This month’s Daring Challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking.  She chose Salmon en Croute or Wellington (recipe here),  a dish I am familiar with and actually make from time to time.  It’s actually a fantastic dish that can be made super glam or super homey and all in under 30 minutes.

The first couple times I made this dish I made it in individual serving sizes using puff pastry.  Super easy and super impressive.

 Then I made it in a buttered casserole dish, layering the spinach and cheese on the bottom, topping with salmon and then puff pastry.  Equally delish.  But more homestyle.

This time I took creative license and played with the scale alittle.  Perhaps I was inspired by the holiday season and upcoming cocktail parties.  Perhaps it was the desire to do something a little different.  Most likely though, it was my aversion to fish of late that fueled the creation of these smaller scaled en Croute nibbles.

So thinking along the lines of busy Wives’ and Mothers’ and easy holiday appetizers, I thought my approach would be to stroll into Costco or Sam’s and pick up the items I needed and just get on with it.  So I grabbed a bag of frozen salmon fillets, a huge bag of fresh spinach, a package of boursin and a package of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

I sauteed the spinach in butter and olive oil and added some slivered garlic.  Then I portioned the salmon into bite size pieces - about 1″ by 2″.  I unrolled the pastry, schmeared it with Boursin, topped with about 1 tablespoon of sauteed spinach and garlic, added the salmon, seasoned lightly with kosher salt and pepper and rolled the pastry up into it’s recognizable crescent roll shape (tucking the pastry corners around the salmon before rolling in order to seal the package together).  I baked the salmon at 350F for 17 minutes, until golden on top and the salmon was cooked through.  It was that easy.

I was very pleased with how well these came out.  A little clunky and not as refined as I was hoping for, but delicious.  They were buttery and flaky from the pastry and creamy from the cheese.  The spinach and the salmon were well balanced and not over powered.  While many of the other DCers talked about how the Salmon en Croute could benefit from a boost in flavor, I think the Boursin brings enough to the table.   

I must stress that my food philosophy is generally based around making everything from scratch. I generally scoff at the Semi-Homemade or 30-minute Meals way of cooking.   But given the expectations that come with the encroaching holidays, family and friends coming around and for me a growing desire to sit with my feet up, I embraced the opportunity to take these simple shortcuts.  And was pleased with the results.  So give this appetizer version a try, with easy ingredients that are readily available.  And put your feet up a little this season.

~Blondie

November’s challenge out of the Daring Kitchen is Sushi!  Yeah!  I have been wanting to learn to make sushi for a long time and it has just been on the back burner.  So much going on, so little time in the day.  So thank you to Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen for choosing sushi as this months challenge (and giving me a kick in the pants to actually get it done).

The challenge is four parts :

1.  Making proper sushi rice to form the following required rolls

2.  Dragon Roll 

3.  Decorative Sushi Roll

4.  Nigri Sushi

As long as I was at it I also made a Temaki (hand roll).

Sushi Rice

The Dragon Roll that I prepared is a take on the Crunchy Shrimp Roll that I typically order when we have sushi out.  It is a uramaki roll (rice on the outside) and is filled with tempura shrimp (recipe here)  and cucumbers, then topped with avocado slices that are supposed to resemble scales.  This was my favorite roll.

Dragon Roll

I prepared two Decorative Sushi Rolls, the first one is a typical California Maki Roll, filled with krab, cucumber and avocado.  The second one is a Crunchy Shrimp Roll, again in the uramaki style.

California Roll

Crunchy Shrimp Roll

The Nigri is a hand shaped ball of rice topped with poached shrimp.

Nigri Roll

The Temaki that I prepared is filled with chopped hoisin chicken, mixed with a spicy mayo and topped with scallions.

Temaki Roll

Overall this was a very excellent challenge.  Here in So Cal it is impossibly expensive to go out for sushi and this proved to be a fun alternative that probably cost about as much as a single order of sushi.  I was disappointed that I was unable to procure any unagi (bbq eel).  And of course, I have never been a fan of sashimi (raw fish), I think it’s a texture thing.  But I prefer my raw fish as ceviche, not sashimi.

