Daring Baker's Challenge, April 2010 - Pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Well, I searched high and low and couldn't find any suet anywhere. I still intend to find some and really try this challenge the way it was meant to be tried, but it got down to the wire and I had to make do with butter. I adapted this Very Chocolate Pudding, when by "adapted" I mean "I was lazy and made do with what I already had on hand without going to the store".

I left the measurements in grams because my scale will do both, so why bother with the conversion?

Ingredients:

120g butter (I used salted. It turned out fine.)
115g sugar
15g Nesquik (or other chocolate milk mix)
120g flour (I meant to add a pinch of leavener, but I forgot. Oops)
20g cocoa powder (This was all I had)
1 egg
(2oz milk, which I forgot to include. But I meant to. Include at your discretion)
90g chocolate chips, split 60-30


1) Cream the butter and the sugar together well, then cream in the Nesquik.

2) Sift together the flour and cocoa powder, and beat together the egg and milk.

3) Add the drys and wets alternately in a couple additions, beating well after each.

4) Stir in 60g of the chocolate chips

5) Butter a 1L bowl (or 2 1/2L bowls) and place the remaining chocolate chips on the bottom(s).

6) Spoon or pour the mixture into the bowl(s), then cover tightly with aluminum foil and secure with a rubber band.

7) Steam for 2 hours. Be sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the bottom of the pot (use a dishrag or a steaming rack).

8) Unmold and eat! Yum yum yum.

I made this chocolate one because my Monster is away for a few days, so I don't need to come up with something he'll enjoy too. Not that he doesn't like chocolate, but I like it much more than he does. I think sometime in the future I will do a pudding that is more to his taste, with strawberries... or perhaps orange... And if I can find suet, a savory one of course! I'm thinking steak, mushrooms, onions, perhaps potatoes.

Daring Cook's Challenge, April 2010 - Brunswick Stew

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf's Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

Wolf provided us with 2 versions of the recipe, a long way and a short way. Because I decided to use canned broth instead of making my own stock, I decided to go with the long way. I also halved the original recipe, because it's just the two of us and enough for 12 people is too much. Good thing, too, because even the half recipe made a whole lot!

Ingredients:
3 slices (about 2 oz) bacon, roughly diced
2 chiles of your choice (I used two random dried chiles we had in the pantry), whole if being removed, chopped if being left in
1/2 lb pork (not including bone weight) (Use rabbit if it's available and appropriately priced)
1 4-5 lb chicken, quartered, skinned, and most of the fat removed
1-2 quarts broth or stock
1 bay leaf
1 stalk of celery, whole or chopped
1 lb yukon gold potatoes (or other similar type)
2 carrots
1 can fava beans, drained - Traditionally, it would use butterbeans, but I couldn't find any at the store and fava beans are loaded with fiber, so it seemed like a good compromise.
2 medium onions
1 bag frozen corn (or fresh, but frozen is what I had available)
1 28-oz can whole, peeled tomatoes, drained of about half the liquid (I highly recommend San Marzano tomatoes. There's really no comparison)

Red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce to taste.


Directions:
1. Put your largest pot over the stove and fry the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving as much of the fat behind as possible.

2. Add the chiles to the pan and toast until fragrant, then remove to the bowl with the bacon.

3. Season your meat liberally on all sides with salt and pepper, then sear as much exposed surface as possible. Do this in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Don't worry if you can't get all of it. When each piece is done, remove it to the bowl with the bacon and chiles.

4. Add 1-2 cups of your broth to the pan and scrape the bottom with a spatula to get all the delicious flavor - that is, deglaze it. The broth will probably darken. Bring it to a boil and let it reduce by half.

5. Add the remaining broth, bay leaf, celery, potatoes, chicken, pork, bacon, and chiles, as well as any liquid at the bottom of their resting bowl. Bring the broth up to a low boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer for about an hour and a half, stirring every 15-20 minutes.

6. Remove the meat to a strainer. Remove the bay leaf, and the celery, bacon, and chiles if desired. I left them in, because why waste? But if they're not your thing, toss them out.

7. When the meat is cool enough to handle, pull it away from the bone and shred into pieces of the desired size. Discard the empty bones, then return all the meat to the pot with the carrots and fava beans. Return to a slow simmer, and simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes.

8. Add the onion, corn, and tomatoes. Lightly crush the tomatoes with the spatula once they're in the stew (or with your hands as you add them, but beware squirts!), and simmer for another 30 minutes.

9. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and tabasco sauce. Taste, and adjust the seasonings as desired.

