seasonal

Asian Salmon Burgers with Wasabi Mayonnaise

May 15, 2013 by Rebecca 13 Comments

Asian Salmon Burger with Wasabi Mayo | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Disclosure: This is part of my continuing series as a member of the Kraft Tastemakers team. All recipes, opinions and wasabi are my own.

My tastebuds are controlled by the weather. When it’s cool, chilly or downright cold, I want hearty, stick-to-your-ribs fare. When things start warming up, though, my body says, “Don’t weigh me down!”

It’s getting toasty out there, folks, so it’s time to lighten things up a bit. Fish is a perfect way to accomplish that deliciously. It’s satisfying, protein-packed, fast, and simple. It’s a wonderful solution for the on-the-go family in the summer.

Salmon is a crowd-pleasing fish choice under most circumstances, but when it’s turned into a burger, it can convert even the most entrenched fish-haters.

A food processor makes fast work of breaking down the fish. Admittedly, when you’ve pulsed the fish into a chunky puree, it looks like you might be going down the wrong road, but stick with it because it’s so darned good when it’s all said and done!

When it comes to serving these beautifully moist salmon burgers with a hint of ginger, you have a couple of options. The kids like them on toasted whole wheat hamburger rolls with just a smear of Wasabi Mayonnaise. The grown-ups in our house like them wrapped in a tender lettuce leaf with a dollop of Wasabi Mayonnaise, some Asian Marinated Cucumber Salad, and some Asian Pickled Carrots.

Asian Salmon Burger with Wasabi Mayo | www.foodiewithfamily.com

The lettuce leaf makes a fabulous lower-calorie and lower-carbohydrate substitute for a bun. (Ya know, for the second and third burgers you eat. If you’re like me, that is…)

Either way, they are fabulous.

Serve these up on Memorial Day for a surefire hit! How will you eat them?

Visit Kraft Recipes for more Memorial Day friendly sandwich recipes!

Asian Salmon Burgers with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Rating: 51

Asian Salmon Burgers with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Crunchy, flavourful, Asian Salmon Burgers with a hint of ginger and scallion in them are as easy to make as they are delicious. Topped with a dollop of Wasabi Mayonnaise that can be as mild or as wake-you-up as you wish, and served on a toasted bun or lettuce leaf (for an even more waist-line friendly option) these are a surefire crowd pleaser and a wonderful addition to your Memorial Day fare.

Ingredients

For the Salmon Burgers:

2 pounds salmon fillets, skin and bones removed carefully.
1 3/4 cups panko breadcrumbs, preferably whole wheat, plus more if needed
1 bunch green onions, washed
¼ cup Kraft mayonnaise
1 tablespoon pickling liquid from a jar of pickled ginger (Gari)
Oil (canola, peanut, or vegetable) for pan frying

For the Wasabi Mayonnaise:

1/2 cup Kraft mayonnaise
1-3 tablespoons wasabi paste, according to taste

Optional Ingredients for Serving:

Whole wheat buns, toasted ~or~ tender lettuce leaves (like butter or red leaf lettuce)
Asian Pickled Carrots
Asian Marinated Cucumber Salad
Pickled ginger

Instructions

To Prepare the Burgers:

Cut the salmon into 2-inch chunks and put into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until the fish is broken down into chunky puree. It should still have pebble sized pieces (about ¼-inch) in it.

Scrape this into a bowl.

Cut the root end from the green onions, slice in half lengthwise, turn them 90° and slice them very thinly. Put this into the bowl with the salmon, ½ cup of the panko bread crumbs, mayonnaise, and pickled ginger liquid. Mix until uniform.

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Divide the salmon mixture into 8 mounds and form those mounds into patties that are ¾-inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1-8 hours before cooking.

Pour the remaining panko bread crumbs onto a plate. Gently lift and place each salmon patty on the bread crumbs, press down lightly to help the panko stick, flip the patties over and repeat.

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. When it is very hot, add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl it to coat.

Ease the panko crusted patties into the pan. A 12-inch pan should hold 4 patties at a time and still give you room to manoeuver the spatula when it comes time to flip them. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the first side is deep golden brown. Carefully flip the patties using a wide spatula. Be cautious because the oil will want to splatter. Fry the second side for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown and firm around the outer edges. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate or platter. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and repeat until fried all of the salmon burgers.

To Prepare the Wasabi Mayonnaise:

Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl and use a fork or small whisk to stir in the wasabi paste, starting with 1 tablespoon. Taste the mayonnaise and adjust with more wasabi if you want a stronger flavour.

To Serve the Salmon Burgers:

If you’re watching how much bread you eat, serve the Salmon Burgers on a tender lettuce leaf topped with a dollop of the Wasabi Mayonnaise and any other optional toppings you’d like. If you want to eat it burger style, put a patty on top of a toasted whole wheat bun, spread some wasabi mayonnaise over the burger and top as desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/05/15/asian-salmon-burgers-with-wasabi-mayonnaise/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Disclosure: This is part of my continuing series as a member of the Kraft Tastemakers team. All recipes, opinions and wasabi are my own.

Filed Under: Happy Healthy and Wise, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: family-friendly, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, seasonal

Baked Garlic Pita Chips and Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad) | Make Ahead Mondays

May 13, 2013 by Rebecca 12 Comments

Baked Garlic Pita Chips and Fattoush | www.foodiewithfamily.com

In the post below, I provide an affiliate link to Sumac -which can be hard to find for purchase- from Amazon.com. I receive pennies on the dollar for purchases made on Amazon if you click on the link. You can definitely gather your own sumac, dry it, and grind it, but sumac isn’t in season right now and we want salad!

Iiiiiiiiiiit’s salad time! And crouton time! I have a two-fer for you on this glorious (rainy here) Make Ahead Monday.

How much do you love salad this time of year? Maybe I should rephrase that. How much do I love salad this time of year? I’m nutty nuts over it.

