Week 35: Avocado - Baked Avocado with Egg and Chorizo [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: This week's challenge is...avocado! This creamy delicious fruit (yes, it is technically a fruit) is often used fresh in guacamole, and is a fantastic addition to many sandwiches. But, how to incorporate it into a baked good? Did you know that, as a healthier alternative, you can actually substitute avocado for some of the butter in a recipe? There are a lot of other surprising ways that you can use avocado in baking. Some lovely savory options include baked eggs in avocado (yes, please!) and avocado crostini. If you're feeling like something sweet, avocado's creaminess lends itself well as an addition to icing , or even an avocado pie. Happy baking!

Oh man, were these delicious! I made them on a Saturday morning for a weekend breakfast treat. I used the recipe here for the eggs, using little crescents of tin foil to help hold the avocado halves level. When they were just about done, I fried up some bacon and then fried the diced chorizo in the leftover bacon fat (which was AMAZING). I will absolutely be making these again.

Week 36: Hot and Cold - Black Bean Soup with Sour Cream and Shredded Cheese [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: Contrasting flavors are an important part of any cook’s bag of tricks. Think of how much a pot of tomato sauce can really shine with a little sugar added, or a dish like sweet and sour pork has those layers of different flavors that stack on top of each other to create something greater than the sum of its parts. We can apply the same ideas to temperature contrast, and that’s exactly what we’re here to do for hot and cold week. This doesn’t necessarily have to be high-concept – a favorite meal of mine is barbecued pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw, where you have not only the hot/cold contrast but also the smoky barbecue/piquant coleslaw flavor contrast. Many top chefs use hot and cold contrast to create unique dishes – Heston Blumenthal, for example is famous for creating drinks that are hot on one side, and cold on the other (and here’s how to do it). Hot and cold contrasts can also be used in desserts. The two most famous examples of this are baked Alaska and bananas foster.

As soon as I saw this week's challenge, I knew I wanted to make black been soup. The combination of hot bean soup with a dollop of cool sour cream turns the whole thing into a silky bowl of delicious.

I made the soup from scratch following this recipe and then garnished with a generous blob of sour cream and a shredded blend of Mexican cheese.

Week 35: Pickling - Tons of Pickles! [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: Pickles! Whether they're stacked on your favorite sandwich from the deli, or in the gross jar sitting on the counter at the gas station, everybody is familiar with pickles in some form. Pickling is the method of preservation that relies on controlled fermentation of foods in brine or vinegar, resulting in a salty or sour product. This method can be applied to pretty much any food that you want to preserve, whether it's fruit, vegetables, or even meat and fish! You can go for the classics, like Straight Up Kosher Dill Pickles or go for something way out there like Kool-Aid Pickles! Portland knows all about pickles, and here's a bit of musical inspiration!

Oh man, Will was so excited when this week's challenge came up.  He's been begging me to make pickles for the past year.  So I figured I'd make up for the delay by going completely overboard.  I made four different kinds of quick pickles (at the rate Will eats pickles, there's no need to worry about longevity).  The base for all four was essentially the same - two cups water, two cups white (or cider) vinegar, two tablespoons salt.

The mustard pickles have some light pickling spices added, plus a lot of mustard seeds, some mustard powder, a dash of turmeric, and a little bit of dill.

The regular dills have a liberal amount of pickling spices and a bunch of fresh dill, plus a smashed garlic clove.  Classic.

The garlic & onion pickles have...you guessed it, lots of onion and smashed garlic.  Unlike the two above, these and the next were pickled in cider vinegar, instead of regular white vinegar.

Last but definitely not least, here are the jalapeno pickles.  Two chopped jalos are in here, along with some peppercorn and a dash of cayenne pepper (because why not make it hotter?), all pickled in cider vinegar.

Week 34: Flowers - Frosting Roses [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: This week's challenge is...flowers! You could incorporate flowers decoratively into a desert. If your piping and fondant/gumpaste skills aren't advanced, these royal icing flowers are simple and adorable. You could also incorporate actual flowers into a recipe - if you can get your hands on it hibiscus is delicious. Lavender is also a popular addition to many deserts. Feeling like something savory? Squash blossoms are a great option.

My attempt at the Wilton Rose! Considering I took a Wilton flower decorating class, I probably should be a little better at these...But I think they came out alright!  The frosting is regular buttercream.

Week 34: Opposite Side of the World - Bacalhau à Gomes de Sã [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: It's week 34 already and this week we're taking it to the opposite side of your world! This doesn't mean you have to cook something from the literal opposite side of the world, but this week we're letting you pick the far away cuisine that you would like to try to cook. The general opposite of North America is Australia, but since we already had Australian week, a lot of us may want to try something from another far away place instead. For example, if you live in Canada, try something from South America or something all the way in South Africa. The basic idea is to try something new from somewhere pretty far away. And for those of you that are curious, you can use this as a guide to find the exact opposite from where you live.

As the Intro pointed out, North America is on the opposite side of the world from Australia, and we've already done Australian cuisine for a prior week's challenge.  So instead, I decided to go with the opposite side of the ocean!  If you were to travel straight across the Atlantic from New York City, you would find yourself in Portugal, so I chose to make a Portuguese dish.

