Food&Recipes – Page 7 – Mary's Musings

Making Egg Rolls in the Air Fryer

I love egg rolls! Since I was diagnosed with egg and dairy allergies several years ago, I have been very careful about eating anything that was mixture of ingredients. I have avoided casseroles of all kinds, especially if I didn’t make it myself…too often they have hidden eggs, cheese and other dairy products. Somehow, egg rolls fell into that “unknown mixture” label and I avoided them. I recently came across a recipe for egg rolls and discovered there were no eggs anywhere in the recipe! I went to the grocery store and read the ingredients on the wrappers…no eggs! To think I’ve avoided egg rolls all this time when I didn’t need to!

This picture shows egg rolls that had been deep fried. Look so good!

I also wondered why they were called egg rolls…when no eggs were involved! An early reference to egg rolls appeared in a 1917 Chinese recipe pamphlet published in the United States. The 1917 recipe described a meat and vegetable filling wrapped in an egg omelet, pan fried, and served in slices. (Wikipedia, Egg Rolls).

According to Wikipedia, while they are closely related to the spring rolls served in mainland China, the American egg roll was probably invented at a Chinese restaurant in New York City in the early 1930s. Originally, egg rolls included ingredients like bamboo shoots, roast pork, shrimp, scallions, water chestnuts, salt, MSG, sugar, palm oil and pepper. Notable, they did not include cabbage at the time, which is the main filling ingredient in modern egg rolls.

A 1979 article in The Washington Post speculated two possible theories for the word “egg” in the name: “1) that the Chinese word for ‘egg’ sounds very similar to the Chinese word for ‘spring’, and 2) that Chinese chefs in the South relied on using actual eggs when trying to make the thin noodle skin from flour and water.” (From Wikipedia, Egg Rolls).

The other issue I had with egg rolls was the necessity to deep fry them…sounded messy! But this recipe said I could use my air fryer or even bake them in the oven! That sounded possible!

So, here is the recipe for the egg rolls:

(From https://lilluna.com/fried-eggrolls-recipe/)

The ingredients were pretty simple: egg roll wrappers, cooked chicken, cole slaw mix and salt. I added little minced onion just for flavor.

The ingredients shown with my first batch of egg rolls ready for the air fryer.

Preparing the stuffing

Step 1: In a large frying pan (or wok) saute the cole slaw with a little olive oil until wilted (I added the minced onion here).

Step 2: Add shredded chicken for a few minutes until all mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I just added the can of chicken, broken up with a fork.

Making the egg rolls

Step 3: Add 2 tablespoons of slaw/chicken mixture to the middle of the egg roll wrapper. Fold up the sides one at a time and for the last fold add a little water so it sticks. Makes 11-12 egg rolls.

Step 4: Fry your egg rolls until golden brown.

Air Fryer Instructions:

Lightly spray or brush the basket or tray with olive oil. Place egg rolls in the air fryer. Be sure they are not touching. Cook at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, turning halfway.

Oven-Baked Instructions:

Lightly coat egg rolls with cooking spray and place, seam side down in a greased pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown, turning halfway.

Store in an airtight container. Refrigerate for 3-4 days. Freeze for up to 2 months.

Reheat in 350 degree oven, 10 minutes if thawed; 18-20 minutes if frozen, turning halfway.

With our son visiting, these egg rolls did not last very long! Yummy!

Another idea:

One of the suggestions in this recipe was to try filling the wrapper with apple pie filling. That would be like a mountain pie cooked over a campfire! Sounds like a great dessert!

I can see lots of potential for stuffing! I’m sure I’ll get better at rolling the egg rolls up too! Give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Using Quinoa Flakes

Quinoa is a grain that has lots of potential, but personally, a pile of it on my plate doesn’t excite me. I have a powerful grain grinder that I can make it into flour, which expands ways I can use the grain. I also found a box of Quinoa Flakes that I thought could be used in my standard Oatmeal Bread recipe (see https://marykisner.com/marys-oatmeal-bread/).

The back of the box showed several ways the flakes could be used…as a hot cereal, in cookies and muffins.

Today was the day I needed to bake bread so I thought I’d try using it…mostly to see if it changed the flavor or texture of my favorite bread. I followed my standard recipe and added 1/2 cup of Quinoa flakes when I added the 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats. Here’s the difference in the size of the flakes:

Rolled oats on the left, quinoa flakes on the right.

I wasn’t sure if that little bit in four loaves of bread would even be noticeable but amazingly…it was!

The bread was very light and had a nice consistent texture. There was no noticeable difference in taste. It was a nice enhancement to my standard oatmeal bread and added a little more protein to the bread. I think I’ll make it part of my standard recipe!

