Another late entry for my Daring Bakers challenge! Ugh, I swear I will be better after school starts up. Anyway, the August challenge was "hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague."


Yum, yum, and yummy-yum-yum. I will admit, however, there were a few kinks... yes, just a few. The most notable one being starting baking at 8:30 at night. Without parchment paper (and of course I didn't even consider my silbat!). I did have my trusted side-kick, Melanie with me all the way from Indiana! And she was able to help me out quite a bit making this torte. Yes, It was late at night, but it was still a very humid day, which leads me to our other "kink" in the system... our buttercream was a little thin... well, not thin, just not as thick as it could have been. And it was a little melty, so it slid down the sides a little before I popped it in the fridge. So, that's what went wrong, but it didn't effect the taste in the slightest! I must admit, I loved the buttercream! So did Melanie, we joked that we could just drag our fingers on the sides, picking up the buttercream and hazelnuts. So yummy. So, after that write up, and a promise to pose my summer dishes and be better about posting regularly; here's a picture of our yummy torte.

(oh yeah, I totally forgot about the caramel!) So, the caramel... yeah... the layer on the cake was made permanent onto the foil I'd coated it on. We weren't able to successfully get them off into the pretty wedges they were supposed to be. So I pulled some off the edges and tried to replicate "sails" on the top of the torte. I don't know why I chose that- but there they are. They look more like shark fins in this photo, but I thought it was kinda cool.

Another Daring Cooks challenge!! Since that is all I seem to be blogging about lately... The Daring Cooks August challenge host, the talented Olga from Las Cosas de Olga and Olga’s Recipes has chosen a delicious Spanish recipe, Rice with Mushrooms, Cuttlefish and Artichokes by José Andrés, one of the most important Spanish Chefs at the moment.

He trained under well-known Ferran Adria at his three Michelin star restaurant El Bulli. José Andrés lives now in Washington DC and he owns several restaurants in Washington DC area (El Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel…).

The recipe Olga brought us is from his US TV show Made in Spain.

With so much going on this August I made this recipe earlier in the month, and am just now getting to blog about it (while loving DH reads the girls their bedtime stories- Aw!) The recipe came out great, and I would love to try it again, but this time use actual cuttlefish!

I was unable to find cuttlefish, or squid, or even octopus locally! I did happen to have some tofu in the fridge, so I used that instead. I would love to taste this dish with seafood in it, though, so I will try it again. I love artichokes, so having those in this dish was an absolute plus! I must say, though, that my favorite aspect was the Aoili. Odd, I thought, given I am not a huge fan of garlic, and I really didn't think I would eat it. I had to make more to have with my leftovers! So good!! Unfortunately, that is all the time I have to type tonight, but I will be coming back more often in the fall, typing up my meals with a vengeance!!!

Another daring bakers challenge completed! Yay!
The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This is the second daring bakers challenge I have completed. I wasn't able to do the Mallow cookies. I wanted to, but I don't eat gelatin and I was looking for a marshmallow recipe that didn't have gelatin when time ran away from me. It's got a funny way of doing that this summer. I hope to be better, but so far it looks like the only updating I've been managing on my blog is the daring challenges! I do have pictures to upload of my regular eats, but that's just not going to happen tonight.

Onto my Milan cookies!
Sigh. I meant to make these for company, but ran out of time. A couple days after company left I busied myself in the kitchen and made the cookie part of this recipe. I only burned one batch ;) I covered them and wasn't able to get to the chocoalte filling until the next day. And the next day I got a phone call inviting my family over for a pool playdate! Yikes! I didn't want to shop up empty handed, and I did have these cookies... So I whipped up the filling. Unfortunately I didn't wait for the chocolate to thicken all that much. It was either that, or the humidity that led to the cookie being more pliable than crunchy. There was a little crunch, but I would have liked more. And because I was in such a rush to get these out to our playdate, the pictures were hurried. I feel like the photo doesn't do much justice, and reminds me more of fingerling potatoes than of cookies! But it was a fun challenge and the adults of the playdate enjoyed the cookies very much. The children of the playdate, not so much. But considering my picky offspring were in the lot, I don't rely much on their critique ;)