Salt cod is a very popular item in Portuguese cooking, and Bacalhau à Gomes de Sã seemed like a good recipe to try.  For those who don't know (like me), you can typically find salt cod in a wooden box in your local supermarket.  If you're lucky to have a specialty store near you, you can get a whole salt cod!  

Unfortunately, I have to say this was not my favorite dish.  Salt cod just isn't my jam.  I found it to be overwhelmingly fishy.  However, the combination of potato, onion, fish, egg, and olive was actually really intriguing, both from a taste and texture perspective.  While I didn't end up liking the dish, it was definitely a fun foray into cooking with a new ingredient and I'm glad I tried it!

Week 33: Savory - Salmon-Stuffed Puff Pastry [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Hello bakers! This week's challenge is savory. Breads, casseroles (baked jalapeno mac and cheese is my favorite), lasagna, chicken parmigiana - these are just some of many tasty baked dishes that you might conjure up this week. Happy baking!

When I think of savory baking, I immediately think of puff pastry - so for this week's challenge I made a salmon and spinach stuffed puff pastry based on this recipe. I simplified it (and brought down the price) quite a bit by using frozen spinach, which I defrosted in a small pot of boiling water (about 1 cup) and then sauteed with olive oil, minced garlic, and salt & pepper. I removed the skin from the salmon and rubbed it down with some dijon mustard before placing it on the puff pastry sheet, covering with spinach, and folding up. My spinach is on the bottom (compared to the pictures in the original recipe) because I flipped the bundle over so the seam was on the bottom, to prevent the pastry from opening up while baking.

Week 33: Melons - Melon-Mozz-Meat Skewers [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: This week is all about melons, the fruits of the family Cucurbitaceae. In addition to the common watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe, there's also a bunch of weird stuff. Horned melon, bitter melon, Korean melon, and some other things no one eats. Most melons are usually eaten raw, sliced, and boring. If you want to do something cool, there's a surprisingly large amount of things you can do. Watermelon lends itself surprisingly well to being cooked, fried, grilled or otherwise. I'm pretty sure no one actually eats bitter melon, but you can find it at most Asian markets, and there's an entire website devoted to making it taste less like the sadness of a thousand orphans. In conclusion, I leave you with the answer to the question "Hey, is it Lemon Week?" "No Lemons, no! Melon!"

The only thing better than how delicious these are is how easy they are to make. Each skewer has a hunk of either cantaloupe or honey dew, a slice of prosciutto, a basil leaf, and a mini mozzarella ball.

Week 32: Your Favorites - Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwiches [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: This week’s theme is: your favorites! This is like the free space on a bingo card, so you can cook pretty much anything – your mom’s famous meatloaf, Buffalo wings, banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, char siu bao, whatever floats your boat. Hopefully this is enough to inspire you!

My favorite meal, by far, is Thanksgiving dinner. I could probably eat an entire turkey myself, along with all the stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, corn, and cranberry sauce. However, all the prep involved with Thanksgiving is a bit more than I can manage on a weeknight while balancing school and work, so I opted to make leftover sandwiches. Plus, we all know turkey tastes better the day after anyway!

I picked up a turkey breast and covered it in a marinade of minced garlic, dry mustard, thyme, rosemary, basil, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice. I roasted it in an oven preheated to 325F for about two hours with a cup of red wine. Once the turkey had rested, I put it in the fridge. A few days later, I baked puff pastries and made sandwiches with sliced turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, and a sliver of cranberry sauce!

Week 31: Breading/Dredging - Panko-Sesame Crusted Cod [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: Plainly and simply, breading is the process of coating a food with a dry, grain-based coating to achieve a crispy exterior when cooked. This contrasts with battering, which involves a liquid coating. Coatings could include anything from bread crumbs or cornmeal, to even crazier things Cap'n Crunch or Cheetos. You could go a classic route and try some Classic Fried Chicken, or maybe make your own Mozzarella Sticks. There are countless things you can bread, those to come to mind pretty quickly though.

Breading definitely takes some practice to get the dry hand/wet hand method down, but becomes very easy once you get a rhythm going.
After patting the cod down with a paper towel, I dredged them through:

1. Flour
2. Two eggs whisked
3. A mixture of panko breadcrumbs, roasted sesame seeds, garlic salt, and pepper

After they were coated, I left them in the fridge for about an hour. This is definitely not necessary (I only did it because I wasn't quite ready to eat), but I found the breading stayed on better after firming up in the fridge. I pan fried the fillets in some coconut oil on the stove for about three minutes, browning both sides, and then moved the whole pan to the oven and baked for ten minutes at 425F, flipping once halfway through.

