Menu 11: Carrot and Orange Soup, Gruyere Tart and Arugula Salad with Parmesan

Alright folks we are at Menu eleven!  Its full of light, and cheese and greens! 

• Carrot and Orange Soup - page107
• Gruyere Tart - page 165
• Arugula Salad with Parmesan -page 118

That pretty much screams a light lunch to me!

I don’t think you can go wrong with a tart (but, then savory tarts are my favorite thing in the world) and if you don’t like arugula (I don’t care much for it) you can go with a different lettuce choice.  And carrot soup with orange? I had the juice…wonder how it will translate into soup?

Are we ready to get Gutsy!

Menu 10: Chicken a la King, Spinach Timbale and Kasha Pilaf

Did everyone have a great holiday break?  As you can see, I had a total holiday break, meaning that I totally put the Gutsy Cooks responsibilities on the shelf, and instead cooked everything else but the set menu – yes, bad, bad administrator I am.

But, I’m back and along with a new sense of Gutsy.  The December menu choices are coming compliments of Raymond, who has been very good about keeping the schedule up, I think he has been one of the cooks in the club that has done all of the menu thus far.  I think he needs like a special gold star!

Especially,his choices for the month, because he knows how to pick them for sure.  Just take a look at this week’s menu, which is making my mouth water and its a complete meal - perfect dinner if you ask me:

• Chicken a la King - page 304
• Spinach Timbales - page 144
• Kasha Pilaf - page 211

Chicken a la King, whose name suggest a French influence, but there are a lot of people trying to get credit for this one.  But, all I know is that it’s a creamy chicken dish, that has mushrooms (love them) and cream (love it even more).  You just cannot go wrong when you put those ingredients together.

And the Timbales have nothing to do with a type of kettledrum or Latin-American percussion. But, it does have everything to do with a dish that is baked in a mold, usually rice or even pasta combined with vegetables or meats/fish.  In our version it’s more like custard like, since it uses eggs and goat cheese.  Having had this dish before, I highly recommend that you try it; it’s a great appetizer or in this case, a vegetarian choice for a light meal, if you pair it with a salad (which the book does).

And last is the Kasha Pilaf.  Kasha is toasted buckwheat groats and is actually not a grain, but it looks, cooks and tastes like a grain. It comes in several forms, from whole to fine granulation. It is used for cereals, side dishes and main dishes. It is prepared similar to rice, but takes a little less time to cook.  I’m actually looking forward to making this one, I’m thinking the combination of raisins and walnuts in there is going to really make this easy dish shine, and a perfect compliment to the chicken a la king dish.  You should be able to find it in your local supermarket if not try a specialty store and if you just cannot find it, you can use quinoa in it’s place.

So, what do you say?

Ready? Set?…Get Gutsy!

Menu 7: Tabbouleh and Lamb Tagine with Couscous

And we are already in the second week of November.  Time is sure flying us by.  This week menu is one that I truly love… and unfortunately I’m going to miss doing due to traveling.  But, I’m sure that I will try to fit it in there next week.  Who can say no to Lamb?

• Lamb Tagine with Couscous - page 340
• Tabbouleh - page 125

Let me give you guys a quick tip… mix the Tabbouleh with the Couscous … you will not regret it.

So, come guys - Ready, Set..get Gutsy!

When I’m back I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s post.

Menu 6: Cod in Tomato Sauce and Spanish Vegetable Tortilla

And can you believe it that it’s November already?  But there you go, we are nine weeks away from 2011! Yikes, did the time fly for you guys as well?

November’s choices are coming to you via Jenn, who unfortunately is not cooking along with us this time, but wanted us to enjoy her original choices.  So are you ready for Menu 6? 

• Cod in Tomato Sauce - page 263
• Spanish Vegetable Tortilla - page 136

If you do not like cod, a great substitute for it is sea bass, which has the same consistency of the cod, you can also use other fish in the cod family - Haddcok, Hake, Ling, Whiting. If you have a fishmonger in your area I suggest you use it, since they will make sure you get the freshest fish available.  If you don’t and venture on your own remember these tips: The skin should be shiny and clear. Fillets or steaks are  more economical and more widely available.  Shoulder steaks have the finest flavor, so try to buy thick cuts from the shoulder or middle of the fish and check that the flesh is very white.  I know this is a long shot, but Cod is commonly trawled or netted, which can damage the delicate flesh, so try to buy line-caught fish.

The recipe calls for fish stock, and unless you want to make your own from scratch I highly recommend the following More Than Gourmet Classic Seafood Stock and another good one is the Fumet de Poisson Gold (Classic Fish Fumet Stock) I have found both in my local Fresh Market and Whole Foods, sometimes your local supermarket carries the Superior Touch brand which is very good as well.

