I’ve been making little egg rolls for years now and I’ve never been disappointed. I’ve switched up the ingredients and the proportions many times.  Some things work better than others of course; I’ve made them too garlicky or too peppery before but still… they’re always delicious.  Of course the ones I make are not traditional and don’t even involve egg — just a familiar name for a familiar concept, bite sized fried-up goodness in a hand-rolled form.

Here is a recipe to get you started on making your own.

This recipe is for about 40-50 mini egg rolls:
(sounds like a lot but they go quick!)

1 pack of wanton wrappers, usually 60 sheets
2-3 cups red cabbage (1/2 small head)
3/4 cups shredded carrots (2-4 medium carrots)
1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
1 large clove of garlic minced
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (heaping)
1/2 block tofu (1 1/4 cup crumbled)
1 tablespoon soy sauce & 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
splash of olive oil & sesame oil

vegetable oil for frying

Be sure to allow enough time before you get started for your wanton wrappers to thaw if necessary.  Press tofu to drain as much excess moisture as possible.  You can pat it dry with some paper towels and set it under a plate while you prepare the other ingredients.

Finely chop cabbage and shred carrots. Cut mushrooms into small bits. Finely mince ginger and garlic, keep separate from other vegetables.

In another bowl, crumble the tofu. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce & 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper. Stir.

In a wok or frying pan heat up a splash of olive oil and a drizzle of sesame oil. Add garlic and ginger, saute over medium heat for a moment until garlic is fully cooked.  Add cabbage, mushrooms, and carrots and cook for about 1 minute.  This is a really quick fry, you don’t need to cook it much at all in order to preserve a bit of crunch in the filling. Add the tofu mixture, stir up and add kosher salt to taste.  Remove from heat and transfer in to a bowl. The filling is complete, you should have 4-5 cups worth.

Get ready to fill the wanton wraps. Create a work area fully equipped with a rolling surface, a bowl of water for sealing, and a landing zone for the egg rolls ready to be fried.

Put one wanton skin on your work surface. Place one tablespoon of filling in the middle.  Doesn’t seem like a lot of filling but it’s enough. If you start off packing it with too much it will be very difficult to roll. Once you roll a few you will get a feel for how much filling works best for you, there will be plenty of chances to practice. As you are working through the filling towards the bottom of the bowl you may have extra moisture, try to work around it rather than include it in your rolls. If moisture escapes while frying you may have some spitting oil. Ouch.

Begin rolling by folding one corner of the wanton over the filling. Dip your finger in water and lightly wet the next corner to be folded towards the center. The water will help seal it closed. As you fold the side over be sure to tuck and close any openings on that side. Repeat this step for the other side.

Complete the mini roll by wetting the last edge and folding it over. It’ll look like a cute little package. It might be a little sloppy at first but it won’t take long to get the hang of it. If you happen to rip a wanton or two don’t fret, you’ll have a few left over anyway. Put completed rolls on to a plate, be sure to stack them in such a way that they don’t stick together — give them a chance to dry for a moment before you pile them on top of each other.

Once the all the filling is depleted and rolled into mini egg rolls it’s time to fry! Deep fry! We use a small sauce pot filled with about an inch and a half of vegetable or canola oil and a wire basket utensil to remove them from the oil. Use a utensil that will allow the oil to drain directly over the pot and off of the roll.  I like to use a small pot in order to use less oil and also because we can only fit a couple in the oil at a time, which means it’s easier to handle 2-3 frying egg rolls rather than having the option of dealing with many more at once. Seems safer for a makeshift home deep frying set up, they cook rather quickly once the oil is hot and you don’t want to have too much to deal with at one time. Prepare a landing zone for the freshly fried egg rolls. I usually use a baking sheet lined with Viva paper towels, a plate with a few paper towels works too.

When you’re ready to fry, check if the oil is hot enough by tossing in a small piece of wanton. It should quickly fry up and float to the top. If it sinks or takes awhile to fry continue to heat the oil and test again. Once the oil is ready lower one mini egg roll to start, it’ll float to the top with a beautiful crisp golden color. Transfer onto the baking sheet and carry on. Once you are confident with the cooking time you can decide to fry a few at a time. Best to start slow if you haven’t done this before so there aren’t any accidents. Hot oil is not something worth rushing around.

Be careful and enjoy as is or dip in some sweet & sour, soy, or plum sauce.

There are definitely many right ways to make stuffed mushrooms.  It’s an extremely easy dish to make and to improvise with whatever you have.  With the simple guideline of “top mushrooms with filling,” the possibilities are endless.

