Clean out the Fridge Friday: Brisket Eggrolls

So you know I made that brisket recipe on Wednesday, and we ended up with a bit left over.  I'm a little bored with my usual fallbacks for using leftovers, but when I spotted the half bag of broccoli & cabbage mix, unused spring roll wrappers in the pantry (these keep forever), and a bit of Zoe’s homemade popcorn chicken in the fridge, my cooking muse enlightened me.  Eggrolls!

I made a big batch of these, individually wrapped them in plastic wrap, and then put in freezer.  You can take them right out of the freezer and fry. 

And here’s a trick I’ve learned the hard way in the past:  Your egg roll filling ingredients must be drained of excess moisture and cooled before rolling. Soggy, hot filling makes soggy egg rolls.

Ingredients:
2 T. oil
1 shallot
Minced garlic to taste
2 ½ cups broccoli and cabbage mix (if long strands, give it a rough chop)
1 T. rice or cider vinegar
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. brown sugar
1 cup cooked leftover vegetables
2 cups leftover brisket, shredded fine
1 cup cooked chicken, chopped fine
15 spring roll or egg roll wrappers

Instructions:

In a wok or heavy pan, heat the oil on medium-high.  Stir fry the onion, garlic and broccoli mix until soft, about 1 minute.  Add the vinegar, soy sauce and brown sugar and stir-fry another minute.  Turn off the heat, and then add the cooked leftover vegetables, brisket and chicken.  Mix thoroughly.

Scoop out the filling to a baking sheet and spread out to cool. Prop up one end of the baking sheet so that it tilts and will allow all the moisture to drain to one end. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Discard all of the accumulated juices. Use paper towels to blot the filling to rid of extra oil or juice. Now, you're ready to wrap.  Only use 1 heaping tablespoon of filling for each egg roll. Keep the rolled egg rolls in neat, single layer and covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. If you want to stack the egg rolls, make sure you have layer of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent sticking. Keep wrappers also covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Refrigerate up to 4 hours until ready to fry or freeze.

To fry the egg rolls, fill a wok or pot with 2 inches of high-heat cooking oil. Heat the oil to 350°F or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 seconds. Lower the egg rolls, frying 4 to 6 at a time, turning occasionally until golden brown, 1-2 minutes. Place on wire rack to drain and cool.

NOTE: To fry frozen egg rolls, do not defrost the egg rolls – just add them to the oil frozen, frying 4 to 6 at a time. Add an additional 1½ minutes to the frying time since they are frozen.