Tuesday, September 1st

This night at Frugal Foodies was dedicated to wrapped foods, and there are so many of those out there that it was quite difficult to choose. So I picked a long-time favorite of mine, Aram sandwiches, a more recent favorite of mine, fresh Vietnamese-style spring rolls, and two new recipes. It was important to not confuse the wrapped food species with the stuffed food species, both because I tend to dislike the latter, and simultaneously would like to dedicate a night to that later this year. I guess that’s the kind of guy I’ve become, challenging my dislikes, hoping that with enough exposure and creativity in approach, I’ll learn to love, or at the very least, be very very comfortable with my dislike. Here’s what we had (with link to scoring code to the left of this entry):

Chinese Broccoli Wonton Soup—the group working on this dish worked efficiently. They made some of the prettiest looking wontons, and did it quite systematically. They played nice with each other and even cleaned up well after themselves. That’s why it pains me to say that this was the least edible dish I’ve had since the scoring system began. In fairness, it was a two part dish, the wontons and the broth, and I liked the broth just fine, thought that it tasted subtle and soothing, and the flavoring for me was just right for being what it was, a basic broth. But the wontons, though cooked to perfection had a filling that was more than just off. It was bad. No, it was more than bad. Was it that it had way way too much ginger? Did the chefs get too drunk and not taste their filling? Or more troubling, did they actually like it before they fed it to the masses? I really see nothing in the filling that should have led to this result, and perhaps I’ll try to make this dish myself, just to see if it was the recipe or user error. But in the end, while I’d give the broth a score of four bucks, the overall dish for me was 2 bucks.

Fresh Vegetable Spring Rolls—yum! While I love most all things fried, and especially spring rolls, I think that the fresh version of these Vietnamese treats are just outstanding, and maybe possibly perhaps could even top their deep-friend brethren. There’s something about the noodles, tofu, veggies, and mint/cilantro, all wrapped together that’s quite nice, and the dipping sauce for these rolls is to die for. In fact, the dipping sauce alone might have scored a perfect 8 bucks, but the rolls were a bit too loosely rolled and so they didn’t hang together perfectly, making the eating of these a bit of a challenge. But with that said, the whole dish was really strong, and with proper rolling, could near perfection. As it was, I give this dish a score of 6.5 bucks.

Aram Sandwiches—the recipe is called something different, but I think that it’s only fair to speak about the range of Aram sandwiches that were before me, and only a small percentage were of the warm Portabella variety. I don’t think that I had ever had a warm Aram sandwich before and that was a new twist that I think has some nice potential. But I didn’t love that particular recipe, though it certainly wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t nearly as good for me as some of the others, and specifically the cream-cheese based ones, replete with sundried tomatoes, peppers, avocado, sprouts, the like. I really love Aram sandwiches and they are so easy. Pretty close to a perfect dish in terms of taste, ease, and beauty of presentation, and only scores less because the hot version was not outstanding. So, overall, I give this dish a score of 7 bucks.

Berry Roll—please note that we made a vegan version of this recipe, replacing the milk with soy milk and the butter with Earth Balance and I’ve never made the dairy version. For me, vegan desserts can be a challenge, but this is yet another one that passed the test. But can you really go wrong with assorted fresh berries lovingly rolled in dough? I think that this recipe also would have worked out pretty well with frozen berries and what would have really taken it to a whole new level was a spoon of whipped cream or ice cream. Still, it was a solid dish as is, and I give it a score of 5.5 bucks.

Overall—we had highs, we had lows, and as a whole just surpassed the twenty buck mark. This was mostly a product of us only making four dishes, and that’s because wrapped dishes take more time. Not a bad meal overall, and if we could have replaced the wonton filling with something more edible, this whole meal might have been off the charts. But as is, the overall score was 21 bucks. Now for the recipes…


Chinese Broccoli Wonton Soup

Adapted from www.veganyumyum.com

Wonton Ingredients
16 square wonton skins
1 T oil

1-2 t fresh ginger, minced

1 C Chinese broccoli, thinly sliced

¾ C seitan, chopped fine

½ tsp hot chili sauce, more if desired (like Sriracha)

1 t Dijon mustard

1 t tamari or soy sauce

Ginger-Soy Broth
Ingredients
4 C water

5-6 fresh ginger slices

1 T mirin

2 T tamari (or soy sauce)

1 ½ t sugar

2 t rice vinegar

½ t salt, plus more to taste

¼ C Chinese broccoli leaves, packed (or spinach/collards)

