Vietnamese Egg Rolls (Cha Gio) Recipe

It has been a long standing tradition in our family to make our mother's Vietnamese Egg Rolls during the holiday season for friends and family and even the occasional Christmas or New Years party.  They are always a HUGE hit and are loved by many.  Here's the recipe broken down for our wonderful readers...

Ingredients:
-4 small bundles of bean thread noodles (1/2 package)

They usually come in a package with a pink netting.










-1/2 bag (1.5 oz) dried, shredded woodear mushrooms

-5 large carrots, peeled & shredded
-1/2 onion, finely chopped
-1 lb ground pork
-1/2 tsp garlic salt
-1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
-1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
-25-30 spring roll wrappers

This is my favorite brand to use.  Make sure you get the THIN wrappers, not doughy thick ones that are usually used for Chinese egg rolls and have the same consistency as won ton wrappers- they will burn in the oil before the raw pork filling has a chance to cook all the way.  These thin wrappers stand up to the heat for a longer period of time.





-1 egg, beaten
-canola oil for frying


Directions:

Fill a medium-sized pot with water, and bring it to a boil. Drop in the bean thread noodles, and cook them for 2-3 minutes. Drain the noodles, chop them so the pieces are roughly 1" long, and add them to a large mixing bowl. Soak the woodear mushrooms in a bowl of water for 15 minutes or until they are rehydrated. Chop them finely and add them to the mixing bowl. Add the carrots, onion, pork, garlic salt, pepper, and Fish Sauce. Combine everything well. This is your filling. Place about 2 rounded tablespoonfuls of filling into each wrapper and follow these instructions on how to wrap them up.

Fill a new pot with canola oil, 1-2” deep. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F.  Place a single layer of egg rolls at a time into the oil, and cook them for 7-10 minutes or until they are golden-brown. Let them drain on some paper towels.  Serve them with Nuoc Cham.


Nuoc Cham Recipe

-1/4 c Fish Sauce
-2 c water
-1 c sugar
-1 Tbsp garlic, minced
-1 Tbsp lemon juice
-1 tsp crushed red pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.





Enjoy your egg rolls and feel free to "Pin It"!

Golden Parmesan Knots

Are you in charge of rolls for Thanksgiving?  Then we've got a recipe for you!  It's so easy since the dough comes from refrigerated biscuits but they come out so pretty and looking like they were made by a professional bread artisan.  Impress your friends and family with this simple yet delicious recipe!

Salsa Verde Recipe & Bonus Sweet Pork Recipe

I just made a delicious salsa verde and I HAVE to share the recipe because it is so amazingly good!  The green salsa has a wonderful citrus bite to it with some other lovely textures and flavors.  I first had this served to me over enchilada's and I was in heaven.  I'm telling you, this sauce is so tasty that I want to bathe myself in it.

Here we go!

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 lbs tomatillos, papery husks and stems removed, rinsed
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 5 large serrano chili or jalapeno peppers (or any peppers that you have on hand)
• 5 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 firmly packed cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
• 2/3 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sea salt

Directions:
Step 1: Place the tomatillos, onion, peppers, and garlic on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake the vegetables at 500 degrees F for 20-35 minutes, turning them occasionally,  until blackened in spots and the tomatillos are soft, collapsed, and leaking.

Step 2: Place the roasted ingredients in a blender, just a few at a time, along with the cilantro, lime juice, and salt.  Blend until smooth.

Step 3: Pour the salsa verde into 4 separate pint jars.  You can go on to can these if you wish to ensure a longer shelf life or store them in your refrigerator or freezer.

And here's another great way to use your fresh salsa verde- MAKE SWEET PORK!  Oh yummmmmmmm....  And it only takes 3 ingredients!  All you have to do is put a pork roast in your crock pot for a few hours, until the meat is tender and falls apart easily.  Drain off the excess liquid from the roast, but don't toss it out quite yet.  Shred the pork in the crock pot.  Pour in a jar of salsa verde and then add an equal portion of brown sugar as well.  Now use some of that reserved pork juice to add to the mixture to help dissolve the brown sugar.  Mix it all together and let it sit in the crockpot on low heat for another hour.  Serve with tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream and then give the dish a side of  Cilantro Lime Rice and beans and you will be living the good life.  Plus all your neighbors and friends will be so jealous... unless you decide to share, that is.  Trust me, this meal will rival anything you can find at Cafe Rio or Costa Vida.

Healthy Bluberry Muffins

These muffins tastes so good and won't make you feel guilty for eating more than one.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup Stevia

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup canola oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cups tundra blueberries

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper liners. Whisk together the flour, Stevia, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
2. Whisk canola oil, egg, milk, and applesauce together in a separate bowl until smooth, and stir the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture until moistened. Lightly stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full (ice cream scoop works well).
3. Bake muffins in the preheated oven until they rise and the tops are golden brown, about 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean. 

 

Cran-Banana Jam

I found an error in our Nomemade cookbook and I wanted to post the correction here.

Use 1 1/2 cups of water NOT 1/2 cup.

The full corrected recipe is listed below...

3 1/2 cups mountain cranberrries (aka lingonberries)
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups mashed bananas
7 cups sugar
3 oz. Certo liquid pectin

Simmer the cranberries and water together, in a large saucepan, for 7 minutes.  Add the bananas and sugar, and bring the mixture to a boil.  Add the Certo, and bring it back to a boil for 1 minute.  Remove the jam from the heat, and pour into clean jars for sealing.

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