Stalling for time - Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Sorry guys, no Daring Bakers' Challenge here today: my components are all currently baking or chilling as we speak. Will post in a couple of days, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, try some of these chocolate gingerbread cookies from Martha Stewart. They are on her cookie book's cover for a reason: they are indeed very, very good. Chewy, with a thin, crunchy coating of sugar, and packed with delicious flavours. I don't think I've ever made a batch of cookies that disappeared so quickly!

So, hoping that buys me a little time... Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Daring Cooks' August Challenge - Pierogi

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale.

Once again, I was under the wire for this month’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge. This is becoming a habit!

I’d eaten traditional Polish pierogi before, and was looking forward to trying out the challenge recipes. In the end, I only had time to try Anula’s family recipe.

Making the filling (which consisted in mashed potatoes, bacon, onion, and cottage cheese) was simple enough. I had some mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be used, and you should know by now that I will eat mushrooms in anything, so I finely diced them, sautéed them with the onion, and tossed them into the mix. The filling turned a rather depressing shade of grey (Portobello mushrooms will do that), but I was pleased with the taste.

The dough wasn’t the easiest to work with, I found, although that was probably my own fault, as I suspect I may have overhandled it. It was a bit too rubbery, and had a tendency to retract when I rolled it – a tendency which only increased when I gathered the scraps and rerolled.

Also, I was a little sloppy when filling the dumplings – which is my way of saying I overfilled most of them. I was afraid they would burst when I tried to boiled them, so… I cheated a little. Instead of boiling them, I pan-fried them, then steamed them, pot-sticker-style. As much as I love pot-stickers (I’ve been a gyoza-addict every since that DC challenge more than a year ago), I would have preferred to boil them, as I remember having enjoyed the silky texture of boiled pierogi. But I was hungry, and tired, and this was all we were having for dinner, so I wasn’t taking any chances with it. I know boiled pierogi can be fried once they have cooled, but I wonder if what I ended up making still qualifies as pierogi? Oh well, call them “potato and cheese gyoza” if you wish, they were still good!

As predicted, the dough was a little tough. But I did love the filling. Only I had some of the latter leftover (probably because of all the mushrooms I had added), and decided it would be cool to make croquettes with it. Laurent, my deep-frying expert, obligingly took care of it – but, through no fault of his own, the croquettes disintegrated in the oil. Having said that, the portion we were able to salvage from the pan was actually really good (albeit unattractive as hell), like über-decadent mashed potatoes. I smell a culinary discovery!

My thanks to LizG and Anula for this fun challenge! I promise I will try properly boiling my next batch of pierogi! In the meantime, please check out the challenge recipes at the Daring Kitchen, as well as the Daring Cooks’ blogroll, for tons of creative dumplings!

A big helping of happiness

Today's feature on The Chocolate Bunny is called: "Why Valerie has had a smile plastered to her face these past few days." And here it is:

*grin*

Laurent actually asked me to marry him almost two weeks ago, but I was waiting to tell my best friend in person before spreading the news on the net. I was finally able to see her yesterday, so... there you have it.

I am deliriously happy, and very excited about everything that is to come. There wasn't a doubt in my mind when I said "yes" to his proposal, and I'm absolutely certain I won't have any trouble saying "yes" at the church. I'd say "yes" tomorrow without any qualms. But we've agreed to have a real wedding (although that's pretty much the only thing that's been settled - details are still up in the air), so I get to enjoy being engaged for several months, while we sort everything out.

I do know one thing, though: I will not be making my own wedding cake. Not that I don't enjoy a challenge, but I think I'll have other things to worry about by then.

We Love Leftovers - Asian Sesame Chicken Salad

In our kitchen, Laurent is in charge of preparing and roasting whole chickens. I keep telling myself that one day, I will roll up my sleeves and do the whole thing myself (including cleaning the cavity), just for bragging rights. But in the meantime, he does such a good job at it that I find little incentive to take his place for even a day.

His choice of seasonings varies, but classic choices include garlic, fresh rosemary, and lemons (preserved lemons when available). What’s not to love?

However, I’m usually in charge of finding ways to use the leftovers. I often choose to use the shredded chicken in a salad, depending on what I’m in the mood for. Tex-Mex flavours are a great favourite around here. But the other day, I was in an Asian mood.

I have more (way more) cookbooks than I should, and can usually find a recipe for just about anything. But sometimes, it’s fun to just improvise with whatever’s in the fridge, especially with something as simple as a salad. This one was refreshing and filling, and I was quite pleased with how the sesame dressing came out. Looks like we have a new favourite!

Asian Sesame Chicken Salad
Serves 3-4

1 cucumber, quartered and sliced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 chicken breasts, roasted, cooled, and shredded
A big handful of coriander leaves, chopped
3 scallions, or a handful of chives, chopped
4 cups mixed baby greens
6-8 large romaine lettuce leaves

For the dressing:
3 tbsp sesame oil
4 tbsp rice vinegar
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 tsp sambal oelek (chili paste), more or less to taste (or substitute with red pepper flakes)
3 garlic cloves, crushed with a garlic press or finely minced
2 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)

In a large salad bowl, toss the cucumber, red pepper, carrots, chicken, herbs, and baby greens together. In a separate small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients and stir.

To serve: Lay out 2 romaine leaves over each plate. Drizzle a few drops of dressing over each plate. Then pour the rest of the dressing over the chicken salad, toss, and divide the salad among the plates.

Daring Bakers' July Challenge: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

Ack! Late again for this month’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge! The worst part is, I actually completed it in time, but I didn’t have a chance to unmold it, photograph it, and eat it until just a few minutes ago!

