Challah (Daring Bakers Challenge May 2012)

May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

I love using colour within my fashion design, although I often end up wearing shades of grey to black, with a splash of pink or yellow…. I also like to incorporate a rainbow of colours within my meals through using lots of lovely vegetables and pretty vintage plates.

For this months challenge, I experimented with using different coloured strands in the braid, my first attempt resulted in a rather unappetizing play-dough effect using red food dye, somehow red bread just doesn’t work!  Switching back to a more natural approach, I used a mixture of wholemeal flour and white flour to create a multi-coloured loaf. My braiding could be worked on, but I’m proud of my end result despite the lumpy appearance!

Seeded Challah – forgot the egg wash, hence the matt appearance.

Steamed Challah – unfortuntely it stuck to the baking parchement

Multi-coloured challah – red food colouring & cocoa for the red+brown. The red wasn’t too appetizing…

Brown/white challah – finally nailed it! Still looks like a lumpy mess but this loaf was delicious!

Challah

Preparation time: As a general rule, challah takes about 4-6 hours from start to finish. This includes making the dough, at least two risings, baking and cooling. Specific recipes take slightly different amounts of time, and the first rise can be done overnight in the refrigerator if you prefer. Please read through the recipes for specific times. Following are approximates for most.
Mixing and kneading the dough: 20 min.
First rise: 1 ½ to 2 hours
Punching down, second rise: 1 hour (not all recipes have this second rise)
Shaping: 10 to 20 min.
Third rise (second rise for some recipes): 1 hour
Baking: 30 to 45 minutes
Cooling: 20 to 30 minutes.

Equipment required:
• Stand mixer with dough hook (not necessary, but it certainly helps!)
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Mixing bowls (at least one large and one small)
• Pastry brush
• Rolling pin (again, not necessary, but it makes a difference)
• Baking tray/cookie sheet
• Parchment paper
• Kitchen/tea towel
• Cooling rack
• Offset spatula (really helps get the loaves off of the tray safely!)

Ruth’s “Go-To” Whole Wheat Challah

(adapted from D’s Whole Wheat Challah)
Servings: 12

Ingredients
2 (.25 oz.) packages (4½ teaspoons) (22½ ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) dry yeast
1 cup (240 ml) warm water (100°F/38°C)
½ cup (120 ml) (100 gm) (3½ oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup (one stick) (120 ml) (115 gm/4 oz) margarine or unsalted butter – room temperature
2 tsp. (10 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) salt
3 large eggs
2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) whole wheat flour
2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) all-purpose flour
½ cup (120 ml) (50 gm) (1¾ oz) rolled oats (Old Fashioned work just fine!)
Additional flour for kneading (½ to 1 cup) (120 to 240 ml) (70 to 140 gm) (2½ to 5 oz)
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water for glaze

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Allow to stand about 5 minutes until creamy/foamy.
2. With paddle attachment beat 3 eggs, sugar, margarine (or butter), whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and oats into the yeast mixture. Or, if mixing by hand (ok, spoon), combine eggs and margarine/butter with yeast mixture until well mixed. Add flours and oats and mix until it becomes difficult to mix.
3. Once combined, switch to the dough hook and knead for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding flour as/if needed. If kneading by hand, this should take about 10-12 minutes.
4. Form dough into a round, compact ball. Turn in oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen/tea towel. Let rise in warm area (I put it in the oven with the light on) until doubled, approx. 2 hours.
5. Once dough has doubled, punch down. Recover with towel, allow to rise again for an hour, but even 30 minutes will be fine if you’re in a hurry.
6. Punch the dough down again, divide in two.
7. Shape each half as desired (3, 4 or 6 strand braid, rolls, etc.). Place shaped loaves onto parchment covered baking trays. Cover with the towel and allow to rise another hour.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Brush loaves with egg wash. (Sprinkle with vanilla sugar/sesame seeds/poppy seeds/other topping here if desired)
10. Bake 30 to 40 min. until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
11. Transfer loaves to a wire rack to cool before serving.

