We've Ben making egg rolls for awhile around here, buy recently I've been playing with the "recipe" my husband's mom uses because I think I can make it a little better. I may have hit it just right tonight. Here's what I did....this recipe works best if you have a food processor or salad shooter or similar.
Egg Rolls
2 pkgs egg roll wrappers, 6" square
1 lb ground pork or mild pork sausage
1 head cabbage, quartered, cored, and shredded fine
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 red onion, peeled and quartered
3-4 cloves garlic
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled
2-3 ribs celery, tops and ends cut off
In food processor, mince onion, garlic, ginger, and celery until finely minced. Heat some olive oil in a skillet, and saute the minced mixture until softened. Add about a teaspoon or two of soy sauce and a teaspoon of Sesame oil. Set aside in a large bowl.
In the bowl of your food processor put in the shredder attachment, and shred carrots and cabbage. Stir this into the sauteed mixture.
Brown and crumble ground pork/sausage, add to cabbage and stir everything together until well combined. Set aside to cool until you can handle it without burning yourself.
Place filling in the center of an egg roll wrapper, and using your finger swipe edges of wrapper with water. Fold top corner toward center, then sides, then roll toward bottom and seal. Place on a well greased baking sheet continue until all the filling is gone, then spray the finished rolls with cooking spray and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes per side or until golden brown.
Enjoy with sweet and sour sauce if desired.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Improved Butternut Squash Soup
So I love butternut squash. Pretty much anyway you make it, I'll eat it. One of my favorite ways to prepare it is soup, but I had a hard time convincing my dear husband it was as delicious as I thought it was until tonight. I found the secret to winning him over was to not overcomplicate the flavor and to make sure I got the right smooth texture. Winning! Tonight he said I could repeat this recipe. 😁 Here it is if you'd like to try it.
Butternut Squash Soup
2-3 small butternut squash or one large one
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves minced garlic (I used roasted, but fresh is fine too. Roasted is a bit sweeter)
2-3 carrots, roughly chopped
3 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
2 cups milk
Salt, pepper, ground sage to taste
Cut squash lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place cut side up on a cookie sheet and drizzle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and sage. Place in 425 degree oven for about 40 minutes, then set aside to cool for about 20 minutes.
In a soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in the remaining olive oil, and add carrots. Cook until tender, and then scoop out flesh of squash from its skin and add it to onions and carrots. Add chicken broth and bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20-25 minutes. With an immersion or stick blender (or transfer to blender), purée until smooth. Add milk and seasonings. Simmer another 10-15 until it comes to temperature again.
Serve hot with some sour cream and bacon bits if desired, or just on its own. We had homemade focaccia with ours. Enjoy!
Butternut Squash Soup
2-3 small butternut squash or one large one
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves minced garlic (I used roasted, but fresh is fine too. Roasted is a bit sweeter)
2-3 carrots, roughly chopped
3 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
2 cups milk
Salt, pepper, ground sage to taste
Cut squash lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place cut side up on a cookie sheet and drizzle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and sage. Place in 425 degree oven for about 40 minutes, then set aside to cool for about 20 minutes.
In a soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in the remaining olive oil, and add carrots. Cook until tender, and then scoop out flesh of squash from its skin and add it to onions and carrots. Add chicken broth and bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20-25 minutes. With an immersion or stick blender (or transfer to blender), purée until smooth. Add milk and seasonings. Simmer another 10-15 until it comes to temperature again.
Serve hot with some sour cream and bacon bits if desired, or just on its own. We had homemade focaccia with ours. Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Chicken and Rice Casserole
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit, so I decided to write it down before I forgot what I did. I have a habit of making things as I go and then not being able to repeat it because I didn't follow any particular recipe. Anyway, this one is simple and straight forward, and real ingredients. I've been in a bit of a recipe rut lately, so it was good for me to make something that worked well for the family and get back into a cooking mood again.
Chicken and Rice Casserole
2 chicken breasts
2 c brown rice
5 c water
1-2 tsp better than boullion (chicken base, or you can use 2 cans of chicken broth instead of water)
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
onion powder
garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese
breadcrumbs for topping
I used a rice cooker for the rice, so I just put the water and rice and chicken base in the rice cooker and set it to cook. This takes the longest amount of time, so you want to do this about 35 minutes before you start the other stuff. Brown rice takes about twice as long as regular rice. You can use regular rice, I just like to add whole grains to our diet where we can.
Season chicken with garlic and onion powders and salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in skillet and brown chicken on all sides, then place on baking sheet and finish cooking in oven (or in our case, toaster oven).
