Baked dumplings use leftover corned beef

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The New York Times story about sourdough bread that appeared in this section on Feb. 26 prompted complaints from Alley Kats that recipe was much too complicated for the home cook, what with its measurements in grams and the need for a purchased starter.

A much better option, they said, is to make your own.

Traditional sourdough bread is made using a pre-ferment, or starter, that features wild yeast rather than added commercial yeast. To make starter form scratch takes time, lots of time and once you have a living starter it needs lots of care. Over the years, we’ve published several recipes for homemade sourdough starter.

Next week, we’ll have a few starter recipes with varying levels of complexity.

But first, Diane Graham offers this recipe to help you use any leftover corned beef you may have from your St. Patrick’s Day dinner.

“I love Chinese potstickers. Your article [March 11] reminded me of a dish I haven’t thought of in years and I thought you might like to try sometime. We found ourselves in Ouray, Colo., one summer afternoon and dropped into a local bar for a beer and a snack. The beer was local — yum! And the snack was amazing enough that I re-created it at home. It was simplicity itself. … Serve with Chinese mustard or the mustard of your choice. We liked spicy brown mustard.”

Baked Dumplings

Deli corned beef, chopped finely

Chopped cabbage, finely chopped (I just used a bag of coleslaw mix and chopped it more)

Minced onion, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Celery salt, to taste

Wonton wrappers (an 11-ounce package contains about 50)

Mustard, for serving

Combine the corned beef, cabbage, onion, pepper and celery salt — mix as much as you like; portions are only dictated by how many you make. Place about 1 ½ tablespoons filling in the center of the wonton wrapper and fold like a spring roll. Arrange wrapper so one corner is pointed toward you. Fold that corner over the filling, then fold the corners to the left and right and then roll the roll toward the fourth corner to close. Arrange rolls on a baking sheet that’s been coated with nonstick spray. Coat rolls with spray.

Bake at 350 degrees until light brown and crunchy. Serve with mustard.