For the complete recipe (still getting a 404 error when I try to cut and paste) give Audax or Rose a visit.  And be sure to check out what the other Darings have done.

Coming soon…

• My failed October Daring Bakers Challenge (still repairing my pride on that one)
• An update on life in general
• Chandler’s latest ordeal (and recovery)
• The soon to be posted November Daring Bakers Challenge… very excited about this one
• and of course Thanksgiving dishes, ideas, decorating and celebrating with family

~Blondie

Okay, I’m back. 

This challenge is from October and I’m not really sure why I haven’t posted it yet.  I actually had been sick for about 5 weeks during the challenge and had refused to take anything (cold meds to antibiotics) to kick it.  I was actually relying quite a bit on bone broth soups to get me thru.  That and boxes and boxes of tissues.    So of course I was thrilled about Octobers Challenge.  I even made it several times.  But didn’t find the time to post it.  *scratches head*  Go figure.  Just have a lot going on, with a healthy dose of lazy I guess.

October’s Daring KitchenChallenge is soup - chicken noodle soup - with a twist.  This soup is Pho Ga.  Huh?   PHO GA.  Vietnamese chicken and noodle soup.  The recipe and challenge comes from Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, a totally scrumptious blog that you must check out if you like Asian foods and fantastic photography.  And come to think of it, if you are a fan of Asian foods and fantastic photography, you should check out her first book The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook  (yeah Jaden, you rock).  So consider this recipe a preview of many tasty recipes in her cookbook and make sure you visit her site, too.

That said, this was not my favorite Vietnamese soup.  I much prefer another soup I make with prawns and pork.  But I learned so much and many of the ideas of this soup were fantastic (and will be repeated).  First, the long cook broth with roasted ginger and onions is pure genius as it imparts unbelievable flavor.  Also the idea of  balancing all your flavors in the bowl with lime, fish sauce, sriracha and hoisin is nothing shy of brilliant!  Talk about personalizing your flavors. 

On the down side, I discovered that I really don’t like cloves and bean sprouts.  Something I didn’t know.  And I learned to not use a cleaver and a thin plastic board directly on my granite counter tops.  Ouch.  I have nice big cuts in the island now.

So go forth and make soup… It is the perfect time of year.

Jaden’s long cook version of this soup is available on her website.  It is the version that I chose to cook and would recommend you try as well.  It is available here.

And don’t forget to check out what the other Daring Cooks have done as well.

Tomorrow expect to see the November Daring Kitchen posting (it’s good) and more things later this week.

~Blondie

This months challenge is Indian Dosa (vegan) and comes from Debyi at www.healthyvegankitchen.com  

Thank you Debyi!!! I have been wanting to make savory pancakes for sometime - actually chinese pancakes but none the less, these were delish!

I am having technical difficulties with my blog so please follow the link above for the recipe and check out what all the other Daring Cooks have done at www.thedaringkitchen.com

I used a potato curry filling instead of the chickpea filling.  I simply used two baked potatoes, one onion, a clove of garlic and half a red bell pepper and sauteed them in a fairly dry pan (very little oil as per the challenge) and then added salt and pepper and yellow curry powder.

I also omitted the tomatoes from the sauce as I don’t care for cooked tomatoes (or that is tomatoes that are cooked for a long time).

I topped the dosa with chopped tomato, cucumbers, cilantro and pepitas (roasted sunflower seeds).

I must say that I didn’t really care for anyone of the items individually, but together, they really sang.  I will be happy to stash the extras into the freezer for me to have again!

Dinner is served

Well it is time for my first ever Daring Cooks Challenge, actually the potstickers were my unofficial first… but this is the first legit challenge and boy was it a doosey!  The challenge from Sketchy’s Kitchen is a foray into MC (Molecular Cuisine) and comes from Grant Achatz and his cookbook Alinea (page 230).  The recipe does not require alot of specialized tools and equipment but it does take a fair amount of time to make all the powders (read: do ahead of time).  But I am glad I participated.  It actually came at a good time for me as I have been exploring preserving from the garden and orchard, including drying herbs and even tomatoes.    