Challah (Honey White)

(from Tammy’s Recipes)
Servings: 2 loaves

Ingredients
1 ½ cups (360 ml) warm water, separated
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) (15 gm/½ oz sugar
2 Tbsp. (2-2/3 packets) (30 ml) (18 gm) (2/3 oz) dry active yeast
½ cup (120 ml) honey
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) oil (light colored vegetable oil, or olive oil if you prefer)
4 large eggs
1 ½ tsp. 7½ ml) (9 gm) (1/3 oz) salt
5 cups (1200 ml) (700 gm/25 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, plus more as needed (up to 8 or 9 cups total)
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water

Directions:

1. In mixer bowl/large mixing bowl combine ½ cup warm water, 1 Tbsp. sugar and 2 Tbsp. yeast. Allow to proof approximately 5 minutes until foamy.
2. To the yeast mixture add the remaining water, honey, oil, eggs, salt and 5 cups of flour. Knead (by hand or with your mixer’s dough hook) until smooth, adding flour as needed. Knead for approximately 10 minutes.
3. Transfer dough to a clean, oiled bowl, turn to coat or add a bit more oil on top. Cover bowl with a kitchen/tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours.
4. Punch down the dough, divide it into two sections. Use one half to make each loaf (shaped or braided as desired).
5. Place loaves on parchment lined or greased baking sheets, cover with a towel, allow to rise 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
7. Brush tops loaves with egg wash. (Sprinkle with seeds or toppings here if wanted.)
8. Bake loaves 30-40 minutes until done.
9. Cool on wire racks.

Easy Challah

(from templedavid.org)

Ingredients
4 cups (960 ml) (360 gm/20 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 cup (240 ml) warm water
1 package (2¼ teaspoons) (11¼ ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) package rapid rise yeast
½ (120 ml) (115 gm/4 oz) cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water

Directions:

1. Measure flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer) combine water and yeast, allow to sit 5 minutes until foamy.
3. Add 1 ½ cups of the flour mixture to the water and yeast mixture, beat until well combined. Cover with a dish towel, let stand 30 min.
4. Add two eggs to the dough, beat again.
5. By hand or with your dough hook knead in the remaining flour mixture. Knead approximately 10 minutes.
6. Transfer to oiled bowl, cover, let rise one hour.
7. Punch down dough, knead approximately 3 minutes.
8. Divide dough in two. Shape each half as desired (3, 4, or 6 strand braid).
9. Place loaves on parchment covered or greased cookie sheets, cover with a towel, allow to rise one hour.
10. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
11. Brush loaves with egg wash.
12. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees, bake until golden crust forms (about 25-30 minutes).
13. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Tags: challah, daring bakers challenge, recipe

Boeuf Bourguignon (Daring Cooks Challenge May 2012)

Bourguignon with extra veg!

Our May 2012 Daring Cooks’ hostess was Fabi of fabsfood. Fabi challenged us to make Boeuf Bourguignon, a classic French stew originating from the Burgundy region of France.

Boeuf Bourguignon cooking away…

What can I say… slow cooking makes a tasty dish! I made this dish twice as it was a good use for an undrinkable bottle of red wine – I know it’s not recommended to use plonk, but in this economic climate, I decided to try out the supermarket economy brand of Cote du Rhone. Bad idea…

Boeuf for round one, Agneau for round two. Slow cooking really made the meat deliciously tender, and filled the house with lovely aromas!

Lamb Bourguigon seved with noodles

 

Boeuf Bourguignon 

Equipment required:

1 large Dutch oven/Cocotte/Cast iron casserole, or an oven proof dish, possibly lidded, otherwise a double piece of aluminium foil will do the trick.

1 sauce pan

1 cutting board

Knives

Measuring cups and spoons

 

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

Ingredients for 6 people:

Ingredients
1 x 6 oz (200 gm) chunk of streaky bacon
Olive oil
3 pounds (1⅓ kg) stewing beef cut into 2 inches (5 cm) cubes
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
½ teaspoon (5 ml) (2 gm) pepper
3 tablespoons (45 ml) (1 oz/30 gm) flour
3 cups (1½ pint/720 ml) of young red wine. Suggestions: Bourgogne, of course, but also Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti, Rioja etc., depending on your country and your taste. Being Spanish, my choice this time was a good Rioja. It really has to be a good one but it hasn’t necessarily to be a very expensive one, you know, il ne faut pas exagérer
1 carrot, sliced (I prefer to cut it into chunks, but that’s just my taste)
1 onion, sliced in julienne
1 ½ to 2 cups (¾ to 1 pint/355 to 475 ml) of beef stock or beef bouillon
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) tomato paste or tomato puree
2 cloves mashed garlic
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (1 gm) thyme leaves
1 bay leave (Julia says it has to be crushed, I prefer not to crush it so that I can remove it at the end of the process)
The blanched bacon rind
18-24 small onions, brown-braised in stock
1 pound (½ kg) mushrooms sautéed in butter (Champignons are perfect for this purpose)
Fresh parsley sprigs to serve

 

Directions:

1.Prepare the bacon: Remove the rind. Cut the bacon into lardons (Sticks, ¼ inch thick and ½ inch (5 mm x 15 mm) long) and simmer everything in 4 cups (1 litre) of water for 10 minutes. Drain and dry carefully with paper towels.

