Cooking Challenge: Masterchef Mystery Box

Wk 6 Next week is (MC) is a mystery box challenge.  I am not sure I got all of the ingredients but I did my best so you  need to create something usiporkng one or more of the ingredients.

I chose to make  Apple Stuffed Pork Loin with a savory Sauteed Cabbage.  Both were delicious.

BOX INGREDIENTS:

Pork

Flat Leaf Parsley

Cabbage

Tomato Vine

Chipata bread

Granny Smith apple

Lemon

Cognac

Cinnamon

Chocolate

Egg

Milk

I chose to make

Menu Mondays

This week I am trying the following menu

Black Pepper Chicken Tenders

https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/baked-spicy-ranch-chicken-fingers/

Fish Sticks

Potato Fries

 

Turmeric Spiced Fish w/Wilted Herbs and Peanuts-clipping

Carrot Salad

https://www.gonnawantseconds.com/carrot-salad/

 

 

Veggie Supreme Pizza

https://www.thekitchn.com/veggie-supreme-pizza-254919

Salad

 

Potato Crusted Herb Quiche

https://www.marthastewart.com/1515827/potato-crusted-herb-quiche

Asparagus

 

Shepherds Pie

https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/shepherds-pie-2/

Sweet and Spicy Brussel Sprouts

https://www.howsweeteats.com/2018/10/sweet-spicy-brussels-sprouts/

Garlic Bread

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/strawberry-rhubarb-crisp#.UAR7tVcDYmM.pinterest

 

BREAKFAST

Scrambled Egg and Sausage

https://www.marthastewart.com/1526405/scrambled-egg-and-sausage-pocket-pastries

 

Scones-Baking Challenge

http://pinkpiccadillypastries.blogspot.com/2016/06/cream-tea-scones-with-blackberry.html

2019 Game A Throne-A-Thon

Now that Game A Thrones is closing towards the end.  I wanted to share the Game A Throne A Thon party I do the week (or week before) depending on timing.  We generally get together and watch favorite three episodes on Friday.  Then on Saturday we watch the entirety of the previous season.  I decorate, cook and share the experience with family and friends.
This year I went with a feast menu. I scoured the web, blogs, and Pinterest for recipes.  The links are provided for the items showcased.

Friday I baked four different breads and had the fixings for sandwiches.   Served with a Garlic and Cheddar Cheese Ball and cucumber bites.

cheeseball

 

Here are the breads I made:  I liked the Irish Brown Bread best but everyone liked a different one, they were all hits.

breads.jpg

Multi Seed No Knead Bread

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

Rye Sourdough Boule

Traditional Brown Irish Soda Bread

Saturday Morning we had Hashbrown Casserole which is always a favorite.   I made a Honey Nut Granola with fresh fruit and yogurt for parfaits.   Belgian Waffles and a wonderful Amish Cinnamon Bread which served warm is like a slice of heaven. This was enough to tide us over until the big feast later in the day.

For the Feast we had Mushroom Wellington and Roast.  Side dishes included Garlic Chive Roasted Potatoes, Savory Pears with Haloumi, Blistered Green Olives, Maple Roasted Carrots with Tahini Pomegranate and Pistachio.

For Desert we had Black Forest Cake and a Coconut Cake.  Everything was delicious and the event was a big hit.

Cooking Challenges

I love cooking shows, love to watch them and  when I cook I try to take some of the tips I find and utilize them in my own cooking and menus.  Trying to expand my abilities though I decided to do a few challenges taking inspiration from the challenges I see on Great British Bakeoff  and Masterchef.  It took a bit of research but I have added my own twist on some of the challenges. I am starting at the beginning on both shows, season 1 and going episode by episode.  On Masterchef I skipped the auditions because I wanted to jump into the challenges. I have reached out to family and friends and encouraged them to participate.  We have done a few weeks already if you want to participate or catch up.

Week 1-(GBB)  Signature Cake

I did a Chocolate Orange Ganache Cake, while it tasted really good I don’t think my ganache would have passed the Mary Berry/Paul Hollywood tasted.

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Week 2-(GBB) -Victorian Sponge

I did a Lemon Curd and my niece did a Berry Sponge.   For some reason my lemon curd needed maybe three more minutes but it was not as solid as I hoped. Tasted good though.  I made mine the night before an event and my niece did day of.  I found that this type of cake did not really save as well overnight.  Still tasty but not as spongy.

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Week 3 (MC) Onions-the very first episode was about cutting skills and onion.  The challenge we did this week was a dish highlighting onions.   I did onion rings but for the life of me I have problems with doing full coats on  these suckers.  Haley (niece) did Crispy Onion Bhaji and my daughter Megan did Onion and Mushroom Pasties which I did get to try and were delicious.

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Week 4 (MC) was Eggs-the  challenge was to do a dish in 30 minutes with Egg as centerpiece.  We did Eggs were the focus of whatever dish we made.  I did Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs with Crispy Bacon and Green Onions.  These were delicious.  Essentially you make your pimento cheese and then you take the yolks and process them in with a little bit of water to smooth the consistency out. Top with piece of bacon and green onions.

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Upcoming weeks:

Wk 5-This week we are doing (GBB) Showstopper-Chocolate Celebration Cake.   I am making a Black Forest cake for my Game a throne athon event. Will post pics once done.  The goal of this one is to amp up the decorating skills.

Wk 6 Next week is (MC) is a mystery box challenge.  I am not sure I got all of the ingredients but I did my best so you  need to create something using one or more of the ingredients.

Pork

Flat Leaf Parsley

Cabbage

Tomato Vine

Chipata bread

Granny Smith apple

Lemon

Cognac

Cinnamon

Chocolate

Egg

Milk

 

Wk 7 is a (GBB) Personality Biscuits- these are cookies, shortbread, biscuits.  I like this one because you could do sweet or savory.

Week 8 (MC) Elimination Test-Chinese Cuisine with focus on Mandarin Oranges

If you like to push yourself join us in these challenges, post you bakes or dishes.