This dish makes a great appetizer, side, snack, or even a small meal. We made a similar version of these mushrooms for a dinner party a few weeks ago with the only real difference being the cheese we used.  They’re great for parties whether you are the host or you are bringing them with you.  Make ahead and pop them in to the oven 25 minutes before you’re ready to enjoy.

recipe:

about 2 8oz packages of baby bella mushrooms

2 cups frozen spinach
1 roasted pepper
4 cloves roasted garlic
1+ cups cheese (sharp cheddar, havarti, swiss all work well)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8- 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper powder or cayenne
handful of toasted pine nuts (optional)

1/4 cup bread crumbs toasted with butter

Prepare your roasted pepper and roasted garlic ahead of time.  Preheat oven to 425°. Lightly brush pepper with oil, wrap a head (or half) of garlic drizzled with a little olive oil in tinfoil and place both on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, flip pepper half way through. Allow to cool before handling.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. Thaw spinach and drain excess water- if you are using fresh spinach saute it for a moment to wilt.  Grate the cheese; we used cheddar for this recipe, but last time it was havarti. It’s ok to switch things up. Both were delicious. Toast a handful of pine nuts — dry toast them in a small pan with no oil, shake them around over the heat until they’re nice and toasty.  Dice the roasted pepper and peel the garlic.  Combine all of these ingredients along with spice and salt to taste. Set aside.

Clean mushrooms and pop off stems. Place mushrooms caps cup side up in a glass baking dish. We use a shallow 8 x 12 glass baking dish.  Use whatever you have — a couple of pie dishes or a lasagna dish would work well too. The filling should be enough to top 2 8 oz packs of mushrooms.  The size of the mushrooms and the amount of room on your baking dish may vary the proportions. Disperse filling into the caps.

Finish the stuffed mushrooms off with bread crumbs.  For this recipe we used panko bread crumbs and fried them up with a little butter, probably about a tablespoon or so.  You can add some parmesan to the mix if you want.  If you are interested in making your own bread crumbs from scratch, check here for some inspiration.

Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes.

Try out our recipe or make up your own! If you don’t have all of the ingredients we used consider what else might taste nice here…. artichoke hearts, olives, goat cheese, tomatoes, Parmesan, carrots, edamame, kale, walnuts… no onions… this list could go on for days- you get the point.

Over the past year or so crunchy chickpeas have been flooding the food blog world.  There’s a good reason for it too! They’re inexpensive, simple to make, delicious, and healthy.  You don’t really need a recipe to make them. I first made these crunchy chickpeas several months ago and I’ve been hooked ever since! I’m always on the lookout for tasty snacks especially ones that can be readily available at any given surge of hunger. A grab on the go or snag a few here and there snack. I keep these around the house and at work nearly always.

The crunchy chickpea snack concept is great because you can modify it to fit your taste and you can make as much or as little as you require.  The batch I make is plenty for the week with enough to share — spicy, and salty. The cooking process takes about an hour depending on your oven and the amount you are baking at once.  The entire process is simple and straight forward but it does require you to stand by in order to mix them up throughout baking.  A good timer is helpful.

Ingredients :

3 cups dried chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1½ – 2 teaspoons hot chili powder or cayenne

I use dried chickpeas to start but you can use canned as well. When using dry chickpeas pre-soak over night or all day.  I’ll usually just set them out to soak in the morning if I want to bake them in the evening. Once soaked for several hours, drain the chickpeas and put them in a pot with new water to boil.  Simmer until cooked.

Strain the chickpeas and pour them onto a clean towel to completely dry and cool off. I believe this step is extremely important, allowing them to air off and cool off helps eliminate a lot of steam which is moisture.  I have noticed a huge difference when I have not allowed them to cool down — the chickpeas have a harder crunch to them which to me is less pleasant to eat.  By eliminating as much moisture before you bake them I believe you get nicer light and crispy texture.

Preheat oven to about 400°

Once the chickpeas are cooked and cooled, place them into a baking dish. I use a 9 x 13 Pyrex lasagna dish.  I would recommend using something with sides because throughout baking the chickpeas will need to be stirred around.  I’ve used a regular baking sheet before and found it pretty difficult to stir them up adequately (while in a hot oven — wear a mitt!) without knocking them off the sides. I also felt that the chickpeas were quicker to burn on a thinner baking sheet — the glass dish just makes more sense to me especially when you are preparing several cups worth of snacks ;)

Season the chickpea directly in the baking dish. Pour oil, sprinkle spices & kosher salt to taste, stir up to evenly coat the batch. Give it a taste before popping it in the oven.

The baking time may vary slightly but will end up to be just over an hour to an hour and a half. Set the timer for 15 minutes and then stir the chickpeas well, repeat an additional 3 times.  This will take about 45 minutes ;) taste test a few for crispiness and keep a closer watch as they finish baking.  I just keep lessening the interval between mixings until they are done to avoid burning them at the end! You’ll know when they’re done because they will be super crispy and delicious; because there are so many chickpeas baking at once, the textures will vary slightly, some may be a little darker (burnt), others a bit lighter (chewy), and the rest of them will be perfectly crispy.