Oh dear, yes, I am very far behind. I need to post my very first daring cooks challenge, and there after I will update the meals I've had since my last post. So much to do ;) But first things first. This month's challenge was certainly that for me! It was a dish from Grant Achatz, from the Alinea cookbook; Skate, traditional flavors powdered. As most of you know, I am not much of a molecular cook, and after wanting to opt out several times, I finally talked myself into making this dish. I mostly wanted to pass on the challenge because of the many steps that included many things I either did not have or could not locate. I am pretty sure I passed my dehydrator on a while back. My chinois might have gone that way, or it just was lost in the shuffler, er, move almost six years ago. In any case, I have yet to find my chinois. So, I was left to dehydrate my many ingredients in my itty bitty, not-made-for-cooking microwave. The dehydrating times all needed to be lengthened, and I accidentally burned my lemon rind on the first go round. That nearly brought me to tears as I was on edge to start with- powders? But I had more lemon, so I continued on- a little more carefully. I did manage to singe a little bit of the next round of lemon, also. Parts of it, anyway, and parts were still not dry. Ah, I pressed on.
The capers? Ah, the capers were a mess for me. I dried and dried and dried, and I thought the capers were all dried out, but nope. My powder seemed damp and clumpy after a go-round in a coffee mill. So, here you have my pwderes, plated. I think that since my "powders" were rather clumpy, I should have not attempted the swirl pattern ;)

But there you have it. My dehydrated banana (thankfully purchased!) and cream powder, my lemon zest poached in simple syrup "powder", my super yummy capers in the middle, even if they weren't powdery, they were still very good. The red is the red onion powder, and finally the parsley and cilantro powder.

I ended up using talapia instead of skate for a couple different reasons. It cooked up beautifully in the Burre Blanc, as did the green beans. I wasn't all that concerned about the banana taste from the "banana bed" under the green beans and fish. I thought the tastes would be fine together- tropical, really, and they were great. I tried some of the banana, fish and green beans without the powders, then with the powder. It was excellent. I was really surprised on how much flavor impact the powders gave to the dish. They're just a small component, yet "POW" they really just hit you with so many different levels of flavor.


So, all in all I am glad I made this dish. It really pressed me out of my comfort zone. It was my first cooking challenge with the group and it really did push me to try some new things. I did like the taste a lot, but given that I didn't have many of the tools needed, I don't think I'd try this one again. Maybe I'd give it another go if the dehydrator and chinois turn up ;)

Yes! My very first Daring Bakers challenge! I'm so glad that it turned out well. I can't wait to tell you about it, but first, here's the information;
The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Yes! And since the recipe is so old, it was done in weight measurements! Kinda cool. At least it forced me to get out the scale I have tucked away in the pantry that I have still never used (except to weigh a letter to mail, but that's besides the point). So, that was kinda neat for me. And what is even better about that, is even though my scale seemed inconsistent, the tart still came out great! Woo! Thank goodness. If it came out horrible I am not sure if I would have posted it or given it another whirl.


So. The crust was so yummy, like a shortbread. I took the suggestion and made the leftovers into cookies dotted with flower shaped sprinkles. I didn't get a picture of that before my girls gobbled it up. The fruit layer? Oh my. Well, I had this idea that I would make my own jam with local flavors. Then I remembered in New England nothing is quite in season yet- another week on strawberries I am told, but then the seeds.... and another thing- I don't make jam. So I looked over the flavors in the store, and grabbed an apricot jam, but at the last minute switched it out for peach-mango preserves. Sounds good, right? I had been debating on buying one jar or two... one seemed too little while two seemed too much. No ne would eat it in the house, so I just grabbed one. Then inspiration struck while I was facing this dilemma. I had two peaches in the fridge! Brilliant! I peeled them and sliced them and put them in my saucepan. A sprinkle of sugar never hurt. I turned on the heat. I figured jam would happen, but no jam. Eh. When the going gets tough the tough go drinking? Not so much for me anymore, but the peaches loved a good soakign in amaretto!! Yum. So, I cooked them for a bit until they were all drunk and mushy. I added the preserves and it really came out very good. It poured nicely over the crust. I topped it with the frangipane, which was also very tasty. I'm usually not one to lick the spoon, but it was just calling to me!
It browned a bit more than I would have liked, but it did taste incredible. Like peach-mango marzipan! My mom would love it! She's requested it already!! I did manage to give most of it away, seeing as that my husband won't eat carbs and none of my girls liked it. One tart is definitely too much for me to eat on my own, though I will admit I ate two slices today!! So good! I can't wait for my next challenge!!!

My first CSA dinner! We just did a half share from a near-by farm, and wow, did my first box surprise me. A great deal of super yummy veggies and fruits! The girls polished off the (more) strawberries while I scrubbed the spinach. I topped it with a just picked tomato and some pecans, craisins, and asiago. A great salad for the summertime!

My brother, his wife and baby daughter were able to visit me on this day! We were planning on picking out a meal and shopping together, but since things rarely work according to schedule, I picked up some salmon while I was out running errands. It ended up being a salmon night, and lucky for me, the sopas filling from the night before tasted absolutely wonderful on the salmon portions! I scattered lemon oregano feta on top, which really added a great taste. Yum!!

