Our Boring Menu

We here at the KLee/JF household have a very boring menu. Unfortunately. JF is allergic to pork (it makes him nauseous), and I am allergic to seafood. Plus, I'm rather a picky eater, and have been since birth, so that means we eat a lot of beef and chicken. This means that I am constanly looking for new and inventive ways of cooking hamburger and chicken. I tend to go to Sam's and buy the meats in bulk and split it up, this way, I don't have to (theoretically, anyway -- it hasn't worked out like this so far this week) go to the local grocery store every day.

Not long ago, I bought a cookbook that extolled numerous ways to cook ground beef. This was just what I needed! Inside, I found a recipe that has quickly become a family staple. I give you -- The Easy Egg Rolls! Now, as a picky eater, I have certain things that I just don't eat. Thankfully, Offspring and JF are much more flexible. (Offspring's only verboten foods are corn, applesauce and bananas. I figure that's a pretty short list. At least it's MUCH shorter than my own.) We don't eat them very often, but they're always tasty when we do!

Easy Egg Rolls (From the Ground Beef Cookbook)
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1 lb of cooked, drained ground beef
1 package (16 ounces) of tri-color coleslaw mix (with carrots and purple cabbage)
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
onion powder to taste (I use dried minced onion instead, so they're not SO oniony)
1 package of egg roll wrappers (square)
1 table spoon all-purpose flour
vegetable oil for frying (I use House of Tsang's Wok oil -- it has garlic, cilantro and other spices in the oil -- yum!)

In small bowl, mix flour and small amount of water together to make a paste -- you will use this to seal the wrappers together.

In large bowl, mix together first six ingredients. Place heaping teaspoon in of mixture into the center of an egg roll wrapper. Fold up wrapper, rolling tightly, and moisten edge with paste to seal. Heat 1 inch of oil to 375 degrees. Fry egg rolls 3 - 5 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Makes approximately 20 egg rolls.
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A couple of helpful hints -- I wrap all the egg rolls first, before trying to fry any. It's a constant "watch and flip" operation -- you have to keep turning them pretty fast, or they'll burn. So, don't try to watch, flip, AND assemble egg rolls at the same time. Too much happening at once. I also like to make peanut or teriyaki noodles to go with these as a side dish. Don't try to use the rectangular wrappers -- the filling always spills out and burns. Also, be careful with the wrappers. They are kind of delicate.

If anyone makes them, let me know how they go over! I know we love them, and they're fairly easy to make. Enjoy!