I can never get enough of that pop followed by the tiny sizzle when biting into a crispy egg roll. But why must the filling consist of ground pork and shredded carrots and cabbage? I adore pigs…baby back ribs, shredded pork sandwiches, pork chops, pork rinds. I love cabbage. I even like shredded cabbage–steam-sauteed with a little red wine vinegar for a quick veggie side to accompany weeknight meals. Unwrap and separate traditional egg rolls for me, please. I’ll take this new spin any day.

I saw a “recipe”, if you can even classify it as a recipe, for fried mozzarella sticks. The author wrapped string cheese in an egg roll wrapper blanket and gave them a dip in hot oil. Why would one spend that much time on a recipe that includes rubbery string cheese? My version sports the pungent bite of garlic woven into a creamy cloud of cream cheese and tangy goat cheese. For color and subtle heat, minced scallions. If you’re using the avocado creme to dip, tuck chopped cilantro into the rolls for continuity. A perfectly decadent little pick-up for any get-together.

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature

1 (3 oz.) package goat cheese, room temperature

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c scallions, minced

1/4 c cilantro, minced

1 package egg roll wrappers

vegetable oil for frying

Mix together cream cheese, goat cheese, garlic, scallions and cilantro. Spoon 1 T onto one corner of each egg roll wrapper. Moisten edges of wrapper with water. Roll, tucking in ends, to form a cigar. Moisten last edge with water and press against cigar to seal. Fry until golden brown and crispy. Serve with avocado creme for dipping.

Avocado Creme

2 ripe avocadoes, peeled pitted and roughly chopped

2 limes

1 c sour cream

1/4 c chopped cilantro

2 T water

1/2 t salt

Toss avocadoes with juice of two limes. Combine avocadoes, sour cream and cilantro in a blender or mini food processor. Pulse until pureed, adding 1 t water at a time until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt.

Tags: egg rolls, garlic, goat cheese

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Little Bites, food excursions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.