I’m a definite crouton girl, too, so today is extra fun for me. I guess I should call today a three-fer because the garlic pita chips recipe I’m sharing does double duty all by itself. It serves as some world-class croutons, to be sure, but it’s also PERFECT for dipping into the summer standard hummus or whatever dunkable goodies you like best.

Do you love pita chips, too? I’m a little bonkers over them personally. They’re in the Bagel Chip category for the guys and me. I hear people crunching and munching on them from the moment the pan comes out of the oven until I hear hands swishing around for whatever leftover crumbs are rattling around at the bottom of the jar.

Baked Garlic Pita Chips | www.foodiewithfamily.com

When I get a fresh batch of pita chips out of the oven, my first order of business is to set aside enough to make a massive batch of Fattoush. Fattoush -for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to live where there is great Lebanese food available- is my favourite summer salad by a mile and a half. Crisp Romaine lettuce is the base for this mega-refreshing herbed salad with a garlicky lemon, sumac, and oil dressing.

Sumac for Fattoush | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Now… A word or two on sumac. No: it’s not the poisonous kind. Poisonous sumac* you want to avoid, clearly, but edible sumac grows widely (and wildly) in many parts of the United States and is not only perfectly harmless, but is also perfectly tasty. There are three varieties -smooth, staghorn and dwarf- that are safe to eat. One identifying characteristic that they share is the bright red or brown hairy clusters of fruit that are about peppercorn sized and in an arrangement like upside-down clusters of grapes. You can gather them before a rainstorm (which washes away the lovely sour, citrus-like flavour), dry them, and grind them for your own FREE sumac, or you can do like I did this time and buy a bag of sumac from Amazon.com. Given that it won’t the the right season for gathering sumac for a couple of months, and we need salad THIS VERY DAY, I’d say buy the sumac.

*For a while last week, I thought I might be allergic to sumac and it made me very sad indeed. As it turns out, I was allergic to a gin & tonic I had made with a new brand of gin. This made me very happy indeed because frankly? I could care less about that gin & tonic.

Why bother? Well, I suppose you could skip it if you’re feeling REALLY cheap or doubtful, but your salad won’t be the same. I promise you this. Sumac delivers a punch of citrus that’s like lemon on steroids. That’s part of what makes this salad such a powerhouse of summer refreshment. Everyone who has had a proper Fattoush is nodding their heads in agreement right now. They’re also quietly wondering when I’ll bring up the herbs. Give me a minute, I have to address the subject of properly preparing your garlic for the dressing first.

How to prepare fresh garlic for salad dressing:

There’s a trick to coaxing the best flavour from garlic for a dressing and turning it into a paste that will distribute itself evenly and it doesn’t involve a garlic press. In fact, a garlic press can’t even dream of doing this nifty procedure. Simply put, you peel and roughly chop your garlic cloves then scrape them into a pile and sprinkle a teaspoon of coarse kosher salt over them. Then you alternate squashing or smearing the pile with the broad side of your knife and chopping it. Every so often, you stop, scrape it back together and repeat. Are we ‘why bothering’ again? I can explain! The salt helps break the garlic down and soften it into a paste instead of the stringy little bits of garlic that come through a garlic press. This paste can be whisked or shaken into the dressing for a smooth finish instead of chunky or string-like bits of garlic showing up when you least expect them. If texture isn’t a concern, think about how wonderfully and evenly the garlic paste will infuse your dressing! Believe me, once you’ve tried dressing made with garlic prepared this way, you won’t want to go back!

How to smash garlic for salad dressing. | www.foodiewithfamily.com

This gorgeous garlic goes into a jar with all of your other dressing ingredients, is tightly lidded and then shaken. Done! You now have enough dressing for three gigantic salads or numerous smaller salads and it stores wonderfully for up to two weeks. Does that make this recipe a four-fer instead of the three-fer we were up to?

Fattoush dressing | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Back to the herbs! Whatever you do, don’t skip the herbs here. Mint and parsley are CRUCIAL to the overall flavour. If you haven’t had the salad yet, you might scratch your head a bit at me, but I wouldn’t steer you wrong. It doesn’t scream MINT or PARSLEY but I guarantee you that if you leave them out, the salad will fall flat.

And while I’d usually rather lose a tooth to crunchy croutons than let them sit and soften in the salad dressing, that’s part of the charm of Fattoush. The crunchy pita chips sit in the dressing and start absorbing the good stuff. If you’ve done a good job of dressing your salad -in other words, not drowning it in dressing- the chips will not become soggy, but will just become a little less jarring to bite. My favourite stage of pita chip softening is about one hour into the salad being dressed but I also love it as much as five hours after dressing. That makes this a fabulous salad to take on a picnic or for a packed lunch.

Please make yourself some Baked Garlic Pita Chips and try this Fattoush. It will rock your summer salad world!

Baked Garlic Pita Chips | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Are you a crouton lover? Do you like ‘em dead crisp or a little soaky?

Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad) | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Baked Garlic Pita Chips and Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad) | Make Ahead Mondays

Rating: 51

Three recipes for the price of one! Fabulously crunchy Baked Garlic Pita Chips, super citrusy Fattoush Dressing, and wondrously herbal and lemony Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad.) This trifecta of deliciousness will bring you refreshment and happiness through the hot summer months.

Ingredients

For the Baked Garlic Pita Chips:

6 pita breads
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

For the Fattoush Dressing:

4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
the juice of 2 large lemons, about 1/2 a cup
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground sumac

For the Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad):

2 cups Baked Garlic Pita Chips
1 large heart of Romaine lettuce
2 tomatoes, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces
1 English (seedless) cucumber, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 of a sweet or Vidalia onion, peeled and thinly sliced in half moons
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried mint)
1/4 to 1/3 of a batch of Fattoush Dressing

Instructions

To Make the Baked Garlic Pita Chips:

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Cut the pitas into 1-inch thick strips. Lay the cut pitas in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the cut pita with the olive oil. Sprinkle evenly with the garlic powder and salt. Place the pan in the oven and bake , stirring every 15 minutes, until crisp all the way through and deep golden brown. Begin checking the pita crisps for doneness at about 45 minutes. Mine usually take an hour. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight jar at room temperature for up to two weeks.