2.Dry the meat cubes carefully with paper towels.

3.Preheat oven to hot 450ºF/230ºC/gas mark 8

4.In a fireproof casserole or a frying pan, sauté the lardons in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 minutes until they’re lightly brown. Remove them to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

5.In the same casserole/pan, sauté the beef until it’s golden brown. Remove it to the side dish where you keep the bacon and set aside.

6.Still in the same casserole/pan, sauté the carrot and the onion.

7.Return the bacon and the beef to the casserole. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, then add the flour and toss.

8.Place the casserole/dish uncovered in the middle position of the oven for 4 minutes. This gives the meat a lovely crust.

9.Remove the casserole/dish from the oven. Stir in the wine, stock, tomato paste, mashed garlic cloves, thyme, bay and the blanched bacon rind.

10.Bring it to simmering point on the stove. Now, if you were using a frying pan, discard it and put the stew in an oven proof dish.

11.Cover the casserole/dish (If your dish doesn’t have a lid, use aluminum foil and stretch it to the edges of the dish in order to minimize the loss of juices) and place it low in the oven. Adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers very slowly, it has to go on for 3-4 hours.

12.While the stew is cooking, prepare onions and mushrooms. For the onions: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan and sauté the peeled onions until golden brown. Add beef stock until they’re almost covered and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until almost all the liquid disappears and they’re tender but keep their shape. Set aside.

13.Prepare the mushrooms as well: Wash quarter and sauté them in 2 tablespoons butter. Keep on stirring until they’re nicely brown. Set aside.

14.When meat is tender, put the stew into a sieve over a saucepan, wash out the casserole and return the stew to it. Put onions and mushrooms over the meat.

15.Skim the fat off the sauce. Put the saucepan on the stove and simmer it for 2-3 minutes. Skim additional fat if it rises. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If not, boil it until it thickens. If it’s too thick, stir in some stock or bouillon to make it lighter.

16.Pour the sauce over the stew. Put the casserole on the stove or in the oven and reheat for 2-3 minutes. Serve it in the casserole with some sprigs of fresh parsley. Some goods sides are potatoes, noodles or rice.

Freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: You can keep leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you want to freeze it, it lasts up to 3 months.

Tags: boeuf bourguignon, challenge, Daring Bakers, recipe

Nazook & Nutmeg Cake (Daring Bakers Challenge April 2012)

Nutmeg cake with various toppings

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

Cocoa filled nazook

I’m not at all familiar with Armenian cuisine, I’d never heard of Nazook or Nutmeg cake but I’m glad that this months challenge opened me up to this! Nazook – a cross between a stollen or yeasted meringue cake – bready roll with a sweet filling. I have to admit I didn’t put half as much butter as required in the recipe – even a third made it tricky to knead. This month I received a rather expensive and special ring, I’ve been really careful not to get it dirty or to knock it around too much. I’ve never really been a ring wearer before so the sensation of having something on my finger feels rather alien, but I’ve got a lifetime to get used to this!  Kneading greasy dough was out of the question.

earth worms!

cocoa rhubarb filled nazook

My nazook fillings were – 1. cocoa, 2. ground almond 2. cocoa with rhubarb for a strudel like dessert. Nazook no.3 came out looking like an earth worm, ridged and oozing. Despite the appearance, it was rather tasty. I used crème fraiche inplace of the soured cream + butter, the dough was super light and springy.

Poppyseed nutmeg cake

Nutmeg cake was really yummy! I had halved the sugar but they still turned out super sweet. I made 4 different mini varieties and used rice flour + cornmeal instead of wheat flour. My favourite was honey roasted almonds with cocoa, although the poppyseed was nice too!

Preparation time: Nazook: Dough and filling preparation: 30 minutes. Dough chilling: 3-5 hours (or longer). Pastry prep: 30 minutes. Baking: 30 minutes.
Armenian Nutmeg Cake: Preparation: 30 minutes (20 minutes if using food processor). Baking: 30-40 minutes.

