Recipe Review - Spring Rolls

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Cheryl said she'd like to see pictures of my version of each recipe. Well, Cheryl, this is for you:




Yeah. Have you guys ever seen spring roll wrappers before? They're like these crazy thin, hard, translucent plastic looking things. Apparently, if you believe what you read on package directions and such, you're supposed to be able to soak them in water for 20 seconds to make them soft and sticky. Then you fill them. Then you wrap them. Then you can either eat as is, steam them or fry them. A, B or C. Sick, Sick, Sick. Not really sick in flavor, but I just don't have what it takes to make those freakin' wrappers work. Eating them as is wasn't an option. Cold. Not wrapped tight enough. Slick. Slimy. No thanks. Steamed? Well, maybe if you want to pick the insides of the spring roll out of your steamer pot, along with your totally jellyfish like wrapper that didn't have enough muscle to hold the filling. No thanks. Fried? Well, see steamed, only everything has fallen apart inside burning oil. Yeah, after an hour of cooking, preparing, grunting, sweating and finally giving up, we went to Taco Bell. :( I spent more money on the ingredients to make our stinkin' meal than I did at Taco Bell. Needless to say I was frustrated. However, the filling for the Spring Rolls was actually tasty. So I made in into a soup for lunches that week, and all was not lost. If you're interested in Cabbiage Soup, and I suspect you're not, read on my friend.

Fry several strips of tofu (probably about 2 inch strips for each so called spring roll) in sesame oil and spices to taste. (this is from my recipe book. I added the tofu to the rest of the recpie from foodnetwork.com below)

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons peanut or olive oil
• 2 cups shredded coleslaw mix
• 1/2 cup Thai Peanut Sauce, recipe follows
• 8 spring roll wrappers (sold in the refrigerated section of the produce aisle)
• 1 (6-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 1 (11-ounce) can asparagus, drained and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the coleslaw mix and cook, stirring, until the cabbage wilts, about 3 minutes. Add the peanut sauce and mix well to combine. Remove from the heat.

Place 2 inches of water in the bottom of a steamer or large saucepan and set over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, arrange the spring roll wrappers on a flat surface. Top each wrapper with an equal amount of the coleslaw mixture, water chestnuts, and asparagus, making an even layer down the center. Roll up the wrappers, tuck in the ends and place side by side in steamer basket or large colander. Set the steamer basket (or colander) over the now simmering water, cover, and steam until the wrappers are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Serve the spring rolls with soy sauce on the side for dipping.

Thai Peanut Sauce:

3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon hot sauce

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sauce ingredients until well blended and set the pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 10 minutes.

The leftover peanut sauce will keep in the refrigerator up to 4 days or in the freezer up to 3 months; thaw completely in the refrigerator or microwave for about 3 minutes on LOW before using.

Please note, friends, this recipe was level: easy. Prep/cook time: 18 minutes. Yeah. Right.

Next attempt: Asparagus and Pistachio Risotto-stay tuned!

Hold uh, hold uh, hold uh hold UP

Obama isn't white?



Holy sh@#.

(just kidding-I just couldn't help it. Chris Matthews forgot to think before he opened his little mouthy mouth. Oops. Don't try this at home, Fox News.)

Wait a sec...

...I thought Obama was, like, a secret Muslim or, like, something horrible like that...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obamas-year-keeping-faith-white-house/story?id=9689272&page=1

just fun

I got new glasses. I thought I liked them, but when I look at this picture they look HUGE. Don't they?


Clarence wants cheese.


This is a first. Literally. Our kitties do not like to be next to each other. They will tolerate it when they are eating their special treats, but this is unheard of. Jeff kept sliding down more and more to make room for them both. He wasn't comfortable at all, but he didn't care. He will sacrafice for the cats!



OK, I'm not obsessed with the glasses (or myself for that matter), I just can't get over how big I think they look. Oh well, at least I like my shirt. And I did use this sample of clarifying shampoo this morning, which my crazy stylist wanted me to try so badly that she poured some into a latex glove finger and put a rubber band around it! Shiny, though, eh?


