Been a Little While

So I haven't been the most disciplined on this blog lately and with good cause for the most part.  I've been trying very hard to eliminate my extra gut as I'm tired of going out and people asking, "when are you due?"

This wouldn't be so insulting if I actually was pregnant, but rest assure, I'm not pregnant nor plan on any kids.  As a result, I upped my strategy of attending Kung Fu/kickboxing between three and four times a week.  I've also kept busy with a class at a local community college that meets once a week which is fine by me since I'm frequently in and out of town.

In any event, I did a combination of a vintage recipe and ethnic recipe in one throw a couple of weeks back.  However, for the sake of the challenge, we called this one a vintage one from the Hilo Woman's Club Cookbook (A Taste of the Islands) Over 300 Authentic Hawaiian Recipes entitled Crab Souffle.

Crab Souffle

I like souffles for their simple ingredients, complex process and delicate taste.  Though for this particular souffle, I had somewhat mixed results even though the boyfriend didn't seem to mind.  I think he was being a bit too far polite since it was kinda runny and didn't set right.

The souffle called for:
2 c cream sauce
3 eggs
1 c grated cheese
2 c crab meat
Dash of cayenne or tabasco sauce

Directions for the dish were pretty straight forward as well, or at least so I thought:
Add well beaten egg yolks, cheese and cayenne to the cream sauce which has been made quite thick.  Add flaked crab meat and beaten whites of eggs.  Back in quick oven until puffed and brown--about 25 minutes in 350 oven.

We'll try this one again and some point.  Just not this month as we decided to embark the challenge of being vegan.  I happened to be watching a documentary and thought, oh six weeks, that shouldn't be too bad, maybe I could pull of a month.  I can tell you that its only day seven, and I already miss my cheese and I think the boyfriend misses his honey as he polished off the rest of the maple syrup like Winnie the Pooh this morning.  He says there wasn't much in there but still, let's be real here.

While observing the month of veganism, the cooking challenge still remains intact.  So with that being said: Gabon will be our first vegan challenge dish.

Back Track

The last few weeks have been kinda crazy on the work front and school front.  However, not too busy to complete the last three challenges, just their associated blog entries.

Just before leaving for a week long business trip, I attempted to do a vintage recipe.  This time, it came from a cookbook that of course escapes my mind at the moment.  This is why I try to do my blog as I have cooked the dish so I remember.

In any event, these were small cakes with frosting.  The batter tasted like a cake batter right out of the box.  Which was nice though it wasn't as sweet (good for my taste buds).  The two pictured here are the only ones that came out "perfect."

Small Cakes with Frosting

 While I was away, the boyfriend drew out of the magic hat, East Timor as our country for the week.  Of course, I didn't really get a chance to research very much since on this business trip, I was required to go out all nights I was away.  Either way, I did find out quite about East Timor.

East Timor is primarily influenced by the other Southeast Asian countries and their other colony holders, such as Portugal.  Unfortunately, not many recipes listed as East Timor proper, so I found a recipe that quickly became a favorite for both the boyfriend and myself: Pastel de nata.

Pastel de Nata

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup milk 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 vanilla bean

1 cup white sugar 6 egg yolks 1 (17.5 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed

Pastel de Nata

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.) Lightly grease 12 muffin cups and line bottom and sides with puff pastry.
2.	In a saucepan, combine milk, cornstarch, sugar and vanilla. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Place egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture into egg yolks. Gradually add egg yolk mixture back to remaining milk mixture, whisking constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, or until thickened. Remove vanilla bean.
3.	Fill pastry-lined muffin cups with mixture and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is lightly browned on top (http://goo.gl/uI1Enz)

Immediately after exploring this recipe, we went vintage and tried to go back to our healthier eats.  Unfortunately, the boyfriend had picked the cookbook, A Book of Good Dinners, which encompasses the entire dinner, from appetizer, to main dish to desert options and what each are paired with.  For the sake of our appetite and our waist lines (which by the way are actually shrinking due to our dedications to the gym and kickboxing/kung fu respectively), we only attempted to do a salad.  And since I was back from the East Coast, it was only fitting to do a salad called "California Salad."

California Salad

1 cup crab meat

2/3 cup celery

4 small tomatoes

Remove the meat from crabs and cut in pieces of uniform size, add the celery finely cut and tomatoes cut in quarters.  Marinate with French Dressing, and garnish with Mayonnaise Dressing

Mayonnaise Dressing

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

few grains cayenne

Yolks 2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon lemon juice

3/4 tablespoon vinegar

2/3 cup olive oil

California Salad

Mix dry ingredients, add egg yolks and when well mixed, add oil gradually, at first drop by drop stirring constantly.  As mixture thickens, thin with vinegar and lemon juice.  Add oil and vinegar or lemon juice alternately, until all is used, stirring constantly.

French Dressing

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 drops onion juice

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

Mix ingredients in order given and stir well until well blended.

Now I know that this is a lot of food to digest, but remember, we did span it over the last few weeks.  This week, we'll explore the French culinary delights.  Fortunately for me, French fries aren't on the list.  French fries are actually Belgian so no French fries on the menu, unless I decide to put them as a side dish (most likely not, we'll see though...).