Equipment required:
Nazook:

1 large bowl

1 medium bowl

2 cookie sheets (if doing full recipe; 1 if doing half)

pastry brush

rolling pin, or empty win bottle

crinkle cutter, or a sharp knife

measuring spoons/cups

Armenian Nutmeg Cake:

1 large bowl

1 large cup

measuring spoons/cups

springform pan (9”/23cm)

standing mixer with whisk and paddle attachments (optional)

food processor (optional)

Nazook

Yields 40 pieces
 Ingredients
Pastry dough

3 cups (720 ml) (420 gm/15 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted

2½ teaspoons (12½ ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) (1 packet) active dry yeast

1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) sour cream

1 cup (2 sticks) (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) softened butter (room temperature)

Filling

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (210 gm) (7½ oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (340 gm/12 oz) sugar

3/4 cup (1½ sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) softened butter (room temperature)

2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Wash

1-2 egg yolks (for the wash; alternatively, some yogurt, egg whites, or a whole egg)

Directions:

Make the Pastry Dough
1. Place the sifted flour into a large bowl.
2. Add the dry yeast, and mix it in.
3. Add the sour cream, and the softened butter.
4. Use your hands, or a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, to work it into a dough.
5. If using a standing mixer, switch to a dough hook. If making manually, continue to knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl or your hands. If it remains very sticky, add some flour, a little at a time.
6. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3-5 hours, or overnight if you like.

Make the filling
7. Mix the flour, sugar, and the softened butter in a medium bowl.
8. Add the vanilla extract.
9. Mix the filling until it looks like clumpy, damp sand. It should not take long. Set aside.

Make the nazook
10. Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.
11. Cut the refrigerated dough into quarters.
12. Form one of the quarters into a ball. Dust your working surface with a little flour.
13. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle or oval. The dough should be thin, but not
transparent.
14. Spread 1/4 of the filling mixture across the rolled-out dough in an even layer. Try to spread the filling as close as possible to the edges on the short sides, but keep some of pastry dough uncovered (1 inch/2.5 cm) along the long edges.
15. From one of the long sides, start slowly rolling the dough across. Be careful to make sure the filling stays evenly distributed. Roll all the way across until you have a long, thin loaf.
16. Pat down the loaf with your palm and fingers so that it flattens out a bit (just a bit).
17. Apply your egg yolk wash with a pastry brush.
18. Use your crinkle cutter (or knife) to cut the loaf into 10 equally-sized pieces. Put onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
19. Place in a preheated moderate oven for about 30 minutes, until the tops are a rich, golden brown.
20. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Armenian Nutmeg Cake

Makes one 9”/23cm cake which yields 12 servings
 Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) milk (I use whole, but nonfat or lowfat should be fine; non-dairy might work just fine, as well)

1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking soda

2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour (I suspect pastry flour or another low-gluten flour might even work better to achieve a light, fluffy crumb)

2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) baking powder (I used single-acting, because it’s aluminum-free, and it turned out fantastic)

2 cups (480 ml) (400 gm/14 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed

3/4 cup (1½ sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) butter, preferably unsalted, cubed

1/2 cup (120 ml) (55 gm/2 oz) walnut pieces, may need a little more

1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons (5 to 7 ½ ml) (5 to 8 gm) ground nutmeg (try to grate it fresh yourself; the aroma is enchanting)

1 egg

Directions:

Directions – the Traditional Way (The Fast, Easy Way further down)
1. Preheat your oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.
2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder; that’s for the next step) into the milk. Set it aside.
3. Sift together the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl. One sift is fine
4. Add the brown sugar. Go ahead and mix the flour and brown sugar together. Or not.
5. Toss in the cubed butter.
6. Mash the butter with a fork into the dry ingredients (you can also use your fingers if you want). You’ll want to achieve a more-or-less uniform, tan-colored crumbly mixture.
7. Take HALF of this resulting crumbly mixture into your springform (9”/23cm) pan. Press a crust out of it using your fingers and knuckles. It will be easy.
8. Crack an egg into a mixer or bowl.
9. Toss the nutmeg in with the egg.
10. Start mixing slowly with a whisk attachment and then increase to medium speed, or mix with a hand whisk if you’re doing it manually. Once it’s mixed well and frothy (about 1 minute using a standing mixer, or about 2-3 minutes of vigorous beating with a whisk), pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until uniform.
11. Pour in the rest of the crumbly mixture. Mix that well, with either a paddle attachment, or a spatula. Or continue to use the whisk; it won’t make much of a difference, since the resulting batter is very liquidy.
12. Pour the batter over the base in the springform pan.
13. Gently sprinkle the walnut pieces over the batter.
14. Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 30-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is a golden brown, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
15. Allow to cool in the pan, and then release. Enjoy!

Tags: armenian, daring bakers challenge, nazook, nutmeg, nutmeg cake, recipe

Creative Recipes! Daring Bakers Challenge April 2012

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

The challenge was to pick one ingredient from each list. I’m not a Cauliflower eater so that was ruled out. I’ve never had chipotle peppers before, but managed to get hold of some chipotle paste – it’s true – it does have a chocolatety taste! Pretty fiery stuff also. Bought a bottle of Maple syrup for this months challenge – delicious! I have included the recipe suggested by the hosts, but ashamedly I didn’t try any of them. Well, I attempted the chipotle bbq sauce.. My recipes were:

Chicken Basque with mayple syrup, chipotle, and parsnip crisps.