I served this with no sides, just a warm slice of bread. You might also serve it with corn bread, or over rice like a gumbo, or with a crisp salad for a bit of a contrast. It doesn't really need anything, of course - it's got meat and plenty of vegetables, which are the two things I try to make sure go into every dinner - but the bread certainly didn't hurt it any.

Daring Baker's Challenge, March 2010 - Orange Tian

Ugh. This challenge, my first ever Daring Bakers' challenge, was a comedy of errors. I say comedy only because the damn thing ended up tasting so very delicious.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

I was so excited to do this one. I had to miss the challenges for January and February because we were in the middle of the move, so I was all fired up about the orange tian.

I did the marmalade first, a couple days in advance. That actually worked out very well, which only made my eventual demise that much more tragilarious. We were given the freedom to use any citrus, and I inevitably chose blood oranges. I love those things. When we were growing up, my mother would make us fresh-squeezed orange juice on the weekends, and for a few short, fleeting weeks every year we would get blood orange juice instead of boring old yellow orange juice. Mellower, sweeter, richer somehow, I jumped at the chance to use it in this recipe. And the oranges were bloodened... until they started blanching. Huh.

I had wanted to use a stick of cinnamon in the marmalade, to give it some extra flavor, but I forgot. Oops. It turned out pretty good, anyway. Filled a couple of small jars that used to contain minced garlic, with enough left over to spread on a warm roll. Mmm.

It gelled up a bit more than I like. I think in the future I would use less pectin, or cook it less. Or both.

On to the next part! The oranges and caramel sauce are supposed to sit overnight, but since I normally get out of class at 12:30 AM, I figured I'd just make them the following morning and let them sit during the day. Day, night, what's the difference really? I actually ended up getting out at about 10:30 PM, but even so, I was tired. 14 hour days are still tough.

Well. The segmenting went all right, though these were some finicky blood oranges. I had those sitting in a bowl, and went to put the sugar on the burner. Here is where things really started to go downhill.

The recipe said to melt the sugar and have it boiling, then to add the blood orange juice. I know better than this! At least, I should! But instead of hydrating the sugar like I should have, I put it on the stove and turned my back. And, bam, the outsides were caramelizing and the insides were still granular sugar. I tried to stir it around with a spoon and dump in my juice, but as soon as the cold liquid hit, it seized up and glued to the bottom of the pan.

Okay. New plan. Rescue the orange juice, and set that pan to boiling with plenty of water in it, to get the sugar off. Now, put some water in another pot, and measure out more sugar. Boil.

This went okay, but I think I did not boil it enough. I let it reach about 220, at least, that's what my thermometer said, but it was still pretty liquidy. I might not have let all the water boil off. Oh well. It was 220, and I poured the juice back in. Let it boil for a bit, to thicken slightly, then poured half over the orange slices. The other half went into a cup, to sit and think about what it had done. Or whatever.

I had ALSO wanted to spice the caramel up a bit, but I forgot AGAIN. Another oh well. It still tasted yummy.

So then I went off and sat on hold with the RMV for about 40 minutes before starting the dough.

We were given leave to use any pate sablee recipe, but as I don't have a favorite, I stuck with the one Jennifer provided. Well, with a minor modification - I halved it, and added some shakes of spices. Cinnamon, clove, allspice, and coriander. Oh, and slightly more important, I couldn't find our food processor. So I used the mixer. It ended up pretty much a pate brisee, and the little rounds smelled fantastic and were flaky and delicious, but I'm not sure it was as it should have been.

And then Monster got home, and we got started on taco fillings and margaritas, and our guest showed up, and dinner was omnomnom. We watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, then I went off to assemble the desserts, while the other two watched Archer. Man, what a messed up show.

The whipped cream had to be made. We had some cream, but it had frozen and thawed and the fat was kinda... goopy in the liquid. I hoped it'd work anyway, so I dumped it in the mixer, whisked it around, and added the sugar. And then promptly did another thing I should - no, do - know better than.

The recipe calls for 1 tsp of gelatin, 3 Tbsp of warm water, mixed together, and let cool. Well, I know that gelatin should first be bloomed in cold water, then heated (in the case of powder) or squeezed and added to something hot (in the case of sheet). So what did I do? I put the gelatin in with 3 Tbsp of cold water, then microwaved it hot... then dumped it straight into the whipped cream. Which promptly melted and completely fell apart. DUH. Whipped cream doesn't tolerate hot things.