They're served with jasmine rice and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Week 32: Donuts - Cinnamon Baked Donuts [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Hello bakers. I can't believe it is already August! Time flies..like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. Heyooooo. Anyway, this week's challenge is...donuts! Or, doughnuts, depending on your spelling preference. There are so many kinds. There are yeast or cake varieties of batter. There are tons of recipes for baked or fried donuts. If you're not feeling the traditional ring-shaped or filled donuts, how about some donut holes or some zeppole? (fill these with Nutella and eat them while they're still warm, you won't be disappointed!) Be as simple or creative as you feel. Nobody can deny the awesomeness of a simple powdered or glazed donut, but if you're feeling a bit saucy you could try something a little different - like these droolworthy maple bourbon glazed donuts topped with bacon or these french toast cake donuts. Happy baking (and frying)!

After a pretty terrible attempt at frying donuts earlier this year, I decided to make use of my mom's donut pan and bake them this time.  I found this recipe and followed it pretty much to the letter; I came out with about 18 delicious donuts.  And since they're baked, we can pretend they're healthier!

Week 31: Tanabata Festival - Shrimp Okonomiyaki [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: The Tanabata Festival is on Saturday so it's time to expand your baking skills into Japan! Tanabata Festival is the wishing star festival so maybe try making some SPACE JELLY . Or if you want something savoury takoyaki and okonomiyaka are very common festival foods. As for general Japanese desserts, try things such as mochi, cotton soft cheesecake, or melon pans (a bun wrapped in cookie dough!). There's also about a million recipes using green tea, black sesame, or red bean paste. Get out there and make something awesome!

I somewhat followed the recipe here, although I had to make a lot of substitutions based on availability: regular flour and water instead of the Okonomiyaki flour; chopped cabbage, broccoli, and carrots for the veggies; and I added shrimp. I used coconut oil to fry the pancake and had a lot of issues with the batter sticking to the pan. Not sure if that was the fault of the coconut oil, but I might try something different in the future. Also, I wasn't able to find Okonomiyaki sauce, so I followed this recipe to make my own with ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce.

Bonus action shot of my pancake falling apart while cooking

For as sloppy as it looks, it actually came out really tasty! It made for a very filling lunch to share.

Week 30: Clean Eating - Pan-Roasted Swordfish with Arugula, Cucumber, Sweet Corn Salad [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: It's week 30 and this week we're eating clean! Many of us have heard of it by now, and while it may be considered a fad, it's one of the more interesting fads to come along. Although the term "clean" seems like a silly way to label this type of eating, it is what it is. And here we are. Basically, clean eating is cooking without any highly processed foods. Lots of fruits and vegetables, more whole grains. You know the drill. Try to stay away from things with artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners this week, along with anything that is pre-packaged and processed. Of course, not all pre-packaged foods are highly processed, but in general, they most likely are. When in doubt, look at the ingredient list! There is a lot of leeway this week in terms of fitting it into the challenge. If it's not highly processed, it's game. So that means you get to be extra creative this week. So go for it!

As soon as I saw this week's challenge, I knew I wanted to get a bunch of delicious things from my local farmers' market. There's a fantastic fish vendor that I always forget about, so I was psyched to grab an amazing piece of swordfish that had been caught that day. I prepared the fish very simply - salt & pepper on either side, and seared for about 4 minutes in an oven-proof pan of heated oil. After searing one side, I flipped it and put it in the oven at 400F for about 11 minutes (it was a thick cut). After removing the fish from the pan, I melted a half stick of butter with some thyme, minced garlic, grated peel of half a lemon, and peppercorns in the still hot pan, and spooned that over the fish.

For the salad, I just grabbed whatever looked delicious at the farmers market. It ended up being some fresh arugula, one whole cucumber, and raw sweet corn sliced off the cob. I mixed it up with a light homemade lemon vinaigrette.

Week 30: Fruit - Mini Fruit Cobblers [Baking Challenge]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Fruit! A perfect choice for summer baking! There are the main staples of fruit baking such as pies, tarts, and upside down cakes but fruit can also be working into doughnuts, sweet rolls, cupcakes and cookies. Easy peasy! Grab your favourite fruit and make something awesome!

I really needed to get a better grip on my portion sizes with this baking challenge (my coworkers and friends can only put up with so many baked goods being forced on them week after week!), so I decided to whip up some quick mini cobblers for this week's challenge. My recipe was adapted from here. I halved the recipe, which made just enough to fill two of my little ramekins. I filled one with diced fresh peaches and the other with blackberries. They were perfect to bring along to work for a little midweek treat, and kept well when wrapped in plastic wrap.

Week 29: Macarons/Meringue - After Dinner Mint Macarons [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Alright bakers! Time to step it up! Macarons are one of the more challenging things to bake but don't be afraid! A little bit of practice and patience and soon you will be a macaron master! To start, here is a basic step by step recipe and trouble shooting guide. Moving on from there, you can make pretty much any flavor combination you can imagine. S'more, neopolitan, lemon and more! If you've already perfected macarons try to up your game by turning them into adorable characters or shapes! If macarons seem too advanced right now you can try their simpler cousins, meringues. They can be simple little dollops, pretty rose sandwiches, fun looking swirls, or little nests that you can fill with fruit, custard or ganache! Good luck!