Coffee hot cross buns with parsnip crosses, filled with goats cheese & banana. This strangely worked!

Steamed parsnips with chipotle bbq sauce.

Slow-Grilled Chicken and Parsnips with Chipotle Barbeque Sauce

Recipe Notes
Last winter, I developed a fascination for parsnips – they have such a unique flavor, and they’re very sweet when cooked properly. For this recipe, I wanted some way to balance out the sweetness of the parsnips, so I opted for a spicy chipotle barbeque sauce. Of course, I had to use a third ingredient, and I thought that maple syrup would make a nice addition. This recipe has a very smoky-sweet-spicy flavor to it, and paired with the slow-grilled chicken is just delicious.

Ingredients
2-3 Chipotle peppers
1 Serrano pepper
1/3 cup (80 ml) soy sauce
1/3 cup (80 ml) red wine vinegar
1/2 cup (120 ml) maple syrup
1 cup (240 ml) water
1 pound (½ kg) parsnips, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 chicken thighs
1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) (1½ gm) paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Remove the seeds from the peppers, and finely chop.

In a small saucepan over high heat, add peppers, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thick, about 45 minutes.
Sprinkle the chicken thighs with paprika.

Grill the thighs in a grill pan or barbeque over medium heat until cooked through, about 40-50 minutes, turning occasionally. Mark Bittman recommends cooking chicken thighs to 160°F/71°C; the USDA recommends 165°F/74°C.

When the thighs have about 20 minutes left, add the parsnips to the grill pan, along with the salt and pepper. As the parsnips cook, they will soften and increase in flavor – if you let them cook too long, however, they will become mushy, so if necessary, remove and cover the parsnips while the chicken finishes.

Spoon the barbeque sauce over the chicken and parsnips and serve.

Coffee-Marinated Flank Steak with Balsamic-Cauliflower Purée

Recipe Notes
I’ve heard of cauliflower purée before, but never had it. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of cauliflower, but it does taste better roasted, so I decided for this recipe it would be good to roast the cauliflower and then pair it with some other strong ingredient to mask the flavors that I don’t like. Balsamic vinegar seemed like a good option (though we also tried the goat cheese, which made a very nice – but totally different! – experience). Then it was just a simple matter of figuring out a good flavor to balance the sauce, and I finally settled on a coffee marinade for a flank steak. This was probably my favorite of the three meals here, it has a wonderful flavor and looks super fancy! It’s also pretty easy to make.

Ingredients
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil, plus extra for drizzling on cauliflower (An alternate non-flavored or mild-flavored oil could be substituted here)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (4 gm) instant coffee
1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) (1 gm) chili powder
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (8 gm) freshly-ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) (1 gm) cinnamon
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 pound (½ kg) flank steak
4-6 cauliflower florets
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk, plus more if necessary
2 tablespoons (30 ml) balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix the olive oil, coffee, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper in a gallon (4 litre) ziplock bag; add the flank steak, and make sure it is well-coated. Allow to marinate for at least an hour.

Drizzle the cauliflower florets with oil, salt, and pepper, and roast in a preheated moderately hot oven 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6 until lightly browned, 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven.

Remove the flank steak from the ziplock bag, discarding any excess marinade. In an oven-proof skillet over high heat, sear both sides of the steak (approximately 3 minutes/side). Then cook in an oven at 375°F/190°C/gas mark 5 for 15-20 minutes until done (rare steak is 145-150°F/63-66°C, well-done is about 170°F/77°C).

While the steak is cooking, in a blender or food processor combine the roasted cauliflower, balsamic vinegar, milk, salt, and pepper. Purée until smooth, adding extra milk if necessary.

When the steak has finished cooking, carve into thin slices, and serve with the cauliflower puree drizzled over the top.

 

Banana “Polenta” with Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Goat Cheese

Recipe Notes
My idea with this was to mimic a polenta patty with mashed bananas. The final meal was a nice balance of sweet and spicy, and the goat cheese complimented the eggplant and mushrooms perfectly. The amount and type of peppers can be changed to suit your preference for heat, but (as someone who doesn’t really like hot food) I found that a little bit of heat served as a nice contrast to the sweet of the banana. The egg white adds some additional protein to adhere the patty together, but it is not a critical part of the recipe.

