Egg Rolls with Sweet and Sour Sauce and Hot Mustard Sauce

This is one of those Chef Jeff recipes from his awesome classes. It was one of the first ones I ever took & YUM!

Egg Rolls 
(makes 14-30 depending on how full you make them)

1 lb. ground pork (or half ground pork and half chopped cooked shrimp)

3 c shredded cabbage + 1/2 c. shredded celery + 1/4 c. shredded carrot OR.... 2 - 1 lb pks Dole classic coleslaw bags

 4-5 med dried black mushrooms [or 1 pkg. dried stir fry mushrooms]

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp corn starch

1/4 tsp white [or black or none] pepper

2 Tbl. green onion, finely sliced

1 tsp five spice powder

1 egg, beaten [I often don't bother & just use a small bowl of water]

 14-30 egg roll skins

 2 c (or so!) vegetable oil for frying

 1. Soak dried mushrooms in very hot water until soft; drain. Squeeze out excess moisture. Remove and discard stem [if very tough]. Cut into thin strips [or small pieces] and set aside.

 2. In mixing bowl, combine pork with cornstarch, soy sauce, and white pepper; mix well and refrigerate for 20 min.

 3. Fill a [very] large sauce pan/pot with water and bring to a boil. Add cabbage/celery/carrots (OR both bags coleslaw mix). Bring to second boil for about 30 seconds, then drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again, squeezing mixture thoroughly to remove any excess water.

 4. Heat wok [or large pan] over high heat; add 1 Tbl. oil, then tilt to coat sides.

 5. Add pork and stir fry 2 [to 5] min until no longer pink. Add mushrooms and stir fry 1 min. Stir in cabbage mixture along with shrimp [if using], green onions, five spice powder, and salt. Mix well; remove from heat and refrigerate. [If you don't want to deal with a huge pan, you can cook the pork & etc. then mix into the cabbage mixture in a large bowl.]

 6. Lay out the egg roll skins and separate mixture evenly amongst them. [Or do one at a time and deal with it if you end up with extra egg roll skins.].  Roll the egg rolls according to package instructions, substituting beaten egg [or just water] for paste to seal. Cover egg rolls with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

7. Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a wok [or large, deep pan] to 350F.

8. Carefully place up to 4 egg rolls in the oil at a time and fry, turning 2-3 times until golden brown; remove them from the oil and place on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.

 9. Serve immediately with hot mustard and/or sweet and sour sauce if desired.


 Sweet and Sour Sauce

One 6-oz. can pineapple juice
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbl. brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp. cornstarch

In a small saucepan, combine 2 Tbl. pineapple juice with cornstarch and mix until smooth.
Add remaining pineapple juice, brown sugar, and red wine vinegar. Bring to boil and allow to simmer for 30 seconds or so; remove from heat, cover and set aside.


 Hot Mustard Sauce

1/4 c. Dijon mustard
2 Tbl. honey
1/4 tsp. dry mustard

 Combine all and mix well.

Kale Chips

We got this recipe a few years ago from our CSA in the newsletter, and I had to get it out again this year.  These kale chips are not at all like potato chips, except that they are salty & crispy & rather more-ish.

Kale Chips
1 bunch kale
1 Tbl. olive oil (approximately)
1 tsp. seasoned sale (or regular salt)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Spray a low-sided cookie sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.

With a kitchen scissors or knife, remove the thick stems from the kale (and put in the compost bin!).  Tear the kale into small pieces - maybe and approximately 1.5" square? Wash, then use a salad spinner to dry them thoroughly... or use the towel trick*.

Place kale pieces on to a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with (seasoning or plain) salt.  Bake until the edges are brown but not burnt, maybe 10-15 minutes.  Keep a close eye on it at the end - you want crispy, but not crumbling-to-bits when you eat it.  Let cool very briefly, then enjoy!


