My Noodle Hands! - Daring Cooks July 2011 Challenge

Blog-checking lines: Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks' July hostess.  Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine.  She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with.

I decided to make the Spatzle because I had never had it before, and to be honest I had no idea what it was! I do plan on trying to make fettucini or ravioli too, if I have them ready before July 14 I will put them up in this post as well.

It turns out that Spatzle is incredibly easy to make! It requires simple ingredients, and comes together very quickly.

I decided to add dill and parsley to my spatzle and I really liked the flavour of the dill in them.  I topped them with the Butter and Breadcrumb sauce that was provided and it was really tasty.

You can add any herbs or spices that you wish to jazz these up.  I halved the recipe, but if you make the full recipe (listed below) it makes about 4 servings.

German Spatzle

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp dill (I used dried dill)
• 1 tsp parsley flakes

1. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, dill, and parsely
2. Add the flour about 1/2 cup at a time and mix until smooth after each addition. After the last of the flour is added the dough will become very thick and elastic
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
4. Dip a spoon in the hot water, and then scoop about half a spoonful of the dough
5. Drop the dough into the boiling water, and repeat with the remaining dough (they will puff up a lot)
6. Boil for 15 - 20 minutes.  While the spatzles are boiling you can make the sauce
7. Drain well before serving
8. Enjoy!

Butter and Breadcrumbs Sauce

• 6 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• herbs and spices of your choice (optional)

1. Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl 
2. Stir in the breadcrumbs (and any herbs or spices you may be using)
3. Dab onto the drained spatzle
4. Enjoy!

Light Potato Salad - Daring Cooks

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

If there is one thing that goes with any BBQ in the summer, it is potato salad!  I love both creamy potato salads, and dill potatoes, so I decided to combine the two and make a creamy dill potato salad. Yum!

I decided to use light sour cream instead of mayonnaise and it worked out really great.  With the addition of dill I didn't miss the 'tang' of the mayonnaise at all.

I also lightly sauteed my other vegetables in order to ensure that all the flavours would meld really well together. My husband gave me the thumbs up to make this again!

I am happy to say that this recipe was from: Me! :)

Light and Creamy Dill Potato Salad

• 1 lb baby red potatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 3 tbsps chopped fresh dill
• 2 tbsp light sour cream

1. Wash and quarter the potatoes and boil until soft (about 10 minutes)
2. While the potatoes are boiling, heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat
3. When hot, add the vegetables and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes
4. Add the fresh dill, give it a quick stir, and then remove from heat and pour the vegetables into a large bowl
5. When the potatoes are soft, drain and let cool
6. When the potatoes have cooled to room temperature, stir the sour cream in with the vegetables
7. Add the potatoes and toss until coated
8. Refrigerate until ready to serve
9. Enjoy!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo!

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

Here it is, my very first Daring Cooks challenge: Gumbo!!

Even though they give us an entire month to cook up the new challenge, I procrastinated.  I procrastinated hard. 

So why did I put it off until the very last free night before ‘posting day’?

It wasn’t because it seemed like a lot of work, I enjoy that part.

It wasn’t because it was a brand new dish, because that is why I joined in the first place.

But it was rather because I was afraid that I just wouldn’t like it.

Weird, right?  I mean, I love veggies, chicken, sausage, and soup, so why wouldn’t I be all over this? I think it was because of a couple factors that struck me right at the beginning.

1. It said to chop up an entire chicken into 10 pieces. I have never attacked the whole chicken before, and the thought of little bone shards in my gumbo terrified me
2. They kept the skin on their chicken in the original recipe. Ugh, I could not come to terms with adding that much… well, that much grease to my dish
3. The chicken was placed in the gumbo with the bones attached to the meat. Bones in my soup? Weird, right? And kinda grody too

But I decided to suck it up. With the amazing reviews this recipe was getting from other participants, I knew I had to get over it and get cookin’!

Instead of attacking an entire chicken and making enough gumbo to feed the whole neighborhood, I decided to halve the recipe and just bought a few chicken legs, thighs, and breasts to throw into the gumbo. I cut all of the skin off of the thighs and legs (I just couldn’t add it with the skin!) and cut the chicken breasts in half to get more uniform pieces.  I then seasoned the chicken with my home-made Creole spice (side note: This stuff is fabulous! I plan on using it to BBQ throughout the summer) and threw any extra chicken in with some seasoning and froze it for later.

I added the legs and thighs as-is (well, skinless, but with the bones) as per the original instructions.  It actually worked out really well! The chicken becomes so tender that it falls right off of the bones!  Whew.

I made this on Monday night, but didn’t whip up any rice until Tuesday night.  As a result, my first bowl was rice-less and I can definitely see the need for rice in the dish.  Don’t get me wrong as it is wonderfully delicious by itself, but the addition of rice makes it a full and fantastic meal!

Would I make this again? Definitely!  It was extremely tasty, and very filling.  It reminded me of a stew or another fall/winter meal though, so I probably won’t try it again until the weather cools off.  We are finally breaking 20 degrees (Celsius) here, so BBQ and fresh salads just seem more appropriate :)

Here is the halved recipe, it made enough for about 6 - 8 full bowls!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 large onion, diced
• about 2 lbs chicken  (thighs, legs, breast)
• 1 tbsp Basic Creole Spices (recipe below if you want to make it yourself)
• 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 orange bell pepper, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• sprinkle of thyme (or 1 sprig), approx 1/4 tsp
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 ounces Mundare sausage, diced
• 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper, to taste
• hot sauce, to taste
• 3 cups of cooked rice (to serve it with)

1. Prepare the Basic Creole Spices (if you want to make it yourself)
2. Season the chicken with about 1 tbsp of the Creole spices and set aside
3. Slice and dice everything before beginning to make the roux. You will have to watch the roux very carefully so it makes the dish much easier to make if everything is ready at the start
4. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add the flour, and whisk constantly until the roux is a nice deep brown (this took me about 15 minutes)
6. Add the diced onions, and stir with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes over medium-low. 
7. When the roux is a glossy dark brown, add the chicken and stir
8. Stir the chicken and turn the pieces until they are beginning to brown on all sides
9. Add the smoked sausage and stir for a couple of minutes
10. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic and stir for about 5 minutes
11. Sprinkle in the thyme, pour in the chicken stock, and add the bay leaf
12. Bring the gumbo to a low boil, and then turn down the heat until it simmers
13. Let the gumbo simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you left the skin on the chicken, you will want to skim the fat off every once in a while
14. Add the Mundare sausage and the Worcestershire sauce.
15. Add some salt, pepper, and tobasco to taste
16. Stir, and then let simmer for 45 minutes again while still stirring occasionally. The gumbo will start to thicken up beautifully!
17. Remove the bay leaf before serving, and serve over rice 
18. Enjoy!

Basic Creole Spices

• 2 tbsp celery salt
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice

1. Whisk all of the spices together in a bowl
2. Store in a airtight container or spice jar
3. This will store well for about 6 months :)