Ingredients
1 serrano pepper (with seeds), diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon (15 ml) ( ½ oz/15 gm) corn starch (corn flour)
1 cup (240 ml) (4 oz/110 gm) dried bread crumbs + extra if necessary
1 egg white (optional)
1 cup (240 ml) (150 gm/5 oz) cornmeal (polenta)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot (eschalot), diced
1 eggplant (aubergine), sliced
2 large Portobello mushroom heads
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil, for pan frying
1/4 cup (60 ml) (55 gm/2 oz) goat cheese

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mash bananas and stir in peppers.
Add corn starch, bread crumbs, and egg white and mix. The mixture should be fairly dry and easy to shape. Some additional bread crumbs may be necessary, depending on how ripe your bananas are.

Prepare the vegetables. To do this, mix together the olive oil, garlic, and shallots. Brush the oil onto the sliced eggplant and mushrooms, then broil (grill) on each side for 5 minutes (10 minutes total), or until the vegetables are tender.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat up olive oil in a frying pan. Shape the banana mixture into 3” (7½ cm) patties, coat generously with bread crumbs, and then fry for about 2 minutes on each side.

Layer the vegetables over the banana and pepper patty, then top with goat cheese.

Tags: Daring Cooks challenge

40 days Supermarket-Free! My lenten vow reviewed…

After my account of the first 20 days, where I lapsed on a couple of occasions, the remaining 20 days zoomed past without even thinking about supermarkets. It became an automatic reflex to hunt out the local shop for certain produce. Grocery shopping became mores specific, I had items that I needed to get, so was not at all distracted by offers and promotions. However, I did end up buying what was available in the market.

Some more amazing local gems that I found:

Quality Butchers, Cowley Road – unusual cuts of meat at reasonable prices!

More fantastic offers to be discovered at the Gloucester Green Wednesday Market.

East Oxford Farmers Market – this takes place every Saturday in the grounds of a primary school. Eclectic range of food – spices from Somalia, French macaroons, award winning conserves and artisan bread.

Paul Rhodes Bakery in London – I’ve never seen such an extensive array of bread!

Green village grocery store, Cowley road – baklava in the window is very tempting, and the chicken is super fresh too!

Oxford Super Choice on Cowley Road, amazing selection of unusual flour on offer!

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Bank holiday Monday, I broke my supermarket fast with a trip to Waitrose, and I am afraid to admit that I really enjoyed this experience! I found sourcing certain produce challenging – fresh cream, decent margarine and reasonably priced wheat flour were the main things I couldn’t get hold of. However, I was in Tescos today and found the whole concept of it really depressing and rather soulless. I’ve decided to reduce the amount of time I spend in supermarkets each week to the bare minimum, and to continue to support local shops.

Dutch Crunch Bread (Daring Bakers Challenge March 2012)

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!

Where has march disappeared to? It feels like summer here in the UK, with temperatures reaching 19 degrees, students down Cowley road – flip flopped and bare legged, and the smell of barbeques wafting through the night air.

 

Dutch Crunch Calzone

I was relived to discover that this months challenge was quick & easy.  I’m going through a transitional stage in my life so have been preoccupied with plotting , planning & the usual procrastination.

I’ve always had a fascination with tiger bread, and now I can make my own! Luckily I have a big stash of rice flour already in my kitchen as I like to dabble in a spot of gluten free baking now and then, so making dutch crunch was a doddle.

I made dutch crunch calzones (filled with partridge & vegetables) and wasabi pea & poppy seed topped rolls. I normally have avocado filled rolls, but yesterday I created an apple & cheddar sandwich which was perfect for a sunny spring lunchtime.

Dutch Crunch Topping

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (2 packets) (30 ml) (15 gm/½ oz) active dry yeast
1 cup (240 ml) warm water (105-115º F) (41-46°C)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (30 gm/1 oz) sugar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (3 gm) salt
1½ cups (360 ml) (240 gm/8½ oz) rice flour (white or brown; NOT sweet or glutinous rice flour) (increase by 1 cup or more for home-made rice flour)

Directions:

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, as shown below, it should drip off slowly. Add more water or rice flour as necessary. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. Coat the top of each loaf or roll with a thick layer of topping. We tried coating it with a brush but it worked better just to use fingers or a spoon and kind of spread it around. You should err on the side of applying too much topping – a thin layer will not crack properly.
3. Let stand, uncovered, for any additional time your recipe recommends. With the Soft White Roll, you can place the rolls directly into the oven after applying the topping. With the Brown Rice Bread, the loaves should stand for 20 minutes with the topping before baking.
4. When baking, place pans on a rack in the center of the oven and bake your bread as you ordinarily would. The Dutch Cruch topping should crack and turn a nice golden-brown color.

