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!
Intro from Cooking Challenge: Now, in case you’re European or something and don’t know what a diner is, let me give you the 411. Found all over the US, but most popular in the Northeast and Midwestern parts of the country, diners are casual eateries serving up traditional American cuisine. Many are open 24 hours a day, and serve breakfast around the clock. Burgers are another staple of diner food, but the menu tends to vary in different regions. In Maine, you can get slammin’ lobster rolls, but you won’t get a pork roll, egg and cheese sandwich like you would in Jersey. Of course, here at triple D we don’t just go to the 24-hour greasy spoons. We hit up any diner, bar or food stand willing to kick it up a notch and serve up their modern takes on the classics. Check out this this and this for some recipe ideas. So whether you want to make something like mac and cheese, or recreate the tacos from that stand you visited in Arizona once, this week’s theme is wide open. If you think you’re man enough, you can really take it to the next level and try to cook Guy Fieri style. How about some Flamin’ hot Cheetos-crusted tilapia, broiled and slathered with Mountain Dew aioli? Or Slammin Sammy Haggar burger, made with all natural Pat LaFrieda angus beef, LTOP (lettuce, tomato, onion + pickle), SMC (super melty cheese) and special kickin Donkey sauce on a garlic brioche bun, deep-fried, loaded into a baseball pitching machine and hurled at your face at 55 miles per hour. Now that’s money.
Between the donuts last week and tenders and rings this week, I'm getting pretty good at frying! I went off these recipes for Fried Chicken Tenders and Buttermilk Onion Rings. Overall, surprisingly easy and delicious! The onion rings were probably my favorite, and I'm not a huge onion fan (see my post for Week 4: Ingredient You Hated as a Kid). The tenders rivaled many diner versions I've had over the years.
The onions took a few practice tries to get the coating down right. The big tip to any coating/breading/dipping is to keep a "dry" hand and "wet" hand. Line up your dipping bowls in the order your food needs to get coated. Coat the food in your flour (typically) first with your dry hand and move it to the wet middle bowl (egg wash or buttermilk in my case). Pick it up, flip, and move it with your wet hand to the final bowl (more flour or breadcrumbs for me). Real Simple has a great visual step-by-step.
Intro from Baking Challenge: Mmmmm Dulce de leche. There's a few ways to make this creamy caramel sauce. You can boil a can of sweetened condensed milk in either the slow cooker or oven or try making it from scratch. Or get a little crazy and use coconut milk! Once you've got a nice pot of deliciousness you can use it in pretty much any dessert. Carrot cake, apple pie orscones! You can put it on churros or empanadas if you want to go more Mexican. It'll all be amazing! Good luck!
To start, I made dulce de leche from scratch over the stove with a can of sweetened condensed milk, stirring pretty much constantly for about 20 minutes. It turned out really tasty, although I recommend waiting until it has cooled a bit before dipping your finger in to try it like I did.
I used the recipe found here to make berlines (or donut holes). After a bit of trial and error, I found they came out better if I shaped them into the more traditional circular donut shape, due to the greater surface area. After frying, cooling, and dipping in cinnamon & sugar, I piped them full of dulce de leche!
Intro from Cooking Challenge: Break out Grandad's old candy jar, this week is Caramel! Caramelization is the browning of sugars, as opposed to The Maillard Reaction which is the browning of proteins and amino acids, like roasting a chicken or searing a steak. Even Wikipedia claims that caramelization is "a complex, poorly understood process", so it's hard to explain exactly. However, the cooking of sugars creates a richer, nuttier flavor that goes great in sweet and savory dishes alike! A few savory recipes to get you started, or try some of these sweet classics! And to get you in the mood, a little Def Leppard!
I was originally planning on making this with bison steak, but the ostrich happened to look way better at the farmer's market this week. This was my first time cooking ostrich. It sears very quickly because of how lean it is, so I was convinced I had completely ruined the steaks and burnt them through. However, after cooking about 4-5 minutes on each side, they came out deliciously!
I cararmelized the sweet onion first in some oil, tossing and mixing until they had a nice golden color. Then I added the chopped carrots tossed in oil to the pan and let them just sit for a few minutes until the bottoms were caramelized.