In the chicken drippings in the same skillet, saute the onions, carrots, and celery until tender. Set aside in a large bowl until chicken and rice are done cooking. When the chicken and rice are cooked, mix together veggies, chicken, rice, and cheeses and then pour into a greased baking dish, and then top with more cheese and breadcrumbs.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until topping browns and casserole is hot and bubbly.
Chicken and Rice Casserole
2 chicken breasts
2 c brown rice
5 c water
1-2 tsp better than boullion (chicken base, or you can use 2 cans of chicken broth instead of water)
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
onion powder
garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese
breadcrumbs for topping
I used a rice cooker for the rice, so I just put the water and rice and chicken base in the rice cooker and set it to cook. This takes the longest amount of time, so you want to do this about 35 minutes before you start the other stuff. Brown rice takes about twice as long as regular rice. You can use regular rice, I just like to add whole grains to our diet where we can.
Season chicken with garlic and onion powders and salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in skillet and brown chicken on all sides, then place on baking sheet and finish cooking in oven (or in our case, toaster oven).
In the chicken drippings in the same skillet, saute the onions, carrots, and celery until tender. Set aside in a large bowl until chicken and rice are done cooking. When the chicken and rice are cooked, mix together veggies, chicken, rice, and cheeses and then pour into a greased baking dish, and then top with more cheese and breadcrumbs.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until topping browns and casserole is hot and bubbly.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Basic Marinara Sauce
I have had a lot of friends asking me for my marinara sauce recipe lately because I've been making oodles of it from our garden tomatoes in order to can them and save them for later in the year. It's very basic and can be adapted to whatever you want. It's also very versatile in the way you use it (pasta, pizza, dipping sauce, lasagna, whatever you want). It's also sort of free form, being that I just kind of wing it based on the amount of tomatoes I have to use at the time (we planted 13 tomato plants this year, our harvest has been crazy huge...I've been bringing in between 3 and 5 pounds a day to use up). But here is a basic how-to on using fresh tomatoes to make marinara sauce. It's safe for canning, and a great way to use your garden veggies.
Basic Marinara Sauce (based on a 3 pound tomato batch)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1/2 head of garlic, minced
1-2 bell peppers, chopped
whatever other veggies you want to include, about a cup of each (mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, carrots, celery, etc)
3 lbs tomatoes, tops cut off and quartered (skins left on, and seeds intact)
1-2 small cans of tomato paste
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (my Italian friend says no way, but I don't use wine in my cooking, so this is to substitute for that)
handful of fresh basil, if you have it
In a very large (8-10 quarts), heat olive oil, and then add onions and garlic, and cook until tender. Add bell peppers and other vegetables and cook until slightly softened. Add tomatoes and seasonings and balsamic vinegar to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce to a simmer, and continue to simmer on medium low heat for several hours. After about 1-2 hours, add tomato paste (to thicken) use an immersion blender to puree the sauce. (If you don't have one of those you can puree it in batches in your blender or food processor, I just find the stick blender is convenient to use directly on the stove top.) Continue to simmer, the secret to this sauce is not the ingredients, it's the low, slow cooking process. I usually cook it about 10-12 hours before putting it in jars.
If canning, follow the instructions of how to can tomato sauce. I looked it up online. You can also freeze this. We were able to get about 6 quarts canned from one batch of sauce.
Basic Marinara Sauce (based on a 3 pound tomato batch)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1/2 head of garlic, minced
1-2 bell peppers, chopped
whatever other veggies you want to include, about a cup of each (mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, carrots, celery, etc)
3 lbs tomatoes, tops cut off and quartered (skins left on, and seeds intact)
1-2 small cans of tomato paste
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (my Italian friend says no way, but I don't use wine in my cooking, so this is to substitute for that)
handful of fresh basil, if you have it
In a very large (8-10 quarts), heat olive oil, and then add onions and garlic, and cook until tender. Add bell peppers and other vegetables and cook until slightly softened. Add tomatoes and seasonings and balsamic vinegar to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce to a simmer, and continue to simmer on medium low heat for several hours. After about 1-2 hours, add tomato paste (to thicken) use an immersion blender to puree the sauce. (If you don't have one of those you can puree it in batches in your blender or food processor, I just find the stick blender is convenient to use directly on the stove top.) Continue to simmer, the secret to this sauce is not the ingredients, it's the low, slow cooking process. I usually cook it about 10-12 hours before putting it in jars.
