Orange Tian (Daring Bakers Challenge Mar, 2010)
The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.
I made a Blood Orange and Pink Navel Tian. I included the recipe for the caramel; however my caramel did not come out. I made two batches and I was not satisfied with it’s flavor or texture so I omitted it from this dessert. In the end the winner was the homemade blood orange pink navel marmalade. I am already planning other savory uses for this tasty treat. Overall this was a good challenge. However, I was disappointed in my caramel.
Full Recipe
Potato Pancakes (Latkes)
Every time my dad goes to Chicago to visit his family he always comes home with Kielbasa Czosnkowa Sausage (Polish Sausage). This sausage has always been such a treat to me. I decided to barbecue one link and serve it with some tasty potato pancakes (Latkes). These Latkes are so nice because they can be made in advance and reheated in the oven. They make a great appetizer or a side dish to so many meals. Enjoy!
Full RecipeReuben Sandwiches
After making a 3lb Corned Beef for St. Patty’s Day I had plenty of leftovers. Making Reuben Sandwiches with the leftovers seemed like the logical next step. What makes a Reuben? To me it’s a fancy grilled cheese sandwich. There are few key things you need, mostly some good rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and a Russian dressing. So I’m not here to show you all how to make grilled cheese, more so to show that making your own dressing can bring a bright flavor to an otherwise simple dish.
My recipe for Russian (thousand Island) dressing is fabulously delicious. This dressing is so easy to make at home with things commonly found in most pantry’s. I highly recommend using this dressing the next time you barbecue shrimp, or even over a nice green salad. Save yourself some bucks, and make your own dressing, it literally takes minutes, and you can make as little or as much as you need. My next goal is to make my own mayonnaise to make rémoulade . Fun times!
Full RecipeCorned Beef and Cabbage
Growing up, Corned Beef and Cabbage was something I never looked forward to eating. To this day I won’t eat boiled cabbage, I mean if I am someones guest I will be polite and try to find the smallest piece to put on my plate. My mom often made sauteed cabbage, we would eat it with polish sausage. I could deal with cabbage cooked this way and in fact I actually enjoyed it. The flavor of the browned cabbage with the onions and garlic is just so yummy. This is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day. So it sure comes in handy if you need to make dinner ahead of time.
After doing some research I decided to bake my Corned Beef. I really liked this recipe here and I decided to simplify it. Boiling just did not sound good to me so I skipped that part, and I had some yummy apricot jam in my refrigerator so I decided to use that as well. This is one of those days, I looked in my pantry.. Went to the store and picked up a Corned Beef and a head of Cabbage. Everything else was on hand. My $10.00 Corned Beef and Cabbage was born, and it was delicious.
Full RecipeRisotto (Daring Cooks Challenge Mar, 2010)
The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.
This months Daring Cooks’ challenge was Risotto. We were given lots of creativity in making this recipe. The two mandatory items were making the stock from scratch, and risotto base.
I really enjoyed this challenge because I have been wanting to post a “how to make stock recipe” for some time. I decided to go with a shellfish stock. I am in the process of becoming a stock making master thanks to my Thomas Keller book. His method of ladling the stock out of the pot into the cheese cloth vs dumping it all out into your colander yields such a beautifully clear stock. No clouds for me! A couple of quick tips for making stock, always roast your vegetables and bones before you make stock. Never boil stock, or stir it. Bring it to a nice simmer, 180-200 degrees. On a side note, I freeze my bones and shells pretty much year round. When I have enough bones I whip up stock and freeze it. It comes in so handy, it’s a really valuable and easy skill to have under your belt.
Full RecipeKeep in Touch!
