Scotch Eggs

 Deep Fried sausage rolled eggs.... talk about cholesterol on a plate!  But oh, it was indeed quite yummy! I've seen Scotch Eggs mentioned in several food magazines of late and had to admit my family and I were quite intrigued. I finally caved in when another food magazine came in and once again the Scotch Eggs were shown.  I sat back and enjoyed a glass of wine while my hubby and daughter put this dish together.  Its called living the good life :-)

Scotch Eggs
makes 4
adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

6 large egs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely crushed corn flakes
1/2  package Jimmy Dean sausage
Vegetable oil for frying
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
mustard, for serving

Directions:

 Place4 eggs in a small saucepan; add cold water to cover.  Bring to a boil; remove from heat, cover and let stand for 3 minutes.  Carefully drain, then fill pan with ice water to cool eggs.  Gently crack shells and carefully peel under cold running water.  Place eggs in a bowl of cold water; cover and chill until cold

Place flour in a wide shallow bowl and crushed corn flakes in another wide shallow bowl.  Divide sausage into 4 equal portions.  Pat 1 portion of sausage into a thin patty over the length of your palm.  Lay 1 soft-boiled egg on top of sausage and wrap sausage around egg, sealing to completely enclose.  Repeat with remaining sausage and eggs.

 Whisk remaining 2 eggs in a medium bowl to blend.  Working gently with 1 sausage-wrapped egg at a time, dip eggs into flour, shaking off excess, then coat in egg wash.  Roll in corn flakes to coat.
This can be made 1 day ahead.  Keep refrigerated and uncovered.

 Attach a deep-fry thermometer to side of a large heavy pot.  Pour in oil to a depth of 2" and heat over medium heat to 375 degrees F.  Fry eggs turning occasionally and maintaining oil temperature of 350 degrees F. until sausage is cooked through and breading is golden brown and crisp, about 5-6 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer eggs to paper towels to drain.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Serve warm with mustard.

The Daring Cooks March 2011Challenge: ¡Me Encanta Perú! - Papas Rellenas

Blog-checking lines: Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenges us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra.

I'm not as daring as I would like to be.  As much as I would like to think I am so "cool" and "with it" in my food experiences, I just don't care for sea food.... throw in it being raw and my gag reflex kicks in.  Thankfully there are hundreds of other daring chefs out there this month that are sea food lovers so I don't feel that bad about making only the Papas Rellenas recipe. 

This was a tasty recipe and even came husband approved. 

Papas Rellenas (de carne):

Makes 6

Ingredients

For the dough:

2¼ lb (1 kg) russet potatoes

1 large egg

For the filling:

2 tablespoon (30 ml) of a light flavored oil

½ lb (250 grams) ground (minced) beef

6 black olives, pitted and chopped (use more if you love olives)

3 hard boiled large eggs, chopped

1 small onion, finely diced (about 1 cup (240 ml))

½ cup (120 ml) (90 gm) (3 oz) raisins, soaked in 1 cup (240 ml) boiling water for 10 minutes, then minced

1 finely diced aji pepper (ok to sub jalapeño or other pepper – if you are shy about heat, use less)

2 cloves garlic, minced or passed through a press (if you love garlic, add more)

1 teaspoon (5 ml) (4 gm) (1/8 oz) ground cumin (use more if you like cumin)

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) (2 gm) (1/16 oz) sweet paprika

¼ c. white wine, water or beef stock for deglazing

Salt and pepper to taste

For the final preparation:

1 large egg, beaten

1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) all-purpose flour

Dash cayenne pepper

Dash salt

1 cup dry (240 ml) (110 gm) (4 oz) or fresh (240 ml) (60 gm) (2 oz) bread crumbs (you can use regular, panko, make your own or use store-bought)

Oil for frying (enough for 2” (50 mm) in a heavy pan like a medium sized dutch oven)

               

Directions:

 In order to save time, you can boil the potatoes, and while they are cooling, you can make the filling. While that is cooling, you can make the potato “dough.” In this way, little time is spent waiting for anything to cool.

For the dough:

1.Boil the potatoes until they pierce easily with a fork. Remove them from the water and cool.

2.Once the potatoes have cooled, peel them and mash them with a potato masher or force them through a potato ricer (preferred).

3.Add egg, salt and pepper and knead “dough” thoroughly to ensure that ingredients are well combined and uniformly distributed.

While the potatoes cool down before finishing the dough, you can make the filling:

1.Gently brown onion and garlic in oil (about 5 minutes).

2.Add the chili pepper and sauté for a couple more minutes.

3.Add ground beef and brown.

4.Add raisins, cumin and paprika and cook briefly (a few seconds).

5.Deglaze the pan with white wine.

