Daring Cooks' Salmon en Croute

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

I really need to tattoo the Daring Cooks' posting date on my arm or something... why do i keep thinking it's the 17th?? I guess i get too excited about the reveal date that i mix it up with the posting :( This is like the 3rd time thats happened, ughhh... i frustrate myself too much. But anyways, this month's challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking and she picked Salmon en Croute for the December challenge. I've been meaning to make Salmon en Croute for a while now so thank you Simone for reading my mind! I was absolutely in love with everything about it that i actually made this a week after the reveal date (that's a huge improvement considering what a procrastinator I am). The recipe was very simple and everything went well during the process. My only complaint was that there weren't any fresh veggies at the grocery store the day i went shopping so i had to use frozen spinach instead. The cream cheese mixture turned out a little dry (squeezed too much out of the spinach) but that was okay since JLo and I don't pay too much attention to little details. I also made my own shortcrust pastry and used butterfly cookie cutters for decorations. Had to patch up some of the torn parts on my crust though, hope it isn't too visible on the pics XD. I would totally make this for Christmas dinner but since we'll be off on vacations, maybe for new years? We shall see!

Shortcrust Pastry

INGREDIENTS:

• 450 grams (3.2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 200 grams butter, very cold and cubed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 - 3 tablespoons cold water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the salt and 2 -3 tablespoons of water and mix to a firm dough. Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface. Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling.
3. If you have a food processor: put the flour, butter and salt in the food processor and pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. With the motor running, gradually add 2 - 3 tablespoons of water through the funnel until the dough comes together [picture 1]. Gather the coarse crumbs together and push to form a ball [picture 2]. Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling [picture 3].

Salmon en Croute

INGREDIENTS:

• 150 grams cream cheese or mascarpone
• 120 grams watercress, rocket (argula) and spinach
  [i used frozen leaf spinach]
• 500 grams shortcrust pastry [recipe above]
• 500 grams salmon fillet, skinless
  [Check out Gordon Ramsay's video on How to Skin and Bone a Salmon]
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 medium egg, for eggwash

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/390 F.
2. Put the mascarpone or cream cheese in a food processor with the watercress, spinach and rocket and whizz the lot until you have a creamy green puree. Season well [picture 1. 2].
3. Roll the pastry out so you can wrap the salmon in it completely (approx. 2-3 mm thick) [picture 3]and lay it on a buttered or oiled baking sheet (it will hang over the edges). Put the salmon in the middle [picture 4]. If it has a thinner tail end, tuck it under.
4. Spoon half of the watercress/spinach mixture onto the salmon [picture 4].
5. Now fold the pastry over into a neat parcel (the join will be at the top, so trim the edge neatly), making sure you don’t have any thick lumps of pastry as these won’t cook through properly [picture 5]. Trim off any excess as you need to.
6. Make 3 neat cuts in the pastry to allow steam to escape and make some decorations with the off-cuts to disguise the join if you like [picture 6]. Brush with the egg glaze.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and browned. To test wether the salmon is cooked, push a sharp knife through one of the cuts into the flesh, wait for 3 seconds then test it against the inside of your wrist; if it is hot, the salmon is cooked.
8. Serve with the rest of the watercress puree as a sauce.

Salmon en Croute

Sausage & Pepper Calzone

I'm on a roll!! Updating the next day? Yea, i must be really bored. After the 4 pharmacology quizzes i had on Monday and Tuesday (that's right, 4 in 2 days), i immersed myself into a night of brainless Animal Crossing on NDS (which currently ranks #1 in my guilty pleasure list). I don't know if it was my burning heater or what, but i had a hard time sleeping last night. My conscience then woke me up before my alarm this morning, urging me to go to General Surgery. So I took the god-forsaken A bus to M1 only to find out only 2 other people showed up. SIGHHH... second time this happened! But ah well, at least i unexpectedly won over a scrub-in surgery from Patrica in a game of rock-paper-scissors, wahahaha. So i came home at noon with the entire day ahead of me and with absolutely NOTHING to do (or nothing i wanted to do). Aiii... so after a few hours of 混-ing around, I decided I'd sublimate my apathy/pms into some rigorous dough kneading which turned out to be quite therapeutic and gratifying. Mmhmm, i'm talking about the Calzone pictured above, isn't it lovely! Oozing globs of mozzarella points the way to my <3 heart <3.

