Saturday, February 15, 2020

Site Review ~ Dinner, then Dessert, a Recipe Website

A cookbook on a table
Source:  Pixabay & Fotojet

The other night I decided I wanted to fix Egg Foo Young for my dinner, as I had some leftover ham to put in it.  I almost always order Egg Foo Young at a Chinese restaurant, as it is my favorite. Since one doesn't often 'eat out', I sometimes fix restaurant favorites at home.  

I have made Egg Foo Young often over the years, but, while good, it just never tasted the same as my favorite at a Chinese restaurant or Chinese Take-out. And I never knew why. So I decided to look online for a new recipe to see if I could duplicate my favorite. Much to my surprise, I discovered that I have been 'cooking' my version incorrectly.  I would beat the eggs and add the ingredients (vegetables, and  sometimes meat or seafood) and cook it all at once like an omelet.  Aha ~ THAT was my mistake.  I discovered you cook individual helpings like a pancake! 

When I did a Google search for a new Egg Foo Young recipe, I accidentally came across a recipe blog called Dinner, then Dessert, and I am SO glad I did.  The author is a trained professional cook who worked as a Private Chef for 10 years, and all the recipes on her site are her own. Not only are her recipes delicious, but her presentation is attractive and easy to follow and her writing is delightful. Her name is Sabrina Snyder. 


Meet Sabrina Snyder



Author Sabrina Snyder
Sabrina Snyder, Professional Chef
Author of Dinner, then Dessert
Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years. 

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches, before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef. 

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook a family's entire week of dinners one day a week, including all grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning up, and leave them with instructions on reheating each meal.

As a private chef, she cooked for private parties in family homes in the evenings.

Sabrina enjoyed this lifestyle for 10 years, until her life and kids became her priority and  she stepped away from other people's kitchens to stay in her own kitchen.

In  2015, Dinner, then Dessert became an online recipe website where Sabrina began posting recipes she had shared with clients over the years. 

In addition, she still has private chef clients she cooks for.  Sabrina treasures her distinction of being a trained professional  chef. 


Sabrina's Egg Foo Young Recipe



Egg Foo Young on a plate of rice
Sabrina Snyder's Egg Foo Young Recipe
Sabrina's Photo from Dinner, then Dessert

Egg Foo Young is a Chinese egg omelet dish made with  vegetables with an easy gravy topping. I share her recipe here:

Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Chinese

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total  Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

8 eggs
½ onion, chopped
½ cut carrots (chopped and steamed)
¼ cup green peas
½ cut green bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup bean sprouts, cut in half
½ cup mushrooms
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil, divided

Instructions:


  1. Add the eggs, onion, mushrooms, bell pepper,  bean sprouts and soy sauce together in a bowl and whisk to combine.
  2. In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon sesame oil at a time for each pancake you cook on medium heat.
  3. Add about 1/3 cup of mixture per pancake and cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the second side.


Egg Foo Young Gravy

1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Add everything to a small sauce pan and whisk well before the liquid heats up.  Cook and whisk until thickened. 


Recipe Notes from Sabrina about this Egg Foo Young Dish:



Egg Foo Young is sort of the classic leftovers meal made into a restaurant favorite. At our local Chinese restaurant the classic egg version of the dish comes out with a different assortment of ingredients mixed in almost every time we go.
I’ve asked our favorite waiter (who puts up with our circus of a family) why the fillings change and he explained to me that Egg Foo Young is a leftovers recipe and that when they have more or less of certain vegetables they just adjust the filling to what they have.


My Recipe Notes:



A collage of my version of Egg Foo Young from Sabrina's Dinner, then Dessert site
Cooking my version of Egg Foo Young
from Sabrina's Dinner, then Dessert site
Photos by Wednesday Elf, using a Fotojet collage

Following what Sabrina learned  about this Egg Foo Young recipe filling being adjusted, I made my recent version using only fresh mushrooms, diced onions and ham diced up from a leftover ham slice. I briefly sauteed the ham, onions and mushrooms in butter prior to adding them to the egg mixture.

I used only 3 eggs and cooked my pancakes one at a time in a small pan, as I was only making enough for myself. I chose NOT to make the gravy, as I like my Egg Foo Young plain. 

I then served the Egg Foo Young pancakes on rice. The  image below is of my result. YUM!


My egg foo young dinner
My Egg Foo Young Dinner

PS: In addition to learning the proper way to COOK this dish as pancakes, I think the other secret to getting homemade Egg Foo Young to taste more like a Chinese restaurant version is using sesame oil to cook it in. 


Site Review Summary


Having now discovered this delightful online recipe website by Sabrina Snyder, I will be visiting Dinner, then Dessert frequently to try out several of her other delicious-looking recipes  from her Main Dish, Desserts, Appetizers and Slow Cooker lists. Her 'Easy Chicken Parmesan' recipe is already calling my name! 

Quick Link:

Dinner, then Dessert Recipe Website

For more Chinese Takeout dishes to  fix at home, check out this cookbook:






(c) Dinner, then Dessert Website Review by Wednesday Elf, written on 2/15/2020





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


12 comments:

  1. Pat. This sounds like a great site. I will check it out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I LOVE her recipes, Mary Beth. Looking forward to trying out more of them. Nice that you can print them out, too.

      Delete
  2. Sounds like a wonderful website created by an experienced chef. It is funny how a seemingly simple ingredient, like the sesame oil, can make such a huge difference in the taste of a finished meal. I enjoy learning new techniques in cooking when easy to follow instructions are provided. I'm glad you found a recipe that works for you. I, myself, would much rather cook at home than eat out. I know my hands, kitchen & utensils are clean and my ingredients have been properly stored. Sadly, the same cannot be said for a lot of restaurants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed my website review, Mouse. Fun to find unique recipes to try, especially ones by a professional cook. I have gotten into trying out different dishes lately and am happy to find a group of recipes to try.

      Delete
  3. Oh I think I need to thank you for this site review. I'm not a great cook (hubby doesn't agree with that) but I enjoy recipes that really wake up my taste buds. This sounds like a great resource for someone like me! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Olivia. Besides having great (and easy to follow) recipes, Sabrina has a delightful writing style that makes reading about the recipes great fun.

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  4. Since Chinese food is my favorite, I know I will be trying this recipe. Amazingly, I don't believe I have ever had Egg Foo Young. How can that be? You've given me plenty of food for thought and food for my next meal. Thanks for a delicious review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to be able to give you a good dinner suggestion, Diana. My favorite is SHRIMP Egg Foo Young. :)

      Delete
  5. You've made me very hungry with this recipe. I've never made this, not ever, but it seems I should try, because it looks soooo good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy to introduce you to a dish you've never tried, Barbara. Try it, I think you'll like it. :)

      Delete
  6. Looks great! I love those cooking AHA moments!

    ReplyDelete

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