a 10 and about a 7 on the kid scale. Our kids had a split vote because they were a tad spicy. I think it was mainly from the black pepper because our pepper grinder leaves it a little course.

Perfect Potstickers by Alton Brown

Ingredients
1/2 pound ground pork
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons ketchup
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
35 to 40 small wonton wrappers
Water, for sealing wontons
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
1 1/3 cups chicken stock, divided
Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Combine the first 11 ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl (pork through cayenne). Set aside.

To form the dumplings, remove 1 wonton wrapper from the package, covering the others with a damp cloth. Brush 2 of the edges of the wrapper lightly with water. Place 1/2 rounded teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold over, seal edges, and shape as desired. Set on a sheet pan and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat procedure until all of the filling is gone.


Heat a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil once hot. Add 8 to 10 potstickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, without touching. Once the 2 minutes are up, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove wontons to a heatproof platter and place in the warm oven. Clean the pan in between batches by pouring in water and allowing the pan to deglaze. Repeat until all the wontons are cooked. Serve immediately.