Home Cured Salmon on Mushroom Blini & Paper Chef #53 Winner

Sometimes my food blog is also my touch stone. Do you ever have those times when work and life's details feel like too much batter for one tiny bowl? It's been one of those weeks for me. Now, as my pages of TO-DO lists look a little more TO-DOable, I can sit and focus on the art of food.

Home Cured Salmon on Mushroom Blini

This recipe came about because of ingredients that were chosen for this month's Paper Chef Challenge. The ingredients (that I helped randomly facilitate) were: Vodka, Salmon, Thyme, and Dried Mushrooms. I'm not in the running, but I can't just sit by and watch the others without playing, so I created one just for fun. The fun turned into a nice Appetizer that I served at a catered party. The curing takes a few days and was very flavorful, but you could also use store bought Gravlax or Smoked Salmon. The Blini is incredibly easy to prep and cooking off takes only a few minutes. (Recipe for Home Cured Salmon with Mushroom Blini at the end of post )

As the winner of last month's Paper Chef (chosen by the talented Fiona of Nice Profiteroles), it is up to me to pick from the lovely entrants on this Paper Chef #53 Roundup.
Karen's Salmon Terrine with Leeks and Mushrooms in Vodka Cream

Kizzy with a Wellington of Salmon
Pauline with a Flammekueche and mushroom soup Flammekueche and mushroom soup NOW THE IMPORTANT THING: The Winner: You can imagine how hard the choosing is when all these recipes sound so good and the pictures make me hungry in a thousand different ways. The Terrine is both gorgeous and company-friendly. The pastry encased Salmon sounds and looks so flaky and tender and satisfying. The Flammekueche sounds so unique with the Salmon addition and Mushroom soup is a favorite of mine. Since there MUST be a solo winner: I choose the Salmon Terrine by Karen. I'm a sucker for seasonal cooking, and the idea of a nice chilled luncheon dish on a hot summer day got the best of me. Congrats to all of you, every one of these recipes are in my files and I can' t wait to share them. Check back with Paper Chef for next month's ingredients and ask a friend to join, it's loads of fun.

ShowFood Chef RECIPE: Home Cured Salmon with Mushroom Blini
1lb. Salmon Fillet (all pin bones removed)
1/4 cup Salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Vodka
1 Tbls. Fresh Thyme (chopped)
2 Tbls. (or several large sprigs) Fresh Dill (chopped)
1 tsp. Fresh ground black pepper
Place Salmon on several layers of plastic wrap. Create a paste with remaining ingredients. Rub Salmon with paste all over and pressing gently to reach creases in the Salmon. Lay any sprigs of fresh dill on top of Salmon.
Wrap the Salmon in the plastic and place in small pan.
Place the pan of Salmon inside a larger pan, and lay large cans or a small cooking brick on top of Salmon to help press out moisture.
Refrigerate for at least 36 hours, or up to 3 days. (Pour off liquid after the first 24 hours.)
Remove Salmon and wash off the brining. Carve Salmon on the diagonal in strips as thin as desired for serving.

Blini:
1/2 cup Dried Mushrooms (reconstitute for 45 minutes in warm water, then chop into chunks)
2 eggs
3 Tbls. water
*Combine these into a blender and puree til creamy.
*Add puree into a bowl with:
4 Tbls. Flour
dash of salt and pepper
*Stir to form a paste.
*In a separate bowl:
Whip 1 egg white to soft peaks.
*Fold whipped egg white into the mushroom paste mixture til fully incorporated.
*In a skillet with drizzle of oil and heated to Med/High, drop little circles of batter (about 2 inches diameter) and cook like pancakes; when browned on one side, flip and cook for a moment to brown on other side.
*Remove to a warm plate to hold.
*Serve: Blini can be warm or room temp. and topped with a dollop of sour cream, a small sliver of Salmon and garnished with dill or thyme.

