Week Five: Ravioli, Teriyaki, and Pizza Rolls, Oh My!

Due to preparations for Halloween, this one is coming to you a little bit late. While I don't have any money-saving tips for you this week, I can promise that next week will be a Holiday Special focusing on turkey and interesting cookies. :)

This Week’s Recipes Are: Ravioli Soup, Teriyaki Stir-Fry, Homemade Pizza Rolls

Ravioli Soup (pg. 19 of Cheap! Fast! Good!)

Photo by Me

Serves: 4 Start to Finish: Under 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

· 2 teaspoons olive oil

· 1 large onion

· 8 ounces fresh button mushrooms

· 1 clove fresh garlic, minced, or 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

· 2 cans fat-free chicken broth

· 1 can diced tomatoes seasoned with garlic and onions

· 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

· ½ teaspoon dried basil

· 2 cups mini cheese ravioli

· Shredded or grated parmesan cheese, for serving

1. Heat the oil in a 4 ½ - quart soup pot over medium heat. While the oil is heating, peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the pot as you chop. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3 minutes.

2. Rinse, pat fry, and slice the mushrooms, discarding any tough stems. Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook until they begin to release their liquid, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the garlic, broth, tomatoes with their juice, Worcestershire sauce, and basil. Raise the heat to high, cover the pot, and bring the soup to a boil.

4. When the soup is at a rolling boil, add the ravioli. When it returns to a boil, cook until the ravioli are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve at once.

Review-
Most people wouldn't think that ravioli and soup would go together - ravioli is a pasta, after all, and that usually involves sauce, not broth. This recipe will surprise you. It smells amazing, and while it may look questionable on paper, it looks amazing in person. This recipe combines that mom's-best-soup feeling with age old Italian style. I highly recommend this recipe, as it is one that is sure to amaze you.

Teriyaki Stir-Fry

Photo by me. Pictured vegetables: baby corn, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, celery, red pepper, carrots.

Serves: 4 Start to Finish: Under 25 minutes

Ingredients:

· 1 Tbsp sesame oil

· 4 meat fillets, ¾” thick (can be salmon, chicken, beef, pork, etc: )

· ¾ Cups teriyaki sauce

· Any selection of stir-fry or wok vegetables

1. In a large skillet, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat (I use medium heat, as my stove burns hot). Add the fillets and move them around so they do not stick to the skillet. Cook for 4 minutes on each side.

2. Add the teriyaki sauce and vegetables. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until fillets are cooked thoroughly, about 5 to 7 minutes. When fillets are cooked thoroughly, serve teriyaki stir-fry on plates and enjoy.

Review-

This is a recipe that I often cut my fillets into bite-sized pieces for, since it allows the chicken that I typically use to cook more thoroughly in a shorter period. Sometimes, cooking fillets can take longer than the recipe says, so be prepared to cook the fillets for longer or shorter based on what kind of meat you’re using. Don’t take any chances, especially with pork and poultry.

This is another recipe that I adore; it’s tasty, it’s delicious, and it reheats like a dream. I like to serve this with white rice, which can be on the side, or in a bowl with the stir-fry over it, or even just in a side bowl.

Homemade Pizza Rolls

Serves: 2 – 4 Prep Time: Less than 15 minutes

Ingredients:

· Pepperoni

· Shredded cheese (mixed, mozzarella, pizza blend, etc; )

· Pizza sauce

· Ready-to-bake crescent rolls (such as Pillsbury)

1. Preheat the oven according to the directions on the crescent roll packaging. Separate the crescent rolls and spread them into triangles on a non-stick cookie sheet.

2. Place a few pepperoni slices in the center of each triangle, as well as cheese and optional pizza sauce. Fold the two longest points of the triangle inward, so that they overlap, and then roll the crescent roll so that the third point wraps around the pizza roll.

3. Place the pizza rolls on their seams on the cookie sheet, and bake according to the directions on the crescent roll packaging. Serve at once, dipping in or drizzling pizza sauce over the rolls.

