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Cuppylicious!, Ethnic Foods, Sauces and Dips, Thai, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Thai Pepper Dip

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Universal Thai Dip - fish sauce and peppers

Total time: Less than 5 minutes.

4 Tbsp soy sauce (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Substitute fish sauce for soy sauce and Thai dragon (bird’s eye) chili for the dried red chili.

Cuppylicious!, Sauces and Dips, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Tamarind Dip

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Tamarind Dip

Total time: 5 minutes.

4 Tbsp tamarind paste (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)
1 Tbsp brown or white sugar, or to taste (about 5 mls)
2 Tbsp minced cilantro
1/4 tsp ground coriander

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Cuppylicious!, Ethnic Foods, Mexican, Sauces and Dips, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Chipotle Cream Cheese Sauce

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Chipotle-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Sauce

Total time: Approximately 20 minutes, plus optional chill time.

1/2 cup onion
1 jalapeno
2 cloves garlic
3/4 c heavy cream
2 T cream cheese, softened
1-2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 T ground chipotle powder
1 T tomato paste
1 T red wine vinegar
1 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cumin

Mince onion, jalapeno, and garlic separately or together.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and saute onions until they start to turn clear. Add the jalapeno and garlic and saute until soft. Add all of the other remaining ingredients except cream and cream cheese. Mix until smooth.

Reduce heat to low. Slowly add cream cheese, mix until smooth. Slowly add the cream. Simmer on low for 5 minutes.

Serve warm or chilled. If you plan to use this as a marinade, chill completely before use.

Make it a dip: Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese at the end and mix well.

Breads and Desserts, Candy, Cuppylicious!

Fudge I

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Soft Fudge

Total time: 4 hours.

2 cups white sugar
2 cups miniature marshmallows
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 ounces evaporated milk
4 T butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, toss together chocolate chips and marshmallows. Set aside. Lightly butter or spray the bottom of an 8 x 8 pan. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, salt, milk and butter. Bring to a boil. The contents will DOUBLE IN SIZE when it’s at a “boil”, so be prepared that your pan is large enough to handle it. Start your timer from there.

Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add vanilla and mix well.

Pour boiled mixture on top of chocolate and marshmallows. Mix really well for 3-5 minutes or however long it takes for the “glossy” look to fade from the chocolate. (It’ll look shiny at first, but the more you stir [or mix on low to medium speed], the more it’ll take on a faded look.)

Scoop contents into 8×8 dish. Spread evenly across the pan and pat down to make it as even as possible. Chill for 3-4 hours before cutting.

I’ve been trying to avoid corn syrup anything the last 10 years of my life. It’s been that long or more since I last made fudge.

This is my first attempt at fudge without marshmallow creme. Unfortunately, I thought it would make enough to put at least an inch on the bottom of my 9 x 13 lasagna dish – not so much; it maybe sticks up half an inch off the bottom of my glass pan.

This is definitely the sort of soft fudge you’d want in the middle layer of a decadent cake or inside truffles – but not chop up and hand out at Christmas. It is, also, perfect for making chocolate fondue. (Set your pot on low and add milk until you reach the desired consistency.)

Looking for peanut butter fudge? Click here.

Crock-pot Cookin', Cuppylicious!, Meat, Sauces and Dips

Barbecue Sauce IV

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Barbecue Sauce on Pulled Pork

Total time: 8 minutes.

1/2 onion, quartered
1 tomato, quartered
2 serrano peppers
1 clove garlic
1/3 c molasses
1/4 c ketchup
1/4 c red wine vinegar
2 T horseradish mustard
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Blend the first four ingredients into a fine puree or until smooth. Stir in the other ingredients and mix well. Ready for dipping or cooking.

Shown here after sitting in the crockpot all day for pulled pork sandwiches.

The sweetness and flavor was exactly what I was looking for, but it needed a little more heat. I originally did this with one serrano. If I could “do-over”, I’d add a second one, so I’ve updated the recipe to match my taste.

Breakfast, Cuppylicious!, Meat, Pork, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Crusty Breakfast

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Large and in charge breakfast pastry!

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.

Total time: 2 hours, plus 1-24 hour chill time

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.

