The Daring Cooks’ Challenge

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.

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, 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.

Breads and Desserts, Cuppylicious!, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Grape Wonton Dessert

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Spicy Grape Wonton Dessert

Total time: 4 hours.

The Daring Cooks‘ October challenge of phở and dessert wontons comes from Jaden of the Steamy Kitchen.

2 cups seedless grapes, halved or mashed
1/2 an apple, finely chopped
Juice from one lime
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
water
4 Tbsp flour, divided
1 egg, whisked (optional)
1 Tbsp butter, melted

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a saucepan. If necessary, add enough water to almost reach the top of the fruit (I used 1/2 c, but it all depends on the width of your saucepan!).

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes.

Mix 2 Tbsp flour and 1/4 cup of water until most or all of the flour is dissolved. Slowly stir into fruit mix. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until your compote feels slightly thick.

Cool completely. (I let mine cool on the stove for an hour, in a bowl on the counter for an hour, and then in the refrigerator for a third hour. You could probably pop it straight into the refrigerator and save yourself 90 minutes.)

Preheat oven to 350. Place one teaspoon of compote in the center of your wonton wrapper. Sprinkle compote with flour. Fold creatively, and use the whisked egg to seal them shut. Baste the folded wonton with melted butter.

Bake at 350 for 13 minutes or until golden brown.

I used my cupcake tin because I wasn’t sure of any possible explosions that might occur. 🙂 I could have probably used my cookie sheet and done 30 at a time instead of just 12.

My grapes were Concord grapes. I’m not really interested in revealing how many hours it took me to remove the seeds from four very large bushels of grapes. Let’s just say I’ll never do it again, and I don’t recommend you do it, either. #^_^# Just use seedless grapes or another type of fruit.

Yes, I’ve left out my version of phở, intentionally, based on a personal view that the internet is an oyster from which anyone may slurp the succulent meat.

Ethnic Foods, Indian, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Curried Garbanzo Filling

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Vegetable dosa with coconut curry sauce

The Daring Cooks‘ September challenge comes from Indian Dosas from the reFresh cookbook by Ruth Tal and Fresh Restaurants.

This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don’t be afraid to make a full batch. Can substitute potatoes for chickpeas.

Total time: Approximately 30 minutes.

5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Shown here served inside Instant Flour Dosas, topped with Coconut Curry Sauce.

Breads and Desserts, Cuppylicious!, Ethnic Foods, Indian, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Instant Flour Dosas

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Total time: 20 minutes.

1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

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

Coconut Curry Sauce

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Total time: 50 minutes.

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

Ethnic Foods, Formal Occasions, Meat, Pasta & Rice, Seafood, Side Dishes, Spanish, The Daring Cooks' Challenge

Spanish Rice with Mushrooms & Artichokes

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Creamy Rice with Artichokes, Mushrooms & Pasta Spools

Total time: 1 hour, plus sofrito and aioli time.

Adapted from Creamy rice with mushrooms, cuttlefish and artichokes by José Andrés, this recipe contains no fish or meat. Daring Cooks’ August challenge.

* 1 cuttlefish or substitute
* 2 Artichokes
* 6 Mushrooms
* 1 Bay leaf
* 1/4 c of white wine
* “Sofregit”
* 1 cup short grain rice (Spanish types Calasparra or Montsant are preferred, but you can choose any other short grain)
* Water or Stock (use 1 ½ cup of liquid per ½ cup of rice)
* 3-4 saffron threads (or ground turmeric)
* Allioli (optional)

If using vegan pasta, skip steps 1 & 2. Prepare your pasta according to directions, and add to the dish near the end.

1. Cut the cuttlefish in little strips.
2. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the cuttlefish in the pan.
3. If you use fresh artichokes, clean and cut into eighths.
4. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into fourths.
5. Add a bay leaf, the artichokes and the mushrooms to the cuttlefish.
6. Sauté until we get a golden color in the artichokes.
7. Put a touch of white wine so all the solids in the bottom of the pan get mixed, getting a more flavorful dish.
8. Add a couple spoonfuls/scoops of sofregit and mix to make sure everything gets impregnated with the sofregit (I’ve used anywhere from 1/4 c to 2 c).
9. Add all the liquid and bring it to boil.
10. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes in heavy heat.
11. Add some saffron thread to enrich the dish with its flavor and color. Stir a little bit so the rice and the other ingredients get the entire flavor. If you’re using turmeric or yellow coloring, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
13. Put the pan away from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.

Creamy rice with mushrooms, artichokes & pasta spools; this time, with more sofregit!

The first picture:
1. Vegan pasta loops shaped to look just like cuttlefish.
2. I cooked and ate my artichoke leaves and used the stock in place of fish stock.
3. I blended up my mushrooms in my food processor before adding them to the skillet (hence the excessive brown hue).
4. I’ve never owned white wine, and I found a “substitute” recipe that included lemon, vinegar and water.
5. I followed the instructions as best I could, and I used 1/3 cup of my sofrito because it tasted so awesome.

The second picture:
Steps 1-4 same.
5. I used 2 cups sofrito, and then I stirred in 1/4 cup of aioli.

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Thai Pepper Dip

Tamarind Dip

Chipotle Cream Cheese Sauce

Crusty Breakfast

Sushi Rice

Grape Wonton Dessert

Curried Garbanzo Filling

Instant Flour Dosas

Coconut Curry Sauce

Spanish Rice with Mushrooms & Artichokes

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