Cafe World Challenge Week 41

I'm back in the kitchen. Did I ever leave? No not really, I just took off a week posting while travelling around visiting family over Christmas. Since I have two weeks worth of dishes to report on, this post will be longer than usual. I finished up four more dishes to cross off the list, although one is a new addition.

PITA AND DOLMAS

The Cafe World version has a pita stuffed with Falafel and Dolmas. I have previously made Falafel for the challenge, so I made Tabbouleh instead. It is a fantastic salad made from Bulgar wheat, tomatoes, green onions, parsley and mint with an olive oil and lemon juice dressing. I make it pretty regularly and just estimate quantities and taste. I found a recipe on SimplyRecipes.com which is pretty much exactly how I make mine. So check it out there, it would save me typing it all out.

I've never made dolmas/dolmadas/stuffed grape leaves/stuffed vine leaves...whatever you call them. I've always enjoyed them though and had fun making them. I was in the middle of a biscotti baking marathon for a cookie tray fundraiser, so I chose a crockpot recipe to keep pots off my stove and out of the way of the baking. They turned out great. I made this recipe on the Blog "A Year of Slow Cooking" . This blog is a great resource for crockpot recipes and tips. The year involved was 2008, but the blog is still kept current with new recipes and crockpot related posts. These dolmas are stuffed with a rice and ground lamb and turkey (I used chicken) mixture. Once you get the hang of it, the stuffing and rolling of the leaves is quite easy and fast. I still have a big jar of leaves left so I'll probably make these again.

ATOMIC BUFFALO WINGS

I used a Betty Crocker recipe, it was simple enough except for the whole deep frying in batches thing which takes forever if you don't have a great big pot or deep fryer. It is fried in a seasoned flour and then tossed in a hot butter sauce. I set aside some wings for the kids before coating mine in sauce, it was spicy but not atomic. My husband's were probably ATOMIC as he made up his own dipping sauce using all the remnants of his hot sauces. He loves HOT sauce and the hotter the better. I dipped mine in some yummy chunky blue cheese dressing.

WALDORF SALAD

As my regular readers know, I didn't grow up in North America so I am only vaguely aware of what constitutes a Waldorf salad. The Cafe World game had you gathering walnuts, celery and lettuce and I knew there had to be apples in there. So I came up with my own version, although after further investigation I suppose you couldn't really call mine a Waldorf salad at all. It doesn't have grapes or raisins and isn't in a mayonnaise dressing. But what the hell, no apologies, mine was good, better than good, it was superb!! After using a blue cheese dressing the night before for the wings, I got a craving for some good blue cheese.  So this is my version:

Jen's Apple & Walnut Salad:

A bag or about 12 handfuls of mixed salad greens
2 stalks celery sliced
1 small green apple cored and thinly sliced
1 small red apple cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup walnut crumbs
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
Vinaigrette or dressing of choice (I used a zesty Italian)

Toss together greens, celery and apple. Sprinkle with walnuts and blue cheese.

BLOOD SAUSAGE

I bought a package of blood pudding and cooked it up with some mash and butternut. I remember blood pudding from my childhood. My dad would buy it and I remember enjoying it and considered it a special treat. I haven't eaten it since then and couldn't even remember what to expect. It was good-ish, although it is very rich and I think it should be eaten in small quantities. No recipe here, just a dish to cross off the list.

CAFE WORLD COOKBOOK ADDITIONS

I unlocked the Waldorf Salad and there is also a new cake - Gem Cake.

Next Up: I'm making Kung Pao Stir Fry this weekend.

Progress: 75/86

Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property

Cafe World Challenge Week 6

I had my most productive week yet, finishing 5 dishes. A successful repeat, a Chinese New Year dish, a dessert and two chicken dishes.



French Onion Soup

I tried this one in week 2 and was disappointed by the result. I had a bag of onions to finish, so I gave it another try. I used the same recipe as before, but this time I got the onions caramelized, used commercial beef broth and added snipped chives at the end.

It worked!!! Hubbie liked it (no references to onions in water), James actually had two huge bowls and I had the leftovers the next day for lunch.

Failure is nothing but the step to success in this case.



White Radish Cake

I'd made bread the night before (see previous post) and my house smelled divine...well it pretty much reeked after this dish.

