The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by me, and I chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

I picked this recipe for the DC challenge because it’s what I was cooking some 8 hours after offering to be the last-minute host, three days before the challenge was to be posted. The focus of this challenge is to marinade.

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Thai dragon (bird’s eye) chili pepper
2 T ginger root, chopped (4 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 T fish sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)

Directions:
1. Cheater alert: If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic, ginger and peppers really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.
2. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.
4. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers.
5. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*
6. Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.

* If you’re grilling or broiling, you could definitely brush once with extra marinade when you flip the skewers.

Shown above with peanut sauce.

I also did this challenge using my trusty Pork Satay II marinade on tofu, pan fried (middle picture), chicken satay marinated in raita (shown with tofu), and the experimental but oh-so-wonderful TexMex Pork Satay marinated in a Chevy’s inspired chipotle and jalapeno cream sauce.

I also did all three dipping sauces suggested in the challenge (peanut sauce, Thai pepper dip, tamarind dip, with changes), as well as using the TexMex dip and my favorite raita.

The December 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croûte (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croûte) from Good Food Online. The key to the challenge was to cook with a pastry, and I opted for a thriftier alternative, breakfast en croûte.

1/2 pound regular pork sausage
3 large eggs
1-2 large potatoes, quartered (enough to yield 2 cups)
1 Tbsp milk
16 oz pastry dough, cool or chilled, divided

Boil potato pieces for 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Separate sausage into 2 uniform rectangular patties. Cook on medium heat until completely browned on all sides (about 10 minutes). Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat eggs with milk. Lightly grease or butter a large (>= 12 inches) frying pan and heat on medium-low. Spread half the egg mixture in the pan (you may need to tilt the pan to cover the entire area). Cook on medium-low for 2-3 minutes. Cover and continue to cook for 2 more minutes. Gently remove from the pan and onto a plate. Set aside. Repeat with the remaining egg mix. These are your egg wraps.

Grate, shred, slice or mash potatoes.

On a large, clean surface, lay out a sheet of saran wrap or wax paper. Place one cooked egg wrap in the center of the sheet. Spread half of the shredded potatoes evenly across the egg wrap. Press lightly into place.

Place one of your cooked sausage patties on top of the potatoes, as close to the center as possible. Wrap the eggs and potatoes around the sausage patty. Use the saran wrap to press and hold it firmly in place. Chill for one hour (or overnight!).

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Divide pastry dough. Roll the pastry out so you can wrap an egg-wrap in it completely (approx. 2-3 mm thick) and lay it on a buttered or oiled baking sheet (it may hang over the edges). Put an egg-wrap in the middle. If it has a thinner tail end, tuck it under. Now fold the pastry over into a neat parcel (the join will be at the top, so trim the edge neatly), making sure you don’t have any thick lumps of pastry as these won’t cook through properly. Trim off any excess as you need to. Make 3 neat cuts in the pastry to allow steam to escape and make some decorations with the off-cuts to disguise the join if you like. Repeat for the second egg-wrap.

Bake for 30-60 minutes or until the crust turns brown.

The more pastries you put on the cookie sheet, the longer it takes.

Whatever you do, don’t skip the chill phase; it’s really important to chill your filling completely before wrapping it in pastry.

To make a more glamorous pastry, you could brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg before baking.

I originally doubled this recipe and made 3 of these bad boys, but they were huge, and it took forever to bake. The second time I made 4 using a doubled recipe, and it was still a lot of food (and they were still quite large). I think I’ll use this halved recipe next time and only make two for the three of us.

I also did a silly little enchilada en croûte with chicken, black beans, and spicy red sauce.

Adapted from Amy Pollien’s Röschti.

3-4 large potatoes, shredded
1/2 c butter (or less), divided
2 Tbsp olive oil (or less), divided
1 c shredded cheese
2 full scallions, diced
4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

In a large mixing bowl, gently mix shredded potatoes, cheese, scallions and bacon.

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil and 2 Tbsp butter (or more) in a large and deep cast iron or nonstick pan on medium heat. Add the entire contents of your mixing bowl and press down firmly with a spatula.

Cook uncovered on medium-low heat for 12-15 minutes. Flip “out” your Röschti onto a plate or platter. Add another Tbsp of oil and 2 more Tbsp butter (or more) to the pan. Slide your Röschti back into the pan, uncooked side down. Press firmly and cook uncovered for another 12-15 minutes.

I quartered and boiled my potatoes for about 10 minutes, then cooled them for 30 minutes before trying to shred them. It wasn’t so bad.

I strongly encourage you to read Amy’s post instead of following my directions.

2 large chicken breasts, halved
4 slices of bacon
1-2 cups honeydew salsa
1 tsp ground chipotle powder
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 a lime, juiced

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine chipotle, oil and lime juice in a bowl or plastic bag. Add chicken breast halves and coat well. Set aside.

In a lightly greased baking dish, spread out the salsa evenly. Wrap bacon slices around chicken breast halves and place on top of salsa. Bake uncovered at 400 for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear.

