Potato and Mushroom Potstickers

When I came to Seattle to visit my family, my parents' fridge was full as always. Of course my dad has made his famous borscht, there was plenty of cheese and cold cuts, my mom bought a ton of tomatoes and cherries, and they also had a package of wonton wrappers.

My parents, Anna and I drove 4 hours to Ocean Shores to stay in a mini resort. Misha (my brother) stayed home. There was nothing to do at the resort but watch Cable, eat, and walk along the ocean shore. Walking on the beach doesn't rank high on my list of fun things to do, so I drove my dad crazy watching John & Kate Plus 8, Housewives of Atlanta, and a zillion Food TV shows. I also made a few jewelry projects, and did a bit of cooking. Below is a recipe for Potato and Mushroom Potstickers I made using the wonton wrappers my mom had.

Ingredients
8 potatoes, washed, peeled, cubed
1 tablespoon oil, plus additional oil for potstickers
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1-2 cups mushrooms, diced
salt & pepper
wonton wrappers
water
2 scallions, thinly sliced
sour cream

Directions
1. Cook potatoes in salted water. Drain and mash. Allow them to cool.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet. Add onions and garlic and saute till translucent. Add mushrooms and saute till everything is golden brown and caramelized (this will take quite a while, so be patient).
3. Combine potatoes with onion/garlic/mushroom mixture. Season with salt and pepper and allow to cool.

4. Put a few teaspoons of the mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper. "Paint" the edges of the wrapper with water (I just used my finger) and fold the wrapper over in half. Crimp the edges.

5. I managed to fill 52 wrappers and still had some mixture left over.

6. This step will have to be done in a few batches (unless you have a ginormous pan): heat oil in a pan. Add potstickers in one layer. Once the bottom of the potstickers is golden brown, very carefully add about 1/4-1/3 cup of water. Cover the pan and let cook 3-5 minutes.

7. Serve with sour cream and scallions.

Alternatively, you can steam or fry these potstickers. You can also freeze them for later use before the cooking process.

***I originally wrote that you can also boil them, but my mom said she boiled the leftover frozen potstickers and they completely opened up and all the filling "fell" into the water. So don't boil yours!