Home-grown produce is giving a local family an introduction to Chinese cuisine.
Barbara Branstetter has found a creative way to produce a low-cost meal for her family of four. As much as her family members enjoy egg rolls, finances do not allow the family to eat out often, she said. Instead, weekly distributed cabbage and carrots via the local Humanity House and an internet recipe have allowed the family to enjoy the Chinese-style cuisine at home for about $12 a meal.
In addition to cost, Branstetter looks for recipes that cater to the special needs of her family. She has been diagnosed with diabetes, her youngest daughter with hyperglycemia and her older daughter has allergies.
The egg roll recipe that Branstetter uses calls for pork, but can be made with chicken, shrimp or beef as well. It requires one-fourth of a head of cabbage and some shredded carrots. The egg roll wrappers can be made from scratch. Alternatively, they can be purchased at the grocery store and are typically found in the produce department.
“Some people grow their own spices and you can use those, too,” Branstetter said.
Branstetter “tweaks” the recipe according to what she has available. For example, after Thanksgiving she filled the egg rolls with leftovers. She did not anticipate that it would go over as well as it did.
“I went back to get one and they were gone,” she said of the 20 egg rolls she prepared.
The rest of the year, Branstetter uses chopped cabbage and shredded carrots. She browns up the meat and adds ginger and garlic. She makes a paste out of flour and water to hold the egg rolls shut. Once the meat is cooked she adds the cabbage and carrots to it.
“The idea is to get it to steam down,” she said as she cooked. “Not only is it pleasing to the stomach, it’s pleasing to the eye.”
Next, she rolls the vegetable-meat mixture in the wrappers and deep fries them until they are golden brown.
Branstetter uses olive oil in order to combat high cholesterol. A sweet and sour sauce can be made out of chunky cranberry sauce and lemon juice. Typically,she serves them with a side of rice.
Branstetter is dedicated to cooking healthy meals. More dedicated, she said, than to gardening.
“I appreciate it a lot,” Branstetter said of the produce she receives from Humanity House. “I try to grow my own garden but it doesn’t always come out and it’s a lot better for everyone in my family to have fresh produce.”
She planted two rows of green beans this year, but ended up with only seven plants.
“So I got like maybe 30 green beans out of all my plants,” she said. “My peas, out of all the three rows I planted, I got half of a quart bag, that was it.”
The lackluster crops can be attributed to a need for fertilization, the weather and a lack of dedication, she said.
“I do not dedicate as much time to it as Tracy (Keagle) does and I admit it,” she said. “She’s like a gardening demon and I am just a hit-and-miss woman.”
So far, Humanity House has given away a half ton of produce as it strives toward its goal of 11,000 pounds. Anyone, regardless of income, is invited to receive the crops that Keagle toils over and distributes weekly.
The recipe Branstetter follows can be found at allrecipes.com and by searching egg rolls.
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