To Prepare the Dressing:

Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves. Sprinkle the salt over the garlic and use the broad side of your knife alternately to squash the garlic and chop the garlic until a thick paste forms. Add that to a pint sized mason jar. Add the remaining dressing ingredients to the jar, screw the lid tightly in place, and shake hard. Refrigerate until ready to dress your salad.

To Prepare the Salad:

At least 10 minutes, but up to 6 hours* before serving, remove the core end of the Romaine heart. Slice the heart in half lengthwise, then turn 90° and chop across those slices to create bite-sized pieces of Romaine lettuce. Add that to a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining salad ingredients to the mixing bowl. Shake the salad dressing very firmly, pour about 1/3 of it over the contents of the mixing bowl and use your clean hands to toss to cover everything evenly. Let stand anywhere from 10 minutes to 6 hours before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Notes

**As the salad sits, the pita crisps will begin to soften. At 10 minutes, they are still very crunchy. The longer it sits, the softer they get. My favourite point to eat fattoush is when it has been sitting for about 1 hour.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/05/13/baked-garlic-pita-chips-and-fattoush-crumbled-pita-chip-salad-make-ahead-mondays/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Happy Healthy and Wise, Rebecca, Recipes, Salads, Vegetarian Tagged With: budget friendly, Frugal Food, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, salad, seasonal, Vegetarian

Spinach and Feta Grilled Turkey Burgers

April 24, 2013 by Rebecca 28 Comments

Turkey burgers usually suffer from an identity crisis. They’re shaped like a burger, they’re made from ground meat, they’re served on buns, but -good golly- they are usually shoe leather dry and sorrowfully bland. The dry bit is because we all like our stomachs where they are in the shape they’re already in and in order to keep them there, one must cook turkey to the requisite safe temperature (165°F in the thickest part, thankyouverymuch). This means it’s gonna take a while.

Because of this, turkey burgers need to have added moisture be it in the form of water, broth, egg, blahblahblah. When this happens, they’re unfortunately prone to falling apart which means that most people don’t want to bother grilling them because it’s a serious pain in the tuckus to avoid the fally apparty* nature of the juiced up ground meat.

*Don’t even give me grief for that. Can you think of a better way to describe it?

To add more body back into the burger, lots of folks add bread crumbs in as a binder which puts us back at the point we were trying to avoid: dry burgers.

HOWEVAH, there’s a solution. Not only does the solution taste great, but it also adds veggies to your burgers which ups the healthy quotient of the sandwich. Win/win, right?

How to Keep Your Turkey Burgers Moist:

Here’s how it’s done; we very gently wilt spinach in hot olive oil that is flush with roasted garlic. Are you happy yet? Roasted garlic always makes me happy! The roasted garlic is another flavour boost for the poor flavour-deficient turkey bird. Notice I said gently. You don’t want to cook the spinach down to mush… You’re going to stop at the point where the spinach has gone from a big old pile like this:

…to a little old pile like this. Please notice that the spinach isn’t mush and still has some body.

At this point, you gently load the spinach into a colander over a plate and let it drain WITHOUT squishing, squeezing or otherwise molesting the spinach. Because we’re letting the spinach take some of its naturally abundant liquid with it, the spinach stores the liquid until the meat heats up on the grill and releases it INSIDE the burger. That way we don’t have sloppy, wet, fally aparty (Yes, I said it again.), sorry turkey burgers.

Let it cool like this until it’s room temperature. Right here? I usually pop it in the refrigerator overnight in a covered container. You could carry on with the burgers immediately, but I like my spinach cold before I mix it into the burger meat. Whether you cool it or proceed toute de suite, the next step is the same: chop the spinach roughly. We’re not talking itty bitty spinach morsels here, we’re talking about just breaking it up so you can distribute it through the meat a little more evenly.

Mix the chopped spinach into the meat with the crumbled feta, some black pepper, and a bit of salt. Oh hey! That feta brings moisture and flavour to the party, too!

Divide into four or six even balls and form into burgers.

How to Keep your Turkey Burgers from Falling Apart on the Grill:

Okay, here’s one of my never-skip-steps for turkey burgers. After forming the patties, I put them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer while I’m preheating the grill. I don’t heat that grill ahead of time, because that little rest in the freezer (unlike beef, which you’d want to cook closer to room temp) helps hold them together in their initial slap onto the grill. This in turn gives the meat a chance to firm up under heat before you go messing with it and flipping it over. Don’t just take my word for it, though; give it a try.

Now I’m about to tell you something that you’d better not ignore. When you gently ease those patties onto the heated and oiled grill you want to be sure you’re putting each one exactly where you want it to stay for six minutes, because you are not even to THINK about moving those until the six minute mark. This is your truest hope of keeping the burgers intact. After six minutes, the meat will have cooked enough to hold together when you flip it. And once you flip it? DON’T TOUCH THAT GRILL for at least eight minutes (unless it’s to lower the heat because you got hungry and antsy and upped the temperature too much.) Turkey needs a little more finessing on the grill than beef, there’s no getting around it, but it tastes so good when it’s done right.

And let me tell you these smell insanely good while they’re grilling. How good do they smell?

Let’s just say my turkey burgers bring all the chickens to the yard.

XO Rebecca

Spinach and Feta Grilled Turkey Burgers

Ingredients

1 bag baby spinach (6 ounces)
4 cloves roasted garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
4-6 hamburger buns (I like whole wheat here.)
extra olive oil for oiling the grates and brushing the buns before toasting.