I got the original idea for these macarons from here, but ended up following the main recipe from the step-by-step guide originally posted in this week's intro. Although I still used the Taste of Koko recipe for the mint chocolate ganache.

If I had to sum up this entire experience in one sentence, it would be the step-by-step guide's pronouncement that: "If they were so easy to do, wouldn’t everyone make them?" Holy hell these things take effort and time! I probably spent about a half hour just sifting the almond meal and sugar to make sure it was super fine. That said, the patience definitely paid off and I was incredibly happy with my first attempt at macarons!
My major flaws (and what I'll be working on the next time):

• Heat - I put my oven on too high. I started at 275F, but they quickly started browning on the bottom (this may have also been due to my using wax paper instead of parchment paper - I know, I'm an idiot) and most of my tops were cracked.
• Piping - Getting uniform caps is HARD! I used a Wilton 230 tip, which seemed to work really well, but I just need practice in sizing and spacing (had a few too close together and they ended up merging).

Overall though, I'm super pleased with these, and I'll definitely be trying again!

Week 29: From Your Pantry - Chicken Sausage Pasta [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: A pantry is a room or a storage area, separate from the kitchen, in which food is stored. I don't know what kind of billionaire thought of that theme, but most of us aren't rich enough to have an entire other room to store food in. So we're gonna take some liberties and define this week as "cook a dish with food you have lying around your house". Okay? Okay. Screw it, I'm ordering in. You guys have fun. Here's a song for inspiration.

I was somewhat dreading this week because I'm notorious for having a very sparse kitchen.  I found Supercook to be really helpful and will definitely be checking it out in the future.  Luckily I had pasta and sauce laying around since my last Costco run and was glad to have a chance to use it. I was slightly concerned about protein, but luckily found some frozen chicken andouille sausage in my freezer. Note to self: start keeping more protein around the house for spontaneous cooking!

I threw some smashed garlic in a sauce pan with the sliced sausage until it started getting brown and fragrant, then added a jar of marinara. Since I usually like to spice up standard tomato sauce to make it my own, I also added in oregano, thyme, and paprika. And thanks to my mom for giving me the tip of adding red pepper flakes to the boiling pasta water to give it an extra kick!

Week 28: Drink into a Dessert - Mango Mojito Popsicles [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Time to get creative and turn a liquid into a delicious dessert! To start off easy there's this collection of Starbucks drinks turned into cupcakes! If you're more of a tea person try some London Fog Shortbread or Chai Creme Brulee. Or use this method to infuse tea into butter and make up your own! You could also go the alcoholic route with a Pina Colada Cake or Gin and Tonic Cupcakes. If you want some super kid friendly ones try Root Beer Float cupcakes or cookies, Raspberry Lemonade Bars, or take a trip to Hogwarts with these Butter Beer Cupcakes! Let's see what you've got!

A deliciously refreshing summer treat! These were super easy to whip up. The recipe comes from here, but it's just mango, rum, lime juice, water, and a little sugar and chopped mint - throw it in a blender and then pour into popsicle molds. It fills six molds perfectly. For the boozehounds out there, the recipe calls for only a shot of rum across all six pops, but I think you could probably up it a bit without losing too much consistency. Just freeze them a bit longer.

Week 28: 'MURICA - Big Spicy (meat)Balls [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: With the melting pot that is American culture, summarizing the food in a succinct manner is impossible due to the wide variety of regional influences. For instance, Lowcountry cuisine, from South Carolina, features strong influences from West Africans brought to the country as slaves. Some examples of famous recipes include hopping John (a black eyed pea and rice dish) and the Lowcountry Boil. Then you have Tex-Mex, our bastardized version of what our neighbors to the south are cooking up. This re-purposing gave as uniquely American dishes such as chili con carne and fajitas. Of course, then there's 'MURICA, where every negative stereotype you can think of about the country is true. 'MURICA used to be the fattest country in the world, until Mexicans went and took that job from us too. So I lay it on you, brave cooks, to win this title back, in remembrance of such great Americans as Ronald Reagan, Dale Earnhardt, and Spiderman. You could try out the garbage plate, or perhaps bacon wrapped turkey legs. Maybe the Minnesota Hot Dish is more your speed. And if none of this sounds appetizing, just take something you already like, and deep fry it. Because to quote Ron Swanson, "The whole point of this country is if you want to eat garbage, balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43, you can! You are free to do so. To me, that's beautiful." And if you'd rather not cook something that gives you a heart attack before you can post it, well I suppose that's okay too.

What's more 'Murican than giant balls? These are turkey/pork meatballs, seasoned with Italian breadcrumbs, oregano, pressed garlic, and hot red peppers. Extremely quick and easy to make, just throw all the ingredients in a bowl (1lb each of ground turkey and pork, whatever your preference for the rest) and mix together with an egg and salt & pepper. I like mixing it up with my hands, because America was built by hand, dammit. Form into balls and bake these babies on a cookie sheet lined with foil for about 20-30 minutes at 450F, or until desired doneness. Hooray!

