Daring Cooks July Challenge: Cod Poached in Butter with Powdered Flavors

When I first read this month's Daring Cooks challenge I was a little skeptical. It seemed way out of my element and not my style at all. I suppose that's why they call these things a challenge, hello! The challenge for July was based on Molecular Cuisine and was hosted by Sketchy from Sketchy's Kitchen. I have to take the time to thank Sketchy for taking me out of my comfort zone because it turns out I loved it!

The entire time I was drying and grinding the ingredients I kept saying, "I can't believe how fun this is!" While drying the herbs, fruit and vegetables takes some time, it is so worth it just for the aroma that filled my house alone. It also opened my eyes to the possibilities of drying food for preservation. Once I searched for dried cherries in about four different stores with no luck. Something tells me I'll be drying my own! When I dried the cilantro, it was nothing like the dreary green dried herbs I have in my pantry. It was bright, fragrant and so flavorful. Who knew? I had a great time with this challenge and it was a challenge for me. I have never eaten this way or even considered cooking in this style. So thank you Sketchy for pushing me to try something new. And now please excuse me while I go buy myself a food dehydrator.

Click here for Sketchy's original recipe and tutorial. The tutorial will show you how to poach the fish in a Beurre Monte (butter mixture.)

Here are my Recipes for the Powdered Flavors I used:
zest of 2 limes
1 bunch cilantro
1 mango, sliced as thinly as possible
1 red onion, sliced as thinly as possible
10 small red chilies, cut in half and seeds removed
1 small coconut, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. All of the ingredients will have to be placed in a single layer. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Place all of the ingredients on the baking sheets. Place the baking sheets in the oven and refer to the following cooking times:

*Lime zest-20-30 minutes, or until the zest feels dried.
*Cilantro-30 minutes, flipping half way through. After 30 minutes, crumble the leaves and stems with your fingers as much as possible, return to the oven and bake another 20 minutes or until the cilantro is completely dried.
*Mango-bake for anywhere from 4-5 hours, flipping the mango a few times.
*Red Onion-bake for approximately 2-3 hours, flipping the onions a few times.
*Red Chilies- bake for 2-3 hours or until the chilies are completely dried.
*Coconut-bake for about 2 hours. Watch carefully that the coconut is drying and not browning.

The idea with the ingredients is that they become dried enough that we can turn them into powders. Drying the ingredients in a food dehydrator would be optimal but the oven works well too. When all of the ingredients are dehydrated, place them separately in a coffee grinder and grind them into a fine powder. To make the powder even smoother and to remove any lumps, run the powders through a fine meshed sieve.

You will likely have leftover powders. Trust me, you'll be happy about that.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

While participating in the Eating Down the Fridge challenge, I found myself with a large head of iceburg lettuce. I don't know about you but there is only one way I like to enjoy iceburg lettuce and that is dowsed in ranch dressing but I didn't have any ranch. Consider this my first dilemma of the challenge. That's where The Pioneer Woman came to my rescue.

The Pioneer Woman and I had different reasons for needing to make homemade ranch dressing but the problem was the same. I was going to eat that iceburg lettuce with ranch dressing somehow, somewhere without going to the store. I just didn't realize that it would be such an easy problem to fix. Essentially we are talking about some mayo, sour cream and whatever herbs you have on hand. This recipe had Eating Down the Fridge written all over it. So my little hiccup became a revelation. I will never buy ranch dressing again. Not when making it yourself tastes so good.

Recipe slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
buttermilk, to thin to desired consistency
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dill, finely chopped
Dash worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon vinegar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour

Shrimp Alfredo (and a week of Eating Down the Fridge)

Well, yesterday was day 7 of the Eating Down the Fridge challenge. And although the fridge and freezer are looking cold and bare, and you can hear an echo in my pantry, I'm not stopping here. I have enjoyed this challenge immensely and will be exercising this theory on a regular basis. Something I realized while participating in Eating Down the Fridge is that while I am not a wasteful person to begin with, I can do better, much better.

The week went a little like this:

Day 1-Soba Noodles stir fried with red peppers, fried tofu, nappa cabbage and cilantro in a simple soy, garlic and ginger sauce
Day 2-Vietnamese Summer Rolls
Day 3-Beef Fajitas
Day 4-Coconut Shrimp
Day 5-Chinese Chicken Salad
Day 6-Lettuce Wraps

Yesterday's, Day 7, was Shrimp Alfredo. Not a bad week of eating if you ask me. I didn't miss shopping at all and it really forced me to get creative and be mindful of what I was eating. Overall Eating Down the Fridge was an excellent experience. I don't know what tonight's dinner will be but that's all part of the fun of it and I can really get used to this not running out to the store everyday thing.

P.S. Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians!

