RECIPES TO RIVAL

Hello All;

I have been trying to find a Savory Club similar to the Daring Bakers because I just love the Daring Bakers! I really didn't find anything. I did have the good fortune of finding Temperance of High on the Hog through DB. Through her dedication and hard work, a forum and a blog site was created. It's called Recipes to Rival. Her talent and quick work made this blog happen very rapidly. Check out those logos... to cool huh? I tell yah she's good!

Basically. this is how it works. Each month a different host picks a recipe and all of us in the group follow the leader and post on the date established. There will be the main group and an alternate group. Anyone who is vegan or has special dietary needs would be in the alternate group. Enrollment is open until after the first recipe release. At that point enrollment will be on the first of the month. The new recipe will be shared within a few days of that. Release of the recipe will be about three weeks later. So you have approximately three weeks to complete the recipe.


We hope you are interested and will swing by to check out the blog roll. If you are interested please email me at LorilipsmackerZ@gmail.com and Temperama@gmail.com. We look forward to co-creating delicious recipes with you. Hope to "chat" with you soon in the forum. The forum location will be released to you upon joining.

SPRING = STRAWBERRIES

This week for Tuesdays with Dorie we did LaPalette's Strawberry Tart (recipe here ). What a perfect recipe as strawberries are all over the market with the arrival of Spring. (You can see the crumb in this picture

I spread a low sugar jam over my tart. It is mixed berry and it's one of my favorites. I also made Tangy Chocolate Sauce from Dorie's book. I poured that all over my piece. It was yum!


My review of this tart. Well as far as tarts go I am not that picky because I love them. This particular tart is not a soft dough but rather a crumbly kind of dough. Some may baulk at that but it tastes so much like a shortbread cookie that I didnt mind. Have I told you that shortbread is my favorite kind of cookie. Which is why this tart was so appealling to me. In the future it will be one of the recipes in my tart dough repertoire. I have a few that I like. One I make has almond paste in it. Wow let me tell you it is delicious. More on that later. For right now Dorie gets the spotlight.

Marinated Asparagus with Rocket and Gruyere

Oh yum. This has become my salad of choice. I have had it two times this week. I had the idea out of desperation. I haven't really felt like buying iceburg, kind of sick of it. The other leaf lettuces have been too expensive. So last Saturday, at the market I bought some arugula/rocket because I love it's peppery taste. It was a good price and I knew it was local. I also bought asparagus. I know everyone uses asparagus for many things but usually I just prefer it lightly poached with salt. I love it that way. This time I had seen a recipe for marinated asparagus. I decided instead of going to the trouble of making this elaborate marinade that I would just pour some balsamic and olive oil with a little sugar and salt and pepper. That was it. My parents were over for dinner and there was definitely not enough asparagus to go around so I added the arugula/rocket and sprinkled gruyere on it. It was divine! I cant stop eating it. I went back to the market mid week to get more asparagus and rocket! Now that was long winded post.


Marinated Asparagus with Rocket and Gruyere

1 bunch of arugula (about three cups)
2 cups asparagus, chopped into two inch pieces
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
s and p

Boil asparagus until tender crisp. Combine vinegar, garlic powder, oil, sugar and s and p. Marinate asparagus for at least four hours. Best results when asparagus is marinated overnight.

When ready to serve combine rocket/arugula with the marinated asparagus. Sprinkle gruyere on top.

MA PO TOFU

I have made this recipe a number of times. I love it. The only thing I do different is add more veggies. I would love to add more "fire" to this dish but I am th eonly one who can stand the heat.

"Ma stands for "mazi" (Pinyin: mázi Traditional Chinese 麻子,) which means a person disfigured by pockmarks. Po (Chinese 婆) translates as "old woman". Hence, Ma Po is an old woman whose face was pockmarked. Legend says that the pock-marked old woman (má pó) was a widow who lived in the Chinese city of Chengdu. Due to her condition, her home was placed on the outskirts of the city. By coincidence, it was near a road where traders often passed. Although the rich merchants could afford to stay within the numerous inns of the prosperous city while waiting for their goods to sell, poor farmers would stay in cheaper inns scattered along the sides of roads on the outskirts of the ancient city.

It is said that the first people who tasted the old woman's cooking were a farmer and his son who arrived late to the city during a terrible rainstorm. They were forced to find shelter in the old woman's home having found that all of the inns were full.

Pleased with the company, the old woman prepared them a meal from her paltry larder, including the dish now known as Ma Po Dou fu. The dish was so delicious that soon each time the father and son passed the old woman's home, they would stay for a meal. In this way, the old woman's renown spread as others joined the father and son in visiting and staying at her home. These visitors would often bring the ingredients for her dish so as not to burden her larder."

From Wikipedia

Ma Po Tofu
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, Jan/Feb 2006
my input is in red
1 pound package firm tofu
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 T low sodium soy sauce
1 T oyster sauce
1 T corn starch
1-2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce
4 oz. lean ground pork (I grind my own pork to limit the fat even more)
1 T grated ginger
3 garlic cloves
2 cups cooked long grain brown rice
1/3 cup green onions (I add way more green onions)
1 cup cabbage chopped small 1 1/2 cups peas

Grind pork and marinate with 2 T soy sauce, ginger to taste, 1 teaspoon sesame oil and 2 teaspoons sugar. Marinate overnight if possible.