Sausage & Pepper Calzone
from Keith Snow (youtube)
INGREDIENTS:

• Prepared pizza dough (see recipe here)
  
• Green peppers, chopped
  
• Red onions, chopped
  
• Button mushrooms, sliced
  
• Meat medley (sausages, ham, salami, chicken, ground meat... etc)
  
• Basil & Oregano (to taste)
• Mozzarella cheese, sliced
  
• Salt & pepper (to taste)
  
• 1 egg (for egg wash)
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pizza dough instructions can be found here, click me! Separate the dough into 6 balls and let it rise for 1 hour [picture 1].
2. While dough is rising, prepare all the ingredients and set aside [picture 2].
3. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-heat. Stir in onions, green peppers and mushrooms, saute for 2 minutes [picture 3].
4. Stir in the sausages or anything uncooked (ham and salami can be left out). Season with basil, oregano, salt, and pepper [picture 4]. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Roll the dough out into an oval shape, and spoon the prepared filling (and any other topping) onto the dough. (place the mozzarella slices on top last) [pictures 5, 6].
6. Fold the dough in half and seal the edges [picture 7].
7. Place the calzones in a baking sheet and use a knife to make 3 slits on the calzone (helps steam escape). Brush the top with egg wash [picture 8].
8. Bake at 190 degrees C for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Serve hot with Marinara sauce (recipe here).

Sausage & Pepper Calzone
served with Marinara Sauce

Tortillas + Chicken Quesadillas

I have one more final to go and I'll be done! (that's if I pass it today) But yea, after that I'll have even more time on my hands... all the way till June 18th, where I'm the last group to start Pediatrics. I'm not that bummed about being the last group to finish though. I don't have much summer plans and most of my friends are either staying in the states or... they live in Taichung or Taipei :( dang it. And since JLo also lives in Taipei, i wont be seeing him much over the summer... so i might as well stay here and spend more time with him before i start our summer long-distance relationship. How sad.

Now back to food: I'm here posting up the (so-far) best tortilla recipe that i've found online: Texas Flour Tortillas from homesicktexan. After trying many different recipes, this version makes the softest ones that actually STAY soft without drying or cracking up. They're thick, fluffy, and soft-- perfect for burritos, fajitas, enchiladas, or..... Quesadillas! Yep, which brings me to the second recipe of the day: Chicken Quesadillas. These are like the easiest things to make and they're quite filling too. If you're too lazy to cook chicken, a simple bean+cheese tortilla will also do. So here, no need to spend the extra money (7 ridiculous zlotys in Poland) when you can make double the amount with what, a maximum of 2 zloty worth of supplies?

Texas Flour Tortillas
from Homesick Texan
makes 8 tortillas

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup warm/hot milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix flour, baking poswer, and salt together.
2. Add the oil and warm milk.
3. Knead for 2 minutes. The dough should be firm and elastic.
4. Cover dough in a bowl and let it rest for 20 minutes.
5. Seperate into 8 euqal pieces and rooll ou tthe tortilla until very thin.
6. Heat oil in pan and cook until it starts bubbling.

Chicken Quesadillas
INGREDIENTS:

• 4 tortillas
• 1 cup refried beans (or mash 1 can of kidney beans)
  - Heat/steam the beans until soft and mash.
  - Season mashed beans with salt and pepper.
• 1 cooked chicken breast, cut into thin slices or shredded
  - Season chicken breast with 3 teaspoons cumin, salt & pepper.
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 1/2 cup onions

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat tortilla until it bubbles.
2. Layer half of the tortilla with refried beans, onions, tomatoes, chicken, and sprinkle with cheese.
3. Cover the tortilla and heat until cheese has melted.

