A Case For Philadelphia

You know how every home chef has their quintessential must-have specific ingredient or tool in their kitchen whether related to a dish or just because, well I have mines when it to Crab Rangoon and Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers.  We only had Asian night on occasion until recently which marks my second term in culinary school, and not just any culinary school I might add!  So, my friend, i'mma stop calling him friend and give him an actual name, his real name is Richard though some call him Ricky, Richardo, Big Rich, Daddy and Baby (that's my pet name for him).  For sake of my blog I will use my Baby interchangeably to reference Richard and my son Mica.  So, I made egg rolls for my Composition Class, 3.10.2014, where I had to write a recipe and optioned to cook, bring it in for some extra credit and opinion on taste outside of my family.  So after school, my baby asked me to teach him to make Crab Puffs.  I said, "oh, you mean crab Rangoon!", and so I ran to the store, excitedly, and got my ingredients for that and more egg rolls.  My key ingredient was the cream cheese.  I have been making this dish for so many years my fingers and toes would have to have fingers and toes for me to count them all, I always always always use Philadelphia Cream Cheese (R) and Nasoya (R) brand won ton wrappers, egg roll wrappers.  Philadelphia Cream Cheese is the best cream cheese ever to add to your recipe no matter what your concoction is.  I let mines come to room temperature and it's just magic!

After we ran out of won ton wrappers and egg roll wrappers, I stored the left over Crab Rangoon mixture overnight in our refrigerator thinking that I'll just make more the next day to use it up or just toss it out.  So, the next day comes and I have my friends’ son with me for the day, he was out of school that week for spring break.  He and Mica are in two different school districts, Mica's break came the week after.  We were in Katy at Sprouts, a grocery store like Whole Foods but cheaper.  Everyone in my Nutrition class at school raved about it, and said that's the only place they go.  I'll do a blog on Sprouts next.  Anyway, it had the Whole Foods vibe going on (Whole Foods was right up the street) and I was able to find good sized jalapeños and bought the whole lot of what was left from people picking through.  No Philadelphia Cream Cheese though.  We ventured to the surrounding stores and explored the area a little until we lost track of time and headed home to pick Mica up from school, still stop by Kroger's for snow crab legs, and Philadelphia Cream Cheese.  My baby gets home from Dialysis and starts mixing up the ingredients.  All of a sudden, I have an epiphany!  I asked him, "what do you think if I use the mixture for crab Rangoon in the stuffed jalapeño peppers?"  I said that, my mouth watering as I can practically taste it already.  He said sure, why not let's try it!  So I did, and it came out so damn good!!  OMG!  I have had lots of stuffed jalapeños but none of them good like this.

Well, I have met another stuffed jalapeño lover and she is in two of my classes this term.  She has a picture on her Facebook of her dishes and one of them was of jalapeños she made.  I commented and told her of my Crab Rangoon Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Jalapeños and she said she will try it.  Now, this is someone I'd say is a very good cook.  I haven't tasted anything she has made so my judgement could be a bit premature but from what I saw on her pages and from listening to her talk I believe I can trust her ability to make a mean meal.  I have found myself surrounded by wonderful culinarians, now that I can breathe, I can relax just a little bit more since my first term is over and my 4.0 GPA has been achieved.  I see what I just knew before.  I do hope that others can learn something from me, from my being in class with them and I definitely hope to learn something from them as well.  It's been said that success is being a blessing to someone in the room just because you're in it.  I feel blessed!  Wine tasting tomorrow!