April 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. 

Suet, for those who don't know, is disgusting a flaky animal fat.  For numerous reasons (mainly time and money) I decided to opt out of using suet; instead, I used lard, which is still animal fat.  So I did not stray too far.  There  was a great deal of latitude in what type of pudding we made.  Since this is for the Daring Bakers, I decided to keep it sweet since the Daring Cooks has me doing something savory once a month.  I was really trying to avoid having to go out and buy specific ingredients for this challenge so i dug in the pantry a bit to see what goodies I had.  Lo and behold, dried cranberries were found!! Add to that the bit of leftover marmalade I had and a winning combo was born.  

 Now, it's not exactly gorgeous but it was quite delicious.  Warm and filling, with the sweet marmalade balanced by the rest of the pudding.  As he was eating it, hubby requested I make it again.

And yes, those are icing roses you see!  I'm taking a cake decorating class and was practicing; I thought they'd add a nice splash of color.  They aren't perfect, but for a first try, I think they're nice.   I'll post more on the cake decorating class later. 

Also, if you've noticed a lack of posts lately, it isn't because I've forgotten you.  It's due to the fact that hubby and I are currently looking for a house! It is tres exciting and even more time consuming!

Steamed Cranberry-Orange Pudding 

• 100 grams/4 ounces All-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoons Baking powder
• 100 grams/4 ounces oats
• 75 grams/3 ounces  sugar
• 75 grams/ 3 ounces lard
• 1 large egg
• 6 to 8 tablespoons Cold milk
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tbsp marmalade

Sift flour, salt, baking powder oats,  and sugar together.   Cut in the lard.  Mix in the egg and milk until you have a soft batter.  Stir in dried cranberries. 

Turn into a buttered 2-pint oven-safe pudding bowl and cover securely with buttered paper or aluminum foil.

Steam in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  Do this by heating the oven to 400.  In a pot large enough to hold your pudding bowl, lay down a steaming rack, plate, or bunched up foil (to prevent the bowl from touching the bottom of the pot).  Place the covered pudding bowl into the pot then fill with water until it comes halfway up the bowl.  Cover the pot and place in the oven. 

Once done, turn onto a plate to serve.  

Banana Pancakes

Yesterday I realized I had some bananas that were very, very ripe.  I started to think about what I could make (bars, bread, etc) when Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes" started playing in my head.  I then informed hubby we would be having banana pancakes for breakfast today.  

After I woke up and made my way to the kitchen, I started thinking that maybe I'd rather make banana fritters.  Remembering I had such a recipe, I pulled out my Jacques Pepin cookbook.  His recipe didn't appeal to me this morning, largely because it called for the bananas to be sliced.  I decided to just create something.  

As you can see, I ended up with pancakes more than fitters, but they were delicious so I'm okay with it.  I imagine this recipe will evolve, but hubby and I enjoyed our breakfast of banana pancakes.

Banana Pancakes

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup milk
• 3 bananas, mashed

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Make a little well in the center, then add the egg and a small amount of milk into it.  Slowly start to whisk the liquids into the dry ingredients, adding more milk as it thickens up.  Whisk until smooth.  Stir in the mashed bananas.  You want a fairly thick batter that won't spread much in the pan. 

In a skillet, heat 2-3 tbsp of oil over medium heat.  Spoon 1/3 cup of batter into the pan.  Depending on the size of your skillet, you could do 2 or 3 at a time.  Cook for three minutes on one side, until the edges start to set.  Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes, until it the pancake is firm.

We had ours with a thin icing (per hubby's request) but any syrup would work well.  
 

April 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge: Brunswick Stew

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

Now who does love a good stew?  Granted, my experience was limited to the beef-potato-and-carrot type, but I still love it!  Brunswick stew is different in that it has a variety of meats (ham, chicken, and bacon in mine) and veggies (corn and lima beans in mine).  I was a bit hesitant at first regarding the lima beans, but they worked surprisingly well.   There were two different recipes, and for this challenge I went with the easy one.   To be honest, I got confused and did my Daring Bakers' Challenge thinking it was due today and didn't realize my mistake til oh 10 p.m. last night.  That left me with the little time after work today to do the challenge.  Because hubby REALLY enjoyed this stew, I'll be making it again, and next time I'll use the more involved recipe.  

