Panko-Fried-Mango

This is the dessert I made as part two of Platinum Chef 7. Again, the ingredients for this round are: Mango, Mint, Yogurt, Panko, and Bok Choy. This dish for me had all but the bok choy.

I peeled, pitted and diced a mango and then combined in a bowl with: about 1/2 cup of panko, 1/2 a cap of cocnut milk (or enough to bind the panko) and 10-15 mint leaves, minced. Then, I pan friend them in a bit of butter and served over vanilla frozen yogurt. Really good! May make it again, but with toasted coconut instead of the panko.

Platinum Chef 7

This round is being hosted by Danielle at Make No Little Meals. She chose some great ingredients - Mango, Panko, Mint (the herb not the extract), Bok Choy, and Yogurt. Great choices! Bok Choy was new to me. It was good... neither Ryan nor I much cared for it alone but it was really nice eaten in the same bite with the lamb I served over it. And Mango and Mint especially are two of my current fav things to use in my food!

So, I submit to you readers and our honorable host:

Mango-Mint Lamb Steaks and Panko-Fried Mango

Looking forward to the next challenge!

Mango Lamb Steaks

I made this dish as one of my two entries for Platinum Chef 7. This month's ingredients are: Mint, Yogurt, Bok Choy, Mango, and Panko.

The ingredients screamed lamb to me, which was perfect since I had a couple lamp strips in the freezer from a recent trip to Whole Foods. My plan was to season the lamp and cook it like steak, then top with a mixture of Mango, chives (growing in our yard!), mint, lime, and yogurt and serve it all over wilted Bok Choy. I saves the Panko for dessert.

In looking for a good spice rub for the lamb, I found this recipe on Epicurious - basically my whole idea minus the yogurt - so... at least I know it would be good if not very original! The spice rub was fantastic - very potent! THe smoke from it was a bit TOO potent though... Ryan and I were coughing up a fit! But it was worth it - we both loved the combination of spices. The mango/mint/yogurt topping cooled it nicely.

Lamb

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 large lamb steaks

Mix the spices together. Combine oil and garlic and brush over both sides of steaks. Rub steaks in spice mix and cook on a skillet to desired doneness (same cook time at NY Strips for my steaks). If you have a grill, I recommend using it!

Mango Topping

In a food processor or blender combine:

1 mango, peeled and pitted

about 10 mint leaves

2 pieces of chives

juice of 1 lime

Blend to mostly smooth, a bit chunky. Then stir in about 1/4 cup of greek yogurt. All ingredients to taste.

Bok Choy

I just washed and chopped the bok choy bunches in half, and wilted them in a skillet with a little oil.

Plate as follows: Bok choy on the bottom, then lamb steak, and mango puree over it all.

Very yummy!

I don't like CAPERS!!!

So this month, Kate is hosting Platinum Chef Challenge, and her five ingredients are:

Leeks

Lemon

Cream

Rosemary

Capers

I had all sorts of great ideas and felt very inspired by this grocery list. So inspired that I made my entry THAT DAY. But I have waited to post my results. Why? Well. I learned that I really. Truly. Not at all. Made me gag. Needed to eat a chocolate bunny to get the taste out of my mouth. Dont. Like. Capers!!!!!!!!!

I think that had I discovered a love of capers. Or even a like. I would have enjoyed my dishes. I was tempted to try something else for a more palatable result, but that would mean including capers. Again. NOOOOOO!!!

I made two dishes though, both incorporated all five ingredients. The first was an asparagus soup, and the second a tapenade of sorts. Ryan really liked the tapenade (he does not share my capers aversion apparently).

Roasted Asparagus-Capers Soup

1 bundle of asparagus, trimmed, washed

3 sprigs of rosemary

1 lemon

4 cups stock

1 bundle leeks, trimmed and carefully washed

4 oz craime fraiche

2-3 tablespoons capers

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

scallops

bacon

Roast asparagus in an oven at 450 degrees tossed with oil, rosemary sprigs, and thinly sliced lemon for about 15 minutes or until slightly charred.

Meanwhile, in a large stock pot, heat oil over medium and add chopped leeks. Stir occasionally until slightly browned. Add stock and simmer about 10 min. In batches if needed, puree the stock/leeks and asparagus in a food processor or blender to smooth. Stir in cream to taste. Salt and pepper to taste.

