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.