Optional Garnish:

mixed greens
mayonnaise
Dijon mustard
Roasted Garlic Whipped Feta

Instructions

Pour the teaspoon of olive oil in a heavy skillet with a tight fitting lid over high heat. When it is shimmery and hot add the roasted garlic to the pan and stir for about 10 seconds or until it's fragrant. Add the spinach all at once and flip it a couple of times with tongs. Turn the heat off, add the lid and let sit for 2 minutes. Remove the lid, flip a couple more times, add the lid and leave for 1 more minute. Use the tongs to gently transfer the spinach and garlic to a colander on a plate. Let it rest until room-temperature. Either chill in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or proceed to the next step.

Roughly chop the wilted spinach and garlic so you can more easily mix it through the ground turkey. Add it to a mixing bowl with the turkey, feta, salt, and pepper. Gently but thoroughly mix everything together until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed. Form into 4 to 6 burger patties that are at least 3/4 of an inch thick. Place the formed patties onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and let it rest in the freezer while you preheat your grill.

Preheat your grill to medium-high. Soak a wadded paper towel generously with olive oil and use tongs to rub it over the clean grill grates, heavily oiling them. Ease the burger patties onto the grill and do not move them for 6 minutes, leaving the cover of the grill open. After 6 minutes, flip the burgers just once and let them continue to cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the burgers release from the grill and the interior temperature of the thickest part of the burgers reaches 165°F. Transfer the burgers to a clean plate.

Brush each of the insides of the buns with olive oil and toast them directly on the grill just until they have grill marks. Use tongs or a spatula to transfer the buns to a clean plate or baking sheet.

Serve each burger on a bun topped as desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/04/24/spinach-and-feta-grilled-turkey-burgers/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Chicken and other Poultry, Happy Healthy and Wise, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, family-friendly, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, seasonal

Pulled Pork Walking Tacos {giveaway closed}

April 10, 2013 by Rebecca 355 Comments

Walking Tacos | www.foodiewithfamily.com

First, I need to get something out of the way. Isn’t my boy adorable? Look at those eyes. That face. That smile. This boy melts my heart. Now, let’s talk about what he’s holding in his hands that’s causing that smile.

It’s that GO GO GO GO time of year. Everything from buds on trees to school schedules is running at breakneck speed toward an explosion of greenery and excitement. Snow has melted here and whether it stays that way remains to be seen, we ARE in New York State after all. The kids, however, are busy puddle jumping, creek stomping, tree climbing, and biking like it’s their job. I suppose it is.

Busy days and activity filled evenings are the standing order. Sometimes you just gotta meet the challenge with a walking taco.

Right about now, there’s a big part of the Central U.S. saying, “You betcha!” and quite a few other folks scratching their heads. A Walking Taco, as I have known it, is a snack sized bag of Fritos (!) or Doritos (?) that is sliced open down the side and piled high with taco toppings.

Yes, you must slice it down the side instead of popping it open in the usual way. Observe my hand model with the filthy-playing-outside-all-day nails.

Why do it this way? Well, it’s for fittin’ in all the stuff, of course. Just look at this spread.

This standard of high school football, baseball, softball, and soccer games, wrestling matches, and community fundraisers is popular both for its ease of preparation and for the lack of additional serviceware needed for it. The chip bag forms the bowl, you pile in all the toppings that you possibly can and a plastic spoon or fork is all you really need to deliver the goods where they’re intended to go.

Since by this point you probably know I’m more than a little fixated on pulled pork (see examples here, here, here, and here) and I’ve waxed on and on about making a ridiculously inexpensive huge amount of pulled pork to keep in the freezer (examples here and here) I’ll spare you that harangue this time around. I’m going to go ahead and assume you have a stash in your freezer or have plans to make some soon. If you don’t, I’m pretty sure you’re aware you can make it easily ~or~ you have a source for purchasing pre-made pulled pork. Any which way you shred that pork shoulder, a Pulled Pork Walking Taco is sure to make your entire crew gleeful.

Heck. It makes ME gleeful. You know how I feel about Fritos.

Can a meal get easier than this? Well, sure… if you call someone to deliver it, but even with the bagged chips, I’m thinking you’re still ahead when you make this at home. With a little creative insulated packaging, you could even take this on a day excursion or a trip to the park for a fast dinner.

What’s your favourite fast meal? Have you indulged in Walking Tacos?

Rebecca

P.S. Here’s a free pro Walking Tacos tip; after you open your bag of chips, but before you start piling in the goodies, slightly crush the chips. This helps them to mix into whatever you add in the bag a little more easily.

Pulled Pork Walking Tacos

Rating: 51

Pulled Pork Walking Tacos

This is a Midwestern and Central US classic gussied up a bit; Fritos or Doritos in a snack-sized bag topped with Pulled Pork, sour cream, salsa, fresh cilantro, avocado cubes and whatever else your heart desires. These fun, portable meals please kids of all ages and make clean-up beyond snappy!

Ingredients

For Each Walking Taco:

1 snack sized bag of Fritos or Doritos
1/3 cup fully cooked pulled pork, reheated You can use this recipe, or this recipe, or use purchased pulled pork.

Optional Toppings:

Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese
Shredded lettuce
Fresh cilantro leaves
sour cream or Greek yogurt
salsa
chopped tomatoes
chopped black olives
chopped avocados
guacamole
barbecue sauce
hot sauce

Instructions

Slice the bag of chips open along the side rather than the top. Slightly crush the bag to break up the chips a little bit. Pile the pulled pork in and add as many toppings as you'd like. Pop a fork in there and eat immediately!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/04/10/pulled-pork-walking-tacos-giveaway-le-creuset-anthropologie-and-more/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Giveaway Closed: Congratulations to Jennifer (comment beginning: “Other than fresh bread…”)! Check your email for information on your prize package!

P.P.S. About a month ago, I was invited to take part in a Kitchen Conversations webinar discussing trends in food that was put on by Land O’Lakes. Given my past work with Land O’Lakes, I was thrilled to say yes.

