March 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Orange Tian

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

This challenge and I had a love/hate relationship.  My crust base and caramel did not behave, but I absolutely loved the marmalade and segmenting oranges.  I got lots of practice segmenting them too, because I had to do 8 oranges.  Sadly, while I really wanted to like this dessert, it just didn't happen. While I love eating citrus fruit, I've never liked them any way other than fresh.   BUT I did enjoy the complexity and various components of the dish; I can see some of  it coming to play in later cooking adventures.

S'mores Bites

Have I got the perfect summer time dessert for you! It is a variation of the smores bars I posted quite some time ago (May '08).  Awhile ago as I was deciding what to bring for dessert to a family dinner, I remembered how everyone loves the s'mores bars,  but they are so darn messy.  How could I make them easier to eat?  Then, a voice spoke to me.. it was my mini-muffin pan calling from the pantry!  With just a few adjustments to the recipe, I created perfect, bite-sized pieces of smores heaven.  Mmhmm. 

See how the tops crackle open to show delicious marshmallowy goodness? Yuummy.

S'mores Bites

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• approximately 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1jar marshmallow fluff

Preheat oven to 350F. Generously spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until combined. It will be kind of clumpy.



Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of the dough and roll it into a ball.  Press the ball into a cup of the  muffin pan and gently press down so that the ball turns into a cup.  Have the dough on the sides rise to the edge of the cup itself, but make sure you have a good 1/6 to 1/4 inch of dough at the bottom.  Repeat until  you have filled the pan. (You should have a good deal of dough left.)


Drop about 5 chocolate chips into each cup, pushing down gently so they kind of stick in place.

Carefully spoon the marshmallow creme into a piping bag or a really strong zip back (the first time,  my bag busted and marshmallow goop oozed out!)  Using a circular motion, pipe about 1 tbsp of creme into each cup.  It might look overfilled at first, but the creme will settle down after sitting for a minute. Repeat.

Now, roll approximately 1  teaspoon of dough into a ball, then flatten it out into a disk.  It should be about 1/8 inch thick and about the same size as the top of the muffin cup.   Gently lay the disc atop the creme and press down GENTLY.  Repeat. 

Bake 15-20 minutes, until the tops crack open to reveal the marshmallowy awesomeness inside. 

Crawfish Empanadas and Spanish Rice

Yesterday, I started craving crawfish really badly.  Then, I leafed through the paper and saw a recipe from a local restaurant for crawfish enchiladas.   Since I needed to go to the store anyway, I decided I'd make them tonight.. Unfortunately, after returning from the store, I discovered a second column of ingredients that I had not noticed in the article.  While musing over what to do with the crawfish, I had this flash of inspiration; crawfish empanadas!  I've wanted  to make empanadas for a while now and I knew I had a recipe for dough bookmarked.  I decided I'd try my hand at "spanish rice" while I was at it.  

The empanadas were a bit disappointing, way too dry.  They would be better with a sauce, since I couldn't make the crawfish mixture too saucey for fear of the dough getting soggy and exploding.  Next time I'll create some sort of sauce, but I'll probably use a different dough as well.  

The rice on the other hand was FANTASTIC!  It was exactly how I like it.  Hubby even agreed that it was better than anything at a restaurant.  I found a recipe online and somewhat followed it.  


Spanish Rice

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 2 cups long grain white rice
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies, mostly drained
• 3 oz tomato paste
• 1 tbsp cumin
• salt and red pepper to taste
• a dash of seasoned salt or chacheres

In a medium sized pot, heat olive oil.  Stir in rice and cook for a few minutes, until the rice begins to look translucent and smell nutty. 

Stir in broth and water, then add the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring occasionally.  

Remove from heat, cover, and let sit a few minutes before serving.

March 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge: Risotto

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

 I was SO excited when I saw risotto was this month's challenge! I've been considering attempting it for a month or so now, especially after I learned Courtney really wanted to make some too! Unfortunately, things kept coming up so I had to do this challenge at the last moment and couldn't get Courtney over here.  But really, that just means I'll be making another batch soon.  

The challenge was super lenient; we had to make the stock from scratch and create the risotto base, but the end result was all our own.  Hubby wanted shrimp risotto, but I didn't want to put shrimp directly in the risotto.  Instead, I decided basil and parmesan would go nicely with shrimp and thus my risotto was born.   This was my first time ever having risotto, and I totally understand why it's such a popular dish.  It is so versatile and comforting!   I can't wait to make some more with Courtney.

Brownies

Man, what a week!  Monday was super busy at work and on top of that, my computer was shut down by a virus (kind thanks to the girl who downloaded all that crap on my computer before me).  By the end of the day, I realized I just really needed brownie, and really, we all did.  So I went home, whipped up a batch, and brought them to work the next day.  Good thing I did, because every day this week has been crazy and those little squares of decadent chocolate heaven really help a girl through the afternoon.  My apologies for not having a picture, but I got them finished right before bed time and have left them at work.  But I trust you all know what a brownie looks like: square, brown, crispy flaky top. 

Brownies
(original recipe here) 

• 9 oz bittersweet chocolate (I didn't have enough so I used 6 oz bittersweet, 3 oz semi-sweet)
• 1 cup butter, cut into chunks
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 325F.  Line a baking dish with foil and grease generously.  

In a double boiler (or a heat safe bowl over a large pot) melt the chocolate and butter just until melted.  Don't let it go too long or it will separate and get funky.  whisk in the sugar.  It will be grainy and that is okay.  

Remove from the heat and whisk in eggs one at a time.  Whisk in vanilla extract.


Finally, whisk in flour and salt until just combined.   Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes.  (Mine took 35 minutes, but I also used a smaller pan to get thicker brownies.)


Enjoy!