Luci's Tasty Adventures

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I'm a little late posting my challenge this month.  I had my Meringue done on time and I was pleased with how easy making meringue can be.  The second part of this challenge was to make Mascarpone cheese, I have made that before in past challenges so that was easy for me.  And lastly to make the Mousse was really simple and really tasty.

The only beef I have with this challenge is the actual look of the desert.  I made many different size and shape Meringues and tried to present them in different ways to make them look attractive.  Don't get me wrong this dessert is really well put together and the flavor is great it's just not pretty.  The chocolate Meringue topped with the chocolate mousse seemed to much of the same color.  Next time I think I will switch this up and use different things to flavor the Meringue or the Mousse.  Any way here is the recipe and some pictures. 

Chocolate Meringue:

• 3 large egg whites
• ½ cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
• ¼ cup confection sugar
• ½ cocoa powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the egg whites in a bowl and beat them until they form soft peaks.  Gradually add the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form.











Sift the confection sugar into the eggs along with the cocoa powder.  Fold it in slowly till the mixture comes together.












Put the Meringue in a pastry bag with a large tip.  Pipe out the meringue into the size and shape you would like your dessert to be.  This can be one great big meringue for a family style service or small individual serving sizes.  I made individual size meringues.

Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp.


 








Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse:

• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• zest of one lemon
• 9 ounces of 72% chocolate, chopped
• 1 2/3 cups homemade mascarpone cheese
• pinch of nutmeg *** ps say no to NutMeg***

Method:

Place ½ cup of the heavy cream and lemon zest in a sauce pan over medium heat.  As it heats up add the chocolate.  Once the chocolate starts to melt and become smooth remove the mixture from the heat and set aside till it is room temperature.

Place the mascarpone and remaining cup of cream in a mixing bowl along with the nutmeg.  Whip it till it is blended together, do not over do this part as the mascarpone  can break.

Take about 1/3 of the mascarpone mixture and add it to the chocolate.  Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated.  Fill a pastry bag with the mousse and add it to the top of your meringues. 

Serve with some fresh fruit, enjoy!

Yeah so I used self rising flour, mhm I did.  Don’t you be judging me!

It was in my pantry going to waste.  I really don’t have any recipes in my repertoire that call for self rising flour.  In fact I think this is the second time I have ever used it.  First time was for a daring bakers’ challenge of British style pudding.   

Basically if you have self rising flour this recipe is pretty darn tasty and easy to make to boot.  You could substitute milk for the cream or buttermilk or do a mixture like I did.

This recipe was inspired by Miss Andy Pants.  I mocked her one day for trying to make biscuits out of self rising flour; I told her it was a bad idea.  I am wrong, I was really wrong, and little Miss Andy was right.

These biscuits are a great way to start out a Sunday morning, or a fabulous way to rescue some leftovers.  Give them a try you won’t be disappointed.

PS Grandma that is one of your plates, oh and also if you would like to make rolled biscuits follow the recipe and add about 1/4 less liquid. 

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup milk
• ¼ cup cream
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly grated black pepper
• 1 ½ cups self rising flour
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 2 scallions chopped
• 1/3 cup cheddar cheese, cubed

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In mixing bowl combine the salt, pepper, and flour.  Using a pastry blender, blend in the butter till the butter is smaller than a pea size in shape.  Slowly add the milk and cream and stir till it is just combined.  Add in the cheese and scallions and give it one more stir.

Drop the biscuits on a parchment lined sheet pan; try to make them uniform in size.  This is something I really don’t ever get right, but I always aim to get the same size cookie or biscuit.   Bake the biscuits for about 15 minutes till they are golden brown.  Slide them off the sheet pan onto a cooling rack.  Cool for as long as you can resist them and enjoy!  Makes about 12-16

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

As you can see my Enchilada Stack is not green.  Last month I worked on making some Chile Verde and felt that I would give making a red sauce a try instead.  I made homemade corn tortillas and stacked the enchiladas with olives as an ode to my Mother's enchilada influence.

Please note that I made a large amount of enchilada sauce to freeze and use again on another day.
 