Make these your new savory snack!

Of course you’ll need something delicious to dip your homemade crackers into… how about a roasted red pepper & olive spread?

Ingredients used : 2 roasted peppers (1 red & 1 orange), 2-3 cloves roasted garlic, 1 cup chopped olives spliced with capers if desired, and 1 8oz. package of cream cheese.

Preheat oven to 425°

This dip is simple to make and extra delicious.  Begin by roasting the peppers and garlic. Roasting peppers may seem like a lot of work, however that turns out to not be the case at all.  In fact, roasting peppers has become a staple in our weekly meals as of late because it’s so easy.  Once a week we make a roasted pepper sauce to use in various meals — enchiladas, pizza, chiles relleños, and anything else that requires a sauce.  SO, roasting a couple peppers for this dip is even easier when you’re already roasting something anyway.  Whether you plan to make a sauce or not, roasting a couple of peppers & garlic takes very little attention and no skill at all.

Brush or spray peppers with a little bit of olive oil and place on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil. Wrap a head of garlic in foil and drizzle a small amount of olive oil over top.  Place in oven and roast for 20-40 minutes, flip peppers a couple times throughout the time as you keep a loose eye on them; you’ll know when they’re done because they will be slightly blackened, shriveled, and softened. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool before handling.

Before you chop up two peppers for this dip, peal off the skin of the peppers and remove the seeds. It’s not terrible if you leave the skin on, but once removed the diced pepper bits will be nice and soft which is perfect for the texture of a spread.

Dice about a cup of olives and include some capers if desired. The olives we had came with capers and pimentos so it was easy to incorporate them. Just green olives will be delicious but adding some capers to the mix makes it even better.

Combine all ingredients to make the spread complete.  I like to start with the cream cheese first and add the roasted garlic before the other ingredients so it’s mixed in evenly throughout. You can chop the garlic up if you’d like but it’s often soft enough to break up while mixing. Next add the olives, capers, and peppers and mix to finish the process.

Enjoy with crackers, pita, bread, or chips!

I love crackers but have not made them myself until recently. I noticed that we haven’t purchased many, if any, crackers in the past year and when I came across JoyTheBaker’s post called Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Crackers, I knew what I had to do. So, I made crackers and they were delicious. In fact they were so nice that I have made four batches in the past 2 weeks and I’m already thinking about making another! This marks the start of my cracker hunt — must find more recipes.
Cracker recipes, where are you?

This recipe is surprisingly simple to make, it requires very few ingredients and about 10 minutes of your active time with 30 minutes or so to bake. It also lends itself to be modified with other spices and flavors. I’ve only just begun to experiment with these.

The recipe below was found on JoyTheBaker.Com
Joy found it in The Complete Book of Cookies

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Crackers

makes 20 crackers
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4  teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon butter, cold and cut into 6 small chunks
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
6 Tablespoons half and half
sea salt & additional half and half for the topping (I used kosher salt instead)

Preheat the oven to 300° F. Sift together the flour, salt and sugar.  Add the butter and, using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it is in tiny bits and dispersed throughout the flour mixture.

Stir in the poppy seeds.

Add the half and half and mix to make a stiff dough.  Place on a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 8×10-inches.  Cut into 20 squares.

Place the dough squares on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment or foil.  Brush sparingly with half and half and sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 30 minutes or until crisp but still pale.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool and store in an airtight container.

So far the original recipe stands to be the best (of course) but I have started experimenting with adding other flavors which promise to make a nice cracker as well. I will post about them in the future. The additional ingredients in question are crushed red pepper, cumin, and sesame seeds… stay tuned for more cracker fun and dip ideas!

Radishes are not something I often buy, not because I dislike them rather I’m not always sure what to do with them. Sure you could always dip them in something or just eat them, what else do people use them for? On a quick search I found a popular use was as simple as sliced radishes on bread with butter and a dash of salt. Hmmmm, ok I can do that! So, I tried it out and this is how it went…

Ingredients : sliced radishes, bread, butter, salt, and radish sprouts.

The day before we had this snack we made the bread, it was a french bread recipe found on The Thrifty Gourmet.  I’m not going to elaborate on our experience making this bread yet, I think we need another try for ultimate success — it didn’t rise properly for us this time.  But, for a first attempt at french bread, it turned out pretty good and was great for this snack. Check out their site for instructions and a great how to video demonstration if you want to give it a try.  I think most fresh breads would be great for this treat.

To make this snack, simply start off by preparing your ingredients. Slice your radishes and bread, pick your radish sprouts.  If you haven’t tried radish sprouts before keep an eye out for them; they’re quite tasty.  They would be great on sandwiches or in salads for an extra kick.

