The Daring Cooks Make Gumbo

I am interrupting the series on monthly meal planning to bring you this month's Daring Cook's challenge!  The series will resume once again next week.  Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

I can't even begin to tell you how utterly unenthusiastic I was about this month's challenge.  Really.  After reading the challenge I immediately sighed and decided that I was going to make it to bring to potluck game night at the church so that I might not be stuck with so much in the way of leftovers.  I wasn't going to shrug off the challenge just because I didn't think I'd like the food, but I didn't have to be happy about it either.  Lovely attitude, don't you agree?

Now, so far I had only seen the subject line, not the recipe or any of the example photos, and I had already done a mental shrug and eye roll over this challenge.  However, after reading some of the ingredient options and seeing the absolutely stunning pictures in the example, I was feeling a little more charitably inclined toward this Gumbo.  I can't even understand where my prejudice towards Gumbo came from since I've never actually tasted it but it was slowly starting to melt away.  Not enough, however, for me to reassign it on the menu away from the game night.  It might have seemed a little more appealing, but I still wasn't inclined to want a ton of leftovers.

Considering those things, I find it quite ironic that I fell a little more in love with this dish nearly every time I tasted it throughout the cooking process.  And I couldn't have it all to myself since I had already told people what I was bringing to the potluck.  Drat!  It serves me right after forming opinions based on absolutely nothing.  Really, nothing.  I have no idea why in my mind Gumbo = Gross.  Perhaps it was simply the name?  Or the fact that it usually (maybe always?) has Okra, which I dislike intensely.  I have no clue.

While I was making this I made quite a few changes, omissions, and alterations, both accidentally and intentionally.  I knew that I didn't want to make it too spicy, so I left out the spicy sausage called for (not realizing that smoked Andouille Sausage is also spicy!) and I didn't want to have a lot of extra seasoning bottles gathering dust in the cabinet never to be used again so I assembled my own Creole spices but it a much smaller quantity than provided in the given recipe, this also lead me to omit the File Powder.

I dislike okra (I won't even describe what it reminds me of) but I had planned on putting it in anyway because Hey, Babe likes it.  The Okra was eventually omitted when we couldn't find any after checking in three stores.  Another minor change I made was to add half chicken thighs and half boneless breasts instead a a whole cut up chicken.  After the first 45 minute simmer I took all the chicken out and de-boned and skinned it so that I could shred the meat and add it back to the pot, thus making it easier to serve at a potluck dinner.

The last two changes came about after a little...mishap, shall we say, in the kitchen.  According to the recipe you are supposed to cook the roux for 15 minutes, constantly whisking.  Due to either distractions from the kids or the fact that I chose to use some of the leftover bacon oil from breakfast, I am pretty sure that I burned my roux.  The house was slowly filling with smoke, and it was not smelling tasty at all, but the recipe said I was supposed to keep cooking.  I wanted to stop, but according to recipe I wasn't supposed to!

(grossly separating roux)

I should have gone with my gut.  I added the onions and ended up with a weird pot of separated oil and charred...stuff.  It didn't look right and it tasted even worse.  But I couldn't help but wonder if this was actually the result we were looking for?  Who knows, although if any of you think that I was actually on the right track, let me know.  Maybe I'll sacrifice a small experimental pot of it next time.  At any rate, after a little deliberation I decided to start over and cook it less along with no bacon fat this time and with a movie playing for Little Man.  The only problem with starting over was that I only had one onion left.  Oh well!

(the top spoon is the charred version, in case you couldn't tell)

It was the most exquisite form of torture.  Riding in a car for half an hour with the pot of bubbling hot Gumbo sitting in my lap was almost more than I could handle as we went on our merry way to Game Night.  If it hadn't been so very hot I'd have been even more tempted by the intoxicating fragrance to start drinking it up right there in the car.  The general consensus seemed to be that it was delicious, with a caveat from a few who thought that it was a tad too spicy for them.  Next time, and oh, there will definitely be a next time, I'm not too proud to admit when I was wrong!  Next time I will ease back on the cayenne, maybe add a little sweet sausage along with the spicy, and serve it with Tabasco Sauce at the table for anyone who wants to kick up the heat. 

