My pans and pots

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Our July  2012 Daring Cooks' hostess was  Sarah from All our fingers in the pie  . She challenged us to learn a new cooking technique called en papillote.
 About this challenge Sarah said: "My challenge to you is to cook ‘en papillote (pah-pee-YOHT)’. This is French for ‘in parchment’. In Italian it is called ‘al cartoccio’. This is a method of cooking in which the food is put into a folded pouch or parcel and then baked. The parcel is typically made from folded parchment paper, but other materials such as a paper bag or aluminum foil may be used.
This is a very healthy way of cooking because no fat is required. The package holds in all the juices and is more flavourful than traditional steaming. As the package is heated, the air inside the package expands and the flavours of the ingredients mingle with no escape. The food in a sense is cooked in flavoured air.
Opening these packets at the table can create some drama with the aromatic steam that will pour out.
Cooking successfully en papillote takes thoughtfulness and an understanding of ingredients. You must think of how they will react with heat, how long they will take to cook, how they will taste together. Some vegetables will release a lot of water and dilute the natural sauce that forms. Some ingredients may turn an unpleasant colour, like basil turns black.
Cooking en papillote works best with tender foods that cook quickly. Cut the ingredients into sizes that will all cook in the same length of time. Add moisture, if necessary. Some vegetables release enough moisture but if not, add liquid seasonings or a splash of water or stock to create the steam within the packet. The ingredients in the packet will add flavour but you can also add fresh or dried herbs, salt, pepper, spices or stocks. Also consider a pat of herbed butter or a drizzle of cream. Fat is not required but goes a long way to build flavour. Laying a lettuce leaf on the bottom of the paper or foil will help to prevent scorching"
Usually I use en papillote technique for preparing fish or chicken. This time I wanted something different.  I decided to make something I had never made before, fruit en papillote.

Fruit en papillote 

Ingrediants:
1 peach
handful of mix berries
1 tbsp vanilla sugar or 1 tbsp sugar and 1 vanilla bean 
a few fresh lemon balm leaves
1 tsp white rum 

Preheat grill to medium-low.
Spread a  piece of parchment  out on a work surface. Place fruit in paper and drizzle with vanilla sugar  and a splash of  rum. Top with Lemon balm. Fold up packet to seal Grill packages, folded edge up, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter. Cool slightly. Transfer fruit and juices to a bowl or plate and top with egg custard gelato  and mint.

Egg custard gelato

With a knife halve vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape seeds into a large heavy saucepan and stir in pods and milk. Bring to just below a boil over medium heat; do not let it boil. Turn off heat.
Meanwhile, put egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat with wire whisk until pale yellow and thick.Remove vanilla pods from the milk and gradually pour hot milk into beaten yolks in thin stream, stirring constantly with whisk.
Return mixture to saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not let custard boil, or it will curdle.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into clean metal bowl. Cool completely over bowl of ice water. Cover and chill in refrigerator until cold. (Custard mixture can keep in refrigerator for a day or two.)
Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately, or transfer to tightly sealed container and freeze for a day or two

Our Jun 2012 Daring Cooks host was Manu  from Manu's Menu . She challenge us to make cannelloni. This was the first time I have made cannelloni from scratch and was delicious.I made cannelloni di margo but I used swiss chard with red stalk instead of spinach. I always thought that making cannelloni pasta is so difficult and I don't like store-bought cannelloni tubes so I didn't eat cannelloni. It is actually quite easy to make pasta even if you don't have pasta maker. Thanks Manu for this challenge .
So, let's make some cannelloni :) 




First you need to make egg pasta. 

For egg pasta:
Ingredients (to make enough cannelloni for 4 persons):
100 grams all-purpose flour
1 large egg
Directions:
1. Put the flour and eggs in a food processor and mix. When the dough looks like crumbs, pour it onto the bench top sprinkled with a little flour. Knead well by hand until you obtain a smooth dough. Make it into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
 2. Now you are ready to make your egg pasta. Cut out a piece of egg pasta dough and flatten it into a rectangular shape with your hands.  
3.Use a rolling pin to get a very thin sheet of dough and then cut it into rectangles.


 4. Put a large pot with salty water on the fire and bring to a boil. Cook the pasta sheets in it for 1 minute. Do this in batches (I use a shallow but large pot and I cook them in 1 layer, so I am sure they do not stick together). Remove them with a slotted spoon and put them on a clean tea towel to cool down.