Chicken Quesadillas

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Yes. One layer wasn't enough for me, i had to go for two. XD I came across a video for Chicago deep dish pizza a while ago and told myself that i have GOT TO make this. I don't think they have deep dish pizzas in Taiwan or Poland so the idea of a 2 layers fascinated me (o goodness, <-- listen to me, I'm such a fatty). The video made the pizza seem TOO easy to be true so i was pretty skeptical about the possibility of a successful home-made deep dish pizza. There were problems alright; I was having a hard time keeping my dough in place cuz it kept sliding down the pan, interfering my topping process. The uncontrollable dough + my notorious PMS (those who know me should know what i mean) drove me crazy and i gave up. I started piling everything on there, sloppily threw on the 2nd piece of dough, and tossed it into the oven. Whatever, I mean, if it really turned out that bad, I can always just eat the topping and throw out the bread. 45 minutes went by and the top of the pizza was golden brown and looked decent enough. But nahhh, my numerous past experiences of soggy pizza bottoms with non-pre-baked dough was enough to tell me not to put my hopes up for this one. I left the pizza sitting there for quite a while, not wanting to know what disasters hid inside...but when i finally did, what'd you know... I actually pulled it off! Ohhh, the joy...! Both layers of dough were properly baked with no sogginess, especially the bottom layer! Wah sai, i was surprised... this deep dish pizza was baked out of pure luck. Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
from video.about.com
INGREDIENTS:

• One 9" springform pan
• Pizza dough (recipe here)
• Toppings of your choice:
  Tomato sauce, sausage, salami, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, cheese...etc.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Divide the pizza dough in a 55%-45% proportion.
2. Roll the larger dough 4-5 inches larger than the springform pan.
3. Generously grease the springform pan.
4. Place the dough in, making sure it fits nicely, leaving a few inches at the edge.
5. Layer the bottom half of the pizza with toppings of your choice.
6. Roll the smaller dough out and place it on top of your toppings.
7. The edges of both pizza doughs should overlap. Roll the overlapping edges towards the center, tucking in the edges.
8. Add more pizza topping and bake at Gas 5 for 45 minutes.
9. If the top is browning too quickly, cover it with foil for the last few minutes of cooking.

Visit the video.about.com (<--click) website for the video.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

O.My.Goodness: Pizza!

I've been wanting to make my own pizza for a long time now. So Johnny and I decided to make it after our exams. On Saturday afternoon, i went to buy the ingredients and came home to make the dough. The recipe told me to "cover the dough with a piece of cloth"... all my towels were dirty so i pulled out a new crappy one and left the dough to rise. Kuh Shr, an hour later, when Mr. Lo came upstairs to roll out the dough... the dough dried up on the top and it didnt rise properly. I should've covered it with plastic wrap and sealed it tightly instead. But o well, what's done is done and we baked it anyway. I dont think i need to go into details on how gross it turned out.

We didnt give up. The next morning we tried it again.....and.... wo duh tien. SO GOOOOD. It made me forget about the Biochemistry NBME I bombed the day before. The crust was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The picture below is kinda blurry, but the dough raised beaaauuuutifullyyyy. The only thing i would complain about would be the crust looking kinda bland. But then, i can't do anything about that. We have a crappy oven and mr.lo and i just had to make the most of what we had. But then, who cares about the color when it tastes better than it looks? XD.

Pizza Crust
From: http://allrecipes.com/
INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

• In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
• Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
• Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

We made 2 pizzas with half of the recipe. It is better to prebake your pizza crust for 10 minutes before putting on your toppings. This way crust can bake evenly.

Pizza Sauce
From: http://allrecipes.com/

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

DIRECTIONS

• Mix together the tomato paste, water, and olive oil. Mix well.
• Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste, oregano, basil, and rosemary.
• Mix well and let stand several hours to let flavors blend.
• No cooking necessary, just spread on dough.

As for the topping, we layered it with ham, pepperoni, Mozzarella cheese, another layer of pepperoni, mushrooms, and more mozzarella.
Seriously, you've gotta try this sometime.