This month’s Daring Cooks challenge takes a stab at Peruvian cooking.
There used to be a Peruvian restaurant in Toronto that J and I liked quite a bit. They offered delicious ceviché, lots of great fish options… generally, quite a bit to choose from for us pescatarians. We were sad when it closed, and wondered where we would get our fix of Peruvian food…
I guess the moral of the story is that if you want something, get off your duff and try to make it yourself!
It all began when I made a recipe that claimed to be ‘Indonesian’. It was from a cookbook (that will remain nameless) that was culturally unaffiliated, and was generically boring.
I decided that it would be better to get inspiration from someone who actually knew about food in Indonesia, and since then I have been pestering her for recipes.
Something happened on the way to the last Daring Kitchen challenge…
I actually divided the challenge up, and did the work on three separate occasions. To accompany the tempura, I thought I would try making a soba noodle soup. I have long been a fan of the lovely Japanese soup broths I’ve tried, and figured it was time to try it for myself!! So worth it!
I have had Moroccan food on my ‘to-do’ list for EVER!!! The problem is that I didn’t know where to start, dish-wise. Instead, I decided that I would have to make my own Ras el hanout blend first… and since I didn’t have some of the ingredients, I just kept putting it off.
Not only did I actually make a first attempt at Ras el hanout, but I made my own harissa and a dish to actually use them in! Now I’m both excited by the outcome, and disappointed by my procrastination.
Noodle soups are one of my favourite things to have in the winter. It gets to be an addiction to slurp up the noodles and broth, with a hit of spice.
Funny I hadn’t tried to make many until this year. This time around, I decided to try making Tom Yum soup with some noodles added to make it into a meal. The results weren’t quite what I expected, but it sure did hit the spot!
I’m really just happy to have made it through this one alive! Funny how it sounded so easy at first…
This month’s Daring Kitchen post includes a serious of HILARIOUS (sarcastic) errors by yours truly. Somehow, we still ended up being able to eat most of what was prepared.
I love it when you find a new ingredient, and it inspires the whole meal. That happened this past weekend, after buying some Red Fife pasta at the St. Lawrence market.
The funny thing is that I wasn’t the one inspired – it was J who started searching for the perfect recipe!
It can be really tricky to recreate the things you love from restaurants. If you’re super talented, you might just wing it and make up a recipe. Then there are people like me who just keep trying new recipes, like a sucker, and getting frustrated when it doesn’t turn out right.
Indian eggplant dishes have given me the most frustration.
For some reason, I have multiple bags of barley. I’m not really sure why… I think I bought more because I thought I was running out. That makes sense. But I ended up with lots of barley, and I really only use it in one dish.
So I came up with another dish.
My mom and I disagree on how to prepare squash.
Over the years, every time I’d tell her I had made a curried squash soup, or a stuffed pumpkin, or anything involving spices, she would tell me I was crazy. Obviously (to her), the best preparation for squash is to bake until soft, and then mash with butter, salt and pepper. Simple and delicious!
We obviously have different motives, in addition to different tastes. So what happens when we need a dish that will satisfy us both?
I chose a recipe that retains the spirit of the ‘natural squash’ by not overwhelming it with spices. A simple addition of some Herbes de Provence (a favourite of Mom’s AND mine), along with the s&p, are all it needs… because, for those who need a punch, there is Danish blue cheese!
I’m obsessed with Danish blue cheese this year. I’m not sure how it took me so long… I’ve liked Gorgonzola for a long time, and enjoy the odd nip of Stilton, but never went out of my way to buy a chunk of Danish blue. I ate some at Thanksgiving and realized I’d been missing out… and have had some in my fridge at all times since.
Back to the recipe… the squash is roasted in one-inch chunks. I was excited to play with the Mezzaluna my Mom has that cuts in a ridged pattern (see pic two above for a glimpse of the tool itself). Yeah, I like to snoop through other peoples’ kitchen stuff.
The pecans give the dish a fun crunch, and they get nice and toasty in the oven. The cheese gives it a crazy kick. The squash is creamy and mild, mellowing out the whole dish and bringing all of the different flavours and textures together.
Of course, I topped the whole thing with slices of green onion, like I usually do.
I’ve tried this kind of dish before – I’ve winged it, I’ve followed some recipes. I seem to have found a combination of ingredients and steps that do what I need. As you’ll see in the recipe recap, my variation on the dish follows the variations of a number of others. No doubt the original dish was a variation. This is a fairly classic combination of ingredients, done in a way that everyone can enjoy!
Recipe after the jump!
Continue reading Roasted Butternut Squash with Pecans, and Blue Cheese
