Mushroom Potstickers

I made potstickers tonight, (well defrosted some I'd made earlier) for our Christmas Eve supper.
My kids wanted an Asian theme and had grand ideas about all sorts of stuff, but they were out babysitting until late and I was busy until after 5 as well, so I got Hot and Sour Soup as take-out, and then defrosted and fried up these babies (made and frozen a few weeks back) after rushing around with the last of the Christmas Shopping. Everyone was thrilled and declared it our "official" Christmas Eve Supper from now on.
...We'll see about that...

Allow me to go off on a tangent here, but, how is it that every year, I SWEAR I'm finished around the 20th of December, or so, and about 2:PM Christmas Eve I suddenly remember 25364728 little details I forgot?

Grrrr... batteries for the Ipod, and digital camera, and GameBoy; Starbucks Giftcards for the paperboy, the babysitter and anyone else I neglected (sorry if that was you.)

Anyway...these Potstickers are super easy and the recipe is tasty even if you have to play around with ingredients... definitely use fresh ginger and garlic thogh, not those dried imposters!

I'm off to wrap the last of the gifts. Happy Holidays to all of you. Enjoy.

Mushroom Potstickers

3 cups finely shredded green and purple cabbage - sometimes I shred kale as part of the mixture too.

4-5 good sized dried shiiake mushrooms (reconstituted = 1/2 cup diced) -

If you can't get these, just use 1/2 cup more

of the button mushrooms, but the shiitakes

add a depth of flavor that's hard to match.

1 cup minced fresh button mushrooms

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

2 teaspoons finely shredded fresh ginger

4 Tablespoons green onion, diced

1-2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

24 egg free gyoza (pot sticker/dumpling) wrappers

Saute everything except the ginger, green onion and rice wine vinegar until soft. Remove from heat and mix in the remaining ingredients.

Adjust seasoning to taste.

Set aside to cool.

To fill wrappers:Lay out a gyoza wrapper and place one scant teaspoon-full mounded in the center. run a wet finger around half the outer edge of the wrapper and fold over, pinching the seams together as snugly around the filling as possible. You can crimp the edges like a fluted pie crust if you like.

Set aside and continue with the rest of the dumplings.

When they are all constructed, steam in a rice-cooker, vegetable steamer or bring a pot of water to a boil and place a steamer basket inside.

Grease or pan spray the insert to prevent sticking and lay the dumplings in one at a time so that they do not overlap. Cover and steam for 10 - 15 minutes per batch.

You can store in the fridge or freeze at this point.

To serve: Boil in a clear broth soup or fry in a skillet with a bit of oil to brown on one side IF you want - or just eat them steamed.

Serve with ponzu or the dipping sauce of your choice.

(I usually throw together a sauce made of equal parts rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, a few drops of sesame oil and a squirt of Sriracha, or else use Sweet Chili Sauce - our household standard condiment)