* Towel trick: Put your washed greens into the center of a kitchen towel - the flour sack kind works well.  Gather up the four corners into one hand so you've got the greens-filled part hanging down.  GO OUTSIDE.  Start swinging the towel around like you'd swing a jump rope.  Be amazed as centrifugal force causes more water than you would believe to be driven out from the greens!  It might take a couple spins until you've built up enough speed, but oh, is it fun!  :)

My bento-style lunch pix for my first grader

Ok, first of all, where did January go? I swear I didn't get the allotted 31 days!

Be that as it may, I do have some photos for you. I've been doing sort of American-food bento-style lunches for Pumpkin for school. They work well - she's a bit picky, doesn't always want the same thing, and has a short lunch time. So, by packing a healthy bit of this and a bit of that, and making it pretty if I can, I think she's eating more/better than she would if she just had a sandwich/fruit/treat every day.

Not that some days I don't wonder how she survives since almost everything's still in the box.

I try to include 2 sources of protein (pb in sandwiches/wraps counts), 2 fruits-or-veg, and two grain-y carb-y things. Usually there's a small treat, but not always. I use a small plastic container I got at Tar-zhay in the fall that measure 5 1/4" by 3 1/4" by 2 1/4" roughly. The bottom says it holds 1.7 cups or 0.4L. It comes with a small reusable ice pack that snaps into the lid. Penguin has the same one in blue, and often likes to have her own lunch packed, even though we are usually eating lunch at home anyway.

Without further ado, just a few pix:



*Oh yeah, those little green cups are silicone mini-cupcake cups. Two of them can fit on top of each other, so I often stack them, one with dried cranberries and the other with peanuts or similar.

Jamie Oliver's Leek and Potato Soup

We like this classic soup found in Cooking Light magazine (Jan/Feb 2010), even though it's a brothy, not creamy version. Pusher, maybe it'll work for you... or at least provide a starting point for experimentation.

2 leeks (about 1 lb.)
6 c. fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (Of course, I used Better than Bouillon; if you were vegetarian, you could sub in your favorite veg broth.)
2 Tbl. olive oil
3 c. coarsely chopped onion (about 1 lb.)
1 c. chopped carrot
1 c. chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 c. cubed, peeled Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 lb.)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

1. Remove roots, outer leaves, and tops from leeks. Cut each leek in half lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 1/2 inch thick slices. Immerse in cold water; swirl. Drain.*

2. Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. [Ok, maybe it's just me, but I'd start the broth heating and then work on the leeks to save time.]

3. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leek, onion, carrot, celery & garlic. Partially cover, and cook 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender; stirring occasionally. Add hot broth and potato; return to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potato is tender. Stir in pepper and salt. Serve chunky or puree with an immersion blender or in a blender. Yield: 8 servings (serving size; about 1 1/4 c.)


Calories: 130; Fat 3.6g (sat 0.5g, mono 2.5g, poly 0.4g); Protein 3.4g; Carb 21.5g; Fiber 2.9g; Chol 0mg; Iron 1.3mg; Sodium 443mg; Calc 42mg


*I like to clean/wash my leeks by cutting off the roots, removing the tough outer leaves, and trimming the top very green parts off. Then I do cut them in half lengthwise as stated in this recipe, but then I pop them in a sink of water and/or rinse them out as needed. I find that washing/rinsing them like this, almost as a half-a-scroll, gives the water a chance to get into the leek, but it's not as hassle-some as cutting them all into bits first. THEN I cut them crosswise into slices.

Tidbits about Lamb Cuts

Now that we've gotten our lamb meat back from the butcher, it got me wondering about the different cuts. I mean, a lot are the same as pork - you've got your chops, and your ribs, and your roasts - and "leg of lamb" is obvious, but are there other cuts of meat specific to lamb and/or mutton?

So I did a little searching and found some charts.

Here's one from Treasure Valley Sheep Producers. It looks like it's a scanned in copy from the National Live Stock and Meat Board. (Who knew there was a National Live Stock and Meat Board? Not me.)

(You can click on it to have it bigger.)

If that's a little too "butchery-y," check out this link over to American Lamb's "Lamb 101 - Cuts" page. It breaks it down a little more basically, and has photographs of some of the different cuts.

