Daring Cooks Challenge--Porc 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 chose to substitute pork because my wife doesn't care for rare beef and my niece, who lives with us, is allergic to salmon. I did make the short pastry as well as a coconut creamed spinach bed for the pork tenderloin; I wanted to give it somewhat of a southeast Asian flavor.

I had planned to cook this earlier, when I had more time. But things came up. Then, suddenly, the fourteenth was here and it was time to post. So I made the short pastry before going to school this morning, then rushed home after class this afternoon, prepared copies of the final for my evening class, creamed the spinach, seared and butterflied the tenderloin, stuffed, wrapped and baked it, took some photos, wrote some words, and voila...another challenge met. Now I'll post this and then go give my final.

Short Pastry
450 grams flour
200 grams butter
chilled water

In a food processor, pulse flour and butter until you have a coarse meal. Add just enough chilled water to gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least an hour.

Coconut Creamed Spinach
2 TBS oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
16 ounces fresh spinach, stems removed (I used baby spinach)
cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut milk

Add oil to a medium high pan. Add onions, garlic, and ginger, and cook until onions are translucent. Add spinach. As spinach begins to wilt, add coconut milk, salt, and pepper. Stir until spinach is totally wilted. Continue to cook to reduce the liquid slightly. Place spinach in colander and let cool and drain.

To assemble the dish, sear the tenderloin on all sides. Butterfly the tenderloin, then pound to thin slightly. Stuff spinach mixture in tenderloin. Place stuffed tenderloin on short pastry that has been rolled to about 1/8 inch thickness and brushed with an egg wash. Cut three vents in top of the pastry to let steam escape. Brush top of the pastry with egg wash. Bake in 400º oven for 20--25 minutes. When done, let rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Fried Tofu Simmered with Scallion--Dau Hu Chien Tam Hanh La

It has been cold in Northern California, record breaking cold.  Good weather for stews and casseroles.  Or hearty pasta dishes.  But tofu?  Yes, indeed.  This dish is as satisfying as any beef daube or bourguignon you might find in France.  And as simple as sin.

There's nothing to it, really.  Just tofu, water, fish sauce, a little sugar and green onions.  That's it.  But the taste is rich and soulful.  It's a dish I could eat every night for a year and not tire of.  The key is to use fresh cakes of tofu and to fry the tofu up yourself before you add it to the simmering water mixture.  If you wanted to avoid the fish sauce, I suppose you could substitute Maggi seasoning or soy sauce for a slightly different taste.  If you think you don't like fish sauce or tofu, try this dish first. 

This recipe is adapted from Andrea Nguyen's Into the Vietnamese Kitchen.  She doesn't add sugar, but I find I like a little sugar to balance the fish sauce.  Maybe it's a result of spending too many years in Central Java, where they like their food sweet.  Anyway, give this a try.

Dau Hu Chien Tam Hanh La

1 1/2 pounds tofu, preferably the fresh blocks available in Asian markets, or direct from the makers
neutral vegetable oil for deep-frying the tofu

1/2 cup water
2 to 3 TBS fish sauce
1 to 2 tsp sugar
3 scallions, green part only, chopped

Cut the tofu into cubes, approximately one inch. Deep fry until crisp.

In a saucepan or claypot combine water, fish sauce and sugar. Heat until simmering. Add the fried tofu, stirring to expose all sides to the liquid, cover and cook for about 3 minutes. Uncover, stir in the scallions, and serve.

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Belgian Endive Crab Bites

Tis the season for cocktail parties. Which means it's also the season for overindulgence in rich, buttery, cheesy, creamy appetizers and dips, along with an array of buttery cookies and baked goods. And what's wrong with that? Nothing, really, 'cept sometimes you want something a little lighter.