Shrimp Alfredo Recipe:
12 shrimp, shelled, deveined, cleaned and cooked (grilled, steamed or sauteed)
1/2 lb spaghetti or linguini
1 cup cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste

Heat cream, garlic and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Lower the heat to a low simmer and stir in the parmesan cheese. Stir the sauce until the cheese has melted into the cream mixture. Once the cheese has melted, season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. At this point I like to let the sauce cool slightly and place it in a blender pulsing a few times to make the sauce a little smoother. The blender step is not necessary but I prefer the consistency. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Once the pasta is al dente, return the alfredo sauce and cooked shrimp to the saucepan. Reheat the sauce and shrimp, add the pasta and stir everything together. If the sauce is a little thick, simply thin it out with a little of the pasta water or cream. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Serves 2.

Vietnamese Summer Roll

This week I'm participating in a fun challenge called Eating Down the Fridge. It's a week of preparing meals with things that you already have on hand, no grocery shopping. I am so down with this because I hate when things go to waste in the fridge and I hate grocery shopping. Well, I enjoy going to the Farmer's Market but I strongly dislike going to the grocery store so I was really looking forward to this. Yesterday was my first day and I stir fried some soba noodles with fried tofu, napa cabbage, cilantro and red peppers. It was good, simple and healthy. Can't go wrong with that. Today I made my favorite Vietnamese Summer Rolls. They are my favorite way to enjoy salad because I have a confession. I don't really like salad.

There I said it, I don't. I make myself eat it on a regular basis but trust me, it's not on my list of things I would eat if I didn't have to. Oh sure, there's the occasional time I actually enjoy salad but those times usually include some kind of creamy dressing or bacon or cheese (most likely all at the same time) but that kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Well, my not-so-secret anymore distaste for salad days are over thanks to the Vietnamese Summer Roll. Basically what we're talking about here is salad in a roll. Made many different ways, the Salad Roll is essentially julienned vegetables, fresh herbs, sometimes shrimp, chicken or pork, all wrapped in rice paper. These are so delicious that in the past few weeks I have eaten one for lunch and as a starter for my dinner almost every day. I am crazy for these rolls. They are so good that I feel guilty eating them, like I'm indulging in something I shouldn't be. That is my idea of a good salad.

So, day 2 on the Eating Down the Fridge challenge has been a success. I have no idea what tomorrow will hold. Stay tuned...

Recipe:
Here is where you get to be creative and basically use what you have on hand. You will need rice paper (found in any Asian market) and cooked rice noodles. In addition to those try any combination of vegetables such as: julienned carrots, peppers, mushrooms, bean sprouts, cucumber, radish, lettuce. And then any fresh herbs you have: cilantro, basil, etc. For a roll that is a little more hearty you can add cooked shrimp, chicken, pork or tofu.

Click here to see a short, simple video of how to make the actual rolls. It's difficult to explain. I was even confusing myself by trying. And no, the headless wonder in the video is not me :)

I like to serve these rolls with a dipping sauce from A Girl, a Market, a Meal:
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon chili garlic paste
1-2 tablespoons water

In a small bowl mash the peanut butter and hoisin sauce together with a fork. Mix in the rice vinegar and chili paste. Add a tablespoon or 2 of water to get your desired consistency.

Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Fresh Herbs

We eat a lot of BBQ in our house and I mean a lot. That's what happens when you live in a Country that has 8 months of Winter. Any sunny day you get, you BBQ. Yes, I did just say 8 MONTHS. Here in Vancouver we mostly get rain all Winter with a few days of sunlight, if we're lucky. Where I'm originally from it's around -30 snow all winter. Either way, we get frighteningly long Winters in Canada so our grilling season is extremely coveted. Okay, glad I got that off my chest.

Moving on, I've told you before about my husband, the BBQ Assassin, as he likes to be called. He is hands down the best griller I know. So naturally when the sun starts shining again, we don't waste any time. You can smell the BBQ in the air from all around the first time it remotely warms up. Grilled chicken is one of our favorites and my herbs are growing like crazy so it was a no brainer to pair them together. We decided to go with grilling a whole chicken so here I've included instructions on butterflying the chicken. The herb recipe follows the instructions. Happy grilling!

Place the chicken so it's breast side down. Using kitchen scissors, cut straight up through the backbone in between the legs.


Turn the chicken over and place your hand in the middle of the breast. Press down in between the breast bone, put your back into it folks, until you feel the bones break.


See how's it flat? Heavily season that beauty with salt and pepper. And I do mean heavily.