The concept - fish poached in a beurre monte and served over green beans and bananas with all the traditional fish flavorings served alongside… but as powders!

Fresh ingredients ready to dehydrate and pulverize

Powdering the ingredients requires blanching (for some) and dehydrating, then grinding and passing through a chinois.  The dehydrating can be done in the oven, microwave or a dehydrator.  This is the marathon portion of the preparation.  So grab something to keep you hydrated and lets do this!

Note: The recipe as given by Sketchy’s Kitchen is in italics with my kitchen notes in [block parenthesis] and additional notes at the bottom of this post.

Recipe

• 4 skate wings [I used cod]
• *beurre monte
• *300g fresh green beans
• sea salt/kosher salt
• 1 banana
• 454g butter - 4 sticks
• 300g lemons
• 5g citric acid/vitimin c tablet
• 150g cilantro
• 150g parsley
• 100g dried banana chips
• 300g spray dried cream powder or powdered milk [I used powdered milk]
• 100g minced red onion
• 200g capers (brined, not oil packed)

*For green beans, slice each bean into very thin slices (2mm)

*Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks or 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water.  In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time.  This should form an emulsion.  Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees.  The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.

Powders - prepare ahead of time

caper/onion

lemon powder

cilantro/parsley powder

brown butter powder

Powders

Once dried, all powders should be pulsed in a coffee/spice mill or mortar and pestle then passed through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.

Citrus Powder

150g cilantro

150g parsley

blanch the parsley in boiling saltwater for 1 second, submerge the leaves in ice water for 3 minutes.  Dry on paper towels and place on dehydrator tray.  130d for 12 hours.  Grind and pass through chinois.

If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 30 seconds, turn over leaves and microwave another 30 seconds.  They should be dry by now, pulse in grinder, pass thru chinois and reserve.

[Repeat with cilantro.]

Onion Powder

100g minced red onions

dehydrator - 130 for 12 hours

microwave at medium power for 20 minutes.

pulse in grinder, pass thru chinois.

Caper Powder

200g capers (get the ones packed in brine/vinegar)

run capers under cold water for two minutes to remove some of the brine.  Dry on paper towels and dehydrate for 12 hours at 130 degrees.

Once dry, pulse and sift powder.  Mix with the onion powder.  [I left mine separate]

Brown Butter Powder

150g dried banana chips (unsweetened if possible - many are coated in honey - the freeze dried ones would be brilliant)

300g spray dried cream powder [What?!?!  I used Carnation instant milk]

If you cannot find the cream powder, you can substitute Bob’s Red Mill non fat dry milk powder, or even Carnation instant milk powder.  The substitutions will alter the flavor a little, but you will still get the general idea.

Preheat the oven to 350d, sift the cream powder into a fine layer on a silpat or parchment.  Bake for 4 minutes, then remove from heat.  If it bakes too long it will burn.  Be very cautious will all powders in the oven.  They will go from browned to burnt in a few seconds.

Grind the banana chips in a grinder and mix with the toasted cream powder.  Pass through a chinois and reserve.

Skate [Cod]

Prepare the skate - 50g v shaped cuts are recommended

Bring 100g water, 100 g buerre monte and green bean rounds to a boil over high heat.  Cook until water is evaporated (about 3 minutes), when the pan is almost dry, remove it from heat and season with 3g salt.

Bring 300g water and 300g buerre monte to a simmer over medium heat, add skate wings and simmer 2 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and flip the wing over and let rest in pan for two more minutes.  Transfer to a warming tray lined with parchment and season with 5g of fine sea salt.

Plating

Take the tip of a small spoon and make a small mound of the citrus powder, the onion/caper powder and the cilantro/parsley powder.  Swirl these around in a hurricane pattern.  I found it easier, and you get finer lines if you shake the plate to flatten out the mounds, then swirl the spoon through it to get the pattern.

Peel the remaining banana into very thick slices (3 mm) fan three slices on the plate, place green beans on top and place skate wing portion on top.  On the tall edge, sprinkle the brown butter powder.

