prosciutto arugula pizza with homemade bread machine dough

Posted by the Blind Cook in cuisine Italian, For the Cook, Pork, Tips & techniques, VegetablesFeb 10th, 2012 | 2519No Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2012%2F02%2F10%2Fprosciutto-arugula-pizza-with-homemade-bread-machine-dough%2Fprosciutto+arugula+pizza+with+homemade+bread+machine+dough2012-02-10+19%3A21%3A31the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D2519

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. I can’t even remember the last time I was excited about V-Day. Maybe in middle school when carnations and candy-grams were sold, and the more you collected, the more popular you looked. How lame and superficial now that I think back on it. But those were the woeful days of adolescence, I guess.

Now that I’m thirty-something and have a permanent Valentine, Valentine’s Day has turned into a consumer-driven joke of a holiday. It’s not even really a holiday. We all still have to go to work on Tuesday. Double-lame.

I realize this post is sounding cynical. But in reality, I feel like every day should celebrate those we love. Not just spouses and significant others but parents, cousins, friends, and pets. Why should it be just one day a year that we do something nice for those we love? Indeed, Valentine’s Day exists only to make Americans waste their money on bouquets and stuffed bears and to make the singles feel worse. Bah humbug.

People ask me what my husband and I are doing for V-Day. A few years ago, I enjoyed going out to a nice restaurant. Then it would be just going out to any restaurant and engaging in the act of conversation and communion together. This year, I just want to cook a meal at home with my hubby.

Last time, I gave you lamb chops. But if you’re not that fancy food kind of person, here’s a less expensive yet just as tasty alternative. What is more romantic than Italian food? Ever since we bought a bread machine, we’ve enjoyed making our own pizza dough at home. The possibilities are endless for pizza—you can virtually top it with anything you see lying around in your fridge. That’s the beauty of it. Lately, my favorite toppings for homemade pizza are prosciutto, arugula, and fresh mozzarella. After our pie at San Francisco’s Pizzeria Delfina, I became a fan of arugula. I used to dislike this leafy green because of its bitterness, but now I find the dry taste a good balance to richer, fattier foods (like prosciutto). Maybe I’m all growns up now. **Tear**

If you get the right fresh ingredients, this simple pizza will blow you away. So go ahead, score some points with your Valentine by way of the stomach. Or if you’re single, indulge yourself. If the Blind can Cook it, so can you. Buon appetito!

: Prosciutto Arugula Pizza

: Uses pizza dough made from a bread machine

1. 1 c. flat beer
2. 2 tbsp. butter
3. 2 tbsp. sugar
4. 1 tsp. salt
5. 2.5 c. all-purpose flour
6. 2.25 tsp. yeast
7. dried herbs to taste (oregano, rosemary, thyme)
8. olive oil
9. pizza sauce
10. prosciutto, cut into strips
11. arugula, roughly chopped
12. fresh buffalo mozzarella, thinly sliced
13. parmesan cheese

1. Add beer, butter, sugar, salt, flour, yeast, and any herbs if using into bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select DOUGH setting, and press START.
2. Remove dough from machine when cycle is complete. Roll or press dough to cover pizza pans or stones, using dusted flour to prevent dough from sticking. Brush lightly with olive oil. Cover and let stand 15 min.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
4. Bake empty pizza crusts for approx. 10 min.
5. Remove from oven and add sauce and mozzarella. Bake another 10 to 15 min. or until crust is lightly browned and crispy.
6. Remove from oven, top with prosciutto and arugula. Grate parmesan cheese to taste. Serve hot.

or a much quicker method, use premade pizza crust like Boboli.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s)

Cooking time: 25 minute(s)

roasted lamb chops

Posted by the Blind Cook in cuisine American, For the Cook, Tips & techniquesJan 25th, 2012 | 2503No Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2012%2F01%2F25%2Froasted-lamb-chops%2Froasted+lamb+chops2012-01-25+18%3A17%3A46the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D2503

I don’t understand people who claim they don’t eat lamb because it’s “too gamey.” Duck and lamb, when it’s a good cut of meat and when it’s fresh, have got to be some of the least gamey meat around. But to each his own, I guess.

