Egg rolls

The other day, as I was reheating Sam's Club egg rolls, Tom said that it was too bad they couldn't be homemade. I said I could make them, but didn't, because this was easier. That led to a conversation where Tom first learned that, yes, egg rolls can be made at home.

Which means, next time it was his night to pick dinner, homemade egg rolls were it. I didn't actually use much of a recipe. I just started dumping things together, and it turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:

egg rolls wrappers
1 lb ground hamburger (that's what I used this time. I may try ground sausage next time for more flavor)
1/2 head of cabbage
5-6 carrots
cumin, garlic salt, and one of those packet seasonings for sweet and sour sauce (you know, the place in the grocery store that has a shelf full of packets, which are a big pain for employees to dela with? Yeah, they had a sweet and sour sauce one)

Fry hamburger. Drain. Shred cabbage and carrots and add to meat. Add seasonings. Sometime, I may actually narrow down the best seasoning combination, but I didn't measure this time. But, you all can taste it out and figure out what you like.

Place in egg roll wrappers and seal with a beaten egg. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place egg rolls on it. Spray egg rolls with cooking spray. This makes it lightly oiled so that they are still crispy even though you aren't frying them. You could fry them, but we are trying to be healthier here.

Bake at 375 for 10 mins. Flip and bake 12-15 mins more. Let sit for about 10 mins, long enough for them to crisp up a little, but not long enough to get cold. Serve with sweet and sour sauce or whatever else you want to dip them in.

A note- make sure your filling isn't very wet. Moisture will cause steam as it cooks, and that will cause them to split open. Another note- the egg adheres to the wrapper, not to egg, so you only want to wet one side of your seam.

I made 20, and we ate about 10 at dinner. The rest were placed in a plastic bag and put in the fridge. The mysteriously disappeared quite quickly over the next day.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Our family has committed to never ordering a pizza again.  In fact, we want to make as much of our pizza as possible.  So, today, we tried to make our own pizza sauce!  It was fabulous.  Way cheaper than buying a jar and it mixes up in a snap.  It may be even faster than trying to open one of those stubborn jars.  So here you go:

1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp paprika
1 tablespoon garlic (we used the kind you get in a big jar from Sam's club.  It helps to have a lot of the juice with this recipe).

Mix it all together.  We used an immersion blender to make sure we got the paste blended in well.  But you could do it with some patience and a spoon as well. 

Yield is enough sauce for 4 pizzas.  Its also way cheaper than a jar of sauce.  From my calculations, this recipe costs less than $1.50 and a can of good sauce costs around $2.50.  And you can really only get two pizzas out of a jar of sauce.  So, instead of spending $1.25 per pizza for sauce, you're only spending about 36 cents. 

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Bread

My friend Analisa came over last week, and we made bread together. She has a great recipe that is super easy to make. Here it is:

First, make a sponge out of

3 1/2c. Wheat Flour (can also substitute 1/2c. of a grain mix for 1/2c. of this flour)

2 1/2c. Water

4tsp. Yeast

by mixing together the ingredients in your mixer until everything is wet. I remove the paddle after mixing, and throw a tea towel over the bowl.

Wait at least 20 minutes, but as long as 12 HOURS!! When you have a two-hour block of time that you know you'll be around for, finish making the dough by adding

4Tbsp. Butter (softened is best)

1tsp. salt (unless you use salted butter, then you leave this out)

1/4c. Plain Yogurt

1/4c. Honey

2 1/2c. Bread Flour, more or less (start with 2c.)

to the sponge. Use a dough hook to mix it together, and add remaining 1/2c. of flour a little at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl and is no longer sticky. You'll probably knead it for around 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down after additions, if necessary.

Next, spray two loaf pans with cooking spray. Flour your counter. Divide your dough into two. Roll the dough out as wide as the length of the pan, and as long as you can easily get it. Roll it up tightly, and stick it in the bread pan. Let rise until you get a nice crown, which should take around an hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool on a rack until you can't stand to wait any longer, and enjoy!

AUNT WINNIE'S RAISIN CAKE

AUNT WINNIE'S RAISIN CAKE, from the 'Chez Burnham ' recipe book.

*Aaron's Note: I found this in Grandpa's Journals, and thought it belonged here.

(A favorite request on birthdays. The caramel icing was best - like candy. Her children would peel it off and save it to eat last.)

Boil 2 c. raisins in two c. water. If not enough juice afterward, add water to make 2 cups. Let cool slightly.

Add 1 c. shortening 2 c. sugar

Stir in (sifted):

5 c. flour

2 t. soda

1 t. salt

spices:

½ t. nutmeg

½ t. cloves

1 t. cinnamon

Bake at 350° about 30 minutes.

Caramel icing: (Good on spice cake)

3 c. sugar 1 c. cream* ½ c. water

Melt 1 c. sugar in large fry pan or saucepan. When melted, add enough water (½ c.) to dissolve sugar. To this, add 2 c. sugar and 1 c. cream (sweet) and let cook until it forms a soft ball in water. set aside till it stops bubbling, abt. 5-10 minutes. Whip with spoon till thick for cake. Don't wait too long!

* Can subsitute rich milk. (Half and half?)

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

Oops. I posted my recipe on my blog instead of this one.  I'm too lazy to redo it, so here's the link.
http://mamamubba.blogspot.com/2010/05/easy-philly-cheesesteak-open-face.html

Clafoutis

Dallin copied this kind of wierd recipe off a cooking show, and wanted to try it. Then he mixed the batter while I was out getting cherry pie filling for it, without help, so I was doubly surprised when it turned out to be really good.

Spread 12 ozs cherry pie filling in a buttered cast iron pan.

Mix 2 eggs
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c flour

Pour over cherries.

Bake uncovered 30 min at 400 deg.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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