And then you have the Spanish Tortilla, which making it is in art all by itself.  The trick here is having everything at room temperature when you are ready to compose it.  There are tons of videos out there in how to make the classic Spanish Tortilla and if you have never done one, I suggest you take a peek, just so you familiarized your self with the steps.  The most important tip I could give you is to cook the potatoes and onions until the potatoes are tender, the book mentions about 10-15 minutes, but past experience tells me they are going to take a bit more, so check them at the 15 minute mark with a fork, they need to be soft but at the same a bit “al dente” so when you cook them with the rest of the ingredients they hold their shape. And as always taste them and season them accordingly.  

In another note, we have a new Gutsy Cook which has joined our club - please welcome Jackie from Sofrito’s Kitchen I know she has introduce herself to some of you in your last GC post.

So are we ready to take November by storm?

Ready, Set.. get Gutsy!

Menu 4: Wild Mushrooms Tartlets and Vanilla Custards

I’m hoping this weeks we can redeem ourselves, since most of us had a bit of trouble with last weeks choices. Empanadas - FAIL! Even thought we were all surprise by the filling combinations of tuna and tomatoes. But, if you want to try again, let me know and I can point you to a different dough recipe that seem to work better.

Marie posted one from Epicurious on her post and I have another version from this blog, who uses the authentic way to make Argentinian empanadas 

For now, this weeks choices are:

• Wild Mushroom Tartlets - page 54
• Vanilla Custards - page 401

A note on the tartlets.  The recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of chive hollandaise sauce, but does not give you the recipe for it.  You need to hunt it down and there are 2 versions of the hollandaise sauce in the book.  One in page 516 and the other in page 282.  It’s the basic hollandaise sauce, and when they mean chives, I’m taking they mean for you to add them to the hollandaise once its made, which is what I’m planning on doing.

The other tip is the Vanilla Custards, the recipe calls for baking time of 25 minutes.  Experience tells me they may need a bit more cooking time, so keep an eye out for it.  You may need to extend the cooking time depending on you oven temperature.  Trust your instinct!

Ready? Set.. be Gutsy!

Menu 3: Empanadas and White Bean Soup

And we are on a roll.  This weeks menu will be all about confort food.  

• Empanadas  - page 47
• White Bean Soup - page 108 

First up, the Empanadas, I love them, I grew up with them.. in Venezuela we ate them for breakfast, for afternoon snacks, even after a heavy night of dancing.  We had tons of filling for them - anything you can imagine, was put inside these little pockes.  While the Venezuela version was usually made with corn, and fried, these are made in the oven and baked (more healthy) and are filled with Tuna!  Don’t worry, they tend to be good with that unusual filling.

Then we have an italian dish with the white bean soup using none other than Cannellini beans.  The recipe calls for dry, and I’m wondering if we can get away with using good can ones and reducing the cooking time. We will see how much time I have over the weekend and decide then.

And besides, I may have some special visitors this weekend, so I may have help putting this together.

So guys, ready? Set.. Cook!

Menu 2: Ricotta and Arugula Roulade, Quindim

Guys, we had such a great first turn out for our inaugural post.  It was amazing seeing how each of you took the recipes and made them your own.  That is something that I love so much about savory cooking, the possibilities and variations are endless, and all it takes is some GUTS!

Remember to check out each other blog post and see how we all give it our little personal twist.

So, here we are Week 2 and the menu choices are:

• Ricotta and Arugula Roulade - page 161
• Quindim - page 389

I have not cooked them yet, but will probably do so over the weekend, my mother’s birthday is on Sunday and the Roulade is going to be perfect as an appetizer – I’m thinking of making two using the different variation of spinach and dry tomatoes. 

As far as the second option, the Quindim (pronounced keen-jean), I’m really looking forward to this one.  First because I love anything that has coconut in it and second because I had these sweet little gems when I use to travel to Brazil for business a couple of years ago. So when I saw them in the book, I was SCORE, I finally know how to make them!  

A bit of trivia: Quindim is a word of Bantu origin and is used as a term of endearment, similar to darling. It also refers to coy “girlish charms”.  It’s also the most traditional Brazilian dish and incidentally one of the most popular items annually at Brazil’s National Fair of Sweets - FENADOCE.

So there you have it, let’s see what your guts will tell you to do with these choices this week.

Ready? Set… Cook!

Menu 1: Potato Skins and Bake BBQ Wings

Here we are guys… ready or not lets go and cook up.  This weeks menu choices are:

• Potato Skins with Cheddar and Bacon  - page 38
• Bake BBQ Wings with Blue Cheese Dip - page 61

and they are yummy (I cheated and I’m ahead, so I can tell you the BBQ wings will be a total repeat in your kitchen).  When you post your experience, come back and leave your post link in the comment section so we can all go and salivate.