Monday, September 22, 2008

Shrimp Purses



These are a  fancy looking appetizer that is actually pretty easy to make. They are baked instead of fried so they are low in fat and not greasy like fried wontons. I found the recipe in a magazine, but it is also on the Contessa foods website under "Kid approved foods".  My kids wouldn't eat them, but friends of mine who have more adventurous eater, loved them. The creator of the recipe called them Shrimp Krispies, but I think they look more like little purses.

It says to chop all the ingredients and then mix them. I minced the ginger root, and then just put it all in the food processor, which was much faster and worked really well. The package of wontons that I bought (in the produce area of the grocery store) came with about 48 wrappers and the amount of filling the recipe makes was exactly enough to fill them all.  The photo is a professional one from the Contessa website, but mine looked just about exactly like this. Not bad considering my 6 year old son "helped" me with them. 

  • 12 ounces cooked shrimp
  • 8 ounces cream cheese (low fat works fine)
  • 2 shallots, chopped fine
  • 1 teaspoon ginger root, minced
  • 1 tablespoon chives, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • Wonton wrappers
  • Sesame seeds

  • Sauce:
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine
  • 1 tablespoon cold water

Wet the edges of the wontons and then the corners together, twist and pinch tight.  Place on a cookie sheet, brush with water, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown. 

Serve with dipping sauce made by combining soy sauce, rice wine and cold water.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Not so great Peanut Butter Cookies



My youngest son is a peanut butter fanatic, so when he wanted to make cookies, we decided to make peanut butter ones. I put chocolate chips in some of the cookies which my kids loved, but I prefer the straight peanut butter cookies, no chips, nuts or anything like that. 

Well, they looked pretty tasty, but they were actually kind of dry. I won't bother to post the recipe because I don't think it is worth repeating. Fortunately high school students will eat virtually anything, so my husband took them into his school and they disappeared.