And if you want to start from the "ok, it's called THIS; now, what does that mean?" side of things, here's a page at The Nibble that's a glossary of lamb terms.

Ok, my question's answered & I hope you've had a chance to learn something new, too!

Wednesday Fun #74 - Tricks of the Trade

Brown sugar here is CRAZY expensive. So, imagine my surprise when I ordered some brown sugar from the commissary in Japan only to find it packaged in wax paper and a cardboard box! (C&H brand). I mean, shouldn't it always be put in an airtight package to prevent it from turning into a block?!? Sheesh!

When it did turn into a hard block, I placed the brown sugar in a Ziploc along with an unpeeled, but scored in 2-3 places, apple for two days. Voila! Soft brown sugar again.

I remember learning this trick in 7th grade Home Ec (The class was actually called "Foods" and was a requirement for everyone. I still have the cook book.)

Anyway, this got me to thinking, what other tricks have you used in the kitchen to possibly save some food item, clean baked on grease, whatever? Feel free to post them as a response or in a seperate post with the tag "Tips and Hints".

Cambodian Pancakes

This is really more of a tip than a recipe, but is something I like to make every once in a while and reminds me of our wonderful trip to Cambodia.

There was a restaurant there where you could get crepes or pancakes. I would often get the pineapple pancakes (they also had banana, apple, etc).

Here's the deal.

Use any pancake batter you wish (I usually just do the Bisquick thing).

Thinly slice some banana or pineapple (If using canned pineapple you will need to thin the slices or chunks).

Poor batter onto the hot griddle.

Place the thinly sliced pineapple (or banana) on the batter and then use the existing batter on the griddle to cover the slices you just put down. You will probably also need to spoon a bit of extra batter on top of the slices.

Cook as usual.

Enjoy!

Cheesecloth

Anyone know a good substitute for cheesecloth? I can't find any here but have a pumpkin to bake and puree and get rid of some extra juice. Or, if you know another method to do so so I can use said pumpkin puree for bread etc with out having to guess how much I need to reduce the oil/other moisture by, please let me know.

Marinara Sauce & "Favors From The Home" Review

I got this recipe from a community ed cooking class* I took a few times quite long ago, adapted just a tad, mostly in timing. It's a delicious, versatile sauce for spaghetti, manicotti, lasagna, etc. Mr. Kluges loves it best over Italian sausages and garlic mashed potatoes. You can do it with canned or fresh tomatoes, but I'm not sure of the quantity if you do fresh, so just give it a try. I'll try to update it with an approximate quantity of fresh tomatoes next time I make it.

Note: This one is doubled from the original because it's no more work & you can freeze half of it for later. Or just eat a lot.

MARINARA SAUCE
Two 28 oz. cans Hunt's whole peeled tomatoes (or equivalent fresh tomatoes, peeled & seeded**) [9/5 - I made these starting with a bit more than 4 1/2 lbs. of fresh tomatoes. I wouldn't do less, but you could probably go between 5-6 lbs. pre-peeling/-seeding weight.]
6 Tbl. olive oil
3/4 - 1 c. diced red onion
6 large cloves minced garlic
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil OR 3 Tbl. Chef Jeff's frozen basil*** OR 3 Tbl. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dry oregano
1 tsp. sugar
salt & pepper to taste
dash of crushed red pepper flakes to taste (opt.)

1. Rough chop tomatoes in a blender or food processor and set aside. (If doing with fresh, peel and seed them first. **)

2. Place a large pan or stock pot or Dutch oven over high heat; add olive oil, onion and garlic; reduce heat to medium high and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, or until mixture becomes pale golden in color (not brown).

3. Add tomatoes, oregano, red pepper, sugar, salt and pepper to the onion mixture. (Also basil if using dried.)

4. Bring sauce to boil; reduce to simmer for 30-45 minutes for better flavor.

5. Add (fresh) basil and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until desired consistency is reached; remove from heat (and eat, or set aside to cool to use in lasagna, or to freeze).



