Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Patties!

The Daring Cooks’ February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax & Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients and deliciousness! We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties!

You could maybe say that I’m on an uncommitted search for the best veggie burger. So far the winner is the Garden Bean Burger at La Tuna Grill in San Antonio. They make it with refried black beans and then top it with cheddar, guacamole, roasted salsa, and tomatoes. Sounds kind of like a chalupa on a bun, right?

Naturally this challenge gave me the impetus to try to make my own black bean burgers in hopes that they’d be half as good as the ones at La Tuna. Having never made a veggie burger before (what?!), I looked up recipes and found one that used refried black beans…but by “refried”, they mean “smashed”. Probably most bean burger recipes involve smashing…

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Moo Shu!

The October Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Shelley of C Mom Cook and her sister Ruth of The Crafts of Mommyhood.  They challenged us to bring a taste of the East into our home kitchens by making our own Moo Shu, including thin pancakes, stir fry and sauce.

Okay, I’m days late with this challenge, but wanted to complete it because 1) I’ve missed a couple of recent ones, and 2) I can’t pass up Asian recipes.  I’m glad I did it because it is SO good!!!

Traditionally moo shu is made with pork, so being vegetarian, I went with a different stir fry recipe than what was provided for the challenge.  Otherwise, I used the hoisin and pancake recipes from Shelley and Ruth!

This is an easy dinner to make, but the prep can be pretty time-consuming.  If you chop the veggies and make the sauce the day before you want to eat it, I would approve of that (it’s what I did)!  The pancakes are a little high-maintenance as most doughy things can be, but aren’t complicated.  

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Appam and Curry!

Due to being away since June, I’ve sadly missed out on a few Daring Kitchen challenges this summer, but was able to do this month’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge!  Luckily for me, the friends I’m staying with have appetites for every cuisine along with a well-equipped kitchen that I could use.

Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host.  Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is!  She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.

Everything about this challenge was totally new to me because I’ve had Indian food, but not South Indian/Sri Lankan.  I spent Saturday afternoon driving around Cleveland trying to find the ingredients, and more or less succeeded!

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Potato Salad!

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad.  The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads.  A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

Isn’t this kind of like when they announce something like, I don’t know, potatoes as the secret ingredient for Iron Chef?  That was my reaction, anyway.  At the same time though, it’s kind of fun to be given free reign for these challenges (I’m looking at you, April). 

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Gumbo!

What’s this?  Another New Orleans recipe in one week?  This one comes in the form of a Daring Cooks’ Challenge!

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo!  She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh. 

Gumbo!  Growing up in Texas, I think it’s hard not to try gumbo at some point, but maybe that’s more the case if your dad is a gumbo fanatic.  I always thought it was pretty good, but had never mustered up enough ambition to make it.  But then in true Daring Kitchen form, a recipe just like gumbo (ambitious?) is perfect for a challenge!

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Edible Containers – Savory

(Is it a food blogger faux pas to have the same very obvious plate two posts in a row?)

Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess.  Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers!  Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!  (Note: this entry isn’t eligible, but go vote for others!)

I am totally late posting this!  It feels super lame to make excuses, but I have a few…  I was  having trouble coming up with ideas for this challenge even though I have some for the sweet challenge.  Then earlier this week, I thought of something after being inspired by the first few pages in the DC forum.  Being the procrastinator that I am, I was planning to do the challenge on the 13th, then post on the 14th.  (typical…)  The problem with this was that I thought the 14th was on Saturday for no apparent reason, and didn’t realize this until Thursday….the 14th.  Gah! 

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Papas Rellenas!

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.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the Daring Kitchen?  Last month with the Daring Cooks, it was Japanese (sigh…) and now Peruvian food!  Peru is a place I’d like to go to someday even though I don’t know much about it.  I hadn’t even thought a whole lot about Peruvian cuisine, but if it’s all as good as this experience, I want to go to there, stat.

This challenge actually featured a number of recipes (ceviche, papas rellenas, salsa criolla, and pisco sour), but we were only required to do the ceviche and/or the papas rellenas.  Even though I do eat fish, ceviche kind of freaks me out, so I nixed that one.  I’ve had chile rellenos, but hadn’t ever heard of the potato equivalent, so I was excited to try it.  Filled and fried mashed potatoes?  HECK YES.  I also made the salsa criolla because onions and I are buds.

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Cold Soba Salad and Tempura!

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.

Although in my fourth month as a Daring Baker, this is my first Daring Cooks challenge!  I figured that since I also like to cook, it would be good to challenge myself in that department, especially since I feel more comfortable with baking.

I was really excited about this challenge because I love tempura and Japanese food in general, but hadn’t ever tried to actually make either of these dishes.  Let’s face it: I most likely wouldn’t have tried tempura on my own because deep frying is NOT something I ever contemplate attempting.

Anyway, despite my excitement, I didn’t actually complete this challenge until last night!  Tsk!  It took me a long time, too…I don’t know why I am SO SLOW in the kitchen.

But I did it.