breakfast burritos

you can stop at easily 15 places in albuquerque and get a really great breakfast burrito on a saturday morning. not so in utah, i've found. but sometimes i just gotta have one, so i make my own. super easy, super delish, for breakfast OR dinner. let's get started. you'll need hashbrowns, breakfast meat, eggs, grated cheese, green chile or salsa, and flour tortillas. let's start with hasbhrowns. make some oreida from the package or make your own. i like to do my own. just peel a potato and grate with a cheese grater. use plenty of butter, salt and pepper. melt the butter in the pan first, then add the potatoes. leave them--don't stir!--for a few minutes (4-5) to let them brown and get crispy, them flip them over for a few more.

next, brown some sausage. i just used half a package of the tubular kind for our small family, but if you love sausage, go for the whole thing! you can even do links if you want, just slice them like you would a hot dog for a little kid when they're done. bacon also works in these. so really, just get some of your favorite breakfast meat and cook it next.
browning...
there. this is removed to a paper towel to drain while the eggs cook. sorry about the dark picture, that's about status quo for my kitchen: dark.

next you need scrambled eggs. i like to use my greasy sausage pan for this. break 4 eggs, combine with milk and salt and pepper. stir, then pour into a medium-high pan. stir, scramble, knock yourself out.
mmmm. eggs.
if you've got the real thing, get out some green chile. if not, open a can of hatch. it's the next best thing.
now, assemble. warm up some flour tortillas in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. add potatoes, eggs, meat, grated cheese, green chile (or salsa works too). don't overdo it, or you won't be able to close the tortilla...kinda like i did here.
now wrap it up, and inhale.
yum.

emily's breakfast burritos

hashbrowns, cooked
breakfast meat, cooked (sausage or bacon)
scrambled eggs
grated cheddar cheese
green chile or salsa
flour tortillas

combine hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, cooked sausage or bacon, grated cheese, and salsa or green chile. wrap in a flour tortilla and enjoy--and make sure you eat over a plate and have plenty of napkins on hand!

another bonus: assemble your hasbhrowns in bulk, then wrap them individually in foil and freeze. then you have a quick and handy breakfast when you're in a hurry!

mai thornhill's eggrolls

mai thornhill was one of my mom's friends when i was growing up in albuquerque. my mom cut her hair, and mai reciprocated with passing on this most holy of all dishes, egg rolls. they are TO DIE FOR. one of my favorites, but so much work, so they rarely get made--generally only for special occassions. the special occassion here was my college roommate coming to visit. this was her favorite thing i made when we lived together, so i thought i'd help relive old times by making them again. i usually make this with mom's fried rice, so i'm going to double a few things in this recipe that i use for both, so i don't have to do everything twice. i'll make a note when i do that, so you can either put it back to half and just make the egg rolls, or have the handy instructions there for making egg rolls and fried rice together.

let's get started. you'll need 4-6 chicken breasts, bones and skin on. 2 bunches of green onions (1 for rolls, one for rice), 1/2 an onion (1/4 for rolls, 1/4 for rice), a small cabbage, 2 carrots, a handful of bean sprouts (not pictured), 4 eggs (2 for rolls, 2 for rice), and 2 packages of egg roll wrappers.

lay your chicken bone-side-down on a foil-lined cookie sheet. cook them at 375* for 45 minutes.
while that's cooking, get chopping. chop up 2 bunches of green onions (1/2 to rice, 1/2 to egg rolls).

...and toss into a large mixing bowl. really large. like the huge tupperware bowl that your grandma had. huge. bowl. can't say it enough.
and dice 1/2 an onion (1/4 to rice, 1/4 to egg rolls).

cut your small-ish cabbage in half.

then cut it into strips, and add to your veggie bowl.
mix up 4 eggs (or 2 if you're just doing the egg rolls and not the rice) with a tablespoon of milk and a dash of salt and pepper.
pour into a hot, buttered frying pan, and let sit.
save your egg-y bowl. you'll need those egg remnants later.when the edges of your egg have cooked, lift the sides with a spatula, and tilt the pan so the runniness on top runs to the sides and gets cooked.


once all the runniness is no longer runny, flip it over and cook the other side. (this side was a little too done, probably had the heat up too high.)

now cut it in half. if you're making fried rice and used four eggs, dice one half first and save for later, then dice the other half and put it in your veggie bowl.

like this.

after your chicken is cooked and cool enough to handle, remove the skin, then peel the chicken off the bones.

shred it into your vegetable bowl, like this:

add in a handful of bean sprouts

then lots of salt and pepper.

peel your carrots,

then grate with the large side of your cheese grater.

and add those to your veggie bowl too.

there. perfect.

now this is the fun part. wash your hands really well, then start mixing. with your hands. that's right, i said it. with your hands. the saltiness feels so good, it's like a natural exfoliant, i swear. mix it all together really well. don't forget the onions way down at the bottom.

there. eggroll perfection.

now grab your egg rolls wrappers and take them out of the package. turn them diagonally.

grab a small handful and set in the middle of the wrapper.

start by folding the corner closest to you towards the middle.

then grab the right corner and fold it into the center, and do the same with the left corner.
make sure all your fixin's are still inside and roll the whole thing towards the last corner, farthest from you. get a little bit of your leftover egg (remember from way back when, when you were cooking eggs and saved the remnants in the bowl?) on your finger, and put it on the corner.


