My father served in the military and was stationed in Cambodia, Vietnam ,Laos, Thailand and Korea during some of those years . He loved to cook and taught me to make eggrolls when I was around 9 yrs.old. I actually had to make the eggroll wrappers and that was not an easy task. Yup he yelled at me to make sure I cooked the wrappers big enough and thin enough. Now it's easier to go buy eggroll and wonton wrappers at the closest supermarket or Asian market. I made some of the eggrolls por and some shrimp. Why ? I don't know . I just wanted to do something different. I also made Shrimp fried rice and I will give you that recipe following the eggroll. Let's begin shall we:
Ingredients:
1 large head of cabbage( shredded)
1 carrot (cut julienne style but very thin) To make this a much easier recipe, go to the supermarket and buy a 16 oz bag of shredded coleslaw. It will have the cabbage and the carrot already shredded for you.
6oz can bamboo shoots sliced( you will need to strain and cut into smaller portions)
3/4 cup of dried sliced wood ear mushrooms or 1 small can of straw mushroom (strained)
6 oz can of sliced water chestnut ( strain and cut into smaller pieces)
4 tblsp vegetable oil
1teasp MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)
1tblsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
In large wok or frying pan add oil and heat .
Add cabbage, carrot, bamboo shoots,waterchestnut,mushroom,MSG , sugar and stirfry about 3 minutes.
Add soysauce and stirfry about another 2- 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and spread out thinly on cookie sheet and place in refridgerator to cool.
Pork recipe:
1 package thinly sliced boneless pork chop
1 package of Char Sieu Powder ( Roast Red Pork powder)( Avail. at most Asian Markets)
In large freezer bag add Char Sieu Powder and 3/4 cup of water and mix well. Then add the thin slice pork cutlets. Marinate about 1 hour prior to cooking.
Preaheat oven to 375 , place pork on small cookie sheet and cook about 15 minutes or till done . Remove and let cool. Cut into strips then cut strips into cubes.
You will need 1 can of baby shrimp( strained and rinsed) about the size of a tuna fish can;
Place half of cabbage mixture in 1 bowl and add pork. Place other half of cabbage mixture in another bowl then add shrimp.
To wrap :
2 egg whites( whipped with a fork)
1 Pkg. Eggroll wrappers ( about 18)
Read the Directions ! lol No actually it's a lot easier than you think. Place wrapper in the shape of a diamond in front of you. Place about 2 tblsp maybe 3 tblsp of mixture in center of diamond and sort of make it a log shape. Fold bottom of diamond up over the mixture almost as if folding the diamond in half. Take the outside ends of the diamond and place them over the bottom that you just folded up.Using a brush , brush eggwhite along the remaning top of eggroll then roll the bottom up towards the top. You should have what looks like a raw uncooked eggroll. Seriously Read the Instructions on the eggroll wrapper package. It helps.
In Large Frypan melt a lot of vegetable shortening till hot. Add each eggroll and fry trying to turn each eggroll. I actually had to use a metal calender to help keep the eggrolls submerged while frying. Each eggroll only took about 3-5 minutes and they were very good. Oh you want to have some paper bags to put the eggroll on after cooking so the oil gets soaked up.
It's a tough one to make as far as the wrapping and rolling goes but it will be satisfying.
Hoping to inspire and motivate Foodies everywhere with tantalizing recipes!
Monday, September 5, 2011
The Sauce
Sauce ? Gravy? So many different things to say. However , being Italian , my family always said tomato sauce. Gravy was for Beef, Poultry and Mashed potatos. It took many years to get this recipe perfected and there are so many great things to add to make it different . It is easily frozen for later use as well. This is very easy to make it just takes time. Waking up at 8 A.M. on a sunday morning smelling garlic sauteeing was a treat in my family growing up, and you also knew what was to follow that afternoon at about 3:30. I also start this recipe early on sunday unless I will be making Lasagna or Stuffed Shells. You see I need the sauce, so it has to be made Saturday so I can also make the other 2 dishes as well on saturday so Sunday is easy. Got it ? Good!
Ingredients:
3 24oz cans Tomato sauce(open prior to cooking)
1 18oz can Tomato paste(open on both sides of can prior to cooking. It's a little trick)
4 cloves of garlic sliced thin (remember I use a truffle slicer but can be done with razor blade)
you can use a teaspoon full of the Minced Garlic that you have in that little jar in the fridge
1/3 cup of fresh chopped Flat Leaf Parsley ( You can use Curly Parsley)
1/4 teasp of salt
1 teasp cracked Black pepper
Olive oil
In Large pot add 4 0r 5 tblsp of olive oil, Heat on med and add parsley, garlic,pepper and salt. Sautee about 2 -3 min till garlic just starts to turn brown.
Quickly add all the tomato sauce But... after adding the tomato sauce, fill each can 1/2 way with water and swish around to gather up sauce that didn't come out of can then dump that in. It's actually a good way to clean the can too.
Next add the tomato paste. Now slowly push one bottom of the can . As the top part of can comes out slide it across edge of can to remove saving the paste inside of the can. Keep pushing the bottom of can all the way through but be careful not to let the whole thing plop into the tomato sauce with the bottom piece of the can( wow that can is clean too). If it does remove the bottom piece of can then with a wooden spoon stir the paste into the sauce. Bring to boil then cover and lower to simmer for about 4 - 5 hrs stirring about every 20 minutes.
Have a little Italian bread to dip into sauce from time to time to taste it. Sometimes you may want to add some more salt. Maybe some more Pepper. On occasion about a half a glass of red wine can change the flavor and make your sauce a bit richer. Some folks like their sauce sweeter and will add a little sugar.
