The Daring Cooks - Recipes with Tea

I have been a proud Daring Cook for several years and it is my absolute pleasure to host the group this month! This month I challenged the Daring Cooks to make a savoury recipe with tea.

I have always enjoyed learning new skills and trying new recipes with the Daring Cooks. They are always so inventive, so I gave them free rein to make one of my three recipes (below) or cook any other recipe with tea. They were able to choose to use black, green, or herbal tea. And there were so many great ideas! I am very grateful for the chance to host the Cooks and thrilled to enjoy what they came up with.

buckwheat spätzle--German pasta

Spätzle is an easy pasta to make which uses flour and eggs. The imperfectly shaped pasta are moulded by hand and can be called "rustic"!

Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks July hostess. Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine. She provided us with recipes for spätzle and fresh egg pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with.

creamy potato salad - but with no mayo!

I do like potato salad as a side dish, but I hate the mayo-laden monstrosities I sometimes see. Yet there is something comforting about a forkful of creamy potato that I find irresistible. So I developed this recipe to fill the spud-shaped hole in my belly.

Peruvian dishes: ceviche and papa rellenas

The best part about taking part in food blogging events is all the new things I am pushed to try. Take, for example, the Daring Cooks. Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenged us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau, and Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra.

I have never made or eaten any Peruvian food before, but fortunately we have close friends who lived in Peru. They were very willing indeed to come over for dinner, assist in the assembly of the food, and comment on its authenticity.

soba noodle salad

The February 2011 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com.

poached egg for lunch

December's Daring Cooks challenge is a perfect one for me. Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. My favourite lunch is some sort of veggies accompanied by some sort of egg. And poaching the perfect egg is a skill I have relished learning. Together with some green bean and leek veggie pancakes, I had a perfect lunch.

watercress and chive souffle

Do you feel as though you learn something new every day? I often look for something new and try to pick up a new word, or try a new thing at work, or a new idea through my cooking. Joining a few blogging events groups has helped me learn new things in the kitchen. Thinking back, I was really pleased to learn how to make different nut butters, sweet potato falafel, and tiramisu through the Daring Cooks and Daring Bakers. And souffle is surely a challenging new thing, so I was thrilled when Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge!

vareniki

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi (also called vareniki) from scratch.

I was excited about this challenge for two reasons. First, my Mum is from a Mennonite background, and this is a classic Mennonite dish. I was keen to try it out after reading about it in a couple of Mennonite novels. Secondly, just the day after reading the challenge I was walking in Mong Kok and saw this little stall with a woman demonstrating how to make dumplings using a plastic form.

nut butters (for the Daring Cooks)

What a brilliant idea this month from the Daring Cooks; my favourite kind of idea: simple, healthy, and very tasty.

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include "Better with Nut Butter" by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

vegetable pate (for the Daring Cooks)

Our neighbours downstairs had a baby this weekend. What do you give to new parents? Pate and bread, of course! Their little darling is a gorgeous girl, and her vegetarian parents deserve a little break from cooking.


Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.


So I baked four loaves of bread and made two pates so that I could give away half and serve half to my own darling husband. The pate was easy to make and very tasty. It was easy to unmold and came out wonderfully. The bread was a bit dense this time, but was a suitable surface for eating pate!

Tricolour Vegetable Pate
serves 12
adapted from Bon Appetit October 1993 on Epicurious

Bean Layer:
2 c (500 ml) cooked pinto beans
1 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
1 t dried oregano
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper

Roasted Red Pepper Layer:
1 c (250 ml) roasted red peppers (drained if jarred)
3/4 c (190 ml) crumbled feta cheese

Pesto Layer:
2 garlic cloves
2 c (500 ml) rocket
1/4 c (75 ml) toasted sliced almonds
3 T olive oil
1/2 c (125 ml) ricotta cheese

Line two bowls with plastic wrap, which should hang over the sides.
Puree the ingredients for each layer in turn. Spread the layers in the bowls, smoothing each layer before adding the next.
Cover and chill for at least eight hours.
Place in the freezer for 30 minutes before unmolding.
Serve with bread or crackers.

Seeded Whole Wheat French Bread
makes four small loaves
adapted from Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert

4 c (1 L) whole wheat bread flour
2 c (500 ml) white bread flour
2 T active dry yeast
2 T sugar
1 t salt
2 1/2 c (625 ml) hot water
2 T olive oil
1 egg
2 T water
1-2 t cumin seeds, fennel seeds, sesame seeds, or poppy seeds

Mix together the flours, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
Gradually add the hot water and olive oil; mix well.
Add more flour if necessary to make a soft dough.
Knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth.
Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
Punch down and leave for 20 minutes. Then divide and shape into four loaves. Place on a baking tray and make diagonal slashes on the loaves.
Mix the egg and water and brush over the loaves. Sprinkle with seeds.
Allow to rise again until doubled in bulk.
Heat oven to 400 F/200 C and bake for 20 minutes.

