Gluten-free Pork and Beef Pelmini dumplings

Boucher Farm Beef and Pork Dumplings

Confession: homemade gluten-free pasta keeps me from feeling totally dumpling deprived.

In contrast to the GF bread recipes I’ve tried - which, I firmly believe were created from sadness, disappointment, and angel tears - because that’s what I taste when I eat a sandwich.

Let me introduce you to pelmini, the Russian version of tortellini.

The filling is basic and meaty, made more interesting by including wild mushrooms.

I tested the dough recipe three ways: one batch made using two cups of buckwheat flour, another with millet, and the commercial blend with no additional flours. 

Pure GF Pillsbury won for being easiest to roll out.

I preferred the flavor of the millet dumplings, though they required a more gentle hand.  The buckwheat dumplings were a bit too tough at the given proportions.

Additional Notes:

All bummers can be mended with egg wash and a scrap of dough over the tear; and the binders are necessary in case the dumpling blows up during cooking – the filling will remain inside, instead of spilling out into the broth.

If you don’t walk the woods to forage, try seeking out Cranberry Bob Lesnikowski’s booth at the Burlington Farmer’s Market. * 

* Summer Market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays from Mother’s Day to Halloween in City Hall Park and on St. Paul Street, which is closed to vehicles while in use.  Cranberry Bob is next to the “Hamburger Guy”, Tyler Webb.  Follow your nose! His booth makes me hungry!

Dumplings in Broth

Gluten-free Pelmini (Russian-style tortellini)

Adapted from Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook (Hank Shaw)

Makes 25-50, depending on size

Dumpling Filling

1 Cup Sautéed Mushrooms (I used Hen of The Woods)

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 lb. Ground Pork

1 Cup Grated Onion

2 Eggs

¼ Cup Minced Garlic

2 tsp. Kosher or Sea Salt

1 TB Black Flake Pepper

1 tsp. Xanthan Gum or ¼ Cup Bread Crumbs*

Mix until cohesive. Cook a sample and adjust seasoning.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Boucher Farm Pork and Beef Pelmini Dumpling Progress

MAKE IT EASY: If you can tolerate gluten, use wonton wrappers instead of making fresh pasta dough.

GF Pelmini made with Boucher Farm Meat

Gluten-free Pasta Dough 

2 Cups Pillsbury Gluten-free Flour, plus additional for rolling out.

2 Cups Millet Flour

2 tsp. Xanthan Gum

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

1 Cup Buttermilk

5 Eggs

1 Egg Yolk (reserve the white for sealing dumplings)

Mix dry ingredients together. Create a well in the center and add wet ingredients. Mix with a fork, drawing in flour from the sides until dough forms.

Knead a few times until smooth.  You may have to add more buttermilk or flour.

Wrap in plastic and leave on the counter for 40 minutes, then refrigerate for an hour.  Well-chilled dough is easier to roll out.

Dumpling Directions

Divide dough into 8 pieces.  Work with one piece at a time and keep the remainder covered.

Flour surface and roll out dough to the thickness of corrugated cardboard, dusting with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.

Cut circles 3-inches in diameter. *

Place 1-2 tsp. of filling in the center.

Paint edges with egg white, and form a half moon by folding the dough over. (Triangle shape if using wonton wrappers).

Paint one edge of the dumpling with whites and draw both points toward the center of the opposite side (see photo).

Pinch ends together and set on a lightly floured sheet pan.

Continue with remaining dough.

These may be covered and refrigerated for several hours, or frozen on the pan and transferred to a plastic bag for storage.

*Dough scraps do not re-roll well. Cut into ribbons for raggedy pasta.

 

Raggedy GF Pasta

Tip: excess filling can be made into meatballs.

Cooking Instructions

Gently simmer enough water or stock to cover, add the number of dumplings desired (frozen is okay). This is a slow method because tender gluten-free handmade pasta tends to break at high boil.

When they float, let them cook for two minutes more, turning if necessary. The dough color lightens when done.

Remove to a serving dish and keep warm.

Drizzle with a reduction of the cooking stock and/or melted butter.

Boucher Farm Pork Stir-fry

Boucher Farm Pork Stir-fry

This recipe comes from one of my very first cookbooks, Better Homes and Gardens Cooking Chinese.  While I still own many of their cooking series from the late 80’s my copy of this book devolved into sticky pages held together by paperclips. 

