Daring to do it: Braising

The March, 2012 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Carol, a/k/a Poisonive – and she challenged us all to learn the art of Braising! Carol focused on Michael Ruhlman’s technique and shared with us some of his expertise from his book “Ruhlman’s Twenty”.

When this month's challenge was announced, I have to admit that I wasn't overjoyed. Braising? True, it is a technique I didn't really know too well, but it was, according to my limited understanding, a cooking method which really works best for meats. Sure, Carol provided a recipe for braised fennel, which sounded interesting, but I am not a big fennel fan. I half-heartedly looked for recipes for braised tofu, braised veggies, or any other vegetarian braise I could think of. But nothing grabbed me. Then. Then we went to Florida to visit my parents. My parents have a Kosher kitchen. My vegetarian hubby was in another part of the state for a while. Opportunity seemed on my side, and I decided to finally go for it and do a meat braise!
One dish which my mother, daughter and I (yes, the 2 1/2 year old!) all wanted to try making while we were together was honey chicken. Little Girl loves to read, and in one of the books we have, the family eats honey chicken for Shabbat. Well, we all thought that sounded good, so we wanted to try it. So I did some searching for a honey braised chicken recipe. And in my search I found this: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2010/10/20/honey-braised-chicken-thighs-with-apple/ (sorry, blogger seems to be having issues letting me link. Still. Anyone know how to help?) While I can't say I followed the recipe exactly, I think the changes I made were minimal. (I didn't use chicken thighs, but two wings and two breasts - bone in; I didn't make the thickener, we just used the sauce as it was; I used apple juice instead of cider, since that was what we had...)
In pictures:
The ingredients:
The seared chicken:The sauteed apples and onions:

Everything together, ready to simmer in the oven:

The plated masterpiece:We were all very happy with how this chicken turned out! In my opinion, the amount of liquid was great because it allowed the tops to stay crispy which letting the rest soak. It I make this again (which I hope to, either with my parents again or using tofu) I will make sure to use skinless chicken, since I think the spice rub couldn't be fully appreciated by those of us who don't eat the skin, and I will let it simmer just a bit longer, to get even that much more tender.

Thank you, Carol, for making sure that I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new! This was a great learning experience for me, and it was amazing to see all of the creative braises our fellow Daring Cooks came up with. And, I think I will have to give the fennel recipe a try after the great reviews it has gotten!!

Do yourself two favors here - first, check out Carol's informative challenge write up so you can learn all about braising and see the yummy recipes she provided:

http://thedaringkitchen.com/sites/default/files/u11/35_Braising_-_DC_Mar_2012.pdf

Second, check out the beautiful braising my fellow Daring Cooks created!

http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/cooks

Daring to do it: Quick Bread

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

This month's Daring Baker's challenge was another one which made me think twice. At first glance, it looks too easy. Then comes the decisions. Ok, Lis gave us a real challenge - choosing what to make! The options truly are limitless..

My first offering was a strawberry-blueberry-oatmeal quick bread. I based the recip on the basic one in Lis' write-up with a few tweaks - including using part oats for that whole oatmeal thing...!

Next was a cranberry cornbread. I love dried cranberries, and Iwill add them anywhere I can. They were a fabulous addition to cornbread. Try it. You will like it!

Finally I wanted to do a savory quick bread. I had lots of ideas, but not enough follow-through. So finally I made a "bread" which I grew up with. Popovers. Though they sort of reverted to pop-unders, since they deflated before we were ready to eat them. They still tasted great. I really have to make those more often!

Lis, this was so much fun! I actually thought there would be more quick breads from my kitchen, but things just got away from me. I loved this challenge, and had a great time baking with you. It was amazing to see what the other everyone came up with for this challenge. I think you will think so, too... You won't be disapointed when you check out what the other Daring Bakers created!

