spring rolls

Friday Recipe Exchange: Filled Shortbread Cookies

/ TaMara / 2 Comments

Filled shortbread cookies

That blemish on that strawberry is going to haunt me. But the cookies were delicious. A bit of cooking going on this week. I’m also putting together my menu for my June visitors, which will probably be the topic for the next several recipe exchanges.

Tonight’s feature recipe was going to be used during that visit, but I won’t lie to you, it’s labor intensive and I decided there would be too much going on to try and attempt them. This is why I test-drive recipes. I refuse to be a tied to the kitchen when I could be having fun with my guests.

Before we get to that recipe, here is what else was cookin’ in my kitchen this week:

Rotelle No-Boil Pasta Bake – quick, easy and I love the little wheels. Click here for the recipe.

Leftover raspberries went into a nice salad: Pear-Raspberry Salad, recipe here.

Spring Roll step 1

And this week’s dinner menu was Chicken Satay and Thai Spring Rolls. Menu, recipe and shopping list are here and photo instructions for the spring rolls are here.

No Bixby this week (although his resistance video got picked up by I Love Great Danes and he’s quite popular. Insists on wearing shades when we walk now – no autographs please). But here is a little kitteh to end your week. She rules the big guy.

What’s on your plate this weekend? Have any warm weather recipes to share? Grilling, fresh greens, fun sweet treats?

Tonight’s featured recipe:

Raspberry and Strawberry Filled Shortbread Cookies

I was going to make my own filling, but when I realized how labor intensive rolling out shortbread dough was going to be, I went will all-fruit style jams instead.

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • dash of salt
  • 2-1/2 cup unbleached flour
  • fruit filling – I went with strawberry (hearts) and raspberry (circles)
  • parchment paper (not optional)

cookie cutters (sharper the better), rolling pin, baking sheets

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add salt and then flour, about a third at a time, mixing gently until all flour is incorporated.  Divide dough in half. Place one half on parchment sheet, cover with another sheet of parchment and roll to about 1/8 inch thick. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the second section of dough. Place baking sheet in the refrigerator and cool for an hour.

Remove one of the dough parchment packets (keep the other refrigerated until ready to use). Peel off the top piece of parchment and cut out the large shapes, then for half the shapes, use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the center. Move the center pieces from the center to the parchment, so they don’t bake back together. I used the center pieces to make sandwich cookies. Place the parchment on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees (f) for about 15 to 20 minutes – remove them when they are light golden. Because they are thinner than regular shortbread, keep a good eye on them, they cook up quickly.

Repeat with the second parchment packet.

Remove cookies and let cool thoroughly before assembling. To assemble, place a spoonful of fruit filling in the center of the whole cookie and GENTLY press the cut out cookie on the top, allowing the fruit filling to spread to the edges and fill the center. (Resist the urge to lick the edges to smooth them out) Serve the centers plain or make fruit filled sandwich cookies as desired.

Makes about two dozen, depending on the size of the cookie cutters.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend – TaMara

 

Dinner Menu: Chicken Satay

/ TaMara / 2 Comments

Chicken Satay Snapseed2

Fun with chicken and pineapples. This is also a good recipe to experiment with rice varieties.

On the board tonight:

  1. Thai Chicken Satay
  2. Rice
  3. Thai Spring Rolls
  4. Pineapple rings w/vanilla yogurt

Thai Chicken Satay

I usually make my own simple peanut sauce – peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice and a touch of hot sauce.

  • 2 boneless breasts
  • 4 boneless thighs (or 2 breasts)
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp peanut sauce
  • 1 tsp garlic
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • peanut sauce for dipping

bamboo skewers (soaked in water for at least 10 minutes), broiler

Pound chicken flat and combine with remaining ingredients, except dipping sauce, and mix well. Marinate for 30 minutes or overnight.  Remove chicken from marinade and cut into 1-inch strips. Thread onto skewers, one piece per skewers and broil or grill, about 5 minutes, until cooked through, the thinner they’re pounded, the quicker they will cook. Turn once to ensure they are evenly cooked. Serve with extra peanut sauce and rice.

Thai Spring Rolls

Recipe and photo directions are here.