For me, I adore lamb. And not just because it used to be a cute cuddly hand puppet (I say “used to” because it’s now a juicy pink piece of meat on my plate) but because it tastes pretty darn good. But because it’s expensive, I’d always been intimidated to try it at home. But during a recent trip to Costco, I couldn’t resist. Into our cart went a half rack of lamb (which yields about 7 bones) for $22. After tinkering around online, I found a surefire recipe online. The only thing I changed was to omit the bread crumbs since John was eating low carbs.

Before cooking this, you MUST have a meat or food thermometer. It is vital to cooking all meats—you cannot cook a perfect steak, pot roast, turkey, prime rib, or rack of lamb without one. I just got my digital thermometer at Target, and it’s served me fine. For convenience, buy one with a timer and a alarm option for when it reaches a certain temperature. That way, you can set it to ___°F and go watch “Jersey Shore” until it beeps and announces your rump roast is ready. (Just kidding—don’t watch “Jersey Shore.”)

So here is an easy way to cook a rack of lamb. Try it next time for a special occasion. It makes for a beautiful presentation, especially when served with some colorful vegetables like asparagus and purple potatoes. Remember, if the Blind can Cook it, so can you.

: Roasted Lamb Chops

1. 1 single (7-bone) rack of lamb, trimmed & frenched
2. 1/2 c. bread crumbs
3. 2 tbsp. minced garlic
4. 2 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
5. 2 tsp. salt
6. 1.25 tsp. ground black pepper
7. 4 tbsp. olive oil
8. 1 tbsp. dijon mustard

1. Roasted Lamb ChopsMove oven rack to center position. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a lg. bowl, combine bread crumbs, garlic, rosemary, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Toss in 2 tbsp. olive oil to moisten mixture.
3. Season rack of lamb with remaining salt & pepper. Heat remaining olive oil in a lg. heavy oven-proof skillet over high heat. Sear rack of lamb for 1 to 2 min. on all sides. Set aside for a few min.
4. Brush rack of lamb with mustard. Roll in bread crumb mixture until evenly coated. Cover the bone ends with foil to prevent charring.
5. Arrange rack boneside down in skillet. Insert thermometer into rack. Roast for 12 to 18 min. depending on desired doneness. Let it rest for 5 to 7 min., loosely covered, before carving between ribs.

To “french” a rack of lamb means to clean the meat, cartilage, and fat between tips of the bones to make for a neater presentation.

Allow for the internal temperature to be 5 to 10 degrees lower than desired since meat will continue cooking once removed from the oven.

Bloody rare – 115-125 degrees
Rare – 125-130 degrees
Med.rare – 130-140 degrees
**Med. – 140-150 degrees

**I like my lamb medium.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)

Cooking time: 15 minute(s)

smashed purple potatoes

Posted by the Blind Cook in cuisine American, For the Cook, Sides & salads, Tips & techniques, Travel eats, VegetablesJan 17th, 2012 | 2492No Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2012%2F01%2F17%2Fsmashed-purple-potatoes%2Fsmashed+purple+potatoes2012-01-17+17%3A08%3A48the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D2492

Back in October, I had taken a trip to the Bay area and upon a dinner at Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Restaurant, I came across these wonderful purple potatoes that were the highlight of my evening meal. They stole the show even next to the Wagyu beef skewers. After returning to home sweet home in Houston, I had to find and cook these purple potatoes myself.

Indeed I found them in the potato section of H-E-B, and John kindly reminded me that he’d suggested I try these purple potatoes long ago but that I was initially repulsed by the idea of my spuds looking like Barney. Alas, I’ve changed my mind.

I was so enamored with purple potatoes that I wrote a Ingredient of the Week post for Eating Our Words, and now I present to you a simple yet delicious method for preparing these smashingly good smashed purple potatoes. Remember, if the Blind can Cook it, so can you.

: Smashed Purple Potatoes

1. 1 lb. purple potatoes, scrubbed
2. 1/3 c. whole milk
3. 2 tbsp. butter
4. 1 tsp. salt
5. 1/2 tsp. pepper