Making a filling: 
500 gr   raw spinach ( I used swiss chard with red stalkI used)
400 gr  ricotta
2 cups (120 gr) Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated, divided
Salt and pepper
1 pinch nutmeg
1 large egg

1. Cook spinach  for 2 minutes in salty boiling water. Drain  and run some cold water on them to cool it down quickly (this will help them retain a nice green colour). Then squeeze spinach with your hands to get rid of as much liquid as possible and  cut  finely with a knife. 

2. Put the ricotta in a bowl, add the minced spinach, egg, 1½ cups (85 gms/3 oz) of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix until well combined
 3.Take one sheet of cooked pasta and put 1/8 of the filling along the long side of the rectangle. Roll it over to make a cannellone. Do the same with remaining pasta sheets. 



Now you need to make bechamel sauce. I made fake bechamel sauce because I 'm daring cook on a diet. :)
Fake bechamel sauce
Ingredients (enough to make cannelloni for 4 people):
2 cups (500 ml) milk, hot
 50 gm  all-purpose  flour
1 pinch salt
1 pinch nutmeg
 Directions:
  Add the flour into a milk  and whisk constantly until well incorporated. Add salt and nutmeg and cook it on a low flame for 10 minutes or until it thickens.




Assembling cannelloni:   


  
Take a big enough oven dish to fit all your cannelloni tightly. Spray it with some cooking oil (or melted butter) and pour some béchamel sauce on the bottom. Spread it well, especially in the corners. Put the cannelloni in the oven dish on 1 layer.
Cover the cannelloni with the remaining béchamel sauce and sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup  of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Bake them in a preheated moderate oven 180°C for 20 minutes, then grill them at 200°C for another 5 minutes.
Serve immediately






Ovomesečna domaćica Daring cooks igrice Manu sa bloga Manu's menu nas je izazvala da napravimo kanelone. Nikada ranije ih nisam pravila jer nemam masinu za testenine a i mislila sam da je proces dugotrajan i zahtevan. O, kolko sam glupa bila. Čak i bez mašine, pravljenje je jako lako a neverovatno su ukusni. 
Prvo pravimo pastu.
Potrebno je :
( za cetiri osobe) 
100 gr brašna 
1 veće jaje
Jaje i brašno ubacite u multipraktik i kratko mutite dok ne dobijete mrvičastu masu. Prebacite na radnu površinu i mesite dok ne dobijete tvrdje testo. Ostavite da se odmara 10-15 minuta , pokriveno prozirnom folijom. Nakon odmaranja , oklagijom razivijte testo što tanje, na svega nekoliko 2-3 milimetara i isecite na pravougaonike 10x15 cm.  
U posoljenoj ključaloj vodi , kuvajte list po list da se ne bi slepili  po minut-dva. Ako su vam listovi deblji i duže. Kuvane listove vaditi  supljom kasikom i stavljati  na čistu krpu da se prohlade. 
Fil: 
500 gr svežeg spanaća ili blitve 
120 gr rendanog parmezana
400 gr rikote 
1 jaje
so, biber
prstohvat muskatnog orasčića 

Spanać ( ili u mom slučaju blitvu) operite i u vreloj vodi kuvajte 2-3 minuta. Ocedite u cediljci pa stavite  pod hladnu vodu da prekinete kuvanje. Sačekajte da se još malo prohladi jedno 5 minuta pa rukama ocedite vodu iz spanaća što više možete. Kuvani spanać iseckajte nožem na dasci pa u dubljoj posudi promešajte sa rikotom , jajetom i 80 gr rendanog parmezana.  Posolite, pobiberite i dodajte prstohvat sveže rendanog muskatnog orasćića. 
1/8 fila u vidu valjka stavite na jedan kraj kuvanog lista  testenine i zarolajte. Ponavljate dok ne utrosite svu testeninu i fil.