Breakfast en croûte!

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.

Cuppylicious!, Ethnic Foods, Indian, Meat, Poultry

Chicken Saag

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Chicken Saag with rice and naan

Total time: Approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Adapted from 1,000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra.

2-4 chicken breasts, quartered
2 small bunches fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
4 quarter-sized peeled fresh ginger root + one 1-inch piece peeled fresh ginger root, julienned
3 large cloves fresh garlic, peeled + 1 clove minced
1/4 c water
1/4 c plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp melted ghee (or butter)
2 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 large cinnamon stick (about 3 inches)
5 green cardamom pods, crushed lightly to break the skin
1-4 whole dried red chile peppers, such as chile de arbol (optional)
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
1/2 tsp ground paprika
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

On medium heat, cook chicken pieces until they turn white on all sides (or lightly browned) and the juices run clear (about 5 minutes, depending on how big your chicken chunks are). Set aside.

In a large pan, bring spinach, onion, ginger slices, whole garlic and water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the spinach is wilted (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool 5-10 minutes. Pulse lightly in a food processor until just minced (don’t make a puree!!). Return the spinach mix to the pan.

In a small pan, heat the oil and ghee on medium-high. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, and julienned ginger, stirring until the ginger sticks turn golden brown (about 3 minutes). Add the minced ginger, coriander, garam masala, fenugreek, and salt and quickly stir. Slowly add the yogurt (one dollop at a time), stirring constantly to blend it in with the spices.

Immediately after adding all the yogurt, add the entire yogurt spice mix to the spinach mix. Add chicken pieces to spinach mix, cover and simmer on medium-low for 25-30 minutes.

In a small pan, heat the remaining butter and cook the dried chiles for about a minute. Remove from heat, stir in the paprika, then lightly swirl into the spinach mix just before serving. (If you’re doing without chiles, just sprinkle the top of the dish with some paprika before serving.)

Shown here with homemade naan and plain white rice.

You might want to pick out the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before you serve this dish so someone doesn’t try to eat them; that’d be rather unpleasant.

I crushed my red peppers before putting them in the frying pan.

This recipe dirties up a lot of dishes. You could cut back on them by reusing your chicken frying pan to fry your spices, and you could probably skip the butter-frying of your peppers at the end, too. Just omit the butter entirely and add the peppers and paprika straight to the dish.

Breads and Desserts, Cookies, Cuppylicious!

Cinnamon Almond Biscotti

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Cinnamon Almond Biscotti

Total time: 1 hour.

3 cups cheap all-purpose flour (or 2 1/2 cups of King Arthur flour)
1 cup sugar
1 cup toasted, unsalted almonds
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tsps vanilla extract
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl, set aside.

Beat sugar and softened butter until smooth. Add eggs, zest and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix just until just blended. Fold in almonds.

Divide dough into two pieces. Form into long flat loaves about 1/2 inch tall and 12-15 inches long. Place the loaves 3-4 inches apart on a prepared or non-stick baking sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10-15 minutes (or until you can handle the loaves without burning yourself) on a cooling rack or cutting board.

With a serrated or extremely sharp kitchen knife, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, turning over once. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen.

I used slivered almonds.

Breads and Desserts, Cookies, Cuppylicious!

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Total time: 1.5 hours.

2 cups leftover steel-cut oatmeal
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened, OR 1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and both types of sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and egg, mix until smooth. Add salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mix until smooth.

In a small bowl, combine half the flour and all the baking soda. Gradually add flour mixture to the dough.

Continue to add remaining flour slowly. If your dough starts to become “dry” before you finish, stop with the flour and move on.

Mix in oatmeal. Fold in chocolate chips and other optional ingredients.

Spoon out dough by large tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie.

Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets before moving to cooling rack.

Super moist deliciousness. Was it the cooked oatmeal? The shortening? I’m not sure, but my cookies were super soft, whether in the oven for 10 minutes or 18 minutes. They looked “undercooked” when I pulled them out at 13 minutes, but I found that 13 was definitely the magic number.

Be sure to let these cool on the cookie sheet before trying to move them, and if you’re using chocolate chips, make sure your spatula is tough enough to scoop the cookies off without ripping them in half.