So I sent Monster to the store for more cream, and decided the hell with gelatin. I'll make normal whipped cream, make it stiff, and that'll be good enough. I was running out of patience, you see, and didn't want to have to wait for the hot gelatin to cool down first. So I rinsed off my bowl and whisk, chilled them, dried them thoroughly, and whipped the new cream good. Added 1/4 cup of granulated sugar instead of the lesser amount of confectioners' sugar, and added more of the same spices to boot (cinnamon, clove, allspice, and lots of coriander). Whipped it nice and stiff, then assembled the tians and stuck them in the fridge. Not the freezer, you see, because our freezer is completely filled with bread and meat and other stuff. I just turned the fridge up to the max, and turned them around after 5 minutes for a total of 10 minutes cooling time. While it was cooling, I reduced the remaining caramel for a better sauce.

A spatula under the bottom, a plate over the top, flip, and success! Minus one orange. Put that on top and hope nobody notices. Spoon some warm sauce over, add a dollop of whipped cream, snap a quick picture, and serve fast, before the cream is melted by the sauce. Monster put a bite in his mouth and said, "Mmm! That is tasty!" Hurrah! It was pretty awesome tasting, I have to admit. But man, what a pain to get there.

Daring Cook's Challenge, March 2010 - Risotto

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

So. Risotto. I'd only ever eaten it once before, and I've never made it, so right up until it was finished I wasn't entirely clear on what the texture should be.

The first step to making risotto is of course the stock, in this case a chicken stock. I've made chicken stock before, but this time used leeks and allspice, and left out the carrot. I wanted to use leeks in the final product, so I thought the change would work well. Can't say that I think there was much difference - stock is stock is stock, really - but worth a shot. I also used a whole chicken plus drumsticks, rather than carcasses - needed the meat, also I couldn't find just bones.

So, chicken and bones go in a stockpot, bring up just to a boil, reduce to a simmer, add veggies and seasoning (whole peppercorns, allspice, cinnamon, bay leaf), and simmer for an hour and a half. Then I removed the chicken meat to a separate plate and let the bare bones continue to simmer for another hour. I think that was too long for the chicken - it was a little dry. Next time I'd remove it between 45 minutes and an hour.

After the bones are finished, they went into the garbage and my newly made stock was ready for the risotto!

Traditionally, the onion used to flavor the oil is discarded, but I love onion and hate waste so I diced it and left it in. So that got fried a bit, then the rice went in for toasting. Then the wine, until it boils off, and the stock, bit by bit. I got a picture of it while the starch was gooing:

Once all my stock was in, excluding the cup that goes in at the end with the other additions, I added some of the chicken meat, another chopped leek, and some trumpet mushrooms. And that other cup of stock, of course. Let that bubble a bit, until it was.. well.. done. No other way to describe it, really. And I liked the final texture. Not so gooey that it ran all over, but not so firm that I could really mold it.

And while all that was going on, I managed to steam some green beans and toast some almonds, then toss them together with some lemon juice. Dinner was risotto, beans, and some yummy strawberries. And everyone enjoyed it - even Dmitri KittyMonster, who snuck some when I wasn't paying enough attention.

Daring Cooks Challenge, January 2010 - Beef Satay

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

As Cuppy says, satay is a popular street food world-wide. Who wouldn't love marinated meat-onna-stick that's been grilled and dipped in sauce? Maybe if you're vegetarian, but you can totally do the same to tofu and vegetables.

We were permitted use of any meat we wanted, and could pan-fry, grill or broil. Not having a grill, I opted for broiling, and I went with beef instead of pork because we couldn't find any appropriate pork bits at the store.

I changed some things slightly in the marinade and sauce, to better compensate for our tastes - upped the garlic, because we love garlic, and approximated on the ginger, and used cayenne, chili pepper, and red pepper flakes instead of dragon chili. I also used the blender, because I am slightly lazy, so if you're not using that then mince the ingredients.

Marinade
1/2 onion, quartered
4 garlic cloves
~1 T ginger root (I didn't measure, just hacked off a smallish hunk of one)
2 T lemon juice
1 T soy sauce
1 t coriander
1 t cumin
1/2 t turmeric
2 T vegetable oil
1 lb beef steak tips

Put everything except the meat (duh) in the blender and let it run until all large chunks are broken up, but the marinade is still a bit chunky. Pour it into a zip-loc bag, drop in the steak tips, and smoosh around to cover them all over. Seal the bag, and stick in the refrigerator for several hours. I did this the morning of, and cooked in the evening.

If you are using wooden skewers, put them in a bowl of water at least 20 minutes before you plan to cook the meat. This allows them to soak up water so that they don't catch on fire while in the oven.

When your skewers are ready, slide them into the meat and place them over a glass baking dish (metal grilled insert optional; I opted to use it). Turn your broiler on (to high, if you have an option), move an oven rack to the second highest spot, and slide the dish into the oven. Broil for about 8 minutes, until just beginning to char, flip over, and broil another 5 minutes.

