Spring into Spring Rolls

A while back we hosted a party at our house.  I know, right, me, throw a party... could you imagine. <yes I'm being sarcastic)  And I said "a while back" meaning it was more than just this past month.  Most people will tell you that I entertain a lot.  Well, I do.  I like it.  No, I love it.  I entertain, a LOT.  If something isn't going on at my house that month, I go stir crazy.  Heck, it's a reason just to keep my house clean!  I thrive on having a house full of guests, laughing, drinking, having a good time, and eating.  I like the feeling of slaving over a hot stove all day creating a well deserved master piece, whether it's a recipe I've done before or something new.  And then presenting it to them to enjoy, all the while soaking in the ooooos and aaahhhs and oh yummmms.  So when I entertain, I always whip up something I know I can do well and has been done in the past, but I also like to toss in something new, never tried.  Sometimes they go well, sometimes they flop.



So, this party.  It was a pot luck.  And although the pot luck means everyone should be bringing one dish, I of course still worry that there won't be enough food.  So I cook more than I should.  Also, it's just so hard to choose only one recipe.  I had recently been craving spring rolls.  I didn't want to go for the pre-frozen, and I didn't want to order them from the local Chinese restaurant.  It's obvious, it was going to be a homemade attempt.  I don't have a deep fryer.  Shock, I know.  So, this could go well, or it could go poorly since I can't fry them, they will have to be baked.  But whatever, it's about playing.  After compiling a subset of several different recipes and things to try, I gathered my ingredients, or what I thought should go inside spring rolls and started to wing it.  Here are those results.





Ingredients:
 - Spring rolls are loaded with veggies.  Crunchy ones and soft ones.  Here's what I chose.

Shredded Carrots	Sprouts!  (who doesn't love sprouts?)
Mushrooms	Broccoli Slaw

- (but not just ANY mushrooms, I found the most awesomist mushrooms ever "Enoki Mushrooms!") 
- You're going to want to rinse off and trim your mushrooms


       - Spring Rolls rice paper wrappers, not to be confused with Won-ton wrappers.  The Spring roll rice papers can be found int eh international aisle of your grocery store.  I found them with the special Chinese noodles.
       - Salt, Pepper
       - Soy Sauce
       - Sesame Oil

Let's Play!

 - Use a wok if you have one.  If not, just use your stainless steel and get it as hot as you can.
 - Drizzle sesame oil to taste and add all your shredded veggies
 - Salt and Pepper and soy sauce to taste
     - Don't over do the soy sauce, as it will make stuffing your wrappers very messy
 - Cook until the veggies are at the tenderness you like
     - I do mine al dente so they still have crunch, but are not raw
     - Make it a habit to take a piece out and taste it, test it.  Not just for tenderness, but flavor.  More salt?  More pepper?  More sesame oil?  More soy?



Get Rolling!

 - Let your veggies cool down a bit, since you'll be handling them with your fingers.
 - Locate your baking dish or cookie sheet and spray generously with cooking spray.  If not, they WILL stick.
 - Get a saute/frying/pot big enough to fit your rice paper flat.  Fill with just about 1 inch of water and get it hot, but not boiling.  You're putting your fingers into it.  If found hot water from my sink was good enough, no need to turn on a boiler.
 - Place one rice paper into the hot water and let it soak for 2-3 seconds until it softens.  Don't let it dissolve.
 - Put the now soft wrapper on your work area.  Grab a small amount of veggies and place in the center of the wrapper.
 - Fold the sides in over the veggies.  Fold the bottom up over the veggies.  Roll.
 - Repeat and repeat and repeat.
 - If you see rips and tears int he wrapper, try to start with those so that they wrap on the inside.
 - Line your rolls up on your dish/sheet
 - Oven at 375, into to bake, until they "look good"
 - Pull them out and serve

I served mine with a pre-made, store bought sauce and of course doctored it up with scallions and ginger.


You can also attempt to deep fry these, but I'm not sure how well that would go over, as they could fall apart.  My brother in law and I attempted to deep fry them the next day (yes, they SAVE) and they fell apart.  So he battered them, and then deep fried them, and Holy they were yummy.  So that's an option too!

Just a Simple Dish, Really

So, there I was sitting at lunch yesterday, chatting with coworkers and enjoying my meal.  We're talking food.  Of course.  The conversation, while I don't remember how it started, happened to fall upon salting one's food and how it is perceived by others around you; showing your personality.  It is said that if you salt your food prior to tasting it, then you are one to make certain assumptions prior to testing, and tend to jump to conclusions.  And if you're one to taste your food first, and then salt after if necessary, you are a more cautious person, not one to jump to assumptions.  This method has been used by employers taking potential job candidates out to lunch.  Now, I find this interesting, because for me, I taste and salt later, which would "tell" you that I don't make assumptions.  But if you know me, I'm the first one to jump into a situation with "well I think this and that" and am far too over opinionated for my own good.  But enough about me, back to salt.

Pre-salting your food can also seen as a great insult to the chef.  You're, again, making an assumption that the food is not good enough and requires salt before you even taste it.  But, you can look at the other way too and one who tastes and salts afterwards can be viewed the same way.  I did experience this once with a family member; only it wasn't salt, it was hot sauce.  Before I knew that he hot sauced everything, I was quite insulted to watch him "ruin" several of my meals with hot sauce over, and over, and over again.  Until I learned, he just liked things hot.  So, it is the same with salt.  One who salts, simply, just likes salt.  Regardless, I do tend to under-salt most of my food, for that very reason.  I let my diner salt it up to their desire, and I will add other spices to compliment.  So, word to the novice chef, salt is good but too much salt is bad.  Use your discretion and cater to the crowd you're serving.