Thanks for stopping by :)

Recipe Review - Roast Sweet Potato Ravioli

Well, I'm afraid to say this was two thumbs down in my book and maybe two sideways thumbs from Jeff so I'm not going to type the whole thing out this time. It was sort of a lot of work on the scale I use, which is basically comparing the easiness level to the level of Kraft mac and cheese. Picture me chopping, stirring, mixing, boiling, brushing, spooning, reducing, basically running around the kitchen like a crazy woman all while trying not to spill on my recipe book or the floor, or generally anywhere because, hey, let's face it, I like it clean. Finally I finish the stinking meal, take a bite, and...well....not that great. The yams never got quite soft and smooth enough. It probably needed more cheese, more spices, more seasoning, more something. And the wonton wrappers? They were sort of slimy. Ewww. Not a good flavor/texture combo for Ter Ter. Oh well, though. That page is no longer dog eared in my recipe book and now we know what we think of it. On with the resolution!

This week: spring rolls and miso soup!

On a lighter note: pictures!

I'm going to NY! YIPPEE! I've been longing to go again, and now it's in the works. My friend Steph and I have our tickets for the end of May. It's going to be SO FUN!!!



This is a picture of Clarence on his fave chair. He loves to keep track of what is going on outside. Doesn't it look like he's taking a music lesson? Ha!


We got a new couch! Isn't it awesome? Now Jeff and I can both lay on the couch in luxury. The red rug is new, too. It matches the curtains perfectly. Ah home sweet home.



And here is my new cozy corner in our bedroom. My dresser used to be there, but since we got the new couch this chair didn't fit as well in the living room. Perfect! I've been wanting to have a little sitting area in this nook in our room.



Last but not least, Clarence is all about standing on his back legs to see what he can see on the table. He does the same thing in the kitchen, but the counters are higher and he still has an inch or two before his face could reach the same height. Isn't this funny? I wish you could see his back legs all stretched out! He is tall just like his mama.

Not quite profound maybe, but not as random as most

My mind is reeling with several things this morning. And it all involves things from the random to the profound, or the at least less random. Let’s start with the story about the trial of Scott Roeder, the man who murdered Dr. George Tiller. As far as I can tell, Mr. Roeder killed Dr. Tiller. He has confessed. End of story. He will now be judged in court and have to face the consequences of his actions. But of course it’s not as easy as all that. You see Dr. Tiller performed abortions when he was alive. Mr. Roeder shot him in the head, in cold blood, apparently to save unborn babies. See how it’s getting complicated now? Hmmm, I don’t. Mr. Roeder is a murderer. Dr. Tiller is dead because this self-righteous man decided to play God or something to that effect, and thought it was his job to decide just whose lives are more or less important than others. It’s really bothering me, this whole story. There are pro-life voices out there who think that by letting the defendant explain why he murdered the doctor it will somehow help their cause to stop abortions. A couple of bothersome quotes I heard on the radio this morning (although I can’t recall who said them) include:
“This shows that unborn children need to be protected.” Really? I think it shows that some people think that two wrongs make a right. Or that it’s OK for some people to be killed (doctors) and not others (fetuses.) “If it weren’t for abortion, Dr. Tiller would still be alive.” Really? I think if it weren’t for a crazy man with a gun Dr. Tiller would still be alive. All these thoughts aren’t my way of saying abortion is ok. I don’t want to get into the issue at the moment. (however it is the law at this time that abortions are legal and homicide is not.) I know abortion is a very sensitive topic and I don’t want to discount that. I don’t want your opinions about the subject to not be validated or heard. I think many out there think that what Dr. Tiller did by providing abortions was not different than what Mr. Roeder did by shooting him. However I just had to get this off of my chest. I am frustrated by the seeming hypocrisy of people. I am frustrated by killing and death. I am frustrated by people justifying murder, war, fighting, violence, death. I am frustrated.