Cuppylicious!, Ethnic Foods, Pasta & Rice, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Sushi Rice

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Peanut butter, spicy grape compote, and apple slices

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to us by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen.

Preparation time: 1¾ hours consisting of :-
Rinsing and draining rice: 35 minutes
Soaking rice: 30 minutes (includes 5 minutes making the vinegar dressing)
Cooking and steaming time: 25 minutes
Finishing the rice: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups uncooked short grain rice
3 cups water
For superior results use equal volumes of rice and water

Sushi vinegar dressing

6 Tablespoons (75 mls) rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons (25 mls or 21 grams) sugar
1 ½ Teaspoons (6.25 mls or 4.5 grams) salt

Maguro Nigiri (browned tuna nigiri style)

DIRECTIONS:
Rinsing and draining the rice

Swirl rice gently in a bowl of water, drain, repeat 3-4 times until water is nearly clear. Don’t crush the rice in your hands or against the side of the bowl since dry rice is very brittle.
Gently place rice into a strainer and drain well for 30 minutes.

Soaking the rice

Gently place the rice into a heavy medium pot with a tight fitting lid (if you have a loose fitting lid use a piece of aluminium foil to make the seal tight).
Add 3 cups of water.
Set the rice aside to soak for 30 minutes, during this time prepare the sushi rice dressing.

Preparing the Rice Vinegar Dressing

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl.
Heat on low setting.
Stir until the mixture goes clear and the sugar and salt have dissolved.
Set aside at room temperature until the rice is cooked.

From the chopsticks, clockwise: California rolls, Seattle rolls, ebi nigiri, sake nigiri, tuna roll, maguro nigiri

Cooking the rice

After 30 minutes of soaking, bring rinsed and soaked rice to a boil.
Reduce heat to the lowest setting and simmer, covered, until all the water is absorbed, 12-15 minutes. Do not remove the lid during this process. Turn off heat.
Let stand with the lid on, 10-15 minutes. Do not peek inside the pot or remove the lid. During this time the rice is steaming which completes the cooking process.

Finishing the rice

Turning out the rice

Moisten lightly a flat thin wooden spatula or spoon and a large shallow flat-bottomed non-metallic (plastic, glass or wood) bowl. Do not use metallic objects since the vinegar will react with it and produce sour and bitter sushi rice.
Remove the dashi konbu (kelp) from the cooked rice.
Use the spatula to loosen gently the rice and invert the rice pot over the bowl, gently causing the cooked rice to fall into the bowl in one central heap. Do this gently so as not to cause the rice grains to become damaged.

Dressing the rice with vinegar

Slowly pour the cooled sushi vinegar over the spatula onto the hot rice.
Using the spatula gently spread the rice into a thin, even layer using a 45° cutting action to break up any lumps and to separate the rice. Don’t stir or mash rice.
After the rice is spread out, start turning it over gently, in small portions, using a cutting action, allowing steam to escape, for about a minute.

Fanning & Tossing the rice

Continue turning over the rice, but now start fanning (using a piece of stiff cardboard) the rice vigorously as you do so. Don’t flip the rice into the air but continue to gently slice, lift and turn the rice occasionally, for 10 minutes. Cooling the rice using a fan gives good flavour, texture and a high-gloss sheen to the rice. The vinegar dressing will be absorbed by the hot rice. Using a small electric fan on the lowest speed setting is highly recommended.
Stop fanning when there’s no more visible steam, and all the vinegar dressing has been adsorbed and the rice is shiny. Your sushi rice is ready to be used.

Keeping the rice moist

Cover with a damp, lint free cloth to prevent the rice from drying out while preparing your sushi meal. Do not store sushi rice in the refrigerator leave on the counter covered at room temperature. Sushi rice is best used when it is at room temperature.

* Tip: While the rice is draining, soaking and cooking prepare your rice vinegar dressing, sushi fillings and toppings.

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Thai Pepper Dip

Tamarind Dip

Chipotle Cream Cheese Sauce

Fudge I

Barbecue Sauce IV

Crusty Breakfast

Chicken Saag

Cinnamon Almond Biscotti

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies

Sushi Rice

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