Chicken Papaya/Mango Spring Rolls Recipe

Just made this recipe last night with company and it's a great meal for entertaining. Easy to prepare everything in advance and the actual spring roll assembly happens at the table. You can mix and match filling ingredients.

This recipe works for four people with some leftovers. Everyone can eat about three rolls. Serve with a cucumber or Israeli salad of green and red tomatoes and cucumbers.

Prepare in Advance:
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One roasted chicken or rotisserie chicken ripped into little shreds - could use tofu
one small bowl chopped mint
one small bowl hydrated shitake mushrooms, sliced thin
medium bowl chopped green onions
one mango, skin removed, sliced thinly
one papaya skin removed sliced thinly
prepare spicy peanut sauce - or buy a jar - look for organic
circular rice paper spring roll wrappers (rice paper) - Whole Foods
one small bowl chopped dry roasted peanuts
wedged limes

Lay out all these ingredients minus wrappers on a large platter
Boil water and keep on simmer
Find a ceramic pie pan or shallow dish large enough to hold one rice paper disk flat when submerged in boiling water

Now, when ready to serve:

put large platter in the center of the table
pour thin layer of boiling water into shallow pan
dip rice paper wrapper (one at a time) into the hot water.
Let sit no more than 10 seconds, carefully pull out with tongs and hand to first guest.
repeat until full....


To wrap a spring roll wrapper full of ingredients:
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a) lay out wrapper flat on a plate large enough to hold it
b) pile ingredients in the CENTER filling about 1/2 the area of the whole wrapper about 1" tall in a slightly longer than wider mound - be sure to include plenty of peanut sauce, chicken, onions, mint, mushrooms, peanuts and papaya/mango - squeeze fresh lime juice over mound
c) now fold two opposite sides of the wrapper up and over the mound from the ends of the long side - be sure the flaps overlap the food by at least 1/3
d) Now fold up a third side - overlapping the first two
e) next roll the assembly towards the open side making sure to tuck in the loose ends as you roll
f) lift whole assembly carefully to your mouth and take a bite - Yummy!!!

Spicy peanut sauce - f you buy prepared look at ingredients - some sauces are better than others.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1 cup fresh crunchy peanut butter
* 1/2 cup hot water - adjust this for consistency
* 2 cloves garlic, mashed
* 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder or cock(hot) sauce to taste
* 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice - or lime juice

Preparation:
In the blender, whisk peanut butter, hot water, garlic, soy sauce, cumin, cayenne, curry powder, and lemon juice together to form a smooth paste. Cover and set aside for several hours to allow the flavors to mix well. Turn into jars and seal; store in the refrigerator.

Serve Sauce at room temperature

Yield: 1-1/2 to 2 cups - need only about 1 cup for the spring roll recipe above for 4 people

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Granola Recipe

My daughter Maya gave me this recipe. Works everytime!!!

4 C Rolled Oats ( not the quick kind)
1 C Nuts ( Chopped pecans, walnuts almonds, diced to a size of your liking)
1/3 Brown Sugar (I usually cut this in half)
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon (go lighter)

Combine the above ingredients until well mixed. Then stir in -

2/3 C Maple Syrup ( Grade B is actually stronger flavored)
1/3 Canola Oil
1 tsp vanilla

Bake at 325F in a shallow baking dish ( thinner you spread it, faster it cooks) for 20-30 minutes. Take it out to mix it once or twice during this time. Then take out and mix in:

1 C slivered almonds
1 C some sort of dried fruit ( golden raisins, cranberries, currants, cherries....)

Put back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. Take it out to mix it once during this time. Don't leave it in too long or the dried fruit will get too hard.

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Launched new EMT Flashcard program for iPhone and iPad

I took a day off from house chores and leveraged the study materials I prepared last winter for my EMT class to create a new app for the iPhone and iPad. The program is a stack of over 600 questions and answers in over 20 categories to help study for the EMT-B exam. I hope people get the program early in the semester and use it as they complete different sections of the EMT-B course - using cumulative sets of questions as their training progresses. Some answers are text, and some are diagrams.

Once I saw the advertisements for the release of Filemaker Go - a database client for the iPhone and iPad I could not help myself from digging in to see what I could do with it.




Jump over to the Flashcard web site now....Click here

Five days on the Rogue River

(Slideshow embedded below. Click on the frame to expose slide controls...)


The sun's warmth stays in my skin
long after sundown.

The hiss, rumble and click of submerged river stones
troubled by the current
flows below the Ospreys call.

The pale blue sky at ridge's overlooking treeline
just after sunset
that fades to black overhead
and transforms blistering day into cooling night.

The water carved
basement basalt hugs turbulent river's edge
mixing water with air and swirls my path
through Mule Creek canyon.

Deep whirlpools
swim downriver with us
then retreat magically to form
elsewhere.

Surprise
a mama bear and cub
swimming across the river
for better berries
on the sunny side.

An osprey stops for lunch
across the river from us -
she eats sushi, we don't.
With her back turned toward us
she pulls the morsels from the bones.
We watch
with the buzzards and the crows
for what will be left behind.

Too hot for my own skin,
I leap into the cool boiling cauldron
and float downstream
while one current tugs my arms
and another at my feet.

The water stacks up and flows around
everything in its path.
It carves the right path,
slowly.

And it only gathers a few items
to move downstream today.


The river's gorge is deep and hidden,
but well tree'd and dripping with side streams.
Oak canopy shading the forest mysteries
and dark quiet pools.

I stroke hard for the eddy and climb ashore
released from the water
for now.

Hot rounded stones at water's edge warm and welcoming,
but ready to release us with no more than a slight tug.
We travel down at the pleasure of the stream
and tarry
where the current slows.

The small tribe gathers at the edge of the forest,
a harmonica wails and pails tapped rhythmically drum in the
preparation of another tasty meal
and we sit in a circle - all facing one another
and bring melodic memories up from the deep eddies of our minds
and laughter bubbles like the water overflowing the fencing boulders at Blossom Rock

All the rest and more remains waiting for us there
but we roll up our tents for now and retreat back over
the protective mountains and the canyon's rim
at the far, far end of a long highway.

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