Intro from Cooking Challenge: This week the theme is Peruvian. Besides the guinea pig, some important ingredients in Peruvian cuisine are: quinoa, lima beans, potatoes, oca (similar to a potato), and chili peppers. Since Peru has different climates, the cuisine tends to vary based on the specific area you are in and below are some foods that are popular based on those specific areas. This list is in no way definitive and there’s a lot more information on the Wikipedia link at the beginning of this week’s introduction thread, so definitely check it out. The Coast: ceviche, chupe de camarones (shrimp/crayfish stock soup with potatoes, milk and chili pepper), papa rellena (mashed potatoes stuffed with ground meat, eggs, olives and spices – deep fried), pollo a la brasa (marinated, grilled whole chicken). The Andes: cuy chactado (fried guinea pig), puka pikanti (made from white potatoes, beets, yellow chili pepper, mint, and peanuts), rocoto relleno (rocoto chilis stuffed with spiced beef or pork, onions, olives, egg white and then cooked in the oven with potatoes covered with cheese and milk). The Amazon: chapo (a drink made with sweet plantains), juane (rice seasoned with turmeric, and chicken wrapped in banana leaves). And some additional links to check out: Top 10 Things to Eat in Peru, Classic Peruvian Recipes, 15 Peruvian Foods You Have to Try.
I was so excited for this week - My dad and I went to Peru and had amazing food the whole time, so I knew I had some great options to work with. Sadly, I couldn't get my hands on any guinea pigs. However, this chicken came out really fantastically.
I ended up borrowing a bit from each of these two recipes: Serious Eats andDaring Gourmet. My marinade ended up included: paprika, cumin, salt & pepper, garlic paste, distilled white vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, ginger paste, dried oregano, and soy sauce. I rubbed it under the skin and let the chicken sit in a ziplock with the rest of the marinade for a little over 24 hours.
The aji verde sauce had some serious heat to it. I lucked out in that while I was shopping for the peppers, I ran into a guy from Peru and he told me to add a tomatillo to tame it a bit. It came out really well and complimented the chicken perfectly.
This was almost my first time cutting up a whole chicken! Not perfect, but good practice!
I know this is supposed to be dedicated to what I've made as part of the cooking and baking challenges, but I made these the other night and wanted to share!
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces pork belly
- 2 scallions
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 bunch Thai basil
- 1 carrot
- 1 lime
- 1/4 head red cabbage
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- Olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
- 6 Chinese steam buns
- Hoisin sauce
- Sriracha
Directions:
- Wash and dry the fresh produce. Bring 2-3 inches of water to a boil in a medium pot over high heat. Thinly slice the scallions, separating the white bottoms from the green tops. Pick the basil and cilantro leaves off the stems. Peel the carrot and cut into thin matchsticks. Remove and discard the core of the cabbage, then thinly slice the leaves. Cut pork belly into six even pieces. Coat each piece of pork with the brown sugar, Chinese 5-spice, and a little salt and pepper.
- To make the salad: squeeze the juice of the lime into a small bowl (save the rinds for later) and season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of olive oil until well combined. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrot, white parts of the scallions, and Thai basil (roughly copping before adding, if you'd prefer). Season with salt and pepper. Add the lime vinaigrette to coat and toss to thoroughly mix.
- In a large pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil on medium-high until hot. Add the seasoned pork and cook 3-4 minutes per side, or until browned and cooked through. Remove from heat, add zest from the lime rinds, and stir to thoroughly combine. Spoon the oil and zest over the pork, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until fragrant. Transfer the cooked pork to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside in a warm place as you continue cooking.
- Place a colander on top of the pot of boiling water, making sure that the water isn't high enough to touch the colander. If you don't have a colander, you can try a metal roasting rack with another pot over top. Place the steam buns into the colander (or on the roasting rack) and tightly cover with the lid of the pot (or with another pot). Steam 3 to 4 minutes, or until softened and puffy. Using tongs, transfer the steamed buns to a plate.
- To assemble the pork buns, gently open each steam bun and spread a little hoisin sauce and sriracha onto the inside of the buns. Divide the cooked pork between each bun and garnish with cilantro and green parts of the scallions.
Intro from Baking Challenge: Lots of people love a moist, dense and fudgy brownie - this is a great go-to recipe. Cakey brownies can be lovely as well - you can even make them frosted or with ganache on top. Of course, there are all sorts of variations on the standard chocolate brownie - like goat cheese brownies or these mint brownies.
I think all my friends needed a break from me forcing baked goods on them every week, so I decided to opt for single serving mug brownies for this week. Jazzed up the normal recipe by adding a little mint flavor to the mix and topped with whipped cream and half of a Peppermint Patty cookie. A great Sunday treat!