Brunswick Stew, the Short Recipe
(Brunswick Stew recipe from the Callaway, Va Ruritan Club)
(I halved the recipe and made some modifications; my version is what's below)

• 3 strips of bacon, diced
• 1 large onion, roughly diced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen baby lima beans
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 medium potatoes (or 1 large and 1 small like I had), diced
• 1 1/2 lb cooked chicken and ham, diced
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Poultry Seasoning (luckily, my dad discovered some in the pantry this week!)
• Dash of red pepper
• 2 lbs (one of the cartons) of chicken broth
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 can tomato juice

In a large pot, spread the diced bacon in a single layer along the bottom of the pan.  Cook over medium heat until crispy.  Add in the onions and saute for a few minutes before stirring in the butter.  Add in the corn, lima beans, and tomato.  Sprinkle in the poultry seasoning and red pepper and stir til it is evenly distributed.  Pour in the two broths and tomato juice.  Add the potato, chicken, and ham.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and let cook until veggies are tender. 

Chiles Rellenos Recipe

This is the second recipe I tried from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook hubby's granny gave me, it being the second recipe that caught my eye.  One of my favorite meals ever is at a local place, Agave.  It is a seafood filled poblano pepper with a light, creamy sauce.  I adore the poblano; fresh, slightly sweet, slightly smokey with the perfect amount of heat.  Mmmmmm.  So when I saw this recipe,  I imagined heaven.  The tastiness of chiles rellenos without having to bread and fry? I'm in.

Now the recipe is for a side dish; it's poblano, sprinkled with cheese, topped with a light, eggy batter.  I wanted to thicken it up a bit and make it the main coarse, so I added shredded chicken and a few other things.  It was a great start to a dish I foresee being very versatile. 

Chiles Rellenos Casserole
(modified from Better Homes and Gardens: Our Best Recipes, pg 60)

• 3 large poblano peppers, halved
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 3/4  cup Oaxaca cheese, diced (a semi-soft Mexican cheese used in queso)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp Chacheres or Seasoned Salt
• 1 cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450.  Grease a baking dish just large enough to fit your peppers side by side.  

Bring a large pot of water to a boil;  add the peppers and boil for 3 minutes, attempting to keep the peppers completely submerged.  After 3 minutes, remove from water and place cut side down to drain.
 
In a mixing bowl, combine chicken, Oaxac, 1/2 tsp cumin, and Chacheres.  

Place the peppers in prepared pan, keeping them as close together as possible, alternating tip to end if needed.  Try to leave no extra empty space. 

Fill the peppers with the chicken/cheese mixture, making sure to fill them completely before spreading any remaining mixture across the top.  Sprinkle shredded cheese evenly on top.

In the bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs until well combined.  In a small, separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Whisk into wet ingredients.  Pour over the chicken and cheese filled poblanos.

Bake for 15 minutes.  Let sit 5 minutes before serving.  It should be easy enough to differentiate where one pepper ends and the other begins.

 Goes deliciously with sour cream on top!

Apple-Spiced Sweet Potatoes

Last weekend, hubby and I were at his granny's house for a big family dinner.  Since she was having issues with her computer, he sat down to work on it.. two hours later, basically everyone else had left and Granny came in to sit with us.  She and I started talking recipes and she brought out a cookbook she just got it: Better Homes and Gardens:  Our Best Recipes.  As I flipped through, I exclaimed every few pages at the tastiness of a recipe.  Granny, being the sweetheart she is, gave me the cookbook.  I knew immediately which recipe I wanted to try first, a slow cooker recipe combining apples and sweet potatoes.  I served it with porkchops seasoned with salt, red pepper, and ground mustard, which paired well with the apples and sweet potatoes. 

 The recipe calls for apple pie filling; I feel like this made the apples too soft and crumbly.  Next time, I'll start with fresh so they hold up a bit better. I was also pretty loose with the recipe, so I'll put the recipe and my alterations. 

Apple-Spiced Sweet Potatoes 

• 3 1/2 to 4 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
• 1 20-oz can apple pie filling
• 2/3 cup golden raisins (I omitted these)
• 3 tbsp butter or margarine, cut up
• 1 1/2 tsp apple pie spice (I don't have this so I just sprinkled in some cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove)
• 1 recipe candied pecans (omitted)

Lightly coat the liner of a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker with nonstick spray.  Add sweet potato chunks, apple pie filling, raisins, butter, and the apple pie spice.  Mix well.

Cover; cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.  

Meanwhile, prepared Candied Pecans.  To serve, top each serving of potatoes with some o the pecans. 

Candied Pecans: In a large skillet, combine 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, 1/3 cup sugar, and 2 tbsp butter.  Cook and stir over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until sugar mixture clinging to the nuts turns golden and starts to melt.  Pour nut mixture onto a large piece of foil; cool completely.  when nut mixture is cool, coarsely crush.