Next, preheat your grill to medium heat. Place the chicken on the grill breast side down over direct heat. Grill the chicken for about 10 minutes, making sure not to burn the skin. Flip the chicken over, move to indirect heat, cover and grill another 20 minutes. Create the herb mixture by mixing any combination of herbs you have on hand (I used 2 tablespoons each cilantro, parsley and chives) with 4 tablespoons olive oil and 2 cloves chopped garlic. Brush the herb mixture all over the chicken while it is still on the grill, cover and grill another 5 minutes. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees fahrenheit or when the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

The Daring Cooks Challenge-Potstickers

I'm sure most of you have heard of Daring Bakers. If you haven't, they are a group of ridiculously talented food bloggers who are brave enough to participate in baking challenges once a month. That is not me. Yes, I do bake but my baking skill level is fine, definitely not "daring." Daring Cooks on the other hand? Count me in! I recently joined The Daring Kitchen and was thrilled when Jen from Use Real Butter announced our June challenge...Potstickers. I have posted about potstickers before and make them often. However, I always use premade wrappers and in this challenge we had to make our own. Cool. I also usually make my potstickers with ground pork but I loved Jen's shrimp and pork potstickers so I went with that. Good choice on my part, the combination is fantastic. Just to change things up a bit I decided to steam some of the potstickers and deep fry a batch. They were both delicious but the deep fried potstickers looked like little flowers or purses so they win just because.



I'm so happy to be a part of The Daring Kitchen and this challenge was so much fun. I highly doubt I'll ever go back to using premade wrappers again. I was a little concerned about the whole pleating process but after a little practice it's not that difficult. Okay, so mine certainly don't look uber professional but I did it, they all stayed together while cooking and in my world, that equals success! A couple of things to note when making your own wrappers I found is they have to be rolled as thinly as possible. Also, the initial "pinch" is the most important part of pleating. Make sure that first pinch stays together and you're good to go. Finally, don't overfill the wrappers and trust me, you'll want to. Especially when you're getting close to using up all of your filling you will get excited but resist the temptation to overfill. You'll thank me later. With the first challenge down, I can't wait to hear what the next one will involve. Thanks for the inspiration Jen!

Recipe inspired by Use Real Butter: (Jen has a great tutorial on Use Real Butter so click here if you get confused)

Dough: (I had leftover dough which I froze for later use, otherwise simply double the filling recipe.)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup water

Place flour in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the water stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough comes into a ball. You may need to use more or less water so start with less. Once the dough forms a ball, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 2 minutes. The dough should be firm and sticky. Cover the dough and let rest for 15 minutes. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Roll the dough into 1 1/4" strips. Then, cut off 1" pieces of the dough. Shape the pieces into discs and flatten with your hands. Roll the dough into circles, about 3" around. Place about 1 teaspoon of your filling into the center of your dough. Now, if you haven't already, definitely click here to see the pleating process. There is no way I could explain it better :)

Filling:
10 shrimp, raw, deveined
1/4 lb ground pork
3 tablespoons chives, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mince shrimp very finely. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. I like to refrigerate the mixture for about an hour but it's not necessary. After all of your potstickers are made, heat your pan to medium heat with about 3 tablespoons oil, such as grapeseed or canola. Place your potstickers into the hot oil making sure not to crowd the pan. Fry the potstickers for about 5 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Once browned, VERY carefully add 1/2 cup water water to the pan. Cover the pan and steam the potstickers for about 10 minutes (the water should be bubbling the entire time.) When the water has evaporated, remove the lid and allow the potstickers to fry another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. I like to serve the pan fried potstickers with a mixture of soy sauce and rice vinegar with a side of sambal chili sauce.

Alternately, if you want to deep fry the potstickers, heat 3" of grapeseed or canola oil to 350 degrees in a heavy bottom deep skillet or deep fryer. Place the gyoza into the hot oil. Fry on one side for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Flip the potstickers and fry another 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towel. Serve with sweet chili sauce.

Makes about 20 potstickers.

Pickled Beets

I have a new obsession and I am completely powerless to it. Canning is the name of the game. Holy Hannah I am in love with the whole process! I have been terrified of canning for years but I decided I had to get over it. My Husband's Ome was a canning queen up until a couple of years ago when she decided it was time to hang up her tongs. While my Husband has been enjoying homemade pickled beets, carrots, sauerkraut and the best pickles ever, for his whole life, I have only been able to relish in the beauty of Ome's canning for the length of our courtship but I am hooked. Given that Ome has thrown in the towel, I figured it was time for me to get some courage and give it a go.

I suppose my fear of canning stemmed from the horror stories I've read about botulism. You know, I try to stay away from that kind of thing, but I've come to the conclusion that, much like many things, hype and paranoia tend to get in the way. Don't get me wrong, you have to be careful with canning but the stigma around how difficult it is, is far too dramatic. Since acquiring my canning equipment, I've canned pretty much every day. I've canned beets, carrots, pearl onions, rhubarb jam and rhubarb chutney (wow), all of which I'll post the recipes here shortly. Prepare yourselves for a canning onslaught folks! I know it's early, but I look forward to a winter food supply of countless canned goods.