* Oh, look - the internet is a wonderful thing! It was "Flavors From the Home" with Chef Jeff, and looking at his website, I see that it looks like he's still doing classes around the TC area, maybe starting in September. They were FUN classes where you actually get to cook and eat the menu, and take the recipes home. All the ones I took started off relaxed, but the pace picked up as you went and I think every one finished late. But the food made it all worthwhile! Note: Even though you'll get to eat, it wasn't until the end of the class, so don't go hungry or you'll be starving before the end. Also, Chef Jeff is a hoot. Looking at the menus, I took Oriental Favorites I - Menu #1, Southern Italian Family Style I - Menu #2, Gourmet with a French Accent I - Menu #3, Southern Italian Family Style II - Menu #5, Traditional Southern Italian - Menu #7, Pasta! Pasta! Pasta! II - Menu #13, and Traditional French II - Menu #14. They were all wonderful fun and delicious to boot. I highly recommend them, but I think they filled up fast, so if you're interested, check out which ones are nearby and call the appropriate contact on the registration page.

**An easy way to peel and seed fresh tomatoes is to bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Cut an X in the skin at the bottom of the tomato, then drop it in the boiling water for like 20-30 seconds. Take it out, and you should be able to peel it easily, starting at the X. To seed them easily, cut them in half along the equator, NOT from bottom to top. Then you can just take a half in your hand and squeeze out most of the seeds with ease.

*** Chef Jeff recommended taking large quantities of fresh basil, washing & roughly chopping it, mixing it with a good amount of olive oil, then making long tubes/rolls/fat-thumb-thick-snakes of it in plastic wrap and freezing it. You can whack off a hunk of it and get great fresh flavor, even if it looks browner than it would when actually fresh.

CSA Week 3

Our CSA box always includes a newsletter from the farm. This week they mention that cilantro is one of the few herbs that does not retain its flavor when dehydrated, but that you can freeze the fresh leaves in a ziploc. Just remove the air, seal the bag, and freeze. They point out that you shouldn't thaw them before use or they'll turn into a mushy green mess. Since we don't use cilantro very often, I think I'll give it a try.

LInk to How to Roast a Pepper

The Wednesday Chef is a food blog I read on occasion. I love Luisa Weiss's writing, and have several of the recipes she's posted bookmarked, but haven't tried any yet. (But I will! Really, I will!)

I was just over at her site, where she's posted this great tutorial on how to roast a pepper. While I'm sure a lot (or maybe all) of you know how already, I really liked how clear her directions are and how beautiful the photos.

(And I usually halve my peppers first and remove the seeds, but then the edges don't get as singed, so next time I'm trying 'em whole like she does.)

Additionally, in a cooking class I took once, the chef advised either putting the just-roasted peppers into a paper bag and closing it or putting them in a bowl and sealing it with plastic wrap for the 20 minutes or so while they cool. That way the steam helps loosen the skin, making removal easier. Another tip from him was to let them get way blacker than you think they should be. And it's true. Really. Great roasted flavor and much easier to peel when they're blackened like a burnt marshmallow!

Fish/seafood resource

There's a lot of debate about whether fish is good for you or toxic, whether eating fish is sustainable or not ecologically, whether you should look for farmed or wild-caught, which fish to avoid. So wow do I love this website: http://www.oceansalive.org

It lists most commercially available fish and seafood options and rates them on a best/okay/worst scale for your health and the health of the environment and fish populations. It breaks down how many servings a month of what type of fish are suitable for women/men/older kids/younger kids. There's a list to help you substitute eco-sustainable fish when your recipe calls for one that's not sustainable. There's even a recipe section, though I haven't tried any of them yet.

Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallots

This is another recipe from the Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2002 cookbook, which we use all the time. I'd say it takes just under an hour to make what with the peeling and cutting the squash and roasting it and all; they say 40 minutes, which you could probably do once you've done the recipe a few times. It's a very tasty vegetarian main dish. This makes 3-4 servings, but it would be very easy to double or even triple (if you used two pans to roast the vegetables).