Quick Sourdough Fix

Remember my wonderful new friend Eve? You know, my sourdough starter! I think I might be in love. I have been playing with her about once a week, and I am having a great time finding new recipes. Talking with my sister a week or so ago, about food as usual, we were discussing our starters and what we had or could make with them. I was trying to figure out things I could make same-day, rather than being good and waiting for things to rise and all. I stumbled across this website and knew I had struck gold.

My first recipe (and actually, the only one I have done so far... bad Ruth!) from the list was the Whole Wheat Sourdough Crescent Rolls. I love whole wheat breads, I love sourdough, there was almost no way this could go poorly!

The recipe starts off very basic - just like making pie crust or biscuits, fat (vegetable shortening for me) is rubbed into the dry ingredients. But then, instead of using milk or water as the liquid, sourdough starter is mixed in to make the dough. The recipe called for 2/3 cup of starter. All three times I have made them I needed closer to a full cup. But no big deal.

Once the dough comes together it is divided in two, with each half getting rolled into a 9 inch circle, then each circle being cut into six wedges. So far, this has taken... something like 6 minutes. I can handle this, even with the two little ones!
The wedges are rolled up from wide end to narrow, they are bend into crescents, then they are baked at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. That is it. In half an hour you can have yummy sourdough rolls...
And yummy they are! We all loved them. The taste, the texture, the ease, the convenience... I think this is our new go-to dinner roll!But then Auntie Twin told me what she did with half of her crescents - filled with cheese and peperoni. Ok, no peperoni here. But cheese? Heck, yes! Using what I had on hand, I mixed ricotta cheese, a touch of cream cheese, minced garlic, salt and pepper together and spread the mixture onto the dough before rolling it up.

They might not be the prettiest crescents you have ever seen, but my are they delicious! If you have a sourdough starter at home, and you are wondering what to make next, do not hesitate - make these crescents!!! Both of our families love them. (And, yes, I am thinking of dessert crescents. Cinnamon sugar and butter inside? Chocolate filled? Mmmm....!)

(and, again, I am to the point in my post where blogger won't let me link. But check out Auntie Twin's crescents here: http://cmomcook.blogspot.com/2012/02/sourdough-crescents.html)

Daring to do it: Patties

It's that time again... Ok, yes, it is Valentines Day. Love to all. It is reveal day for the Daring Cooks!

The Daring Cooks’ February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax & Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients and deliciousness! We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties!

When I joined the Daring Kitchen, I was psyched for all of the new, strange, exotic delicacies I would be learning about. Patties? Not what I expected. But really, why not? While it might not be "exotic" or even complicated, it is versatile, creative, and something which every cook should have in his or her arsenal.
The most well known patty, and the first one most people probably think of, is the hamburger. Well, not in this house... My mind went nuts, thinking of the different kinds of patties I could make. I was "disappointed" in myself, I only made four variations this month. And I only photographed three of them... (Sadly, the ones I thought turned out the best are the ones I didn't take pictures of. My last batch is a sad knock off... sorry!)
My first patties are actually something I had made a couple of weeks earlier to rave review, so I remade them for the challenge. Potato cakes:

These are mashed potatoes, cheese, eggs, bread crumbs and seasonings mixed together and pan fried to crispy goodness. I love potatoes, I love cheese, I knew these would be good... I know I will be making them again!

Next, home made veggie burgers:

Two kinds of beans (kidney and black eyed peas, if I remember correctly), shredded carrots, onions, egg, breadcrumbs, and the trusty "seasonings" mixed together to make something other than the boxed burgers we generally have on hand. These were good. I will have to keep playing with my flavors, though, since there are so many options, and I think I under seasoned these.

I next made collard green cakes. I had sauteed collard greens and onions together one night, and while I liked them, they weren't anything great. The leftovers sat in the fridge for a couple of days. Then, making dinner in a rush, I figured I could make some patties from what I had left - both to use it up and to add some extra veggies to dinner. Instead of bread crumbs I use matzah meal. These were amazing. Better than the plain collard greens in every way. I have to make these again. A lot.