Soft White Roll

Servings: Six sandwich rolls

This recipe approximates the quintessential white sandwich roll found throughout the Bay Area. The recipe is simple, quick, and addictive.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (1 packet) (15 ml) (7 gm/ ¼ oz) active dry yeast
¼ cup (60 ml) warm water (105-110º F) (41-43°C) (No need to use a thermometer – it should feel between lukewarm and hot to the touch).
1 cup (240 ml) warm milk (105-110º F) (41-43°C) (We’ve tried both nonfat and 2%, with no noticeable difference)
1½ tablespoons (22½ ml) (20 gm/ ⅔ oz) sugar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil (plus additional olive or vegetable oil for greasing bowl during rising)
1½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (9 gm/⅓ oz) salt
Up to 4 cups (960 ml) (600 gm/21oz) all purpose flour

Directions:

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 a bit 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. (The photo to below is with the first 2 cups of flour added).

3. Add remaining flour a quarter cup at time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, as shown in the photo below (For us, this usually required 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 (see photo comparison).

6. Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 6 equal portions (if you’d like to make rolls) or 2 equal portions (if you’d like to make a loaf) (using a sharp knife or a dough scraper works well). Shape each into a ball or loaf and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (try not to handle the dough too much at this point).
7. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 15 minutes while you prepare the topping.
8. Coat the top of each roll or loaf with the topping as described above. While the original recipe recommends letting them stand for 20 minutes after applying the topping, I got better results by putting them directly into the oven.
9. Once you’ve applied the topping, bake in a preheated moderately hot 380ºF/190°C/gas mark 5 for 25-30 minutes, until well browned. Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.

Our finished products: Note the roll in the foreground on the left. This is what happens if you don’t put enough topping on the bread – no cracking! So be sure to load on the topping.

Tags: crunch, daring baker challenge, dutch, flour, recipe, rice, roll

Braising (Daring Cooks Challenge March 2011)

Pork Belly Braise with Caramel Miso

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”.

Unfortunately I failed this challenge – I didn’t have the patience to cook ‘low & slow’, opting for a higher gas mark & shortened cooking time. However, the resulting braises were tasty. I made a version of the Red Wine braised short ribs, minus the red wine, and the short ribs. Instead, I used chicken stock and oxtail. I didn’t have any tomato puree either so it resulted in a thin slimy soup instead of being luxuriously creamy. I also made the braised pork belly with caramel miso sauce – this tasted slightly better though I’m not too sure if I like pork belly…I also attempted a chocolate chili beef braise, courtesy of Heston Blumenthal for Waitrose. However, I substituted a few too many elements, and the dish ended up tasting horrible. Put me off chocolate for days…

Chocolate Chilli Beef Braise

Oxtail Braise

Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs:
Servings: 4

Ingredients
Canola oil, for browning the ribs (can use any mild to non-flavored oil)
Plain/all-purpose flour, for dredging
8 beef short ribs* or 3 1bs (1-1/3 kg) of your choice of meat
2 large onion, cut into a large dice
Kosher Salt, to taste
4 carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 celery stalks cut into 1 inch (2½ cm) pieces
2 tablespoons (30 ml) tomato paste
3 cups (720 ml) Zinfandel or other fruit-heavy red wine (you may use beef stock or a combo with water)
1 head of garlic, cut horizontally
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup (80 ml) honey (you may substitute 2 tablespoons (30ml) brown sugar)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (2 gm) cracked peppercorns
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) butter, for sautéing
1 pound (450 gm) mushrooms, sliced thin

Gremolata
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (1/3 oz/10 gm) minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (1/3 oz/10 gm) minced garlic
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (3/8 oz/12 gm) grated lemon zest.

Directions:

