I love egg rolls!  Sometimes when I am out walking toward the grocery store, I can smell the aroma of egg rolls coming from the Chinese restaurant down the street! 

Since the new year, I have been trying to cook some of my favorite things using a healthier twist.

I came across this  recipe on a blog that I follow and gave it a tweak or 2 and this recipe made it to the archives!  It is delicious!  I made it for a party and I should have doubled the batch – you can’t stop after 1!  Serve them up with a side of salsa, low fat sour cream and a little guacamole and it will be better than eating out!

The original recipe didn’t have any meat in it.  I added 1# of browned spicy chicken sausage, you could probably use some lean seasoned pork sausage too!

BAKED SOUTHWESTERN EGG ROLLS:

• 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1# spicy chicken or pork sausage, browned
• 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies, drained
• 4 green onions, chopped

• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 total)

• In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend. Lay an egg roll wrapper out on a work surface so that one of the corners is pointing toward you and place ¼ cup of the filling in the center. Fold the tip closest to you up over the filling, roll a bit, then take the points pointing outward and fold them in toward the center. Continue rolling into an egg roll shape until a small part of the remaining point is still free. Dip a finger in water or beaten egg and lightly brush on the edges of the free corner. Finish rolling and press to seal closed. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
• Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Lightly oil a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the sealed egg rolls on the baking sheet seam side down and spray the tops of the egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking.  Serve warm with sour cream, salsa and guacamole.

Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake blogspot

Cheers!

Chef Kathy

Since moving to the Southwest, my palate has changed a little. Flavors are somewhat “spicier” than the Midwest way of life – it seems like I used to add sugar to everything…now I am adding chilies, jalapenos, red pepper flakes…you get the hint.
Deviled eggs are one of my favorite appetizers. I used to make them for every get together! I just always used the old stand by recipe; (there really wasn’t one) egg yolks, Miracle Whip(because it is sweet), a little yellow mustard for color and more sugar. Then topped them off with some paprika..
I found this great recipe in my latest issue of Bonappetit for Chipolte Deviled Eggs – it is a keeper with a nice change of pace from the old standby version of deviled eggs!
Here is how I make my hard boil eggs; This method seems to work the best for peeling them without taking off half of the white!
Place eggs in pan. Add cold water to cover the eggs. Bring to a simmer over high heat then reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain eggs then cover with ice cubes and cold water, let stand until cold. Peel.
Here is the recipe:
CHIPOLTE DEVILED EGGS:
12 large eggs – boiled and peeled
1/3 cup + 2 T. real mayonaise
3 tsp. (or more) canned chipolte chilies in adobo sauce
24 fresh cilantro leaves
Cut boiled eggs in half. In a bowl mash together the yolks, chilies ( add more or less for your heat tolerance), mayonaise then season with salt to taste.
To get really fancy; take a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch star tip and pipe into the halved whites. If you don’t have a pastry bag; just use a ziploc bag and cut the corner off the end and pipe in. Let stand in refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day before serving. Right before serving; place a fresh cilantro leaf on top of each half.

Like I said in a previous post, I really didn’t like shrimp unless it was deep fried and drenched in cocktail and tartar sauce.  I always passed on the shrimp cocktail – I thought the shrimp looked gross without any breading on them.  But one night, I hate to admit after I had a couple glasses of wine, I tried shrimp cocktail…yep…LOVE IT! Then I discovered a picture in a magazine  – I don’t remember which one it was; but they showed how to make shrimp shooters.  These are so neat!  I just recently did a cocktail party and they were the first to go!

I have tried steaming the shrimp and roasting the shrimp – I think that roasting it with olive oil, salt and pepper and some fresh lemon really is a step up and you don’t have to deal with a big pot of stinky shrimp water!

I also was in the dark on how it worked to buy shrimp.  I had no clue what the count meant.  Maybe I’m the only one that is clueless; but read on if you are clueless too 

You can buy pre-cooked shrimp but it’s always so much better if you have the time to cook your own (plus it’s cheaper to buy uncooked shrimp). I prefer using 13-15 shrimp or 16-20 shrimp (this number tells you how many shrimp are in one pound, the lower the number, the bigger the shrimp) If you can’t find these or they’re way too expensive, use 21-25 or 26-30…but I wouldn’t go much bigger for this recipe as each shrimp stands on his own in the shot glass. I also buy already peeled and deveined shrimp, there are chefs who say cooking shrimp in their shell is better, but I have not found that to be the case….do an experiment…it’s so much easier to either buy the already peeled shrimp or to even peel and devein them before cooking (just remember to leave the tail on)!

I found little shot glasses at the Dollar Store – they came in a pack of 50.

But you first want to Roast your shrimp – or steam which ever you prefer.  Here is how I roast mine:

2 #’s 12 – 15 count shrimp

1 T. olive oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 clove of minced garlic

Preheat oven @ 400 degrees.  Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on (we want them to hang on the shot glass).   Place the shrimp on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt,  pepper and garlic and spread them out in a single layer.  Roast for 8-10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through.  Remove from oven and squeeze some fresh lemon juice over all.  Let cool.

For the Wasabi Cocktail Sauce:

1 cup chili sauce or ketchup if you don’t have chili sauce

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1 T. fresh lime juice

1 T. wasabi (it’s a Japanese horseradish and can be found in the Asian section of the grocery store) It has a kick to it  ;0 )

2 tsp. prepared horseradish

1/4 tsp. worchestershire sauce

1 tsp. salt

Mix all together and chill for at least 2 hours.

To assemble the shooters:

Place a spoon of sauce on the bottom of the glass then hang 2 shrimp from each.  You can place these on a platter with some lemon wedges and then also put some fresh chives in the glasses for garnish 

Happy Cooking!