Monday, May 5, 2008

All Wrapped Up

Spring is here! Picnics, boating, hiking - all wonderful family trips. Wraps make excellent travel food because you can wrap and roll for a speedy lunch that is virtually mess free. You can wrap your sandwich many ways including tortillas, pita bread, or even lettuce. I have seen white bread rolled thin as a wrapping. Crepes / pancakes make good wraps, too! You can roll your filling inside thinly sliced meat such as ham or turkey. Are you ready to wrap? Let's get started.

Buffalo Chicken Wraps
8 flour tortillas
1 pound chicken breast, cooked and cut into thin strips
1 cup bar-be-que sauce or hot wing sauce
2 cups shredded lettuce
4 carrots, cut into Julienne strips
4 stalks celery, cut into Julienne strips
1 cup blue cheese salad dressing

Directions:
1. Marinate chicken in sauce 2 hours or overnight.

2. Drain chicken and divide evenly among tortillas.

3. Divide lettuce, carrots, and celery evenly among tortillas.

4. Spread with blue cheese salad dressing.

5. Roll tortillas and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use.



Crepe Wraps
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup milk, divided
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
Vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Beat together egg, egg yolk, sugar, flour, and 1/4 cup milk with an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended.

2. Beat in melted butter and remaining milk to form a smooth batter.

3. Refrigerate batter 30 minutes.

4. Lightly oil a skillet or crepe pan and heat at medium heat.

5. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto center of heated skillet and quickly spread batter from center using circular motions with the back side of a spoon.

6. Cook until bottom is a golden brown. Carefully flip crepe to lightly brown the other side.

Crepe Fillings
Scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, salsa
Chopped chicken, pesto, diced red bell pepper
Pepperoni, mozzarella, pasta sauce
Smoked salmon, sour cream, dill


Ham and Cheese Wraps
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces sour cream
4 ounces shredded cheese, your choice (I like cheddar)
1/4 cup minced sweet onion
2 Tablespoons minced chives
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound deli sliced ham

Directions:
1. Combine cream cheese and next 5 ingredients in a bowl.

2. Spread cheese mixture over slices of ham and roll tightly.

3. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until ready to serve.

4. Cut into slices for appetisers or eat whole for sandwiches.



Great Greek Pitas
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash freshly ground pepper
1 pound beef sirloin steak, cut into 1/4 inch thick strips
1 Tablespoon butter

4 or 5 pitas or bread envelopes (recipe follows)

2 cups chopped lettuce
1 large tomato, diced
1 small cucumber, diced
1 cup sour cream with chives

Directions:
1. Combine wine, oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cut steak into strips 2 inches long and 1/4 inch wide. Pour wine mixture over steak and marinate in fridge 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

2. Drain steak. Melt butter in medium size skillet. Cook half of the steak at a time, 2 - 3 minutes, stirring to brown evenly.

3. Stuff pita or bread envelopes with beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber. Top with sour cream.

Bread Envelopes
3 1/2 - 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 package active dry yeast
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1 1/2 cups flour and yeast.

2. Combine remaining ingredients with 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees).

3. Combine oil mixture with flour mixture and beat on low speed of electric mixer for 1/2 minute, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. By hand, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough.

4. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead till smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover and let rise 45 minutes.

5. Punch dough down and divide into 12 equal parts. Shape into balls. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

6. Roll each ball on lightly floured surface to a 5 inch circle; roll from center out, do not roll back and forth. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Cover and let rest 20 - 30 minutes.

7. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes or until puffed and brown. Can be frozen until ready to use.

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