Because I made many alterations to the given recipe, I will post my version below.  To use the recipe without my adaptations, or to check out the recipes for Seafood Gumbo click here.

Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo
adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh
Serves 10-12

Ingredients
Seasonings:
1/2 tablespoons celery seed
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (or less if you don't like spicy)
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1 chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
2 large onions, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) oil
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
Leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 quarts Chicken Stock
2 bay leaves
14 ounces andouille sausage, chopped
1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4-6 cups cooked Rice (I used brown, but I might try mashed potatoes next time, not traditional maybe but I think it would be delicious!)

Directions:
Combine the seasonings together and sprinkle them over the chicken pieces while you prepare the vegetables.

Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.

In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes (the second time I only cooked if for about 10).

Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes (again, the second time I did this for around 7-8).

Add the chicken to the pot; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Add the rest of the vegetables and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.

Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.  (I got a lot of oil off of this, more than 1 cup.  Can anyone explain why we add it just to take it out?  Can't we just toast the flour without the oil?)

Remove all the pieces of chicken to a plate.  Add the chopped andouille and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Start to simmer for another 45 minutes, while you are removing the skin and bones from the chicken pieces.  Shred the meat and return it along with any accumulated juices back to the pot.  Continue to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice

Daring Cooks make Edible Containers

Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com! 

I like it when I can kill two birds with one stone.  I selected Southwestern Egg Rolls for March's menu and then didn't get the chance to make them.  When this challenge was announced I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the possibilities, especially given the news that there were prizes to be awarded.  The pressure was on!

 

After thinking for a bit I came to the decision that this recipe would fit the requirements nicely. Now that I have completed it, I am a little less certain that I went in the right direction.  Since it is too late to do anything else I am just going to have to soldier forth with what I have regardless and simply try harder next time.

I really like being able to mix up the presentation or flavor of a standard food.  These egg rolls in no way resemble your standard takeout fare.  I love how light and crispy the wrapper becomes around the filling, much more delicate than if these had been made with tortillas.  I am sure that similar things are available, in fact I think I recall some that were served with a thin avocado and something dipping sauce, but I am thrilled with how these turned out.  Good Luck to all the Daring Cooks who have thrown their hats into the ring.  If you'd like to vote on any submissions don't forget to visit The Daring Kitchen, there were so many wonderful things made for this challenge!

Southwestern Egg Rolls
Ingredients
1 chicken breast cooked and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into matchsticks
1/4 cup green onion minced
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup frozen spinach thawed and drained
1 jalapeno, minced
1/2 tablespoon parsley minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of cayenne
3/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
several won ton wrappers (I think I used 6 or so but I really filled mine)
small bowl of cold water (for sealing wrappers)
sauces to serve (salsa, guacamole, sour cream, etc.)

Instructions
To a large bowl, add all the ingredients except for the won ton wrappers, mix well.

Taking one wrapper at a time and leaving the remainder of the package covered with a damp towel, arrange the wrapper so that one of the corners of the square is pointed toward you.  Put a line of about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of filling in the center of the wrapper.  The less filling you use, the more like appetizers these will be, I tend to load mine up, but that is a personal preference. 

Dip a finger in the cold water and run it around the edge of the square to moisten.  Fold first the left and then the right points toward the center, they may or may not meet.  Fold the top point down toward you carefully and begin rolling the egg roll toward you, moisten with a little more water if needed to seal.

Continue assembling until all the filling has been used.  They can be prepared through this step and held covered in the fridge for a few hours before proceeding.