Shopping List:

  • bamboo skewers
  • 2 boneless breasts
  • 4 boneless thighs (or 2 breasts)
  •  toasted sesame oil
  •  peanut sauce
  • 8 spring roll wrappers
  • 1 head leaf lettuce
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 medium carrot

Also: soy sauce, white wine vinegar, sugar, ground ginger, fish sauce, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice

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Shrimp fried rice and pork egg rolls

/ jeffreyw / 3 Comments

DSC_4748 [1600x1200]

For the egg rolls we just followed the simple recipe on the wrapper packaging.  It came out very close to using up all of the wrappers.  The wrap count was about 21 and we had 3 to spare.  Those extra won tons Mrs J fried plain because the dogs just love those things as treats.  Here’s the recipe from the package:  1 lb pork, 1 t minced ginger, 2 C shredded cabbage, 1/4 lb bean sprouts, 1/2 C shredded carrot, 3 green onions finely chopped, and 2 T of oyster sauce for flavoring.  They were excellent, and I’m now a big fan of the sweet and sour sauce I tried out for the first time, Mae Ploy Spring Roll Sauce.  They also make a chili sauce I want to try now.DSC_4752 [1600x1200]

Mrs J and I have the system down for assembling and frying these things, I tend to the hot oil while she fills and rolls.  I generally put the recipe together and fire the deep frier and call her when the oil is hot.  I cook 3 or 4 at a time and flip them once halfway through to make sure they are browned evenly.  We keep them warm in a low oven on a tray as you see in the photo above.  Two hundred degrees F. works fine, but don’t leave them in there too long.

Spring Rolls

/ jeffreyw / 3 Comments

I was in town today for an appointment and took the opportunity to walk through the giant supermarket, looking for some odds and ends on the grocery list.  I’ve been meaning to use the tofu I bought the other day and was thinking hot and sour soup ingredients when I spied the spring roll wrappers and grabbed a package.  It’s been a little while since I did some.  The hot and sour soup will just have to wait a bit.

These have chopped shrimp and chicken breast in them, along with bean sprouts, cabbage, bok choy, green onions, and a bit of grated carrot.  Some oyster sauce and soy sauce flavored the fillings.  These are the first batch I’ve made in the counter top deep fryer and I can report that it worked well.

Tes’ Makes Gorgeous Spring Rolls

/ TaMara / 2 Comments

I love spring rolls, the freshness and flavors make it a favorite.  So I was thrilled to see that our friend Tes at Home put up a delicious looking recipe yesterday.  It looks simple and full of flavor (love the ground peanuts).  I can’t wait to try.  I thought I’d tantalize you with them this morning:

Tes at Home

Chicken and Peanut Spring Roll

Ingredients: (4 servings)

For the filling

  • 2 cup minced chicken
  • 3/4 cup roughly ground roasted peanut
  • 3 shallots- chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic- minced
  • 1 red chili- minced
  • 3 coriander roots- minced
  • 2 1/2 tbsp palm sugar
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp fish sauce or to taste
  • 2 tbsp oil

For rolls

  • 8-10 rice wrapper/spring roll wrapper
  • Carrot- julienned
  • Cucumber- julienned
  • Fresh coriander leaves

(you can use any kind of vegetable salad you prefer)

For the complete recipe head on over to Tes’ place.

Thai Spring Roll

/ TaMara

I love egg rolls and spring rolls.  I was surprised that spring rolls were as easy as they were.  I don’t know why I thought they would be complicated.  I usually use a peanut sauce to dip them in, but I listed a light dipping sauce recipe in case that is more your style.

I use lettuce in this recipe because that was how the corner Thai restaurant did it, but I’ve also used finely shredded cabbage to good results.  If you’re looking for something fresh and flavorful, these will do the trick.

Thai Spring Rolls

  • ¼ tsp crushed garlic
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce (or white wine vinegar)
  • 8 spring roll wrappers
  • 1 ½ cup shredded leaf lettuce
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cucumber, peeled & finely chopped
  • 1 medium carrot, shredded

bowl & plate

Mix together fish sauce & garlic. In a bowl of cold water, soak 1 wrapper, until limp. Lay out flat on plate, add 1/8 of each of the ingredients, in order, then drizzle with fish sauce mixture. Fold ends up and roll like a burrito. Moisten seam, press close and set seam side down on plate. Repeat for all wrappers. Cover with a moist paper towel and refrigerate until ready to serve, with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ¼ + tsp ground ginger

Some Snacks

/ jeffreyw

The dipping sauces, clockwise from the top: Homemade, soy sauce based, with diced garlic, Sriracha sauce, and sweet soy sauce.  The next is a Hawaiian influenced sauce, store bought.  A glob of chili/garlic paste, a Thai sweet and sour, a store brand sweet and sour from Kroger’s, and last, a plum sauce.

The triangle shaped things are filled with the same stuff as in the rolls, ran out of big wraps, alas.

I covered the spring rolls in a post a while back. These were filled with pork, bean sprouts, cabbage, onion, and shredded carrots.  Flavored the filling with some oyster sauce, Thai fish sauce, Sriracha chili sauce, some sweet soy sauce, and some thin soy sauce.

Crab Rangoon filling today was made of cream cheese, a small can of crab meat, some of that fake crab meat stuff, green onions, and a dash of onion powder.