The webinar featured top bloggers Ree Drummond a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman, Julie Deily of The Little Kitchen, Sommer Collier of A Spicy Perspective, Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod, and Brenda Score of A Farmgirl Dabbles. I have to tell you that each of these women is a wizard with butter and nobody does butter better than Land O’Lakes. You should most definitely click on over to their sites and look at the drool-inducing butter-centric recipes they created for the Kitchen Conversations push. I’m just going to say “Butter Chicken Sliders“, “Beef Bahn Mi“, “Meatball Tortilla Soup“, “Garlic Rosemary Parmesan Popcorn“and “Curried Cauliflower with Israeli Couscous and Grains“. Are you drooling yet? I was so hungry by the time our Kitchen Conversation was done. Don’t go until you’ve entered the giveaway, though… Wait ’til you see what Land O’Lakes has in store for you!

As a thank you for a stimulating discussion on what foods are on the rise in popularity this year, Land O’Lakes sent me a gift package to review and will send an identical package to one of you, my readers. Wanna see what’s in it? Of course you do!

The giveaway includes:

-one BEAUTIFUL and seriously serious Le Creuset enamelware sauté and frying pan.

-THREE gorgeous kitchen items from Anthropologie

-one full-value coupon for any Land O Lakes® Butter Half Sticks

-one full-value coupon for Sauté Express® Sauté Starter which includes butter, olive oil and herbs or spices.

How to Enter:

This doesn’t get much easier. Just leave a comment here on the blog telling me what your absolute all-time favourite dish is that’s made with butter! That’s it! The winner will be announced on this post on Friday, April 12, 2013. Good luck everyone!

Disclosure: Land O’Lakes sent me a gift package as a thank you for participating in the webinar and is sponsoring the giveaway of an identical gift package to one Foodie with Family reader. This contest is only open to U.S. Residents. Sorry, international friends! All opinions remain my own.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, kid food, Party Food, Recipes Tagged With: family-friendly, giveaway, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, seasonal, Snacks, Super Bowl

Peanut Butter Molasses Ginger Chews

March 27, 2013 by Rebecca 15 Comments

Cookies are the instant gratification fix of the food world. You mix things together, you scoop, you bake and you iiiiiiinhale them. Or at least that’s what I do. This recipe was developed at the request of my dear-ole-dad who asked me to find a road-tested peanut butter and molasses cookie recipe for him. I couldn’t. So I did what any self-respected recipe developer would do.

I made one up. Then I tested it like I was doing a recipe for a company, because people, this is my DAD we’re talking about. I don’t give him lousy recipes. Something about owing my life -in part- to him, blah blah blah.

I put everything my dad loves in a cookie into one little chewy, crispy package: peanut butter, molasses, and ginger. And Dad specifically asked that I make it “not-cakey”. He said, “Crispy and chewy are both fine, but if I want cake, I’ll eat cake.”

Understood.

The addition of peanut oil to this recipe helps it to spread while it bakes. This does double duty- it prevents cakiness and it adds a bit of crispiness to the edges. I call these “The Incredible Morphing Cookies” because when they come out of the oven, they’re domed and puffy and soft.

As they sit on the cooling racks, they deflate a bit. When they’re completely cooled, they become crisp. When you transfer them to a cookie jar and let them rest overnight, they remain crisp at the edges and soften to chewy inside. Every single stage is delicious. I highly recommend eating a couple at each point. You know, for scientific reasons.

Peanut Butter Molasses Ginger Chews

Rating: 51

Peanut Butter Molasses Ginger Chews

These crisp-yet-chewy cookies are full of good stuff: peanut butter, molasses, white whole wheat flour, ginger, butter and more. They are simple, fast and taste like Mary Jane candies!

Ingredients

2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup peanut oil (or vegetable or canola oil)
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat.

Cream together the sugar, peanut butter, butter, oil, molasses and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl until smooth.

Sift the flours, baking soda, ginger and salt together then add to the peanut butter mixture. Beat on low or stir in the flour until it is well mixed and even.

Use a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon to scoop the cookie dough into mounds that are about 2 teaspoons worth of dough. Roll the dough into balls and roll the balls in the extra sugar to coat completely.

Place the sugar coated cookie dough balls in 5 rows of 4 (using an extra cookie sheet if necessary to make sure you have at least 2 inches between each cookie dough ball.)

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are set in the center and firm at the edges.

Let the cookies cool on the pans for 2 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Store at room temperature in a cookie jar or other airtight container.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/03/27/peanut-butter-molasses-ginger-chews/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Cookies, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, cookies, dessert, family-friendly, kid friendly, quick and easy, seasonal, Vegetarian

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Energy Bars | Make Ahead Mondays

March 18, 2013 by Rebecca 11 Comments

Time again for Tasty Penance wherein I apologize for all the fattening recipes I give you by offering a super healthy one that still tastes great. I present to you: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Energy Bars! They taste ever so much like a proper oatmeal raisin cookie but they are good for you. How good for you? They’re made entirely of dates, raisins, almonds, oats, cinnamon, vanilla and a wee pinch of salt. This is the home version of the fancy-pants energy bars (Cliff, Lara, etc…) for which you almost need a second mortgage if you want to eat them regularly.

Since they are essentially dried fruit and nuts with just a little bit of this and that thrown in, they are -if eaten in large amounts- very caloric which would seem to defeat the whole Tasty Penance idea, right? The saving grace here is that it doesn’t take a huge energy bar to deliver that pick-me-up and burst of power you want. Dried fruits and nuts eaten together are very filling. Additionally, the carbohydrates from the fruit give you a quick blast of energy while the protein from the nuts make you stay satisfied longer. So a small energy bar gives you a lot of bang for your caloric buck. Besides that, we’re talking iron, calcium, tannins, beta-carotene, potassium, maganese, magnesium, copper, lutein and FIBER all in one tasty little package.

Since these are little powerhouses of nutrition, they make a great mid morning or afternoon snack. Pop one or two in your kids’ or loved ones’ lunches. Deliver some to a friend who just had a baby or a shut-in. Stuff a couple in your mail carrier or UPS person’s hand. I guarantee smiles of surprise and contentment.