What was the question? Tex-Mex-Chickiladas (and PAPERCHEF #53 ingredients)

It was a simple question that came from my brother's wife: "When you come home to visit your mom, do you think you could show us an easy stir-fry recipe with ingredients that I've heard of before?" I was so excited, so thrilled to share, that I planned out a whole cooking workshop. The "simple stir-fry" request turned into a 6 hour hands-on cooking lesson that ranged from breaking down a whole chicken, making stock to creating six different meals.
My wonderfully creative brother and his equally awesome and patient wife stuck with me, laughing and cooking through our culinary marathon.
We began with knife skills and moved into flavor combinations. I prepared flash cards that broke down three techniques: Roasting, Saute, and Braising. I had vocabulary cards to help with the pronunciation of Mira Poix and Mise en Place.
At the end of the night, with droopy eyes and a refrigerator packed with 2 weeks worth of food, they were still laughing and practicing the concepts.
PAPER CHEF:

During my travels, the time for picking the next ingredients for Paper Chef (one of the oldest running online cooking events) arrived and I used my brother as a human "randomizer". He didn't realize what he was picking, but was relieved to find out it had nothing to do with cooking yet another entree.

I had set up to make my first mobile posting to my blog from my phone (I didn't have a computer with me). The tech-gods were not on my side. After a couple hours trying to post from my phone, I gave up and saved the reveal for when I returned to California.

The ingredients for Paper Chef #53 are:

DRIED MUSHROOMS
THYME
VODKA

And the fourth of my own choosing came from feeling like the whole posting fiasco was like swimming upstream: SALMON

I was more than happy to see that these are all workable and I think pretty exciting. I can't wait to see the creations. This would be a great month to ask a friend if they would like to join in the fun. I'm thinking of asking my newly educated brother and sister-in-law to give it a shot.

The Paper Chef Challenge gives the cook a free range to create anything they want from the four given ingredients, take a picture of them, and either send the post you create or the pic and info to Paper Chef. Read all about it here.

One of my brother and sister-in-law's favorite entrees we prepared were the Tex-Mex-Chickiladas. A tray of these are real flavor-pleasers and freeze well, too.

RECIPE: Tex-Mex-Chickiladas

2 chicken legs and 2 chicken thighs
2 tbls. olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 large can tomatoes
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 lime (juiced and zested)
1 jalapeno pepper (minced)
1 small onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
4-6 tortillas
3 Tbls. Cilantro (fresh and chopped)
1-2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Sour cream, chopped green onion for garnish
salt/pepper to taste

1) Salt the chicken pieces, then saute in olive oil until browned on all sides.
2) Add 1/2 cup of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan, then pour in the rest of the stock.
3) Bring to a simmer, cover and cook the chicken til tender. Remove the chicken. After cooling, pull the chicken meat off the bones and reserve the meat, discarding the bones. Keep the pan sauce for later use, also.
4) In a small bowl, mix together the tomatoes, corn, lime juice and zest. Hold.
5) In a skillet, cook the onion, garlic and jalapeno on Med. til tender.
6) Pour in the reserved pan sauce, and the tomato mixture. Cook on Med/High until reduced by 1/3.
7) In an 8x8 inch baking pan or glass baking dish, spread about 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom.
8) Dip each tortilla in the remaining cooked sauce and lay flat in the baking dish. Place a few pieces of the reserved chicken down the center of each tortilla, fold in thirds and lay seam side down in the baking dish.
8) After all the tortillas are filled, folded and lined up in the pan: pour the remaining sauce over the Chickiladas, sprinkle the top with chopped fresh cilantro, then cover in shredded cheese.
9) Bake at 350F for 20 minutes (OR Freeze and bake later).

Duck & Mushroom Pot Stickers in Tomato w/Wasabi Cream (Paper Chef #52)

What would you have created with these four ingredients: Duck, Tomato, Wasabi and Cream? That's what Paper Chef, one of the longest running Food Blogger challenges around, is all about. Each month there is another set of random ingredients just waiting for imagination and execution to meet on a plate.

Pan Roasted Duck Pot Stickers
in Tomato Broth w/Wasabi Cream Sauce

One of my other spinning plates (aka: jobs) is teaching Improvisational Theatre. It's an art-form that, among other things, uses audience suggestions to create a story or character. I've been teaching and loving it for years. The challenge of creating something out of random ideas, being resourceful, developing and designing are all areas that get my spirit tingling. Like cooking, there are techniques that make the creations work better; the most talented make it look effortless.

Like cooking, not every time out is successful, but it feels/tastes/sings/sparks when it really works and at least teaches you something when it fails. I am truly excited by this dish.

