Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 5-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

mother's famous chinese egg rolls

We've been learning how to make egg rolls. We still have not found the right wrappers, but this recipe is a good one. For pictures of the correct way to roll egg rolls, check out the original recipe here.

Once you make these egg rolls, you'll never make them any other way! Make sure you get the correct egg roll wrappers. They should be FROZEN and very thin, almost paper thin. Do not use egg roll wrapper found in the refrigerated section (usually near tofu) in Western supermarket - they make starchy, thick, gooey egg rolls with big bubbles on outside when you fry. It's important to make sure you keep your wrapper and rolled egg rolls under plastic wrap so that they do not dry out!

ingredients:

50 Spring/Egg Roll Wrappers (about 2 packages), defrosted unopened at room temperature for 45 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or flour) mixed with ¼ cup of cool water
Oil, for frying

FOR THE GROUND PORK
1 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE VEGETABLES
2 to 3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
½ head of cabbage (about 11 ounces)
3 carrots, shredded
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
10 fresh shiitake mushrooms (or dried black mushrooms soaked overnight), stems discarded
1 tablespoon cooking oil (canola, vegetable, peanut)
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper

directions:

1. To make the filling, combine the ingredients for the ground pork together. Marinate at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, shred the cabbage and the carrots using your food processor or by hand. Slice the mushrooms into very thin strips (or you could use your food processer and pulse a few times to get a fine dice.

2. Heat a wok or large saute pan over high heat. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes. Turn heat to medium-low, push the meat to one side of the pan. Add the garlic, cabbage, carrots, ginger and the mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and black pepper. Continue to stir-fry for another minute. Scoop out the filling to a baking sheet and spread out to cool. Prop up one end of the baking sheet so that it tilts and will allow all the moisture to drain to one end. Let cool for 15 minutes.

3. Discard all of the accumulated juices. Use paper towels to blot the filling to rid of extra oil or juice. Now, you're ready to wrap (see photos for instructions on how to wrap). IMPORTANT: Only use 1 heaping tablespoon of filling for each egg roll. These are slender egg rolls, the width of the egg roll should only be 1.25" diameter.

Keep the rolled egg rolls in neat, single layer and covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. If you want to stack the egg rolls, make sure you have layer of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent sticking. Keep wrappers also covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Refrigerate up to 4 hours until ready to fry or freeze.

4. To fry the egg rolls, fill a wok or pot with 2 inches of high-heat cooking oil. Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C) or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 seconds. Gently slide in or lower the egg rolls, frying 4 to 6 at a time, turning occasionally until golden brown about 1½ minutes. Place on wire rack to drain and cool.

NOTE: To fry frozen egg rolls, do not defrost the egg rolls – just add them to the oil frozen, frying 4 to 6 at a time. Add an additional 1½ minutes to the frying time since they are frozen.

Classic Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

• 1 (3 3/4-lb.) whole chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 2 teaspoons bacon drippings*
• 1 cup milk
• Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

• 1. Bring chicken, water to cover, garlic powder, thyme, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 1 hour. Remove chicken; reserve broth.
• 2. Cool chicken 30 minutes; skin, bone, and shred chicken. Skim fat from broth. Add chicken, bouillon, and remaining 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper to broth. Return to a simmer.
• 3. Combine flour and poultry seasoning in a bowl. Cut in shortening and bacon drippings with a pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in milk. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 1-inch pieces.
• 4. Drop dumplings, a few at a time, into simmering broth, stirring gently. Cover and simmer, stirring often, 25 minutes. Garnish, if desired.
• *2 tsp. butter plus 1/4 tsp. salt may be substituted.

Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry

We tried this recipe last night (original here). It was both very easy and very good. It calls for Williams Sonoma's sesame stir fry sauce, which I didn't have and wasn't interested in buying, so I used Google to help me find a recipe for a sauce.

Sesame Stir Fry Sauce

• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Combine all the ingredients. The sauce was somewhat spicy, but not so much that the kids wouldn't eat it. If you don't want the heat, then I suggest cutting the crushed red pepper to 1/2 teaspoon.

Sesame Chicken Stir Fry

• Canola oil for frying
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 lb. snow peas, trimmed and strings removed
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch strips, then halved crosswise
• 3/4 cup sesame stir-fry sauce
• 2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
• Steamed rice for serving

In a wok over medium-high heat, pour in oil to a depth of 1 inch and heat until shimmering. In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites and cornstarch. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the bowl and stir to completely coat the chicken with the egg mixture.

Working in 4 batches, add the chicken to the oil a few pieces at a time. Fry, turning the pieces occasionally and making sure they don’t stick together, until lightly golden, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Carefully transfer the hot oil to a large heat-safe bowl. Increase the heat on the wok to high, return 1 Tbs. of the oil to the wok and heat until smoking. Add the snow peas and bell pepper and stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Return the chicken to the wok, add the stir-fry sauce, and toss to combine and heat through, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Serve immediately with steamed rice. Serves 6.

Udon Pork Ragu

I got this recipe from a Williams Sonoma catalog (you can find the original here: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/udon-pork-ragu.html). We made it yesterday and liked it enough that we'll do it again. I used ground pork that we bought from a local farm. The recipe calls for fresh udon noodles but our local grocery store didn't have any udon (fresh or dried), so I decided to make my own noodles following a recipe like this one (no pasta-making tools required). After all that, though, I think we'll just use spaghetti next time.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 2 yellow onions, diced
• 2 tsp. roasted garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. smoked coarse ground pepper
• 5 lb. heirloom tomatoes, cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 36 oz. fresh udon noodles
• 2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbs. julienned fresh basil
• Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving

Directions

Preheat a wok over high heat. Add the pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-high, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic powder and smoked pepper and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and season with salt. Increase the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the tomatoes begin to break down, about 8 minutes.

Uncover the wok and continue cooking, stirring the sauce occasionally, until it thickens, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the noodles and cook, stirring occasionally to untangle them, until they are warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the noodles and sauce to warmed pasta bowls and garnish with the parsley and basil. Serve immediately and pass cheese at the table. Serves 6 to 8.