I topped them with homemade tomato sauce, which was just a can of crushed tomatoes and whatever the hell else I felt like ('MURICA!)...which ended up being smashed garlic, oregano, thyme, basil, and a dash of paprika, all mixed and simmered on very low heat until the meatballs were done (about 15-20 minutes).

Week 27: Canada Day/Independence Day - Funfetti Firecracker Cupcakes [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: This week, our challenge focuses on two national birthdays. Canada celebrates Canada Day on July 1st. This is anniversary of the Constitution Act of 1867, which united three colonies into a single country and defines much of the structure of Canada's government. Red and white and maple leaf themed baked goods are a big focus on this holiday, like maple leaf sugar cookies or this gorgeous cake. The United States celebrates Independence Day, the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from the British Empire, on July 4th. Goodies on the 4th are all about the red white and blue. How cool are these flag cake pops or these cheesecake bars? Happy baking, and happy birthday to Canada and the USA!

Firecracker popsicles were one of my favorite summer treats as a kid, so when I found this recipe for a cupcake version, I knew I had to make them for this week's challenge. Rather than the lemon/lime cupcakes with Jell-O called for in the link, I just made funfetti cupcakes for a more festive base. However, I did have a blast making the blue raspberry, lime, and cherry butter cream frosting! Also, the recipe is sadly silent on how to actually pipe that beautiful popsicle-looking frosting, so I found this tutorial using a large French tip. I unfortunately only had a 1M Wilton tip, so my frosting waves were a little more spaced, but I think it still came out pretty decent! 

Since it was a hot day, we threw them in the fridge so the frosting wouldn't melt. It ended up being a genius idea, as they were even better chilled! Everyone was eating them upside-down like real popsicles.

Week 27: Tenderizing - Ginger-Soy-Lime Shrimp and Pineapple Chicken [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: Everyone's been there: the tough, overcooked, hunk of shoe leather that somebody tries to pass off as a steak. When it's bad, it's really bad, but when it's good there's nothing quite like a nice tender piece of meat. Tenderizing is the process of breaking down collagen in meat in order to make it more palatable and easily digestible. The process can occur in a few ways: physical tenderization, such as pounding or piercing; through cooking, such as braising or slow-cooking; or through chemical reactions with acid, salt, or natural enzymes. In the colder months, braised beef is a go-to favorite, but in the hot summer months, pork chops on the grills are always great, although only fresh pineapple will cause the tenderization. Whatever your preferred method is, once you learn how to tenderize your meat you may never go back. HERE COMES THE HAMMER.

These shrimp were marinated in a combination of ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and lime juice (adapted from here). Since shrimp tenderize quite quickly, I only marinated them for about twenty minutes. 

After being peeled and marinated, I put them on skewers under the broiler for two minutes on each side. They came out perfectly cooked, and some even had a little crisp, which I love. A great alternative for those of us without a grill.

For the chicken, I made a sauce of Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, oil, and pineapple juice/slices (adapted from here) and let the chicken breasts marinate for about 2-3 hours. 

After marinating, I tossed them in the oven for about twenty minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. They came out deliciously juicy. I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the pineapple and chicken flavors together (this probably would have been much better with a steak), but it did make the chicken very tender.

Week 26: Ramadan - Kunafa [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is celebrated around the world. During Ramadan, adult Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. In the morning, before the sun rises, the day is begun with Suhoor, a pre-dawn meal. In the evening, fast is broken with Iftar. There are many baked dishes, both sweet and savory, often served during Suhoor and Iftar. Here are just a few: Noni Afghani (a tender baked flat bread, typically served during Suhoor); Kunafa (a filled pastry usually made from shredded phyllo dough. There are many versions - this particular recipe has a sweet cream filling and is soaked in syrup.); Atayef (a versatile filled pancake, which can be baked or fried to finish them off after they are filled); Rose Petal Pound Cake (a lovely pound cake made with rose water).

I used this very simple recipe to make nut kunafa with cashews and pecans. I had extra fillo dough so I decided to shred it by hand rather than go buy special kataifi dough. Despite the prevailing sentiment on the internet, it CAN be done, but it's definitely a very time consuming and physically tiring process (my hand was cramping by the end).

Using a knife, cut very very thin shreds

On the whole, I have to say I was underwhelmed by this dish. Maybe I'm spoiled from the baklava a few weeks ago, but the kunafa tasted bland. If I were to do it over, I would probably add some cinnamon and/or honey.

Week 26: Philippines - Chicken Adobo over Rice [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: We’re at the halfway point and this week’s theme is Philippines! Filipino cuisine has a lot of interesting flavors and is especially known for combinations of sweet, sour, and salty. There is also a pretty large Spanish influence on some of the dishes, but the traditional Asian ingredients also shine through. To get an idea of the flavors, here are some fairly common Filipino ingredients: Rice; tropical fruits like banana, mango, guava, etc.; coconut/coconut milk; tamarind; seafood (though other meat like chicken and pork are popular also); garlic; and root vegetables like potato, purple yam, cassava, carrot, etc. And some Filipino foods: Pandesal (a bread that is sweet and salty); Champoroda (a sweet chocolate porridge); Adobo (basically a dish of marinated meat, often served with rice); Bistek (thinly sliced fried beef served with onions); Kare-Kare (a peanut-based stew usually made with oxtail, pork hocks, calves feet, pig feet, beef stew meat, and vegetables).  Here are a few more links to get you started this week: various foods and recipes.

