The Zoo

Egg rolls

ZooNana's Egg rolls
Recipe makes 20 rolls.
38 cents per serving (serving size 2 rolls)

• Oil for pan frying or deep fryer.
  I prefer to use peanut oil. (heat to 350 degrees)
• 1 lb  ground meat or meat substitute.  
  Turkey, beef or TVP (like Boca or Morningstar Farms crumbles)
• 1/2 lb shredded cabbage and carrots
  The easiest way to do this is to use a bag pre-shredded cabbage made for cole slaw.
  I use my Tupperware Quick Chef to chop it into smaller pieces. (you could use a food processor)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 T soy sauce
• sesame oil (optional, for a little kick)
• package of 20 egg roll wrappers
  Usually found in the cold case in the produce section
• small bowl of water to moisten egg roll wrapper

Brown meat with sesame oil (optional).  Drain meat and add garlic powder, onion powder, ginger and soy sauce, cook until mixed well.  Let meat cool.

Lay egg roll wrapper on plate in diamond shape.  Place one heaping tablespoon of each meat and cabbage mixture in center of wrap.

Fold bottom corner up over filling.

Dip fingers in bowl of water and moisten right and left corners and fold in.

Moisten top corner and roll egg roll together.

Deep fry or pan fry in 350 degree oil until golden brown.  Flip halfway through frying.

Serve with Sweet and Sour Sauce or mustard.

You can make the egg roll wrappers and sweet and sour sauce from scratch to make this cost even less.  I'll post recipes for both soon.

Make egg rolls up in large batches and freeze while raw for later use.  Lay uncooked rolls on a pan so they aren't touching and freeze. Then throw them in a ziplock or vacuum sealed bag until ready to thaw and fry.

Broccoli Cheese Quiche

Hamantashen for Purim

Purim, the Festival of Lots, is a festive minor Jewish holiday, celebrated with fun, costumes, games and noise! Purim begins at sundown on March 13th and ends at sundown March 14th this year.

The story of Purim is told in The Megillah, the Scroll on which the Book of Esther is written. It tells the story of Queen Esther, King Ahasuerus, Esther's uncle Mordechai, and the king's chief advisor Haman. The word "Purim" means "lots" and refers to the lottery that Haman used to choose the date for the massacre.

One traditional treat to make for this holiday is Hamantashen.  A fruit filled triangular cookie. It's shape it meant to represent the shape of Haman's hat.

Star of David shaped Challah for the Sabbath

This is my 14 year old daughter, Miriam's, specialty... she loves to make it this shape rather than the traditional braid.

Ingredients;

1 package yeast

¾ cup (110 degree F) warm water

3 cups of flour (plus extra if needed, and enough for flouring the kneading surface)

¼ cup sugar

1 egg plus one egg white

(reserve yolk from second egg and add 1 Tbs water to it for egg wash)

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ tsp of salt or to taste

Also needed; aluminum foil.

In large bowl, dissolve yeast in ¾ cup water and let stand for about 5 minutes until bubbly. Stir in half of the flour, the sugar, egg and egg white, oil and salt. Stir till combined and then add remaining flour and continue to stir.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes until dough is soft and elastic, add more flour if needed. Shape into ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Turn dough over once to grease dough surface. Cover and let rise for about 1 hour in warm place until double in size.

After first rise, punch down dough and divide in half.  Let set for 10 minutes. Shape each piece into a long rope (about 30-32 inches). On greased baking sheet, shape one rope into a triangle and pinch ends together.  Weave second rope over and under first triangle to make a second triangle opposite to the first and pinch ends together.  Make six balls out of the aluminum foil and place in the holes that form the points of the star. This will help the Challah keep itÂ’s unique shape.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes until nearly double.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine egg yolk and 1 Tbs water and brush over Challah. Bake in oven for 25 minutes, covering the loaf with aluminum foil after 15 minutes.

Banana Bread in a bread machine

2 large eggs
1/3 cup butter or margerine
2 Tbs. milk
2 bananas mashed
1-1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

All ingredients should be at room temp.
Mix eggs, butter, milk and bananas and add to machine. Mix dry
ingredients add to machine.
Set machine for Quick Bread and hit start!