During the last five minutes of broiling prepare the sauce:

Peanut Sauce
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 T lemon juice
1 T soy sauce
1 t brown sugar
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t coriander

Red pepper flakes, ground chili pepper, and ground cayenne pepper to taste. I used a couple shakes of each.

Put everything in a sauce pan and warm until the peanut butter melts. Serve on the skewers.

I served this with rice and some salad, and my monster thought it was pretty good. No leftovers, so he must be telling the truth.

Chocolate Pistachio Quickbread

I'm a recovering picky eater. I used to have very strong biases against foods I'd never tried based purely on ridiculous standards, like the sound of its name. This doesn't really work very well when one is in the food industry, so I've been making a conscious effort to get past that.

That doesn't mean I'll eat everything - animal organs are kinda squicky, and excluding the occasional one all by itself, raisins are right out.

This post is about what changed my mind on pistachios. Not a complete 180, since I'd already conceded that pistachios themselves are a decent snackfood, but on other foods with pistachio in them.

Chocolate Pistachio Quickbread

(Note: It's called a quick bread, because like muffins and scones, it has no yeast and is chemically leavened. It is similar to a muffin in texture, perhaps a bit moister, but I want to call it a cake because it's really a dessert.)

Ingredients:
12 oz butter (This is three sticks for the average home baker)
12 oz sugar
2 oz pistachio paste
5 eggs
12 oz flour
1.5 T baking powder
1-2 T cocoa powder

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed - for those not familiar with creaming, use the paddle attachment (not the whisk or the dough hook) and let it smack the butter and sugar around for a while until they become light and fluffy. Once light and fluffy, add the pistachio paste and continue creaming until well mixed. Add the eggs, one by one, allowing each to be incorporated before adding the next.

Sift together the flour and the baking powder, reduce the mixer speed (so that flour doesn't ploof up everywhere), and gradually add the flour mix. Allow to mix until completely incorporated, but to avoid tunnelling, do not overmix.

Remove 1/3 of the batter to another bowl and mix it with the cocoa powder.

Grease loaf pans and line with parchment paper (or wax, if you can't get or don't have parchment). Fill about half full with the pistachio batter, then top with chocolate batter to bring it to about 3/4 full. Run a knife through the batter for squiggles.

Bake about 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or the internal temperature measures 190 degrees. Remove from the pan immediately and cool on a cooling rack to prevent the cake from getting soggy. Try to avoid eating all at once.

Pate a Choux

The usual use of pate a choux is in dessert items - cream puffs, eclairs, and other desserts along those lines. But as cool as it can be to make an eclair the first few times, it very quickly becomes dull. I can only really eat a couple, and they don't last long at all. Stick them in your fridge overnight, and in the morning you have soggy dough and gummy filling.

Instead, I much prefer gougere - a savory application with cheese and herbs and spices. Feel free to vary what specific additions you include, but don't increase the quantity too much - the dough can't rise right in the oven if there's too much cheese.

Ingredients
14 oz butter
1 qt water
Pinch salt
21 oz all purpose flour
14-16 eggs
7oz shredded gruyere
Q.S. chopped scallions
Q.S. cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the butter, water, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. You need to be sure all the butter has melted before the water boils, or your liquid proportions will be off, so either chop the butter into smaller pieces first, or keep the heat lower until it's all melted.

When the mixture is at a full boil, remove from the stove and immediately pour into a mixing bowl. Add the flour, and turn the mixer to medium speed for one minute (using a paddle attachment), or until the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees (Fahrenheit, as will be all temperatures I use). If mixing by hand, use a wooden spoon and mix until the temperature reaches 160.

Begin adding in eggs in twos. Wait for each addition to be incorporated before adding more. The number of eggs needed may vary based on temperature and humidity. When finished, the dough will be smooth and shiny and really not like a dough at all. More like a paste. A sticky, gummy paste. I strongly recommend not trying any of it raw, because it's gross.

 Add the cheese, the scallions, and the cayenne (Q.S. means "Quantity Sufficient", or "to taste"). Fit a pastry bag with a round tip, fill with paste, and pipe rounds onto a parchment paper (Alternatively, you could probably spoon out lumps, but this stuff really is sticky and gross and will get all over anything. If you have no piping supplies, cut a hole in the corner of a zip-loc bag and pipe with that). Sprinkle the tops with any leftover cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the puffs are golden all over. If necessary, pull one out of the oven for eating testing. The cheese in the batter will make the insides seem slightly underdone, but as long as the outsides are completely golden, they're fine.