Some great Ideas for creating a sauce even better: Before adding the sauce to your pot Here are a few things my Family and I do to create an even more spectactular dinner.
Add six or eight sausage links to the parsley and garlic and saute them a little . We use about 6 sweet and 6 hot Italian sausage links . They usually come in a package of about six to eight. I especially like Luonghini Brand. Oh dont worry they cook in that sauce wonderfully and add some great flavor.
We will also take chunks of pork, stew beef and veal and saute that before adding the Cans of sauce. Oh with or without bones.
Chicken works too , yes even hearts, neck, gizzard and liver. Bone in or not ,just remember to saute with the garlic and parsly first. Don't mean to gross you out but as my Italian grandfather used to say ," You can eat everything on the chicken except for the cluck, everything on the cow except for the moo and everything on the pig except for the squeal!" I'll tell ya about pigs feet and pig ears later lol.
Now finally some are wondering ," What about the Meatballs!"
Recipe:
1 1/2 lb of ground beef
2 eggs
1/3 cup chopped parsley
a Little salt and pepper
1/4 cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
Mix all ingredients in bowl. Mix well with your hands until well blended together.
Form meatballs bigger than a golf ball but not as big as a tennis ball. Pic the size you like . My size usually makes about a dozen.
Now old school cooking would be to brown all sides in a frying pan. I actually go a little easier and bake them in a preheated 375 oven for about 15 minutes or until it is browned all around the outside. I carefully place the raw meatballs on a cookie sheet covered with foil.( Saves the clean up time). When all browned outside I carefully drop each meatball into the sauce that has been cooking on the stove with the sausage in it. Oh the Meatballs get put in the stove just as I am about to start my sauce. That way when added to the sauce they have all day to finish cooking. Oh this is how I make my sauce with the sausage and meatballs.
It is a lot of sauce and that is why after having guests I make sure I have some good ziploc freezer bags in all sizes. Why ? So I can freeze my sauce individually as to being used another time . Add the ziploc to boiling water and in about 15 minutes you have it ready to go over your pasta on a wednesday night.( Easy and Delicioso)
Ingredients:
3 24oz cans Tomato sauce(open prior to cooking)
1 18oz can Tomato paste(open on both sides of can prior to cooking. It's a little trick)
4 cloves of garlic sliced thin (remember I use a truffle slicer but can be done with razor blade)
you can use a teaspoon full of the Minced Garlic that you have in that little jar in the fridge
1/3 cup of fresh chopped Flat Leaf Parsley ( You can use Curly Parsley)
1/4 teasp of salt
1 teasp cracked Black pepper
Olive oil
In Large pot add 4 0r 5 tblsp of olive oil, Heat on med and add parsley, garlic,pepper and salt. Sautee about 2 -3 min till garlic just starts to turn brown.
Quickly add all the tomato sauce But... after adding the tomato sauce, fill each can 1/2 way with water and swish around to gather up sauce that didn't come out of can then dump that in. It's actually a good way to clean the can too.
Next add the tomato paste. Now slowly push one bottom of the can . As the top part of can comes out slide it across edge of can to remove saving the paste inside of the can. Keep pushing the bottom of can all the way through but be careful not to let the whole thing plop into the tomato sauce with the bottom piece of the can( wow that can is clean too). If it does remove the bottom piece of can then with a wooden spoon stir the paste into the sauce. Bring to boil then cover and lower to simmer for about 4 - 5 hrs stirring about every 20 minutes.
Have a little Italian bread to dip into sauce from time to time to taste it. Sometimes you may want to add some more salt. Maybe some more Pepper. On occasion about a half a glass of red wine can change the flavor and make your sauce a bit richer. Some folks like their sauce sweeter and will add a little sugar.
Some great Ideas for creating a sauce even better: Before adding the sauce to your pot Here are a few things my Family and I do to create an even more spectactular dinner.
Add six or eight sausage links to the parsley and garlic and saute them a little . We use about 6 sweet and 6 hot Italian sausage links . They usually come in a package of about six to eight. I especially like Luonghini Brand. Oh dont worry they cook in that sauce wonderfully and add some great flavor.
We will also take chunks of pork, stew beef and veal and saute that before adding the Cans of sauce. Oh with or without bones.
Chicken works too , yes even hearts, neck, gizzard and liver. Bone in or not ,just remember to saute with the garlic and parsly first. Don't mean to gross you out but as my Italian grandfather used to say ," You can eat everything on the chicken except for the cluck, everything on the cow except for the moo and everything on the pig except for the squeal!" I'll tell ya about pigs feet and pig ears later lol.
Now finally some are wondering ," What about the Meatballs!"
Recipe:
1 1/2 lb of ground beef
2 eggs
1/3 cup chopped parsley
a Little salt and pepper
1/4 cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
Mix all ingredients in bowl. Mix well with your hands until well blended together.
Form meatballs bigger than a golf ball but not as big as a tennis ball. Pic the size you like . My size usually makes about a dozen.
Now old school cooking would be to brown all sides in a frying pan. I actually go a little easier and bake them in a preheated 375 oven for about 15 minutes or until it is browned all around the outside. I carefully place the raw meatballs on a cookie sheet covered with foil.( Saves the clean up time). When all browned outside I carefully drop each meatball into the sauce that has been cooking on the stove with the sausage in it. Oh the Meatballs get put in the stove just as I am about to start my sauce. That way when added to the sauce they have all day to finish cooking. Oh this is how I make my sauce with the sausage and meatballs.
It is a lot of sauce and that is why after having guests I make sure I have some good ziploc freezer bags in all sizes. Why ? So I can freeze my sauce individually as to being used another time . Add the ziploc to boiling water and in about 15 minutes you have it ready to go over your pasta on a wednesday night.( Easy and Delicioso)
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