Daring Cooks challenged us to make our own pasta!

So wow this month is flying by! Trying to keep up with both the daring cooks and the daring bakers phew!!!
anywho the daring cooks were challenged to make their own pasta! Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks' July hostess.  Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine.  She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with!  Yes pasta...my favorite food ever!!! so excited when I read this and of course started planning all these elaborate and wonderfully challenging recipes to make...but time seemed to slip by me unnoticed *sigh*
I did however end up with homemade pasta and it was however surprisingly delicioso!
I took a detour from the obvious choice "Italian" and went with something more Asian. I'm not sure if my recipe is actually considered a dough for pasta? but I thought it was so I'll go with it.
I ended up making my own wonton wrappers and used them in wonton soup (a very Americanized version)
My camera (at the time) was in the shop so please forgive my lack of good photos or any photos for that matter (I do have some)But I am happy to announce my baby (camera) is back and fixed!!! hooray!
After chasing a toddler and a pre toddler around today I finally got about posting this little jem  ;-)
I had to wrestle a 2 year old and chase a Tom Cruise from risky business wanna-bee around the living room to be able to post this, but it was worth it ;-) I love my kiddos, life is oh so UN-boring with them two!

So here are my recipes for the awesome wonton soup! It was really amazing and filling! try it!

Here are some great web sites on how to fold wontons:

• Folding wontons 8 different ways
• How to fold a wonton video 
• Quick and easy steps video (I made the second version in this video)

Wonton Wrappers:

Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Mix in the water.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Create a well in the center of the mixture and slowly pour in the egg and water. Mix well. If the mixture is too dry, increase the amount of water one teaspoon at a time until a pliable dough has formed.
3. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until elastic. Cut dough into two separate balls. Cover the balls with a damp cloth for a minimum of 10 minutes.
4. Cut each ball into four equal pieces. Roll the pieces into 10 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch squares. Cut each into nine 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch squares. Use in any recipe that calls for wonton wrappers.  

Recipe from BIGDADDY1IL on all recipes

Wonton Soup:
 Printable Version


 Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound boneless pork loin, coarsely chopped
• 2 ounces peeled shrimp, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
• 1Tbsp-1 tsp light soy sauce (1tsp is for the soup)
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped green onion
• 1-1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger root (divided, keep the 1/4 tsp for the soup)
• 24 (3.5 inch square) wonton wrappers
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion divided
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine raw pork, shrimp, sugar, wine, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon chopped green onion and ginger. Blend well, and let stand for 25 to 30 minutes.
2. Place about one teaspoon of the filling at the center of each wonton skin. Moisten all 4 edges of wonton wrapper with water, then pull the top corner down to the bottom, folding the wrapper over the filling to make a triangle. Press edges firmly to make a seal. Bring left and right corners together above the filling. Overlap the tips of these corners, moisten with water and press together. Continue until all wrappers are used.
3. FOR SOUP: Bring the chicken stock to a rolling boil.Add the 1/4cup green onions and 1/2 cup chopped carrots, 1/4 tsp chopped ginger and 1 tsp soy sauce.Cook until carrots are nearly cooked through. Drop wontons and spinach in, and cook for 6 minutes (don't worry the filling will be cooked through!). Garnish with chopped green onion, and serve. 

Recipe adapted from MARBALET on all recipes

 

The Daring Bakers challenged us to make homemade baklava!

Wow this month we had an awesome challenge!!! Baklava is one of my guilty pleasures lol it's honey sweet goodness is so strong it takes me about an hour to eat one piece lol.
I remember as a kid going over to my friends house (she was from Morocco Africa) and her mother would make similar treats to baklava using a lot of honey/syrup and cardamon and nuts. She would be careful to serve me first with her best dishes, fresh mint tea in those beautiful little tea glasses. She would be adamant that I eat all I could. I learned NEVER EVER to say "no,thank you", I remember saying no thank you politely and feeling my friend poke my side and say that I must eat it or her mother would be hurt (her mother only spoke Arabic)i remember her talking up a storm and waving her hands at me lol.I found that honey and sugar in their culture was only really used in treats to serve their guests or for feasting (Ramadan in their case) because it was a symbol of wealth. I remember having to eat two full pieces of this honey goodness and praying I wouldn't get a toothache let alone a headache by the days end of the day ;-). (Please know that these memories are all based on my friends home and their ways of life, I am in no way knowledgeable in their culture in any way but love learning about it ;-)...)
I started to really love baklava after I went to a partly Greek wedding ;-) My friend was from Greek background and her husband was Belgian. The wedding was absolutely lovely and she had ordered baklava and other Greek treats to be served.
I found that you could make your own baklava quite easily by "cheating" and buying the frozen dough in the store. it's really not that hard with the pre-bought dough ;-)make the sauce and nuts and follow the instructions really...
BUT 
that was not the case with this challenge lol I was super excited to try this out and I have made quite a few doughs before and was reasonable confident that this would be a success lol yeah...no...my conclusion is that if I had some great Greek relatives I might feel "guilted" into making it but I don't so store bought it will be just fine for my lazy self from now on ;-) But I am very very glad I tried and did learn how to attempt to make it lol

Here was our Daring Baker challenge this month:
Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

Here was my journey to delicious baklava: 

Directions ready to use...