Sada napravite bešamel. Ja sam pravila lažni bešamel tj samo sam ukuvala brašno i mleko bez prethodnog prženja brašna i začinila muškatnim oraščićem ,posolila i pobiberila. 
Potrebno je : 
500 gr mleka 
50 gr brašna 
Brašno i mleko sam žicom umutila da se dobro sjedine i na tihoj vatri kuvala 10-tak minuta dok nisam dobila odgovarajuću gustinu. 
Vatrostanu posudu, koja je dovoljno velika da svoje kanelone rasporedite u jednom sloju , premazite uljem ili puterom i rasporedite trećinu besamela po dnu posude. Naročito obratite paznju da besamela bude i po uglovima posude. Poređajte kanelone, prekrite preostalim bešamelom i parmezanom. Pecite  u predhodno zagrejanoj rerni na 180 °C pecite ih 20 minuta. Zatim ih pecite još 5 minuta na 200 °C da se odozgo dobije lepa zapečena korica. 
Služite odmah.
Prijatno :)

Fabi  from Fabsfood was our May Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to make boeuf bourguignon. I was so happy. Wine, beef, bacon, mushrooms....  It has ALL of my favorite ingredients in one dish. Fabi provided us with  Julia Child’s recipe, from her book “Mastering the art of french cooking”. Here are Fabi's  instruction.

Boeuf bourguignon


Ingredients for 6 people:
Ingredients
1 x 6 oz (200 gr) chunk of streaky bacon
Olive oil
3 pounds (1⅓ kg) stewing beef cut into 2 inches (5 cm) cubes
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
½ teaspoon (5 ml) (2 gm) pepper
3 tablespoons (45 ml) (1 oz/30 gm) flour
3 cups (1½ pint/720 ml) of young red wine. Suggestions: Bourgogne, of course, but also Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti, Rioja etc., depending on your country and your taste. Being Spanish, my choice this time was a good Rioja. It really has to be a good one but it hasn’t necessarily to be a very expensive one, you know, il ne faut pas exagérer
1 carrot, sliced (I prefer to cut it into chunks, but that's just my taste)
1 onion, sliced in julienne
1 ½ to 2 cups (¾ to 1 pint/355 to 475 ml) of beef stock or beef bouillon
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) tomato paste or tomato puree
2 cloves mashed garlic
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (1 gm) thyme leaves
1 bay leave (Julia says it has to be crushed, I prefer not to crush it so that I can remove it at the end of the process)
The blanched bacon rind
18-24 small onions, brown-braised in stock
1 pound (½ kg) mushrooms sautéed in butter (Champignons are perfect for this purpose)
Fresh parsley sprigs to serve
Directions:
1.Prepare the bacon: Remove the rind. Cut the bacon into lardons (Sticks, ¼ inch thick and ½ inch (5 mm x 15 mm) long) and simmer everything in 4 cups (1 litre) of water for 10 minutes. Drain and dry carefully with paper towels.
2.Dry the meat cubes carefully with paper towels.
3.Preheat oven to hot 450ºF/230ºC/gas mark 8
4.In a fireproof casserole or a frying pan, sauté the lardons in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 minutes until they’re lightly brown. Remove them to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
5.In the same casserole/pan, sauté the beef until it’s golden brown. Remove it to the side dish where you keep the bacon and set aside.
6.Still in the same casserole/pan, sauté the carrot and the onion.
7.Return the bacon and the beef to the casserole. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, then add the flour and toss.
 8.Place the casserole/dish uncovered in the middle position of the oven for 4 minutes. This gives the meat a lovely crust.
9.Remove the casserole/dish from the oven. Stir in the wine, stock, tomato paste, mashed garlic cloves, thyme, bay and the blanched bacon rind.
10.Bring it to simmering point on the stove. Now, if you were using a frying pan, discard it and put the stew in an oven proof dish.
11.Cover the casserole/dish (If your dish doesn't have a lid, use aluminum foil and stretch it to the edges of the dish in order to minimize the loss of juices) and place it low in the oven. Adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers very slowly, it has to go on for 3-4 hours.
12.While the stew is cooking, prepare onions and mushrooms. For the onions: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan and sauté the peeled onions until golden brown. Add beef stock until they’re almost covered and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until almost all the liquid disappears and they’re tender but keep their shape. Set aside.
 13.Prepare the mushrooms as well: Wash quarter and sauté them in 2 tablespoons butter. Keep on stirring until they’re nicely brown. Set aside.
 14.When meat is tender, put the stew into a sieve over a saucepan, wash out the casserole and return the stew to it. Put onions and mushrooms over the meat.
15.Skim the fat off the sauce. Put the saucepan on the stove and simmer it for 2-3 minutes. Skim additional fat if it rises. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If not, boil it until it thickens. If it’s too thick, stir in some stock or bouillon to make it lighter.
16.Pour the sauce over the stew. Put the casserole on the stove or in the oven and reheat for 2-3 minutes. Serve it in the casserole with some sprigs of fresh parsley. Some goods sides are potatoes, noodles or rice.
Freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: You can keep leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you want to freeze it, it lasts up to 3 months.

The only changes I made were adding a few extra carrots.   I cooked boeuf bourguignon two days in a row. First time I made only 1/4 of the recipe and didn't get any photos . I ate it almost immediately because it was so delicious.

 Dear Fabi, thanks so much for a very YUMMY challenge!


Boeuf bourguignon
Domaćica ovomesečne igre Daring Bakers Fabi sa bloga Fabsfood nas je izazvala da napravimo beef bourguignon i na tome joj mnogo hvala. Ovo je bio jedan jako ukusan izazov.  Ako do sada niste probali ovaj klasik francuske kuhinje sada je pravo vreme da to učinite.

Potrebno Vam je :
200 gr mesnate slanine
maslinovo ulje
1,3 kg junećeg buta isečenog na kockice 3x3 cm
1 kašičica soli
1 kašičica mlevenog bibera
3 supene kašike brašna
720 ml mladog crvenog vina
1 šargarepa ( ja sam stavila ipak više, 4 ili pet manjih)
1 crveni luk, sitno seckan
450 ml juneće bistre  supe + 100 ml supe ( za dinstanje malih lukčića)
1 supena kašika paradajz pirea
2 čena belog luka (propasirana kroz presu  ili sitno naseckana)
1/2 kafene kašičice timijana
1 list lovora
18-24 malih lukčića 
1/2 kg manjih šampinjonja
2 kašike putera 


Iseckajte slaninicu na šnjite a zatim svaku šnjiticu na manje komadiće. Kocke mesa posušite ubrusima. zagrejte rernu na 230°C. U tiganju propržite slaninicu na kašici maslinovog ulja. Ocedite supljom kašikom i izvadite na tanjir. Na toj masnoći propržite kockice mesa, ravnomerno sa svake strane. . Izvadite ih i stavite na tanjir sa slaninom.Zatim u istom tiganju ubacite šargarepu i luk i kratko ih proprzite dok luk ne postane staklast. Tiganj sklonite sa vatre i vratite  meso i slaninu. Posolite i pobiberite i dodajte brašno. Sve dobro promešate i stavite u rernu tako što ćete rešetku postavite na sredinu rerne.  pecite 4 minuta, otvorite rernu, promešajte i pecite još 4 minuta.





Dodajte vino, supu, paradajz pire, lovorov list, timijan i beli luk.
Pustite da proključa. Ako ste do sada koristili tiganj, pravo je vreme da sve preručite u keramičku posudu za pečenje.Posudu poklopite odgovarajućim poklopcem ili aluminiskom folijom ako poklopac nemate. Rešetku u rerni pomerite na najniži podeljak i stavite posudu sa jelom na nju. Temperaturu u rerni podesite na 180°C i kuvajte 3-4 sata dok meso ne postane lepo mekano. Pri kraju kuvanja, 1 kašiku putera otopite u tiganji i  propržite pečurke pa ih izvadite ih iz tiganja. U istom tiganju istopite još jednu  kašiku putera i propržite  male lukčiće dok ne dobiju zlatnu boju. Nalijte ih sa 1 dl  govedje supe (da ogreznu) i kuvajte na tihoj vatri jedno 20-25 minuta,dok ne postanu meki ali treba da zadrže oblik.
Kada je meso mekano, procedite ga kroz finu rešetku iznad tiganja,  meso vratite u posudu u koju se peklo preko njega rasporedite lukčiće i pečurke a sos u tiganju zgusnite  i prelijte preko svega. Pospite sa sveže seckanim peršunom i poslužite odmah uz krompir, pastu ili pirinač.
Prijatno :)
Ovo je zvanično postalo moje omiljeno jelo. Pravila sam ga dva puta za redom.Prvi put sam napravila samo četvrtinu recepta za nas dvoje ali kada sam krenula da se pripremam za slikanje a bb je tako dobro mirisao, smazali smo ga a da nisam ni jednu fotku okinula. Ovo su slike drugog po redu bb-a. Kao što vidite i tu mi se žurilo da krenem sa jelom pa su slike malo krive, čaša nije u kadru.... Meni je prosto nemoguće stajati iznad ovog jela ,upijati mirise a imati mirnu ruku za slikanje. : ))