Ignore the creepy looking chicken skin - this was delicious!

Recipe adapted from here. I loved this recipe mostly because of how incredibly easy it was and because I already had all the ingredients (save the chicken) around my kitchen. I didn't have any bay leaves on hand so I threw in some thyme instead. I also halved the portions since 5 lbs of chicken seemed like a ton of food - I ended up cooking four chicken thighs, which made four perfect lunch-sized servings. This kept incredibly well and tasted just as good heated up the next day, which is always a big risk with leftovers.

Week 25: Stone Fruits - Pork Tenderloin with Cherry-Port Sauce and Peach Sangria [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: According to Wikipedia, a stone fruit, or a "drupe", is usually a member of the Prunus genus, subfamilyAmygdawhatever, blah blah blah. Bascially, it's a fruit with a single pit and a fleshy exterior. Avocados apparently aren't drupes, and I tried to look up why but the words made my head hurt. What does qualify are: plums, nectarines, peaches, apricots, cherries, and all those crazy hybrids thereof. Even almonds, mangoes, coffee, and olives, while not part of those Latin words from before, technically qualify as drupes. This gives you a pretty decent sandbox that lends well to either sweet or savory applications. You can definitely go savory with something like coffee-braised short rib with mango salsa. If mole-inspired dishes are too ludicrously complicated for you, you can go with a simple plum sauce that goes with pretty much anything. If you feel like blowing 50 bucks on an ice cream machine you'll use once, you can try making my favorite dessert, peach sorbet. Otherwise, you can go with a classic cherry pie. Just keep in mind that if you do that, you are hereby honor-bound to play this song on repeat the entire time.

This is a fantastic comfort dish, and comes out very moist as long as you don't overcook it. The cherry-port sauce pairs great with pork, however you want to prepare it. Recipes for the pork and the sauce were adapted from here and here, respectively.

The peach sangria brings a really great summer vibe to this typically cold-weather meal. This is a family summer staple that my mom usually whips up. But be warned - it is VERY alcoholic. The peaches are soaked in tons of liquor and pack a surprising punch!

I tried something fun and different this time, making a step-by-step album of the whole cooking process.  I didn't want to overwhelm the blog by putting all the pictures in this post, but you can view the Imgur album here.

Week 25: Healthy - Summer Fruit Terrine [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Making up a bit for last week's naughty alcohol challenge, this week's theme is...healthy! Maybe you could try taking one of your favorite recipes and making a healthy substitution - like bananas for fats or applesauce for sugar. Or, try something all new! How about a nice, light, (and fat free!) angel food cake (so good with some fresh berries!), a whole wheat bread, or a lovely veggie lasagna? Happy baking!

Stealing from last week's cooking challenge, I made this terrine of summer fruits.  For those of us who are not so fancy, it's basically jello with fruit. I used the recipe found here, which uses rosé wine and had a really nice flavor.  I didn't happen to have a lime on hand, so I used lemon instead.  My summer fruits included strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, all of which went really well with the rosé.

Week 24: Historic Foods or Famous Dishes from History - World's Highest Formal Dinner Party [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: This week, we’re taking a trip through history. One of the few things that sticks in my mind from high school for some reason was a story in history class about the origin of the croissant. The short version of that story is that after soundly defeating a Muslim army in the battle of Tours in 732, the victorious French had bakers make a pastry in the shape of a crescent – an up yours to the defeated Umayyad army. However, as I’ve just discovered thanks to Wikipedia, the actual origin of the croissant was at a Viennese bakery in Paris in 1839, where owner August Zang pioneered the pastry, an evolution of the Austrian Kipferl. Besides food factoring into historic events, you can also look into famous historical restaurants. For instance, Lobster Newburg and Eggs Benedict were both created at Delmonico’s Steakhouse in New York City (also where the name for the steak comes from). Escoffier set the dining world on fire with his work at the Savoy hotel, and codified what we now consider classic French Cuisine. More recently, there’s Chez Panisse, where Alice Waters pioneered the current trends of local and organic foods, making the fusion food known as California Cuisine. For some more ideas, check out here and here.

On Thursday, June 30, 2005, a team of adventurers broke the record for the "World's Highest Formal Dinner Party" by eating a three-course meal at a height of 24,262 feet.  David Hempleman-Adams navigated a hot air balloon while Bear Grylls and Lieutenant Commander Alan Veal dined on asparagus spears, poached salmon, and a terrine of summer fruits, before the pair parachuted back down to the ground.  Here's a short but cool video from Grylls recapping the event.

Admittedly I was lacking the "specially designed warm boxes," though I still think everything came out pretty great for my recreation at 173 feet (16 stories)!  Poached salmon is quickly becoming one of my favorite meals to cook and fresh steamed asparagus is always delicious in the summer.  Here is my trusty poached salmon recipe.

