At the Chinese restaurants I almost always order crab Rangoon, there’s just something about that sweet crab meat, the crunchy fried won ton and any number of dipping sauces that really speak to me! As part of our Chinese New Year celebration, I just knew these had to be on the menu. But what I didn’t realize is how easy they are to make!! Plus, you can either fry or bake them and as I found out by accident, the fried won tons are also good dipped in the crab mixture.
Yes, the next party I need to go to, I will be making baked or fried won ton strips to dip into the mixture as an appetizer and I only figured this out because I made some fried won ton strips and accidentally dropped a few into the bowl with the crab mix, so I scooped some up and wa-la another way to eat this delectable dish…
Crab Rangoon-2 Ways
Ingredients:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese-at room temperature
1 can (8 ounces) crab meat
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic-chopped
1 can (8 ounces) water chestnuts-drained and chopped fine
1/4 cup green onions-chopped
2 packages won ton skins
1 egg-lightly beaten
Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add crab meat, soy sauce, garlic, water chestnuts and green onions; mix until well blended. With one corner of won ton skin toward you, put 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of bottom half of wrapper. Moisten lower two edges of skin with beaten egg. Bring top point of skin down to bottom point and seal edges to form a triangle. Brush a little egg on the front of the triangle's right corner and on the underside of the left corner. With a twisting action, bring the two moistened surfaces together and pinch to seal. Repeat process with remaining skins and filling.
2 ways to cook these:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place Rangoon on a baking sheet coated with non-stick spray. Lightly spray the won tons with cooking spray and bake 8-10 minutes or until golden.
2) Preheat about 1 inch canola oil to 375 degrees in a heavy bottom pot. Put in about 6 at a time and heat fry about 1 minute on each side--watch carefully, because they go fast!!
Serve with sweet and sour sauce, plum sauce, hot mustard or any kind of dip that you like
First up in our celebration of the Chinese New Year is this egg drop soup. I have always loved it at the restaurants, but never realized how totally, super, easy it is!! I added some chopped spinach to bump up the nutrients, but I’m not sure that that addition is very authentic, in fact I’m pretty sure it isn’t, but whatever, I liked it that way-but don’t feel you have to add it. So give this a try and see how easy it is for yourself!
Big changes are coming your way on Monday and I can’t wait to share!! And again, Happy Chinese New Year…
Egg Drop Soup
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth or stock
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup fresh spinach-sliced
2 green onions-sliced
Directions:
In a large saucepan, bring the broth and sugar to a boil over medium high heat. Once it's close to boiling, reduce heat to low and drizzle in the beaten egg. Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach and green onions. Stir and let sit for about 3 minutes before serving.
This is a head’s up that I am going to be changing things up a bit here this week! I wanted to celebrate the Chinese New Year with you all, but I am running a little behind, so I will be starting to post recipes tomorrow. And as always, thanks for stopping by anniebakes…
The Chinese New Year for 2012 is centered around the Lunar calendar and starts January 23, lasting 2 weeks. It is considered one of the most important of Chinese holidays and is celebrated by having huge parties focused on bringing good luck for the new year and the coming spring (planting season). In China, the celebration can last up to a month. 2012 is the Year of the Dragon.
Your fortune cookie might read:
“2012-the Year of the Dragon has the potential to breathe life-shaping fire, to be magical, even mythical!”
or
“Keep one eye on the calendar and one on the stars”
Upcoming recipes will be:
- Crab Rangoon
- Egg Drop Soup
- Shrimp Egg Rolls + Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
- Dumplings
- BBQ Pork Appetizer
- Asian Meatballs + Chinese 5 Spice Powder Recipe
- Egg Foo Young
And of course, anything else I can come up with! Stay tuned!!
When I was little, my mom always made grape jelly like this and I always called it “my kind of jelly”. So when she’d ask me what I’d like for breakfast, I would reply “toast with my kind of jelly”. So it is fitting that I share with you this super simple recipe for grape jelly…
Grape Jelly
Ingredients:
4 cups 100% grape juice-I use Welch's
1 tablespoon powdered pectin
2 cups sugar
Directions:
Bring juice to simmer over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Whisk in the pectin and cook, whacking occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low; add sugar, whisking until dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly before pouring into jars and refrigerating.
Recently, my mother-in-law graced us with this appetizer. I. loved. it. So I photographed it, I ate it, I asked for the recipe, and now I’m sharing it with you…
Feta Bruschetta
Ingredients:
1 large tomato-seeded and chopped
1 medium zucchini-finely chopped
4 green onions-finely chopped
4-6 garlic cloves- minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice-freshly squeezed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup feta cheese-crumbled
Italian bread
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients (minus the bread) in a bowl and chill. Slice and butter each side of the bread and broil in the oven. Spread with the feta mixture and let the juices soak in for a minute to get the full flavor.
*This actually tastes better when it has chilled over night
This is one of my favorite dips and the use of fresh spinach is the bomb! There is such a difference between this and the frozen stuff–the color is so vibrant and the taste is so, well, fresh! I will say though that it does get a little runnier because of the water content of the spinach, so I added extra flour the second time around to hold it together better, but either way it tasted great!!
Fresh Spinach-Artichoke Dip:
Ingredients:
2-10 ounce bags spinach-stems removed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 clove garlic-minced
2 teaspoons flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup white cheddar cheese-shredded
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in the spinach an cook until bright green, about 30 seconds. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process; squeeze out the excess moisture and roughly chop.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until the onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 1 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 1 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Parmesan and sour cream.
Return the pot to medium heat. Add the spinach, cheddar and artichokes and stir until the cheese melts and the dip is heated through. Serve with tortilla chips or baguettes.
Why have I never made these before?? Hubby loves them and they are as simple as can be! You too, could make these up lickety split, do it now–before the kiddos come home from school…
Snickerdoodles
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter-room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg-room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar and then beat in the egg and the vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix the first four dry ingredients, then slowly add them into the wet ingredients. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Form the dough into a small ball and roll half into the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place on a sheet with a Silpat liner and bake for 7-8 minutes.
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