Golden Wonton

I've talked about my love for Heidi Swanson's recipes and cookbooks before. It's really difficult to put in words what I love about it, though. The way she uses healthy ingredients really speaks to me. I don't think I could compromise when it comes to flavor, but she makes using the natural, "good for you" ingredients so much fun. I also welcome the change her flavor combinations give to my usual way of cooking. I normally have a rather European way of cooking, pasta, olive oil, herbs and such and I don't experiment that much when it comes to Asian ingredients. Now I get excited when thinking about black sesame, soba or ginger. (After saying all this, I feel a bit like a stalker.)

Well, I also mentioned (Just briefly, really. Believe me.) my love for her recipes to my boyfriend, how I adore her first book and how I really should get her not-so-new-anymore book, Super Natural Every Day. Being the wonderful boyfriend that he is, he ordered the book for me as a present. (He mentioned having a present for me, and I actually thought it would be an energy-efficient light bulb. That sounds weird now - Maybe we are weird?) But, (there has to be a but) I had actually ordered the book already, and it arrived just a day before his present arrived. Which leaves me now with two versions of Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day. I admire her work, and I love the book, but I have no clue what to do with two copies of the book. Frame one and hang it on the wall? Keep one in the bathroom to read? Keep one under the pillow, so that inspiration can come to me in my dreams?

I decided to give one copy away here. I have never done a giveaway before, and it feels a bit strange. I just thought that you, too, might love this book. (I actually pay for the book and shipping myself, just to be clear)  
Leave me a comment and tell me who your inspiration is, in cooking, blogging, or anything else. Follow me on Twitter (@MrsGarlicHead) for another chance to enter, and leave me a second comment to tell me.
The winner will be announced in a week, on December 8th.

To not leave without a recipe, this wontons were inspired by Heidi's Golden Potstickers. I changed the filling completely, but without her recipe it would have never occured to me to make wonton, I'm not really familiar with them.

Golden Wonton
I actually roasted the squash the day before. Even without the roasting and cooling it takes some time to prepare the wonton, so I highly recommend this.


Ingredients:
1/2 spaghetti squash
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon black sesame
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon mirin
1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
1 spring onion
1 package vermicelli (I used ones that were made of mung beans, but rice vermicelli would work too)
salt
~50g chopped peanuts (I use the roasted and salted ones, but you could also use natural peanuts)

1 package wonton skins (mine were 9x9cm and square, they should not be too big, but round would work well, too)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut the spagetthi squash in half, you only need half of it for this recipe, but you could double the amount of wonton you make, or use it in another recipe. Remove the seeds, brush the surface with a little bit of olive oil and place the halves on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the squash is cooked through (insert a knife into it to check). Let the squash cool.
Cut the vermicelli into smaller pieces, scissors worked well for this. Put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let sit for a minute or two, drain.
The squash should be cool enough to handle now. If not, wait a bit longer. Mix in the curry powder, sesame, soy sauce, mirin and maple syrup.
Chop the spring onion, add it to the squash. Work in the vermicelli. Taste, and add salt and more curry if necessary.

Now you prepare a working station to assemble the wonton. Put the peanuts in a bowl, fill a bowl with water and put the squash filling in front of you. Flour a baking tray, this will keep the wonton from sticking.
Take one wrapper, place a pinch of the peanuts in the middle, add a walnut sized piece of the filling on top of the peanuts. Dip your fingers into the bowl with water and wet the rim of the wonton wrapper, and take the edges and press them against each other. They should stick. Press the wonton a bit down, so that it it flat on the bottom. Place it on the floured baking tray. Repeat until you run out of wrappers or filling.

To cook them: Heat a tablespoon of oil on medium-high heat in a non-stick pan.  Place the wonton in the pan, be careful, they should not touch each other or they will stick to each other. Cook until they have a golden base. With a lid in one hand, add about 80ml of water to the pan and put the lid on quickly. Let steam for a few minutes, until most of the water has evaporated. Remove the lid and let cook a few more minutes, until the water is gone. Remove from pan and prepare the next batch in the same way.

Note: I had some troubles with sticking when I cooked my wonton. I tried Heidi's method for potstickers, and I also steamed a part of my wonton, all of them stuck to the bottom of the pan or steamer. The flavour of the potstickers were better, so I included the instructions for them.