Monday, June 20, 2011

Egg Rolls

I had bought some egg roll wrappers and decided to try out the recipe on the back of the packet. These were pretty good, and I will keep this recipe until I find a better one. I made the whole packet and froze half of them. I used peanut oil and baby bok choy, and a bit more than a pound of the pork. It is hard to do deep frying unless you have a deep fryer, I feel like I waste the oil or it spoils. Also, my egg rolls looked more like little burritos than the little egg rolls you get in restaurants!!

Egg Rolls

1 package of egg roll wraps
1 lb. lean ground pork
1 t. minced ginger
2 c. cabbage, finely chopped
1/4 lb. bean sprouts
1/2 c. carrot, shredded
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 T oyster sauce
oil for frying
sauce for dipping

1. Stir-fry meat and ginger in skillet over high heat until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes.
2. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, and green onions, cook 2 minutes.
3. Stir in oyster sauce and let mixture cool.
4. Use 2 Tablespoons filling for each egg roll. Fold bottom corner over filling, then fold in side corners. Brush top corner with water and roll up wrap tightly to enclose filling, sealing roll with top flap.
5. Fry in a 350º skillet, flap down a few at a time, turning when golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
6. Or, bake in 400º oven, place rolls on greased cookie sheet, lightly brush tops with olive oil and bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Chicken Pot Pie


I created this pot pie recipe and have tweaked it until I was happy with the results. It is similar to the beef and the turkey recipe already on this site. I get three smaller pot pies by piecing together the pastry dough. I use vintage glass individual pie dishes and they are just the right size. I think if you wanted to use one large pie dish you should use a deep dish one so it doesn't overflow too much. I like using the pearl onions because, while I enjoy the onion flavor, I don't like eating the onions.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pkg refrigerated ready-made pie dough (2 rounds)
1 T oil
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1/2 c. frozen pearl onions
1/2 c. sliced carrots (about 4 medium)
1/4 c. sliced celery (about 2 ribs with leaves)
3/4 c. frozen peas
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. milk or half-and-half
3 T flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. poultry seasoning
1/8 t. pepper

1. Following the thawing directions of the pastry, unroll each disc and place one in the pie dish. Press down to remove any air pockets and prick the base with a fork in several places. Set aside the remaining pastry dough for later.
2.Preheat oven to 425º.
3. In large sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and chicken. Saute until lightly browned (about 5 minutes). Transfer onions and chicken to separate bowl and set aside.
4. Add carrots and celery to pan and saute until slightly softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in peas and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Bake the bottom pie dish pastry for about 5-7 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Remove and set aside to fill later. Lower oven temperature to 450º.
6. While the bottom pie dish pastry is baking, in a 2-cup measuring cup stir together milk, flour, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Whisk this mixture into the vegetable mixture in the pan, stirring until thickened. Stir in reserved chicken and onion mixture.
7. Spoon mixture into pie crust. Top with remaining top pastry with fork vents. Bake for 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 350º and bake for another 10 minutes until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. Let cool slightly before eating. Makes 1 large pie or 3 small pies.