1. In a med. saucepan, boil potatoes in salted water for approx. 15 min. or until tender but not mushy.
2. Meanwhile, combine milk and butter in a sm. saucepan. Heat to a simmer and set aside.
3. Drain potatoes and return to low heat to dry.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Line potatoes in a single layer in a baking dish. Using a fork, lightly smash each potato, making sure each potato remains whole. Then in a med. bowl, toss potatoes with buttermilk mixture, salt, and pepper. Re-line potatoes in the baking dish. Roast for 10 to 15 min. or until slightly crispy.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 30 minute(s)

fight that flu

Posted by the Blind Cook in Beverages, For the Eater, Medical advances, Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO), Pasta, rice & noodles, Poultry, Soups & stews, Tips & techniques, VegetablesDec 16th, 2011 | 2449No Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2011%2F12%2F16%2Ffight-that-flu%2Ffight+that+flu2011-12-16+17%3A03%3A17the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D2449

It’s that time of the year again. You want to enjoy the chilly weather, the Noel season, the gatherings with loved ones, hot chocolate, eggnog, hot pot, turkeys and hams and pot roasts what have you. But what ends up happening is you’re lying in bed next to Death, shivering and sweaty and feverish and pissed. Why is it that the flu is so common during colder weather? My mama used to always warn me if I didn’t wear my jacket and gloves and thermals, I’d get sick. But I’ve heard that being cold is not the culprit—it’s the cold weather driving everyone closer together in a huddle which thereby spreads germs much more quickly and easily. Does anyone know if that’s true?

Either way, cold weather equates to more people coughing and sneezing and getting the flu. Earlier this year at the tail end of flu season, I wrote an article for Houston Press about which things we can ingest or imbibe to fight the flu. I thought it would be fitting to link to the article now that it’s season again.

Despite my compromised immune system from the Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) and Rituxan treatments, my neurologist told me to get the flu shot this year, saying the benefits outweigh the risks. (I got mine at CVS for $30. You can get them at most pharmacies or at your doctor’s office. Most health insurance policies will cover the flu shot, too, so what’s there to lose?) Good thing because my husband has been sick twice this season already. I hope you can avoid the flu this year, but in the case that it catches you, read my post entitled ”What to Feed That Flu”, and you should be back on your feet in no time. Say “hi-yah!” Miss Piggy-style to that virus.

stock & congee: what to do with all that leftover turkey

Posted by the Blind Cook in cuisine American, cuisine Chinese, cuisine Vietnamese, For the Cook, Pasta, rice & noodles, Poultry, Soups & stews, Tips & techniquesNov 29th, 2011 | 2429No Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2011%2F11%2F29%2Fstock-congee-what-to-do-with-all-that-leftover-turkey%2Fstock+%26+congee%3A+what+to+do+with+all+that+leftover+turkey2011-11-29+21%3A42%3A01the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D2429

Your crazy family came and went. Now all that’s left is a big ol’ turkey carcass. Wait, don’t throw anything away just yet. In this time and age when offal eating has become the trend, I’m going to show you what you can do with all those leftover turkey bones.

First, you make turkey stock. Duh! Then, you use that stock to make turkey congee.

Every Asian country has its own version of rice porridge. It’s the ultimate Asian comfort food. Think of the Americans with their chicken noodle soup. Well, the Asians have their rice porridge. It’s what you feed someone under the weather. I admit I used to hate congee or chao (as it’s called in Vietnamese) because it was all my mama let me eat when I was sick. Incidentally, I grew to associate congee only with illness. Of course it left a negative impression on me. But now that I’ve got no mama to cook me homemade congee, I had to roll up my sleeves and do it myself. Now I don’t necessarily eat congee just when I’m sick; I’ll eat it when it’s cold out. (Speaking of which, Houston is finally starting to feel like winter. Yippee!) I eat it because it’s hearty, warm, and best of all, simple to make. I almost always have the ingredients on hand to make congee, but even if I don’t, the great thing about congee is its versatility. You can just about throw anything into it. Perhaps the only requirement is stock or broth and rice. (I’ve even seen some people cook congee with plain water but I don’t recommend this—too plain.)

So read on, and learn how to make turkey stock with that leftover carcass and then, subsequently, turkey congee. And remember, if the Blind can Cook it, so can you. Happy winter eating!

: Turkey Stock

: Stock can be made from any animal’s bones, but I especially like poultry stock made from chicken, duck, or turkey.