I think I’ll try adding a tablespoon of the flakes to my morning bowl of oatmeal just to enhance the protein. Give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Making Chocolate Pecan Granola Bars

Trying to find a sweet healthy snack food is hard when I have to avoid eggs and dairy, so when I found this recipe on Facebook I thought I’d give it a try. The author of this website (https://thevegan8.com/) is Brandi Doming, who also wrote a cookbook by the same name. Her recipes are simple and easy to follow.

Here is the recipe:

The hardest part of this recipe was getting the pan ready! Lining an 8×8″ pan with parchment paper was a real pain! I ended up first trimming the paper to fit the width of the pan, twice, and then trying to anchor it to stay put. I finally grabbed some clothespins to hold it until I could pour in the mixture.

Looks really professional, doesn’t it! Haha!

Here are the dry ingredients:

In the end, I did add the 1/2 cup of white sugar (on the recipe but not in the picture) because I remembered the cocoa powder tended to be a little bitter.

The brown rice crisp cereal is just whole grain “Rice Krispies.” At the store I kept looking for a flake cereal…wrong!

I set this bowl aside and started on the wet ingredients. Here they are:

Maple syrup and almond butter…looked pretty disgusting, but eventually smoothed out!

The I added the flaxseed, vanilla and salt to the mixture and heated until bubbling.

When the wet and dry ingredients were well mixed, I spooned the mixture into the prepared pan. Pressing it down into the corners was important.

After filling the pan, I was able to trim the parchment so it didn’t drag on the shelf of the oven.

After baking for 27 minutes and cooling for 30 minutes I was able to cut it into 8 bars. It didn’t feel like it would stick together if I cut it too small. Then I slid the pan into the refrigerator to finish cooling.

When fully cool, I was able to lift the parchment out of the pan completely and remove the bars. They mostly stuck together and I put each bar in a small zip bag. I really think I’ll eat it like trail mix.

Next time I’ll work harder to pack it tighter in the pan. That might help it stick together better! However, it did taste good! That’s what counts! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Mary’s Oatmeal Bread

One of the first blog posts I wrote (February 12, 2021) was about my homemade oatmeal bread and sticky buns. It is still there in the archive, but for some reason even I can’t make the link work. That means if I want to reference it in another article it can’t be found! Very frustrating.

So, today I’m going to repost the story. This is my go-to recipe when I want a good sandwich bread and it freezes well. Of course, my big batch makes at least 6 loaves of bread, which is beyond the scope of my standard mixer. When I also want to make some sticky buns, a big batch is essential. So, it’s time to bring out the BIG mixer!

Many of you know that each Christmas Bert bakes hundreds of chocolate chip cookies for gifts (this year it was about 140 dozen!); and, if you stop by as they are coming out of the oven you might even get to try a few. Bert has been doing this marathon baking since before we got married…so over 50 years! For many of those years he did it all by hand with a giant wooden spoon, and lots of muscle!

Several years ago he finally decided to invest in this huge commercial mixer that he moves into the kitchen when it’s time to bake those cookies. Luckily, I get to use the mixer when I’m making a big batch of bread. Most of the time I mix bread in my KitchenAid mixer (I think it’s a 7 qt. bowl). The big mixer has a 12 qt. bowl. It is so slick to mix up a big batch of bread.

I usually use my Oatmeal Bread recipe. We like it and it feels more nutritious with the oatmeal in it. Since I cannot have eggs or dairy, by baking my own bread I have control over the ingredients. You can use any bread recipe you like to make sticky buns…probably even frozen commercial dough!

Here is my recipe. Not a lot of detailed instructions about mixing up bread, but it’s what I use. If you don’t know how to bake bread at all, there are many cookbooks (like Joy of Cooking) and YouTube videos that will walk you through the process.

The 3-loaf recipe on the left works well in my 7 qt. standard mixer. If your mixer is smaller, just decrease the total water by 1/2 to 1 cup. You will use a little less flour in the end.

Here are the basic ingredients:

The yeast is in the small jar…I store it in the refrigerator.

I use a loose dry yeast and measure it out with measuring spoons. If you want to use packaged yeast, each package is a little less that a tablespoon of yeast. I keep my yeast in the refrigerator in a glass canning jar, while the extra is kept in the freezer. Here are two example packages of the yeast I buy:

Mixing up the Dough

Step 1:

First, I put the rolled oats, sugar and salt into the mixer bowl. Then I pour the boiling water on them, stir them around and let sit for about 10 minutes to cool.

