Project Lumpia: The Post-Thankgiving Edition

While trying to come up with different ideas for utilizing Turkey Day leftovers, my mind kept going back to lumpia.   Maybe it's because I hadn't had any in a while, but I was thinking it might be another way to use up the remaining turkey and spare veggies not used for the holiday stock or stuffing/dressing.

I had my first taste of the crispy fried spring rolls as a child when my Filipina stepmom made a huge batch for a family get-together.  I've loved them ever since but only recently have I attempted to make my own (I would normally depend on the kindness of a good friend for my local lumpia fix).  As you'll soon see, my lumpia rolling technique needs a lot of work, but I plan to get more practice in over the next few weeks.

As a reference point, I turned to a recipe for Lumpiang Shanghai from one of my favorite food blogs, Burnt Lumpia.   I made a few changes for this Turkey/Shrimp version (I decided not to add ginger and opted for slightly less garlic).  For this recipe, I used roasted turkey thigh meat.  I'm usually more of a "white meat" gal, but for this recipe the higher fat content of the thigh meat makes it more ideal.   I also decided to throw some shrimp into the mix as well-just because.  In retrospect, I think I should have followed Marvin's instructions and made them a bit smaller (he suggests cutting each lumpia wrapper in half-I think I'll do that next time).  The lumpia I'm used to are usually the size of cigars-don't ask me why I decided to make them larger!  This recipe yielded 10 large lumpia and should yield about 20-25 smaller ones.  Recipe follows after the jump...

Sweet Potato & Cranberry Nut Bread

 

Have a few extra sweet potatoes left over from last week's holiday feast?  Here's one way to put them to use!  This quick and tasty sweet potato and cranberry nut bread is great for breakfast, brunch or anytime snacking.  If fresh cranberries are a bit too tart for you, use sweetened dried cranberries instead.

Sweet Potato & Cranberry Nut Bread

(yields one 9x5 inch loaf)

2 cups cake flour (or all purpose flour, sifted)

1 cup light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinammon

1 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup mashed sweet potato (about 1 medium sized tater)

1 cup fresh cranberries or ¾ cup dried sweetened cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt and spices.  Add the beaten eggs, melted butter and milk and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed (scraping the sides of the bowl) for about 1 minute.  

Fold in mashed sweet potato, chopped pecans and cranberries.

Pour batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before serving.