Review-

This is a recipe that a friend of mine taught me. Very simple, and oh so delicious. One package of crescent rolls will make more than most packages of store-bought pizza rolls, and they’ll be more filling and healthier for you. You can use any kinds of filling you want – sausage, hamburger, ham, or even just plain cheese – and it’ll turn out fantastic. Just make sure that your crescent rolls get fully cooked, and you’re goof to go. :D

Week Four: Grocery Inventory, Shrimp, Chicken, and Deviled Eggs

Be sure to check out Week Three's entry! This week was a two-for-one due to midterms.

One major part of menu planning is the grocery inventory. Knowing what you already have will help you to plan what you need to buy. I’ve saved $20 on weekly menus because I keep track of what I already have. Very often, I look at a menu, write down what I don’t have, and find that in order to make Mu-Shu Pork, I just need to buy the pork. Keeping track of what you have does in fact save you money. This is especially true of spices and herbs, which can be incredibly expensive, let alone when you buy them and don’t need them yet. Keeping a food inventory is simply keeping yourself up to date on what food items you have available to you to use this week. Here are some key ways to maintain a food inventory:

1. Organize refrigerator, freezer, cupboards, etc; so that similar items are grouped together. This means actually using your vegetable drawers for vegetables, and your meat drawer for meat. The reason for this is so that you can just glance inside the fridge and see how much of what kinds of meat you have available to you, or how much of what vegetables and fruits are still unused. This helps so that you use what you have, which helps you save money because less food goes to waste, and thus you waste less money buying things you already have.
2. Every three months, clean your refrigerator, your cupboards, and your freezer. Take note of what foods you still have that maybe were buried behind those cans of tomatoes, or that box of noodles. Then, either make a menu that will use the older items, plan a day to donate them to a food pantry, or if they’re past their expiration date, throw them out. Do this for your condiments, too. Do this every three months – mark it on your calendar.
3. If you have a large chest freezer, you might try making an actual inventory list for the door. Go through every shelf, and write down what food is on what shelf. When you use that pound of frozen beef, cross it off your list. When you buy more pork chops, add those to the list. Attach and pen with a string to this list to make it more convenient for you to keep track of these things. Renew your list every month or so, because a quick look at it will help you plan out your menu for that week, and will save you time in the long run when you no longer have to dig through it for ten, twenty minutes every week to see if you have something or not.
4. Keep menu planning! Weekly menus will keep you buying only what you need, and so you save money and waste less food. In Cheap. Fast. Good!, the Desperation Diners say, “We were startled to discover that the average American household throws away 470 pounds of food every year and that as much as 12% of purchased grocery items are never used.” By menu planning and grocery inventorying, you can cut down the amount of food thrown away in your home, and cut back on how much is never used.

Now, onward to this week’s fast and cheap recipes!

This Week’s Recipes Are: Easy Shrimp Scampi, Chicken and Apples with Dijon Cream, and Delicious Deviled Eggs.

Guest Recipe & Review: Apple Butter, submitted by Jill B.

Easy Shrimp Scampi

Photographed by me.

Serves: 6 to 8 Start to Finish: Under 25 minutes

Ingredients:

· 1 lb. frozen, shelled, de-veined shrimp

· 1 package long pasta, such as angel hair or thin spaghetti

· ½ cup butter

· 4 cloves fresh garlic, or 2 tbsp. bottled minced garlic

· 1 cup dry white wine

· ¼ tsp. ground black pepper

· ¾ cup parmesan cheese

· 1 tbsp parsley

1. Boil salted water with noodles until al dente. Drain well and return to the pot. Rinse the shrimp under cold water to thaw, and then remove the tails. Set aside.

2. While the noodles are boiling, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When butter is melted, stir in garlic and shrimp. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes.

3.Stir in the wine and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 30 seconds while stirring.

4.Pour shrimp and sauce over drained pasta in pot (or serving bowl), and sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Serve at once.

Review-

This was one of the first recipes I learned how to make once I started cooking. I believe I found it originally on allrecipes.com, but there are a lot of good recipes there, so you never know. My fiance loves this recipe, being the big fan of shrimp and seafood in general that he is. This recipe is a very simple way to make shrimp scampi, and it works very well. The time consuming part is de-tailing the shrimp, but if you do that beforehand, this will go much faster.

I know a very good way to cheat if you don't have any garlic, and most college students can do this pretty well. If you have garlic butter from pizza orders saved in your fridge, you can add those to the butter mixture to get that garlic flavor. :) It's a shortcut that I've tested time and again, and it gets rid of the garlic butter that gets saved.