I should've looked at the steps in the Cafe World game, because it seemed that they used bacon instead of the horribly stinky dried shrimp in my recipe. I suppose using bacon is very westernized. In my post-cooking analysis I also found a vegetarian version in my Vegetarian Thai cookbook.

I used this White Radish Cake recipe. It provides great descriptions and step by step photos.

My other problem with this dish was the steaming then frying. My cake seemed like a jellied mush and getting it out the steamer and then fried was a mess.

Although I really did enjoy getting to browse through my local Asian food store, I think I'll stick to eating this in restaurants.




Triple Berry Cheesecake

The Cafe World version has only strawberries, but done three ways: sliced, diced & pureed. My version has strawberry and wildberry swirls and is topped with strawberries and raspberries.

I went to the CookingwithPhilly.ca website and scoured their abundant resource of cheesecake recipes and settled for the New York Style Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake. I've made a few of their cheesecake (and other) recipes and have always had great results. I used half strawberry and half wildberry jam for the swirls and substituted one of the three cream cheese packages with the reduced fat version.

This cheesecake didn't last long...it was a hit with the whole family. Actually I don't think I've met a cheesecake I didn't like. ;)




Spitfire Roasted Chicken

Roast chicken is a classic and I love to make different versions. I'm not sure about Spitfire Chicken, as suggested by Cafe World, it kind of has images of chickens roasting on a spit over a fire, but I decided to go classic and used lemon like the Cafe World version.

Roast Chicken Recipe

1 whole fresh chicken
1 lemon
2 sprigs rosemary or thyme
olive oil or melted butter
salt & pepper

Rinse the chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Prick lemon all over. I find a wooden skewer works well. Place lemon and herbs in chicken cavity and truss chicken.
I then rub the outside with the oil or butter and then season with salt and pepper.
Roast at 350F for 20 minutes per pound. I usually check the breast with a meat thermometer to make sure it's at 180F. I let it rest for 10 minutes before I carve (or I ask my husband to do it).

I added white wine to the pan drippings, let it boil and added a little flour & had an easy gravy.



Voodoo Chicken Salad

This was my delicious find of the week. I wanted to use the leftover chicken from the roast, but it seems the leftovers "disappeared" from the fridge. I did a web search for Voodoo Chicken Salad to get some ideas and found this recipe on Cooks.com.

On reading the recipe, I thought there was a lot going on with that dressing, just too many flavours, but I'll attest that it is superb. I little bit spicy and sweet. I used walnut oil instead of the sesame/olive oil in the recipe.

I'll definitely make this again....give it a try.



New Cafe World recipes

Two more dishes have been added: Vegas Buffet and Sirius Sorbet



Progress: 17/61

Up Next: Not sure, check in next week.


* Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property.

Cafe World Challenge Week 4

This week I decided to up my game a little as Cafe World has added some new dishes, bringing the total to complete to 59. I'll list the new dishes at the end and include them in the master list to the side. I'm also not sure if there is any April Fooling going on with the cookbook, so things might be different again next week.

I did 3 1/2 dishes this week, with a few recipes to share.



Steak Dinner with Garlic Fries

You might recall from Week 1 that I didn't make the Garlic Fries with the Hot Dog, well I've got my favourite Garlic Potato Topper from Epicure Selections and they were good. I make oven bake fries, much less calories to contend with. I also use the same spice mix on the steak.


The Steak and Potatoes were served with a green salad, just a salad mix from a bag with my own dressing. Since I used two different dressings in my cafe meals this week, I thought I'd share my thoughts on making your own salad dressing.

My favourite tip, which I picked up in Jamie Oliver's book, Cook with Jamie, is to use a jam jar to make up, shake up and store the dressing. This makes it so easy with no need for whisking or figuring out how to store or serve the dressing.
The basic recipe is 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil, but I sometimes add more or less to achieve a good taste balance, it depends on the oil/vinegar used. I love making dressings, so I own many varieties of oils and vinegars, if you follow the basics, you can go crazy with the types you use. To this you can add a variety of other ingredients, for example: garlic, fresh or dried herbs, mustards, juice, etc, etc. I sometimes make a lower calorie dressing with juice instead of oil. These dressing will keep in the fridge for a while if they don't have dairy products or fresh herbs or garlic. Oh yes, I sometimes add in creme fraiche to make a creamy dressing.

I noted what I used in this weeks dressings so I could share the recipes. Note the amount of oil and vinegar was approximated as I usually add them to my jar and adjust after taste. It's then easy to see how much of each I used as the vinegar and oil separate.

