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Community Corner

Wyandotte Entrepreneurs Share Kitchen Adventures

Dan and Stacy Cataldo work together during the day and cook together at night.

Cooking—much like the business they’ve established—is a daily adventure for Dan and Stacy Cataldo.

They own and operate , where they design and publish advertising fliers, business cards, signs and other ventures. They also help manage the social media accounts of some area companies. Dan and Stacy are busy, to say the least, selling and doing the sophisticated computer work their entrepreneurship requires.

Yet, at the end of the day, they often can be found in the kitchen of their Wyandotte apartment, creating interesting food.

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Dan is the real cook of the two, Stacy said, but she lends a hand with dinner preparation and specializes in making breakfasts.

"I cook nearly every day,” Dan said.

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As a child, he would get dinner ready for his mother when she was working, and he watched his Sicilian relatives cook. Not surprisingly, given his background, he makes a fantastic spaghetti sauce, Stacy said. Dan is largely self-taught when it comes to preparing complicated food. He boldly tries recipes that might intimidate other cooks, and has success with them, adapting those dishes to suit his own taste.

“Truly, I’m a meat and potatoes guy,” Dan said.

But he readily explores other cuisines, and brings his creativity to the kitchen.

One recent evening, he was making Chinese Pot Stickers, with Stacy’s help. Dan mixed up his own recipe for dipping sauce, readied the dumplings’ filling, and Stacy spooned it onto wonton wrappers, moistened the edges and rolled up the tasty little meat-filled pillows.

Pot stickers are a “go-to” meal for the Cataldos.

“It’s fun to make them,” Stacy said, “And we really like them. They’re like little pierogi or ravioli.”

As the first batch of dumplings fried in peanut oil and then steamed, Dan and Stacy described how they met through mutual friends.

“I gave him my number and he didn’t call me,” Stacy said.

They met again by chance, six months later, and this time Stacy got his number and things progressed from there. They’ve been together now for nearly 10 years. They work as a team for their business—and often in the kitchen, too.

Dan is sharing his Pot Stickers recipe, adapted from one he found online, with Wyandotte Patch readers.

Pot Stickers and Dipping Sauce

For the dumplings:

1/4 pound ground pork

1/4 pound ground veal

1/2 medium head cabbage, finely chopped

1 green onion, finely chopped

2 slices fresh ginger root, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil or peanut oil

1 14-ounce package wonton wrappers

5 tablespoons peanut oil

3/4 cup water

Crumble pork and veal into a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly browned. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix browned meat, cabbage, green onion, ginger, salt, sugar and sesame oil. Chill in the refrigerator 6 to 8 hours.

Place a tablespoon of the meat mixture into the center of each of the wonton wrappers. Fold the wrappers, and seal the ends with a moistened fork or with your fingers, dipped in water.

In a large, deep skillet, heat 3 tablespoons peanut oil over medium high heat. Place the pot stickers into the oil, seam sides up. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Pour water into the skillet, and put a lid on it. Steam dumplings for 7 to 8 minutes. (They’re done when they “look sticky,” Dan said.)

For the dipping sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Generous shake of garlic powder (or to taste)

Pinch of sugar

3 tablespoons water

Mix all together and serve with pot stickers.

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