The Daring Cooks' Challenges No. 3 - Cassoulet.

Well, cassoulet, eh?  I have made plenty of cheat versions of this in my time but have never done an authentic one.  It's great timing in that this is perfect food for the cold weather and the dark days but really bad timing in that this is the time of year when people are trying to cut back a bit on the calories after all the excesses of the festive season.  I dread to think how many calories in a portion of this and I'm certainly not going to try and work it out as we have been eating mountains of it!

Our January 2011 Challenge comes from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk and Lisa from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. They have challenged the Daring Cooks to learn how to make a confit and use it within the traditional French dish of Cassoulet. They have chosen a traditional recipe from Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman.

So, I chose to follow the fairly traditional recipe of Bourdain and Ruhlman but I have made a few little changes and I'll put my adapted version up here for my own use.  The first thing I did was to halve the quantities of everything and I am so glad I did as even this makes a mountain of the stuff and, as you will be able to tell from the ingredients, it is very filling and very calorific.  The other changes I will be tempted to try next time are 1) this recipe doesn't have the breadcrumb topping that a lot of cassoulet recipes have and I would like to try that.  It did need a little something to add texture.  As it was, we served it with crispy garlic bread which served the purpose; and 2) I notice Delia roasts her pork belly in her version - I think I would like to try that too as I do love a caramelised, roasted pork belly.

I also cheated and didn't make my own duck confit.  This is because it was actually easier for me to get duck confit than fresh duck legs and I have made duck confit in the past so didn't feel it would matter too much.

Be warned - this takes 3 days to make but is ideal for cooking for guests as there is nothing to do except put in the oven on the last day.

Recipe - Cassoulet (based on recipe by Bourdain and Ruhlman)

Ingredients - 

550g dried cannelini beans

450g fresh pork belly

1 onion, quartered

1 bouquet garni

salt and pepper

30g duck fat or dripping

6 Toulouse sausages

3 onions, thinly sliced

1 head of garlic

16 slices of thick cut smoked bacon

2 confit duck legs

Method -

1. Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water so there are at least 2 or 3 inches of water above the top of the beans.  Soak overnight.

2. Drain and rinse the beans and place in a large pot.  

3. Add the pork belly, the quartered onion and the bouquet garni.

4. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 mins.  Season with salt and pepper and continue to simmer until the beans are tender, about 30mins more.

5. Let cool for 20 mins then discard the onion and the bouquet garni.

6. Remove the pork belly, cut it into squares and set aside.

7. Strain the beans and set aside, reserving the cooking liquid separately.

8. In a saute pan, heat the dripping over a medium-high heat until it shimmers and becomes transparent.

9. Carefully add the sausages and brown on all sides.

10. Remove sausages and set aside.

11. In the same pan, over medium-high heat, brown two onions, sliced, and one clove of garlic, sliced.

12. Once browned, remove from the heat and transfer to the blender and puree until smooth.

13. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/GM 4.

14. Line the bottom of a deep ovenproof dish with the bacon.

15. Slice the remaining onions.

16. Peel the remaining garlic bulbs and cut into big chunks or leave whole.

17. Strip the duck meat from the bones and rip into bite-size chunks.

18. Cut sausages into chunks.

19. Arrange all your ingredients in alternating layers.  begin with beans, then sausages, then more beans, then pork belly, beans, duck, then finally more beans.  Add a dab of the onion puree and a scattering of onion and garlic to each layer.

20. Add enough of the bean cooking liquid to just cover the beans, reserving about 240mls in the fridge for use later.

21. Cook in the oven for one hour then reduce the heat to 250F/130C/GM 1/2 and cook for another hour.

22. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  Refrigerate overnight.

23. Cook at 350F/180C/GM 4 for one hour.

24. Add extra bean cooking liquid if needed.

25. Reduce heat to 250F/130C/GM 1/2 and continue cooking for another 15 mins then serve.

So, the verdict?  It was absolutely gorgeous - really filling and hearty.  But it is a faff and I have had dishes with beans and chorizo and the like which can be put together in an hour and taste brilliant too.  I think I will try it again with the breadcrumb topping and with roasting the pork and see how that goes.  I certainly would consider this if I was feeding guests on a cold day but I wouldn't make this at home just for us.  Loved the challenge and am really glad I did it.  I think making the confit was the main point of the challenge so I obviously cheated on that, but, hey, I know I can do that whereas I have never made a proper cassoulet before so I'm happy. 

The Daring Cooks' Challenges No. 1, Nov 2010 - Souffle.

Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

See Dave's and Linda's post from the challenge for loads of useful information and tips about making souffles.

This was my first challenge with The Daring Cooks so I was really excited about it.  I have made souffles before.  I used to make chocolate souffles as a student and I am sure I have made a twice baked camembert souffle from a recipe torn out of a magazine at some point.  It has been some years, though, since I have made one so I was very pleased to be challenged to try again.