Chicken and Apples with Dijon Cream (pg. 150 of Cheap. Fast. Good!)

Serves: 4 Start to Finish: Under 25 minutes

Ingredients:

· Salt for cooking the rice

· 1 1/3 cups long grain rice

· 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

· 8 ox fresh button mushrooms

· 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

· 1 tsp. butter

· 1 small onion

· 2 large tart cooking apples (I use Granny Smith)

· ¾ cup apple juice

· ½ cup dry white wine, such as Chardonnay, or ½ cup additional apple juice to substitute

· 1 ½ tsp. sugar

· 1 chicken bouillon cube

· 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

· ¼ cup half-and-half or heavy cream (heavy whipping cream in many stores)

1. Bring 2 2/3 cups lightly salted water to a boil in a covered medium-sized saucepan. Add the rice, stir, and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, if the chicken is frozen, run it under hot water so you can remove the packaging. Place the chicken on a microwave-safe plate and microwave, uncovered, on high power for 3 minutes to partially defrost.

3. While the chicken defrosts, rinse, pat dry, and slice the mushrooms, removing and discarding any tough stems. Set aside.

4. Heat the oil and butter in an extra-deep 12” skillet over medium heat. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the skillet as you chop.

5. Cut the chicken (fresh or partially defrosted) into bite-size pieces, adding them to the skillet as you cut. Cook, stirring occasionally, while you cut each apple in half and remove the core. Without peeling them, cut the apples into ¼ inch slices. When the apples are sliced, add them to the skillet along with the mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms just begin to soften, about 2 minutes.

6. Add the apple juice, wine, and sugar. Crush the bouillon cube between your fingers or with the back of a spoon and add it to the skillet. Stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 4 minutes more.

7. Stir in the mustard and half-and-half. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is warm throughout, about 2 minutes. If you use half-and-half, do NOT let the mixture boil. Serve at once over hot rice.

Review-

This recipe is one of the easiest “fancy” recipes I’ve ever tried. You can make this recipe fairly quickly, with almost no multi-tasking, and yet it comes out with a fancy, restaurant quality taste to it that will keep anyone from doubting your abilities as a cook. This is one recipe that I call an ice-breaker recipe, in that people may not believe you’re going to make this, but once you have, they’re ever so grateful for it. I wouldn’t enter into any professional cooking competitions with this, because it is incredibly simple, but this could probably take a local competition with minimal effort.

This recipe brings together three unlikely flavors in one amazing dish. The taste of the apples, chicken, and that hint of Dijon mustard is anything but bland, and the interesting combination will have you eating more just to keep experiencing it. A must-have in any contemporary recipe book.

Delicious Deviled Eggs

Makes: 16 Deviled Eggs Start to Finish: Under 25 minutes

Ingredients:

· 8 large eggs

· 5 tbsp. regular or reduced-fat mayonnaise

· 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

· 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

· 1/8 tsp. black pepper

· Salt to taste

· Paprika to taste (optional)

1. Place the eggs into a 2-quart or larger saucepan and add cold or lukewarm water until all eggs are covered. Lightly salt. Place pan over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and place eggs in strainer to cool, running lukewarm water over them.

2. In the meantime, put mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, and black pepper into a bowl. When the eggs are cool, peel them and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and add them to the mayonnaise mixture. Mix together until smooth, seasoning with salt to taste.

3. Spoon the filling into the egg whites. Dust the filled eggs lightly with paprika if using, and serve.

Review-

I’ve been a fan of deviled eggs my entire life, and I have to say that this recipe blows my old method (mayonnaise, yellow mustard, dash of whatever vinegar is around) out of the water. These are stupendous, and will be a big hit at any party or pot luck. The only person who I have had try these that didn’t care for them was my fiancé, who doesn’t like things with mayonnaise as a base ingredient. That said, this recipe works just as well for egg salad, and in whichever form I make it, it’s all gone by the next day. When it comes to sides, you can never go wrong with some nice, delicious deviled eggs.


