Spring Rolled in a Bit Early, Pun Intended

4h20 pm. Pacific Coast Time.

I’m sitting on the plane typing up this post, whose very blank window has been idly sitting opened on my computer browser for about a week now. I apologize for the tardiness, but I have been enjoying this thing called Spring Break.

I must say that my spring break has been wonderful. Let’s just say that Los Angeles treats its Angelinos very well. But before I dive into unnecessary detail, I must turn back to the clock to the night before I left New York for Los Angeles.

Thursday. March 11, 2009. 7h30. Eastern Time.

A failed attempt at a small dinner on Wednesday (I blame midterms) somehow managed to turn into a dinner of 15 on Thursday. As a celebration of freedom, a bunch of my friends helped me cook. Su-chefs make life sooo much easier... and fun. We made Steak Spring Rolls and Orzo Pasta.

The Spring Rolls are surprisingly easy to make. The most difficult part is finding the spring roll wrappers, which are available at many Asian-specialty markets and many grocery stores. If your local store does not have them, usually you can order them through the clerk (which is true for most ingredients).

Steak Spring Rolls

Ingredients:
-1 package (approx. 20 individual) Spring Roll Wrappers
-1 head of Savoy Cabbage (the green cabbage)
-some cucumbers (take them from a salad bar!)
-A package of peanuts (you will want 2-3 per spring roll)
-1 bundle of green onions
-1 bottle Hoisin Sauce (found in the “ethnic food” aisle in stores)(or at M2M for fellow Columbians)
-Steak (use “stir fry style” or thicker cuts. DO NOT GET SKIRT STEAK! It dries out too easily. I used London broil… it was on sale)
-garlic
-olive oil/butter
-ground black pepper

-To maximize the ease of this recipe, it’s all about preparation. I usually make a fire-assembly-line type of thing (with different stations for each step).

-Station 1: Prepare a bowl or deep dish (I used a cake pan) and fill it with water.
Place the spring roll wrappers next to it.
-Station 2: Start my slicing cabbage into strips. TIP: Do not make them too thin, nor too thick. Also slice the green onions into strips (TIP: Cut it width wise, so it makes small cylinders. Also make them shorter than the cabbage strips) Then, slice the cucumbers. (EXTRA: You can also include carrots) Put the sliced ingredients on a platter with the peanuts. (View Pictures below)
Now that the hard preparation is done (yes, that’s the hardest part of this recipe), it’s time to prepare the steak.

Station 3:
-Crush 2-3 cloves of garlic.
-Put a little butter and olive oil in a pan. Turn on the stove to allow the oil and butter heat up. Put it on medium-high heat (again, this is dependent on your stove). Put the garlic in the oil/butter in the pan. (TIP: This is a very useful trick I learned from an old Italian woman; use it before you make any type of sauce or meat. It infuses the oil that you use to grease the pan with garlic!)
-Marinate the steak with crushed garlic, pepper, and oil. Put the steak onto the pan. Cook until the middle is as you please:

Here's a KEY (to judge how your meat is cooked):
--Red=rare.
--Pink (or pinkish-red)=medium rare.
--Brown=well done.
--Black=time to throw your meat away.
--Grey (the inside and outside)=the meat is bad.

-Wait until the cooked steak has cooled a little and then slice it. Put the slices of steak on a platter.

Final Steps/Assembly:
-Submerge the spring roll wrappers in the water for about 30 seconds-1 minute. It’s important that you submerge (submarine imagery is vital in this case) the spring roll wrappers until they lose their plastic-y texture and are completely soft.
-Place the wrapper on a plate. Then place a few slices of cabbage (1-2), green onions, a few peanuts, and some steak. Top it off with some hoisin sauce.
(Theses are fun because you can change any of the ingredients to satisfy your personal preferences)
-Wrap it up like a burrito.
-Enjoy!!

Spring Rolls may be delicious, but I personally need more food than that. So I made a delicious Orzo Pasta. (There is no need to be confused/intimidated by Orzo. Yes, it looks like rice. No, it is not rice. Yes, it is pasta. And yes, it is delicious.)

Orzo Pasta with Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Parsley, and Feta

Ingredients:
-1 package Orzo Pasta
-olive oil (1 tbsp + some for cooking)
-salt
-approx. 1 cup of chopped feta
-1 bunch parsley
-1 package chopped tomatoes (I got them from the dining hall)
-some lemon juice
-pepper

-Put water in a pot and bring to a boil. I like to drizzle some olive oil and salt in the water as it boils. (The oil makes the pasta’s texture better and the salt decreases the boiling point. Yes, Chemistry! For others who are not scientifically inclined, it simply decreases the amount of time needed to boil.)
-Cook the orzo, according to the directions. It’s usually somewhere between 9-13 minutes.
-Drain the orzo in a colander. In the colander, run some cold water over the pasta to stop it from over-cooking. *Even though you may take pasta out of the pan, the heat continues to cook the pasta. *
-Chop up the parsley into small pieces. Chop up the feta into small cubes. Chop the tomatoes. (TIP: Make sure the chunks are big enough to have a nice taste of the ingredient, but not too big where they are a hassle to chew!)
-Put the chopped ingredients into the orzo. Drizzle olive oil (about 1 tbsp) as well as squeeze half a lemon to a full lemon’s worth of lemon juice onto the pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.
-Enjoy!!
Well, that was that. We all left satisfied—if not a little too satisfied—and full of food. Considering I was cooking for the 15 people, the bill was not too bad. The kicker in this recipe is the steak you use. I paid about 60$ for this entire meal. $30-35 was for the meat alone (which I hugely overestimated). Do the math… I know you can.

Luckily for me, my friend, Andrew, brought a cheesecake for dessert. Yes, it was classic New York Cheesecake (well, with strawberries). No, it was not homemade. Therefore, No. There is no recipe.

This meal was a great way to end midterms and kick off spring break. I honestly did not realize the irony of making spring rolls for spring break until I started typing this up, but it was definitely well worth the pun. Everyone joined in: proof that it's easy to make.

A few hours after dinner (around 5h00 am), I was on my way to Los Angeles. For me, Los Angeles is like my Mecca. Surrounded by good (local) produce and warm weather, I ate well every day. So look forward to a post on a delicious Indian feast as prepared by my mother and my best friend’s mother (Yes, our moms are best friends, too. It’s not creepy, but incredibly cute). As for now, always remember Live Well. Eat Well.


P.S. I would like to give special thanks to my wonderful models for being so beautiful and providing us with such wonderful photographs! In particular, thank you Alex, Micheal, and Willie!