In a small skillet, sautee the capers until slightly brown. Stir into soup. (Optional) Sear bacon wrapped scallops.

If desired, top with bacon-wrapped scallop.

Caper Tapenade

In a blender, combine 2 T drained capers, and the 'leaves' from 1 sprig of rosemary. Set aside.

Sautee thinly sliced whites from 1 large (or 3 small) leek with olive oil to caramelize. Combine with the caper-rosemary mixture. Squeeze juice from 1/2 of a lemon over, and stir in craime fraiche. Serve with multigrain bread.

"Rice" pudding

Part deux of my Platinum Chef entry, I decided to go with a dessert. I used a recipe from Epicurious as my base. I had planned to make this with butternut as well but ran out of time and energy so I just used canned pumpkin instead. I also skipped carmelizing (no blowtorch :( ) I subbed barley for the rice - tricky tricky!!

From the site:

Caramelizing the top of this pudding adds an extra depth of flavor, but it's equally delicious without doing it.
A blowtorch works best here; the broiler didn't give us the uniform browning we wanted.

Active time: 1 3/4 hr Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

Servings: Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Ingredients

1 (1 1/2- to 2-lb) piece pumpkin or butternut squash, halved and seeded (omitted)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (omitted)

2/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

2/3 cup long-grain white rice (changed to PEARL BARLEY)

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 cups whole milk

8 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (2 oz) (omitted)

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar such as Sugar in the Raw (optional) (omitted)

Added: 1 vanilla bean

1 can pumpkin (1 1/3 cups used)

Special equipment: a blowtorch (optional)

Preparation

Bake pumpkin: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.
Arrange each piece of pumpkin, cut side up, on a sheet of foil. Top each with 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Wrap separately in foil and bake, cut sides up, in a shallow baking pan until flesh is tender, about 1 hour.
Open foil and cool pumpkin slightly, then scoop flesh into a food processor and purée until smooth. (This was all skipped and canned pumpkin was used instead)

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Cook rice (barley) while pumpkin bakes: Heat rice, salt, 4 cups milk, and remaining 2/3 cup granulated sugar in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until very hot. Transfer to a large metal bowl set over a large saucepan of simmering water (or to a double boiler) and cook over low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender and most of milk is absorbed, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. (Add more simmering water to saucepan if necessary.) Remove pan from heat and keep rice warm, covered.

Make pudding: Lightly whisk yolks in a large bowl, then whisk in vanilla, ginger, 1 1/3 cups pumpkin purée (reserve remainder for another use), and remaining cup milk. Gradually stir in warm rice, then pour mixture into a buttered 2-quart flameproof shallow baking dish (not glass). Set baking dish in a roasting pan and bake pudding in a hot water bath, uncovered, in oven until set, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

If caramelizing pudding, sprinkle evenly with turbinado sugar, then move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth over sugar until sugar is melted and caramelized. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Cooks' notes:• Pumpkin can be baked and puréed 2 days ahead and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered. • Pudding can be baked (but not caramelized) 1 day ahead and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before caramelizing or serving.

That was all from the website linked. I added the vanilla bean (seeds and pods) to the milk and barley as it was cooking (remove the pods before cooking of course!) I still used vanilla in the custard because I really wanted vanilla to be a star in this. The barley worked great as a substitute for the rice - healthied it up a bit (though really all the whole milk and sugar... not much that can be done!). I dont think ryan would have known except I told him about the challenge and ingredients prior.

It turned out great - lucky since there is a TON leftover!

Beef Barley Soup

I made this soup for part of the Platinum Chef Challenge (post to follow) and thought I was being all creative with it... turns out Beef Barley soup is a common thing... ah well! I made it sans recipe and with some platinum twists and LOVED it. SO good! Ryan had two helpings :) I would make it again, for sure (once the extra servings in the freezer are gone ;) )

Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup pearl barley

Olive oil

1 can chickpeas

Ground Cumin

1 large onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups stock (I used a combination of beef and chicken - 4 and 2 - have extra on hand to add as needed)

8 ounces butternut in bite sized pieces

about 1.5 to 2 pounds of strips of beef (I forget what cut mine it... bought in bulk and frozen for fajitas)

In a medium stockpot, bring 2.5 cups of water with a pinch of salt to a boil. Add barley, lower heat and simmer stirring occasionally for 45 minutes or until done (tender, most or all water absorbed). Set aside.

