Spring Rolls

 

Today's post is about my odyssey to make spring rolls.  It took 7 tries before I cracked it!  The pic above is of my best effort to date.

 

1^st attempt:

This was an abject failure.  I used a rice paper as the wrapper.  I soaked the rice paper in cold water for about 2 minutes.  It became pliable but quite difficult to handle. The filling was made up of cooked shrimp (chopped) and seasoning.

 

You can see from the pic that the rolls were very loosely wrapped.

 

The rolls just exploded apart in the pan. I didn't have the heart to take a pic. I had tried to deep fry them. We resolutely ate the result with some dipping sauce.  And I resolved to do better next time.

 

 

2^nd attempt:

 

I used the same rice paper rolls but this time soaked them in barely warm water for only 1 to 3 seconds.

 

The filling this time was chopped prawns, coriander, a tiny bit of chilli and seasoning.

 

I wrapped the rolls much more tightly and then shallow fried them.  As you can see the results were a bit better but nothing like what a spring roll should be in my opinion.

 

 

3^rd attempt:

 

I used the same technique on the rice paper wrappers.  But after filling them I let them sit on kitchen paper and dry out a bit before frying them in hotter oil.

 

The filling this time was chopped prawn, chilli, vermicelli noodles, 1/2tsp of black bean chilli paste and salt and pepper.  You soak the vermicelli in warm water for a few minutes and then let them drain.

 

 

4^th attempt:

 

The filling this time was very tasty – pre-cooked chopped bacon, vermicelli noodles, chopped capsicum, black bean chilli sauce and salt and pepper.

 

This time after I wrapped the spring rolls I put them into the fridge to cool before cooking them.

 

I fried them in the oil/bacon fat that I had cooked the bacon in.  Garnished with mint these were tasty.

 

I believe that these turned out as well as can be achieved with rice paper spring roll wrappers.  I won't be using them again other than for fresh (ie not cooked) spring rolls.

 

 

5^th attempt

 

This attempt marked a break through.  I got some frozen spring roll pastry from a local Asian grocery store.

 

The filling this time – chopped prawns, chopped spinach, vermicelli noodles, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper.

 

The pastry sheets thawed quickly.  I rolled them up as tightly and neatly as I could using a single sheet of pastry for each roll.

 

They fried up well but not perfectly.

 

6^th attempt:

 

This time I changed up the filling to be – prawns, vermicelli noodles, small amount of lemon juice, black bean chilli paste and fish sauce.

 

I used a double layer of pastry and the results were pretty good.

 

This time I cracked it – 7^th time a charm

 

I'll be a bit more detailed about this attempt – because it was successful.

 

Ingredients:

 

Thawed Spring roll pastry wrappers

Corn flour (cornstarch)

Water

Oil – mix of garlic oil and sunflower oil

 

Filling – sautéed pork mince (cooled completely), carrot grated and excess liquid squeezed out, vermicelli noodles and seasoning

 

I used a single layer of pastry but brushed each one around the edge with a mixture of cornflour and water – this was a fantastic innovation – it acted like glue and held the rolls together really well.

 

I prepared quite a large number of spring rolls and then froze them on a tray in a single layer with them not touching.  Once they were frozen I just popped them into a plastic bag.

 

These pre-frozen spring rolls fried up magnificently – and in almost the same amount of time!  They held together well and tasted fabulous with a dipping sauce.

 

My dipping sauce varies each time I make one – it is usually some combination of fish sauce, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, pepper and a little water.  Sometimes I add ginger or plum sauce or hoisin sauce. Whatever floats your boat.

 

Was it worth all the effort – absolutely.  Next time I'll whip up a big batch and freeze them – you can just pull a few out at a time for a tasty snack/starter.

Cider Braised Chorizo

 

 

This would make a good finger food for a party.

 

Ingredients:

 

Chorizo (raw and soft)

Can of apple cider

 

Method:

 

Cut the links between each sausage and then cut the chorizo into about 1in lengths (I got about 4 pieces out of each sausage)

 

Put the chorizo into a saucepan together with the cider.  Bring this to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer for about 25 minutes til the chorizo is tender.

 

Take out the chorizo and reduce the cider to about half.

 

Serve with toothpicks. Brush with the reduced sauce.

Pate & caramelised onion stack – due a re-visit

As an experiment I did some pate and caramelised onion stacks.  I used some gluten free bread as well as mixed grain bread.  Both worked out but were quite different as you can see from the pictures.

Next time I'll put some salt and pepper on them and will also serve them with some cornichons or little gherkins because I think the sourness would counteract the sweetness of the caramelised onion.

Before telling you how I did it, an admission.  I bought the pate (chicken and cognac) and the caramelised onion (which was called an onion marmalade and was a bit sweeter than just straight caramelised onion would have been).

So there wasn't a lot of cooking here.  First I cut the crusts off the bread in lots of 3 slices.

Then I buttered the outside of the first slice with softened butter and turned it over (onto greaseproof paper to limit the mess).  Then smear the pate generously on – to make it spreadable just stir it up in a little dish first.  Then the next piece of bread goes on.  Then the caramelised onion mixture followed by the last piece of bread which you butter on the top.

Then into a hottish pan and do about a minute at the most on each side so the outside is golden.  Then cut into fingers and serve.

Stuffed Cherry Toms for a Street Party

I wanted to take something reasonably healthy to our street party (we have 2 a year – one in the street in summer and one at a neighbours in winter).

So I made Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes.  We really enjoyed them but I noticed that they didn't get all snapped up – unlike the spicy sausage pieces and other carb heavy treats.

Ingredients:

Cherry Tomatoes

Parmesan cheese

Chopped basil and chives

Tabasco sauce

Mayo

Cream cheese

Lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Small basil leaves and paprika for garnish

Method:

I prepared both the tomato cases and the filling ahead of time and then combined them just before serving.

To prepare the tomatoes, I just sliced the top off and then scooped out the seeds and pulp.  I first tried using a teaspoon but that didn't work well.  Then I used the handle of the teaspoon which worked much better.  After scooping out all the tomatoes, I put them onto kitchen paper, cut side down to drain.

I mixed all the other ingredients up in a bowl.  I only put a couple of drops of tabasco in – much less than I would have done for us.  But lots of people don't like spicy food.  I then let it sit in the fridge until time to spoon it into the tomatoes. The time in the fridge let the flavours meld together.

Then it was just a combination job – adding a little chive or basil onto the top of each one for garnish – and a light dusting of paprika.  Pretty easy – and I liked them!

Heart Toasts – a good idea somewhat sloppily executed

I had some pate and some cream cheese and decided to experiment with making heart shaped snacks.  It was a good concept but was surprisingly difficult to execute.

I just took a lightly toasted slice of bread and spread pate on it with a knife – but it didn't go on smoothly.  Would it have been better to heat it a bit or thin it down with a little liquid? 

On another piece of toast I spread the cream cheese – and had much the same problem.

I then used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out the shape.  It took a lot of pushing and wiggling and as you can see the edges are not very well defined.

Any suggestions for how to do this better will be most welcome.