Some Tips for Energy Bar Success:

Because dates can vary widely in their moisture content (depending on age, proper storage and other extenuating circumstances) use the amount of nut butter called for as a starting point. Don’t feel obliged to stop at two tablespoons if the mixture isn’t clumping. Be patient, add more little by little until the mixture holds together without crumbling when squeezed in your hand.
When pressing the mixture into the pan, really push down as hard as you can without breaking the pan. Pay some extra attention around the edges, being sure to press them as firmly as you did the center so the edges don’t crumble when removed from the pan. You can use your hands, a little roller or the edge of a sturdy (not glass) cup to do the job, just do press down.

Taste the mixture as you go along and adjust with more cinnamon, more vanilla, more of whatever you like personally. Since there are no ‘dangerous’ ingredients in this, you can taste to your heart’s content and make it exactly what you want it to be.
If you want these to be truly raw in the ‘raw, living foods’ sense, don’t toast the oats before grinding them. Personally, I prefer the taste of toasted oats, but it’s strictly optional.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Energy Bars | Make Ahead Mondays

Rating: 41

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Energy Bars | Make Ahead Mondays

These tasty little morsels made of dates, raisins, almonds, toasted oats, cinnamon, and vanilla taste just like oatmeal cookies, but deliver a serious nutritional punch while providing energy to get done what you need to do.

Ingredients

2 cups pitted dates
2 cups raisins
2 tablespoons nut butter (Peanut butter, sunflower butter, cashew butter, almond butter, etc...)
1 1/2 cups raw or toasted almonds
3/4 cup raw or toasted quick or rolled oats (*See Notes)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Line a 9-inch x 13-inch straight sided pan with a piece of parchment paper so that the paper hangs over the long edges. Set aside.

Add the almonds and oats to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Fix the lid in place and pulse until the mixture inside resembles fresh bread crumbs.

Add in the cinnamon and salt and pulse a couple of times to combine. Pour this into a large mixing bowl.

Add half of the dates, half of the raisins and about half of the vanilla extract and process until a paste forms and clumps together in the workbowl. Open the food processor and add in 1 tablespoon of the nut butter and half of the ground nuts and oats. Replace the lid and process until evenly combined. Scrape into the prepared pan.

Repeat with the remaining dates, raisins, vanilla, nut butter and nuts/oats.

When all of the ingredients have been thus processed, wet your hands and use them to press the mixture as evenly over the bottom of the pan as possible. Fold the excess parchment over the bars to cover them and use something flat and heavy to press down firmly on the mixture until it is smooth.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before moving onto the slicing.

To slice:

Use the excess parchment paper like a sling to transfer the now-firm bars from the pan to a large cutting board.

Cut into desired size (I prefer to cut 9 rows of 6 squares) and store in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container. An unrefrigerated bar will be good for 48 hours, covered, at room temperature.

Notes

*To toast oats, pour the oats into a dry, heavy-bottomed frying pan large enough to hold the oats in a single layer. Place the pan over medium-high heat stirring occasionally until they smell nutty and are golden brown. Pour into a bowl or onto a plate until cool enough to handle comfortably. Voila! Toasted oats!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/03/18/oatmeal-raisin-cookie-energy-bars-make-ahead-mondays/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Happy Healthy and Wise, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: Breakfast, family-friendly, kid friendly, quick and easy, seasonal, Snacks, Vegetarian

The Friday Fifteen: March 15, 2013

March 15, 2013 by Rebecca 12 Comments

It’s Friday the 15th! And I have the Friday Fifteen today! This is all too tidy, so I’m putting -at my father’s suggestion- sixteen links into this post. I clearly have an authority problem.

See that picture up top? That is one of my newly favourite dishes ever, ever, ever. I tasted one at Rick Bayless’s Frontera at Chicago’s O’Hare airport and almost wept with joy. Yes. I loved airport food. I loved it so much that I made my own. If you haven’t tried it yet, you’d best do it soon. You’ll regret the time you’ve lost not eating it if you don’t.

There’s been so much great stuff out there this week for Saint Patrick’s Day… You KNOW how I feel about corned beef, so it figures largely in this week’s roundup. And colcannon? Forget it. How could you go wrong with mashed potatoes, greens, onions, butter and cheese?

Main Dish Madness:

Favourite Slow Cooker Recipes by Add A Pinch. Dear Robyn has collected her favourite slow-cooker recipes from her site. Can I just personally put in a word for every single one of the recipes she included? Her Balsamic Roast Beef and Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas are on our regular rotation around here. Oh, and BONUS! She’s giving away a most fabulous slow cooker. Get on over there and enter, people!

Corned Beef Poutine with Guinness Gravy by Closet Cooking. My word. French fries, corned beef, Guinness gravy, melted cheese. Mercy. I’d probably just have to sit alone eating this so I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone thereby ruining the joy of the experience.

Baked Tilapia with Pecan Rosemary Topping by Cookin’ Canuck. I am a fish nut and this tilapia looks beyond tempting with its sweet, spicy, crunchy, nutty topping.

How to Make your Own Corned Beef by Black Girl Chef’s Whites. Yes, yes, yes. This is how I feed my corned beef habit at less than a billion dollars per pound and it’s so easy and so gratifyingly delicious. Try it out. Now, you won’t have it done in time for St. Pat’s, but who cares? Corned beef is for the year round!

Appetizing Appetizers and Snacks:

Chipotle-Cheddar Broiled Avocados by Eating Well. Oooooooh yeaaaaaaaah. I’ll take five. Make it six. We wouldn’t want to leave that poor avocado half hanging, would we?

Ricotta Crostini Party by Honestly Yum. This tray full of thin, crispy crostini topped with ricotta cheese and all sorts of lovely toppings actually makes me angry. Angry because I’d have to employ strategy to prioritize which one to eat first to ensure I get my favourites. Radishes, smoked salmon with dill, honey with blueberries or nuts, strawberries with aged balsamic vinegar, cucumbers and herbs? Holy man. I’d have to lock myself in the closet and eat them all by myself.