Instructions
1. Begin by chopping the Chinese broccoli very thinly with a sharp knife, from the base of the stem up towards the leaves (just like chopping scallions).
2. Heat a large pan with oil and add the ginger. Once the ginger becomes fragrant, add the broccoli and seitan, stirring well and cooking until the broccoli is bright green and tender-crisp.
3. Transfer the broccoli-seitan mixture to a small bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust to your liking. Set aside while you make the broth.
4. Heat all of the broth ingredients together except the greens in a small sauce pan, until sugar and salt is dissolved and the ginger has had time to infuse into the broth. Taste and add more salt if desired, but remember this is a mild broth that is only meant to be a complement to the wontons. Once the broth has begun to simmer, turn off the heat and toss in greens. Cover and set aside.
5. Place 1-2 t of filling in the center of the wonton. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water (a finger dipped in water works great) and seal into a triangle, removing as much air as possible from the dumpling. Make sure edges are secured.
6. Set the triangle in front of you, pointing up. Wet one of the bottom corners. Hold the corners, one between each thumb and forefinger. Begin to bend the wrapper, as if you were forcing it into a horseshoe shape. Don’t change your grip, and resist the urge to fold the corners over. Bring the two ends together, crossing them slightly, and press to seal. Going from the triangle shape to a completed wonton is one fluid motion. Your dumpling should look like a fun little fish-boat-hat.
7. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Re-heat your broth to steaming, if necessary. Gently lower the wontons into the boiling water and cook until they become translucent, about 2-3 minutes if the wontons aren’t frozen, longer if they are. Remove them from the water with a spider (or other slotted spoon device) and place them into the hot broth.
8. Take care to remove and discard any dumplings that have opened up during cooking. If they open, water gets inside, washes all the flavor away, and you’ll be sad if you serve it or eat it. It will taste like watery mush.
9. Ladle 3-4 wontons into a bowl and add a small amount of broth, enough to half-way cover the wontons. Make sure to get some greens in there, too.
10. Serve immediately.


Serves 4



Fresh Vegetable Spring Rolls

Adapted from Heidi Winig’s Guest Chef Night at Frugal Foodies, 7/22/08

Dipping Sauce Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp chili paste
1 cup veggie stock
½ cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

Filling/Wrapping Ingredients
½ lb dried rice vermicelli, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes
24 dried round rice papers
24 large soft red-leaf lettuce leaves (very soft lettuce)
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
Mint leaves
2 containers soft or medium tofu, sliced into 1 x 3 x ¼ inch pieces
Cilantro sprigs

Instructions
1. To make the dipping sauce, heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Add the hoisin sauce, sugar, chili paste and stir well and simmer for 15 seconds. Stir in the stock until the mixture has a thick, creamy consistency. Add the peanuts and let cool.
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Drain the rice noodles and add to the boiling water. Boil until just tender, about 2 minutes. Pour the noodles into a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Drain well and set aside. Toss frequently to keep them from sticking together.
3. Make the spring rolls by laying one sheet of rice paper on a flat surface. Using a pastry brush, brush with hot water and leave it for 30 seconds until they are softened and feel like a wet tissue. Arrange 1 lettuce leaf on the lower third of the round. Add about 2 teaspoons of rice vermicelli, some carrots, and mint leaves atop the lettuce. Begin rolling from the bottom, tightly enclosing the filling with one roll to the middle of the rice paper but no further. Fold in the right and left ends, add the tofu and cilantro, and continue to roll as tightly as possible. Seal the roll with water and set aside.
4. Set the rolls on a tray and cover with a damp kitchen towel until all the rolls are done.
5. Serve with dipping sauce.


Makes 24 rolls



Portabella Aram Sandwiches

Adapted from www.grouprecipes.com

Ingredients
1 large tortilla wrap or flatbread
¾ C Gorgonzola
12 washed and dried spinach leaves
6 thin slices sautéed eggplant
1 large portabella mushroom sliced thinly and sautéed
¼ red pepper cut into strips and sautéed
1 T olive oil

Instructions
1. Put gorgonzola on wrap and warm until the cheese can be easily spread over the entire wrap.
2. Place the spinach leaves flat on the cheese covering the whole wrap.
3. Do the same with the eggplant slices then add portabella and red peppers then roll very tightly.
4. Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven then cut into wedges and serve.


Serves 2


Assorted Cold Aram Sandwiches

Ingredients
Flatbread
Cream cheese, softened
Hummus
Pesto
Tomatoes, thinly sliced
Sundried tomatoes
Cucumbers, thinly sliced
Bell peppers, thinly sliced
Sprouts
Lettuce
Mustard
Cheese, thinly sliced
Spinach
Avocado, thinly sliced

Instructions
1. Open flatbread and sprinkle with a little water.
2. Spread a thin (1/8th inch) layer of cream cheese, hummus, or pesto on the flatbread.
3. Top this layer with other ingredients in stripes across the short length of the bread. Don’t pile vegetables on top of each other but instead make stripes of unique ingredients.
4. With one of the narrow ends in front of you, firmly roll up the flatbread, trying not to break the flatbread. Squeeze the roll gently to hold it in place and set it aside.
5. Once all the rolls are done, slice them about an inch thick using a sharp or serrated knife. Set the cut Aram sandwiches on a serving plate on their sides so that the ingredients can be viewed.


Serves ?



Berry Roll

Adapted from www.southernfood.about.com

Ingredients
2 C sifted flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 T granulated sugar
¼ C shortening
¾ C milk, more or less
2 C fresh cleaned and sliced berries
¾ C granulated sugar
1 T butter, cut in several small pieces

Instructions
1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles meal. Add enough milk to make a soft dough.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to a ¼ inch thickness.
3. Spread with berries to about ½ inch of edge. Sprinkle 3/4 cup sugar evenly over the berries then dot with the butter.
4. Roll up like a jelly roll and seal ends. Place in a greased shallow baking dish.
5. Bake at 425° for 25 to 30 minutes.


Serves 8