then seal the corner to the rest of the roll.

and repeat. and repeat again. and again. and again. and again about 40,243 more times.

woks are really good for this part, but i don't have one. i used to have a deep fryer that worked okay as well but it got so...fryer-y that i had to throw it away when we moved here. so i just used a deep roasting pan. fill it up with lots (and i mean LOTS) of oil. as in, at least half of one of those gigantic crisco containers. the huge food storage ones. heat the oil to 375* if you have a wok. if not, just occassionally throw leftover egg roll wrapper corners in. if it sinks to the bottom, the oil's not hot enough. if it starts to sizzle and turn brown, you're golden.

toss a few of those babies in and cook until golden brown. you may have to use tongs to make sure all the sides get cooked and brown. squeeze with tongs to get the excess oil out, then set on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels to drain.

like so.

oh my gosh, i think i just died and went to heaven. these are so good people. so good. (that's dave's man hand in the picture, not mine, fyi.)
serve with mom's fried rice and la choy's sweet & sour sauce. delish.

p.s. it makes a lot. like a LOT. so freeze them in ziplocs and eat for weeks. warm up in the microwave, then broil for a minute to keep them crispy.

mai thornhill's eggrolls

4-6 chicken breasts, bones and skin on
2 bunches of green onions (1 for rolls, one for rice)
1/2 an onion (1/4 for rolls, 1/4 for rice)
a small green head of cabbage
2 carrots
a handful of bean sprouts
4 eggs (2 for rolls, 2 for rice)
2 packages of egg roll wrappers.
lots of oil

place chicken, bones down, on a foil-lined cookie sheet. cook at 375* for 45 minutes. meanwhile, chop your green onions, and onion and place in a large mixing bowl. cut the cabbage in half and slice into thin strips; add to bowl with onions. peel and grate 2 carrots, and add to mixture. add a handful of bean sprouts, 2 cooked eggs, and salt & pepper. peel skin off of cooked chicken, remove from bones, and shred into vegetable mixture. mix well. place a handful of mixture on an egg roll wrapper. fold bottom side up, sides in to the middle, and roll to the far corner. seal with a small amount of raw egg on the final corner. deep fry in hot oil until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. drain on paper towels and serve with mom's fried rice.

mom's chicken noodle soup

the first picture of this recipe is too disgusting to have on top, so i thought i'd start with a picture of the finished product, because doesn't it look good? let's get started!

my friend kara and her whole family were sick one day last week, so while i was at the grocery store i bought homemade chicken noodle soup fixin's. i hope they appreciated it, because i sure thought it was good. so here's what you need: 2-4 chicken breasts, bones and skin on, 1 chopped onion, 1-2 potatoes, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, a package of egg noodles, chicken bouillon, and water.

start by boiling the chicken. you put the chicken in a (big) pot and pour water on top of it. make sure the water is higher than the chicken breasts. add a tablespoon of salt (or however much you want, really) and skim off the fat with a spoon,
then add your diced onion and let it boil together for an hour.time for vegetables. check out this carrot! have you ever seen a bigger carrot? it must have been 18 inches long. nuts.
anyway, peel your carrots, and cut off the ends. then slice into....slices. i'm good with words, no?

it's been an hour, remove your chicken from the water and set aside to cool,

and add your carrots to the chicken-water. oooh, doesn't that sound appetizing? i should write my own cook book. "chicken water". yum.use a potato peeler (or a knife, if you're handy with a knife like my mom) to peel your potatoes, then wash and dice into bite size pieces.
and add them to your pot.
chop up some celery. i despise celery, so i rarely put it in. but the recipe calls for it, and it adds something to the soup (something disgusting, that is), so here it is. chop up some celery.
now that your chicken is cool(er), remove the skin. mmmm, chicken skin. delish.
so that it looks like this!
now peel it off the bones, and shred it or cut it into smaller pieces.
and add that in too. oh, and add in some chicken bouillon here too. 2 cubes or 1 tbsp. of granules.
now cook and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

ten minutes before you're ready to eat, bring it to a boil.
and pour in half a package of egg noodles. my mom makes homemade noodles that are AMAZING, and i've done them once or twice, but using egg noodles is a real time saver. and let's face it, we all like timesavers, right? some day i'll post the recipe and pictures of the noodles.

or not.
cook and stir for however long egg noodles need (ten minutes if they're homemade, about 7 if they're egg). serve in a bowl (or a plate...duh, how obvious can i be?), and enjoy!

perfect for the crisp, fall days that are coming our way.

mom's chicken noodle soup
2-4 chicken breasts, bones and skin on
1 diced onion
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1-2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cubes or 1 tbsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 package of egg noodles

place chicken in a large pot and cover it with water, adding salt to taste. bring to a boil, skimming off fat. once all the fat is gone, add in the onion. boil together for an hour. remove chicken to cool, then add the carrots, potatoes, celery, and bouillon. remove the skin from the chicken, dice the chicken into bite size pieces, and add to the soup. cook together 20-30 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are soft(er than raw). when you're ready to eat, bring the soup to a boil and add the noodles. cook for 7-8 minutes. serve with celery salt and saltine crackers (or a slice of homemade bread, if you're feeling ambitious). this freezes really well, by the way, so make plenty and freeze the rest!