Strawberry season is upon us! My girls and I searched the fields for strawberries and came away with quite a few! We had a whole bunch, and since we were to attend a graduation party in the next couple of days, I decided to do up some desserts. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of all my creations, but my brother and I were able to turn out a strawberry tiramisu, strawberry rhubarb tartlets, and strawberry lemonade bars. The girls also ate plenty as snacks and breakfasts.

Sopas! I think it I came across the recipe in the latest Vegetarian Times mag. The sopas were these little "cakes" wiht a depression to hold some filling. I made my filling with zucchini and corn, as was the recipe they suggested on the following page. The filling was great! The sopas? Well, I don't know if I bought the right flour or not, seeing as my grocer's international aisle is a bit limited, and I thought I bought the right ingredient, but I may not have. The flour I purchased aws cornmeal, and I'm just not a fan of cornmeal. I never have been. I thought that since the meal was ground so fine, I would like it, but nope. Still looking for a good cornmeal recipe :D

Salmon is one of the few things DH and I will agree on, but unfortunately I'd love to douse mine with maple syrup or at least tamari!! For the sake of DH and his diet, we just did a plain salmon, but quite good). It was smattered with some garden herbs and salt and pepper.

Summer has arrived! Well, so says the calendar, but some kind of rainy season seems to have descended upon the northeast. I did have this on a sunny day, and even made a double batch for a picnic/BBQ my family was attending. This salad consisted of edamame, black beans, corn, fresh grape tomatoes and scallions. The seasoning had yummy grapeseed oil and a zing of cilantro.

After DH returned from the upright freezer commenting on the "mountain" of frozen broccoli back there I thought of my options. DH likes broccoli, but for some reason won't eat it while he's doing th Atkins diet. Weird, I know. And the girls eat raw broccoli but not cooked. Me? I don't even like broccoli! But since I was the one to buy it... And I'm not opposed to eating foods I don't like. I just haven't found the right way to prepare them, is my theory. As was the case with broccoli. I'd eat it in this soup anyday!! Which, probably translates to everyday, since we have so much broccoli. It's a mushroom and broccoli soup, from the cookbook "The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen" by Peter Berley. It has such a great earthy flavor and was easy to make. I think I found out how I will be usuin gup the "broccoli mountain".

This was a delicious (DELICIOUS) carmelized onion pizza. I can't rememebr where I found ther recipe; I remember seeing two that week, so I picked one. The onions were carmelized with some balsamic vinegar and the pizza was topped with... monterey jack? And calamata olives. I am definitely going to have to remember this one, it was so good!!

Ah. With this dish I finally used up the bottle of clam juice that had been claiming important real estate in my pantry! I'd had it for a while, I think it was buy one get one or something, so I had this extra one with nothing to use it on. I saw a recipe in Health magazine that called for a bottle of clam juice. Perfect! It also had shrimp and peas over angel hair pasta. It was ok, though I am a big fan of peas so I added way too many. And I let the sauce simmer too long, without the cover and lost a lot to evaporation. But it was still yummy!

Chickpea stuffed peppers! I forget where I saw the recipe... It was one of those things, ya know, peppers were on sale so I figured I would stuff them with something. The recipe called for black eyed peas, but having none on hand, this is what I ended up with. I'm pretty embarrassed to admit that I made these three days ago and I have no idea what I put in them! Onion probably. And I think that was parsley on there. Wow. Usually my memory is not this bad! I think I should update more often for the sake of my poor memory!

Salad! I saw my store had a deal going on, buy two bagged salads and get a salad accent thingie free! So I did. I was buying bagged salad for my husband, anyway. It's pretty neat. The package came with walnuts, dried cranberries and some shredded cheese. I added some tomatoes and viola! Couldn't have been easier, really.

Meh. Broccoli and spinach quiche. My husband has brought it to my attention that we have scads of frozen broccoli. Why? I have no idea, I'm not a fan. But I am always up for a challenge, so here I paired it with a spinach favorite and mixed it up with some eggs and cheddar. I topped it with tomato wedges for color and added spices, too. It was alright, but just "meh". I should perhaps also mention I am not a big fan of quiche either. Yeah, I have no idea what I was thinking making this ;)

Ah. Indonesian Carrot Soup from one of my favorite cookbooks; New England Soup Factory. Pureed carrots with coconut milk and ginger. So yummy. Here I added a bit of cilantro and floated some croutons. I will definitely be making this one again.

It's been a while since I've updated my blog, I was trying my hardest to remember what this was!! Salmon for sure. I think I topped it with ceasar dressing and then some panko and basil. I know I've done it before, but it was a request from my husband who likes this dish sans panko.