Seen here served with Elise’s Spanish Rice and honeydew salsa.

1 lb pork
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, julienne sliced
3 Tbsp tamarind paste
2 Tbsp ginger root, julienne sliced or minced
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp sambal oelek

Heat oil on medium heat, add garlic and ginger, heat through. Add onions and cook until clear (about 5 minutes). Add pork and cook through (5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your pieces). Add tamarind and sambal oelek and coat everything thoroughly. Add carrots and cook one more minute.

Place cabbage evenly across the top of the pan. Cover tightly and simmer 10-15 minutes (depending on how crisp you want the cabbage to be). Mix well and serve.

I could pass this off as a Thai stir fry. Easy.

1 lb boneless pork chops
1 apple, cored and sliced
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ginger root, sliced julienne style or grated
2 Tbsp butter, divided by the number of pork chops
salt and pepper to taste
cinnamon and sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.

In an oven-safe baking dish, evenly space dollops of butter. Place the sliced ginger root on top of the butter pieces. Layer the sliced onions on top of the ginger. Place pork chops to cover the piles of butter, ginger and onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Lay apple slices on top of the pork chop piles. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Cover and bake 45-60 minutes (thicker chops may take up to 90 minutes).

I was halfway through devouring my dinner when JB asked if I’d taken a picture. Of course not; I was unable to resist the aroma.

1 lb pork
2 cups water
3 cups barbecue sauce

Makes 4 really big sandwiches (assuming the sandwiches are on hamburger buns).

I didn’t actually measure any of this. I made the barbecue sauce while boiling some pork on the stove in 1 quart of water. I poured out about half the remaining water and put the rest in the crockpot with my barbecue sauce and the pork.

Cook on high for 6-8 hours, periodically “mashing” the pork pieces with a potato masher.

Shown here on an onion topped potato bread roll.

I had this on high for 5 hours before I realized I had just way too much liquid. Ended up boiling it in a frying pan for 10 minutes to burn off some excess water.

Whatever the case, you want just enough total liquid to cover your pork while it’s cooking in the crockpot.

4 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
2 lbs Round Steak, Chopped/Cubed
8 Slices of Bacon (Thick cut)
1 Large Onion, Chopped Finely
Mushrooms (as much as you want!)
Peas & Carrots (optional)
1 Dill Pickle, sliced & diced
3 Tablespoons Cooking Oil (We like EVOO)
3 Cups Beef Broth
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup water

Cook steak, mushrooms, onions, peas & carrots in oil till cooked and sauteed.  Cook bacon in seperate pan till crispy; crumble the bacon and add to meat mixture.  Simmer for about 5 minutes; drain if applicable.  Add mustard till dissolved.  Place mixture in crock pot, add broth and cook on high for 6 hours (or 10-12 on low).  Once done, mix flour and water until smooth, then slowly add to thicken mixture. 

Best served over Egg noodles… mmmmm

1/2 pound ground beef
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 Tbsp sage
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp ground mustard

2/3 c ricotta cheese
4 oz cream cheese
4 Tbsp heavy cream, divided in half
4 eggs
pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Brown hamburger with onions, then stir in seasoning. Remove from heat. While that’s cooling, mix together your cheeses and 2 T of the heavy cream. In a separate bowl, mix together your eggs and remaining 2 Tbsp heavy cream.

Spread the meat mixture across the bottom of the pie crust. Dollop and then spread the cheese mixture on top of the meat. Pour the eggs and cream evenly across the top of it all.

Bake approximately 45-50 minutes or until eggs are set. (May take up to an hour.)

If you read it, you might recognize my seasoning blend from the Un-Sausage Cheesy Meat Wad recipe. It makes the hamburger taste remarkably similar to sausage. You can, of course, replace the meat and seasonings with sausage.

For my pie crust, I used half the recipe for Empanada Dough I. It was a perfect fit, and I could pull little pieces off and “reseal” anything that broke.

Cheesy meatloaves with the flavor of sausage. A great appetizer or finger-food dinner! (Name courtesy of JB.)

There’s no pork in this recipe!

2 cups Baking Mix
1/2 pound hamburger
3 cups shredded cheese
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp sage
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp ground mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add hamburger, cheese, and milk, mix well.

Shape mixture into one-inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes (I did exactly 20, and got some nice, soft, moist biscuity yumminess). Refrigerate unused portions.

Taste familiar? You can substitute 1/2 a package of flavored sausage in place of the hamburger and all those seasonings and get almost the exact same result! Or skip the hamburger entirely and make yourself a vegetarian dish.

Remember: The fattier your meat and cheese, the more oil you will have on your cookie sheet. I only buy 80/20 hamburger and Tillamook Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese, so mine came out how some people would say “greasy“, and I would say “wonderful”. I used the above recipe, and since I can’t measure an “inch” to save my life, I made 30 cheese balls that flattened slightly to make “wads”.

We dipped them in Yogurt Dill Dip. We’re thinking they might taste good in a pita with cucumbers and tomatoes.