Week 9: Coffee

Since this week is technically week 1 of March, our challenge was based on a particular ingredient.  This time it was coffee.  From what I can tell, there are two types of recipes using coffee: desserts and meat marinades/rubs.  I didn't really want to do either of those, but ended up choosing to do a breakfast muffin.

These are Spice Island muffins.  They are flavored with coffee, cinnamon, and nutmeg and thankfully aren't overly sweet.  I'm still working on my photography skills, but I liked this photo, and these muffins! 

Week 8: Slow Cooking

Who knew that messy chunks of beef and potatoes would make for my least-photogenic submission ever? This week's challenge was slow cooking, and at the request of my newly-employed significant other I decided to do a roast.  It's a 2.5 pound chuck roast that makes it's own gravy after cooking for 8 hours on low.  I added carrots and potatoes to make it a meal and served it with a single, sad piece of toast.

At least it was delicious.  

Week 7: Love inspired

This week brought on the most abstract challenge we've had so far.  Our theme was open ended; we were simply instructed to make a dish inspired by love in honor of Valentine's Day.  I chose this week to do two dishes. The first was a marinated baked salmon dish served with green beans and focaccia bread.  I was inspired by love for the following reasons: I love to go fishing for red salmon with my grandfather back home, green beans are one of my most loved foods, and foccacia bread was one of the first things I really learned to cook.  You might say it inspired a "love" of cooking!

For dessert I took a more literal approach to this week's challenge.  I made coconut meringue kisses, which are apparently a family recipe.  They are extremely easy to put together, and as far as cookies go could be much worse for you.  They're chock full of protein enhanced corn-flakes, nuts, and egg whites.  They're pretty addicting, and the recipe makes a ton!   

Week 6: Brazilian

I was thrilled when I discovered that the challenge for this week was Brazilian food.  I've enjoyed checking out the forum and seeing everyone else's interpretation of one of my favorite cuisines.  A lot of familiar faces have appeared, but I wanted to try something I've never made before.  I decided on Feijao Tropeiro (Trooper's Beans) which is a hearty winter dish we ate frequently when we were in Brazil in June.  It's a bean stew, similar to the famous "Feijoada".

It was a long process, beginning with soaking the beans the night before.

Early the next morning, I rinsed and drained the beans and then set them aside.  I sauteed the vegetables and meat until they started to caramelize, then added plenty of chicken broth and spices.
 

After adding the beans and letting it all cook down for a few hours, I served the feijao with Farofa (a grain side dish made from toasted cassava flour) and sliced hard boiled eggs.  

And here it is paired with white rice and a lime wedge. 

I wasn't thrilled, but it's certainly not bad.  I'll happily take it for lunch for the rest of the week.  

Week 5: Alcohol

Our challenge this week was to cook with alcohol.  There were no restrictions, and the challenge guidelines allowed for beer, wine, spirits, or any combination thereof.  I chose to do a risotto recipe featuring champagne and asparagus.

Here are most of the ingredients:

The arborio rice was first toasted in butter with shallots, and then sauteed with 3/4 cup champagne.   After the liquid had been completely absorbed, warm chicken broth was added 1/2 cup at a time.  

    

 Once all of the broth was incorporated and the risotto had reached the desired consistency, I removed it from the heat and added blanched asparagus, parmesan cheese, and a bit of salt, pepper, and butter.  

This is the finished product, garnished with crispy bacon and served with a spinach salad and a mimosa.  

Week 4: Pan Fried

This week I had high intentions of making pan fried scallops to contribute to the challenge.  That was before I realized that fresh sea scallops were either A) of poor quality or B) ridiculously expensive... So grilled cheese it is!

I bought these ingredients last week to make a "fancy" grilled cheese sandwich to accompany my tomato soup. I didn't use them then, so here they are now.

The recipe comes from a Moosewood cookbook, under the heading "Cheese sandwiches for cheese lovers".  It's a sandwich of caramelized onions, fresh thyme, and grated gruyere cheese served on a crusty Italian bread. It might not perfectly satisfy the pan-frying requirements for this week, but it was tasty! 

Week 3: Soups

This week's challenge was anything and everything soup.  I chose to make a cream of tomato soup from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook.  I meant to serve it with an upscale grilled cheese (gruyere with carmelized onions) but I didn't get around to it.

Here are 2 photos of the process:

And here's the final product:

I'd consider this to be one of the tastiest soups I've made.  It's creamy and flavorful, and pretty simple too!