Michaela

A more recent-ish culinary obsession of mine is integrating cheese into Asian food. My family was never big on cheese, so it wasn't really a fridge staple (though my dad enjoys it now for the sophistication of it). Makes sense. But then you see all these amazing random unexpected ways that Korean and Japanese food incorporate cheeses into their cuisines, and I'm here for it. Unsurprisingly cheese is a must-have at any social gathering for me, but I do often associate a good meat and cheese spread with game nights. Pre-Covid, we'd gather once a month or so to shout at each other over Codenames or Secret Hitler and form bonds built on snark and rivalry. Thankful for that because Michaela and co got me through some existential idleness at that start of lockdown. Michaela identifies as a European mutt. The short answer is we met through work. I always called her a "pseudo-coworker" thinking that was the most efficient way to explain the situation, but this is shockingly not a societally common way of summarizing a relationship, so I'd have to use more words anyways to clarify that our companies shared a space back when they were small enough to maximize financial situations and share an office and lab space. She was at Memphis Meats and I was at Geltor, and we were like the star-crossed lovers of the working world.

 

Apples came up a few times in different forms on Michaela's list, so I knew that was going to be a non-negotiable ingredient. And then the other thing that caught my eye was "apple onion chicken." What's that? Well, by my powers of deductive reasoning, and with some help from the Google, I discovered it's basically a one-pan dish that features apples, onions, and chicken. There are variations on what spices and seasonings go into it, but the gist is of course the same. Michaela's mom was a fan of quick and easy one-pan dishes, which seems incredibly reasonable for any mother.

So Michaela's dumplings are filled with diced apples cooked down with onions until caramelized and sweet and golden, ground chicken, thyme, and green olives to cut through the sweetness.

The other non-negotiable ingredient was potatoes, as she will consume potatoes in any form, so the wrappers are supplemented with baked and mashed Russet potatoes.

Cheese actually started out as a negotiable ingredient. Some apple onion chicken recipes called for cheese, and I also just knew Michaela would not be opposed to the cheese - but what kind of cheese was the question as I wandered through the grocery store. And then I remembered a quick description of a cheesy dip she used to have with salsa, cream cheese, and monterey jack.

I picked up a bag of shredded monterey jack cheese for cheese crisp garnishes, which ultimately became a cheesy dumpling skirt.

Basically a dumpling skirt but in cheese form - it will not disappoint.

I have to admit I have yet to actually perfect a traditional dumpling skirt. Sometimes they'll form unintentionally when steam frying a batch of dumplings. As the starchy cook water evaporates, the dumpling bottoms get crisper and any residual flour becomes a thin lacy web of crispiness left at the bottom of the pan. You can exaggerate this by adding a slurry of flour (or rice flour) and water instead of just water to cook the dumplings. And it is entirely necessary to use a nonstick pan - a tool that I rarely use and didn't even own for a couple years because I didn't want to bother with the maintenance.

Nonstick pans are coated with PTFE (trademark: Teflon), which has a super low coefficient of friction i.e. it is slippery. Coating a metal pan fills all the uneven bumps and ridges with Teflon so that food can slide easily across the surface without sticking to the porous spots. Though it does come at a cost - reduced heat transfer compared to metal = less yummy Maillard reactions, and concern about PTFE degradation to harmful fluorocarbons = no overheating and careful maintenance of the pan so that the layers don't scratch or flake off.

But for these cheesy dumpling skirts, it was worth finally picking one up at Target.

Things I would do differently: rice the potatoes for a more homogenous dough for the skins.

Michaela's complete list:

pork and applesauce

fried fish with lemon

hot dogs

clam chowder

apple pie/blueberry pie/boston creme pie

fajitas

cheetohs and cheese puffs

popcorn (including but not exclusively chocolate covered)

pretzels

apple onion chicken

buffalo wings

salsa cream cheese monterey jack cheese dip (prepared by melting in the microwave)

dry roasted peanuts

potatoes in every form known to mankind

ice cream

cheeseburgers

salami

olives

barbeque ribs

etc etc