1. 1 bird carcass
2. 2 to 3 carrots, chopped into 2″ pcs.
3. 2 to 3 celery stalks, cut into 2″ pcs.
4. 1 med. onion, chopped
5. 1 to 2 bay leaves

1. If necessary, chop bones so they will fit into a stockpot. Place bones into a stockpot and fill with enough water to cover. Add carrots, celery, onion, and bay leaves. Bring almost to a boil but do not let it boil.
2. Reduce heat. In the first hr., skim off any scum that floats to the surface. Cover and let simmer for approx 3 hrs.
3. Turn off heat and let cool. Strain through a mesh sieve into containers, leaving 1/2″ space at the top. (This is to prevent the containers from busting when the stock expands in the freezer.) Discard bones and vegetables.
4. Refrigerate overnight. Spoon out and discard any gelatenous fat that solidifies at the top before using or freezing.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 3 hour(s)

: Turkey Congee

: Chao is the Vietnamese term for congee.

1. 1 c. uncooked jasmine rice
2. 4 to 6 c. turkey stock
3. 3/4 c. leftover turkey meat, shredded
4. 1/2 med. onion, chopped
5. 1 sm. pc. ginger, minced
6. 1 to 2 carrots, peeled & finely chopped (optional)
7. 2 tbsp. fish sauce or to taste
8. 1 scallion, finely chopped
9. a few sprigs cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
10. ground black pepper

1. In a med. saucepan, combine rice, stock, turkey meat, onion, ginger, and carrots if using. Bring to a low boil.
2. Reduce heat and add fish sauce. Cover and let simmer for approx. 25 min. or until rice reaches desired consistency. Season with ground black pepper and more fish sauce to taste. Garnish with scallion and cilantro. Serve hot.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 30 minute(s)

how to keep your garden alive during drought

Posted by the Blind Cook in For the Cook, For the Eater, The urban garden, Tips & techniques, VegetablesSep 5th, 2011 | 2226No Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2011%2F09%2F05%2Fhow-to-keep-your-garden-alive-during-drought%2Fhow+to+keep+your+garden+alive+during+drought2011-09-05+12%3A00%3A49the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D2226

The last time I posted an urban garden update, it was before Houston hit its hottest time of year–that is, the month of August. This year’s summer has had record-breaking heat, record-breaking lack of rain. For every single day in August (and I’m not even exaggerating), we had highs above 100, and I can only recall one morning when it sprinkled. You can imagine how desert-like our city has become.

The drought and extreme heat have not left our garden very viable. In fact, the only thing that seems to be thriving is our Thai basil which, I guess, thinks it’s back at home with this climate. Most everything else has withered like a great-grandma’s toes. I recently wrote a piece for Eating Our Words about what we can do to drought-proof our urban gardens (or at least make it drought-resistant). Got any tips on how to protect your crops from this crazy weather? Help us turn our brown thumbs green, and share the knowledge. Click on the link below to read my Houston Press post.

• The Drought War of 2011: 5 Tips for the Urban Garden

how to homebrew beer

Posted by the Blind Cook in ...and the Drinker, Beverages, For the Cook, Tips & techniquesAug 29th, 2011 | 2214No Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2011%2F08%2F29%2Fhow-to-homebrew-beer%2Fhow+to+homebrew+beer2011-08-29+12%3A00%3A42the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D2214

My husband received a homebrew kit from his brother for Christmas last year, but the idea of brewing our own beer at home was daunting. Combined with the crazy high temperatures we’ve had this year, homebrewing, we knew, was not going to be an easy task. Why we decided to start brewing in the dead heat of summer is beyond me, but the more challenges, the more interesting the life, no?

John has been into craft beers for the past couple of years, and he’s gotten me enjoying beer, too. I’m no connoisseur nor do I ever think I’ll be, but I now prefer a richer, darker beer than your average Miller Light. We brewed our first batch of beer last month, and as with anything one does for the first time, there were many errors and many lessons from which to learn. I wrote a recent blog post about it for Eating Our Words. Check it out and let me know in the comments section for this entry if you have any tips or thoughts. Enjoy!

• Avoid our mistakes. Read up on our 5 lessons learned from our first homebrew.

6-month urban garden update

Posted by the Blind Cook in For the Cook, For the Eater, The urban garden, Tips & techniques, VegetablesJun 14th, 2011 | 19974 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2011%2F06%2F14%2F6-month-urban-garden-update%2F6-month+urban+garden+update2011-06-15+04%3A41%3A04the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D1997

It’s been six months since we planted the first of our urban garden. Since then, we’ve expanded a little; the backyard is now home to all the original herbs–rosemary, parsley, thyme, cilantro, and oregano–in addition to the original broccoli heads. In February, we purchased lemon and lime trees, roma tomato plants, Italian basil, and Thai basil. We had to show up bright and early at the nursery and elbow all the old people out of the way to get to the tomatoes and basil–those things sell like hotcakes. We were happy to get our hands on some but ended up destroying so many of them anyway. So here are the lessons learned during the first six months of our brown-thumb urban gardening.

