Chicken Bread? Salad Rolls?

One of Sally's great pleasures is mentoring student pharmacists as they go about a series of "rotations" in the various aspects of the professional pharmacy career. Sally's specialty is Clinical Pharmacy, consulting with clients on the the drugs they take and the possible interactions between them.

Spring Rolls -- Salad Rolls

This term Sally's student is a young lady name Thuy, who was born in Vietnam and came to America with her parents as a child. The other day Thuy made classic Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Peanut sauce. Unbeknownst to her, this is one of my favorite dishes from that cuisine, and the taste of her rolls brought back some of the few pleasant memories I have of my time in that country.

Fiddley to make, but not difficult, the 'magic ingredient' of these rolls is being able to find the round rice paper sheets which become the wrappers. A well stocked generic Asian market will have them, and Vietnamese and Thai markets surely will. These are not egg rolls. They aren't cooked, although some of the filling is. These are a 'salad' rolls, served as an appetizer or salad equivalent, at a Vietnamese feast. I served them as part of an Asian inspired meal that included a vegetable teriyaki stir fry and my butternut squash/apple/onion soup with my own version of 5-spice flavoring.

The crispy rounds are softened by soaking in hot water for a few seconds - not too few and not too many. The softened wrapper is then filled with rice noodles, shrimp, lettuce, etc and rolled up 'burrito style'. Traditionally they are served with a slightly sweet hoisin/peanut sauce or a spicy-salty nuoc mam/chili sauce.   Thanks Thuy!!!

Chicken Bread

Take a loaf of frozen dough and fill it full of goodies. Mine didn't turn out as pretty as it should have. But hey! Lessons learned. It tasted good and ultimately that's what matters.

1 lb loaf frozen bread dough, thawed and risen acording to package directions

2 cups cooked chopped Chicken

1 cup chopped Mushrooms

1/2 Sweet White Onion, diced

1 stick celery, diced

1/2 red Bell Pepper, julienned

Saute the filling veggies to remove a lot of liquid, then combine with the chicken. Roll the bread out to about 11" x 17", place the filling down the center, and slice strips as you see in the photo. Then overlap the strips in a herigbone pattern, folding the end bit up last. Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes.

  

Seafood Pie

Shepherd's Pie has lamb in it. Cottage Pie has beef. The French-Canadians do a Pork Pie called Tourtière. Guess what Seafood Pie has in it!  Cod, halibut, catfish, tilapia, haddock, smoked (or plain) salmon, grouper, snapper and mahi-mahi are all good candidates. I love smoked salmon in mine, but Sally and her Mum think it's too strong of a taste. I also add shrimp, sometimes bay scallops, or once in a great while crab.

1-1/2 lbs mixed Seafood

8 oz Mixed Vegetables -- chop your own or use a bag of frozen

1 stick Celery

1/2 red Bell Pepper

1 bunch Green Onions

8 oz shredded Cheese blend

1 frozen deep dish Pie Shell

Spice blend to taste (1 tsp to 1 Tbsp) - Old Bay or Everglades are great, but you can go Cajun/Creole, Greek or whatever else piques your taste buds.

Combine everything except the pie shell in a large bowl and let frozen things come to room temp. Pat away excess moisture, if any. Pack filling into pie shell and top with extra cheese if desired. Bake at 375F for 45-60 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, then serve.