I would make this pate again, and change the order of the layers so the green one ends up on top--that would be so much prettier. And I would make the bread again too, and try adjusting the liquids to get a softer dough--I'm sure it would be delicious after another attempt.

And I can't wait to meet the little girl downstairs. Happy birthday to her!

brunswick stew (for the Daring Cooks)

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.


Brunswick Stew was easy to make and very satisfying to eat! The recipes are huge and were more than enough for several days of hearty lunches at work. Perfect when served with a salad or cheddar cornmeal scones.

butternut squash and celery risotto

I have made risotto often in the past. It's a beautiful, comforting supper. A few months ago I quoted Nigel Slater talking about how calming it is to cook a risotto, stirring while it bubbles away on the stove.

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. Making the chicken stock was part of the challenge as well, which I think is the perfect thing to have going in the slow cooker on the weekend.

Butternut Squash and Celery Risotto
serves 2

2 T olive oil
2 stalks (about 100 g) celery, finely chopped
1 c (100 g) arborio rice
2 T white wine
500 ml to 750 ml chicken (or vegetable) stock, hot
1 1/2 c (100 g) grated butternut squash
1/3 c (50 g) grated parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large pan and then gently saute the celery until tender, about 8 minutes.
Add the rice and stir to coat all the grains.
Add the wine and stir until it is nearly absorbed.
Have the stock in a pot, keeping hot. Add a couple of ladles of stock to the risotto and stir from time to time. When the stock is nearly absorbed, add another couple of ladles.
Continue to add hot stock, stirring. After about three additions, add the grated squash.
Continue adding stock a couple of ladlefuls at a time. Taste the rice occasionally. Aim for the rice to be soft on the outside and have a slight bite on the inside.
Add the parmesan cheese and stir. Season well with sea salt and pepper. Then remove the risotto from the heat and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

I learned two valuable things about risotto by using the Daring Cooks recipe. First, risotto can take less stirring than I am used to. In the past, the recipes I have used said, "stirring constantly," which I now see is not really necessary. This really takes the pressure off and turns risotto-making into the relaxing task Nigel described.

Secondly, risotto is a delicious base which can take any number of flavours. It's a great way to eat any number of vegetables. In this risotto I used one of my favourite "sneaking veg in" tricks: grating it makes it seem like a garnish, when actually there is a fair amount of veg there.

mezze (for the Daring Cooks)

The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.


The two required recipes were pita bread and hummus. Both of them were easy to make and very tasty. The flatbreads were warm, soft, pillowy. The hummus had a lemony zing. The recipes are available from Michele.


I also wanted to make Leon's Sweet Potato Falafel. They would be easier to make if I had planned ahead. The night before when the oven was on for something else I could have roasted the sweet potato and let it cool. Then the same-day prep would be simple.

Sweet Potato Falafel
adapted from Leon: Ingredients and Recipes by Allegra McEvedy

2 medium sweet potatos (about 700 g)
1 1/2 t ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 t garam masala
2 big handfuls (about 30 g) fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 c (120 g) gram (chickpea) flour
olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 220 C/425 F. Roast the whole sweet potatos until tender, about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, let cool, then peel.
Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, garam masala, fresh coriander, lemon juice, and gram flour in a bowl. Mash together well.
Put into the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes. The mixture should now be somewhat sticky rather than wet. Add more gram flour if necessary to make a slightly sticky mixture. Use spoons or your hands to make balls. Place on a greased baking tray.
Heat the oven to 200 C/400 F. Bake the falafel for 15 minutes until the bases are golden brown.

Finally, to my mezze feast I added Spring Greens, another Leon recipe that adds a great colour to the spread.

Spring Greens
adapted from Leon: Ingredients and Recipes by Allegra McEvedy

1/2 head of cabbage
1 leek, sliced into diagonals and washed
1/2 t caraway seeds
1 c (130 g) fresh or frozen peas
1 1/2 T cider or white wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
a big handful of mint, chopped
salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, heat 1 c (250 mL) water to boiling. Add the cabbage, leek, and caraway seeds. Cover and simmer for four minutes.
Remove the lid and add the peas. Stir and simmer until the veg are all cooked and the water has mostly evaporated, about five minutes.
Remove from the heat, and finish with the vinegar, oil, mint, salt, and pepper.