Toast and butter your bread.
Lay radish slices and sprinkle salt.
Top with radish sprouts and snack!

I also made radish chips! Still on a search for other ways to use them… any ideas?

I very rarely buy potato chips but if I do, I like to take them with cottage cheese.  I don’t remember who revealed this trick to me but I do know that this has been a preferred method of eating both potato chips and cottage cheese for years. Why isn’t everyone already doing this? I forget about this delicious snack often because I never have potato chips and I only buy cottage cheese when I want this snack.  So it has to be an intentional choice. However, we almost always have potatoes and cottage cheese is extremely easy to find! So, we decided to make the chips ourselves and enjoy this snack.  It turned out well and was almost better than a greasy store bought bag of chips.  It was super easy and is near impossible to fail.

ingredients :: potatoes, cottage cheese, oil, kosher salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 350°

I think almost any potato will do, we used an assortment of small waxy potatoes – red, yellow, & purple.  Prepare the potatoes by washing them and slicing them in to thin rounds. We wanted to cut them to be about 1/8 of an inch although most of them turned out to be 1/4 inch instead. The thickness will affect your baking time.

Line a baking sheet with tin foil and use vegetable oil to coat the surface.  Make rows of potato slices overlapping one edge to the other.  Not totally sure if this is necessary but we thought it would help prevent them from sticking to the foil, and I believe we were right.  Though, if they were laying flat on the foil they would brown quicker, perhaps too quick.  Once your potatoes are in nice rows, oil the topsides by brushing or spraying vegetable or olive oil, then salt and pepper. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes before you flip each slice for the first time.

Take them out of the oven and flip each potato chip over, we used a fork because we had one on hand but I bet small tongs would be better.  Oil the fresh side and lightly salt and pepper.  Place back into the oven and heat for another 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven once again and flip, repeat until chips are cooked to desired crispiness.  We flipped the chips a total of 4 times with 15-20 minutes of baking in between, this took a little over an hour. Towards the end you’ll want to keep an eye on them to avoid burning, especially if your human hands cut uneven potato slices like mine did.  You’ll end up with a nice batch of potato chips with some being super crispy and others being a little soft.

Once they are done remove them from the pan and place onto a serving dish with a small bowl of cottage cheese for dipping!

I can’t believe it took me this long to experiment with tomatillos!   Seriously, I have always loved salsa verde and have wanted to try making it for a long time.  Something about the mysteriously wrapped green tomato has always been intriguing to me but I was never exactly sure how to use them. I would eye them at the grocery store every time and pass them by instead of picking them up.   But this past trip to the market was different, we finally brought tomatillos home to use!

It’s possible that i might be a little too excited about these green relatives of the tomato, there have been recent reports of me talking in my sleep about them! “Tomatillos are so beautiful, they’re a real treat!”  – it’s true whether i’m awake or asleep i do feel like they are a beautiful treat.  Making our first tomatillo sauce was so much fun, full of surprises, and super easy!

Because this was the first time we have ever used tomatillos I can’t claim to know the best way to make a salsa verde.  However, without using a recipe it turned out absolutely delicious anyway.  As usual, improv salsa was a great success!  I cannot wait to do it again….

Ingredients used…
About 10 medium tomatillos
About 20 sprigs of cilantro leaves
3 jalapeños chopped with seeds
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
juice of 2 limes
kosher salt to taste

el ranchero chips

I did a little research to see how other people make this sauce; almost everyone said that they roasted the tomatillos before blending.  I bet it’s not difficult to do and I’m sure it’s delicious, but roasting is for next time, this time I chose to boil them instead.

When I unwrapped the papery shell from the tomatillos I noticed that they were very sticky and greasy, so I washed them before blanching.  Place tomatillos in a pot of water, bring to a boil for about 5 minutes.  I was surprised to find that the color changed so much once they heated up.  It made a lot of sense because it resembled the color I’m more use to seeing in a salsa verde.  I used the color change as an indicator of when they were cooked enough.   Strain the water and let them cool while you prepare the other ingredients.

Collect the cilantro leaves from the sprigs, skip this step if you’re lazy and blend the whole stem.  Cut jalapeños and crush garlic.   3 Jalapenos made it very spicy, so beware, include less seeds if you prefer it to be less spicy. Sautee garlic and jalapeños in oil to mellow flavor.  Set aside.

Remove stem base from the blanched tomatillos with a knife.  Place all other parts (seeds, juice, and skin) in a blender. Add cilantro, jalapeno, & garlic. Squeeze lime juice in to the mix and blend.  Add salt to taste and enjoy with El Ranchero chips or add it to any meal for an extra kick!