6.Add olives and cook for a few moments longer.

7.Add hard boiled eggs and fold in off heat.

8.Allow filling to cool before forming “papas.”

Forming and frying the papas:

1.Use three small bowls to prepare the papas. In one, combine flour, cayenne and salt. In the second, a beaten egg with a tiny bit of water. Put bread crumbs in the third

2.Flour your hands and scoop up 1/6 of the total dough to make a round pancake with your hands. Make a slight indentation in the middle for the filling.

3.Spoon a generous amount of filling into the center and then roll the potato closed, forming a smooth, potato-shaped casing around the filling. Repeat with all dough (you should have about 6 papas).

4.Heat 1 ½ - 2 inches (4 – 5 cm) of oil in a pan to about 350 – 375° F (175 - 190°C).

5.Dip each papa in the three bowls to coat: first roll in flour, then dip in egg, then roll in bread crumbs.

6.Fry the papas (in batches if necessary) about 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Flip once in the middle of frying to brown both sides.

7.Drain on paper towel and store in a 200ºF (95ºC) (gas mark ¼) oven if frying in batches.

8.Serve with salsa criolla (or other sauce of preference) immediately.

The Daring Cooks February 2011 Challenge: Cold Soba Salad & Tempura

broccoli and mushrooms

This was an exciting and fun challenge for me. While the recipes are not at all complicated, you will find it a bit time consuming.  We invited some family over and enjoyed our food as each variety of tempura was made.  It reminded me of the way food was served to us in China... each dish was brought out one after another.  We had a great time and the food was delicious!

Blog-checking lines: 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

Soba is a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. It is served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup. It takes three months for buckwheat to be ready for harvest, so it can be harvested four times a year, mainly in spring, summer, and autumn.  Unfortunately, I was not able to find buckwheat noodles or flour in our area.  We were allowed to substitute any type of thin noodle so I used Somen Japanese style noodles.


Hiyashi Soba is a popular dish in summer. It's like a noodle salad. Restaurants in Japan serve Hiyashi Soba only in summer. Even if you don't have much appetite because of the heat, Hiyashi Soba can be appetizing. Common Hiyashi Soba toppings are omelet strips, ham, cucumber and grated Daikon. You can also have the noodles just with the dipping sauce.

Tempura is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. A light batter is made of cold water (sometimes sparkling water is used to keep the batter light and soft wheat flour (cake, pastry or all-purpose flour). Eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices may also be added.Hiyashi Soba:

Oops... made a mistake and added the dipping sauce to the noodles.

Recipes courtesy of Globetrotter Diaries and About.com-Japanese Food
Soba Noodles:
2 quarts (2 Liters) water + 1 cup cold water, separate
12 oz (340 g) dried soba (buckwheat) noodles (or any Asian thin noodle)

Directions:
Cooking the noodles:
Heat 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add the noodles a small bundle at a time, stirring gently to separate. When the water returns to a full boil, add 1 cup of cold water. Repeat this twice. When the water returns to a full boil, check the noodles for doneness. You want to cook them until they are firm-tender. Do not overcook them.
Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse well under cold running water until the noodles are cool. This not only stops the cooking process, but also removes the starch from the noodles. This is an essential part of soba noodle making. Once the noodles are cool, drain them and cover them with a damp kitchen towel and set them aside allowing them to cool completely.

Mentsuyu - Traditional dipping sauce:
2 cups (480ml) Kombu and Katsuobushi dashi (This can be bought in many forms from most Asian stores and you can make your own. Recipe is HERE.) Or a basic vegetable stock.    I used a basic vegetable stock.
1/3 cup (80 ml) soy sauce or a low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup (80 ml) mirin (sweet rice wine)
      *Note: If you can’t find Mirin, a substitute recipe can be found HERE

Directions:
Put mirin in a sauce pan and heat gently. Add soy sauce and dashi soup stock in the pan and bring to a boil. Take off the heat and cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Spicy Dipping Sauce:
¾ cup 70gm/2½ oz spring onions/green onions/scallions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons (45 ml) soy sauce
2 tablespoons (30 ml) rice vinegar
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (4 ⅔ gm) (0.16 oz) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1/8 gm) (0.005 oz) English mustard powder
1 tablespoon (15 ml) grape-seed oil or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon (15 ml) sesame oil (if you can’t find this just omit from recipe.)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste - roughly 1/3 a teaspoon of each

Directions:
Shake all the ingredients together in a covered container. Once the salt has dissolved, add and shake in 2 tablespoons of water and season again if needed.


