S is for Summer Rolls

I am an enormous fan of egg rolls.  Each time Peter has ordered Chinese take-out over the past five years, he has saved me his egg roll.  It's a wonderful arrangement.  I have never made egg rolls, but I was recently inspired to make summer rolls (the egg roll's rather nutritious cousin) after reading a recipe in Health magazine.  

My summer roll adventure involved a trip to several grocery stores and then eventually the Asian market to find rice paper.  Rice paper is a little hard to come by around here, but I found some.  It comes in a disc shape and it's translucent; you dip the rounds into warm water to soften them and then fill them up with your favorite sweet or savory ingredients.  

I also had a little trouble finding cellophane noodles, or bean threads.  You may also know of these by the name of "glass noodles" or Chinese vermicelli.  The cellophane noodles serve as a nice texture in the summer rolls and generally don't have much flavor.  I boiled some water and covered the noodles for a few minutes until they became soft and completely translucent.  Then I drained the water and patted the noodles dry with paper towels.  

This recipe sounded a lot better to me than it actually tasted.  I think if my mango had been more ripe and if I had used less mint, I may have enjoyed the summer rolls a bit more.  Actually, maybe if it were summer I would have enjoyed the summer rolls a bit more.  They'd be a wonderful appetizer at a dinner party or a cookout.  They sure looked appetizing!  I treated the summer rolls as a quick dinner and after Peter and I shared a plate of them, we were both still hungry.  I don't think this needs to be said, but don't serve these as an entrée; they're not as satisfying as sushi.  

Mango Shrimp Summer Rolls

adapted from Health magazine

Rice paper 

1 tsp. butter or oil  

1 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 mango, sliced into matchsticks 

1 c. cellophane noodles

2 c. red leaf lettuce, torn into small pieces

10 basil leaves

10 mint leaves

1/4 c. sweet chili sauce

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar 

1 scallion, diced 

soy sauce (optional)

Heat a tsp. of butter or oil in a skillet and toss the shrimp in to cook for a few minutes on medium heat.  When they turn pink, take them off the heat and cut each shrimp into two or three bite-sized pieces.  Sprinkle the shrimp with a bit of salt.  Peel and slice the mango into matchsticks.  Boil a few cups of water and pour it over the cellophane noodles in a bowl so they can soften.  After a couple minutes, drain the water and then pat the noodles dry.  Wash and tear the red leaf lettuce into 2 or 3 inch pieces.  Wash and pat dry the basil and mint leaves.  

Combine the chili sauce, vinegar, and scallion in a small bowl.  Add a splash of soy sauce if you'd like a more savory dipping sauce.  Set this aside.

Spread out a damp kitchen towel to use as a work space for creating your summer rolls.  Make sure all your ingredients are close by so that you can build the rolls quickly.  Fill a shallow pan with warm water and drop in a sheet of rice paper.  It only takes about 10-30 seconds for it to soften and become clear.  Carefully remove the rice paper disc and put it on the damp kitchen towel.  Top with a piece of basil, a few mango matchsticks, several pieces of shrimp, 2 Tbsp. of cellophane noodles, a handful of red leaf lettuce, and a spearmint leaf.  Position this pile neatly and then pull the left side of the rice paper over the top of your pile.  Fold in the top and the bottom like an envelope, and then roll up the rest of the roll carefully.  You should be able to see through the rice paper whatever topping you put down first, so choose something "pretty" to show through when you're layering.  Set the summer roll on a plate and repeat each step until you've run out of filling.  

I made about 8 rolls and then cut each in half before serving with the dipping sauce.     

    

   

        

C is for Crab Cakes with Mango Cucumber Relish

The series of posts about what I ate for my birthday week and what desserts I've consumed are coming to a close, but not before I share the dish I made myself to celebrate my 26th.  I picked crab cakes long ago and have contemplated the recipe for weeks.  My friend Nicci helped me finally decide on a spicy crab cake mixture with jalapenos and bell peppers topped with a fresh salsa-like relish of mango, cilantro, and cucumber.  I served the crab cakes atop basmati rice cooked with light coconut milk instead of water.  It was divine!    

This meal was a delicious treat for my birthday, but I think this dish would be superior in the summer time, on a porch with a margarita on the rocks.  

Crab Cakes with Mango Cucumber Relish

adapted from Martha Stewart 

1/2 c. bread crumbs
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 lb. lump crabmeat, picked over
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced
1/3 c. light mayonnaise
kosher salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground
1/2 c. vegetable oil for frying

Seed and dice all peppers. In a large bowl, gently mix together the bread crumbs, eggs, crabmeat, cilantro, scallions, peppers, mayonnaise, salt, and ground pepper.  If the mixture is too dry, add some mayonnaise.  If the mixture is too wet, add some breadcrumbs.  Use your hands to shape the
crabmeat mixture into small, thick cakes, about 1 1/2-inch inches in diameter. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking. Cook the  crab cakes for 3 to 4
minutes per side, until golden brown, turning  them with a spatula carefully.  Drain on a plate lined with a paper towel before serving. Serve immediately, topped with mango relish.    

Mango Relish

1 Mango, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. minced garlic 

1/2 cucumber, diced
juice of 1 lime
3 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp. osher salt
1/8 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

Peel and dice the mango into 1/4" cubes.  Put the mango cubes in a medium mixing bowl, and
toss with the remaining ingredients.  You can refrigerate this mixture beforehand if needed, but it is not necessary.