But by lighter, I don't mean broccoli spears and carrot sticks in an insipid fat-free mayo dip. I mean something naturally light and refreshing and tasty. Because if I have to choose between something tasty that will cause my doctor to cry and something healthy that has no taste, doc, the kleenex are next to the puff pastry. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be an either or dilemma. You can graze the hors d'oeuvre table and eat light, satisfying bites that aren't loaded with butter or cream.

Belgian endive are the perfect vegetable for delivering refreshing bites. They can be filled with any number of toppings and assembled ahead of time. When your guests come, the leaves are still crisp, an advantage over crostini. Also, people feel good about themselves when they eat something in a leaf. Serve chocolate truffles topped with caramel in an endive leaf and people would gobble them up while feeling so good about themselves for getting a vegetable.

The dressing for the salad utilizes kaffir lime pepper jelly, but you could use Thai sweet chili sauce instead. However, I strongly recommend the use of fresh kaffir lime leaves in the salad. They add a very refreshing accent. If you can't find those, you might try finely grated lime zest.



Belgian Endive Crab Bites

Belgian endive (Trader Joe's sells them in packs of three--two green, one red)

crab meat, preferably fresh, picked over to remove any cartilage or shell
red pepper, finely diced
Fuji apple, finely diced (fresh waterchestnuts or jicama could be substituted)
kaffir lime leaves, center vein removed, finely minced

1 TBS kaffir lime pepper jelly (or Thai sweet chili sauce)
1 TBS fish sauce
2 TBS water
lime juice, to taste

Mix crab, red pepper, apple and lime leaves together. Squeeze some lime over salad to keep apple from browning.

Heat jelly (if using) in microwave to liquify. Stir in fish sauce, water and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary to have a tart, slightly sweet dressing. Lightly dress the crab salad.

Spoon salad into washed, dried endive leaves. Plate and serve.

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Chile Colorado

Mexican food for me is comfort food. I spent a number of my younger years living in Southeast Asia and as much as I love the food from the region, there were times I sorely missed Mexican food. I love a good plate of rice and beans, and I've been making my own flour tortillas since eighth grade. One semester in college I practically lived on a diet of homemade burritos, keeping my food budget to a minimum so I could buy more wine.

It's interesting that so many ingredients indigenous to Mexico found their way into Asian cuisines, most importantly the chili pepper. It's hard to imagine Indian, Thai, or Indonesian food absent the chili, yet that was the case until the sixteenth century when the Spanish or Portuguese (there appear to be arguments for each) introduced chilies to Asia. Mexican cooking incorporates a great variety of chilies, both fresh and dried, into its dishes.

This version of chile colorado is probably a greatly bastardized version of the original. It has been a go to dish in my family for more than thirty years. I believe the original recipe comes from Sunset's Mexican Cooking, a 100-page or so 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch paperback for which my mother probably paid about $4.95. I can't recall any other recipes from the book, but this one was a winner. By the way, if you're looking for heat, this ain't the dish. You could add cayenne, of course, or some other chili to raise the heat quotient, but try it as it is first.

BRAISED PORK WITH RED CHILE SAUCE

3 lbs lean boneless pork butt
2 TBS salad oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS ancho chili powder
2 TBS chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano leaves, crumbled
1 3/4 cups water
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 TBS canned tomato paste
1/2 cup whipping cream
Roasted pumpkin seeds warm
soft tortillas or hot cooked rice

Garnishes: 1 large avocado,peeled, pitted, and sliced; 1 large tomato, cut in wedges; sour cream sprinkled with chili powder; 2 limes, cut in wedges.

Directions

Trim meat and cut into one inch cubes. Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat; add meat a few pieces at a time and cook until lightly brown. Push to side; add onion, garlic, chili powder, oregano, and cumin; cook until onion is limp.
Stir in water, sugar, tomato paste and salt. Sim- mer, covered about one hour. Skim off fat and discard. Add cream, and cook, stirring until mixture boils.
Turn into a serving dish and garnish with pump- kin seeds. To serve, fill warm tortillas with meat and garnish with avocado, tomato, and sour cream.

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