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.