Apple Butter Guest Recipe & Review by Jill B.
Serves: 6+ Start to Finish: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 large granny smith apples (or baking apples if you want it sweeter)
• 2 cups apple cider
• Cinnamon
• Honey

1.) Put the two cups of apple cider in a pot large enough to accommodate the apples and set on stove to boil

2.) Peel the apples and cut into cubes or smallish pieces

3.) Once the cider is boiling, carefully add the apple pieces. Sprinkle with cinnamon and honey and stir

4.) Turn the heat down to low and cover, simmering gently for an hour. Stir occasionally and add more honey and cinnamon to taste

5.) After an hour, remove the pot from heat and let sit for about ten to fifteen minutes to thicken

6.) To serve, simply dish it into a bowl and enjoy!

Review:

This recipe is one I discovered in a colonial cookbook one Christmas and I decided to give it a shot. It's now a family favorite and requested at all of the family gatherings! Over the years, I've tweaked it, added a few spins of my own (adding the honey and cinnamon in at the beginning for example so the flavor cooks right in), and it's one of the few things that I can cook without screwing it up somehow. So I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and me!

Week Three: Skillets, Taco Twists and your first Dessert

Hey everyone! I wanted to thank everyone for your patience as I finished up my midterms. I really appreciate it. :D It looks like the pattern I’m setting is two bigger recipes and one smaller side or – for today – a dessert. I think that this is a pattern I’m going to be sticking with, since I can do a lot more in one week than just one or two like I originally thought.

Now, a lot of the recipes that I present to you are fast and pretty easy. That’s something that they share in common with Hamburger Helper, but there’s something else that they share in common: Skillets. A lot of these recipes will require use of a 12” skillet, preferably deep. I used to use a 12” sauté pan for a lot of these, and aside from the occasional spilling from the sloped sides, I was able to make these recipes with little trouble.

These recipes will work with just about any 12” skillet, but I highly recommend an extra-deep, and be sure to find one that comes with its own lid, otherwise you’ll have to spend more money to buy them separate than if you buy them together.

Right now, I own a Wearever 12” extra deep skillet that came with a lid (this is important, because not all of them come with lids). I love this skillet. It is my cooking baby. With the extra deep sides, I can fit more food with significantly less spilling. I recommend that if you don’t have a skillet at all, that this be the kind that you get, because it will last forever and make some of the best foods in larger batches. I highly recommend this kind of skillet, but I more highly encourage you to find one that works best for you.

This Week’s Recipes Are: Beefy Asian Rice, Taco Twists, and Bananas Foster

Beefy Asian Rice (pg. 130 of Cheap. Fast. Good!)

Photograph by me.

Serves: 6 Start to Finish: Under 25 minutes

Ingredients:

· 2 cans (14 oz each) fat-free beef broth

· 1 cup long grain rice

· 1 lb. ground beef

· 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

· 1 large onion

· 2 carrots (or ¼ of a bag of baby carrots)

· 8 oz fresh button mushrooms

· 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced, or 1 ½ tablespoons bottled minced garlic

· ¼ cup regular or reduced-sodium soy sauce

· 2 tbsp. ketchup

· 2 tbsp. rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar

· 1 tbsp. finely minced fresh ginger or bottled minced ginger

· ½ cup frozen green peas (optional)

· 2 tbsp. Asian (dark) sesame oil

1. Pour the broth into a covered medium-size saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add the rice, stir, and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. (Don’t worry if the rice is very moist)

2. Meanwhile, if the beef is frozen, run it under hot water so you can remove the packaging. Place the beef on a microwave safe plate and microwave, uncovered, on high power for 3 minutes to partially defrost. To skip this step, place the beef in the refrigerator over the previous night to thaw.

3. While the beef defrosts, heat the oil in an extra-deep 12” skillet over medium heat. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the skillet as you chop. Peel the carrots into ¼ inch thick rounds. Add the carrots to the skillet.

4. Rinse, pat dry, and coarsely chop the mushrooms, removing any rough stems and adding the mushrooms to the skillet as you chop. Add the beef (fresh or partially defrosted) to the skillet and cook, turning and breaking up the meat, until it is crumbled and browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Drain any accumulated fat from the beef, if necessary.

5. Add the garlic to the skillet, along with the soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, and ginger. Stir well and reduce the heat to low. Add the peas (if using) and sesame oil and stir. Add the cooked rice to the skillet and stir until thoroughly combined. Serve at once, passing additional soy sauce at the table, if desired.

