Sunday, June 30, 2013

China

My husband Bill got to pick this week!
He chose China - and then he decided what he wanted me to make. Eggrolls. I'm honestly not sure if these eggrolls are traditionally made - probably not. They are a family favorite though. I may have posted the recipe before. I feel a little bad that we didn't stick to traditional food for this week. I promise we'll get back on track for next week!
In addition to the rolls, we had white rice steamed with a bag of frozen broccoli mixed in (no recipe), and Almond cookies for dessert. These are hands down the best cookies I have ever made. My downstairs neighbors wholeheartedly agree. They are real good. Dangerously good. Enjoy! :)


Menu - for 4-6
Pork Egg Rolls
Broccoli rice
Almond Cookies


Best Ever Egg Rolls
1 pound ground pork
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 quart canola oil for frying
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
3 tablespoons water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 package coleslaw mix (cabbage and carrots)
1 pkg egg roll wrappers (I use Nasoya- Beth)

Season pork with ginger and garlic powder and mix thoroughly. Heat mixture in a medium skillet, stirring, until pork is cooked through and no longer pink. Add the cabbage, 1 tbsp water and soy sauce. Cook until the cabbage wilts slightly. Set aside to cool until you are able to handle it.
In another large skillet, or in a deep fryer, heat oil to about 350 degrees F. While oil is heating, combine flour and rest of the water in a bowl until they form a paste.
Lay out one egg roll skin with a corner pointed toward you. Place about 2 tbsp of the pork mixture on egg roll paper and fold. (See the image below on more details for folding. This comes from the Nasoya package.- Beth)
Place egg rolls into heated oil and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels or rack. Serve with Sweet and Sour sauce.






Yummy!!!












Almond Cookies
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup white sugar (can add up to 2 more tablespoons, if desired)
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
32 whole lightly salted almonds (one for each cookie)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (162.5 degrees Celsius).
In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, shortening, and sugar. Add the egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add to the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well. The dough will be very sticky.
Use your fingers to form the mixture into a ball, and then divide into two balls. Wrap with plastic wrap and flatten each into a round disk. Refridgerate for at least 2 hours.
Take a disk and cut it in half. Then holding each half horizontal, cut out 8 small logs. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie tray, approximately 1 1/2 inches apart. Place an almond in the center of each cookie and press down lightly. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Bake for 15 minutes to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and store in a sealed container.


        Raw












Cooked!

England

Addie has a sweet PenPal from England named Sophia. She chose England this week in honor of her!
(just a side note, I was really bad at taking pictures this week for some reason. No clue why. Sorry for that!)


SO, England you would think it pretty similar to American cuisine, and it is. There are some differences, mostly in the amount of spices/sugar they use in recipes I found. Personally this was not our favorite week. It could have been the cook's fault, could have been the recipes we chose. I used a SteamFresh bag of green beans, so no recipe for those! The roast was our favorite part, and I will make it like that again. Our neighbors have been sharing in our weekly International Meals and they thought the Sponge was the best part. Try them, and you decide! :)


Menu (for 4-6)
Oven Roast
Yorkshire Pudding
Green Beans
Victoria Sponge



Top Round Oven Roast
1 (4 1/2 to 5 pound) top round roast, rinsed and patted dry
16 cloves peeled garlic
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon Essence, (g powder, onion powder)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 small sprigs fresh thyme


Put the roast in a small roasting pan, bone side down. With a small sharp knife, make sixteen 1/2-inch-deep slits in the meaty side of the roast. Insert 1 garlic clove into each slit, pressing into the meat. Pinch with your thumb and index finger to close the openings. Combine the chopped thyme, salt, Essence, and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly stir in the oil to make a paste. Rub the paste on both sides of the roast, and place the thyme sprigs under the roast. Roast for 40 min. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the roast for even browning. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the roast reads 125 to 130 degrees F for medium-rare, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the roast stand for 15 minutes before carving. 


Yorkshire Pudding
2 eggs
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 cups milk
1/8 cup vegetable oil

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until well blended. Whisk in the flour until frothy and well blended. Set aside until at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Distribute the oil equally among 6 muffin cups, a little over a teaspoon per cup. Place in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until smoking. Remove from the oven and quickly ladle about 1/4 cup of batter into each cup. Place muffin pan onto cookie sheet, so that the run-over of oil won’t burn.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven. Serve immediately.



 
Victoria Sponge Cake
3⁄4 lb. plus 1 tbsp. salted butter, softened
3 cups plus 1 tbsp. self-rising cake flour
1 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 1⁄4 cups heavy cream
3⁄4 cup high-quality strawberry jam
Confectioners' sugar


Preheat oven to 360º. Grease two 2"-deep 8" round cake pans with 1/2 tbsp. butter each. Dust each with 1/2 tbsp. flour; set aside.
Beat remaining butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes. Add granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Combine eggs and 6 tbsp. water in another bowl. Add half the egg mixture and half the flour to butter–sugar mixture. Beat well for 1–2 minutes. Add remaining egg mixture and flour; beat batter for 5 minutes.
Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 35–40 minutes. Invert cakes onto a rack, remove pans, and let cool completely.
Beat cream in a medium bowl until stiff (I added sugar, but the recipe did not call for that- Beth). Put 1 cake layer on a cake plate, spread top with half the jam, then cover jam with the cream. Spread top of remaining cake layer with remaining jam and place it, jam side down, on top of cream. Dust cake with confectioners' sugar.



 
That is not my picture, but I had to include one. Basically what my cake looked like. I put the cream on top.

Argentina

This is a little late in coming! We actually had this meal 2 weeks ago. I have two more to post after this - sorry!



So the next week Addie chose Argentina. We learned that Argentina has a lot of Italian influences. The dishes we chose were a mix of traditional and things we thought we'd enjoy. We loved everything we tried! Sadly, there is not dessert with this meal :( I attempted to make Dulce de Leche. It is a thick, sweetened milk sauce, like caramel. I've failed in making it twice, so I think it is just a dish that doesn't work for me. If you can find a good recipe that works for you, congrats and enjoy! :) I also didn't include a recipe for the mashed potatoes and salad- I thought you could use you're own favorites for that.




Milanesas
(breaded and fried beef steaks)

Chimichurri Sauce

Puree
(mashed potatoes)

Salade
Tomatoes, onions, lettuce, oil/vinegar


Dulce De Leche
over vanilla ice cream


Milanesas
1 pound top round, sliced thinly into about 6 steaks
1 cup bread crumbs
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 eggs
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together in a shallow bowl.  Mix the breadcrumbs with the oregano and spread onto a plate.  Whisk the eggs lightly.  Dredge each steak into the flour, coating both sides. Dip each piece into the egg, then place into the breadcrumbs, coating both sides thoroughly.
Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Fry each steak for about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until breading is crispy and steak is cooked to desired doneness.
Serve warm, with chimichurri sauce (see next).


 Chimichurri
2 cups fresh parsley and/or cilantro, firmly packed
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves (optional)
3-6 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (optional)
1 tablespoon lime juice (optional)
Kosher salt and red pepper flakes to taste

Pulse the garlic and onion in the food processor until finely chopped.  Add the parsley and/or cilantro, and oregano if using, and pulse briefly, until finely chopped. Add the olive oil, lime juice, and vinegar, and pulse to combine. Season with salt and red pepper flakes to taste.
Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.