Super Food!

So, we use Superbowl Sunday as an excuse to have a great dinner. Let's face it, it's like Husband's Academy Awards. Our menu tonight is egg rolls (though this is, by no means, healthy), shrimp cocktail, crab cakes, steak and vegetables. We'll eat over time and have plenty of leftovers. I thought I'd share some recipes. Below are the Chicken Avocado Egg Roll recipe and my crab cake recipes. I got the egg roll recipe from the California Grown website, but I can't remember where I found the crab cake recipe. I like the crab cake recipe because it's mostly crab and it's very easy. You can also make smaller crab cakes and serve as an appetizer. Little Miss even helped me make the crab cakes. After I finished each one, she pat it. Photos in the forthcoming Weekend Update. Photos are not of my actual products (and truth is, I made my egg rolls without red peppers and substituted water chestnuts for bamboo because the store was out).

Chicken Avocado Egg Rolls

Ingredients:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
1/4 cup each: bamboo shoots and finely chopped celery
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 boneless, skinless California chicken breasts, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup each: julienne cut Napa and green cabbage
1/2 cup each: bean sprouts and shredded carrots
4 cups rice bran oil or vegetable oil
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
12 large egg roll wrappers
2 California avocados, peeled, pitted and cut into 24 strips

Directions:Heat canola oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook for 5 minutes or until translucent. Add bamboo shoots, celery, ginger, garlic, chicken, and soy sauce; cook and stir for 5 minutes more. Let cool. In a medium bowl, combine cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots and chicken mixture. In a medium saucepan, heat rice bran oil to 350°F. (Oil should be deep enough so that egg rolls don’t touch bottom of the pan.) To prepare egg rolls, stir together egg and milk. Lay egg roll wrappers with corners facing like a diamond. Place equal amounts of filling and 2 strips avocado in the center of each. Fold in bottom, then sides and roll up making 4 to 5-inch long egg rolls, being careful not to tear wrappers. Seal with last corner with egg mixture. Dredge in egg mixture, then drain excess. Submerge in hot oil and fry until golden brown. Drain well on paper towels. Makes 12 egg rolls.

Crab Cakes

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1 TBS onion, minced
1 TBS mayo
1 egg
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/4 c breadcrumbs
1 lb lump crab meat
2 TBS oil for sauteing

Directions:
Combine all but crab meat and breadcrumbs. Gently mix in crab, then breadcrumbs. Spread thin layer of breadcrumbs on work surface. Form mixture into equal balls (8) of 2" diameter. Form cakes about 1/2" in thickness and 3" in diameter. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Heat 2 TBS of oil in skillet. Saute cakes 2 at a time. Cook 2 minutes on first side. Turn and cook on other side 5 minutes reducing temperature to low.

Note: I will say that it's very important to just spend the money and get the lump crab meat. It's the meatiest and will make a difference in the texture and taste of your crab cakes. It's tempting to buy imitation or other types of crab, but the lump crab cake is the yummiest.