In a large, deep skillet, heat about 1/2 inch of oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Cook the egg rolls for about 2-4 minutes on each side until nice and golden and heated through.  Drain on a paper towel and serve with salsa, guacamole, or sour cream.

note: I prefer my veggies to be more crisp than many people.  If you would rather, you can saute the filling first (minus the cheese) until they reach a bit more tender state.

Daring Cooks Make Cold Soba Salad and Tempura

The February 2011 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com

I neglect you pretty much all month (or two) with sporadic postings and then I suddenly come up with three in a matter of two days?  What is the world coming to?  I know that I am a bit late posting my completed February challenge, and since it is a short month I'm really getting it up last minute, but even though I put up our meal plan earlier today I wanted to make sure I had this post in February.  It's the little things (like posting a February Challenge in March) that would keep me up at night, tormenting me.  Oddly enough, I made the challenge several days before the posting date but since I did not have the opportunity to post about it before it is still a late challenge.

Back in November I put General Tso's Chicken on the meal plan.  For various reasons, probably because of the holidays, we never made it.  General Tso's Chicken happens to be one of Hey, Babe's two favorite meals, and so instead of letting it drop out of existence, it made its way back onto the menu for January (I didn't even pretend it was going to happen in December, I knew better).  Once again, it didn't happen.  I don't really care for deep frying, and if a meal is going to get skipped it is going to be one I'm not thrilled about preparing.

February rolled around and it once again appeared on our meal plan.  In this case, however, I knew that it was not going to be skipped over.  The two strong reasons compelling me to be sure it was made were the fact that it was Hey, Babe's birthday and he was looking forward to one of his favorites for dinner, and the knowledge that I could kill two birds with one stone and use the challenge of making tempura as the base for the General Tso's chicken.

Unfortunately, the cold Soba salad was not well received.  None of us cared for it at all and I ended up just tossing it.  I hate to waste food like that but since no one was going to eat it there was no real other choice.  The tempura battered chicken, however, was excellent.  I loved how easy it was to mix it together and batter the chicken.  The sauce I used to turn it into General Tso's came together well, but I think next time I'll let it get a little thicker.  It was overall very satisfying and the tempura worked wonderfully.

For the challenge recipes, please visit the Daring Kitchen website.  To make General Tso's chicken, add the following sauce recipe to Tempura Battered Chicken:

Sauce for General Tso's Chicken
Ingredients
3/4 cup chicken broth canned
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon Molasses
1/3 cup Soy Sauce or Soy substitute
1/4 cup white or apple cider Vinegar
1/4 cup dry Sherry
2 tablespoons Cornstarch
1" knot fresh Ginger peeled & grated
4 scallions, chopped
4 Garlic cloves minced
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (or less if you don't like it too spicy) 

Instructions
Whisk together broth, sugar, molasses, soy sauce, vinegar, and sherry. 

Spray a wok or non-stick skillet with oil. Cook ginger, scallions, garlic and red pepper flakes for about 2-3 minutes. Add more oil if necessary.

Whisk the cornstarch into your sauce bowl to create a slurry before adding it to the skillet. Heat the sauce until boiling, add the cooked tempura chicken and then reduce to a simmer for a few minutes to coat the chicken pieces.  Serve over rice with steamed broccoli on the side.

Daring Cooks make Cassoulet

Our January 2011 Challenge comes from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk and Lisa from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. They have challenged the Daring Cooks to learn how to make a confit and use it within the traditional French dish of Cassoulet. They have chosen a traditional recipe from Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman.

This is an involved recipe and you can find it here on the Daring Kitchen site.  I'm not sure how to describe how I felt about the challenge when it was announced.  Apprehensive is probably the best fit. Duck, Duck Fat, Sausages, Pork Belly...what had I gotten myself into?

I have to admit that since I wasn't really excited I kept putting off doing the challenge.  Earlier this week it occurred to me that the challenge of cooking outside our comfort zone is exactly what this group is about.  Now that it was down to the wire I decided that I needed to just get my butt in gear and find out exactly what I was so worried about. 