Serve immediately, or let cool. They're good anytime. These will keep for a few days in the fridge, in theory, though I've never seen that happen.

Note: This recipe makes a lot of puffs. I halved it for a group of 5, and served it as an appetizer along with stuffed mushrooms. I think they were more popular than the fried chicken entree, but either way there was nothing left at the end of the night.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm down with a cold, so yesterday afternoon I made some fantastic chicken noodle soup.

I must admit, I'm not that big of a snob when it comes to chicken noodle soup. I'm perfectly content eating the stuff out of a can or even dehydrated and in a bag. But others I know are not so casual when it comes to their soup, and here is the answer to their pleas.

I once made this for dinner, hoping that it could be followed by some nice cake (because when one is in culinary school, one occasionally brings home five cakes in a night...), and nobody (including myself!) managed to save room for any cake. That is how good this soup is.

Now, I like to start from absolute scratch, buying chicken carcasses and making stock, but you can use store-bought chicken broth if you like. I haven't been able to taste a difference in the final product, so the trade-off is time (4-ish hours for the stock) and money (broth is more expensive than chickens, for me, with the birds at $0.69 a pound, or $0.50 for carcasses).

If you want to make stock, it's really very simple. Put your bones and whatever meat you're using in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer. Add some chopped carrots, celery, onion (rough chop; these are just for flavor), a bay leaf, some sprigs of thyme, and some sprigs of parsley. Dried is an acceptable substitute if you don't have fresh. Allow to simmer for 3 hours.

So now that we've cleared that up, let's move on to the soup! Delicious soup!

You Will Need:
1 whole chicken, 3-4 lbs
5-6 cups broth or stock
3 carrots (or more, to taste)
2 sticks of celery (or more, to taste)
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic (optional; I usually leave them out)
2 bay leaves (more or less to taste)
3 sprigs of thyme (more or less to taste; if you only have dried, a couple shakes will do ya)
3 sprigs of parsley (more or less to taste; same substitution)
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne pepper (optional; my monster adores cayenne and will always add more no matter how much I add)
3 T butter
Lemon juice (to taste, I usually add about a quarter cup)
1 lb fresh pasta (or dried, if you can't get fresh)

So first, put the chicken breast side down in a large pot and pour your liquid over it, then toss in about 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring to a simmer and skim off any impurities that have surfaced - they usually look like very fine foam, like the bubbles in a bubble bath.

Meanwhile, chop the veggies into a shape and size you would want to eat. I usually do rounds for the carrots, dice the onions, and cut the celery into their typical quarter-moon shape. Bite-sized. Oh, and mince the garlic if you're using it.

When the chicken has simmered and you have skimmed it, add the veggies and the herbs. I like to add some black pepper now too, a generous sprinkling. Set your timer for 15 minutes and let it sit there and simmer away. It will start to smell wonderful.

After 15 minutes, flip your chicken over so the breasts are up and let it go for about another 25 minutes, or until fully cooked.

When the chicken is finished, pull it out of the soup and check the veggies. If they need further cooking, let them continue to simmer while the chicken cools on a rack.

Stir the butter into the soup when the veggies are done, and add some of the lemon juice - start with about 2 tablespoons. I also like to add more salt and pepper here.

Word to the wise - with this amount of liquid, it's very hard to overseason or oversalt it. If it tastes good, try tossing in some more salt. I bet it will taste even better. If it's bland, definitely add salt, and if that didn't quite do the trick, try lemon juice. Acids and salt are your friend - you could experiment with other acids like sherry if you want to.

If you're using fresh pasta, toss it into the soup now. If you're using dried pasta, boil it in water until it's slightly underdone (or al dente), then toss it in. It will continue cooking and absorbing liquid in the hot soup.

When you can touch the bird (I usually start a bit early and burn my fingers), pull the meat off, tear it into bite-sized pieces, and add it back into the soup. This is messy and kind of gross. Bones will be popping out of sockets, juices will be dripping, meat will be tearing... it's sorta fun, in a visceral kind of way, like a carnivore really enjoying its prey.

Now's when you make final tweaks to the flavor. Get some broth, noodle, and meat on a spoon and see how it tastes. Don't be afraid to add things and see if they help the flavor. You'd really have to add an excessive amount of any one thing to really ruin it.

Whatever you don't eat should be stored in the refrigerator, and keeps probably about a week (though in our house, it rarely lasts that long). If you used real stock, it will solidify when cold - the yummy gelatin rendered out of the bones will do that. Just reheat it and it'll melt down, and toss some hot water in if it's a little too thick.

Monsters of all ages and sizes will love it!

Testing

Testing, testing, 123