In a large stockpot, heat 2 T olive oil over medium high. Add can of drained chickpeas and 1 tablespoon of ground cumin. Cook for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally. When chickpeas start to slightly brown, add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally for another 5 min until onions are soft and browning.

Add Stock. Dump in barley. Add butternut. Lower heat to a slow simmer.

Meanwhile in a large frying pan, heat a tsp or 2 of olive oil over medium high heat. Season beef with kosher salt and cumin. Add beef to hot pan and cook about 15 min, turning. Outside should have a nice crust (not burned) so let it sit to develop and mine was medium. Pull from heat and cut into bite sized pieces (I like bigger chunks of meat myself).

Add pieces of beef to soup, and a bag of baby spinach. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer to soften spinach and serve!

Platinum Chef - March!

Cara is back with a new Platinum Chef Challenge and I was pumped to expand my culinary horizons with two new ingredients (to me!): Barley and Chickpeas. They join Vanilla, Butternut Squash, and cumin. The challenge is to create one or two dishes using all the ingredients between them, with at least 2 ingredients each.






Confession: I had to google what the heck barley even was and how to cook it/what it is similar to. I later was told over dinner what one of the dishes I made, a beef soup with barley (among other things) is a really common classic soup. And here I thought I was being creative! ;) Somehow I missed the Beef Barley soup in the Campbell's rack!


The good news is, I learned I like Barley (my husband already knew he liked it) and we both also like the chickpeas!

And I already knew that I love butternut, vanilla, and cumin.... mmm :)



Dish 1: Beef Barley Soup






Three Ingredients Featured: Butternut Squash, Barley, Chickpeas, cumin




Dish 2: Pumpkin "Rice" Pudding







Two and a Half Ingredients Featured: Barley, Vanilla, and Pumpkin (the 1/2)

Platinum Chef 4 (I think?)

This PC Challenge included the following ingredients: Sweet Potato, Garlic, cilantro (yay!), yogurt and Chocolate. I made a summer sweet potato soup and a fruit dessert with a chocolate-yogurt dip. Both were yummy but the soup was maybe a bit TOO flavorful - I would make it again, with less (or no) ginger and less cilantro.

Cilantro Pumpkin Bisque:

In a large stock pot add about 1-2 TB EVOO, 2-3 cloves garlic, minced, and 3 small teeks (whites only, rinced well, chopped). Cook till softened. Add 4 cups of Chicken Stock, 2 large sweet potatos (peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes) and 3 carrots (peeled and chopped). Cook on med high stirring occassionally until potatos are soft through (about 30 min). Add 1 inch fresh ginger, minced (again, I would omit or use less) and cook for another minute or two. Adda handful of Cilantro, minced (I woudl keep but use less as it is a strong flavor). Immediatly, strain and add the solids to food processor and run until smooth (do in batches as needed). Add in the liquid and run till combined. Add juice from 1 lime. Pour out and add 1/2 to 1 whole large container of fat free plain yogurt (to taste). Serve topped with fresh chopped cilantro. Voila!

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Just for the heck of it, our protein fits too. I used my usually method for chicken - 1+ pounds of CHicken Breast (tenders cut) in a sealable container. Add a healthy dose of Tequila (maybe 1/2 cup?) a little bit of EVOO, 3 limes, squeezed, about 3 cloves of garlic, minced, and a handful of cilantro, chopped. Seal the container and shake well. If you have time, let it sit but the flavors will be imparted if you dont. Cook on a hot pan about 4- 6 min per side (should be brown and crispy)

Rummy Banana's with Chocolate Yogurt Cream:

In a baking dish, add 4 bananas sliced in 1/2 lengthwise and again widthwise. Top with a mixture of: Dark rum, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla. Top with thin slices of butter (about 2 TB). Broil about 15 min (turning bananas halfway).

In mixer, beat 4 oz of heavy whipping cream with a little sugar (1-2T) and about 1/2 cup of cocoa powder until stiff (note: fabulously yummy at this stage!!!).