If canning, follow the instructions of how to can tomato sauce. I looked it up online. You can also freeze this. We were able to get about 6 quarts canned from one batch of sauce.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Basic Fresh Salsa
As it is summer, and we have a wealth of tomatoes coming from our garden, and at farmers markets everywhere, I've been trying to find ways to make use of them. Often I will make homemade spaghetti sauce, but lately I've been feeling like salsa--who doesn't like a fresh batch of salsa?! So good, right? So I've been toying with recipes and methods and finally managed to get a good basic recipe. Of course you can tweak this if you like more spice or less, or if you want to add pineapple or diced mango or something after....I prefer this one though, it's a lot like what you would find at a Mexican cantina with chips before your meal comes. Very fresh tasting, and perfect for those snack attacks on hot summer days! This mixes up best in a food processor, but if you want you can use a blender, just make sure you pulse instead of just blend it or it will be too soupy.
Fresh Salsa (NOT for canning...just for chips, tacos, burritos, whatever)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 sweet bell peppers (I like red, but whatever you prefer), seeded and halved
2-3 jalapeno peppers, tops cut off, seeded/halved, and ribs removed
3 limes
tomatoes.... lots of them. If you use romas like we did from the garden, they were pretty small, so I used a lot (about 15 or so) plus the big beefsteak ones we got in our Bountiful Basket. You're aiming for about 4 cups of cut tomatoes. You'll want to scoop the seeds out to reduce the liquid in the salsa--just use a spoon and scoop out the seeds and keep the flesh. Usually easiest to do if you quarter them first.
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
On a baking sheet, place pepper halves (bell and jalapenos) cut side down, and broil at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Set aside. In a skillet on the stove, place onion cut side down on dry pan (NO OIL), and char until lightly blackened and outside layers begin to slightly soften.
In food processor, pulse garlic until chopped finely. Add onion halves until evenly chopped, and then add peppers. Once everything is fully chopped evenly, add the seeded tomatoes, and the juice of the limes. Pulse until all of it is evenly chopped and mixed (it will be blended, think restaurant salsa), and then add salt and cilantro last. If you want, you can chop the cilantro roughly and mix it in by hand if you like it in bigger pieces. I prefer it all incorporated.
Serve on tacos, with chips, in burritos, on top of rice or enchiladas. Options are endless. My favorite way is with chips as soon as it's done. Keeps in the fridge about a week, but watch it disappear!! I bet it won't last that long....
Fresh Salsa (NOT for canning...just for chips, tacos, burritos, whatever)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 sweet bell peppers (I like red, but whatever you prefer), seeded and halved
2-3 jalapeno peppers, tops cut off, seeded/halved, and ribs removed
3 limes
tomatoes.... lots of them. If you use romas like we did from the garden, they were pretty small, so I used a lot (about 15 or so) plus the big beefsteak ones we got in our Bountiful Basket. You're aiming for about 4 cups of cut tomatoes. You'll want to scoop the seeds out to reduce the liquid in the salsa--just use a spoon and scoop out the seeds and keep the flesh. Usually easiest to do if you quarter them first.
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
On a baking sheet, place pepper halves (bell and jalapenos) cut side down, and broil at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Set aside. In a skillet on the stove, place onion cut side down on dry pan (NO OIL), and char until lightly blackened and outside layers begin to slightly soften.
In food processor, pulse garlic until chopped finely. Add onion halves until evenly chopped, and then add peppers. Once everything is fully chopped evenly, add the seeded tomatoes, and the juice of the limes. Pulse until all of it is evenly chopped and mixed (it will be blended, think restaurant salsa), and then add salt and cilantro last. If you want, you can chop the cilantro roughly and mix it in by hand if you like it in bigger pieces. I prefer it all incorporated.
Serve on tacos, with chips, in burritos, on top of rice or enchiladas. Options are endless. My favorite way is with chips as soon as it's done. Keeps in the fridge about a week, but watch it disappear!! I bet it won't last that long....
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Bacon Potato Corn Chowder
So this one was probably a repeat of something I've done before but this time I did it much better, so I am posting it this time so I do it this way again. ;) It was just the right thickness and the bacon gave the perfect amount of flavor, and it was just really good. So here we go. Sorry, no picture this time, I didn't think about it ahead of time. It's been awhile since I posted on here... Makes a lot, probably enough for 10 or 12, or you can freeze it and use it again later for a night you are too tired to cook.