1. In a heavy ovenproof pot, add enough oil to cover the bottom about ¼” (5 mm).
2. Put some flour on a plate and dredge the short ribs (or your choice of meat) on all sides and shake off the excess.
3. When the oil is hot, add the ribs/meat and brown on all sides – you may have to do this in batches so as not to crowd the pan and steam instead of sear. You want to form a nice crust on the beef meat. There is lots of flavor in this.
4. Remove the ribs/meat and drain on paper towel.
5. Preheat the oven to very low 250°F/125°C/gas mark ½.
6. Drain off any remaining oil, and wipe pot clean.
7. Add a little canola oil to coat the bottom of the pot, add half the onions and cook over medium heat until the onions have softened.
8. Add a sprinkle of salt.
9. Add half the carrots and all the celery (refrigerate the onions and carrots for use later). Cook for 5 minutes – the longer you cook the vegetables and they caramelize you develop flavor – so you can brown them up.
10. Add tomato paste and stir around to heat through.
11. Place the ribs/meat in the pot – its ok if they go on top of each other now.
12. Add the wine (or stock/water if using) – 3 cups is just about the  then you can addJentire bottle and if it’s too early to enjoy a glass  the entire bottle!
13. Add the garlic – its ok for the cloves to be unpeeled but remove the outer layers.
14. Add the bay leaves.
15. Season with a sprinkle of salt.
16. Add the honey and peppercorns.
17. Bring to a simmer.
18. Cover pot with the lid ajar or make a parchment lid to fit.
19. Place in the oven and cook for 4 hours – go shopping, gardening, clean the house, surf the net – but you have 4 hours to enjoy!
20. Remove the pot from the oven and allow cooling. Remove ribs meat and place on a plate and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
21. Strain the braising liquid and allow chilling – then removing the congealed fat.
22. Sear mushrooms by placing them in a hot dry sauté or frying pan and cook for a minute or two each side, while pressing down with the spatula.
23. Melt butter in your braising pot.
24. Add the remaining onions and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes.
25. Add ribs and mushrooms.
26. Add the reserved braising liquid.
27. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until carrots a fork tender.
28. For the Gremolata, stir together the parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Don’t skip this part – the Gremolata adds so much to this dish. You can also use orange zest too!
29. Serve ribs with mashed potato, buttered egg noodles or polenta – garnish with the Gremolata.

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:
The ribs/meat may be prepared 1-2 days in advance. Ensure that the ribs/meat is are covered in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.

 

Braised Pork Belly with Caramel Miso Sauce:
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

Braised Pork
1 ½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (5 gm) coriander seeds
1 ½ teaspoons ( 7½ ml) (5 gm) black peppercorns
3 pounds (1-1/3 kg) pork belly (with rind)
Kosher salt
2 bay leaves
1 large onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, smashed with the flat side of the knife
1 cup (240 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
Canola Oil
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) scallions (green/spring onions),, chopped
Red Pepper – Flaked

Carmel-Miso Glaze

Easy Carmel-Butter Sauce
½ cup (120 ml) (115 gm/4 oz) sugar
4 tablespoons (60 ml) (60 gm/2 oz) butter

Caramel-Miso Glaze
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) butter
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (¼ oz/7 gm) minced shallot (eschalot)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) minced garlic
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (120 ml) pork braising liquid
¼ cup (60 ml) easy caramel sauce
2 tablespoons (30 ml) shiro miso
2 tablespoons (30 ml) red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon (15 ml) soy sauce
1 tablespoon (15 ml) fish sauce.

Directions – Braised Pork
1. Roast coriander and peppercorn in a dry (i.e. no oil needed) sauté pan over medium-high heat until fragrant – 2 minutes – and crush with mortar and pestle.
2. Preheat oven to very slow 250°F/125°C/gas mark ½.
3. Season pork well with salt, Place it fat side up in a baking dish.
4. Scatter the bay leaves, onion and garlic over the pork – add orange juice and cover the dish tightly with aluminium foil.
5. Place in oven for 6 hours or until pork is fork tender – you can do plenty of other things in these 6 hours! Enjoy!
6. Allow to cool in juices, then cover, refrigerate, at least over night and up to 5 days.,
7. Remove pork from dish, scrape off seasonings and cut into 12 equal cubes – at this point, it is a basic braised pork that you may use for a stir fry or sautéed until crispy and serve with a salad.
8. Coat the bottom of a non-stick pork with canola oil and place over medium high heat.
9. Sear pork pieces on all sides.
10. Add the glaze and coat the pork.
11. Plate – and garnish with scallions and red pepper flakes.

Directions – Easy Carmel Sauce
1. Put sugar in a small, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium high heat. Do not stir.
2. When edges turn brown – swirl to distribute – a small stir is ok – but make sure your spatula is heat proof. WARNING – sugar is very HOT!
3. When sugar is dark amber, add butter and ¼ cup (60 ml) of water.
4. Stir until bubbles subside – it bubbles quickly – simmer for a minute.
5. Remove from heat and our into a heat proof container.

Directions – Carmel- Miso Sauce
1. In a small sauté pan, melt butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add shallot and garlic and sauté till translucent.
3. Season with a sprinkle of salt and some freshly ground pepper.
4. Add pork braising liquid, caramel sauce, miso, red wine vinegar, soy sauce and fish sauce.
5. Bring to a simmer – cook for ½ a minute or so and remove from heat.

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:

The braised pork may be made up to 5 days in advance. It may be frozen as well. The caramel sauce will keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator