Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Week 3

Like everyone else, I am absolutely stuffed. Not only did we have an enormous Thanksgiving dinner, but I ended up at breakfast the next day at Craker's and Co, and then again lunch today at Texas Roadhouse. I love food, but whew. That's what my family and Brian's family do... we eat. I like that. Anyway, earlier in the week I took on the newest challenge for the Iron Chef Blogger Challenger (from here on out, in true TV show style, referred to as ICBC). Here's the report from this week's cooking adventure.

The background: Our ingredient was cranberries and the rule was that we couldn't make cranberry sauce. Fair enough. I love cranberries, and they do not get enough love this time of year, as there are only a few specialty cranberry things versus the sudden universe of specialty pumpkin things. When did pumpkin become so cool? I added the rule that I couldn't bake anything, since I'm trying to branch out. So, somehow I decided on attempting cranberry sorbet. Hey, it has been a warm November. Why not?

The prep: I pulled the recipe off of AllRecipes.com and was excited by how simple it seemed. I skimmed the recipe, noticed that it didn't need any weird/expensive ingredients and got giddy about trying my hand at sorbet. Cranberries were amazingly easy to find this time of year. I hit up Trader Joe's knowing that it would be a lot easier to find the specific frozen fruits and juices.

The main event: I was feeling cheap and didn't want to shell out for cherry juice, and I couldn't find lime juice, so I bought frozen cherries and fresh limes, thinking I could just squeeze the fruits to make their respective juices. Yes, I don't know why I thought I could squeeze juice out of cherries. It was Monday, ok? I ended up pulverizing the cherries in a blender and it worked. It took about three whole limes to make the 1/4 cup of lime juice, and I got a great workout for my wrist and hand muscles. I felt pretty proud of myself until I got to the line about putting everything into an ice cream maker and following the machine's directions. Oops, an ice cream maker is definitely not hiding anywhere in our kitchen. I had to Google "make sorbet without an ice cream maker" hoping there was a solution for those of us who do not make a loving batch of creamy homemade ice cream on a regular basis. The best option? Throw it all in a blender and freeze it.

The wrap-up: The sorbet turned out tangy and tasty, but it didn't have the smooth texture of those that come in a carton. It was more like a really froze Italian ice. But good! It also made me realize that sorbets are basically just frozen smoothies with a little extra smoothing out.

The final score: I'm still working my way through the giant Tupperware of sorbet-ish stuff. Cooking experience is a 3 out of 6 due to disappointment and lessons learned (read CLOSELY even when you're in a hurry to go to the store and need a recipe fast). I'd say 5 out of 6 on taste, this is definitely weaning me off the Laffy Taffy left over from Halloween.


From all this (minus the vitamins)...


...to this (draining the juice from the mush)...



... to this (lumpy, but tasty)!

Recipe:


Triple Berry Sorbet
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups water
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 (12 ounce) package frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 1/2 cups cherry juice
1/2 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate

1. Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. When the sugar is dissolved, stir in the cranberries, and cook and stir for 5 minutes. Add the raspberries, and simmer for 5 more minutes, until the raspberries have softened and the cranberries have popped.

2. Strain the mixture through a sieve or strainer, discard the pulp, and refrigerate the mixture for 2 hours. Mix in the cherry juice, lime juice, and orange juice concentrate, and pour the mixture into an ice cream maker. Freeze according to directions.(Or, put it all in a blender and blend until smooth. Put in a freezer-friendly container, stirring the mixture violently every hour or so, to try to cut down on ice crystals. After you get sick of this, freeze over night.)


From www.allrecipes.com

Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Week 2

So I'm participating in this awesome Iron Chef Blogger Challenge, led by the fearless cooking duo Carrie and Sarah Michelle. Here's Carrie's description, since she puts it better than I can:

"So the other day I was thinking about how much I love to cook new things and how much I love to talk to my friends. Suddenly the clouds parted and it became clear what I had to do.

Introduce the world (of my friends) to my Iron Chef Blogger Challenge.

(...)Essentially, the program goes as follows. One participant will choose a secret ingredient and cooking rule for the week and email it out by Saturday at 9pm PST. Contestants then have till the following Saturday at 7pm PST (so about 7 days) to cooking with the ingredient and rule, and create a blog entry about the experience/recipe."

If you want to check out the blog that started it all, along with other Challenge entries, peek at www.twofriendscook.blogspot.com.

The background: So, the first ingredient was coconut milk. There was no rule for this time around, which I appreciated as I am still very much a chef in training. It was a challenge enough to make something with more than four ingredients. Amazingly, my very white bread Better Homes and Gardens cookbook had an entry for coconut milk in the index: Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce.

The prep: I didn't have much trouble finding the coconut milk at Safeway, though I struck out on the baking aisle, and yes, the mixers aisle (what... I thought since they had imitation coconut stuff for pina coladas, why not coconut milk). I wonder if eventually we'll be able to bring up the inventory of a store on our phones and by selecting an object, be told where it is. That would be cool.

The main event: The recipe called for two of my least favorite cooking things - cutting onions and cutting jalapenos. I've learned from painful experience that you shouldn't seed a jalapeno by popping the center out with your bare thumbs. I used less onion and jalapeno than the recipe called for because it seemed like a lot (and I misread the sign at Safeway as jalapenos being $2.50 a piece, not a pound) but actually the full amounts would have been fine. I skipped the ginger since I'm kind of allergic.



Always use protection when dealing with hot stuff.

The wrap-up: Cooking the meal taught me to look ahead on recipes (or have a couple hours to spare while the chicken marinates) and that it's ok to make a mess every once in a while. the dish used every pot and pan imagineable, but it turned out really tasty. It was great to be able to use the chili powder and curry powder that had been languishing on the spice rack after using them once and only once before for another ambitious cooking adventure. I was proud of myself, I went beyond dumping a box of Trader Joe's frozen delight and made a real meal. I may be able to get the hang of this cooking thing someday.

The final score: Should I have a rating system? Sure, everything needs a rating system. Um... I don't know what cutesy something-out-of something object to use (suggestions?) but for now, 4 out of 6 on cooking experience, and 5 out of 6 on taste (1 being sushi and six being chocolate fondue). Brian says, "The chicken is crisp and it was flavored well. But I didn't want to use too much sauce. It also takes a long time to make. 4.5 out of 6 (1 being black licorice and 6 being Mi Amigo's salsa)." Woo hoo.

Recipe:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper (I used the basic table stuff)
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1 red onion, chopped (1 cup)
5 cloves garlic, minced (I use the pre-chopped kind, it's great... no more stinky hands)
2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 13 to 14 oz can coconut milk (the book says you can use light coconut milk to save fat, but I couldn't find it)
1 tbsp. cornstarch (I'm sure flour works fine too)
3 tbsp. snipped fresh basil
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger (skipped this)
3 cups hot cooked rice (Make sure to consider how long rice takes when you get cooking. I started it right before I heated up the skillet and still had to let the stuff simmer as I waited for the rice)

1. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Place chicken in medium bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the curry powder, salt, black pepper, and chili powder. Sprinkle spice mixture over chicken, tossing to coast evenly. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours.
2. In a large nonstick wok or skillet cook and stir onion, garlic, and jalapeno peppers in hot oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Remove onion mixture from wok. Add half of the chicken to skillet. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (I found that it was better to turn the heat down to about medium and cook longer, as otherwise it browned the chicken too fast without cooking the center). Remove chicken from skillet. Cook remaining chicken as above (add more oil if needed) and remove from skillet.
3. Combine coconut milk and cornstarch (you may not need all the milk if you are using less chicken). Carefully add to skillet. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Return chicken and onion mixture to skillet. Stir in basil and ginger. Cook and stir about 2 minutes until heated through. Serve over rice.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book 2002


I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, so you get the leftovers-for-lunch version.

Goody two, goody two, goody goody two shoes

So I'm currently looking for the perfect blue wedding shoes. I'm also praying that my poor right foot returns to normal so that I can actually wear heels (Oh plantar fasciitis, you suck. But boy does it instantly become a bonding point with strangers.). Any who, I was strolling around the addicting ShopStyle.com and while sorting by price (um, low, please) I noticed there is a $2,000 plus option. "What shoes could be that much money?" I asked. And, just for you dear readers, I am presenting the 28 hundred dollar Christian Louboutins:



Wooeee, now those are shoes. While I am properly disgusted by the price tag, my gosh, I would love to try those on. And perhaps run away with them.

But wait! Those aren't even the most expensive shoes on the site. What if I told you there was a pair of shoes that topped $4,000? Picture in your head what these shoes may look like. Studded with diamonds? Belly-button high boots? Made of pure gold?

Ok, have something pictured?

...ehem...



Ok, here they are:



Wow, that's a disappointment. They must be made of real crocodile. But is that something we even really want? Someone must have lost an arm getting the skin for those shoes. Ew.

(I swear, swear, swear "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John just came on my iTunes!! It's just on shuffle...that is so awesome.)