Sep. 28th mystery-box review - Printable Version +- Cuisine at home Forums (https://www.forums.cuisineathome.com) +-- Thread: Sep. 28th mystery-box review (/showthread.php?tid=87871) |
Sep. 28th mystery-box review - labradors - 09-28-2009 Well, it's not QUITE the 28th yet, where I am, so I won't post my recipes, reviews and photo until the morning, but here's a thread to get it all started. Let's begin with a recap of what is being featured in this mystery box (just copying Jean's list): MYSTERY BOX DINNER – SEPT. 21ST FREE LIST: Salt/pepper Oil/butter/fat Flour/thickeners Milk/cream/stock Herbs/spices/sugar Acid (vinegar/citrus/verjus/etc.) ----- Our ingredients: Bill: 1. Hearts of palm 2. Rice Jean: 1. Bacon 2. Black Beans Denise: 1. Ginger 2. Onion Labs: 1. Cheese 2. Tomatoes Daphne: 1. Lettuce 2. Pork Loin -------------------------------------------------------------------- So, let's see what everyone has made. Let the feast begin! Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - cjs - 09-28-2009 Before he and Jane left on their cruise, Bill emailed me his review so he would be on time. So, here it is and his ideas certainly look tasty!! FUSION LETTUCE WRAP DINNER Wrap#1 (Pacific Rim) 2 -- 1 lb pork tenderloins 1 C salt 3/4 C lite brown sugar 4 C water Dissolve salt, sugar in water and brine tenderloins in fridge in a plastic bag for 3 hrs. Preheat oven to 400 1 14 oz can chicken stock 2 inch peeled ginger cut into quarters 1 C long grain rice 2 T rice wine vinegar 3 T olive oil 1 can hearts of palm, sliced into 1/2 inch slices. 2 med tomatoes chopped leaf lettuce leaves Pepper the pork on all sides. Grill the tenderloin until grill marks on all sides, then transfer to oven and cook until internal temp reaches 150-160. Rest 5 min and slice into thin slices. Simmer the stock with the ginger for 20 min. Add water to bring liquid to 1 - 3/4 C-- Add rice and cook until done. Mix the remaining 4 ingredients in a seperate bowl. To serve place rice on leaf, cover with pork, cover with vegi mixture. (should make about 6-8) WRAP #2 (Mexican) 8 slices applewood bacon 1 med onion diced 2 t cumin (ground) 2 t Mexican oregano(crumbled) 1 can black beans , drained 8 oz 4 cheese Mexican mixture 8 romaine lettuce leaves Mexican creama or sour cream salt & pepper to taste Fry the bacon until crisp--set aside and crumble. Reserve bacon grease. Saute onion in grease with cumin and oregano until translucent Add drained black beans. Heat thru--salt and pepper to taste--cover with cheese and remove from heat--let cheese melt. Cover each romaine leaf with onion bean mixture--sprinkle crumbled bacon over. Serve each leaf alongside a Pacific Rim wrap--A wrap of each on each plate. I thought both were good- number 1 gets a 3 out of 5, Number 2 gets 4 out of 5. This is Bill's review --------- Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - cjs - 09-28-2009 And this is my review. I loved playing with these ingredients!! Stuffed Pork Medallions on Wild Rice & Hearts of Palm With Puree of Marrow Beans Wild Rice & Hearts of Palm: Cook a pkg. of wild rice according to pkg. directions; when cooked to the doneness preferred (45-60 minutes), drain any residual cooking liquid and add 1/4 cup minced onion and 2 hearts of palm , thinly sliced. Season with salt & pepper. Toss together over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm. Stuffed Pork Medallions: Sauté 3 thick-cut slices of bacon , julienned until almost done. Add 3 T. seeded and chopped roma tomato , 1 tsp. minced ginger and 1/2 tsp. dried basil; cook together over low heat for 4-5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup shredded lettuce and remove from heat and allow to cool while prepping the pork. Cut open an 8 oz. piece of pork loin book-style (not cutting all the way through) and pound to about 1/4" thickness. Season with salt and pepper, spread the bacon mixture over the pork and roll up jelly-roll style. Hold together with picks as you close it up and then tie with string. Remove picks and roast in a 375°F. oven for 12-15 minutes or to a temperature of 145°F. Remove from oven and allow to rest. Puree of Marrow Bean: Remove 6 spears of hearts of palm and cut diagonally in half cross-ways. With a small pick, clean the center of the palm and set aside. Heat 1 can drained black beans with 2 T. minced cilantro, bay leaf, 1 large pinch of cayenne and 2 T. olive oil; cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes stirring often. Discard bay leaf. Allow beans to cool for 5-10 minutes. Pour the bean mixture into a mini-food processor and process until smooth. With a rubber spatula, spoon this mixture into a piping bag with a small tip inserted. Pipe into the center of the hollowed out hearts of palm. In one of each two bowls, put milk in one and flour in another. Dip the “bones” into the flour, then milk, then back in the flour. Shake well and brown the tops (diagonal cut) and sides in a moderately hot skillet in butter (preferably clarified butter) until golden brown. Remove and allow to drain on a paper towel. To Plate: Spoon a mound of wild rice to one side of a plate and top with slices of the pork which has been sliced into medallions on top. To the side of the rice and pork, pipe a large round bean mixture and place three of the ‘bones with marrow’ on the beans. Sprinkle plate with grated Parmesan cheese . And, neener, neener, Bill - I didn't even need marrow spoons!! This was tasty. I'll probably never do all the components together again, but two I will do - the pork and stuffing, great combination!! and the black bean puree was a wonderful flavor, so will use it also again in some fashion. I'd give this dinner a 9 overall. And the stuffed hearts of palm really did resemble small shanks with marrow!! Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - labradors - 09-28-2009 Sounds (and looks) great, Jean! Looks like we're off to a good start! Mine turned out very well, too. This was the first time I had ever tried hearts of palm, so the recipe was total improvisation on my part, with no previous experience with cooking or eating them. Although I did like the final result, I would say that the hearts of palm were not something to send me into paroxysms of culinary bliss. As an afterthought, I have added a variation to the recipe which would suit me better, but would not have fit the original challenge. I would rate this 7 out of 10, based upon the flavour of the hearts of palm. I'm sure it would be a 9 or 10, for me, with the variation. Turnovers of Pork, Bacon, Hearts of Palm and Camembert with Ginger-Cream Sauce Makes six entrée turnovers Ingredients: Ginger-Cream Sauce:
Ginger-Cream Sauce:
With the rest of the ingredients in the box, I made a side. In fact, the idea came to me from a couple other, unrelated messages I had posted at the time. Note that the idea to do this came AFTER I had already chosen my second ingredient (which I had originally thought of using in a different way). I would rate this as a 10, and I SHALL make this again! Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Refried Black Beans and Rice Ingredients:
Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - cjs - 09-28-2009 How fun, Labs!! The stuffed tomato sounds like something I need to try - love the combination. Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - labradors - 09-28-2009 Thanks, Jean. Loved your "marrow" presentation. Very creative. Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - Trixxee - 09-28-2009 You guys are so creative! Love all the ideas you've come up with. Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - Gourmet_Mom - 09-28-2009 I've got my hearts of palm and most of the other ingredients...forgot the beans and lettuce. I had planned on making this tomorrow night (progress reports due tomorrow), but the employee will probably be here and I just don't want to deal with his "input" on something like this...so I'm waiting until Wednesday. He'll get grilled buttermilk, garlic, and cumin brined chicken tomorrow night...LOL! Sorry for the delay, you guys! Your ideas sound great and make my idea sound so BLAH...LOL! We'll see how it turns out. Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - cjs - 09-28-2009 "make my idea sound so BLAH..." oh horsepuckie!!! If it tastes great and of course it will, that's all that counts. Re: Sep. 28th mystery-box review - Gourmet_Mom - 10-03-2009 Better late than never, I guess...LOL! So, when I looked at the ingredients, I couldn't get the idea of a burrito out of my head. I didn't use a recipe of any kind, so here's what I did: I sauteed some onion and added the black beans. I cooked them until they started to "pop", then mashed it all up. I butterflied a pork tenderloin (I know, but I had six in the freezer and couldn't see buying a loin!) and stuffed it with the bean mixture, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheese. I tied it up, seared it and put it in the oven to finish. (I meant to wrap in bacon, but totally forgot! OOPS! So I'm an ingredient short...sorry!) I felt I needed some kind of taco sauce, so I cooked down some tomatoes and onion. I added a seasoning blend I've made with chili powder, paprika, brown sugar, oregano, basil, etc....it's my Beer Can Chicken rub. Unfortunately, I had added salt before deciding to throw this in, so it was a little on the salty side. I also added some cayenne for heat since jalapenos were not on the list. I had meant to get some cilantro, but forgot...oh well, moving on! After tasting the hearts of palm, the ginger made sense. So I sauteed some onion, added water and grated in some ginger. I added rice and cooked until done. When done, I added some beans, sliced hearts of palm, lime zest, and tomatoes. I served the stuffed pork over the rice with tomato sauce, more shredded lettuce, diced onion, and more cheese. Again, forgot the cilantro! Doncha just love the "china"? I spent the day cleaning the kitchen and have now messed up MORE pots and pans. So..... ANYWAY, it turned out pretty good! I may actually do the stuffed loin again some day...it tasted so much like a burrito! I will also be adding hearts of palm to salads from time to time. William LOVED the flavor! Overall, I'd give it an 8...the salty sauce kept it from being a 9. |