And now on to a quote that always makes me wonder, and shake my head with confusion. “There but for the grace of God go I.” When people say it after a tragedy, a disaster, after something bad or sad happens, it seems like a blessing. Like a relief. Like they are thankful for God’s grace, right? Who wouldn’t be comforted by the thought that God is taking care of them-He is covering them with His Grace-protecting them. What does it imply, though? To me it implies that people who go through a tragedy, disaster, difficult time, DON’T have the grace of God with them. That those who died in Haiti didn’t have God’s grace and those who lived had it. That the man who went bankrupt didn’t have God’s grace, but the woman who managed to pay off her debt had it. From what I understand the quote was spoken by John Bradford, (1510 - 1555) who “was a prebendary of St. Paul's. He was an English Reformer and martyr best remembered for his utterance, "'There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford." The words were uttered by Bradford while imprisoned in the Tower of London, when he saw a criminal on his way to execution.[1]” (from wikipedia-always the MOST reliable source ;p) Do people who say this think that God’s grace only brings good, happiness, providence? Is there grace in the seeming negative things in life? In death? In pain? In sorrow? I really have no idea. I don’t want you to think you shouldn’t say this phrase. I don’t want you to think I don’t want you to walk under the grace of God. I just got to wondering, and so I wondered out loud-lucky you.

And that's all for now. More random to come :)

is it personal?

if you didn't/don't personally know someone in Haiti, does that made the tragedy not personal? why? we're all people. we are all humanity. it's all personal.

Why?

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Montreal La Presse, Ivanoh Demers)

Why?
Why do I get to sit here, in my warm office, with a new sweater, drinking coffee with cream, listening to the radio, getting paid, after driving my car, from my big house, when the people of Haiti are dying, hurting, starving, scared, confused, lost, missing, ravaged?
Why?
Why do I change the channel when a story about the earthquake comes on the radio? Why do I look away from the papers with the pictures of broken Haitian bodies?
Why?
Why do I continue to worry about unimportant things? Focus on materialistic values? Spend money on complete crap? Complain about luxuries I have?
Why?

If my heart breaks over this tragedy, how will it ever get put back together? If it breaks over this, it must break over every broken body, disaster, disease, abuse, starving child, hurt family, missing person, aching heart, lost baby, devastation.

If it breaks, how can I live? If it doesn't break, how can I go on?
Would something change if I changed? Would anything change?

My mind is now reeling, teetering, on the brink. Yet I'm not allowing myself to fully take on these thoughts. It's too much. Isn't it?

Recipe Review - Pitas with Falafel and Tomato Cucumber salsa

Greek!



Felafel with Tomato Salsa (from "Delicious Vegetarian Food" cookbook.)
I used boxed felafel that you just add water to. However this recipe tells you how to actually MAKE felafel. Um, yeah, maybe I didn't mention that I do easy recipes. Making felafel-NOT easy. But here it is, in case you are more ambitious that I in the kitchen, which wouldn't be surprising ;)

Ingredients

2 cups dried chickpeas
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
oil for deep-frying

Tomato Salsa

2 tomatoes
1/4 Lebanese cucumber, finely chopped (I have no idea what Lebanese cucumbers are, I just used plain old cucumbers in the produce section)
1/2 green capsicum (pepper) diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Tziziki Sauce (from http://greekfood.about.com/od/appetizerssalads/r/tzatziki_sass.htm)

16 ounces (2 cups) of thick Greek yogurt
4 to 10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup of diced or grated cucumber (Kirby or "English")
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Preparation:

Prepare all ingredients in advance. Combine oil and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl. Fold the yogurt in slowly, making sure it mixes completely with the oil. Add the garlic, according to taste, and the cucumber. Stir until evenly distributed. Garnish with a bit of green and serve well chilled.

Yield: about 2 1/2 cups

Add mint or dill: Slight variations include 1-2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh dill and/or fresh mint. Tasty additions!

Pita Bread (from Food Network.com)

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
11/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon salt
31/2 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; stir to blend. Let the yeast stand until foamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Stir in the salt. Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour has been incorporated and the dough gathers into a ball; this should take about 4 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it's smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Place a large pizza stone on the lower oven rack, preheat the oven (and stone) to 500 degrees F.