TOP 5 BROWN-THUMB LESSONS LEARNED IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS

• Lesson #5: Don’t plant your lemon and lime trees in terracotta pots. Terracotta clay is too hot for the heat of Houston summers and will likely burn the roots of your trees. We learned this only after we already bought the terracotta pots and planted our dwarf lemon and lime trees in them. All other pots were either ugly or too expensive so we left our trees in them with the hopes that excessive watering will keep the roots cool. (Who said trees can’t be fashionable?) Too bad we are probably not watering them as often as we should. The curse of a lazy gardener.
• Lesson #4: Give your tomatoes plenty of room because those suckers are wild. The roma tomatoes were rampant which you think would be a good thing, but we used weak bamboo sticks to hold up the vines a la zip ties, and the result is a crazy looking mess. Better to buy tomato cages and give the tomatoes plenty of space. We planted our Thai and Italian basil too close to the tomatoes, and now the crazy tomato vines have overshadowed the basil and stunted their growth.
• Lesson #3: Make sure you use the right ratio of soil-to-fertilizer for each plant. In other words, check the chemical levels of the soil and fertilizer used because different plants require different ratios. The Black Kow fertilizer was fine for the herbs but virtually burnt our tomatoes. The tomato plant bore scores of little tomatoes but they all had burnt black bottoms, a result of too much nitrogen in their diet, I believe. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)
• Lesson #2: Watch your dogs very carefully. My delinquent dogs have been eating all my Thai basil. I didn’t even know until I smelled it all over their breath. Why couldn’t you dogs at least eat the parsley which is better for your breath and more plentiful anyway? I haven’t even had a taste of my Thai basil because they’ve all gone in my dogs’s tummies! And to think I blamed it all on the crazy tomatoes.
• Lesson #1: Don’t be lazy about watering. The problem with the Houston heat is it truly makes one lazy. It’s so hot and humid outside–we’ve already hit a record-breaking 100 degrees the first week of June!–that nobody ever wants to venture outside. The downside is our plants are also dying of thirst. The broccoli is probably having a heat stroke right now as I type this. To combat our weariness, my husband rigged a homemade irrigation system: he made a rain water collector out of a garbage can and some piping which he attached to a porous hose that seeps water out through its gauze-like exterior. He also bought a water timer so now promptly at 7:30 CDT every other day, the garden gets a drink.

John is already talking about building another garden bed–the Beta Bed, it would be called. This garden bed would be built from scratch (rather than from the Costco kit) so that exact dimensions are achieved at a fraction of the cost. In this Beta Bed, we will employ all of our lessons learned in the first six months of urban gardening and try our hand at bettering our brown thumbs–maybe they can become beige. We’ll use the correct dirt, give plants enough space, use an efficient crop rotation. Check back later for more updates.

cajun crawfish boil

Posted by the Blind Cook in cuisine Southern, For the Cook, Seafood, Tips & techniques, VegetablesMar 28th, 2011 | 1805No Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2011%2F03%2F28%2Fcajun-crawfish-boil%2Fcajun+crawfish+boil2011-03-28+12%3A00%3A28the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D1805

Since we are in the throes of crawfish season (which lasts from January to June), I decided to do this post. Crawfish (or crayfish or crawdaddy, as they’re known in other parts of the country) are little shellfish that resemble tiny lobsters. Here in the dirty South, we call them crawfish. They are little “mudbugs” that live in the swamps, and yes, while this sounds disgusting, they are actually delicious when cooked Cajun-style.

First, let’s define Cajun cuisine. Often, it’s confused with Creole cuisine, but there is, in fact, a difference per se. The Creoles were wealthy planters who settled in southern Louisiana with their European chefs, thus it is a food of aristocracy. Using Old World techniques on indigenous ingredients, Creole cuisine was born. Bouillabaisse, native to Provence, gave way to gumbo; the Spanish paella was the basis for jambalaya; and so on.