We parted ways long ago.

The Stir-fry Basics

1) Peanut oil and aromatics: garlic, onion, ginger, chilies

2) Sliced or diced veggies: carrot, sweet pepper, cabbage (mushrooms)

3) Thinly sliced or diced meat, marinated 24 hrs.

4) Sauce (cornstarch, wine, stock)

My go-to “secret” is using Wickle’s Pickle juice to marinate the meat, but any Italian-type dressing will work.

Half Pint Farm Pea Shoots

Pork & Pea Shoot Stir-fry

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, Cooking Chinese

Serves 4

1 lb. Pork Cutlets (Sliced thinly across the grain, marinated overnight) *

1 Cup Shallots and Spring Onions, (thinly sliced)

3 Dried Chinese Peppers

1 Handful Pea Shoots (Half Pint Farm)

½ Cup Stock or White Wine

1 TB Cornstarch

Peanut Oil for frying

Instructions:

Prepare and marinate the meat overnight. 

Drain well, and slice your veggies of choice.

Combine stock and cornstarch together, and arrange all your ingredients by your cooking station.

Heat the wok over medium-high heat (indoors or on the grill).

Dried Peppers and Onions

Add a tablespoon or two of peanut oil, then the dried peppers and onions.  Stir briskly for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Add pea shoots, and keep stirring until just starting to wilt. Remove to a bowl.

Add another tablespoon of peanut oil.  Add ¼ to ½ of the meat to the wok, and stir until no longer pink. Add to shoots.

Stir the cornstarch/stock and add it to the wok. Stir until clear.

Last Step

Add the meat and veggies back to the wok and coat them with sauce.

Serve over baby spinach or with rice or noodles; sesame oil, soy sauce, Chinese vinegar, or chili oil on the side.

* Tip: It is easier to slice meat when it is slightly frozen.

Wild Boar Tenderloin with Pan Sauce

Wild Boar

It’s game season, and our venison is still at the processors.

Bummer.

I rummaged through the freezer for a package of deer meat and was surprised to find wild boar.  

I just about applauded right then and there, because I thought we had eaten it all.

(All, right – I did clap a bit, but who wouldn’t?)

It was tenderloin!

I had one last chance to do that pig culinary justice, and pulled out an old reliable never-fail cook.

To elaborate: fruits and nuts complement game as a general rule, and a crust helps to hold in moisture.

This recipe called for a mustard and pecan coating. No searing, and no fussing.

I monitored it carefully while it was in the oven, even though there was a pressing need to solve the mystery of what my husband Dan had stashed in a Coleman cooler he deposited outside the back door. 

(That was, and remains, an overriding distraction. I really didn’t want to open it all by myself, because that never leads to pleasant things.)

To finish the dish I made a quick pan sauce from my own homemade jam, the farm’s butter, and Cranberry Bob’s balsamic vinegar.  I love it when a plan comes together.

You really don’t want to know what was in that cooler.

Wild Boar Tenderloin

Wild Boar Tenderloin with Pan Sauce

Serves 2-3

1 lb. Boar Tenderloin (silverskin removed)*

1/2 - 2/3 Cup Roughly Chopped Pecans

1 - 2 TB Prepared Mustard (I used Maille)

Salt and Pepper

Pan Sauce:

2 TB Fruit Jam (Crabapple/Pear/Apple)

3 TB VT Cranberry Co.’s After Balsamic Vinegar

½ TB Redbarn Salted Cultured Butter

Coat tenderloin in mustard, lightly salt and pepper all sides, and roll in nuts. 

Roll tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Pecan Crusted Tenderloin 

Preheat oven to 300f

Bring meat to room temperature and place in a shallow pan.

Boar Tenderloin

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 150-155f.

Remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil and a heavy towel for 20 minutes to rest.

Remove meat to cutting board (keep covered)

Deglaze pan over low heat with vinegar and jam. Stir in butter.  Sauce will be sweet and very fruity.  

Pork chops and loin work equally well with this method.

* Slip a sharp knife just underneath the middle of the membrane. Working away from you, keep the blade against the silverskin, not the meat. Turn, repeat, and remove.