Punch the dough down, divide it into 8 pieces, and gather each piece into a ball; keeping all of them lightly floured and covered while you work. Allow the balls of dough to rest, covered, for 15 minutes so they will be easier to roll out.

Using a rolling pin, roll each dough ball into a circle that is about 8-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Make sure the circle is totally smooth, with no creases or seams in the dough, which can prevent the pitas from puffing up properly. Cover the disks as you roll them out, but do not stack them up. Put 2 pita rounds at a time on the hot pizza stone and bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the bread puffs up like a balloon and is pale golden. Watch closely; they bake fast. Remove the bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool for 5 minutes; they will naturally deflate, leaving a pocket in the center. Wrap the pitas in a large kitchen towel to keep them soft.

So basically make the felafel OR just add water and follow the directions on the box ;) Then add all the ingredients for the salsa. We put felafel in multigrain pitas warmed up, topped with salsa and homemade tziziki sauce. Also, Jeff made some AMAZING pitas from scratch. Hello, we are totally a Greek restaurant. We give this meal two thumbs up. And we had TONS of leftover pitas that we froze and can enjoy again later.

Let me be something...

"let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. let me be happy; let me be sad. let me be cold; let me be warm. let me be hungry…have too much to eat. let me be ragged or well dressed. let me be sincere- be deceitful. let me be truthful; let me be a liar. let me be honorable and let me sin. only let me be something every blessed minute. and when i sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost."

– betty smith, a tree grows in brooklyn (one of my all time fave books)-

Recipe Review - Borekas

Remember when I used to do the “someplace new review” on the blog? Well that went out the window when we started budgeting. Now it’s better not to spend money on new restaurants, but perhaps new recipes would be a good goal instead. One of my goals for the year is to try out a new recipe each week. Hopefully I’ll learn new delicious and healthy meals we can eat to get us out of our rut, which is pretty much nachos, burritos, spaghetti, pasta salad, pancakes, repeat. I got so excited while looking at one of my cookbooks that I’ve already tried two new recipes. I confess I hurried too quickly at the grocery and therefore didn’t have all the necessary ingredients, but tried to make do with what I had. So here we go!

BOREKAS
8 oz cream cheese, softened
7 oz feta cheese crumbles
1 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
Filo dough (this is what I didn’t have, so I used croissants instead-they worked great!)

Mix all ingredients in bowl-mixture will be lumpy
Separate dough into even lengths (if you use croissants, you’ll need to roll them out and flatten them, probably need to cans of 6.)
After you have about 6-8 lengths of dough, about 2-3 inches wide and 6-8 inches long, put a tablespoon or two of the mixture at one end of the dough. Then fold one corner over and pinch. Repeat folding until you reach the end of the dough and it is in the shape of a triangle. Bake according to package directions (probably at 350 for 20 minutes or so)
Enjoy!

Jeff and I gave this two thumbs up! Of course we both love cheese and carbs, so while it might not have been the healthiest, it was sure a perfect combo of ingredients for us! This is more of an appetizer than a meal, so we had it with some left over chili. MMMMmmmmm :)

MIXED BERRY COUSCOUS
1 cup plain couscous
2 cups cranapple juice
Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc
Honey
Yogurt

Bring juice to a boil in saucepan.
Add couscous, remove from heat, cover for 5 minutes until all juice is absorbed.
Put couscous in bowl, add berries, sprinkle with honey and top with a dollop of yogurt and serve for a warm, healthy breakfast.

Pretty tasty. I would probably give this 2 thumbs up with some slight adjustments. I don’t love the cranapple juice and wonder what the couscous would taste like just made plain and adding a bit of brown sugar for sweetness. Or maybe just using plain apple just instead of the cranapple. The raspberries taste wonderful with it, though, and it made enough for breakfast all week!

Dear Ter,

Please remember to:

Be considerate.
Be positive.
Be optimistic.
Be healthy in body and mind.
Be encouraging.
Be grateful.
Be gracious.
Be kind.
Be selfless.
Hold lightly to your possessions and tightly to your loved ones.
Above all else, LOVE. Oh, and why don't you try a new recipe out each week-that sounds fun. We'll get along fine :)

Love,
2010