The yellow powder is lemon,
the redish is red onion (no capers)
and the green is parsley-cilantro
My onion kept clumping!

Okay, so I was not able to get anything sufficiently dry using my microwave.  I thought the capers were okay - but after I blitzed them down in my Magic Bullet, they still had too much moisture to ever be considered a powder.  Then the onions set fire in my microwave *scary* and so I stopped using that method altogether and went to my toaster oven instead.  I put the onions (partially dry from the microwave fire, haha) in the toaster oven on convection at 175d for about 15 minutes and they were dry.  I put the capers (also partially dry and now once through the grinder) in at 175d for about 20 minutes.  I had put the cilantro and parsley in the microwave for 3 minutes at 50% power and finished off in the toaster oven for 3-5 minutes.  The lemon rind was processed in about the same time as the herbs…

I found greater success with partially drying, grinding, then drying and grinding again. I really encourage you to do all your powdering a day or two in advance.  The actual cooking and plating goes very quickly. 

Frankly, since I do live in the desert of So Cal I could have/should have put them outside… but I do not have any screens set up or bug protection and we have horses (read: flies).  Yuk.  I think that it would be good to get one of those vintage pie cupboards - the ones with screens not metal panels.  Then I could do alot of drying here.  In fact I have an old cupboard that could be cleaned up and reengineered…  *Hey Honey, are you listening?*

Overall I think this was an expensive dish to prepare.  The fish was $15.00, the green beans were cheap at $1.50, and most of the herbs, lemons and bananas can be had pretty cheaply (around $3.00 for cilantro, parsley, banana and 2 lemons).  But if you have to buy the capers at $4.29 and instant milk at $4.75, add in a pound of butter at $2.50 and citric acid at $5.00 it really adds up.  I was able to buy the dried bananas in the bulk section of my health food store but they were not freeze dried (I could never find those) and the price for 100g was only about $0.55, but at the market they were in larger packages for $4.00 and more.   So this dinner came in at a whopping $36.00. Yikes!  For fish and bananas and green beans?  My family was still hungry. Mind you I have a supply of citric acid, too. 

I suppose I am looking at this wrong - $36.00 is far cheaper than dinner out or even the price of the book Alinea. But still, $36.00 and 8 hourse in the kitchen yielded 1 meal only that didn’t even fill everyone up. I don’t regret making this dish that’s for sure. I have been wanting to poach fish in a sauce and now I have and will again (maybe not in a pound of butter…) and I was already on the brink of drying/preserving herbs - this just moved it along for me. So it was not all lost. It was a learning experience. And it’s not just the 8 hours, as I am not immune to spending all day in the kitchen to make dinner - but for $36.00 and 8 hours I could have made tamales to last us throughout the year or carnitas or pozole that would feed us for a week. Although they are not cutting edge MC. It is not fair to compare.

And the bananas with fish and green beans? It actually works.

~Blondie

Okay, so I was absolutely geeked last month when I finally gained access to the private forum of Daring Cooks. (Wow, there is so much wrong with that statement).

Adding to the excitement (as if that was possible) was the fact that the photos were of potstickers!  Yes, another item on my list.  But how and the heck did all these Darings already complete the challenge???  I didn’t read anywhere in the 20 page contract (I kid) that you had to be uber prompt in posting your completed challenge.  I didn’t see “race to complete” anywhere in the fine print.  So what gives?  Could all these other Darings be more um, geeked than I?  (doubt it) 

Oh right, that would be last months challenge (duh)…  Oh well.  It is still a worthy challenge, so I participated anyway (is it really participating if your the only one?  Hmm, I guess it depends whatcha doin!  Hey that’ss not what I meant! Knock it off.).  In fact there are so many amazing recipes on The Daring Kitchen website that I will be “participating” in alot of the challenges that precedes my membership.  Go check it out, the recipes will entice you and the Darings’ photos will inspire you. 

But enough about all that.  How about the potstickers???