Anyhow, back to lunch.  I was asked what it is that I'm eating, because apparently, it looks good.  When I told them it was just a simple throw together meal, they insisted I provide the ingredients and was asked if it was on my blog.  Of course it was not, it's not "gourmet."  I just tossed some stuff together!  Pretty sure I saw a similar recipe on Worst Cooks in America.  So I'm embarrassed to admit how stupidly simple this recipe is, but if executed correctly can feed a family of 4, with leftovers and can pass as dinner no problem and is disguised as gourmet.  I was so taken by the compliment however, that sure, I'll toss it up on the blog for others to enjoy.  After all, I was only playing with new variations of an old recipe.  Anyone remember Chicken Tonight?   Yeah, it's like that, only now mine is "semi-homemade" and yes, that theme song resonates through my brain the whole time I make this dish.

Ingredients:
Rice, just plain white
Chicken, I use both breast and thigh (boneless)
Green beans, frozen
Mushrooms, canned or fresh (I used canned as I was in a rush and no fresh in the fridge)
Cream of Mushroom Soup (any brand, but really, Cambell's is best)
Salt & Pepper to taste

 - But Jenn, how much of everything?  Well, now that depends on how many people you want to serve.  You know how much chicken you, personally, can eat.  How much can your toddler/child eat?  How much can your husband eat?  Decide if you need 2 breasts and 1 Thigh, etc.  (yes, that's what I used)  And since I can't stand leftover rice, I just did 1/2c uncooked rice to 1c water.  1 small can of mushrooms, and I pour the green beans in until it "just looks right."  And the soup is a regular 8oz can.

Prepare your Rice:  I've been getting creative lately with my rice, trying to give plain white rice some pizazz and flavoring up my food.  My absolute favorite rice is Jasmine rice.  But it's not cheap, so I really only make it with meals that I know it's going to compliment nicely.  And having had and love jasmine rice, plain old white rice is now just extremely boring.  So, here's how I prep my white rice.  In the water that you're boiling for the rice (according to the package directions), I add SALT.  Yep, that's right, I pre-salt my rice water.  It's a must in this case.  How much?  You decide.  1T for 1c uncooked rice usually does well.  But you know me, I don't measure, so it's just an estimate.  Along with the salt, I am now adding dry parsley.  Again, how much?  Just toss some in until it looks "right."  Why parsley?  Well, it adds some pretty color to the rice and flavors it just enough.  Parsley has a flavor, but not over powering.  So, boil your water, add your rice, cook according to directions.

Prepare the Chicken:  If your chicken is defrosted, cut it up into bite size cubes.  If it's not defrosted, get it to that state in your preferred method and then cut it into bite size cubes.  Get them into a frying pan with 2T olive oil, salt and pepper, and cook them on Med-High until golden brown on the outside.  Once brown, add your mushrooms and cook until also heated through.  Once the mushrooms are done, toss in your frozen green beans and the can of mushroom soup + 1/2 that same can of milk.  (Meaning, empty the soup from the can into the pan, then fill 1/2 that same can with milk and add that to the pan as well.)   Get everything stirred in nicely together and bring it to a soft boil and let simmer until the green beans are cooked through and the soup is hot.

Make Your Dish: I have a saucer bowl that I like to use for dishes like this, but you can also use a plate or an actual bowl.  On the plate/bowl lay down 1/2-3/4c of the rice.  Next to that, pour in 1-2c of the chicken mixture.  I like to let the chicken and rice overlap a bit, since by the end I've completely stirred everything together.  But it starts out visually appealing anyhow.

Enjoy:  Now, you can sit down and enjoy a meal that literally just took you 20 minutes to make.  And it only took that long because the rice had to cook.  If you have leftover rice, you can cut your cook time in half!  A 10 minute meal, yes please!!!  Oh yeah, and don't forget to place the salt on your table.  It's bound to happen, no matter what you cook, no matter how much you season, so just chalk it up to personal preference, don't look into it and know that you placed a fine meal on the table, salt or no salt.

(No picture of this meal since I hadn't planned on sharing it - perhaps next time I make it, I'll snap a few and edit for historical purposes)

Just a Splash of Irish

It's that time of year again where the boiled dinner smell wafts throughout the kitchens and everyone digs deep to prove they are at least 1/99th Irish so they have an excuse to drink. I don't make excuses, I just mix. And since this is the month of green, I got into my liquor cabinet to play.

Let me introduce you to my Peppermint Oreo Cookie Cocktail:

Into a shaker pour over ice:
2 parts mint Bailey's
1 part vodka of choice
1 part milk or cream
Shake vigorously.  Pour into a martini glass.
Makes 1

Variation on this drink:
2 parts chocolate liquor
1 part peppermint schnapps
1.5 parts cream
Shake vigorously.  Pour into a martini glass.
Makes 2

Garnish both drinks with a peppermint Oreo cookie.

- Now you ask me, what's a "part?" And, that, is up to you. How big is your shaker?