The terrine came out really nicely as well.  I used the recipe found here, which uses rosé wine and had a really nice flavor.

Week 24: Alcohol - Guinness Chocolate Brownies [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: This week's challenge is a fun one - alcohol. There are a plethora of alcohol themed treats. Cocktail inspired cupcakes are a personal favorite, like these car bomb cupcakes, or these bellini cupcakes. Want something a little heavier? How about a rum cake. Or, maybe, less sweet? Beer bread is a delicious way to use booze in a savory dish. Don't drink? Mocktail deserts, like pina colada cupcakes, are a great option.

I had some extra Guinness leftover from the Beer Cooking Challenge a few weeks ago, so I decided to try out this recipe for this week's challenge. I am definitely more of a fudgy-brownie (rather than cake-brownie) girl, and I was so happy with how these turned out. You can clearly taste the Guinness, but it works really well with the chocolate brownie. I opted for walnuts instead of pecans for personal preference.

One word to the wise, make sure you follow the directions around adding in the flour mixture a few tablespoons at a time to the batter. To compensate adding the Guinness afterwards, the batter gets VERY thick at this point. I made the mistake of trying to add a bunch of flour at a time (about half a cup) and first had a flour/cocoa sand explosion in my face, and then nearly broke my hand mixer.

Week 23: Confit - Duck Confit [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: Stemming from the French verb confire, Confit means "to prepare". The term was originally used in the middle ages to refer to fruits preserved in sugar, but the term grew to incorporate meats preserved in a similar fashion in fat rather than syrup. Most people are familiar with Duck Confit, the French classic of duck leg slowly cooked in it's own fat, but the same technique can be applied to a range of other meats, including beef, chicken and even fish! If you're more in the mood for sweets, cooking fruit slowly in a neutral flavored syrup can yield some incredible results. Sweet or savory, just remember: Slow and low, that is the tempo.

I wish I had a better shot of the duck so you could see how amazingly juicy and tender it was inside, but I was too busy inhaling it after I took this picture! Alongside the duck is some steamed broccoli and potatoes I roasted in some of the remaining duck fat. My trusty tub of duck fat from Hudson Valley Duck Farm (by way of the Union Square Greenmarket) is quickly becoming one of my favorite kitchen staples.

For the confit, I relied on this recipe, using two duck legs from Hudson Valley. I cured the duck legs in the salt/thyme/shallot/garlic for two days prior to cooking, and then cooked them in the fat for about three and a half hours at 225 degrees F.

Week 22: Africa Day - Moroccan Kefta Briouats [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Africa Day commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity and so to celebrate it let's bake up some African goodies! Africa is composed of over 50 countries, each with their own culinary style, so grab a country and start baking! There's chabakia from Morocco, malva pudding from South Africa, Egypt's Om Ali, Ethiopian Injera or mandazi found throughout East Africa. You don't need to take directly from their recipes. You can gather inspiration from the wildlife or culture to create your own treats. Have fun!

I whipped this up with the extra fillo dough I had from the previous week's baklava, largely following the recipe here. That link has a great step-by-step guide for folding the briouats, which I highly recommend, as they can be a little tricky at first. Alternatively, you can just roll them into a sort of taquito shape.

I used beef (kefta) for my filling. I opted to leave out the massive amounts of butter, used water instead of egg wash for folding, and chose to bake rather than deep fry the briouats to keep this on the healthier side. To bake them, just arrange the briouats on a baking tray, spray with a little olive oil cooking spray, and cook for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

When reheating, I found searing them in a lightly oiled pan gave them a nice crisp!

Week 22: Turkish - Pecan Baklava [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: Turkish food, like many other cuisines, borrows ideas from other countries and molds them into a cuisine they call their own. Also like many other countries, it is a cuisine that varies across the country. For example, the region close to the Black Sea uses more seafood than the other regions. Here is a short list of frequently used ingredients to give you an idea of where the cuisine starts (this list is in no way definitive, but only meant to give you an idea of the flavors in Turkish cuisine): Nuts, Lamb, Chicken, Eggplant, Yogurt, Tomatoes, Garlic, Olives, Lentils. And some dishes in Turkish cuisine: yoğurtlu çorba (a yogurt soup cooked with spices and rice), İşkembe (tripe soup), baklava (a sweet pastry with nuts and honey), manti (a dumpling filled with minced meat, usually steamed, and served with a garlic yogurt), kuskus (version of couscous that can be served with meat or vegetables), mahmudiye (named after a town in Turkey, this is a dish that consists of chicken mixed with honey, apricots, almonds, currants and black pepper), köfte (almost like a Turkish meatball, with spices common to the region), Şiş kebabı. For desserts, there is an interesting technique that produces Turkish ice cream(dondurma) that has a different texture and is melt resistant. And don't forget Turkish Delight! There are many more areas of Turkish cuisine to explore! Some recipes and more info.

Ok, so these might look a little familiar...I'll admit I fell behind on the weekly challenges while I was traveling for three weeks, so I might have cut corners by also making baklava for the Nut Baking Challenge.  However, I was sure to make two different types of baklavas!  Which my beach body is regretting.