The Cajuns, on the other hand, descended from the Acadian refugees. They were less aristocratic and more agrarian; they cooked simple “one pot” dishes for mere sustenance. Cajun food is usually characterized by such ingredients as wild game, seafoods, wild vegetables and herbs. Ingredients from nearby swamps, woods, and bayous are typical things found in the Cajun black iron pot.

Today, many Creole and Cajun foods have blended into a melting pot, if you will, of southern Louisiana. One things’ for sure, though: it’s an American cuisine from the South like no other.

A crawfish boil is an event native to Louisiana but over the years has spread to most of the deep South (like my native Houston), and now, it can even be found in California, Colorado, and D.C. But because I’m a Southern girl, I don’t trust eatin’ crawfish nowhere but down he’e. What’s unique and fun about a crawfish boil is the atmosphere. Not only are you grubbin’ on good food, but you do it outside on a picnic table covered with newspaper or butcher paper. You do it over beer. You do it with your bare hands. (Or if you’re prissy like me, with plastic or latex gloves.) Most importantly, you do it with good company–it is NOT to be eaten alone. The crawfish and all the fixin’s are poured straight from the pot onto the middle of the table, and everyone grabs from the steaming pile of awesome goodness.

This recipe is based on one I got from a former coworker who has French roots from southern Louisiana. Whether she’s Creole or Cajun, I have yet to determine, but either way, this recipe is pretty tasty. She and her family do a crawfish boil every year for about a hundred friends and family. I, of course, scaled down the servings and tweaked it a little, but remember that you need to do this with a group. Also, it’s like a half day affair, so make sure you have lots of energy. I haven’t held a crawfish boil myself since 2008 because the purging, cooking, and especially the cleaning up have been too much for this tired soul. But when the best restaurants around town sell crawfish for $7+ per pound, a little DIY is something to consider.

vietnamese eggrolls

Posted by the Blind Cook in Appetizers, snacks & hors d'oeuvres, cuisine Vietnamese, For the Cook, Tips & techniquesFeb 28th, 2011 | 17261 Commenthttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F2011%2F02%2F28%2Fvietnamese-eggrolls%2Fvietnamese+eggrolls2011-02-28+12%3A00%3A22the+Blind+Cookhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblindcook.com%2F%3Fp%3D1726

Cha gio, or Vietnamese eggrolls: one of my favorite things to eat. I can make 100 of them and nibble on them every day for weeks. I never get tired of this homemade version which is a recipe I modeled after my own mother’s. And you know mama’s home cookin’ is the best kind of cookin’ they is.

My mom used to make these as a treat every once in awhile, and they’re so good that I don’t even eat them with nuoc cham, or the fish dipping sauce that is a staple condiment for many Vietnamese. I prefer the eggrolls virgin, untouched and unmarred by any any additional sauce or lettuce or vermicelli. Of course, eating them this way makes them disappear much quicker, so I like to feed them to others with a bowl of vermicelli (bun cha gio).

This recipe is not exactly my mothers–she passed away when I was 14, an age before I became interested in cooking. But of the dozens of Saturday mornings I spent in the kitchen peeling eggroll skin after eggroll skin for her, I got to “know” the ingredients by sight and smell. It sounds a little sick, but I loved inhaling the aromatic raw meat and vegetable mixture that is to become the eggroll filling. As a matter of fact, I still do that today when I make eggrolls–that’s the only way I know if the mixture needs more fish sauce or garlic or whatever.

So eggrolls being one of the things I missed most from my mama’s kitchen after she died, I came up with my own concoction that, if my memory doesn’t fail me, tastes incredibly similar to hers. Now if only I was talented enough to figure out her homemade pho from scratch.

Eggrolls contain pork, but one time in elementary school for an international culture week, my mom substituted the ground pork with turkey because I had a Muslim classmate. Now that I have a husband who avoids beef and pork, I too make my eggrolls with ground turkey. They’re not as juicy but they’re healthier. (Well, as healthy as they can be after being submerged in the canola oil.).

I must say cha gio are my masterpiece, but they’re only made like once a year because the whole process–from chopping the veggies to wrapping the eggrolls to frying them–used to take six hours or something insane. Thank God for the food processor, which now has cut my prep and cook time down to a mere four hours. (Har, har.) Don’t let that scare you away from attempting them though; keep in mind that I’m a slow worker, not to mention blind. So remember that if I can do it, so can you. And I encourage you to try this.