Mixed the oil vinegar and water

Mixer doing his job

Pouring in the last of the vinegar mix

Nice smooth dough

Not so smooth hands ;-)

Beautiful dough ball

Getting ready to put oil on the dough

After applying the oil, covering it up with plastic wrap

Only I would find beauty in dirty dishes ;-)

My first batch of phyllo dough not the prettiest or thinnest lol

The finished product...finally...it was sooo good!

Phyllo Dough:

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups (320 ml) (185 gm/6½ oz) unbleached all purpose (plain) flour
• 1/8 teaspoon (2/3 ml) (¾ gm) salt
• 1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
• 1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) cider vinegar, (could substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar, but could affect the taste)

Directions

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour and salt
2. Mix with paddle attachment
3. Combine water, oil and vinegar in a small bowl.
4. Add water & oil mixture with mixer on low speed, mix until you get a soft dough, if it appears dry add a little more water (I had to add a tablespoon more) 
5. Change to the dough hook and let knead approximately 10 minutes. You will end up with beautiful smooth dough. If you are kneading by hand, knead approx. 20 minutes.
6. Remove the dough from mixer and continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Pick up the dough and through it down hard on the counter a few times during the kneading process.
7. Shape the dough into a ball and lightly cover with oil
8. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest 30-90 minutes, longer is best ( I let mine rest 2 hours and it was perfect)
9. Remove all rings and jewelry so it does not snag the dough 
10. Use whatever means you have to get the dough as thin as you can.  You may also use a pasta machine if you have one, or a normal rolling pin whatever works for you.
11. Unwrap your dough and cut off a chunk slightly larger then a golf ball. While you are rolling be sure to keep the other dough covered so it doesn’t dry out.
12. Be sure to flour your hands, rolling pin and counter. As you roll you will need to keep adding, don’t worry, you can’t over-flour.
13. Roll out the dough a bit to flatten it out.
14. Wrap the dough around your rolling pin/dowel
15. Roll back and forth quickly with the dough remaining on the dowel
16. Remove; notice how much bigger it is!
17. Rotate and repeat until it is as thin as you can it. Don’t worry if you get rips in the dough, as long as you have one perfect one for the top you will never notice.
18. When you get it as thin as you can with the rolling pin, carefully pick it up with well floured hands and stretch it on the backs of your hands as you would a pizza dough, just helps make it that much thinner. Roll out your dough until it is transparent. NOTE: you will not get it as thin as the frozen phyllo dough you purchase at the store, it is made by machine
19. Set aside on a well-floured surface. Repeat the process until your dough is used up. Between each sheet again flower well. You will not need to cover your dough with a wet cloth, as you do with boxed dough, it is moist enough that it will not try out. 

Baklava Sauce


Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) honey
• 1 1/4 cups (300ml) water
• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 (2-inch/50 mm) piece fresh citrus peel (lemon or orange work best, I used orange)
•   A few cloves or a pinch or ground clove

Directions

1.  Combine all ingredients in a medium pot over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar has dissolved
2. Boil for 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
3. Once boiled for 10 minutes remove from heat and strain cinnamon stick and lemon, allow to cool as baklava cooks

Baklava Nut Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 (5-inch/125 mm piece) cinnamon stick, broken into 2 to 3 pieces or 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (8 gm) ground cinnamon
• 15 to 20 whole allspice berries ( I just used a few pinches)
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) blanched almonds
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) (155 gm/5½ oz) raw or roasted walnuts
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) raw or roasted pistachios
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) (150 gm/ 5 1/3 oz) sugar
• phyllo dough (see recipe above)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) (240 ml) (225g/8 oz) melted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
2. Combine nuts, sugar and spices in a food processor and pulse on high until finely chopped. If you do not have a food processor chop with a sharp knife as fine as you can. Set aside
3. Trim your phyllo sheets to fit in your pan 
4. Brush bottom of pan with butter and place first phyllo sheet
5. Brush the first phyllo sheet with butter and repeat approximately 5 times ending with butter. (Most recipes say more, but homemade phyllo is thicker so it's not needed)
6. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
7. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
8. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
9. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
10. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
11. Continue layering and buttering phyllo 5 more times. On the top layer, make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible, just looks better.
12. Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance. 
13. With a Sharp knife cut your baklava in desired shapes and number of pieces. If you can't cut all the ways through don’t worry you will cut again later. A 9x9 pan cuts nicely into 30 pieces. Then brush with a generous layer of butter making sure to cover every area and edge
14. Bake for approximately 30 minutes; remove from oven and cut again this time all the way through. Continue baking for another 30 minutes. (Oven temperatures will vary, you are looking for the top to be a golden brown, take close watch yours may need more or less time in the oven)
15. When baklava is cooked remove from oven and pour the cooled (will still be warmish) syrup evenly over the top, taking care to cover all surfaces when pouring. It looks like it is a lot but over night the syrup will soak into the baklava creating a beautifully sweet and wonderfully textured baklava!
16. Next morning all syrup is absorbed
17. Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled cover and store at room temperature. Allow the baklava to sit overnight to absorb the syrup
18. Serve at room temperature 

Freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: There are a few ways to store your Baklava. It is recommended that you store your baklava at room temperature in an airtight container. Stored at room temperature your baklava will last for up to 2 weeks. You will notice as the days pass it will get a little juicier and chewier. You may choose to store it in the fridge; this will make it a little harder and chewy, but does increase the shelf life. You can also freeze your baklava and then just set it out at room temperature to thaw.

Adapted from Alton Brown, The Food Network

Daring Cooks: Tzatziki Potato Salad

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad.
The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

I Loved this challenge, any challenge that really does put my mind to work is awesome!
Well I am a firm lover of the original spud salad lol and am not to keen on the "healthy" versions I had tried so far (I know, I know they are better for the figure). After looking up healthy versions of potato salad I came across a few with yogurt. Yogurt didn't sound too bad and I use it often when I make curry so first I thought of a curry potato salad but alas I had no curry in my possession at the time and I was on a strict budget and had told myself to only use up what I had in the fridge and cupboards...sigh...I sometimes wish I was more adventurous and talented at combining different flavors and coming up with awesome recipes but I'm sadly not the best ;-) so when they said we had full reign with this one, my mind went everywhere lol
I finally settled on this tzatziki potato salad from Food&Wine. I love tzatziki sauce and I use it with a lot of my Greek and Iranian recipes. sooooo good

Here is some info on Tzatziki sauce:

Tzatziki is a Greek meze or appetizer, also used as a sauce. Tzatziki is made of strained yoghurt (usually from sheep or goat milk) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, usually olive oil, pepper, dill, sometimes lemon juice and parsley, and sometimes mint added. Tzatziki is served cold.
While in Greece and Turkey the dish is usually served as an accompaniment, in other places tzatziki is often served with bread (loaf or pita) as part of the first course of a meal.

I ended up using organic Greek yogurt,fresh dill and mint leaves, I didn't have kirby cucumbers in the refrigerator but did have a regular cucumber...it worked great! I used Yukon petite potatoes and left the skin on (it keeps the nutrients in the potatoes ;-)...)
I added some crumbled goats cheese and would have added a little bit smoked salmon if I had it, but that is totally up to you ;-)

Hope you like it!

Tzatziki Potato Salad
Printable version

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 3/4 cup Greek-style, plain fat-free yogurt
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 3 Kirby cucumbers—peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used a regular cucumber)
• 1 serrano chile, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup crumbled goats cheese (optional)
• smoked salmon to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook over high heat until tender, about 9 minutes. Drain, gently shaking out the excess water. Spread the potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze for about 10 minutes, just until no longer warm. 
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the yogurt with the mayonnaise until smooth. Add the cucumbers, chile, mint and dill, cheese. Fold in the potatoes, season with salt and pepper add smoked salmon and serve.

Make Ahead The potato salad can be refrigerated for 2 days.

Recipe adapted from Food&Wine

My first ever Daring Bakers challenge!!! Chocolate Marquise with a tease of lime and coconut

So...this is my first ever challenge with Daring Bakers (click here to find out more about Daring-Kitchen)

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

My version of the challenge ;-)

It was the 1st of the month and I was waiting and waiting and waiting...checking the Daring kitchen site over and over just to make sure I hadn't missed the posting of their May challenge.
I had no idea what to expect since this was my first challenge with them. I was excited and nervous.
The past challenges looked like so much fun and were just plain amazing!
The challenge was posted and I eagerly started reading...wow!!!...what???...How??? I had never ever even heard of any of the things in the recipe...gulp...this was definitely going to be a challenge.
The recipe included so many flavors and techniques I had never tried before like; cayenne in chocolate, tequila in caramel and the marquise alone was magnificently detailed lol
But the whole reason I joined was to learn new techniques and to change my plain and simple cooking skills into Kitchen Diva skills. well this challenge will definitely kick me up a notch if not a couple ;-)

So here is my go at their decadent dessert (this is not for the faint of heart! lol)

J'adore la cuisine française!

 Since Paris I had a great appreciation for all French cooking. J'adore la cuisine française! and have always wanted to follow in their immaculate art and style of cooking, of course to the horror of my family who were very often used as guinea pigs in the process (but thank you for all the times you endured it...even when it included banana lol).Life has moved on and family and kids have taken the place of this dream of becoming the next best french chef...(hardly a realistic dream lol).