Daring Cooks Satays

Cuppy, of Cuppylicious chose a recipe for satays for this month's challenge. She wanted us to focus on the marinade. Options were presented, opportunities existed to marinade and cook just about anything you could put on a stick.

Her first example was a pork satay, which I have never made. I have made chicken, beef and shrimp satays. I actually think that the flavor of most foods improve when they are served on a stick.

The pork was cut into strips, placed in a ziploc bag with all the ingredients that had been quickly processed in the food processor.

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Thai dragon (bird’s eye) chili pepper
2 T ginger root, chopped (4 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 T fish sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)

I wasn't sure what a Thai dragon was, but I had some dried red peppers that worked. I let it marinate over night and then grilled them.

I served them with the
Thai pepper dip

4 Tbsp soy sauce (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

and some peanut noodles. I am very tempted to try some of the tofu that I see presented.

Rainbow Cheap Eats

I enjoy listening to The Splendid Table on Public Radio. On their web site, they have a collection of affordable entrees, splendid cheap eats. The Rainbow Peanut Noodles recipe seemed like the perfect recipe for my family. The Chinese peanut dressing can be assembled before hand, then stored in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. The recipe is taken from Asian Noodles: Mouthwatering Dishes to Twirl, Slurp and Savor, by Nina Simonds

Chinese Peanut Dressing

one inch of peeled fresh ginger (recipe called for 1/2")
8 gloves peeled garlic
one teaspoon hot chile paste
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 c soy sauce
3.5 T sugar
3.5 T black vinegar (or Worcestershire suace)
3T sesame oil
5 T chicken broth

In a food processor, pulse ginger and garlic, add the remaining ingredients. If too thick, add more broth.

Cook .5 lb noodles, I used linguine. Rinse under cold water. Add sauce, I used half the container and vegetables.

5 carrots Julienned
2 cucumbers, julienned
2 cups bean sprouts (skipped these)
1 red bell pepper, in thin strips
2 cups sliced cooked chicken
2.5 T scallions

This one is a keeper. I have half of the sauce in the refrigerator for later. I always have some kind of noodles and some kind of vegetables. My local monopoly grocery store make a cooked fajita chicken breast strip that worked very well in this quick meal.

Poilane-Style Miche BBA #33

We have finally reached the cover loaf!

I was worried about this loaf. We are having record low temperatures, so I wasn't sure about proofing the dough. However, the sourdoughs are a little more time intensive. They become weekend breads. But I didn't want to wait for another weekend to try this one.

Yesterday evening I made the firm starter. I used half wheat flour half bread flour because I do not have access to medium grain whole wheat flour. I added the barm to the flour and some water and let it ferment until doubled. I actually put it on top of the refrigerator, went to bed and this morning, it had just doubled.

I then added the 7 cups of flour, salt and water to the starter. I divided the dough in half and mixed and kneaded it. I am having difficulty with the arthritis in my hands in this cold weather. They don't wake up happy and perky and looking forward to kneading for 15 minutes to form a supple, tacky, but sticky dough. Usually I can talk my main stake holder into kneading, but he retains the ability to sleep past 0600 on the weekend. The mixer did a lovely job.

The dough took about 5 hours to double. The temperature in the kitchen varied with the number of time the dog went outside. Eventually, I made my oven into a proofing box. I formed the dough into a large boule and put it into my largest bowl. I was once again coveting a banneton. But the bowl lined with my linen worked fine.

After two hours, I turned the dough onto a pan and prepared the oven for hearth baking.

We are enjoying this bread. Peter says that it is good for 5 to 7 days. Good soup bread.

Christmas

I am delighting in my Christmas break. I wake up each morning and think about what I will bake or cook that day. I am able to fit exercise into my day. The chores blend in with the free time and don't seem so challenging. Joe has headed off to work at a winter camp for kids with Juvenile Diabetes. Matt is waiting to get back to college, where everything is more exciting than life on his parent's sofa. But while he is on the sofa, he is willing to eat anything I make and enjoys a good conversation. Emily is enjoying not studying. OK, so Tom had to go back to work. Not all of us are on school schedules.

The nativity scene in my front yard remains lit up and will remain lit up through the Epiphany. It was my Christmas present from my sons, who are skilled with power tools. Our old nativity scene had begun to warp and Joseph took a tumble whenever the winds picked up. We have to take care when we stake it in the ground that we don't impale the sprinkler system. We did that one year, a costly mistake.