When we were doing our monthly grocery trip earlier in the month I was unable to find certain ingredients.  Since I put off attempting the challenge until the last minute, there was no time to go hunting other stores to find them so emergency substitutions needed to be made.  To top it off, while I was trying to get the recipe down so that I could start the process, my computer went all wonky on me.  I was now making this from (sketchy) memory, without the correct ingredients, two days before the challenge was do.  (And what will my procrastinating self learn from this? Nothing).

In light of everything I changed, I sure hope that this still counts as a completed challenge.  For my chicken confit I salted the chicken, sprinkled on an herb mix that I assembled my bread dip, and slow cooked it in the oven at 250°F for only 4 hours (faulty memory got it wrong) but it was so delicious!  I could have just eaten the chicken by itself.  I couldn't remember what veggies (if any) went into the given recipe so I decided to simply quarter some mushrooms and toss them with some of the used olive oil as well as a tablespoon of lemon juice and roast them in the oven for about 20 minutes. At that time I added a rough chopped onion and let them all continue to roast another 10 minutes.  When they were done I added the beans, some leftover homemade Ham and Potato soup (instead of the pork belly, close enough, right?),  the sausage and chicken and tossed it all back into the oven to cook together for a while.


After all that nervous apprehension I am thrilled to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the way this turned out.  Was it the given recipe? Not even hardly.  Looking at the recipe now I wonder how I missed some of the steps.  I will probably leave out the sausage next time, they really didn't add much as far as I was concerned.  The chicken? Awesome.  I will make it again to eat by itself, with the rest of the ingredients, with another sauce/ingredient combo all together, you name it.  I'm sold, it was good.  Other than the chicken, the part I am most thrilled with were the mushrooms and onion.  Oh my goodness, they were incredible.  I will be roasting them together like that again to top something, anything.  I never realized how much I liked mushrooms before.  In light of all that, I can say that I am glad that I completed this challenge, allowing it to stretch me a bit and show me that some things that sound odd can be really quite delightful.

Making Eggs Benedict with the Daring Cooks

Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

When this month's challenge was announced I read through the introduction to the recipes and did a quick scan over the ingredients list.  What I realized when I did so was that I had nearly all of the required ingredients on hand at the moment.  Not only did I have the necessary ingredients but since I waited until the last minute to make my souffles last month, I still had the yolks sitting in the fridge waiting to be used.  Perfect!  I made a quick substitution of regular bacon for the Canadian bacon and started whipping up a batch of English Muffins since they were the only thing I was missing.  I made these within days of the announcement so it makes total sense that I am posting it at the last minute, right?  No procrastination happening over here.

I can't even begin to describe how incredible these were.  I would love to say that I will be making these often but the two sticks of butter in the sauce kind of put a halt on that thinking.  And it is a good thing that whisking the butter into the yolks was kind of time consuming (anyone else with a sore shoulder the next day?) because otherwise these would be all to easy to indulge in more often than I should.  That's not to say that I won't make these again because, wow, they were so awesome.  I wanted to eat the sauce with a spoon and probably would have if Hey, Babe wouldn't have made fun of me.  I it the same as the challenge recipe except I added a little onion powder and mustard powder to the sauce and then I topped mine with some chopped dill.  I'm actually kind of sad remembering these because they are all gone now.

From what I understand the sauce isn't supposed to keep well but since we had leftover sauce I decided to see what would happen to it the next day.  I found that if you reheat it very gently and slowly over a double boiler while stirring, it was usable but not quite as pretty as the day before.  It didn't bother me though, and I had it over a piece of toast and a fried egg the next day.  I miss this sauce.  What I would like to know is why no one ever told me how incredible Eggs Benedict taste. 

The English Muffins were also great, and relatively easy to make.  I used this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker, originally from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhardt.