Enchilada Sauce:

• 3 Guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3 Ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3 cups of hot water
• 1 large, or two small yellow onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground oregano
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 ½ pounds fresh tomato
• 1-2 serrano chiles, halved and seeded

Corn Tortilla:

• 1 ½ cup masa flour
• 1 cup warm water
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• tortilla press

Enchilada Stack:

• Roasted chicken meat, shredded (white, dark, or both)
• white onion, chopped
• jack cheese, grated
• black olives, chopped for the inside, some whole for the garnish
• Queso fresco cheese, garnish
• cilantro leaves, garnish
• radishes, thinly sliced, garnish
• avocado, sliced, garnish

Enchilada Sauce Method:















Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place clean tomatoes in a large glass heat proof dish.  Roast the tomatoes for 45 minutes to an hour, turning once.  The skin should start to shrivel up and fall off.








After the tomatoes have cooled down remove the skin and discard.

Add the garlic and serrano chiles to the blender and then put the peeled tomatoes on top along with the cumin and oregano.  Puree for about 20 seconds, you don't want to bust up the tomato seeds themselves because then the sauce will become bitter.  Pour the sauce into a glass bowl and set aside.  I try to always use nonreactive cook items when cooking with tomatoes.

Place the stemmed, and seeded  Guajillo and Ancho chiles in a small sauce pan.  Cover them with water and bring the water to a boil.  Once the water boils turn the water off and let the chiles steep till them are plump and hydrated.
















Remove the chiles from the water and place them in a blender.  Taste the water the chiles stewed in if it tastes bitter discard.  If it does not taste bitter add one cup chile water plus one cup tap water to the blender.  Puree the chiles till the are completely blended.  Run the chile sauce through a fine mesh strainer.














Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat and saute the onions in vegetable oil till they are translucent.  Add the pureed tomato and chili mixture.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.  Taste for flavor.  You might need to add salt or even sugar to the sauce depending on the ripeness of your tomatoes.











Corn Tortilla Method:













Mix mesa with salt, and cover it with warm water.  Stir it till it is loosely combined and then cover it for 20 minutes.  Come back and form it into a large ball, you may need to add more water to help it come together; add 1 Tbsp at a time.  Section the dough into 12 triangles.












As you can see mine are not all the same size.  Whoopsie!

Roll them into little balls and press them out in the tortilla press.










Store them between sheets of parchment paper before and after you cook them.  Heat a large skillet, preferably cast iron over medium high heat.  Cook each tortilla for about 30-40 seconds a side.  Serve them right away or store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Tortilla Stack Method:

Basically I heated a small amount of peanut oil in a skillet.  Toasted each tortilla and then dipped it into the heated enchilada sauce.  I stacked mine with layers of chicken, white onion, jack cheese, and sliced olives.  I baked them for about 20 minutes at 350 just till the cheese started melted.  I plated them and garnished with whole olives, fresh avocado slices, sliced radishes, cilantro, and Queso fresco cheese.






















































Great challenge, and a great way to spend Cinco de Mayo

For my Birthday Aaron took me on a surprise weekend trip to Napa, Ca.  I will blog about the trip later.   One of the stops was Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery.  On Sunday morning before we left, we made one more stop back at this truly magical dreamland bakery.  I picked up a 12 pack of Brioche Rolls and a few more Macaroons for the trip home.  We also hit up a local market in Napa on our way out, and picked up some Salami, Black Forest Ham, Aged Smoked Gouda, and Cheddar.    So, after are long drive home our Easter dinner was yummy.  Brioche Roll Sandwiches with Meats and Cheese.

I had more than a few rolls left over so I decided to store them in the refrigerator and make Mini Burgers with them for Monday nights dinner.  I really like using Brioche for Burgers and for French toast.  Trader Joe's sells a larger Brioche Roll that can also work for larger size Burgers.

PS.. you can see my new fancy Global Knife in one of the photos... Love it!  TY Aaron!

Ingredients:

• 1 small sweet white onion, sliced
• 2-3 crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 gloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• Kosher Salt
• freshly grated black pepper
• 1 pound of ground chuck, divided into six pieces (80-20 or 85-15 fat content is best for burgers)
• 6 slices of cheese ( I used Smoked Gouda for three, and Cheddar for the other three)
• 6 small Brioche Rolls
• 1-2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tsp Mayonnaise, optional for the bread

Method:

In a small sauce pan over low heat add 1 tsp of the olive oil, onions, garlic and brown sugar.  Sprinkle them with Kosher salt and let them caramelize.  Keep them on low to maybe medium heat for about 25 minutes.  When they are done remove them from the pan and add the remaining olive oil and the mushrooms.  Sprinkle the mushrooms with kosher salt and pepper and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes.  When they are done scoot them to one side of the pan and return the onions to the other side.  Keep over very low heat till you are ready to serve the burgers.