Walnut Vinaigrette

1/3 cup walnut oil (will work with extra-virgin olive oil, but then won't be called Walnut vinaigrette)
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1 small shallot minced
1/2 tsp dry English mustard
salt & pepper to taste (I used 1/4 tsp each)
1 pinch sugar (needed to balance the tastes a bit)

Add altogether in jam jar and shake. Shake before each use. Or alternatively use a whisk to mix in a bowl.

Classic Dressing

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste.

Method same as before.

Check out this post for more dressings.


Loco Moco

Before doing the research I didn't know this was a real dish or what it was. From the look of the picture in Cafe World I thought it could be a type of Sushi with the egg on top. That I wasn't game for. But luckily it turned out to be good, although not recommended if you suffer from high cholesterol.

Loco Moco is a Hawaiian dish that consists of a bed of rice with a hamburger patty, gravy and an egg on top.

The history behind the dish is pretty interesting. It was created back in 1949 at a Hawaiian restaurant and is now popular throughout Hawaii. Check out the Wikipedia entry for more.



I made a yummy gravy, which would have gone well with the steak too. It was so good I'm ashamed to say I did lick some gravy off the plate...I just couldn't waste it.

Gravy

beef broth (I used 1 litre homemade and a 287ml can commercial)
1 cup Merlot
2 tbsp butter softened
1 tbsp flour

Cook the broth and wine for about 2 hours or until reduced by at least half. Add the broth to the pan you cooked the hamburger in, loosen the meat bits, which also flavoured the gravy. Combine butter and flour and add to the broth mixture, keeping cooking until gravy thickens.

Smoked Salmon Latkes

Latkes are fried potato pancakes. The combination with the smoked salmon was a first for me, but it was fantastic. I served mine with whipped chive-flavoured cream cheese.

This is how I made my Latkes:

2 large potatoes grated
1 medium onion grated
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour

Mix together and fry small pancakes in shallow vegetable oil. Drain on a paper towel and serve with smoked salmon & cream cheese.



Cookbook changes

With the changes made last week and yesterday, there are now 59 dishes for me to complete. There are 58 in the cookbook, but they have removed the Giant Dino Egg, which I have already completed, so I will still count it.

Other new additions are:
Martian Brain Bake - a past dish returned to replace the Dino Egg.
Chashu Ramen
Tom Yum Goong
Mystical Pizza
Ice Cream Sundae :)

Progress: 9/59

Next Up: Haven't planned yet, just check back Friday and see.

* Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property.

A Trio of Salads

I've made three yummy salads as main dishes in the last two weeks, all a little different.

Roasted Beet, Apple & Goat cheese Salad




3 beets
3 apples
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
small package goat cheese
package baby greens

Beet Dressing

Juices from beets
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tbsp walnut oil

Preheat oven to 400F. Wrap the beets and apples in separate foil parcels, seasoning with salt & pepper and drizzling with a tbsp olive oil each.
Roast apples for about 20 minutes and beets for 40 minutes until tender. Then let cool. When cool enough peel beets & cut both into cubes.
Reserve the liquid from the beets cooking and cooling and add the dressing ingredients. (Any oil/vinegar combo would do) Whisk together.
Combine greens, beets, apples, cheese & dressing & Enjoy!!


Spinach, Bacon & Cranberry Salad



4 slices bacon
5 oz bag of baby spinach
1 small apple
small handful dried cranberries
1 tbsp roasted sunflower seeds

Cranberry Vinaigrette

1/4 cup cranberry juice
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 small packet (about 1/4 tsp) sugar substitute or sugar
salt & pepper

Cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towel. Let cool & chop into small pieces.
Toss together the spinach & apple. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat until just warmed.
Pour the dressing over the salad & sprinkle with bacon, cranberries & seeds.


Layered Pea Salad

*Sorry I forget to take a photo.

Layer the follow, in order:
lettuce
2 sticks chopped celery
1 chopped red pepper
1/2 red onion, chopped
a cup of cooked peas

Mix together 1 heaped cup mayo, 1 tsp sugar or substitute, 1 tsp vinegar. Pour over top of salad. Top with cooked bacon and grated mild cheese.
I then wrap it in cling film and leave it for at least 12 hrs for the flavours to mingle.

This last one is a good make-ahead dinner and the whole family loves it.