Stir in about 1/2 to 1 cup of vanilla yogurt. At this stage, I felt it needed to be more chocolatey and added another 1/2 cup of powder. Overall it was V good! I think I woudl have been happy with the Chocolate stuff on its own - the yogurt gave it a nice 'bite' and it was almost like a soft mousse.

PLATINUM CHEF take 3

I am really late in posting this, but I DID make the meal within the time allotted - Im just really bad about uploading my pics ;) This challenge's ingredients were: seafood, honey, onion, wine, and peanut butter. Part one of my meal came out great... part two was a flop. Ah well!

Honey Shrimp Skewers

2 pounds of Shrimp (The jumbo size I wanted was out so instead of going down a size I went up... it was pricey but YUM!)

1 red pepper, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

1 bag of cherry tomatos

about 1/2 a fresh pineapple, cut into chunks

1 vidalia onion, chopped into large pieces

Marinade:

(amts are approximate)

1/2 cup EVOO

2 cups pineapple juice

a few TBL ground ginger

2 cups of white wine (I used the Luna di luna pinot/char blend I had leftover)

I amde sure that there was enough to cover all the shrimp and veggies and pineapple in a LARGE sealed bowl in the fridge. Marinated it for about 6 hours (do less for smaller shrimp).

Skewered the shimp and veggies and pineapple and cooked it on a flat pan on high heat basting with a mixture of: 3/4 cup honey plus 1/4 cup melted butter frequently. (note: this would have been WAY easier with a working grill... lol)

Rice: I made jasmine rice - 1 cup rice cooked in 3/4 cup coconut milk (no sugar added) and 1/4 cup water. I think for 30 min - directions were on the bag for cook time. Serve veggies, pineapple and shrimp over the rice. Voila! It was really yummy but made a MESS in the kitchen!

The Flop: Honey PB Fudge

My idea was to made a fudge that was a layer of PB Fudge and a Layer of Honey Fundge (editing a recipe for Maple fudge). Wellll my honey fudge recipe was a bad one... Im not gonna bother posting the recipes but you can see form the pic.... plus it was just too sickeningly sweet. Oh well - better luck next time!

Platinum Chef Challenge!

I decided to participate in the Platinum Chef Challenge on a cooking board I visit. This month, there were 5 ingredients that need to be incorporated into 1-2 dishes. The ingredients really sounded like something I could have fun with: corn, hot pepper, cheese, blueberries, and citrus. I made 3 dishes (mainly because I did my two main dishes as a side and entree and I really wanted to do a simple yummy dessert too!) Pics arent too great... I need to get handle on photographing food! plus, this is a case of food that looks better than it tastes ;)

Corn on the Cob with Jalapeno parmesan infused butter

The name speaks for itself... the corn is the first local corn of the summer from a fab local farm (Rosedales in Simsbury CT) which was just boiled for about 5 min.

Butter: 1/2 stick of regular butter, softened. 1.2 Jalapeno pepper, diced. approx 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese. Add all 3 to a mixer and beat until fluffy and combined. Put in a small dish, wrap in plastic and refridgerate until hard.

Orange Salmon with Blueberries

Doesnt look pretty but so yummy! I wanted to do something savory with the lemon and blueberry and thought that they would go really well with salmon!

Marinade:

2 large navel oranges, juiced.

1 TB Spicy brown Mustard

2 TB Balsamic vinegar

2 Cloves Garlic, smashed

Marinade salmon for about an hour.

Reserve the Marinade, place salmon on a pan at medium high, sear both sides (cook about 5 min total). drop the heat to med low and add the marinade to the pan along with about a cup of fresh blueberries. cook until Salmon is cooked through, about 10 minutes or until center flakes with a fork. Take Salmon off pan and turn the heat to high stirring frequently until the sauce has thickened considerably. Spoon on top of salmon to serve.

Fresh Berries with Lemon Whipped Cream

Add heavy whipping cream to kitchenaid. Whip on high. When starting to froth, add a splash of vanilla extract. When the whipped cream is whipped to your liking - stiff peaks - add the zest from 1/2 lemon and stir in.

Serve on top of farm fresh berried (we had raspberries, blueberries and strawberries).

So fresh and summery!