Reuben Style Potato Skins by Simple Comfort Food. Hubba hubba! Potato + Corned Beef + Sauerkraut + Swiss Cheese= Happy, happy me. This is happening.

Deadly Desserts:

Chocolate Pretzel Nachos by Gimme Some Oven Are you even kidding me? Would you look at those? Pretzel chips topped with chocolate chips, a fudgy sauce, mini marshmallows and SPRINKLES! GAH! I about died when I saw these. My kids begged for me to make them. They’re on the docket for this Saturday’s nacho-fest.

Nutella Peanut Butter Chewies by Seeded at the Table. These cookies made me do a double take. No flour? Nutella, peanut butter, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla. Hey, these are gluten-free! And boy do they ever look good! Nikki says they’re crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I can’t wait to give these a whirl for myself!

Classic Shamrock Shake by The Naptime Chef. There are not words to describe my obsession with Shamrock Shakes. Oh, and I’m pretty sure I mentioned once or fifteen times that I gave up frozen treats for Lent so you know that means I won’t have one from The Golden Arches this year. I will, however, have every single ingredient in my pantry/fridge that I need to make this on Easter Sunday.Woot woot!

Chocolate Amaretto Crepe Cake by Sprinkle Bakes. This take on a classic French dessert is sure to be a head turner. We are talking about a visually stunning dish that tastes equal to its looks; layer upon layer of whisper thin crepes filled with a chocolate amaretto ganache then frosted. When you cut into it, you have so many layers of lusciousness that it can be overwhelming in a good way!

Beautiful Beverages

Homemade Bailey’s Irish Cream by Averie Cooks. Make your own Irish Cream in a blender. Okay. If you insist. I’d be happy to. Thank you. Mwah!

Cool Gadgets

Magimix by Robot-Coupe. This is my only recommended gadget this week. I received one for review and have been putting this thing to the grindstone for several weeks. If you want to buy a food processor, do yourself a favour and save up until you can get this one. I’ve paid my own money for other big name food processors and been terribly disappointed by the shoddy, lightweight construction and anemic power behind them. This one is heavy and serious. I LOVE that it doesn’t hop around on the counter while I’m using it. I adore that it blitzes whatever the heck I put in it in record time. I can’t get over how sharp those French blades are. I used the commercial equivalent of it when I worked in restaurant kitchens and loved it then and love it even more now. I know the reputation of the company and I know how great their customer service is and can recommend it without reservation. (Note: I am not compensated for this post or the review. This is NOT an affiliate link. I seriously believe this is the best food processor you can possibly get outside of a commercial kitchen and it’s well worth the money.)

Books, books, books!

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. There’s no getting around it, this book made me weep the ugly cry and jagged sobs. So why am I recommending it? Because I think it is one of the best books in the last decade. Because I think it is crucial to know how very fortunate and blessed American women are. Because Khaled Hosseini is a masterful story teller who pulls you into the story so effectively that you are willing to join humanitarian or missions groups just to go help people around the world. Get it on Kindle:

…Or in paperback. It’s hard to beat a used copy for a penny plus three dollars in shipping!

Or go to your library and get on the waiting list for it for free, but do read it. And when your sons and daughters are old enough, have them read it, too. It’s that important.

A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind at the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle. It’s hard for me to explain just how much these junior fantasy books mean to me. I read them first when I was about thirteen years old; they were gifts from my Aunt Molly. They transported me completely to the world of the O’Keefe children that I almost could’ve sworn that I was the red-headed, awkward, hot-tempered, glasses-wearing Meg O’Keefe. Madeleine L’Engle is widely considered to be a children’s author, but I’ve reread these books several times as an adult and gotten something new and deep from them on each reading. In fact, my best friend of years-upon-years and I had a discussion over the phone about Charles Wallace’s farandolae and mitochondria and how it’s a metaphor for what society is experiencing with perpetual childhood. Don’t let that scare you off of the books, though… Give them to your favourite tween or teen or read them yourself and see what I mean. And if you haven’t read them yet, do yourself a favour and start one on a dark and stormy night while snuggled under your quilt. Oh what fun!

Magnificent Movies

Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. Yes, this is an animated film. This acclaimed and award winning fantasy is about Chihiro, a young girl trapped in a world of traditional Japanese spirits. Despite her fears, she perseveres in order to help save her parents who have undergone a mysterious transformation. Miyazaki has an unparalleled ability to use silence and quiet to fill the spaces that would normally be filled with chatter taking a film that could’ve been merely good and making it great. All of my kids (ages 6-15) love this movie and I can happily recommend it to that age group and above. I do suggest that if you have kids who are particularly susceptible to tension in movies, you may want to preview it. Personally, I put this movie firmly in my top-five-films-of-all-time list. It is heartwarming, magical, sweet, cautionary and redemptive all at the same time. Don’t just take my word for it, though, look at the other reviews for it!

Filed Under: Friday Fifteen: Link Love Tagged With: family-friendly, seasonal, Snacks

Reuben Egg Rolls and Thousand Island Dipping Sauce

March 13, 2013 by Rebecca 18 Comments

A couple of months ago, my little sister sent me a hilarious exchange from NPR’s Sandwich Monday about Reuben Egg Rolls. I’m pretty sure I haven’t mentioned it here before, but I am straight up obsessed with Reuben sandwiches. As in perilously close to having named one of my children Reuben obsessed. My husband was thinking more clearly and steered me away from it by asking something like, “Would you name one of them Monte Cristo?” Well no, I’m not THAT crazy.

But I remain bonkers over Reubens. There’s something borderline mystically perfect about the crispy rye bread, salty corned beef, briny sauerkraut and creamy Thousand Island dressing that makes me lose all willpower. This particular little sister who sent me the link is just as wacky over Reubens as I am, so I sent her a text: “You know I’m going to have to make these right?” Her response was, “YESSSSS. It worked!”

