Asian Dim Sum or Just Egg Roll Fun?

Yummy yummy egg rolls...............mmmm good. This is one of the few dishes I do well Asian style.

Egg rolls are fun to play with because you can really almost stuff anything in them, today is one of my quick and easy pork mix for a egg roll fast fix.

Pork and Cabbage Spring Roll

8 Egg roll wrappers

1 Lb of ground pork

1 Cup of chopped cremini mushrooms

1 Cup of shredded cabbage

1/8 Cup of soy sauce

1 Clove of garlic crushed or minced

1/2 Tbsp of Mongolian fire oil (House of Tsang)

I find this mixture sticks fine without using an egg as binding.

Mix everything together from pork down and fill wrapper with 2-3 Tbsp of mixture. Roll like the pagage will show and use water to seal the wrapper. Deep fry or fry in a couple inches of oil in a fry pan.

Tips:
Make sure when filling wrappers that your surface is dry, it takes little water to hold wrapper together. If the egg roll gets to wet you will have danger of oil splatter or your soggy egg rolls will fall apart before they make it to the pan.
Do not add salt the soy will be more then enough salt.
You can use just about any mushroom you like for this dish.
You will have extra stuffing left over, either make more spring rolls and freeze them for another night, serve a larger party or use the stuffing in my pork ball miso soup.

To Hot For Soup?

I love soup, it is quick and easy, it can take a few or many ingredients, you can always improve it, you can make it low fat or over the top high fat, you can have it hot or even cold!

I have made so many soups through out my life and I have not written down even half of them. There are some soups I make low fat and I love them but there was one soup I made that did not turn out so perfect to me and with a few additions.....of fat of course! I think I perfected it :)

Mushroom Bliss

5 Cups of different mushrooms I used the dried medley (keep the soaking water for the soup)
Shitake, cremini, portobella and if you can add button mushrooms if you want to save on cost.
1 Box of chicken or veggie stock
1 yellow onion (course chop)
1 large zucchini (course chop)
1 cup of chopped spinach
1 Cup of heavy cream
3-4 Tbsp of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 whole roasted head of garlic**
2 tsp of lemon thyme or regular thyme


Pour about 2 Tbsp of EVOO in a deep saucepan, toss in onion and sweat it out, throw in thyme, add rough chopped mushrooms (after you have squeezed the water out), you are lightly cooking the outside of mushrooms and now add zucchini. After everything starts to look soft (apx 5-6 min) add your stock in a box and your mushroom water making sure you leave the gritty part behind. Next add your roasted cloves of garlic from one whole head, bring to a boil and cover on simmer for 20 minutes. After the soup has cooled down a bit blend it in a blender or with a hand blender; you can either add spinach now for a low fat mushroom soup or you can add cream, bring to a boil then add spiach for a rich yummy soup. Add a dash of pepper I find if I use chicken broth I need no added salt.

You can skip the cream and add a dolop of light sour cream or my favoite non fat greek yoguart.


** Make the roasted head of garlic ahead of time, it will cook perfect in less then 40 min in a toaster oven on 400. Cook 2 or 3 and use on toasted bread or pile it up on cooked brie cheese or toss them in a salad with kalamata olives.

How to roast garlic:
cut about 1/4 of the top off place in foil and drizzle with EVOO cover with foil and bake for apx 40 min in oven till it just starts to turn brown, wait to cool down before you squish out of the garlic head. You can make these next to my sweet tomatoes at the same time.