My neighbors think that I have forgotten to take it down. I wish we would all enjoy Christmas a little longer, let the season linger. I think that I will make some gingerbread today, we haven't smelled that scent in the house this season.

My least favorite Bread 100% Sourdough Rye Bread BBA #32

I am enjoying vacation. There is little that must be done, which leaves a lot of time to enjoy life. I like being a school nurse, but it is nice to have a little break from the frantic pace. I am making my way through Rick Bayless' Mexico, One Plate at a Time. I made some sopas for lunch to go with the leftover Posole. Little tortillas cups, filled with roasted tomato green chili salas. We consumed them so quickly that I took no pictures. I think that my sopa shaping skills need to be developed. But the flavors were delicious. The book has great stories and tips from testers. It's fun to read.

Yesterday, I made some delicious sourdough bread to feed the minions and started the rye starter. Today, I worked on the rye bread. Or failed to have any effect on the rye bread. From the very start, the dough did not feel pleasant. I enjoy the smell and texture of dough, this bread felt like playdough, not enough elasticity. It took five hours to double. Shaping it into loaves was a little disconcerting. I really wasn't looking forward to the baking.

So, I went back to Rick Bayless and made the Tomatillo-Braised Pork Loin. Pork braised in a delicious roasted tomatillo sauce. Rick can handle more serranos than I can.

Dinner out of the way, I had to finish the bread. It didn't help when major stakeholder walked by the breads and said those are funny looking. There was minimal rise once the breads were shaped. They are singularly the least attractive loaves of bread that I have ever made. I could not find an image of Peter's loaves, perhaps his resembled cow pies as well.

Major stake holder thinks that the taste is ok. If you are looking for a dense, chewy loaf of bread, here's one for you.

New Cookbook

I am a little addicted to cookbooks. I get a cookbook from my husband every Christmas. He surprised me with Rick Bayless' Mexico One Plate at a Time. We had watched the Top Chef Masters TV show and I was impressed with how pleasant Rick Bayless seemed, how professional. It actually was amazing that the master chefs seemed to have a completely different vocabulary and way of treating each other than their younger counterparts.

So, my main stakeholder is addicted to Mexican food. To his credit, I am not sure if he has ever bought me a Mexican cookbook. I decided to start with his favorite soup, Pozole. Rick Bayless' pozole is a pork and hominy stew. The broth takes some time to make. And, you have to buy pork feet, or trotters. Rick recommends fresh or frozen nixtamal corn or dried pozole. I couldn't find either here in San Antonio. I have since located a source for mailordered dried pozole . I'll probably order some for next time, there are a few more specialty stores that I want to try. Any way, I used canned hominy, rinsed well. It had a delicious flavor.

I'm enjoying reading the cookbook, the stories, the respect for the food and the cooking. Great fun.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the Christmas season. With any luck, most years I have done all of the Christmas shopping and can spend the day baking and cooking and watching the comings and goings. I make Christmas Tree Coffee cakes for Christmas morning and some for neighbors. Then I start working on dinner.

We always start with Paula Dean's Foolproof standing rib roast. You just count back 4.5 hours from when you want to serve the roast and follow her directions to have a delicious, incredibly easy Prime Rib Roast ready for you. There is a time when the oven is off for three hours and this is when we head to church.

We have a buffet when we come home from church, a last minute, everyone make something buffet. Matt makes a tray with proscuitto and sausages, Joe and Emily make a cheese and cracker tray and throw some pigs in the blanket in the oven. Tom generally makes some sauteed spicy shrimp and I make stuffed mushrooms.

This year I decided to make some Gougeres. Food & Wine had a recipe by Jacques Pepin and I substituted Manchego cheese. They were delicious. They will be making a return next Christmas.



I made some stuffed mushrooms. I stuffed the tops with sauteed mushroom stems, roasted garlic, bacon, cream cheese, s&P, and a little bread crumbs. A tasty morsel.



I decided to make Ina Garten's shrimp cocktail this year. This is one of the easiest, tastiest shrimp cocktail recipes. Roasted in the oven, they have a great flavor. The cocktail sauce is delicious. Maybe I made mine a little too spicy, everyone ate them.

We had a great evening, munching away, enjoying each others' company.