3 c. cubed (1-inch), peeled butternut squash [1/2 of a medium-large squash or 3/4 of a medium-small one] **
1 T. dark brown sugar [or regular brown sugar]
1 1/2 Tbl. olive oil, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
8 shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise (about 1/2 lb.)
1 Tbl. chopped fresh OR 1 tsp. dried rubbed sage
4 oz. uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta) or fettuccine
1/4 c. (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 475 F.

2. Combine squash, sugar, 2 1/2 tsp. oil, salt, pepper, and shallots in a jelly roll pan; toss well. Bake at 457F for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in sage.

3. While squash mixture bakes, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Place cooked pasta in a bowl. Add 2 tsp. olive oil; toss well. Serve squash mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.

** Quick Tip: Use a sharp vegetable peeler to peel the butternut squash. It's easier to handle and less time consuming than using a knife. [I always peel the whole squash with a peeler, then cut it up, remove the seeds, and then cube it. It works really well, and that's now how I always prepare squash for soup or roasting to mash it.]

Tomato Snack

This isn't really a recipe, I admit, but peeps told me I should put it on here anyway.

Buy a "log" of chevre goat cheese from Trader Joes. Cost is only about $4 for a large log shape of the cheese and it freezes well. Just cut off what you want at the time and freeze the rest. Yes, of course you can use a different chevre.

Cherry/Grape tomatoes

Paul Newman's Sesame Ginger dressing. (In PET-1 plastic bottles! - Check out the link for lots of yummy recipes.)

You can put the cheese directly on the tomatoes, and use the dressing as a dip, or just crumble some cheese in with the tomatoes and drizzle the dressing over (my prefrence). Also good with a salad underneath. This has become one of my very favorite snacks. And, I can claim it's healthy!

Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Browned Butter

Our local grocery store had asparagus on sale yesterday, so I got some and made this recipe, which I'd done before, but not for quite a long time. It reminded me that THESE ARE THE BEST VEGETABLES EVER! You cannot believe the amount of self-control it took to take a picture before starting to snarf these beauties down. It's salty, savory, smoky, buttery... yum!

(P.S. From Cooking Light magazine, March 2002. They say 8 servings using 2 lbs. of asparagus. I used 1 lb. (but the full amount of sauce) and 2 adults and one toddler polished it all off quite handily.)

40 asparagus spears, trimmed (about 2 lbs.)
Cooking spray
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbl. butter
2 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Arrange asparagus in a single layer on baking sheet [9x13 glass pan was fine for 1 lb.]; coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400F for 12 minutes or until tender. [Yesterday I was in a hurry, so I baked for a bit, then turned on the broiler for the last bit to finish them off and it worked great.]

3. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat; cook for 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in soy sauce and vinegar. [Be careful - spattery.] Drizzle over asparagus, tossing well to coat. Serve immediately.


Tips & Hints: I read this somewhere else, but an easy way to trim asparagus is to just take each one individually, hold it by both ends, and then just snap off the bottom. It should break just the woody part off. No need to guess how much to cut!

How to easily cut up a bell pepper

I learned how to do this in a cooking class long ago. I don't remember any more exactly how I used to cut up a bell pepper, but I know it wasn't this easy and uniform, so I figured I'd share. It helps to start with a squarish, or at least not bendy, pepper.



1. First, lop off the top. Don't worry if half the stem is left behind in the pepper.





2. Turn the pepper so it's sitting on that nice stable flat side you just made. Then you can cut straight down to slice off a side. (This is where the "squarish" part makes it easier.)





3. Continue cutting off the sides straight down. You'll end up with something sort of like this.




4. Turn what's left of the pepper over on to its side and cut off the top. If your sides of the "pepper cage" around the seeds are thin, it might break in half like mine did.




5. Then it's easy to slice and/or chop up the conveniently sized and shaped pieces of pepper for cooking or just plain eating. Yay!