Review-

For the note, I cook my rice using my rice cooker, but for recipes like this where you need to cook the rice in broth, I use a saucepan as is recommended. I don’t recommend using a rice cooker to cook rice in broth. Now, this is a favorite of mine because of its bold flavors, but isn’t for everyone. This recipe is one that stands alone, rarely needing a side simply because of how much is prepared, and how flavorful and textured it is. This is another recipe that reheats in the microwave very well, so if you find that you like it, keep the leftovers for lunches or snacks, and you’re set. :)

Taco Twists (pg. 210 of Cheap. Fast. Good!)

Featured picture uses macaroni noodles instead of rotini. Photographed by me.

Serves: 6 Start to Finish: Under 15 minutes

Ingredients:

· Salt for cooking the pasta

· 1 lb. short pasta, such as rotini

· 2 tsp. vegetable oil

· 1 large onion

· 2 cans (14 oz each) Mexican-style or regular stewed tomatoes

· 2 cups of Flexible Mexican Filling, defrosted if frozen

· ¼ cup shredded cheese (such as Cheddar, taco blend, Colby, or Monterey Jack)

1. Bring 3 quarts lightly salted water to a boil in a covered 4 ½-quart or larger pot. When the water reaches a rapid boil, add the pasta and cook, uncovered, until just tender, following the package directions.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in an extra-deep 12” skillet over medium heat. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the skillet as you chop. Cook until the onion is soft, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes with their juice. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Add the Flexible Mexican Filling and stir until well combined.

4. When the mixture returns to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until ready to serve.

5. When the pasta is done, drain it well and divide it among six plates. Spoon the sauce over the hot pasta, topping each serving with 1 tbsp. of cheese.

Review-

Be sure that you use stewed tomatoes, and not diced tomatoes. The sauce doesn’t simmer long enough to rid the diced tomatoes of their raw taste. This is another recipe that I love making, because it uses Flexible Mexican Filling, which is absolutely delicious. Whether you have leftover Filling, or you need to make a new batch, this recipe uses it well. If you have children, getting tri-color rotini can make it even more fun for them. :D

Bananas Foster

Serves: 4 Start to Finish: Under 15 minutes

Ingredients:

· 2 ripe bananas

· 2 tbsp. butter

· 1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar

· ¼ cup rum, brandy, Cognac, or orange juice for non-alcoholic sauce

· 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

· 4 scoops vanilla ice cream

1. Peel the bananas and cut them in half crosswise. Slice each half lengthwise, and then cut those pieces in half lengthwise again. You will have 16 pieces. Set them aside.

2. Melt the butter in a 10” or larger skillet over medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar, run, and cinnamon. Stir to mix well. Cook until the mixture comes to a boil, 2 to 3 minutes. Then reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Add the bananas and cook, stirring constantly but gently so as not to break them up, until the bananas are heated through, 1 ½ to 2 minutes.

3. Remove the skillet from the heat. Serve the warm bananas and sauce over scoops of ice cream.

Review-

If you want a dessert that will make your entire household go silent, this is my suggestion. The rum sauce is delicious with or without the bananas, and pouring nice warm rum sauce over cold vanilla ice cream is as nice to look at as it is to eat. The end result is a caramel-like sauce with more bold flavor than any caramel sauce I’ve ever had. I add maybe a hint more cinnamon than suggested, and encourage you to experiment with this and other ingredients as well.

Now, I don’t know much about rum or other cooking alcohols. Luckily for me, my fiancé knows his rum. We use Captain Morgan’s Silver Spiced rum, and I don’t think that I would want to try it with anything else after that. My stove burns hot, so I start on medium heat and reduce the heat just a little bit if at all, with the same results.

Week Two: Coupons, Mu-Shu Pork and fun Lasagna

At first I was really nervous about starting this blog, but I’ve already received a lot of positive responses from readers, and it’s only week two! I have a bad habit of not finishing things, which is one of the reasons why I love cooking, but as long as I know that people are enjoying this, I’ll keep going. J Thank you all for your support so early on in the game!

