Spring Rolls - Another Obsession

If you've been following my facebook or twitter posts, you might have heard that I'm obsessed with Spring Rolls. I just learned how to make them and have made several batches and eaten them ALL myself. Well they are pretty healthy. They are also incredibly easy. I'm going to give you a few tips and my favorite dipping sauce recipes.

These spring rolls are filled with shredded lettuce, rice noodles, avocado, cucumber, cilantro and shrimp. You can use bean noodles, but they are very chewy

Here is the recipe I started with from allrecipes.com - Vietnamese Spring Roll

Here's what I learned

1. Cilantro is great, the mint and basil were unnecessary.

2. I loved the peanut sauce I made (recipe to follow) but I love the fish sauce I made best. -

3. You do not have to cook Asian rice noodles, just put them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.

Spring Roll can be deep fried too, but check recipes for filling, the fresh veggies in these are not best fried.

The rice wrappers are good sized and very sticky, so very easy to wrap if you follow these steps. Get all your fillings cut and place on a plate or platter. Have a dish or pan that the wrappers will fit fully in, filled with warm water.

I place my wet wrappers on a textured cutting board, but a kitchen sack towel is best. DO NOT PUT ON A SMOOTH CERAMIC OR METAL PLATE, unless you like to swear, because the wrap will stick to the plate and you will tear it to pieces trying to get it off.

Put ONE wrapper in the warm water for about as long as it takes it to fully submerge and take it right out. It will continue to soften as you get the food on. Lay it on your surface. Start with the pretty things, in this case shrimp, then cilantro, rice, veggies. Don't put in too much or too little. Place this down a line in the center of the wrap leaving about an inch on either end. Pull the flap closest to you all the way around your filling and press down snugly. Don't pull to hard, the wraps are sturdy, but can tear. Fold in both sides, then roll up and all the way around. The sticky wrap holds everything together. The firmer you get the stuffing, the less will fall out while you eat.

Peanut Dipping Sauce Recipe

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 garlic clove
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon sriracha
1/3 cup water

Blend until smooth


Fish Dipping Sauce Recipe

2 T teriyaki sauce (I love it because it's so rich and tasty, I used low sodium)
2 T fish sauce
2 t sriracha
a pinch of garlic powder.

Add all and stir

What's Cooking? Halloween Feast

It's getting so close to Halloween and I know you're having a party. Here are some last minute recipes. You still have time to go out and get these easy ingredients. Some are great for kids, others are adult only (OK you can make the NA version).

These are recycled from older posts. Click on the Title and it will take you right to the recipe.

      Shrimp Brains 

                                                                                                   Snake Sandwich

 Vampire Blood Punch  



These are all my own recipes. The image for the Punch is from Workman and they have their own Punch recipe. Screaming Red Punch it looks pretty good too.

What's Cooking? - Shrimp Brains

Aaah Halloween. We love it here in this household. We always have a feast after Trick or Treat. For the next few weeks I'm going to share some of our favorite Halloween recipes.

This is an old recipe, you might remember it from the 80s. But the twist is to put it in a brain shaped mold.  Add some Red Pepper "Bloody Fingers" and Green Olive "Monster Eyes" to pretty it up.

SHRIMP MOLD

2 cans shrimp, drained and chopped, or 2 cups cooked chopped shrimp
8 oz package cream cheese
1 can tomato soup
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
dash of Tabasco

Melt cream cheese and soup in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Add gelatin to cold water and dissolve. Add gelatin mixture to soup mixture. Add shrimp, vegetables and mayonnaise and mix well. Pour into oiled mold. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To unmold, place mold in warm water for a minute. Put your plate on open side of mold and quickly invert. Your "brains" should fall out easily. Serve as a spread with your favorite crackers. For super gross, bloody brains, drizzle a bit of ketchup around the "brain" it won't really affect the taste much, because the mold already contains tomato.