…And work it did. I finely chopped some leftover baked corned beef, rinsed and chopped sauerkraut, shredded Swiss cheese, and just a pinch or two of caraway seeds to mimic the rye bread. Like Hackney’s in Chicago (the restaurant featured on Sandwich Monday) I decided to leave the Thousand Island as a dipping sauce. Homemade, of course!

I deep fried (duh) but they could’ve been baked, too. Baking would have robbed them of some of that shatteringly crisp egg roll wrapper exterior that I love so dearly, but if your fear of the deep-fryer is standing between you and a batch of Reuben Egg Rolls, I’m advising you to bake them. I’ve included instructions for both cooking methods in the recipe.

I posted a picture of the finished product to Instagram and within two minutes had a triumphant text from my sister that read, “YOU DID IT!” Oh, I surely did. And I’m making a batch to share with her when she comes to visit at the end of the month… She and I will sit and lose ourselves on a platter of Reuben Egg Rolls.

I highly suggest you make far more corned beef than you think you’ll need for Saint Patrick’s Day this coming weekend when all the world is Irish. You might even consider skipping the whole boiled dinner and going straight to these egg rolls for your Saint Pat’s feast. I guarantee you won’t get many objections.

Rebecca

P.S. My husband ate these happily with the Thousand Island dipping sauce, but insisted I tell you all that he really enjoyed them with wasabi, horseradish, spicy brown mustard, and Mae Ploy, just not all at the same time.

Reuben Egg Rolls and Thousand Island Dipping Sauce

Rating: 51

Reuben Egg Rolls and Thousand Island Dipping Sauce

This irresistible twist on the classic Reuben sandwich features shatteringly crisp egg roll wrappers stuffed with salty corned beef, briny sauerkraut, nutty Swiss cheese and a pinch or two of caraway seed to mimic rye bread. Dunk in homemade Thousand Island Dip or serve with horseradish, wasabi, or spicy brown mustard.

The recipe includes instructions for deep frying or baking the egg rolls.

Ingredients

For the Reuben Egg Rolls:

24-36 egg roll wrappers (not won ton sized)
1 1/2 to 2 pounds leftover baked or thickly sliced deli corned beef
1 packed cup sauerkraut (preferably not canned)
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 teaspoon caraway seed (optional)
2-3 inches of peanut, canola or vegetable oil or shortening in a high-sided, heavy-bottomed pan

For the Thousand Island Dressing:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1/4 cup minced sweet onion
3 tablespoons ketchup
a pinch of cayenne pepper

Instructions

To Prepare the Thousand Island Dipping Sauce:

Use a fork or whisk to combine all of the dressing ingredients. Scrape into a container with a tight fitting lid and let it rest in the refrigerator while you prepare the egg rolls.

To Prepare the Reuben Egg Rolls:

Place the sauerkraut in a colander and rinse over the sink. Squeeze as much excess liquid from the sauerkraut as you can, then transfer it to a cutting board and coarsely chop it so the largest pieces are 1/4-inch big. Put this in a large mixing bowl.

Coarsely chop the corned beef so that the largest pieces are no bigger than 1/4-inch. Transfer the corned beef to the mixing bowl with the chopped sauerkraut, add the shredded Swiss cheese and the caraway seed (if using.) Use your hands to toss the ingredients together so that everything is evenly combined.

Set the mixing bowl next to a clean cutting board that is set up with a small bowl with fresh water in it (for moistening the egg roll wrapper edges) and your pile of egg roll wrappers. On the other side of the cutting board, you should have a clean pan to hold your rolled-but-not-yet-cooked egg rolls.

Place a single egg roll wrapper with one point facing toward you and one away. Dip your finger in the bowl of water and moisten the two edges farthest away from you. Scoop 1/4-cup of the corned beef filling onto the egg roll wrapper just slightly closer to you than the center of the wrapper. You can use your hands to slightly compress the filling together if you find it is too loose. Lift the tip of the wrapper closest to you and fold it up and over the filling. Use this to help compress the filling but do it gently so you don't spring a leak in your wrapper. Fold the points on either edge toward the center like an envelope, then -using your hands to tuck in the edges as you go-, roll the egg roll away from you until the whole thing is a tight cylinder. Try to avoid holes in the wrapper as they can cause leaking melted cheese and therefore splattering during the frying process. Gently press the final edge to help seal it and lay it on the clean pan you prepared for it. Repeat until the filling is used up.

You will get anywhere between 24 and 36 egg rolls depending on how consistent you are with filling the wrappers and how much snacking you do of the filling while you roll them.

To Deep Fry the Reuben Egg Rolls (Preferred Method):

Bring the frying oil to 350°F. (*See Notes) When it reaches temperature, carefully lower as many egg rolls into the oil as you can fit without overcrowding the pan. The egg rolls should be able to move around the pan as they cook. Cook the egg rolls for about 3 minutes, flipping once or twice with tongs during the cooking, or until they are golden brown. Keep in mind they will darken somewhat when removed from the oil, so don't cook them until they're dark golden brown. You may find some of them don't want to stay flipped when you flip them which would prevent one side from cooking to crispy perfection. If this happens, use the tongs to hold the uncooked side in the oil for a few seconds to help the process.

Transfer the cooked egg rolls to a pan lined with several layers of paper towels. Let rest for at least a minute before serving with Thousand Island Dip or the dressing or sauce of your choice.. While these are definitely best hot, they are also good at room temperature.

To Bake the Reuben Egg Rolls:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray both sides of the finished egg rolls with non-stick cooking spray and lay them -not touching- on a baking sheet. Bake until the wrappers are golden brown and the Swiss cheese is melted inside. While these are definitely best hot, they are also good at room temperature.

Leftovers can be frozen on a sheet pan then transferred to a freezer bag and reheated in a 350°F oven until heated through.

Notes

*If you have a deep fryer you can definitely use it for this recipe, just set the oil temperature to 350°F and fry when it comes to temperature!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/03/13/reuben-egg-rolls-and-thousand-island-dipping-sauce/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com