OOT IRON CHEF - 11/27-12/10

[The DaveR]

[ QUOTE ]

Here it is.

Crispy crust, good crumb, flavorful bread, ~$0.50.



Making whole wheat bread now.

[/ QUOTE ]

That looks absolutely delicious.

[CardSharpCook]

From Mrs. Utah:

App: Beef and Shitake Mushroom Wonton Soup

I learned a lot from my mom who has studied Chinese cooking in Hong Kong and Taiwan over the last 30+ years-one of the things I have learned from her that so much of it is constantly tasting and adjusting…so I apologize for not having true measurements here.

Beef broth
Water
Dried Shitake Mushrooms-reconstituted in boiling water
Green Onion
Bok Choy
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Chinese White Pepper-found in Chinese markets.


Read the labels…often hilarious…”Expiry date 2 years”….from when??? 

For the broth, combine broth, water, water from mushrooms, soy, sesame oil, green onion, and mushrooms and heat to simmer…adjusting soy, sesame oil, pepper or water to taste. Add baby bok choy before serving, just allowing bok choy to blanch and maintain a bright green color.

The longer this simmers the more intense the flavor…I did add leftover sliced beef from wontons to further flavor the broth.

Wontons

Reconstituted Shitake Mushrooms
Green onion…reserve long greens to secure wontons
Chinese Black Bean Garlic Sauce
Beef…list cut
wonton wrappers


Combine reconstituted mushrooms, diced with diced green onion, minced ginger, prepared Chinese black bean and garlic sauce. Sesame oil or even chili oil can be used to adjust taste as you like.

Take beef and put between 2 sheets parchment paper and pound thin.(I used a rolling pin...bottom of a small fry pan works well too)
Cut rounds of the beef, putting extra slices of beef in broth to flavor. Layer wonton wrapper on beef round, then spoon a small amount of mushroom/black bean mixture onto wrapper. Pull wrapper and beef up to from a small pouch. Wrap long green onion(I blanched onion for a minute in simmering soup to make more pliable) around top of wonton and secure with toothpicks. Drop wontons into simmering to lightly boiling broth to cook, 5 minutes or so.

To serve…remove wontons and pull toothpicks. Arrange the wontons and bok choy and ladle broth over.

[CardSharpCook]

From Mrs. Utah:

Entree: Beef Tenderloin with Sushi Rice, Tempura Onion Rings and Mushrooms with Japanese Cucumber Salad
The cucumber salad has to marinate for a few hours so make ahead of time.

Peel and slice or julianne cut cucumber and marinate in about ½ cup rice vinegar, 1Tbsp sugar(more or less depending on how sweet you like it) and finely grated ginger root-approx 1 tsp and I added a few drops of chili oil. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours. I used rambutan as a sweet compliment to the vinegary cucumcers)
http://www.rambutan.com/

Beef Tenderloin

Marinate Beef in ½ cup soy, ½ cup honey, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp ginger root, 2 cloves garlic crushed, 1 Tbsp chili oil(give or take-I wish I had added a bit more), ½ cup canola oil. Marinate meat in refrigerator until ready to prepare…couple of hours.


Sushi Rice

This is a little more involved but so good!

Figure using 1 cup of med or short grained white rice to 1 cup of water.

Put rice in a bowl and fill with cold water. Mix gently with your hand. Drain and repeat 2-3 times until water is nearly clear then leave rice under cold running water for a few minutes. This will wash away surface starch so the rice does not get too sticky. Drain well and let rice stand for 15-30 minutes. Put rice in cooker or saucepan and let stand for another 30 minutes.
While rice is standing, make sushi vinegar.

Combine 8 Tbsp rice vinegar with 4 Tbsp sugar and ½ tsp salt.(this amount I would use for 3 cups of rice(raw) to 3 cups of water…which is a lot.)
Stir to dissolve. Mixture can be gently heated to dissolve sugar and mellow out vinegar slightly.
Once sugar is dissolved…turn off heat and set aside.

Cook rice. If using a rice cooker cook according to directions…in a saucepan bring rinsed rice and water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low until water is absorbed. 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered 10-15 minutes.
Spread rice out onto flat bottomed bowl or platter-non metallic.
Using a rice paddle or wooden spoon slice through rice to break up any lumps while slowly pouring sushi vinegar to evenly distribute. you may not need all of the vinegar, depending on how much rice you made!
Continue to slice not stir, turning rice from the outside into the center.
Fan the rice so that it cools-a little warmer than room temp. turning it occasionally. Cooling gives it good flavor and a gloss to the rice. If it gets cold it will harden so do not refrigerate. I cut in some roasted black sesame seeds. You can also put in herbs, citrus zest, etc… Cover with a damp cloth until ready to plate.
(I had a prep pic but accidentally deleted it)

I have also made my rice with beet juice instead of water and it turns pink but did not alter the flavor.

Tempura Onion Rings


You can use a deep fryer or deep pan for this. Heat canola oil and a few drops of sesame oil(deep enough to submerge onion rings) to 365 degrees F. or until a small amount of the tempura batter is dropped into the oil and rises to the surface quickly. About 1 sec.

Remove outer layers of onion skin, slice onion and separate rings.
Coat rings with cornstarch.
Mix equal amounts of tempura flour with ice cold water. Dip cornstarched onions into tempura batter and deep fry until golden brown, turning occasionally. Drain onion rings on wire rack for 30 sec then set onto paper towels.

These are best eaten fairly quickly while warm, so make them while beef if resting.

Beef Tenderloin

Preheat oven to 325.

Sear marinated meat in small amount of hot canola oil on stove top then place pan into heated oven.
Roast tenderloin until internal temp 145 degrees(for rare).
Let tenderloin rest for 10 minutes before slicing thinly.

I used nori on the plate and wasabi cream(served in rambtuan skin) also to keep with my sushi theme.

[CardSharpCook]

Wendy, you continue to impress me.

[splashpot]

Wow, that looks incredible Utah.

[Ron Burgundy]

THREE-PEAT

gg all

[Analyst]

I was going to cook beef tonight, but think I'll just order a pizza instead . . .

[katyseagull]

I cooked beef tonight and it was delicious. I love what I'm seeing on here. You guys inspire me.

Nice job Mrs. Utah.

[P Chippa]

Good job everyone. I'll post some comments soon. I've been too busy at work to play in the kitchen. Damn you guys make me hungry.

RB,
You don't do dairy products or red meat?

[Ron Burgundy]

[ QUOTE ]
RB,
You don't do dairy products or red meat?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll eat eggs. And cheese occasionally.