While the onions and mushrooms are cooking prepare the patties.  Take one piece of the beef and lightly form it into a patty shape.  The less you work with this the better the burgers will be.



























Heat a large pan over medium heat.  Once the pan is hot sprinkle the burgers with Kosher salt and black pepper.  Place them in the hot pan and sprinkle the other side of the burgers with Kosher salt and pepper.  I did not put all my burgers in the pan at once because I did not want to over crowd the pan.  After flipping the first 4 I added the last two because I was confidant that they would not get crowded.













I cooked mine for about 4 minutes a side for medium to medium rare.  After you flip them add the cheese to the tops and wait out the last 4 minutes and serve.












To plate, cut the Brioche Rolls in half and spreed them with Dijon Mustard.

















Add the patty to the bun and top the burger with the caramelized onions and mushrooms.












Serve with a nice green salad and some Cornichons (french pickles).  Serves 3 for dinner, 6 for appetizer.

This recipe comes from my Silver Spoon Pasta Cookbook.  The filling for this ravioli is a perfect way to use up some of that left over Easter Ham.  If you don't want to make your own ravioli pasta dough, you can always buy wanton or egg roll wrappers in your local grocery store.  They stock these wrappers in the fresh and frozen sections.

This sauce I chose is a very delicate tomato sauce.  It's beyond simple to make and can be used on a variety of pasta dishes.  Trust me try it once you will be hooked.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Pasta:

• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• ½ tsp kosher salt

Filling:

• ½ cup Ricotta cheese
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• ½ cup cooked ham, finely chopped
• 3 ½ ounce dried Mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Tomato Sauce:

• 1 28 ounce can of peeled tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, peeled and quartered

Assembly:

• 1 egg, beaten

Method:

To make the pasta dough, put flour in a large mixing bowl along with the salt.  Create a well in the middle of the flour and put the three eggs in the well.  Slowly mix the flour with the eggs.  Once the dough comes together divide it into three equal size balls and place in the refrigerator for an hour.

For the sauce, plop tomatoes, butter, and onion in a sauce pan and simmer for about an hour.  Take out the onion and discard.  For a chunky style sauce smash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, for a less chunky sauce remove them or puree the sauce in a food processes.  Set aside and keep warm.














Bring a large pot of water to a boil. 

Mix together the Ricotta cheese and egg in a medium size bowl.  Add the parsley, ham, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese.














Roll out the pasta dough into very thin sheets, I used a pasta machine.  Cut rectangles out of the dough approximately 2.5 inches by 4.5 inches.  (Mine are a little bigger, I use the width of the pasta machine sheets and them cut them into strips)












Place about 1 Tbsp of the filling onto the rectangle.

















Brush a the pasta with egg wash and the press together and seal ravioli.











After you seal the ravioli place it onto a floured cookie sheet.










Add a few Tbsp of kosher salt to the boiling water. Gently drop the raviolis into the boiling water, bring the water back up to a nice simmer and cook them for 3-5 minutes.  Toss them into the tomato sauce and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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!

Reuben Sandwiches Ingredients:

• 4 slices of rye bread
• unsalted butter, softened
• Swiss cheese, sliced- I used about 4 slices per sandwich
• Corned Beef, sliced thinly- Enough to make two sandwiches, I eyeballed it.
• 3/4 cup sauerkraut, well drained
• ¼ cup onion, diced
• 2 tsp olive oil

Russian Dressing Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp Mayonnaise
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp sweet pickle relish
• 2 Tbsp Ketchup
• 1/2 tsp horseradish
• kosher salt and freshly grated pepper to taste

Method:

In a small bowl mix together mayonnaise, vinegar, pickle relish, ketchup, and horseradish. Salt pepper to taste.  Store Russian dressing in the refrigerator till you are ready to assemble the sandwiches, can be stored for two days.

