On a Roll: Chinese Takeout at Home

Written on March 26, 2013 at 8:37 am , by Delish Dish Editor

I’m Carrie Boyd, associate food editor for BHG’s Special Interest Media (SIM), and I’m a sucker for egg rolls. And when I woke up Saturday morning, these meat-and-veggie-filled, fried appetizers sounded like the perfect Saturday snack. In an effort to save a little money and a few calories, I attempted to make my own egg rolls instead of calling the nearest Chinese delivery guy.

I loosely followed this Easy Egg Roll recipe, adapting the recipe a bit based on what I had in my fridge and pantry—I nixed the tablespoon of dry sherry, used fresh mushrooms (as opposed to canned), and went with powdered ginger after discovering my fresh ginger had come down with a bit of freezer burn.

A few of the ingredients, measured, prepped, and starring in my first attempt at amateur food styling:

And now let’s add the ground beef, mushrooms, egg roll wrappers, and the chopped cabbage I managed to convince The Boyfriend to make a grocery store run for during halftime of a March Madness game.

Combine the water (not pictured), soy sauce, cornstarch, red pepper, and black pepper and set aside. After stir-frying the garlic for a few seconds,—the recipe calls for also including the fresh ginger in the stir-fry, but since I was using powdered, I just mixed it in the water-soy sauce liquid—add the cabbage and green onions to the skillet. Cook the meat until no longer pink, drain, then add the sauce for a few minutes before stirring in the mushrooms and stir-friend cabbage/green onions mixture:

After the whole mixture cooled for a bit, it was time to roll. Check out this great little primer for how to make egg rolls with step-by-step directions and a quick photo tutorial on rolling egg rolls. It does a much better job of demonstrating the rolling method than my amateur photo can provide. I added about a 1/2 inch of oil to the pan before letting each side of the egg rolls crisp up for a few seconds—it only took a few seconds.

And here’s a photo of the finished products, just chilling on some paper towels to drain off some residue grease

As you can see, my egg rolls are not exactly uniform in size (I got a bit impatient towards the end), but I can assure you they all tasted great. I served them with some sweet chile sauce and a few other appetizers when a friend (and her new baby!) stopped by on Saturday.

In-Season Eats: Cranberry-Almond Cookies

Written on November 19, 2012 at 8:30 am , by Naomi Robinson

Hi everyone! I’m Naomi Robinson, author of Bakers Royale, a baking blog that features sweet treats that range from everyday to party-ready desserts. Like most of you, I’m always pressed for time, so from-scratch desserts aren’t always possible. On those occasions I love getting creative with ready-made components that can easily come together for something fun and delish.

Today, I’m sharing a fast and easy recipe for Cranberry-Almond Wedges that utilizes ready-made sugar cookie dough for the base and features an in-season eat: cranberries. Toasted almonds add a nutty-tasting bite that that balances the bright burst of tart and sweetness from the cranberries.

If you are in the throes of Thanksgiving prep and need one more dessert, or if you’re headed to someone’s home for the day and need to bring something quick—this is it. This holiday cookie takes 20 minutes to prep  and less than twenty minutes to bake. Best of all, you can make this two days in advance.

To start you will need ready-made sugar cookie dough (or your own recipe if you prefer), almond extract, and to step up the nutty flavor even more – I added crushed toasted almonds along with slivered almonds. In keeping with its simple prep, there’s no need to roll out the dough, just drop it into a tart pan, or any pan for that matter, and press the dough out with some lightly floured fingers. Of course you don’t have to be a perfectionist like me, but I did use a pizza roller to give the dough a few quick strokes for an even surface. Once you’re done lining the pan with the dough, sprinkle the cranberries and almonds on top and your prep is done.

Simple right? I thought so too!  Click here for the recipe, and while you’re at it, don’t forget to check out some other delicious cranberry dessert recipes.