Trying to replicate the yumminess with what I had, I made spinach cakes:

Except I was (again) short on time. So no sauteed onions, just spinach, egg, matzah meat and more "seasonings." Good, but not nearly as good as the collard green cakes. Again, I will have to play...! The insides looked good, though!

(I did find that these were better when the leftovers were warmed and topped with garlic and herb goat cheese...!)

Thank you, Audax and Lis, for reminding me and all of us Daring Cooks about how much fun we can have with something that is normally considered an everyday food. I had a great time with this challenge, and seeing the fun variations everyone came up with! You'll like to see what they came up with too... Take a look!

http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/cooks

Daring to do it: Scones (a.k.a. biscuits)

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

When I first saw this challenge I was kind of disapointed. Biscuits? Really? I have made baking powder biscuits before, and I enjoy them, but as a challenge? After reading through Audax's vast research and information, though, I was excited. He really showed the science and art of something so simple, and I wanted to see where I could go with it. I decided to use his techniques to see if they really would produce lighter, fluffier biscuits.
First was to tripple sift the dry ingredients. Not owning a flour sifter, I used my fine mesh strainer. Using half whole wheat flour, I was left with some of the wheat bran (I think that's what that is...!) in the sifter. I just dumped that back in, since the sifting was to lighten the flour, not to remove anything.
Then the fat was added. I don't use butter, keeping things dairy free. I use vegetable shortening. Aud recommended freezing and grating the shortening, so I did.
Then the liquid was added and the dough was worked together. I used soy milk for my liquid. Again, keeping things dairy free...

Once the dough came together I rolled/patted it out to the aproximate size I wanted. I do not have a biscuit cutter. Nor do I have a plain round cookie cutter. So I used my sharp knife and carefully cut squares. Into a very hot oven to bake, and ten minutes later I was rewarded with this:

Light, fluffy, yummy biscuits. But not as high as I had hoped. I was pretty sure, though, that I knew what changes to make in order to improve both my technique and my end results. So I made another batch:

Better! Vanilla scones this time, using vanilla soy milk and adding in sugar. Was I done there? Nope...!

Batch number three:

With dried cranberries. Yummy!!!

Batch number four:With fresh blueberries. I wanted to eat this whole batch for breakfast.

Batch number five:

hCheesy goodness. Shredded cheese and spiced added tot he dough. So good.

And batch number six:

Chocolate chocolate chip. So good. so very good...

So, for a challenge I wasn't sure was a challenge, there came six variations. And that's only what was made this month! The recipe Audax gave us is so easy and accessible, it is something that can be made at any time. And it is (as you might have noticed) so versitile!

Thank you, Audax, for giving us this fun challenge! It was great to play in the kitchen with you and all of our fellow, amazing Daring Bakers. Do yourself a favor and get inspired by looking at what they all came up with!!

http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/bakers

Daring to do it: Tamales

I love Mexican food. Well, at least the version I know here in the US... So when this month's Daring Cook's challenge was announced I was really excited.

Maranda of Jolts & Jollies was our January 2012 Daring Cooks hostess with the mostess! Maranda challenged us to make traditional Mexican Tamales as our first challenge of the year!

I have never actually made tamales before. Heck, I have never actually eaten tamales before! But it was something I had always wanted to try, and I was glad Maranda had given us the challenge. What I wasn't expecting was how hard it would be to find corn husks. Traditional tamales are made by steaming a filled corn based dough wrapped in a corn husk. It is like a little present on a plate... Except I couldn't find corn husks. I wanted to find an Hispanic market, but I had no clue where one might be locally, and I had zero luck when I looked in every other market or store I went to. I was able to find banana leaves, though, and I knew (I am not sure how) that those could be used instead.

Now came the hard part. See, I hadn't left myself quite enough time to make the tamales. None of the components here are hard -
the masa dough came together quickly, I had already cooked the black eyes peas, and the spinach and onion filling was cooked. I had even cut the banana leaves to size. But wrapping the tamales takes time. This is a task I highly recommend you recruit help for... I also found it hard to work with the banana leaves. True, I was trying to work "efficiently," but I kept getting frustrated by the ripping, separating leaves. Four tamales in I was ready to stop. But dinner still had to be made...