Heat a small sauce pan over medium heat, and olive and saute onions till they are soft and sweet.  Sprinkle them with a little kosher salt to help the process along.















After they are soft, add the drained sauerkraut and heat up.  Add freshly grated pepper to taste and set aside (keep over very low heat while you prepare the sandwiches).

















Heat a sauce pan over medium heat.  Butter the outside of each slice off bread.  Place cheese on one of the non buttered sides, and then top with corned beef, and then put another slice of bread to finish the sandwich.











Grill the sandwiches till they are golden brown on both sides and the cheese has melted.











After the sandwiches are golden brown, take them out of the pan and open them up and add the sauerkraut and Russian dressing.  Close the sandwich back up, cut in half and server.  Enjoy!

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.

Trying to come up with an idea for risotto was harder than I thought.  I decided to make my base with  a Mirepoix, olive oil, and white wine.  After cooking the rice I mixed in cream, Fontina, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  I gave it a quick taste and added the salt and pepper, chives and lastly the crab.  The end result was like grown up mac and cheese, it tasted great, but in no way shape or form is this recipe good on your waste line.  Thanks for this challenge, fun times.   

Shellfish Stock Ingredients:

• 6-8 cups shellfish shells (crab, lobster, shrimp)
• 2 carrots, chopped in thirds
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 celery heart, chopped in half
• olive oil
• 1 cup fresh parsley with stems attached
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• ½ dry white wine
• kosher salt
• 15 pepper corns
• cheese cloth

Risotto Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• ¼ scant cup carrot, finely chopped
• ¼ scant cup celery, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
• 4-5 cups shellfish stock, heated
• 1/2 cup cream (next time I make this I will only use a ¼ cup)
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 cup grated Fontina cheese
• 1 Tbsp chopped chives, plus extra for garnish
• 1-1/2 cups fresh crab meat, shredded
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Shellfish Stock Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place quartered onion and carrots in a baking dish and lightly coat with olive oil.  Roast the vegetables for about 20 minutes, then take them out and flip them and roast them for another 20 minutes.  In the meantime break up shellfish shells and place them on a cookie sheet.  After the vegetables are done roasting, roast the shells for 7-10 minutes at the same temperature.

Take a large heavy bottom stock pot and place the shells in it, fill stock pot with water.  The water should go about an inch and a half over the top of the shells.  Heat the stock pot over medium heat.  The stock should always simmer between 180-200 degrees.  Do not stir the shells, just wait for them to release small foam bubbles (impurities). 

While you are waiting for the stock to come up to temperature  take a large piece of cheese cloth and make an herb pouch.  Put the parsley, thyme and bay-leaf inside the cheese cloth bouquet.  

Remove the foam with a slotted spoon and slowly add the roasted vegetables to the stock pot.  Try not to move the shells around.  Add the roasted vegetables, celery, herb bouquet, pepper corns, tomato paste.   DO NOT MIX STOCK.












Bring the stock back up to temperature add the white wine and simmer for 45 minutes to no longer than an hour.  Taste stock, add salt if needed.











Line a colander with cheese cloth.  Do not dump the stock onto the colander.  Using a ladle slowly ladle the stock into the colander, try not to disturb the shells.  This takes longer but it will yield a much clearer stock.  After you are finished make and ice bath for the stock, once it is cooled refrigerate it for up to 3 days, freeze for 3 months.













Risotto Method:

Heat a sauce pan over medium to low heat, add the oil.  Add the onion, carrot and celery to pan and cook for a few minutes till it is tender. 

Add the rice and stir it around, to toast it evenly.  Pour in the wine and let it evaporate.













Add about a cup of stock stir constantly till it is absorbed.













Add another cup and repeat till the Risotto is soft and creamy (the rice will no longer be hard to bite).
 



























When the Risotto is soft, mix in the cream, cracked pepper and add the cheese.













Taste for salt.  Add the chopped chives and right lastly mix in the crab.













Serve in a small bowl or dish and garnish with chives, and a nice glass of wine.  Enjoy

If you have left over Risotto you can make fried Risotto patties the next day.  For each cup of left over Risotto add one egg and a half of cup of dried bread crumbs.  I formed mine in to little patties and put a little cube of mozzarella cheese in the middle of each one.  Fry them in a 1/4 cup of oil about three minutes per side and enjoy!