Now, this week, I want to talk a little more about menu planning, but from a different angle: Coupons. Every week, my house receives a copy of the Cedar Valley $aver, and in it are coupons from all of our local grocery stores (including the grocery sections of Walmart and sometimes Target). Now, as I understand it, it’s a bit hard to have something like that delivered to a dorm room. In that case, the Sunday paper is a good way to get your coupons if you don’t already have a way (also, if you know of other ways to get a decent number of coupons, please share it as a comment! :D).

However you get them, coupons are a great way to start building a menu. For example, my local Fareway – which already has fantastic prices on meat – often has sales on their supplies of pork. When I see coupons or sales happening in this regard, I know that I can plan to have at least one recipe that uses pork, or whatever else is on sale. This is a great way to save even more money on your groceries, and it can really inspire you if you’re stuck on what to plan for the week. There have been plenty of times when I’ve been stuck, seen an ad for 50% off of some food ingredient or another, and instantly began looking for recipes that use that ingredient. Not only did I have a menu plan that saved me money, but I saved 50% on a key ingredient in one of those meals. It’s even better if the sale is on a vegetable item, such as carrots or celery, as those are used in dinner recipes frequently, and you can build an entire week around those simple ingredients.

Now, speaking of pork…

This Week’s Recipes Are: Mu-Shu Pork, Lasagna Roll-Ups, and Roasted Sweet Corn

Mu-Shu Pork

[Picture to be added]
Serves: 6 Start to Finish: Under 25 Minutes

Ingredients:

· 1 small head (about 1 1/4 pounds) green cabbage (optional)

· 2 medium-size carrots

· 1 pound boneless pork loin chops (about 1 1/2 inches thick), defrosted if frozen

· 2 tablespoons peanut oil or other vegetable oil

· 1 small onion (for about 1/2 cup sliced)

· 8 oz fresh button mushrooms

· 1 small clove fresh garlic, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

· 1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger or bottled minced ginger

· 1 bunch scallions (for about 1/2 cup sliced; optional)

· 1/4 cup dry sherry, white wine, or apple juice

· 2 teaspoons cornstarch

· 1/4 cup regular or reduced sodium soy sauce

· 2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

· 8 small (7-inch) flour tortillas (optional)

· 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, or more to taste

1. If using cabbage, cut the cabbage in half and remove and discard the tough core. Using a very sharp knife, cut the cabbage into thin shreds. Set aside. If you are not using tortillas, you may want to begin cooking 1 cup of white rice to serve the pork over.

2. Peel the carrots, and shred them on the largest holes of a box grater, or cut them into 1/4 inch rounds. Set aside.

3. Trim any visible fat from the pork chops. Cut the chops length-wise into thin strips about 1/8 inch wide. You may choose to cube the pork. Set aside.

4. Heat the oil in an extra-deep 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Peel the onion and cut it in half. Cut each half into 1/4-inch-thick crescent-shaped slices, adding them to the skillet as you cut. Rinse, pat dry, and slice the mushrooms, removing any tough stems. Add the mushrooms to the skillet as you slice. Add the pork and cook, tossing and stirring, until the mushrooms just begin to release their liquid, about 2 minutes.

5. Add the garlic, ginger, cabbage, and carrots to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is no longer pink in the center, 5 to 6 minutes. Meanwhile, if using the scallions, slice them, using all of the whites and enough of the tender green tops to make about 1/2 cup. Add them to the skillet.

6. When the pork is cooked through, combine the sherry and the cornstarch in a small container that has a lid (or a ziploc baggy), cover, and shake until the lumps dissolve. Add the mixture to the skillet, along with the soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook just until the mixture thickens, about 1 minute.

7. Just before serving, put the tortillas (if you choose to use them) on a microwave-safe plate, cover with waxed paper, and microwave on high power for 1 1/2 minutes to warm through.

8. To serve, spread 1/2 teaspoon hoisin sauce (or more to taste) on each tortilla, then top with 1/2 cup of the pork filling. Roll up burrito-style (one end tucked in) and serve at once. Optionally, serve pork over cooked white rice, and use the hoisin as a dipping sauce.

Notes: You can use a 1-pound bag of coleslaw mix instead of the cabbage and carrots. Warehouse club stores usually carry larger bags at much lower prices than the smaller supermarket bags.

