Prawn Summer Rolls

After all that coconut cake, it's time for a light, refreshing recipe. These summer rolls fit the bill.  They are crunchy, flavorful, and fun to make. Warning though, they do take a lot of prep work and ingredients to put together, and the rice paper wrappers are not the easiest things to work with.  Patience is a virtue with these things.

I was up for the challenge and I am glad I gave them a try.  Served as an appetizer before an Asian-inspired meal, or solo as a lunch, they are quite satisfying. 

Prawn Summer Rolls
4 ounces bean thread noodles (cellophane or transparent noodles)
12 8"-9" rice paper rounds
18 cooked medium prawns (about 10 ounces), peeled, deveined, halved lengthwise
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves or parsley plus 1 tablespoon chopped
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup English hothouse cucumber, cut into matchstick-size pieces
1 cup carrot, cut into matchstick-size pieces
12 small green or red lettuce leaves

Put noodles in a large bowl. Pour enough hot water over to cover; let stand until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain. Transfer to a large bowl of ice water to cool; drain and set aside.

Fill a pie plate with warm water. Working with 1 rice paper round at a time, soak rice paper in water, turning occasionally, until just pliable but not limp, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a work surface. Arrange 3 shrimp halves across center of round. Top with some leaves of each herb, then daikon sprouts (if using), cucumber, and carrot. Arrange a small handful of noodles over. Place 1 lettuce leaf over, torn or folded to fit. Fold bottom of rice paper over filling, then fold in ends and roll like a burrito into a tight cylinder. Transfer roll, seam side down, to a platter. Repeat to make 11 more rolls.  Can be made 1 hour ahead. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and refrigerate.

To serve, cut rolls in half on diagonal with dipping sauce.

Peanut Dipping Sauce
Makes 1 cup
2 teaspoons cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed in garlic press
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons peanut butter, smooth or chunky

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When the oil is just starting to get hot, add the garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce, water and peanut butter and stir until smooth. Simmer until thickened. Let cool. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week. If the sauce is too thick after storing, whisk in a bit of water to thin it out.

The October Garden

As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, the garden has been extremely late in production this year due to a most chilly Spring. Here it is October 1st and we are just harvesting our corn and tomatoes. We also only had one cucumber plant which seemed to be in critical condition for weeks and we doubted there would be a harvest. Well, the plant perked up with TLC from The Husband (or was it the Miracle Grow?) and it produced some lovely bounty.

One of cucumbers was extremely long; approximately 18 inches. Most impressive indeed. A favorite recipe for cucumber in my repertoire is Tsatsiki, a refreshing Greek dip which is delicious with toasted pita bread wedges or as part of a Greek or Middle Eastern dinner. The dip is simple to make, refreshing and very tasty. Give it a try sometime when you are trying to figure out what to do with an 18 inch cucumber!

Tsatsiki (Greek Cucumber Dip)

2 medium (6-7 inches) or 1 VERY LARGE cucumber

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

1 cup plain yogurt

2 medium cloves garlic, minced finely

Peel, seed, and coarsely grate the cucumber.

Combine everything in a bowl and mix well. Cover tightly and refrigerate until very cold. Serve as a salad, appetizer or a dip.

I usually drain my yogurt overnight when I use it in dips to get some of the excess moisture from it. To do this, I line a fine mesh sieve with either paper towel or a coffee filter and put the yogurt in this, over a bowl in the refrigerater overnight. It really makes a difference in making a thicker dip.

Goober's Sausage Rolls

I must refer to my Great Auntie Don again as I discuss this recipe for sausage rolls. When I was in high school, my friend Debbie and I took a trip by bus up to Vancouver,B.C. and stayed a week at Auntie's lovely little home in West Vancouver. It was such a memorable trip as, other than trips with the high school band, it was the first trip I had taken without my family. Two other friends also went at the same time. Gladys and her best friend stayed with her cousin who had an apartment near Stanley Park, which I thought was so grown up and sophisticated!

We had such a fun trip exploring the city by public transit with my auntie giving us directions and telling us that all of the bus drivers in her neighborhood knew her and indeed they did. We went downtown, to Stanley Park and even took a bus to Horseshoe Bay with a packed lunch my auntie sent with us. The lunch included the most delectable sausage rolls and scones studded with raisins and spread with cream cheese and raspberry jam. These sausage rolls are so named because she gave a piece of one to her neighbors big black lab whose name happened to be Goober. Debbie and I thought it was so very funny hearing her say in her lilting English accent "Goober, would you like a sausage roll?" Only 16 year old girls would go into spasms of giggles over something like that.

Sausage Rolls are a recipe that not only my great auntie made, but also my English grandma (her sister) and my mother. So, in order to keep the tradition alive, I felt like trying my hand at making some. Despite the fact that there was a daunting part about actually making a dough and having to roll it out (my fear of pie dough loomed), these turned out quite nicely and as I took my first bite I fondly recalled my English great auntie.

Goober's Sausage Rolls

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

pinch of salt

3 Tbsp cold lard, diced into cubes

3 Tbsp cold butter, diced into cubes

12 oz. bulk pork sausage (I used Jimmy Dean)

1 egg and small dab of cream, beaten for glaze

Make pastry by putting flour and salt into a bowl and adding the lard and butter. Rub the fats into the flour until mixture results into fine crumbs.

Stir about 3 Tbsp. ice water into mixture and gather into a smooth ball of dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out pastry onto a lightly floured surface to make a rectangle about 12 inches long and 4-5 inches wide. Cut lengthwise into two long strips.

Divide the sausage into two pieces and shape into two long rolls approximately the same size as the pastry. Lay a roll on each strip of pastry. Brush the pastry edges with water and fold them over the meat, pressing the edges together to seal them well.

Turn the rolls over with the seam side down. Cut each roll into eight pieces and place onto a baking sheet.

With a pastry brush, glaze each piece with the egg/cream glaze. Bake in oven 30 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Cool on wire rack.