As with the last one, the recipe is stolen from here. The fillo dough was definitely a bit of a pain to work with, but I got into a groove after the first few tries. I also picked up some delicious whipped honey with cinnamon by Andrew's Honey at the Union Square Greenmarket and used it with this (leaving out the cinnamon in the nut mixture).  

Who am I kidding?  I do not regret having two pans of this at all!

Week 21: Beer - Guinness Baked Beans [Cooking]

Intro from Cooking Challenge: All it takes is Yeast, Barley, Hops & Water! Let's have these guys explain how Beer is made. It's a crazy science that with the right equipment at home, you can make a brew! Beer is great on it's own, but it's also stupendous in recipes!

Not exactly the first thing you think of when you think of summer food, but a cool beer is great any day! I cooked down some chopped up bacon in a pot until the fat was rendered, and then added baked beans, some diced onion, ketchup, spicy brown mustard, dark brown sugar, and a bottle of Guinness Extra Stout. After letting it simmer for about 15 minutes (it was very watery), I spooned it into a glass oven dish. I like my beans on the thicker side, so I used a slatted spoon to scoop out the good stuff into the dish, then added some of the remaining juice until the dish was full (I had a fair bit of juice left over in the pot). Then I cooked them for about 50 minutes at 400F.  Now to figure out what to do with the other five of the six pack!

Recipe adapted from here.

Week 23: Cheesecake - Lactose-Free Mini Cheesecakes [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: This week's challenge is...cheesecake! There are many kinds of this decadent treat. Well known styles include New York, Chicago, Pennsylvania Dutch, and Roman. There are, of course, all kinds of fun flavored cheesecakes as well, like Chocolate Grasshopper or Key Lime. Vegan or lactose intolerant? There's a cheesecake for you too - made using cashews and coconut milk.

Ignore the wax paper tabs - they're for easy removal!

As a lifelong lactard, it's always a struggle to find cheese favorites that won't wage war on my stomach.  So I was very excited to find this recipe for vegan cheesecake.  I know "vegan" anything tends to strike fear into the hearts of meat eaters, which is why I labeled these "lactose-free" - plus, since I used honey, they are typically non-vegan.  However, they are most definitely delicious!  I decided to make four flavors - peanut butter chocolate chip, coconut, strawberry, and blueberry.

Ready to eat!

Week 21: Nuts - Walnut Baklava [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: Packed full of protein and, in some cases, incredibly deadly to a lucky subset of people! Yay nuts! There's a huge variety of them and they all work so well in baking. They're perfect as just a simple addition to a recipe such as White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies or German Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars. Or, go a bit classier with a Nutty Biscotti or some Pistachio Macarons. Nuts are also great as the main feature of the dish such as these Honey Nut Bars or the classic Baklava. Of course nuts can also be turned into nut butters, which are also amazing in baking. Peanut butter is the old stand-by but Nutella is also crazy popular.

Good lord, these are tasty! Recipe stolen from here. The fillo dough was definitely a bit of a pain to work with, but I got into a groove after the first few tries. I picked up some delicious whipped honey with cinnamon by Andrew's Honey at the Union Square Greenmarket and used it with this (leaving out the cinnamon in the nut mixture) - Wow, that stuff is really good. I was eating this straight from the pan.

Week 20: Patterns - Checkerboard Cake [Baking]

Intro from Baking Challenge: This challenge is not so much about taste, but looks. You can take pretty much any baked good and punch it up with some fancy decorative patterns. And obvious example is pie crusts or icing techniques. Sugar cookies with royal icing are also excellent. Some fun ones to try out could be this heart patterned cheesecake, a leopard print cake or a nice summery fruit tart. Have fun!

I knew I wanted to do a checkerboard cake ever since the Week 20 challenge topic was announced - They're one of my favorite pieces of baking sorcery! People are always so confused at how to get the checkerboard pattern inside the cake, but it's actually really easy!

To start, you need four equally-sized round cakes in two colors.  Once they've cooled, you'll want to level them with a bread knife or cake leveler (if you're fancy) so all four are flat and roughly the same thickness.

Next, using bowls/cookie cutters/whatever you have that can help you cut circular shapes, cut each cake into concentric rings.  You can do as many or as few rings as you like, as long as you do the same number/thickness/diameter on all the cakes.  For a really nice checkerboard pattern, I recommend making the thickness of each ring about the same as the thickness of the overall layer.  Carefully separate the rings and create your layers with alternating colors, like making bulls eyes.

When you've got your layers prepared, the next step is to build your cake.  Stack your layers so the colors alternate (aka first layer with blue outer ring, second layer with red outer ring, etc.), putting a thin layer of frosting between each layer to help hold. Do an initial crumb coat of icing, ice the full cake, and you're done!

When you cut into the cake, you'll see the checkerboard pattern!  I used blue and red velvet cake batter and iced with cream cheese icing. A little shout out to my New York Rangers, who made it to the NHL conference finals last night!