Lucky Lava Lamp Recipes

GAMBLER'S LUCKY DAY DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• For the short ribs and marinade: Mix together the cornstarch, shallots, tomato paste, salt, mushroom powder, black pepper, paprika, Chinese five-spice and garlic in a large bowl. Toss the ribs with the paste and marinate for 1 hour, covered, in the refrigerator.
• For the braise: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the olive oil. Add the ribs, in batches if necessary, and sear until golden brown on all sides, about 12 minutes. Add the coconut soda, chicken stock, tomato sauce, star anise, peppercorns, lemongrass, carrots and excess marinade paste and bring to a boil.
• Cover, transfer to the oven and cook until the meat is tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Strain the sauce and reserve the ribs in the sauce. Let cool, then hand-shred the meat from the ribs. Set the meat aside and keep the sauce warm.
• For the butternut squash puree: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Toss the butternut squash with the olive oil, salt and cumin. Add the squash to a baking sheet and cook until completely fork-tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a blender with the cream and puree until completely smooth.
• For the dumplings: In a mixing bowl, combine the short ribs and butternut squash and season with any additional salt to taste. Reserve in a bowl over ice.
• With a small brush, paint the egg wash over each dumpling skin, fill with a heaping teaspoon of the short rib and squash mix and create a dumpling by folding 5 pleats towards the center, making a pleat every 1/4 inch.
• In a large nonstick sauté pan over medium heat, add 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Add the dumplings in batches and sear the bottoms until brown, about 1 minute. Add enough water to cover the dumplings one-quarter of the way up or enough to steam the dumplings to cook them through. Cover with a lid and steam until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the dumplings and reserve. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.
• To assemble: Pour the warm braise sauce on a plate, add the dumplings and garnish with micro cilantro, chili sauce such as Umamei or Drip and edible gold leaf for good luck!

LEG LAMP COOKIE

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine the cookie dough and flour either in a large bowl with an electric mixer or kneaded by hand. Wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Use a 5 1/2-inch leg lamp cookie cutter to cut out 6 cookies. Transfer them to the prepared baking sheet with a large offset spatula, spacing evenly. (For best results, lift and transfer the dough while it's still in the cutter because the leg is so thin and fragile; it helps keep the shape intact and straight.) "Stretch/pull" the cutter a little on the shoe part to help release the dough easier.
• Bake until the cookies are lightly golden brown around all edges, about 9 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
• While the cookies are cooling, put the yellow royal icing into a piping bag with a number 3 tip and put the black royal icing into a piping bag with a number 1 tip. Have toothpicks on your workstation.
• Cut a tiny hole in your yellow royal icing bag. This icing will double as your outline and flooding icing. Outline the lamp shade and then immediately flood. Use a toothpick to get rid of any air bubbles and even out any imperfections. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Allow the yellow a little time to set up and dry.
• With the black icing, outline the shape of the leg starting from the bottom of the lamp shade; be as close to the edge as possible to ensure enough space for the "fishnet." Continue the outline of the shoe, and then use the same icing to fill in the shoe and use the toothpick to smooth it out and define the shape. Make even and steady strands diagonally across the leg of the lamp from left to right completely up the leg. Then repeat making strands from right to left, connecting diagonally from the top of one line to the bottom of the line underneath it. Repeat this process until the fishnet is done.
• With the black icing, outline the lamp shade all the way around, making an oval at the top to create the 3-D illusion. Make a straight line along the bottom of the lamp shade evenly spaced from your outline. Then create the two ribs of the lamp shade, slightly bending them with the shape of the lamp shade.
• To do the fringe on the lamp shade, pipe your black icing vertically from the bottom of the lamp shade. You may need to do two to three layers to get the layered and textured look. Repeat this process with the remaining cookies.
• Let dry or serve immediately.