For one, Asian inspired food is new to me and I love experimenting in new arenas. One of my favorite bloggers (Rachael of La Fuji Mama) has lived in Japan and cooks completely approachable Asian cuisine effortlessly. I've been making her hand-made Gyoza wrappers for months (added my little cheat of rolling the dough out with a pasta maker.)
Duck is not always an inexpensive item, but with this recipe you can use just a couple breast pieces and make it go a long way, yet still enjoy the earthy taste and the elegant opportunity.
If you have never made Pot Stickers before, this is a really easy way to give it a try. The first time I made them (with minced shrimp a few months ago) I think I made about 20 and feared they would go to waste. My son and husband ate 16 by themselves (I got 4). In a restaurant we would maybe split an order with friends and each of us have 1 - 2, but those guys made a meal of them. Like most things, home-made can't be beat.

Recipe: Pan Roasted Duck Breasts Duck Filling:
2 cooked breasts chopped fine
2 scallions white and green chopped fine
3 med. mushrooms chopped small
1 Tbls. soy sauce
1 Tbls. Mirin
1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger (easier to do if ginger is frozen first)
1 tsp. red chili paste pepper to taste

On the fatty skin side of the duck breasts, make several slits so the meat will not curl. (refer to picture above)

Preheat the oven to 375F.

On the stove-top, heat an oven-proof skillet on Med. with no oil. Add and Cook the duck breasts fat side down for about 5 minutes. You want to slowly render the fat. As the pan gathers fat, carefully pour it off and save it for another use. (Cooking with the skin on will give the meat a great flavor, so don't remove it first.)

Turn the duck breasts over and sear the other side for about 2 minutes.

Turn back so the fatty side is down and place the pan in the oven for about 10".
Remove the duck to rest and cool. Remove the skin and chop the meat.

In a bowl, add the meat and all the other ingredients, mixing well. Use about a teaspoon of filling in each wrapper.

RECIPE: Gyoza wrapper: fresh made using recipe and guidance by Fuji Mama here:
Or/ use wonton wrappers or frozen gyoza wrappers from store



RECIPE: Cooking the Pot Stickers -

In a skillet, heat several Tbls of oil on Med/High and add the pot stickers (fold side up). Cook til the bottoms of the pot stickers are browned. Remove skillet from the heat and carefully pour in 2 cups of Tomato Broth. Return skillet to heat, cover and lower heat to steam the pot stickers for 5 minutes.
Remove cover, and using tongs, remove the pot stickers to a serving platter. Add more broth if needed to make a soupy sauce and stir. When ready, gently ladle the broth onto the platter to surround the pot stickers.

Drizzle the Wasabi Cream as preferred. Serve to the delight of your peeps.

RECIPE: Tomato Broth-
1 can tomatoes chopped
1 small bunch cilantro chopped (optional - could us basil leaves also)
1/2 shallot
2 tsps. olive oil
salt/pepper to taste
Puree ingredients in a blender til smooth, and heat.

RECIPE: Wasabi Cream -
2 Tbls. Wasabi Powder
1/2 cup Sour Cream
(1 Tbls of heavy cream if needed )
Mix together for drizzling.


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Paper Chef is open to anyone - no sign ups, or commitments, just a spirit of self-challenge. Hope to see you there next month.

Real Dill Eggs (Baked w/House Ricotta & Sweet Potato Petals

I obviously enjoy challenges and meeting deadlines, and I really could have used a little of that, years ago, when I was in school. In 7th grade Science class I remember writing up my "Every 6 Weeks Report" the night before it was due... every 6 weeks. It's not like I didn't know it was coming up, so why did I wait til the last minute? I'm making up for that lack of spirit, by joining all kinds of online food challenges now and here's another one.

Real Dill Eggs: Baked w/ House Ricotta & Sweet Potato Petals

It's time for the 50th Anniversary of Paper Chef (one of the longest running food events online.) Last month I was the judge and chose the winner: Prospect: The Pantry. So, this month she's choosing.

Here's why it's fun to do Paper Chef: You're given 4 ingredients and a theme, kinda like a Quick Fire Challenge or a Chef's Mystery Box. The freedom is fun, and no matter what happens you have an original recipe of your own when you're finished.
The ingredients randomly chosen were: Dill, Honey, Ricotta, Eggs and a Feeling of Rejuvenation for the theme. Since Daylight Saving's Time is getting ready to start here, (and can't begin soon enough for me) I thought of mornings and light, and flowers beginning to bloom. These baked eggs are surrounded by my version of sweet potato petals hugging a spoonful of honey infused homemade ricotta with fresh dill.

These are easy to create ahead:

~1 Large, long Sweet Potato will make at least 4-6 ramekins.