So I took the cheater's way... I put a layer of banana leaves on the bottom of a baking pan. Then I layered the masa dough, the spinach filling, beans and cheese. I topped that with the rest of the dough, covered the whole thing with more banana leaves and baked it in an oven. I did put two pans of water on the bottom rack to try to produce steam, as tamales tend to be steamed...

Then end result was something quite yummy. We all found it to be a bit dry on its own though, which I had thought might be the case. Since I didn't have any salsa in the house, I heated some simple tomato sauce. It worked really well.

Thank you, Maranda, for giving me the opportunity to finally try tamales! I am sorry I didn't do them the traditional way, but I do feel that I got a taste for them, and now I want to try again. Next time, though, I will make two changes - I'll make sure I have more time to assemble them, and I will make sure I have people there to wrap and roll with me!

I hope you take a look and see the creative tamales my fellow Daring Cooks came up with!
http://thedaringkitchen.com/blogroll/cooks

Apple Pickin'

Now that Little Girl is getting bigger, she is learning to play new and different games. When we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house a couple of weeks ago she discovered the game Hi Ho Cherry-o. She loved it, and particularly loved playing it with Grandma. When we got home, she continued to talk about it. She wanted to know when we could go back to Grandma's to play again. I decided that, while we didn't have the actual game, that shouldn't keep us from playing...! It was time to get to work. But, in order to avoid copyright infringement (or to make sure the two year old sees a difference...) I figured we should call our game something different. So instead of cherries I decided our game would use apple - and Apple Pickin' was hatched.
First we made "apples." Using sculpy clay we made four different colors of apples. Little Girl chose red, yellow and green, as she loves all three of those colors of apples. She then chose blue for the fourth color. Maybe because she likes it, maybe because she knows it is my favorite color, maybe because she wants to see blue apples... No matter the reason, we rolled and baked our clay and soon had four colors of apples ready.
Next it was time to design the game board. I had a shirt box left from gifts my girls had received, and thought that would be perfect - good size, sturdy cardboard, built in storage for game parts... I cut paper to the size of the box, sketched some trees and set Little Girl to work coloring. The problem? Her pictures were so nice and pretty (and unrecognizeable as trees) that I didn't want to poke holes in the, So while she rested I cut colored paper trees to glue onto the box. I felt bad, but I really didn't want to poke holes in her artwork... I used a hole puncher to mark the spots in the trees where the apples would "grow." I then had to poke corresponding holes in the box so that the clay apples would sit in the trees without rolling away (too much). Thank goodness both girls napped so I could use a screwdriver without worrying about anyone (other than me) getting hurt! Finally, the game board was done! Would the apples stay in the trees? Yup...! (I did have to make the holes a little bigger with a larger screwdriver so the apples wouldn't roll as much, but that was an easy fix.)
Now that the board was done and the apples were ready, it was time to play, right? Almost. We needed a spinner. I wasn't sure how to make that with what we have on hand at home. What I really wanted was one of those brass "Brad" paper fasteners, but I don't keep those at home. (I think I have only ever used them for arts and craft projects in school settings, so I never thought to have them here...) I suggested making a large paper die, but Little Girl insisted that it had to be a spinner. So we improvised. I drew out the circle, the options and an arrow. The spinner base was glued onto cardboard for strength. And the arrow? Held on with a sewing pin. Not as safe as I would like for my two and a half year old, nor as secure, as it tends to pop off if spun too strongly, but it is functional until I can fix it...
The end result? A fun knock off which Little Girl loves to play! When Daddy got home that night she wanted to play with him, when friends came over this evening she wanted to play with then... So much fun!

I am so glad Little Girl wants to play games, especially one like that which uses counting, taking turns, color recognition... And I am really proud of her for helping create her own version which she can share with her friends. I can't wait to see what games she wants to make next!