Grocery shopping with Mr. 6 sometimes yields strange results…like an $8 cabbage.
The time demands of domesticity have been overtaking our weekends, and we find ourselves making a mad, careless dash through two stores every Saturday in order to save time for what we should be doing each weekend—relaxing on our balcony with margaritas in hand, something on the grill, ’80s hits queued up—as we watch the cops flush out the intoxicated hobos who have designated the dry creek bed across the way as their personal nightclub and camping ground.
Whilst shopping recently, we parted ways in the produce section to save time. Mr. 6 looked at the cabbage varieties and Mrs. 6 searched for pearl onions. Mr. 6 apparently misread the scale, as we arrived home with 2 kilos of cabbage instead of 2 pounds—twice what we needed. But not to blame Mr. 6 entirely for the $8 cabbage—we were so busy watching the bag boy smash our groceries that we didn’t notice our standard green cabbage was rung up as a Napa cabbage, effectively doubling the price…again.
So here is a little lesson even Martha Stewart can’t teach us about domesticity—TIME is CABBAGE.
Baked pork egg rolls:
Note: For 16 vegetarian egg rolls, cut out the pork, reduce cabbage to 2#, and add a few extra tablespoons of vegetable oil when cooking the cabbage. Two packages of wrappers in our area of the country equals 32 wrappers, and with careful portioning, this recipe can yield 32 pork egg rolls.
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 T rice vinegar
- 1 T light brown sugar
- 1 T vegetable oil plus additional oil for brushing the assembled egg rolls
- 1 cabbage (about 3#), thinly sliced
- 4 medium carrots, coarsely grated
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 T fresh ginger, grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1# ground pork
- 8 green onions, green and white parts thinly sliced
- 16-32 egg roll wrappers
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- Sweet and sour sauce and hot mustard
In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. In a dutch oven, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add cabbage, carrots, garlic, and ginger; season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes, tossing frequently, until vegetables are tender.
Raise heat to high and add the soy mixture and pork. Cook about 5 to 7 minutes, tossing frequently, until pork is no longer pink and liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, mix in green onions, and transfer mixture to a plate to cool.
Pre-heat oven to 400°.
Lay out a few wrappers and keep the remaining wrappers covered with a damp towel. One wrapper at a time, brush egg along the edges, place about 1/3 cup pork mixture, and assemble the egg roll as if folding an envelope.
Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet; place egg rolls on sheet and brush with vegetable oil. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. If baking from frozen, bake about 15 minutes.
Serve with sweet and sour sauce and hot mustard.
Adapted from a recipe at MarthaStewart.com.
Tags: cabbage, carrot, garlic, ginger, green onion, ground pork