Review-

This is one of my favorite Asian styled recipes, next to Beefy Asian Rice (which you will see next week). It was this recipe that taught me that if you’re going to make Asian-styled food, then hoisin, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger are supreme MUST HAVEs. The combination of the flavors with the liquids from the mushrooms (minced finely for those who don’t care for mushrooms) and the pork is incredible! It’s like eating in an Asian restaurant, but with the satisfaction of creating something that seems more complicated than it is. This is another recipe that reheats really well, and I love to make Mu-Shu Pork for my house. In fact, my roommate loves it on the tortillas so much that we would never have tried it over rice if I hadn’t forgotten to write tortillas on my shopping list! However you serve it, this recipe is absolutely delicious, with bold flavors that you won’t regret later. :)

Lasagna Roll-Ups

Photo taken by me

Serves: 5-10 Prep Time: 20-30 minutes Bake Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

· 1 box lasagna noodles (NOT the ready to bake noodles)

· 1 lb. tofu, ground beef, or other meat

· Italian seasoning

· 1 15 oz. container of ricotta cheese

· 1 12 oz. bag of shredded mozzarella cheese

· 1 to 1 ½ cups of Parmesan cheese

· Pasta sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add about ¼ cup of pasta sauce to the bottom of a 13x9” glass pan, and spread it around the bottom until coated.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese with a fork until all cheeses are well mixed. If using tofu, mix it into the cheese mixture.

3. If using ground meat, brown the meat in a skillet over medium heat, drain, and add it to the cheese mixture, along with 1 cup pasta sauce. This mixture will become your filling.

4. Set a pot of salted water to boil, and then cook your lasagna noodles. Each noodle will be one roll-up, so cook as many as needed from your box. Cook until al dente. Drain, rinse, and lay the noodles flat on a plate so that they remain easy to work with.

5. Spread the filling over one side of a noodle, and roll it up. Place the roll-up into the pan seam-down, and repeat this step for each remaining noodle. When the pan is full (I can fit about 20 into a 13x9” pan), pour the remaining pasta sauce over the roll-ups. Make sure to cover as much of the noodles as possible. If you have extra shredded or parmesan cheese, sprinkle it over the roll-ups.

6. Place the pan into the oven and cook for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool for about ten minutes before serving.

Review-

This is a house favorite. If you undercook the noodles a little bit, that’s alright; you can still lay them flat in the pan and make normal lasagna instead! To do that, just layer noodles and filling until you reach the top, and then top with noodles and sauce. The baking time remains the same. :) Also, if you don’t have time to bake them, you can prepare them and refrigerate them, microwaving them as needed. Since any meat inside will be fully cooked, baking isn’t necessary (though it will make your kitchen smell AMAZING).

This is a recipe that takes a little more time, but makes for some amazing leftovers. The roll-ups microwave remarkably well, and can be eaten as a meal or as a snack. If you have time to make this recipe, this is a great selection for the beginning of the week, when you can reheat them anytime throughout the week as leftovers. Also, this recipe is great for serving guests if you have the time, as many will appreciate the fun of lasagna in roll form. Enjoy!

Roasted Sweet Corn

photograph by me.

Serves: 4 as a side Start to Finish: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

· 1 bag of frozen sweet corn kernels

· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

· Salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse the corn kernels in a colander or strainer to partially thaw.

2. Pour the corn onto a cookie sheet, preferably one with a 1” tall edge. Drizzle the oil over the top, and mix the corn with it until thoroughly coated. Press into a single layer.

3. Put the corn into the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until the corn begins to brown at the edges. When it is finished baking, pull the corn from the oven, let cool for about 5 minutes, and then sprinkle with salt to taste and serve.

Review-

I’ve always loved sweet corn on the cob, and sometimes I like corn kernels as a side. This recipe, however, is a fantastic way to cook frozen corn without losing the flavor or the sweetness of it. My roommate and I made this recipe last week as a side to a chicken soup over rice that I had made. Before the soup was finished, we had eaten most of the tray of corn between the two of us, simply because of how flavorful this recipe is. It would have been embarrassing if it wasn’t so good!

A little bit of salt over top adds a nice contrast to the sweetness of the corn, and the full flavor doesn’t get lost like it does when you boil corn. Needless to say, I already have another package of frozen sweet corn kernels in my freezer, and I’m going to be making it again very soon. :)