These potstickers seriously exceeded all expectations (thank you to Jen Yu for the challenge).  And while the overall time (it is time consuming guys) was about 1 1/2 hours from starting to eating a full meal of potstickers, fried rice and shrimp with snow peas, it actually went really quick (remember I have two kids running around, broke both my wrists recently and I went out to put the chickens away).  

The rolling pin method though… Frankly, it sucks (to me).  It’s not that I have no rolling skilz, coz I do.  But I rolled the first 12 wrappers with a pin, and was pretty disappointed, I struggled to get the dough thin enough and resulting in anything that resembled a circular shape plus it kept shrinking back up after being rolled out (even with resting), what gives?  So, in an act of defiance and total domination, I ran the remainder of the dough through my pasta machine…

*sound of  Chinese Grandmothers falling over everywhere*

…with stellar results!  Let me tell you, that I will use the pasta machine from here on out and never purchase potstickers again (sorry Ling Ling).  I cranked (literally) out the remaining 24 dumplings in half the time it took to roll the original 12 and with thinner dough and increased pleating confidence, they went really fast (in dumpling-space-continuum time).  Benefits to using the pasta machine?  The dough was more uniform, thinner and had a better texture, too.   

 So why are there no photos of the finished potstickers?  Well we ate them all before I could get out my camera!  So I guess I’ll be making them again soon… Like tomorrow.

Below is the recipe from Jen Yu, Hostess of the June Challenge.

And in the mean time,  here are a couple of notable Darings that experimented with dessert dumplings…

First, check out what Lisa Michele did with her potstickers - Hello Lover… I mean 5 Spice Caramel Apple Potstickers!  Come to Mama!  Oh and btw, that’s pretty much what my photos would have looked like too.  Really.  Seriously.  I have mad skilz.   (ha-ha, I wish!).

Okay, another great Daring who embraced a dessert dumpling that I cannot wait to try is Frenchie’s Coconut-Ginger Rice Pudding Dumpling with Passionfruit Curd - yum me! 

Jen Yu’s Recipes…

 Shrimp Filling

• 1/2 lb raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 3 stalks green onions, minced
• 1/4 cup ginger root, minced
• 1 cup water chestnuts, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp corn starch

The Dough (double this for the amount of filling, but make it in 2 batches)

• 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (113g) warm water
• bench flour

Dipping Sauce

• 2 parts soy sauce
• 1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
• a few drops sesame oil
• chili garlic paste (optional)
• minced ginger (optional)
• minced green onion (optional)
• sugar (optional)

Filling

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand).  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

Dough

Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade.  Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated.  Pour contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth.  The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.  OR In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed.  Continue adding one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from the sides of bowl.   We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Knead the dough about 20 strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes.  Take the dough and form a flattened dome.  Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide.  Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders.  On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces.  Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers).  With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc.  Take care not to roll out to thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch.  Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges.  Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side.  Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.

To Boil:  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot.  Boil the dumplings until they float.

To Steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well greased surface in a steamer basket with lid.  Steam covered for about 6 minutes.

To Pan Fry (Potstickers):  Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil.  Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden.  Add 1/2 cup water and cover.  Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium-low.  Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

Blondies Notes:

• I made half the shrimp filling recipe and I got 36 dumplings from the filling with some dough left over
• I used my pasta machine and a 3 1/8″ biscuit cutter
• There was alot of chatter in the private forum about the dough being too dry.  I did have to add more water than the recipe called for (and I did weigh my ingredients).  Some comments suggested that the percentage of moisture for a dough such as this should be more like 60-65%.  I may try another recipe for dough next time to gauge my success
• If rolling with a pin or using a tortilla press… roll the dough into little cylinders - like making snakes with playdough!
• Don’t go feed and put away the chickens while frying the potstickers… um, they burn
• Sauce was delish!  I didn’t add ginger, sugar or chili paste to the sauce.  First, Jason doesn’t like things too hot *whimp* and without the heat I didn’t find the sugar was necessary to balance the flavors.  Second, as for the ginger… I was tired of mincing!

Seriously addicting…. Now go make potstickers.  You’ll never go back!

~Blondie

Guess what???

I recently joined The Daring Kitchen as a Daring Baker and a Daring Cook!