Step 2:

After 10 minutes or so, I use a small bowl to start the yeast…yeast plus 1 cup of warm water and a tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit until dissolved and bubbly (about 5 minutes).

Step 3:

Add cool or room temperature water to the mixer bowl, depending on whether the oatmeal mixture is still pretty hot.

Add oil to the mixer bowl. Using the same measuring cup (now greased with oil) measure out the honey…no sticking!

Step 4:

Begin adding flour about 2 cups at a time until most of the flour is added. Let the mixer run for 8-10 minutes to knead the dough. Add a little flour at a time if the dough is still sticky.

Step 5:

Dump the dough onto a floured table/board and work into a nice smooth bowl.

Step 6:

Place the ball of dough into a large oiled bowl to rise. Cover with a cloth. Let rise until doubled.

Step 7:

When the dough has doubled in size (about an hour), punch the dough down, fold in the sides and turn the ball of dough over so it’s smooth side is up. Let rise another hour.

After punching down, ready to rise for another hour.

Step 8:

Shape the dough…into loaves of bread or rolls or sticky buns. This large batch of dough made 4 pans of sticky buns and 4 loaves of bread!

Shaping the Sticky Buns

First, I prepare the pans by greasing them with butter-flavored Crisco.

Then I sprinkle about 1/4-1/2 cup of brown sugar over the bottom of the pan.

I sprinkle that with ground cinnamon. (You can also add chopped walnuts over the bottom of the pan).

Then I take a chunk of dough and pat it out to a rectangle. This gets sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon also.

Then roll up the rectangle of dough into a log.

Slice the log into 1″ rounds and place cut side down into the prepared pans.

If you have a little roll leftover, just put it in a greased pan for a little loaf of cinnamon bread.

Let the pans rest for about 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake about 25 minutes.

Flip the pans of buns directly onto a foil covered board or table top. Use a table knife to lift the pan off the buns.

(Advice: Fill each pan with soapy water immediately and let them soak while you clean up…the “sticky” topping is a real pain to clean up if you let it harden and cool in the pan!)

Shape the Loaves of Bread

Take any extra dough not used for sticky buns and divide into loaf-shaped portions. Place into greased pans.

Let the loaves rise in the pan about 45 minutes. Bake about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

This is a great recipe to stock the freezer. Of course, I always think if the sticky buns are frozen I won’t be so tempted to eat them..haha…a few seconds in the microwave and they are just fine! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Quinoa Pasta Salad

After exploring my book on grains last week (see https://marykisner.com/from-the-bookshelf-the-splendid-grain/) I was motivated to give one of the recipes a try. Quinoa Potato Salad looked interesting but I wanted to try to make it gluten-free with pasta.

Here is the original recipe:

At the bottom of the recipe, it mentions a variation to use pasta shells instead of potatoes. I went to the grocery store to see if I could find some gluten-free pasta and of course, some Quinoa. I was able to find this interesting pasta made with chickpeas! Who knew there was such a thing!

The above list of ingredients show the amount of protein, fiber and net carbs in the whole box. Below is the list for an individual serving.

I was also able to pick up some Quinoa, but then I found this package on my shelf and thought I’d better use it first.

This was a good choice to save time…and dishes. All I had to do was open the two tubs of Quinoa and dump them into the bowl. I also needed celery, pickle relish and my vegan mayo.

First, I boiled the pasta. It cooked in only 8 minutes but certainly made a lot of foam!

The pasta kept it shape well…sometimes gluten-free pasta turns mushy.

I added the pasta to the bowl of quinoa and added the celery and a tablespoon of pickle relish.

Then I added my mayo and a little mustard, salt and pepper (I forgot to mention those items!)

Actually, warm the salad tasted OK…chilled will be better. I think it will be a new way to make a nutritious pasta dish. Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

From the Bookshelf: The Splendid Grain

Inspiration to expand food choices can come from many places. In my case, my nutritionist suggested I eat more whole grains…but less wheat! In my small world that means rice and maybe oatmeal. No problem. However, today I was in the mood for a broader definition of “grains.”

I’d like to share a well-loved book that I’ve had on my shelf for almost 20 years. It has been helpful in reminding me about the other grain choices I have to choose from. This book, The Splendid Grain, by Rebecca Wood (1997), has been inspiring me to explore other grains for years. There does not seem to be a more up-to-date edition but it is still available on Amazon.

The book is not full of beautiful color pictures (although there are a few of various recipes). Most of the pictures of the grains are black and white. Most of the grains are familiar to me by name, but I wouldn’t know what to do with them. This book gives a great overview of each grain, where it is grown and a few recipes using it. The Table of Contents shows how the grains have been arranged by showing where they came from:

Here are just a few of the grains that I found interesting and will work on incorporating into my menus.