The New Wiggle Shrimp Might As Well Just Wig Out

Last week, I was on a business trip, and fortunately, I had to only pick a recipe out of one of my vintage cookbooks for the challenge.  Yet, this was a challenge in itself since there were over 1,000 to choose from, and I had to make something that was within season, within budget, and within healthy guidelines.

New Wiggle Shrimp

I first thought, perhaps since the weather is still cold, I could pull off a "rabbit stew."  It sounded tasty, but upon reflection, all I can picture is Bugs Bunny in a cooking pot.

So, I decided to test my seafood skills instead.  I found what was called "New Wiggle Shrimp."  While preparing it, the boyfriend asked, "what was old wiggle shrimp, if this is or was considered new wiggle shrimp?"  His question was relevant as we did use a cookbook dated at 1925.  I was honestly afraid to think of the worst case of why it was called "new wiggle shrimp."  I thought that perhaps, it was because the individual wanting the shrimp couldn't just go to store like I could and had to freshly catch the shrimp from the sea.  It was an English cookbook after all so it could be possible.


Also, did Bubba Blue know of this creation of the "new wiggle shrimp?"  He never did mention it in his speech to Forrest Gump when naming off the different types of shrimp.  In any event, this dish was rated about a C+ in terms of taste in my book.  There wasn't much flavor towards it so it was overshadowed by the steamed kale and broccoli we had on the side.  I give it an A- in terms of ingredients and ease of recipe.  I didn't find the jargon of 1925 too difficult to follow on this recipe.

New Wiggle Shrimp [Modern Priscilla Cookbook: 1,000 Recipes and Cooking Methods (c)1925]
3 slices of bacon
1 c of shrimp
2 c canned tomatoes (we diced fresh tomatoes)
1/2 c milk
1 Tbs of flour
•Dice the bacon and cook in a frying pan until brown
•Add the shrimp and the tomatoes
•Cook all together a few minutes
•Heat in a separate pan the milk to which the flour has been added, stirring until thickened
•Stir into the other mixture and season to taste


In any event, "new wiggle shrimp," is one I think we won't immediately repeat unless we are finding ourselves at a loss as to what to do with shrimp.  Then again, we might just refer to Bubba Blue's ideas. As far as the food bank fund: $.80. The shrimp and milk added up more than I had hoped.

Later this week, we explore the culture of Belgium not including the beer or waffles.

New Year, New Challenge

Here's a brief summary of the food challenge of 2013:

• With all the hick-ups that occurred in 2013, I was able to complete 63 percent of the food challenges
• 10 dishes were picked as 10 favorites
• Two themes emerged from the food challenge of 2013 to forge the food challenge of 2014

Despite the business trips, mold infestation, and a sudden move; I think the boyfriend and I did fairly well in completing 63 percent of the food challenge.  Considering it was to occur 52 weeks, that's better than 50% :) Also, the fact we were able to pick 10 dishes as 10 favorites, that's pretty darn good.

Top 10 of 2013

Now, for the top 10 dishes as 10 favorites...

Each of these dishes had a common feel to them.  Aside from being tasty, they wanted me to dig deeper.

As a result, this is how the Food Challenge of 2014 will roll out:

• There are two themes that will be present during the food challenge of 2014:
• culturally different
• vintage adaptable
• Every week, the recipe will either be of a random country or from one of my vintage cookbooks
• To be fair, the random country will be drawn by letter
• for example, all "A" countries will be written on a piece of paper and drawn by the boyfriend to be a true random draw
• all of the letters will be fairly represented even if there is only one country per letter like Qatar
• this should result in 26 culturally different recipes represented
• Vintage recipes consist of a dish from a book dated older than 50 years as of 2014
• For optimum results, seasonal (and to the region) ingredients for the vintage and cultural recipes will be used
• Total cost per dish must be under $20 and serve a minimum of 2 people
• 10 percent of the remaining funds of per dish must be put back into PayPal Account and the balance at the end of the year must be donated to the local food bank

Onward, the food challenge of 2014, is just getting started with something ALBANIAN :)

Eggnog is an Egg Not

Southern Style Eggnog from the American Women's Cookbook 1938

Thanksgiving came and went after getting back from a business trip and I found myself with the challenge of preparing Eggnog.

I have never been a fan of eggnog but since it was part of the challenge, I had to make it.  I found a recipe out of one of my vintage cookbooks (The American Women's Cookbook) that I thought I'd experiment with and to say I actually have used my investment in American culture.

That's one thing I have learned about American culture that I can truly appreciate.  There are many things but this is one of the things that I really value.

I'm an avid reader and when it comes to reading about this hobby of mine, I am overwhelmed with the amount of information that is out there.  I am also amazed at how much of the American culture is overwhelmed with the release of food trends.

In any event, written record is a great way to get an indepth look at a past culture.  I couldn't say the same of my Indonesian roots so any time I see a book designated specifically for Indonesian cooking, I'm in, but for now my shelves are filling up with American and various other cookbooks.

Blast from the past. The result of the eggnog round one was a lot better than the round two I tried to prepare for the boyfriend's brother's in-laws.  We all determined it was a bit too egg-y and too much brandy.  I also told the boyfriend I don't intend to make eggnog again due to the stress involved.  Separating eggs just ever so slightly only to get them to come back together, eh, not exactly the most least-stress involved recipe.