Daring Kitchen July Challenge Reveal.

The July 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge was hosted by Margie of "More Please" and Natashya of "Living in the Kitchen with Puppies". They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include 'Better with Nut Butter' by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

I chose to try the **Walnut & white bean dip w/ Rosemary & Sage, the **Chicken with Pecan cream & mushroom sauce, and the Asian Noodle-shrimp with Peanut sauce.

** These two recipes will be Linked at the end of this post.

I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to learn about nut butters. The most common nut butter we all know is peanut butter. Making your own is so much better then buying. I can't wait to make traditional Italian pignoli cookies at Christmas with my own almond butter too, now that I know how easy it is!! For more information on Nut Butters and how to make them & what they're used for, go here :

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/nut-butter-00400000040028/

The first Project was the dip. I started with the walnut butter then added the rest of the

ingredients as demonstrated in the following photo.

The Dip was a hit with my family. The finished product is pictured below. I would certainly make this for a party again!

Next is the Chicken with the pecan cream & mushroom sauce. Pecans are my favorite so I was looking forward to this one.The picture below shows the bowl with the pecan butter and the rest of the prep for making the dish.

This following picture is the finished dish. I was disappointed that it was rather bland. One tip: it calls for being served over egg noodles. I ate it that way- MUCH BETTER then served over rice like my husband wanted it. I'm not sure why that made a difference but, it did.

The Asian dish of shrimp with peanut sauce was definitely outside our comfort zone. This seemed really simple to make but did not go well with the family. The picture below is the peanut sauce.

The picture below here is the finished dish. It looks yummy but no one liked it except me. I think maybe it would have been better to try with chicken and ease my husband into it...lol. He is not a big peanut butter fan as it is but he could not stand the combination with shrimp.

Maybe one of you will have better luck then I did..... I think, however, I will revisit this with my good friend who is known for his Asian cooking.....

I'm glad again for the experience and all the work that goes into arranging these challenges. Make sure to check out The Daring Kitchen as well !!

WHITE BEAN DIP with Rosemary & sage from "Cooking Light"- but link led to (myrecipes.com):

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/white-bean-dip-with-rosemary-sage-10000001646350/

CHICKEN with Pecan cream & mushrooms adapted from "Cooking Light":

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=354465

Asian Cashew Dressing ( I used peanut) adapted from "Chinese Peanut Dressing" pg 22 in Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds

Tropical Chicken

Ingredients
4 young coconuts
1 small chicken
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup rice
1 cup chopped pineapple
1 diced onion
1/2 cup corn kernels
3 Tablespoons curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
Procedure
1. Slice off top of coconuts and take a thin slice off the bottoms also, so that the coconut will stand upright. Pour off water and reserve.
2. Steam chicken in coconut water. When tender, remove, cool and shred the meat.
3. Steam rice in 2 cups of broth (adding water if needed). Mix in pineapple, onions, corn and curry powder. Season to taste.
4. Stuff coconuts with this mixture, placing alternate layers with the shredded chicken. Replace tops on coconut and sit in a shallow pan of water.
5. Bake in a moderate oven for one hour. If water in pan evaporates, add more.

Pit Potatoes=- kolbassi

Pit Potatoes

5 lbs new red potatoes{cut into bit size pieces}
2 medium onions{cut in strips}
2 medium green peppers{cut in strips}
1 lb Kolbassi{sliced}
2 cans chicken or beef broth
2 tbsp minced garlic1 lb butter or margarine

Procedure

*Cook potatoes{with skins on}til tender.Meanwhile sauteonions,garlic green peppers,kolbassi & butter in large sauce pan.*Bring to a boil:reduce heat & simmer 10-15 min stirringoccationally.&Add Chicken or beef broth.Bring to another boil,reduce heat &simmer another 5 minutes. Pour over drained potatoes.{THIS RECIPE IS GREAT AS A SIDE DISH FOR PICNICS}

Lithuanian Turkey Stuffing Recipe

Lithuanian Turkey Stuffing Recipe
(*** Given to me by a friend)
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound ground sirloin
1 1/2 pound ground pork
5 stalks celery chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 large green pepper chopped
1 carrot shredded
1 loaf of corn bread (stale) OR 1 large bag pre-packaged corn bread stuffing mix (Pepperidge)
1/3 box of Bells Seasoning (sage-based spice mixture)
1 cup brown sugar
teaspoon each of salt and black pepper
water or chicken broth

This has been a family favorite for at least 80 years. The recipe comes from my grandmother who was Lithuanian and a superb cook! In a large pot, crumble the meat and begin to brown, stirring it all up and making a kind of mush out of it. Add in all of the chopped vegetables, the salt and the pepper. Add just enough water or chicken broth to cover all of the ingredients and simmer for approximately 45 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are soft. Add the BELLS SEASONING and stir it into the mixture to get all of the seasoning blended throughout. Also add the brown sugar and mix thoroughly. Add the corn bread and stir until it is all blended together. It will become very stiff. If it ends up too dry add more water or chicken stock, or too loose, add more corn bread or regular bread. I usually do this the day before I cook my turkey, put the pot of stuffing in the frig, or if you are up north, in the garage.
This allows all the flavors to blend and become WONDERFUL !!! Stuff your turkey or chicken as you usually do. The result is magnificent.

LEFTOVER TIP: Over the years my children have started a new tradition with this stuffing. When the stuffing is very cold in the pot, form some into patties as you would with breakfast sausage, and fry them with eggs over-easy or sunny-side up for breakfast. ITS GREAT !!

Cake/Ethnic/Bermuda Bacardi Rum Cake

Bermuda Bacardi Rum Cake
YIELDS:1 Serving
INGREDIENTS:
-------------------------------CAKE------------------------------------
1 c Chopped pecans or walnuts
1 Box yellow cake mix (18 1/2 -oz)
1 pk Vanilla instant pudding & -pie filling (3 3/4 oz)
4 Eggs
1/2 c Cold water
1/2 c Cooking oil
1/2 c Dark rum (80 proof)
--------------------------------GLAZE-----------------------------------
1/4 lb Butter (or marg)
1 c Sugar
1/4 c Water
1/2 c Dark rum

DIRECTIONS:
Source: Goslings', Bacardi Int'l Recipe Card
Cake: Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour 10" tube or 12 cup bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan using a spoon to gently push them up the sides of the pan a little. Mix all cake ingredients. Pour batter over nuts.

Bake 1 hour (check at 45-50mins). Cool.
Invert on serving place. Prick the top with a skewer or fork. Spoon & brush glaze evenly over top & sides.

Glaze: Melt butter. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat & stir in rum. Glaze application: You want the glaze to be soaked as far into the cake as possible. You have to be patient. I have two methods I find work. First i push a fork in about 1 1/2 inches and gently pry open the hole - then i dribble glaze down the fork and let the cake soak it up as i go. The second method is much more successful - i use the fork the same way but i use a childs medicine dropper (the kind with the bulb on the end) and inject the glaze right into the cake.

Notes: Kahluha can be substituted for rum. If using yellow cake mix with pudding already in it; omit instant pudding, use 3 eggs instead of 4, 1/3 c of oil instead of 1/2.

This cake is best left to sit for a day before consumption.


Serving Information
Serves: 8