California Christmas: Chopped

I am not sure if anyone else watches Chopped but it's a show on the Food Network where people have to make an appetizer, main course, and dessert using specific ingredients. The challenge is that the ingredients are not always "normal". I have to use candy canes in my appetizer? Or bacon in my dessert?

Needless to say, watching it is a guilty pleasure of mine. And my aunt and uncle are fans of the show as well. As entertainment on a blustery evening in Northern California, we created a chopped challenge of our own!

The Rules:

My aunt and I had to make appetizers using cucumbers, my foraged chanterelles, and persimmons; a entree using salmon, asparagus, and (I can't remember what else); a dessert using pomegranates, quinoa, and chocolate.

Appetizer: Cucumber Disks with a Roasted Red Pepper-Walnut Spread, Wild Chanterelle Crostinis, Spicy Lime Tortilla Chips with Persimmon Chips and an Orange-Persimmon

Roasted Red Pepper-Walnut Spread

Also known as muhammara (I LOVE this word). Recipe from the NY Times.

Ingredients:
3/4 c walnuts, toasted and chopped

3 red bell peppers, roasted
3/4 c fresh bread crumbs*

1 jalapeño or other small hot chili pepper, stemmed and seeded
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T pomegranate molasses
1 T lemon juice
1 t ground cumin
salt and pepper
2 T olive oil.

Directions:

Put all ingredients (except oil) in food processor and pulse until smooth.

Slowly pour in olive oil into running food processor.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Eat with anything and everything: cucumbers, pita bread, your hands...

Entree: Asparagus and Red Onion Salad, Miso-glazed Wild Alaskan Salmon, Sweet Potato Latkes with Cranberry Relish, garnished with mixed salad greens.

Sweet Potato Latkes

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, peeled

1 green onion, finely chopped

1/4 c whole wheat flour

1 T ground flax seeds, whisked into 3 T water

salt, pepper, smoked paprika

oil

Directions:

Grate the sweet potatoes (my aunt had a fancy grater feature on her food processor which made this process VERY easy)

Mix together all the ingredients, except the oil.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.

Take a handful of sweet potato mixture and form a patty.

Fry in oil until dark brown, about 5 minutes.

Flip to fry the other side.

Allow to cool on a rag (to wick away excess oil)

Serve with cranberry chutney!

Dessert: Spicy Chocolate-Dipped Date-Walnut Truffles, Pomegranate Quinoa Patties

My first pomegranate! Too pretty.

Spelt Baguette for Winter Bruschetta

So my first attempt at sourdough starter was a major fail. In order to console my bread-baking ego I decided to bake bread with commercially-bought yeast (ergghh). But hey you can buy it in bulk at the People's Food Co-op! That makes me feel a little better...

I based this off of a recipe that was in all grams in millileters and apparently in my conversions I screwed something up big time. Therefore, I added in 2 c wheat flour to make the dough drier. This definitely was the bread baking attempt of an ultimate novice. There's only growth from here!

Spelt Baguette
Yeast-y bread Take 1

1T + 2t yeast*
5 T warm water
2 T spelt flour*
2 c water
3 c spelt flour*
2 c whole wheat flour*

In large bowl, mix yeast and warm water until smooth.
Mix in 2 T flour, cover in a rag and allow to do what it do for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400F
Stir in water, and then stir in the flours.
Cover in a rag and allow to rise for an 1.5 hours (I got distracted and let it go for 3.5 hours...)
Separate into 3 baguette-ish shapes and slice notches into the top.
Cook for 20-30 minutes.

*You can buy this in bulk! Do itttt. It's cheaper AND saves packaging waste ;)

What else you can do...

Winter Bruschetta
Death by amazing salty, savory, sweet, stay-inside-and-stuff-your-face-until-you-add-a-healthy-layer-of-fat-and-are-able-to-withstand-the-0-degree-Michigan-winter goodness.

I didn't measure but here are my attempts to quantify my experimentation:

Ingredients:

1 T oil

2 cloves garlic, minced)

1/2 large onion, chopped

pumpkin puree (about 1.5 c)

frozen cranberries (about 1 c)

ginger (1 T perhaps)

nutmeg (1/4 t -ish)

pesto

spelt baguette, but into 1-2" pieces

Directions:

Heat oil in saute pan over medium-low heat.

