The Daring Cooks April 2012: Recipe Roulette!

Our April 2012 Daring Cooks hosts were David & Karen from Twenty-Fingered Cooking. They presented us with a very daring and unique challenge of forming our own recipes by using a set list of ingredients!

List 1: Parsnips, Eggplant (aubergine), Cauliflower

List 2: Balsamic Vinegar, Goat Cheese, Chipotle peppers
List 3: Maple Syrup, Instant Coffee, Bananas

You may look at those three lists and say "how do those things even go together?!" I know I did at first. And then I sat down and really thought about it. I thought that maybe I could make something out of Maple Syrup and Eggplant. So I did a little research and found a recipe for Maple Grilled Eggplant that, surprise!, included balsamic vinegar AND said it would go well with goat cheese. Well, that sounded pretty good to me, so I printed it out and set it aside. Then all of a sudden, I was going home to Iowa for Easter vacation and the 14th was looming! Luckily we made this for dinner last night, so I was able to skate in at the deadline. Also, I hope that excuses the blurry photos. I was trying to get photos done quick & they aren't the best. Deal. ;)

We had a soft herbed flatbread (the recipe to which I will probably post later, it was pretty darn good!), and steamed broccoli flavored with lemon juice and garlic to go along with this meal, as well as a good bottle of wine. I was very surprised with the flavor combination of this dish, it worked out really well. It was looking a little cloudy around here yesterday afternoon, so instead of grilling, we broiled the eggplant, but it worked well anyway. 

Maple Grilled (or Broiled) Eggplant

adapted from a recipe of Chef George Schenk

1 Large Eggplant

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons maple syrup

sea salt

crumbled goat cheese to taste (optional)

1. Slice the eggplant lengthwise ¼ to ½ inch thick. Do not peel the eggplant. (The original recipe says to discard the side slices, but I kept them and cooked them along with the rest)

2. Lay the slices on a wire rack and sprinkle with salt. After about a half hour, when the salt has drawn out the water, wipe the slices with a clean kitchen towel. 

3. Whisk together oil, vinegar, maple syrup and salt and pepper to taste. 

4. Either preheat grill to medium heat and grill eggplant, or preheat broiler to low (put eggplant on a foil lined baking sheet.) Turn and brush eggplant with vinaigrette frequently. Grill or broil until golden brown. Sprinkle with goat cheese as desired.

The Daring Bakers March 2012: Dutch Crunch!

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!



Dutch Crunch Topping
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-110℉)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups rice flour

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk; beat hard to combine. The consistency should be like stiff royal icing- spreadable but not too runny. If you pull some up with your whisk it should drip off slowly. Add more water or rice flour as necessary. Let stand 15 minutes.
2. Coat the top of each roll with a thick layer of topping. Err on the side of too much- too little will not crack properly.
3. Let stand, uncovered, for any additional time your recipe recommends. For the rolls I made, I put them straight in the oven at this point.
4. When baking, place pans on a rack in the center of the oven and bake your bread as you ordinarily would. The dutch crunch topping should crack and turn a nice golden-brown color.

Soft White Roll
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoons salt
up to 4 cups all purpose flour

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer or large mixing bowl, combine yeast, water, milk and sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit for about 5 minutes (the mixture should start to bubble or foam and smell yeasty.)
2. Add in vegetable oil, salt and 2 cups of flour. Using the dough hook attachment or a wooden spoon, mix at medium speed until the dough comes together.
3. Add remaining flour a quarter cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (from  an additional 1½ to 2 cups of flour)
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
5. Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled (or more) in size.
6. Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 6 equal portions. Shape each into a ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 15 minutes while you prepare the topping.
8. Coat the top of each roll with the topping as described above.
9. Bake in a preheated 380° oven for 25-30 minutes, until well browned. Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.

Sauteed Portabella Sandwiches

4 Portabella mushrooms. Remove stems and gills, wash and wipe clean.1 ripe tomato, sliced4 slices mozzarella cheeseOlive oil

1. Heat olive oil in pan. Place portabella caps in hot oil, cap side down and allow to cook 1-2 minutes per side. 

2. Build sandwich in whatever order you wish. Really these are a simple, delicious sandwich that you can add different spices (think: basil leaves, garlic, parmesan cheese shavings, balsamic vinegar) but is pretty great in this minimalist form as well. 

The Daring Cooks February 2012: Pleasing Patties!

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!

The extent of my patty making experience prior to tackling this challenge was slapping together ground beef for hamburgers. Nothing else. Just ground beef. I couldn't imagine the vast, delicious array of patty types that existed. I did some research because I wanted to really try something different. I love this challenge because the possibilities really are endless and is only as complicated as you want to make it.

You may have figured out that my husband loves sweet potatoes. Any time a sweet potato is an option, he takes it. At Red Robin the sweet potato fries are the only type of fry that touches his plate. So when I saw a recipe for a patty made with sweet potatoes, I knew it was the one I was going to make.

There was just one slight snag- the recipe was written only in grams. I still do not have a food scale. And cannot think in grams. So when I saw "800g sweet potato"  I had no idea of how many to buy. Then the recipe called for a 400g can of lentils. The only lentils I could find were dried in the bag. I thought that's fine- the bag says how many grams is in it, I'll just eyeball it. Without realizing that when I cooked them in the water I was going to end up getting way more than 400g. So I made way too much of both ingredients for these patties. If you do make it, I can't tell you what the real amounts are if you're also not used to working in grams, but you're probably better at that game than me and won't mess it up. At least we really liked these patties, because there are about 10 of them in the freezer just waiting for a lazy night when I don't feel like mixing anything else up.

We paired these with freshly baked ciabatta rolls, and a generous slice of tomato. They were very delicious. I'm very glad we have some more left over (and that I don't have to turn my kitchen into the giant mess that happened the first time.)

Sweet Potato and Lentil Patties
with Sour Cream Coriander Dressing

For the Patties
800g sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
2 tablespoons of oil plus extra to fry
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
400g can brown lentils, rinsed
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups dried breadcrumbs

For the dressing
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons coriander

1. Preheat oven to 350°F, place sweet potatoes on a large baking sheet and drizzle with a tablespoon of oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes or until golden and soft.

2. Meanwhile, heat one tablespoon oil in a large frying pan over moderately high heat. Add onion, cook and stir for 5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and cinnamon; cook and stir for 2 minutes until fragrant. (and this is seriously delicious smelling!)

3. Transfer mixture into a bowl. Add lentils and sweet potato. Mash coarsely and season with salt and pepper. I actually ended up running the mix through the blender to get it combined. Allow to cool  enough to touch.

Seriously too much sweet potato and lentil!

4. Shape into patties. Place each patty on a square of plastic wrap, cover and allow to cool for 30 minutes in the fridge. (these patties can be stored in the fridge at this point for a day or so if you don't want to cook them all right then)

An out of focus view of my patty wraps

5. Place flour on a plate. Coat patties in flour, shake off excess. Dip in the egg and coat evenly in the breadcrumbs.

6. Pour oil into a frying pan about an inch and a half deep. Heat over medium heat (oil will be ready when a cube of bread crisps without absorbing the oil). Fry patties in batches for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden brown.

7. Combine ingredients for dressing in a bowl. Serve with the patties.