Recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon-Daring Cooks

I'll admit it.  When I first read through this month's Daring Cooks challenge, I thought "is all that really necessary for a beef stew?"  Well, maybe not necessary but definitely worth it-I'd say this is the best beef stew I've ever made!  Our May 2012 Daring Cooks' hostess was Fabi of fabsfood.  Fabi challenged us to make Boeuf Bourguignon, a classic French stew originating from the Burgundy region of France.


Oh, and did I mention it is a Julia Child's recipe, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking?

Recipe for Armenian Nutmeg Cake-Daring Bakers

Oh boy.  This is an Armenian version of a coffee cake, but not quite as sweet.  It is however, wonderfully delicious!  The original recipe called for nutmeg, which I used, but I also added some cardamom which just gave it the most amazing flavor.  

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.  I chose to make the nutmeg cake for this month's challenge, but have the nazook recipe tucked away for later.

Recipe for Spiced Coffee Rubbed Pork with Cauliflower and Bean Puree-Daring Cooks

Once a month I join a group of adventurous cooks online in cooking up something new.  It might be preparing an unusual or unfamiliar recipe from around the world or trying out a specific cooking technique.


Our April 2012 Daring Cooks hosts were David & Karen from Twenty-Fingered Cooking. They presented us with a very daring and unique challenge of forming our own recipes by using a set list of ingredients!  The challenge was to cook using 1 ingredient from each list:


List 1: Parsnips, Eggplant (aubergine), Cauliflower
List 2: Balsamic Vinegar, Goat Cheese, Chipotle peppers
List 3: Maple Syrup, Instant Coffee, Bananas

Recipe for Dutch Crunch-Daring Bakers

When I worked in San Francisco, our cafeteria had the best Dutch crunch rolls for sandwiches.  I never really thought about how the topping was made until this month's Daring Bakers Challenge. Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!


Sara and Erica told us "Technically, Dutch Crunch doesn’t refer to the type of bread, but rather the topping that is spread over the bread before baking. In Dutch it’s called Tijgerbrood or “tiger bread” after the tiger-like shell on the bread when it comes out of the oven. The final product has a delightful sweet crunch to it that makes it perfect for a sandwich roll. It’s a common option at sandwich shops all over the Bay Area and is often one of the first breads to run out."

Recipe for Braised Scallops-Daring Cooks

The March, 2012 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Carol, a/k/a Poisonive – and she challenged us all to learn the art of Braising! Carol focused on Michael Ruhlman’s technique and shared with us some of his expertise from his book “Ruhlman’s Twenty”.  While braising is often thought of when using less than tender cuts of beef, I went a different path and created a recipe for braised scallops.


Carol tells us that "Braising, from the French “braiser”, offers us a combination cooking method – dry heat followed by moist heat. Typically, meat is seared in hot fat which helps to add flavor and aromas, improves color (browning), and texture (crust). It is then submerged in liquid and cooked slowly and gently at low heat."

Recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Whole Wheat Quick Bread-Daring Bakers Challenge

I used to be a chocolate chip kinda girl, now more an oatmeal raisin one.  Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate but when reaching for a cookie, I'm more likely to go for the oatmeal raisin one.  Well, the truth is I'm happiest when I can have an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie!  I don't know why oatmeal raisin cookies were on my mind when I came up with this recipe for February's Daring Baker's Challenge.  I'm glad they were though, because this Oatmeal Raisin Whole Wheat Quick Bread is terrific.  


The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lis stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Recipe for Indian Flavored Squash Fritters-Daring Cooks

This recipe resulted from the monthly challenge from the Daring Kitchen.  The Daring Cooks' February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax and Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients, and deliciousness!  We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties.


Sometimes the challenges are very specific.  This one was great because we had a lot of latitude in our recipe. I thought about different kinds of patties all month-I think I had patty paralysis.  But, as is often the case, I just needed to open the fridge to get inspiration. When I saw the acorn squash sitting there, I was over my paralysis and knew what I'd put together-a fritter! 

Recipe for Simple Biscuits-Daring Bakers

Mmmm, fresh out of the oven!  We don't eat biscuits as a general rule although I used to eat them frequently enough when I lived in the South.  I was surprised how much we both enjoyed these when I made them for our monthly Daring Bakers challenge.

Recipe for Char Sui Bao - Daring Cooks

Do you love dim sum?  We do and always try to go to our favorite dim sum restaurant when we get back to San Francisco (Yank Sing-a top 100 SF Restaurant in 2011).  They call it deem sum...they probably know better than I do, but I've always seen it written as dim sum, except on their website.  Anyone know the correct spelling?  Anyway, I digress.  I love the steamed pork buns-Char Sui Bao-but never gave a thought to trying to prepare them at home.


Turns out they are a challenge to make, but not an insurmountable one.  That's why I really enjoy participating in The Daring Kitchen challenges.  The challenges so far have pushed me in to culinary experiences I wouldn't have picked on my own and are presented with very detailed instructions, priming the pathway to success.  Our Daring Cooks’ December 2011 hostess is Sara from BellyRumbles! Sara chose awesome Char Sui Bao as our challenge, where we made the buns, Char Sui, and filling from scratch – delicious!

Recipe for Sans Rival Cake - Daring Bakers

On Friday, I spoke of everything in moderation and trying to eat healthy most of the time.  Well, I'm sure you can appreciate that this lovely cake fits in the "occasional treat" category here at Eat Little, Eat Big.  Last month I joined an adventuresome group of bloggers who try monthly challenges to expand our culinary aperture and to get out of our comfort zone.  Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake!

Recipe for Beef Braised in Rooibos Tea with Sweet Potatoes - Daring Cooks

Do you enjoy a good challenge?  Me too, so I joined the Daring Kitchen-a group of hundreds of cooks around the world who come together each month to try something new in the kitchen.

Sarah from Simply Cooked was our November Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to create something truly unique in both taste and technique! We learned how to cook using tea with recipes from Tea Cookbook by Tonia George and The New Tea Book by Sara Perry.