Place tofu slices on several layers of paper towel ( I use tea towels to avoid waste). Place a dinner plate on top of covered tofu, let stand 30 minutes. Remove plate, discard paper towels. Cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes.

Combine broth and next four ingredients, stirring with a whisk.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add pork, cook four minutes or until done, stirring to crumble. Add chopped cabbage, cook until golden. Add ginger and garlic, cook one minute stirring constantly. Add tofu, peas cook four minutes or until golden, stirring frequently. Add broth mixture to pan. Bring to a boil, cook 1 minute or until thick. Remove from heat.

Serve tofu mixture over rice. Sprinkle with onions. Yield four servings.
1/2 cup rice, 3/4 cup pork mixture and two tablespoons onions is 290 Calories

Tagged

I have seen so many people get tagged and was wondering when I would get tagged. I did today by Christine over at Blenders Galore. I never seen it coming, boom I am it.

What was I doing ten years ago?

1998... hmmm. Summer 98 I was getting my Master's. Eating, breathing and living books, research, classes, and trying to get money. Now if you had asked about the folllowing year that would be a bit more exciting. Like get my diploma and talking with a head hunter and shipping myself off to SC.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

1. get to the gym and have a hardcore workout!
2. plant my cucmbers, the only thing left to plant.
3. do laundry, oh yeah thats my daily chore!
4. Make Ma Po Tofu and post it.
5. Get started creating a new group for people to join... (ha ha , more on that later)

5 Snacks I enjoy:

popcorn
granola bars
carrots
almonds
pretzels


Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

I would invest in something that would contiinually make me a billionaire. I would travel the world, a little at a time. Be a philanthropist, more specifically start a horse farm for disabled children. Go to spas, regularly.

Places I have lived:

Phoenix, AZ (Mesa)
Knoxville, TN
Abbeville, SC
currently Rochester, NY

Jobs I have had:

KMart Home Health Aide Merry Maids (I lasted three days) CAT Scan and Angio Receptionist Coordinator for Home Based Services Medical Social Worker Nephrology Social Worker

I tag…….

Shelly, This Old Farm
Temperance, High on the Hog
Ulrike at Kuchenlatein
Leigh, Lemon Tartlet
Lyndsey Cafe Johnsonia

HONEY, DO YOU KNOW WHERE ALL THE BROWNIES WENT TO?

I have to say that I go against the grain when I say this. I am not a big brownie fan. Now that does not mean that I don't get a craving for these chocolatey bites once in a while, because I do. For the most part however, there are so many other things I want to eat or try.

I made Dorie Greenspans recipe (I did not use raisins) with no excitement for the final outcome. Sorry Dorie, it's not you, it's the brownie. I have to say that the batter was out of this world. The final outcome, well, I liked them. They were much lighter than your typical brownie. Neither fudgey or cakey but super chocolatey. Dories orginal intent was to make a cake so think along those lines. I bet you will find in all the Tuesdays with Dorie blogs, mixed results, largely depending on the butter consistency, whipping times and chocolate used.

For me they ranked as a make again recipe as my husband nearly ate the whole batch. I guess you could safely say that his review was more than satisfactory.

French Chocolate Brownies

- makes 16 brownies -
Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.

Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.

Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!

Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

"Hominy and Me, We're pretty good company..."

Okay, that would be Harmony and Me (Elton John) but it is fitting for this post. I looked in my fridge the other day and I saw cabbage, radish, cilantro, limes and I got thinking. Hmmm, do I have pork hocks in the freezer, why yes I think I do. Oh yes,,, POSOLE ROJO! Have not had this in so long.

I use to live in Phoenix Arizona. I learned a lot when I lived out there. Lots of life lessons and lots about Mexican culture. I had a friend there who was Mexican and she taught me a lot about Mexican food and Mexican men. What a combo. I remember one time, sitting with her by the pool with our feet dangling in the water. She said do you know how to say the vowels in Spanish. I of course said no being the Gringo that I am. She said, it goes like this, "ahhhhhh (insert slight tilting of the head and eyes rolling), ayyyyyy ( throw a little breathlessness in there). On and on it went until I was rolling with laughter. She was the quintessential sex pot! She really took me in as a friend and older sister.

One time she made this incredible soup that I just fell in love with. It wasn't the soup base necessarily, it was the incredible rainbow color presentation. You see Posole, at least according to my friend, needs to be served with fresh shredded cabbage, julienned radishes, chopped cilantro and green onions. If you like the heat, chopped jalapenos as well.

I have not stopped making it since then. I just love this soup!

POSOLE ROJO

1 medium onion chopped
1 tablespoon canola oil or olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 quarts tomato juice
2 cups water
2 teaspoons cumin
1 large can hominy
2 smoked pork hocks (much better flavor if they are smoked)
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup julienned radishes
1 cup chopped cilantro
minced jalapenos
1 cup chopped green onions
limes, wedged

Saute onions in a large pot with oil. When they are golden, add garlic and cumin, saute for one minute more or until fragrant. Pour in water and tomato juice. Bring to a boil. Add pork hocks, bring to a boil again. Simmer for at least an hour, until pork is falling off the bone. When finished take pork hocks out and remove meat, return to pot. Discard the bone and the skin. Ladle into soup bowls. Serve with the fresh cabbage, radishes, green onions, cilantro, jalapeno and lime wedges. Everyone can add what they want.