~Prick the potato lightly with a fork all over and place in boiling water for 3 minutes to par-boil (partially cook), then drop in ice water to stop the cooking and drain dry.

~Peel, and slice the potato very thin (a mandoline works best).

~Butter (or oil) each 4 oz. ramekin or baking dish very well.
~Place a potato slice in the bottom center and then circle the slices around the inside, overlapping.
~Add a heaping Tablespoon of the *Honey Infused and Dill Ricotta and spread evenly. (recipe for **Homemade Ricotta below)
~Season with salt and pepper.
~Add a Large egg and season, again.


~Carefully place the ramekins into a deep sided baking pan on the middle oven rack, then very carefully add boiling water up to half-way around the ramekins (creating a bain marie).

~Cook in a preheated 350F oven for about 12-17 minutes (depending how you like your eggs). Finish for a couple minutes with the oven on broil to crisp the potato edges.

~Remove the pan, and very carefully remove each ramekin. (These will be very hot, and surrounded by extremely hot water, so use care.) Cool on a rack for a moment.

Serve in the ramekins or loosen the sides and gently remove from the dish and place on your serving platter.
~Garnish with more fresh dill, or fleur de sel.

*Seasoned Ricotta - For every 1/2 cup of Ricotta, gently stir in 1 Tbls. honey and 1 Tbls. minced fresh dill


** Homemade Ricotta - 32oz whole milk heated in a saucepan til just before simmering. Add 2 Tablespoons of White Vinegar or Fresh Lemon Juice and remove from the heat. As the milk curdles, stir gently for 1 minute. Leave the pan, covered and off the heat for 1 hour as the curds form. Pour the milk and curds through a double layer of "wet and squeezed out" cheese cloth over a fine mesh strainer. Pull the cheese cloth up and tie on a wooden spoon and let drain into a bowl in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove the fluffy Ricotta and put in a container and keep in the refrigerator - good for several days.

Quote from my husband - "These look all elegant, but taste real homey"

Please consider this your invitation to join Paper Chef for the next challenge, I'd love to see your creations!

Balsamic Prawns on Sweet Pepper Polenta w/Fennel & Shallot Jam AKA: Paper Chef #49 Winner Announced

What would you make with Prawns, Sweet Peppers, Fennel and the theme of Passion? Several extremely creative folks answered that question and generously gave us their recipes and how-to's. I am fortunate enough to have the difficult job, this month, of choosing a Paper Chef #49 winner. I'm really sincere when I say this: There is not a clunker in the bunch. These dishes could be their own site. I hope you'll bookmark this round-up and use it over and over!

Now, even though I'm not eligible for the challenge, I still wanted to play along, so I made a dish, too. I hope it's worthy to be with these other phenoms.

Balsamic Prawns on Red Pepper Polenta w/ Spicy Fennel & Shallot Jam

I have a PASSION for all things Italian, so I challenged myself to use the Paper Chef ingredients with other classic Italian ingredients and add a modern presentation to them.

The PRAWNS/White Tiger Shrimp were simply broiled after being drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar, Fiorano Olive Oil, salt and pepper.

The RED PEPPER POLENTA:

2 1/2 cups Vegetable Stock
1 cup Corn Polenta
1/2 cup Roasted Sweet Peppers (char roast, peel/seed and chop)
1 Tbls. Butter
salt/pepper

Heat the stock and the peppers in a sauce pan til simmering. Sprinkle in the Polenta, a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid clumping. Cook on low for about 15 minutes or until creamy. Take off the heat and stir in butter, salt and pepper to taste.

SPICY FENNEL & SHALLOT JAM
(this is not a recipe for canning jam, just for immediate or refrigerator jam)

1/2 cup of Fennel bulb (cut in thin slivers)
1/4 cup of Shallot (chopped)
1 tsp. Red Pepper flakes
2 Tbls. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

In a sauce pan combine the fennel, shallots and red pepper flakes with 1/4 cup water. Heat on low to soften the fennel and shallots (for about 10 minutes). Add the sugar and lemon juice and increase the heat to Med/High. Stir often and boil til thickened (about 215F, or about 10 minutes.) Remove from heat and hold. Refrigerate any un-used jam (good for several weeks.)

To Plate:

Place an oiled circle mold on the plate and fill half way up with Polenta. Remove circle.
On top of polenta, place a Tbls. of Fennel & Shallot jam. