The Crab Rangoonies

One of my favorite guilty pleasures when it comes to food is easily Chinese Take-Out, most specifically all of the wonderfully delicious appetizers.  The potstickers, egg rolls, shrimp toasts, and my most favorite- Crab Rangoon.  Ok, I know that none of these items fall under the remotely healthy menu.  But I can't help it, they are GOOD!  So in my attempt to have them be something I could eat more often, I have decided to start trying to make this stuff myself.  I can cross the potstickers off my list and now after Friday night, I can add crab rangoons.  This was another Hungry Girl recipe, so the nutritional stats are amazing.  Plus they were not only super healthy, but they were incredibly easy to make. Awesome!  Now I can eat wayyyyy more of them at one time.....right??

The Crab Rangoonies
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
2 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese
4 oz. imitation crabmeat, flaked
1 tsp. low-sodium/lite soy sauce
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 scallions, finely chopped
16 small square wonton wrappers (often stocked near the tofu in the fridge section of the market)
Optional: sweet & sour sauce or Chinese-style hot mustard, for dipping

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To make your filling, combine all ingredients except wonton wrappers in a bowl, breaking up the cheese wedges as you add them. Mix until uniform. Set aside. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and set that aside as well.

Lay two wrappers flat on a clean, dry surface. Spoon a heaping 1/2 tbsp. of filling into the center of each wrapper. Moisten all four edges of each wrapper by dabbing your fingers in water and going over the edges smoothly. Fold the bottom left corner of each wrapper to meet the top right corner, forming a triangle and enclosing the filling. Press firmly on the edges to seal. Repeat with all remaining wrappers and filling, gently placing each rangoon flat on the baking sheet.

Spray the tops of the wontons with nonstick spray. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, carefully flipping halfway through, until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly.

If you like, dip your rangoonies in some sweet & sour sauce or hot mustard!

MAKES 4 SERVINGS
PER SERVING (4 "crab rangoonies"): 140 calories, 1.5g fat, 618mg sodium, 20g carbs, 1g fiber, 2g sugars, 9g protein -- POINTS® value 3*

Reader's Question: Tips for Using Wonton Wrappers for Ravioli

I received an email today from one of my readers after making a recipe featured on here.  I felt her questions were so great I wanted to share them.  They are totally something others might run into and  could use the tips.  If any of you have any suggestions for Lindsay, please leave them here in the comments!

 Hi Amie!! Just thought I'd tell you the results of my trying the recipe for Sweet Potato Ravioli with Sage Butter....The filling and sauce was amazing and easy....but using the wonton wrappers turned into a real miss. By the time I figured out how to fold them properly, and they boiled...they stuck together after I brought them out. the taste was great...presentation not so much. any suggestions? I saved the remaining filling and figured I'd use the kitchen aid to make pasta dough and do it that way instead of the wrappers.

Hi Lindsay!
First of all, I am thrilled you are using My Retro Kitchen as a place to find new recipes!  You made my day *grin*.  Thanks!  Alright, now onto your question!  By all means, I feel that homemade pasta dough will always produce the best ravioli's!  So I highly recommend giving that a try sometime.  Have you ever made it before?  I am dying to get the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aide, myself!!  But I have to say that when time is short, or you just don't want to have that extra step, wonton wrappers are a great short-cut.  They work especially well for delicate fillings.

Folding and sealing the wonton wrappers can be quite tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it things move a lot faster. Just do a few at a time, so they don't dry out in between. If you check out my post for Potstickers, I have step by step pictures of how I did it here. That might help a little bit.  I think the most important thing would be to not be tempted to over fill. They are more inclined to break open this way. You also want to boil them at a gentle boil, not rapid like when you boil spaghetti. I also reccomend using a sautee pan filled with water and boil them in a single layer, rather than using a pasta pot. Put them in the boiling water gently and take them out w/ a pasta strainer. They cook in no time (like 2-3 minutes) so it doesn't take much longer doing them in batches. I then transfer them to a large serving dish and keep them warm in the oven while they all cooked.

Another way to form the ravioli would be to use two sheets, one for the top and one for the bottom. Fill them the same way, seal the edges with water and you can cut them with a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter. They will look more like traditional ravioli's this way. You can try steaming them too, although I have never done it this way. I have heard though, that you absolutely need to steam them in a single layer when prepared this way.

I am glad you liked the flavor and now next time maybe you will have more success with the technical part since you will have done it all before. I love going back and perfecting recipes, trying out new ideas. Let me know what works for you, OK!  Good luck!

Shrimp Potstickers

Oh how I love Asian food. I could eat it almost everyday and absolutely not tire of it.  One of my favorite appetizers are Potstickers/ Steamed Dumplings.  I love getting them at the Asian Market downtown and even Trader Joe's has great one's in their frozen section.  But up until the other night I never attempted making them myself.  I really, really needed to get some grocery shopping done, but in all of this snow I didn't really want to make the treck to the market.  I just so happened to have shrimp in my freezer, wanton wrappers in the fridge, a handful of veggies in the crisper and loads of Asian sauces, I figured tonight would be as good a night as any.  And guess what- they were amazing!!  I looked at a few recipes for inspiration, but then played around with them and made this one up according to what I happened to have on hand in my kitchen and pantry.  Scott was super impressed and we both gave these a 5 stars, it's a definite do again recipe.

For the Potstickers
1lb shrimp, cleaned and devined
1 stalk celery, chopped including the leaves (I used this instead of nappa cabbage, it worked really well)
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
half an onion, chopped (if I had green onions I would have used these instead.  Use what you have onhand)
1/2 cup bean sprouts
2 teasoons fresh ginger, minced
1 Tablespoon cilantro
2 Tablspoons Soy Vay's Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 8oz Package Wonton Wrappers or Gyoza Wrappers

For the Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chili sauce, to taste (I like Sriracha best)
1/4 teasoon Sesame Oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
a pinch of sugar, more if you like a sweeter sauce

Directions
Whisk all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.  The flavors will come together as it sits.

Take a half pound of the shrimp and put it in a food processor along with the celery (or nappa cabbage), carrots, bean sprouts, onion, ginger, cilantro, Teriyaki Sauce and sesame oil.  Pulse for 20 seconds or until smooth in consistency (you want a slight chunkiness, not soupy). Take the remaining half a pound of shrimp and chop into small chunks, then stir it into the mixture.

Now it is time to begin filling your wrappers!  I began with three wonton wrappers at one time and moved up to ten at a time.  Do what works for you.  As you go, you will get a rhythm.  Place just over a teaspoon of filling just off center of the wrapper.  Have a small bowl of water and a clean towel handy.  Moisten the edges of the wrappers with water, fold wrapper corner to corner to form a triangle.  Smooth the seam being sure not to let any filling to come out or they will fall apart while cooking.  Take a fork and gently press all the way around the seam to help seal and also to create a decorative edge.

I like to spray both sides of the dumplings with Pam so they won't stick to each other on the plate, or the pan when frying.  

Heat 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil (not olive oil, it won't be able to get hot enough without burning) in a large skillet.  Add the dumplings and fry until golden brown, about 1 and a half minutes.  Add 1/2 cup hot water, partially cover and cook 4-5 minutes.  Move to a paper towel lined plate and drain slightly. Transfer to an oven-safe plate, cover with foil and keep warm in a low oven while you cook your next batch.

When ready to eat, transfer to a clean plate and serve with dipping sauce.  Enjoy!