Click on this link for a great, straight forward resource for all things canning related.

Pickled Beets Recipe from my Royal Canadian Legion Ladies' Auxiliary Cook Book and Ome approved:
about 30 small beets
2 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 small cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon mustard seed

Scrub beets clean. Boil beets until fork tender. Once tender, drain the beets and allow them to cool. Slice beets into 1" cubes. Make the pickling syrup by combining the water, vinegar, sugar and spices in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Add the beets to the syrup, bring to a boil again, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Pack the beets snugly in hot sterilized jars. Pour the syrup over the beets in the jars, leaving a 1/2" headspace. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and allow to cool completely on a rack, this will probably take overnight.

Yields about 6 pints

Onion Gratin

If you are wondering if I meant to say Potato Gratin, the answer is no, I totally meant onion. So you might be thinking I'm crazy and depending on who you ask, I probably am but in this case, I am all there. The Onion Gratin is beyond fabulous. Dare I say it's even better than it's potato counterpart? Oooh, I do dare. Kevin from Closet Cooking rocked my world when he posted this recipe. I had never thought of an Onion Gratin before and without the inspiration, I don't even want to think of how devoid the rest of my life might be. Pair it with something delicate like fish, or something hearty like steak, just pair it with something. Heck, I'd eat this gorgeous gratin all by itself, and I have on more than one occasion.

Recipe from Closet Cooking:
2 large yellow onions (peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch slices)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano or gruyere

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Carefully spread the onions onto a baking sheet keeping the rings intact. Drizzle them with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and thyme. Place the onions in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. While the onions are baking, heat cream and wine in a small saucepan until the mixture bubbles around the edges. (If your cream mixture separates, remove from heat and whisk vigorously until the mixture comes back together.) Remove the onions from the oven and transfer to a baking dish. Pour the cream mixture over the onions. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake another 35 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle the top of the onions with cheese. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees, return the baking dish to the oven and bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

I look forward to trying these similar Onion recipes:
Onion Gratin from Kalyn's Kitchen

Lemongrass Beef

While stocking up at my butcher the other day, he recommended we try Bottom Blade steak. He knows how much we love to cook and is always suggesting different cuts. He told us that this particular cut was fantastic when marinaded overnight and then grilled at a high temperature. With this preparation, the meat gets super tender and is so flavorful. Oh, and it retails for $3.99 a pound. Okay Mr Butcher, so, what you're saying is that I can feed 2 (with leftovers) of us a delicious, tender steak for like $4.00? Uh, alright, count me in!

I came home with my total score and began my search for a great marinade. I didn't have to look far, I had the perfect Lemongrass Beef marinade waiting for me in my inbox, thanks to my also obsessed-with-food Cousin-In-Law (is that even a thing?) Either way, thanks Chad! Anyway, have you ever heard of the Happy Food Dance? You know, when you eat something that is so ridiculously good that you start dancing around the kitchen, mid chew. That's how I feel about this Lemongrass Beef. We loved it so much that we made it two nights in a row and let me tell you, there was a fierce dance off up in that kitchen. Both nights. And already, I can't wait to make it again.

Recipe adapted from Cooking.com:
1 lb bottom blade steak
2 lemongrass stalks, tender heart section only, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh small red chili pepper, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

Cut the beef into 1 1/2" wide strips. Using a meat mallet, pound the beef until it is approximately 1/4" thick. In a sealable container, Combine everything but the beef. Add the beef to the marinade, cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Soak bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes. Preheat the grill to high heat. After the skewers have soaked, thread the beef on to the skewers. Place the skewers on the hot grill and cook for 5 minutes, flip the skewers and grill another 5 minutes. Remove the skewers from the grill and serve.

The Noble Pig Potato

I couldn't think of a way to explain these potatoes in the title so I thought I would just call them The Noble Pig Potato. That's because the genius behind this fabulous potato is The Noble Pig herself. I really wanted to call them The Kicka** Potatoes because that's exactly what they are, kicka**. Other than being obviously visually appealing, The Noble Pig Potato is simply delicious. Really, an easier potato there could not be. These are perfect potatoes for entertaining because you can prep them ahead of time and throw them in the oven or on the grill. And let's face it, they are just plain cool.

Click here for step-by-step instructions from The Noble Pig herself.

*The original recipe calls for roasting the potatoes however if you want to grill them, follow these instructions:
Prepare the potatoes as the recipe calls for. Heat the grill to medium. Place the potatoes on the grill and cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Remove from the grill, drizzle the potatoes with butter as the original recipe calls for and garnish with fresh herbs.