Wild Rice

The author has arranged the grains as shown above, beginning here in the Western Hemisphere and following the sun around the globe. Wild rice is the only truly North American wild grain that’s commercially available. More that 80% of the available wild rice is commercially grown, mostly in California. This hybrid variety is selected for responsiveness to fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides as well as for ease of mechanical harvesting. The wild rice grown in the Great Lakes region, on the other hand, has adapted over thousands of years to the specific lake or river and is often hand harvested from small boats. Each variety has its own unique flavor. I think the story of where it comes from encourages me to use it more often.

Quinoa

Quinoa has the highest nutrition profile of all grains and is the quickest to cook. According to the United Nations World Health Organization, Quinoa is closer to the ideal protein balance than any other grain. This alone makes it worth figuring out how to cook it. Steamed like rice it’s a quick addition to any meal. Ground into flour, it can enhance the protein content of your baked goods.

This book also provides an assortment of recipes using each grain. I found this one that looked interesting…Quinoa Potato Salad. I’ll have to give it a try.

Oats

Oats thrive best in a cold climate. They were probably first established in Central Asia and made their way to Europe. They have always been used primarily as livestock food, and in fact about 90% of all oats grown in the U.S. is used for animal feed. Over the years the popularity of oats in breakfast foods has grown. I often add rolled oats to my favorite bread recipe because it gives a nice flavor and reduces the amount of wheat flour in the bread. I found the recipe below using oats that I think I’ll try:

Tef

Another grain that I find interesting is Tef. This tiny cereal grain is grown in the mountains at the source of the Blue Nile. Tef is integral to Ethiopian culture. This tiny grain was almost unknown outside Ethiopia until the 20th century. It is nutritionally superior but is a labor-intensive crop. I have found a source of Tef at https://www.bobsredmill.com/ but I am unfamiliar with the foods and recipes from Ethiopia. I’d like to try it if someone else would cook it properly.

Sources of grains

Many of these grains like wild rice and quinoa are available at our local health food store. With grains like Tef or amaranth I think your best bet is to go online a find a good organic source to experiment with. There is a list of Mail Order Sources at the end of this book, but considering it was published 20 years ago, I suspect they may have changed and there may be others. Try searching again to find new sources.

I found this book to be a good reminder that I can cut back on wheat and still have whole grains in my life. This is a good resource to have on the shelf. Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Time to Make Pizza

Many of you know that I can’t eat eggs or dairy products. However, I can still eat meat…so I’m a vegan that can eat meat! Go figure! Commercial pizza is out of the question because of the cheese restriction. I’ve tried pizza without cheese and it just doesn’t taste right. So, we basically avoid buying it. I’ve tried making my own pizza, but still…no cheese makes it a boring meal.

If you recall, back in August when we were blessed with an overabundance of lovely tomatoes (see https://marykisner.com/time-to-make-pizza-sauce/), we made a big batch of sauce and labeled it pizza sauce knowing it could be used with many other recipes. I was always hoping I would find a good substitute for the cheese.

We were cruising Trader Joe’s last week and found a bag of vegan shredded mozzarella style cheese…a “cashew cheese alternative.” The description on the back of the bag sounded interesting. Time to give pizza another try!

I really do hate to waste my time making pizza crust from scratch if I won’t be able to eat it. Unfortunately, the prepared pizza crusts found at the grocery store (the brand is Boli…or something like that) say they have “milk” in them…which usually means they’ve seasoned it with Parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings. However, we found these Mediterranean Flat Breads that baked like a thin crust pizza shell! They worked great!

Bert likes cooked meat on his pizza so he cooked hamburger with onions. We opened a can of sliced black olives and a can of sliced mushrooms. Bert used regular cheese and I tried the new stuff. One half-pint jar of our pizza sauce was just enough for both pizzas.

Here’s my pizza ready to go in the oven.

After 15 minutes at 365 degrees, my fake cheese looked sort of melted. However, it tasted GREAT!! I consider this a win! Boy am I glad we made all that sauce. Now it would be worth it to make my own crust…or not! The flat bread came out crunchy and was delicious.

Almost forgot to take a picture before I polished it off!