There were a lot of components to this month’s challenge, which was a lovely ice cream cake. First, we had to make our own ice cream. I’m one of the unlucky people who do not own an ice cream maker, but our hostess Sunita gave us a way to make ice cream with just a freezer: you literally freeze cream, after sweetening and flavouring it. Rather than go for the classic chocolate-vanilla combo in the original recipe, I went for chocolate and green tea.

Then we had to make Swiss rolls. I had made biscuit roulé before (the one year I tried making a bûche for Christmas), and I have to say I had done better job back then than I did now. I overcooked one of my layers, which cracked when I tried to fold it.

But I think my biggest problem was slicing the Swiss rolls, after I had filled them with green tea-flavoured whipped cream. They got squished and lost their shape in the process. The result: one ugly-looking bombe on the outside.

But not so bad on the inside! The layers of green tea ice cream, chocolate fudge sauce, and chocolate ice cream are pretty clearly defined.

And the taste? A tad too sweet for me, but I loved the different textures. And let’s face it: ice cream is always good, no matter how you make it, or how you serve it!

Thank you Sunita for this challenge! And all of you be sure to check out the Daring Kitchen and look at all the more aesthetic cakes that the other Daring Bakers have made!

Tasting memories

Anyone who went to a French high school (as well as many people who didn't) is familiar with Proust’s madeleine. In À la recherche du temps perdu, the narrator eats a madeleine with tea, and finds himself instantly flooded with involuntary memories from his past.

Many things can trigger memories. Music sometimes works that way for me: I’ll hear an old Alanis Morissette song on the radio, and I’ll find myself transported to my teen years in Brussels, with all the angst and confused feelings that come with that period in life (blech). But with food (and smell, as the two usually work together), the experience is usually much more powerful. That’s why we sometimes find ourselves craving foods that we know aren’t even particularly good: because they bring us back in time.

But sometimes, the foods you remember aren’t available. Which is why I was looking forward to tasting something in particular when we reached Japan in May. I had not been there in over fifteen years (I briefly lived there when I wan eleven years old), but there was something I absolutely needed to taste again. Not refined Japanese cuisine, or even traditional Japanese street food, which I hadn’t even had that much of, back when I was living there.

No, what I wanted to taste again was iced milk coffee from a vending machine.

It sounds silly, but one of the first times I ever tried coffee was from one of these little cans. And I’m an espresso-lover now, so it really was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. This drink is more milk than coffee, and is quite sweet, so it’s ironic that I, who now take my coffee black and bitter, remember it so fondly. It’s nothing special, with its malty taste and watery texture. Nevertheless, as soon as I spotted a vending machine on our first day in Tokyo, I shelled out 220 yen and treated myself and Laurent to a can each.

It tasted just like I remembered it. And apparently, I’m not the only one who finds the stuff addictive: Laurent got regular cravings for it throughout the rest of our trip.

At other times, you think you’ve forgotten all about a specific food, yet you instantly remember its flavour as soon as you see it. This happened to me when I saw these little candies for sale:

I have no idea what they are exactly. Some kind of dried legume or something (or a pea? I really don’t know), covered in a flavoured sugary coating. I hadn’t thought about these sweets in years, but I immediately remembered them, along with their texture and their flavour. It’s funny how it all popped back into my head and tastebuds.

Now, if only I knew what these are… If anyone out there knows, I would be grateful!

Daring Cooks' July Challenge: Nut Butters

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

I realize I have been really neglecting this blog this past month. But rest assured, I’ve pretty much been neglecting ALL my usual online activity these days, except for email. My apologies to all the beautiful bloggers whose posts I haven’t been reading as regularly as usual – I miss you! Let’s just say life has been… not hectic, exactly, but weird, and changing from day to day. Things keep happening that stop me from forming a routine.

So, getting my DB and DC challenges is pretty much all I can muster right now. And even then, just barely: I made this month’s dish yesterday.

This month’s Daring Cooks’ challenge was simple: make nut butter from scratch, and cook with it. Straightforward, yet so full of possibilities!

I had never made nut butter, but it turned out to be a breeze: just put your preferred nuts in a food processor and chop, adding oil if necessary, until you obtain the desired texture. I was somewhat afraid our old food processor, which is more than 20 years old, wouldn’t be able to handle it, but it came through with flying colours!


Our hostesses had given us several recipes, but given the temperature here these days, the cold Asian noodle salad really jumped out at me. Plus, Laurent and I often have to eat dinner fairly quickly these days, because the FanTasia film festival is going on right now: it’s when we make up for never going to the movies during the rest of the year, by bingeing on alternative Asian films and animations for three weeks. Since noodle salad can be made in advance, it was perfect for such a night.

(On a side note: I may be neglecting my blog, but I am still a hopeless foodie. The movie we saw yesterday was Le Grand Chef 2: Kimchi Battle, which, you guessed it, is about Korean chefs battling to make the best kimchi. I squealed during all the food shots, I drooled over the fancy knives and pretty equipment, and then… I cried. I cried during a food movie. To be fair, it was during an emotional, mostly food-unrelated scene. Still… I cried during Le Grand Chef 2.)

The noodle salad was a huge hit. I used Chinese egg noodles (despite being kind of frustrated that the ones I had in the pantry look like spaghetti), and mostly followed the recipe, except that I substituted sautéed mushrooms for cucumber (we’ve been eating cucumbers everyday, and I needed a change), and cut the garlic in the dressing (despite that, both of us still had vampire-repelling breath during the movie). Speaking of the cashew butter-based dressing, it was so good I felt like licking my plate. Laurent has declared that he wants this dish again, very soon.

So, despite being last minute, I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge. Thank you, Margie and Natashya! To see the challenge recipe, head on over to the Daring Kitchen, and check out the blogroll for some creative uses of nut butter!