While browsing in my local library, I found a book completely dedicated to souffle ("Souffle, sweet and savoury" by Sara Lewis) so had to get it out.

I chose her recipe for stilton souffle with rocket.  It had to be cheese!

Recipe - 

Serves 4.

Ingredients - 

65g (2.5oz) butter

3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs

50g (2oz) plain flour

300ml (1/2 pint) milk

150g (5oz) stilton cheese, rind removed, crumbled

4 eggs, separated

25g (1oz) wild rocket leaves, torn into pieces, plus extra to serve

salt and freshly ground black pepper

balsamic vinegar, to serve

Method - 

1. Grease a medium tall 15cm (6in) diameter X 9cm (3.75in) deep souffle dish with some butter, then line the dish with the breadcrumbs.  Attach a souffle collar that stands 7.5cm (3in) higher than the top of the dish.

2. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan,stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.  Gradually mix in the milk and bring to the boil, stirring until thickened and smooth.

3. Stir in the cheese until melted, then remove from the heat and stir in the egg yolks and some salt and pepper.  Cover and leave to cool.

4. Whisk the egg whites into stiff, moist-looking peaks.  Fold the rocket leaves into the cooled sauce, then a large spoonful of egg whites to loosen the mixture.  Gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

5.  Pour the mixture into the prepared souffle dish and bake in a preheated oven, 190C, 375F, GM5, for 30-35 minutes until the souffle is well risen, the top is browned and there is a slight wobble to the centre.

6. Quickly snip the string off the souffle collar and gently peel away the paper.  Spoon the souffle on to plates.  Serve with extra rocket leaves dressed with balsamic vinegar.

The souffle tasted a lot better than in looks in that photo above.  Really cheesy!  Serving it with rocket and balsamic vinegar was the perfect contrast to the cheesy, eggy souffle.  Even my kids ate it!  Yay.

If you are really interested in making souffles, I would recommend having a look at fellow Daring Cook, Audax's post from this challenge.  He has done a lot of research and gives loads of tips and ideas for different sweet and savoury souffles.

The Cake Slice Bakers - Challenge 1 - October 2010 - Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Pound Cake.

This is my first challenge as a new member of The Cake Slice Bakers.

I believe they cook a recipe each month from a book for a year.  The book they have chosen for this year is  Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman.

I got myself a copy of this from Amazon and I'm really glad I did.  The main idea of the book seems to be for people who like to bake fairly simple cakes but have a cake on the go all the time.  What a lovely idea - just to keep a cake on the counter (in a beautiful glass cake stand with dome, of course, wee Christmas hint to my husband if he is reading) for anyone to help themselves to at any time.

The chapters divide the book into - snacking cakes, round cakes, loaf cakes, Bundt cakes, crumb cakes and angel food and chiffon cakes.  No, I have no idea what those last two are but I'm looking forward to finding out.  I think I will probably have to buy my first Bundt tin at some point too.

It is an American book so I have bought myself some cup measurements and thought I would try baking the American way.  I have already started scribbling notes inside the book to remind me where a conversion is needed.  Most importantly, I now know a stick of butter = 4oz = 113g.  Previous to this, I would have just dismissed any book which used US measurements so this opens a whole new world of baking to me.  I think that's the whole point of a baking challenge isn't it?  To broaden my horizons.  And, of course, I would never have ever used pumpkin in baking before either, so two "firsts" with my first challenge. 

So, the first recipe - Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Pound Cake is brilliantly seasonal.  The only problem was getting hold of any tinned pumpkin as it is not really available in the UK and all the online shops importing stuff from the US were out of stock due to a shortage.  I just kept pestering them, though, and finally managed to get myself a couple of tins.

The cake was really easy and quick to make and it came out well.  Easy to slice, looked good and tasted perfect for Autumn - a little bit earthy but sweet and with oozing dark chocolate.  Lovely and moist too.  It lasted less than a day.  We all ate a fair bit earlier in the day and then my in-laws unexpectedly came round so it was great having a freshly baked treat just sitting there to serve to them.  Once I get my lovely cake stand with the glass dome, this will definitely be one of the cakes I will have sitting at the ready inside it.

Recipe below.

Recipe.

Serves 8.

9" X 5" loaf tin.

Ingredients - 

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cloves

pinch nutmeg

1 stick (4oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup milk

1 cup miniature dark chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Method - 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F, 180C, GM 4.   Grease and flour a 9" X 5" loaf tin.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cloves and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 mins.

4. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the eggs, one at a time.  

5. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

6. Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.  Bake the cake until it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, 55mins to an hour.

7. Let the cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up to cool completely.

8. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge, wrapped in plastic, for up to 1 week.

To see the results of the challenge by other Cake Slice Bakers, visit the the cake slice blogroll.

Can't wait for the next challenge.