Serving notes:Traditionally soba is served on a bamboo basket tray, but if you don’t have these, you can simply serve them on a plate or in a bowl. Divide up the noodles, laying them on your serving dishes. Sprinkle each one with nori. In small side bowl or cup, place 1/2 cup (120 ml) of dipping sauce into each. In separate small side dishes, serve each person a small amount of wasabi, grated daikon, and green onions.
The noodles are eaten by sprinkling the desired garnishes into the dipping sauce and eating the noodles by first dipping them into the sauce. Feel free to slurp away! Oishii!

green beans

Tempura
Recipes courtesy of pink bites and itsy bitsy foodies
Serves 4
1 egg yolk from a large egg
1 cup (240 ml) iced water
½ cup (120 ml) (70 gm) (2½ oz) plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for dredging
½ cup (120 ml) (70 gm) (2½ oz) cornflour (also called cornstarch)
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (2½ gm) (0.09 oz) baking powder
oil, for deep frying preferably vegetable
ice water bath, for the tempura batter (a larger bowl than what will be used for the tempura should be used. Fill the large bowl with ice and some water, set aside)
Very cold vegetables and seafood of your choice ie:
      Sweet potato, peeled, thinly sliced, blanched
      Carrot, peeled, thinly sliced diagonally
      Pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed, thinly sliced blanched
      Green beans, trimmed
      Green bell pepper/capsicum, seeds removed, cut into 2cm (¾ inch)-wide strips
      Assorted fresh mushrooms
      Eggplant cut into strips (traditionally it’s fanned)
      Onions sliced

Directions:
Place the iced water into a mixing bowl. Lightly beat the egg yolk and gradually pour into the iced water, stirring (preferably with chopsticks) and blending well. Add flours and baking powder all at once, stroke a few times with chopsticks until the ingredients are loosely combined. The batter should be runny and lumpy. Place the bowl of batter in an ice water bath to keep it cold while you are frying the tempura. The batter as well as the vegetables and seafood have to be very cold. The temperature shock between the hot oil and the cold veggies help create a crispy tempura.

Heat the oil in a large pan or a wok. For vegetables, the oil should be 320°F/160°C; for seafood it should be 340°F/170°C. It is more difficult to maintain a steady temperature and produce consistent tempura if you don’t have a thermometer, but it can be done. You can test the oil by dropping a piece of batter into the hot oil. If it sinks a little bit and then immediately rises to the top, the oil is ready.

Start with the vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, that won’t leave a strong odor in the oil. Dip them in a shallow bowl of flour to lightly coat them and then dip them into the batter. Slide them into the hot oil, deep frying only a couple of pieces at a time so that the temperature of the oil does not drop.

Place finished tempura pieces on a wire rack so that excess oil can drip off. Continue frying the other items, frequently scooping out any bits of batter to keep the oil clean and prevent the oil (and the remaining tempura) from getting a burned flavor.

yellow bell peppers

chicken

sweet potatoes

onions



The Daring Baker: October challeng; Doh!!! Its doughnuts!!!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious

Mmmmmmm... doughnuts.  Glazed, frosted, sprinkled, you name it and I'm there!  While I have been looking for an amazing baked doughnut recipe for this spiffy pan I got, this month's Daring Bakers Challenge was to make cake or yeast doughnuts, baked or fried.  If you're going to splurge then you might as well splurge big.  So, yeah baby - I went fried all the way!

I'm a huge Alton Brown fan so I decided to go with his recipe.  Thankfully, the recipe was rated with high reviews so I knew I was in for a treat.  The recipes for both the chocolate and vanilla glazes are from Alton, too.

Yeast Doughnuts

adapted from Alton Brown

1 1/2 cups milk

2 1/2 ounces butter

2 packages instant yeast

1/3 cup warm water (95 to 105 degrees F)

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

23 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting surface

Peanut or vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

     Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the butter. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.

     In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and butter mixture, first making sure the milk and butter mixture has cooled to lukewarm. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment, combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined. Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well. Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth; dough will be sticky. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or two until doubled in size.

     On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch thick. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter or pastry ring and using a 7/8-inch ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.

     Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 degrees F. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for

1 minute per side. Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.

Vanilla Glaze

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

     Combine milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat over low heat until warm. Sift confectioners' sugar into milk mixture. Whisk slowly, until well combined. Remove the glaze from the heat and set over a bowl of warm water. Dip doughnuts into the glaze, 1 at a time, and set on a draining rack placed in a half sheet pan for 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: enough glaze for 20 to 25 doughnuts

Chocolate Doughnut Glaze

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup whole milk, warmed

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

     mbine butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla in medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until butter is melted. Decrease the heat to low, add the chocolate, and whisk until melted. Turn off heat, add the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Place the mixture over a bowl of warm water and dip the doughnuts immediately. Allow glaze to set for 30 minutes before serving.

Yield: enough glaze for 20 to 25 doughnuts