Bacon Potato Corn Chowder
1 lb thick cut bacon, chopped small
2 onions, diced small
1 head of celery, chopped
5 or 6 carrots, peeled and chopped
3-4 tbsp flour
4 c chicken broth
2 c milk (I used whole, but anything will do)
6-7 medium potatoes, diced
1 bag frozen corn (about 4 cups)
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
black pepper (bacon is usually salty enough, so I didn't add salt)
In a large stock pot, cook the bacon until it starts to brown and the fat is rendered. Add onion and keep cooking until the onions are tender, then add celery and carrots, and cook for about 5 minutes until the celery is tender and somewhat translucent. Sprinkle flour in, and stir until it coats the veggies and bacon and continue to cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, then add broth. Add chopped potatoes and corn, and simmer for 10 minutes. Lastly, add your milk and herbs or spices. Stir it all together and simmer for at least half an hour...but if you want just let it simmer all afternoon on low heat, covered, until you are ready to eat.
I served it with sharp cheddar cheese on top, and homemade rolls on the side. It's good enough on it's own of course, but the bread was nice to round out the meal. :)
Bacon Potato Corn Chowder
1 lb thick cut bacon, chopped small
2 onions, diced small
1 head of celery, chopped
5 or 6 carrots, peeled and chopped
3-4 tbsp flour
4 c chicken broth
2 c milk (I used whole, but anything will do)
6-7 medium potatoes, diced
1 bag frozen corn (about 4 cups)
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
black pepper (bacon is usually salty enough, so I didn't add salt)
In a large stock pot, cook the bacon until it starts to brown and the fat is rendered. Add onion and keep cooking until the onions are tender, then add celery and carrots, and cook for about 5 minutes until the celery is tender and somewhat translucent. Sprinkle flour in, and stir until it coats the veggies and bacon and continue to cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, then add broth. Add chopped potatoes and corn, and simmer for 10 minutes. Lastly, add your milk and herbs or spices. Stir it all together and simmer for at least half an hour...but if you want just let it simmer all afternoon on low heat, covered, until you are ready to eat.
I served it with sharp cheddar cheese on top, and homemade rolls on the side. It's good enough on it's own of course, but the bread was nice to round out the meal. :)
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Carrot Ginger Soup
A couple weeks ago my parents went to spend a week with my grandparents in Arizona. They hadn't had a vacation by themselves like that for a long time and they had a nice time visiting and taking time off their regular lives. When they got back I was saying at family dinner that I had about 4-5 bags of carrots in my fridge which we'd accumulated over a couple of weeks from our Bountiful Basket pick up each week. (The basket is different each week but for those two weeks I happened to get about 3 bags of carrots each.) Dad said to me that Grandma had made a carrot ginger soup recipe while they were visiting and he said it was fantastic. Grandma served it cold to them one night and Dad said he doesn't usually like cold soups but he really liked this one. Of course that night, I sent an email to Grandma to get the recipe so I could try something new and use up all of the carrots I had waiting in the fridge.
She sent it to me a couple days later and a few days ago I got the rest of the ingredients I needed and here we are, I made it tonight. I doubled it, as I thought it might be good for dinner tonight as well as cold tomorrow for lunch possibly. It used 2 bags of carrots, and it was pretty delicious. I hope you like it as much as my family did. It's a very pretty color and the ginger gives it a nice punch.
Carrot Ginger Soup
3 c chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 medium onion, chopped
8 carrots, roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro for garnish, optional
In a large pot, heat olive oil, and add onion and ginger, and saute til onions are tender. Add vegetable or chicken stock and carrots, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the carrots are soft. Add salt and pepper. Blend in your blender, or with your immersion blender, or in a food processor. Serve warm, or chill and serve later with sour cream and cilantro.
**This recipe comes from ChowLocally.com originally**
She sent it to me a couple days later and a few days ago I got the rest of the ingredients I needed and here we are, I made it tonight. I doubled it, as I thought it might be good for dinner tonight as well as cold tomorrow for lunch possibly. It used 2 bags of carrots, and it was pretty delicious. I hope you like it as much as my family did. It's a very pretty color and the ginger gives it a nice punch.
Carrot Ginger Soup
3 c chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 medium onion, chopped
8 carrots, roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro for garnish, optional
In a large pot, heat olive oil, and add onion and ginger, and saute til onions are tender. Add vegetable or chicken stock and carrots, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the carrots are soft. Add salt and pepper. Blend in your blender, or with your immersion blender, or in a food processor. Serve warm, or chill and serve later with sour cream and cilantro.
**This recipe comes from ChowLocally.com originally**
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