Now I’ll be excited to take good care of next year’s tomatoes, knowing we’ll put the sauce to good use! I can see t his fake cheese being useful in many dishes where cheese is used as a topping or minor ingredient. I’m not sure I’d like a whole dish of macaroni and this cheese. It tasted good but the mouth-feel was a little different. However, this pizza was a great success. Give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or send me an email directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Maple Bourbon Apple Crisp

A few weeks ago Bert found this recipe in a magazine he receives, MuzzleBlasts, that is all about Muzzle-loading rifles and events. The magazine even has a recipe and a monthly quilt block article with instructions for the rest of the family. Of course, we like apple crisp, but I guess the maple flavor and bourbon ingredients sounded interesting. We bought apples and then got busy with other projects. The apples were shifted around on the counter for a few weeks while other activities took our time (like cookies)!

I finally decided it was time to make this recipe before the apples spoiled. You can see from the photo below that trying to follow the recipe with all the background pictures was difficult. I retyped the recipe into the format I prefer and that follows the magazine picture.

The recipe was not too hard to follow. Bert didn’t have any bourbon around so he substituted whisky. The hardest part was cutting up the apples!

I put the apples in cold water to keep them from turning brown until I got them all cut up.

This large casserole dish worked well. It was deep enough that if it bubbled up it wouldn’t spill over the top. Of course, we had a taste before I could even get a picture!

Not bad! Next time I would skip the bourbon or whisky, but the maple syrup added lots of flavor. Pretty quick and easy…except for the time to cup up the apples. Give the recipe a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Bert’s Yearly Cookie Marathon

For as long as I’ve known Bert (58 years to be exact!) even before we were married, he has made chocolate chip cookies. He started baking with his Mother using the recipe for Toll House Cookies on the back of the chocolate chips bag. He would usually end the baking with one very large cookie the size of a pizza pan! Over the years, the number of ingredients has expanded along with the actual volume of cookies. At the beginning the cookies were just for family. Now, he mails 10-12 boxes around the country to family and friends that have moved away. Of course, some local friends and family benefit from his obsession with chocolate chip cookies too. I get to benefit with how wonderful the kitchen smells while he’s baking! (With my allergies to eggs and dairy I haven’t tasted them for several years!)

When he first started baking, he mixed everything by hand with a very large wooden spoon. Here it is next to a regular wooden spoon and silverware.

Several years ago, he invested in a large commercial mixer that makes the job much easier.

He mixes up all the dough in one day and stores it in the garage in giant stock pots and bowls.

His recipe is impressive and the ingredient list is no longer being tweaked. This year he was unable to get Soft-as-Silk cake flour, so he got a different brand. He noticed the difference!

Here is the recipe. I think he made 10 batches in one day! Crazy, I know!

I just found his tally from 2014 that figured out the total ingredients in pounds. He said this year he made about 170 pounds of dough, which will make about 120-130 dozen large cookies!

And so the marathon begins:

So, the question is…do I bother making cookies at Christmas? Absolutely not! I may, however, make a batch of oatmeal bread in the big mixer when it’s sitting right here in my kitchen!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Experimental Pancakes for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Friends and Family! Yes, we had turkey and gravy. Yes, we had potatoes. Yes, we had corn. We did not bother with pumpkin pie because I can’t eat it. We did not have any extra people around so we kept it simple.

It was a lazy day in general so I enlisted Bert’s help in trying a new recipe. It was a recipe suggested by my nutritionist as a way to work more protein into breakfast for a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free pancakes that incorporated my plant-based protein powder.

Bert’s expertise in making great pancakes from scratch (or even from a pancake mix) is well known in the family. He seems to know just how to adjust the ingredients and the heat under the skillet to make lovely, fluffy pancakes (even on the cook stove at camp!). Since regular pancakes have eggs and milk in them, they have been off my list of acceptable breakfast foods for a long time (so sad).

The following recipe shows the original recipe and the additional ingredients Bert added to make an acceptable pancake. On the right is for a double batch, which is what we made. I really don’t have to be gluten-free, but we thought we’d give it a try.

These were the basic ingredients:

When mixed up it looked like corn bread batter:

When first placed on the griddle, they looked like it might work…

…however, trying to flip them was impossible! The first two pancakes went into the garbage.

So, Bert added flour, oil and some water (exact measurements were not possible at this point.) Remember…this was an experiment!

The next pancake worked much better.

We had to taste this one just to see if it was worth it. It was delicious!

After we nibbled on the first two pancakes, we were left with this lovely stack of thin pancakes.

When they were cool, I carefully placed them on foil and slipped them into the freezer. I’ll package them up so I can have them for breakfast. Next time, we’ll just know to add those extra ingredients at the beginning…but they won’t be gluten-free!

My experimental pancakes ended up being delicious. I’m thankful for Bert’s expertise! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day too!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.