Add onions and saute until softened.

Add garlic, pumpkin and bring to a simmer.

Add in cranberries.

Cook until cranberries burst and start oozing into pumpkin mixture.

Spice up yo life!

Remove from heat.

Smear pesto and pumpkin-cranberry goo onto baguette slices.

Devour.

The Burrito of All Things Winter

Welcome December! It is the FIRST SNOW OF WINTER! Whoa. I had to (wanted to) bust out my snow boots.

I had been dreaming about an autumn wrap of my making but had been too distracted by life (school) and other recipe fancies that I hadn't put it together. But the change of month (December is a big one, the laaast one) put my gears in motion. I literally woke up thinking about seasonal sandwiches. Here's my attempt #1.

The Early Winter Sandwich

Ingredients:
1 Cornmeal Tortilla
smeared with Pumpkin Spread
and a dollop of Cranberry Chutney
sprinkled with toasted nuts (1)
and a hefty handful of greens (2)

Cranberry Chutney
Holy cow. This is the absolute best. Caramelized onions are the perfect match for the tartness of cranberries. I would be so satisfied with a vat of this stuff. Nothing more.

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped (3)
1 clove of garlic, minced (3)
1 T oil
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1 c frozen cranberries (4)
1 c water
1/2 t ground ginger
salt and pepper

Directions:
Heat oil over medium-low heat.
Add onions and garlic and saute until soft.
Add vinegar, ginger, cranberries and cover.
Lower heat and lightly simmer until liquid evaporates.
Add water incrementally and slowly simmer until desired consistency.
I simmered, covered, for about 45 minutes until very thick and sweet.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Cornmeal Tortillas
Attempt #1. Meaning Fail #1... I do not recommend this recipe AT ALL but I thought I would report my fails as much I would my wins.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. cornmeal (1)
1 t cumin
1 c. boiling water
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Pour boiling salted water over cornmeal and cumin and stir. When cornmeal is cool enough to harden, shape into then flat cakes and cook on an un-oiled hot griddle until brown on both sides. Makes 8 servings.

Pumpkin Spread

1 c roasted pumpkin (5)

2 t oil (I used almond in this recipe)

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t cumin

dash of pepper

1/2 t salt




(1) Earnst Farm
(2) Spinach from Holland, MI
(3) Tantre Farm
(4) Locavorious
(5) from an organic Amish farm but I don't remember the name, unfortunately...

Pumpkin Falafel

Remember how I a) think pumpkin is amazing? b) have Michigan falafel mix? Well here's the ultimate culmination of such loves and realizations.

My mix asked for 1 part water to 1 part mix. So I just replaced water with pumpkin. Next time I'm thinkin 3 parts pumpkin to 1 part mix. Just because I love me my pumpkin. Just sayin.

Pumpkin Falafel
I served (ate) mine with a healthy dollop of cranberry chutney. My new vice.

Ingredients:
pumpkin puree
falafel mix

Directions:
Follow the box!

What, don't have falafel mix? Here are some recipes for people who aren't cop outs (AKA myself)...
Baked Sweet Potato Falafel
Baked Falafel
Fried Falafel

Autumn Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Autumn Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash, cut in half
1 c cooked quinoa
3 T oil
2 T maple syrup
1/4 c dried cranberries
1/4 c pistachios
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t cumin
1/4 t cinnamon
salt and pepper
fresh thyme or rosemary

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Coat inside of both acorn squash halves with 1 T of oil.
Bake in oven, flesh side down for 40 minutes with about 1/2 inch of water, until fork tender.
Heat cooked quinoa in a sauce pan over medium heat with 1 T oil, maple syrup, cranberries, pistachios, and spices.
Fill each roasted acorn squash half with 1/2 c of quinoa mixture.
Wrap stuffed squash halves with aluminum foil and bake in oven for another 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme or rosemary.


Sweet and Spicy Acorn Squash Seeds

Ingredients:
seeds of 1 acorn squash
2 T maple syrup
2 T oil
1 t cayenne pepper
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix together all ingredients except salt and pepper.
Spread onto baking pan and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and season with salt.