Daring Cooks make Chocolate Soufflés

Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

Having never tasted a soufflé I was very interested in completing this month's challenge.  I had visions of creating a marbled chocolate and banana souffle and serving it with homemade peanut butter sauce.  I told Hey, Babe about the challenge and the direction I intended to head with it.  He didn't seem impressed.  Oh well, more for me.  Unfortunately, normal life interfered with me being able to create my masterpiece.  It began to look like I wasn't going to be able to complete the challenge at all, let alone change it to my specifications.  Thanks to having childcare available from my brothers so I could go to a dental appointment, I was finally able to complete the challenge this weekend.  Since it was coming down to the wire, I decided to go ahead with the chocolate version given and leave experimenting for next time.

The four of us who tried the soufflés all agreed that they were tasty.  I'm not sure, however, that the results are worth the effort.  Perhaps this is because I did something wrong while I was making them, after all mine did not rise much.  I think that what is more likely is that we prefer more substantial desserts.  The next day there were two soufflés that had not been eaten and my brother and I ate them cold from the fridge.  We both agree that we liked them better that way which is interesting since they had shrunk considerably and become much more dense.  They were almost like the lightest, least fudgy version of a flourless chocolate cake you will ever taste.  Since it was just a change in texture and not flavor, I believe my second conclusion is more likely and that it is more a matter of substance than flavor.

I believe that I would eventually like to try making a savory soufflé, but as of right now I am in no hurry.  I think that if I ever make another sweet soufflé it will probably end up in the fridge to chill.  I am sure that doing this is breaking laws of soufflé making everywhere, but that is the way I liked mine.  Thank you Dave and Linda for the challenge!  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.


Chocolate Souffle
Adapted From BBC Good Food Recipe by Gordon Ramsay

FOR THE DISHES
2 Tbsp (30 ml) 1 oz (30g) unsalted butter, for greasing
Cocoa powder or finely grated chocolate

FOR THE CREME PATISSERIE
2 tbsp (30 ml) (18 gm) (2/3 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tsp (10 gm) (0.35 oz) caster (superfine) sugar (regular sugar is OK)
½ tsp (4½ gm) (0.15 oz) corn starch (aka cornflour)
1 medium egg yolk
1 medium whole egg
4 Tbsp (60 ml) milk
5 Tbsp (75 ml) heavy cream (or double cream)
3 oz (90gm) good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70+% cocoa solids, broken in pieces
2 Tbsp (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
Optional: 2 tsp orange zest or 2 tsp minced chipotle chile en adobo or 1 tsp chipotle chile powder. (The chile version is a Monkeyshines favorite!) Optional: powdered sugar for dusting

FOR THE EGG WHITES
6 medium egg whites
6½ Tbsp (95 ml) 3 oz (90g) superfine/caster sugar (if you don’t have it, regular sugar is OK)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to moderate 375 ˚F/190 ˚C/gas mark 5.
2. Take four 1 cup/~240ml soufflé dishes and brush them completely with softened butter. Tip a little cocoa powder or grated chocolate into each dish, roll the dish around tilting it as you do so it is evenly lined all round.
3. For the crème patisserie, mix the flour, sugar and corn starch into a small bowl. Put egg yolk and whole egg into a medium sized bowl, beat lightly, then beat in half of the flour mixture to give a smooth paste. Tip in the rest of the flour mixture and cocoa powder and mix well.
4. To make the ganache, pour the milk and cream into a pan and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and beat until it is melted and smooth with no lumps.
5. Gradually stir hot chocolate ganache into the paste from step 3, and add the orange zest or chile if using. This is your crème patisserie.
6. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks with an electric whisk. Sprinkle in the sugar as you are mixing. Keep whisking to give stiff, firm peaks to give volume to the soufflés.
7. Stir about 2 tbsp (30 ml) of the beaten egg whites into the crème patisserie. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take care not to lose the volume), then fold in the rest.
8. Spoon the mixture into the dishes. Run a spoon across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat. Take a little time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on while cooking.
9. Bake the soufflés for 15-17 minutes.
10. The soufflés should have risen by about two thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but be set on top.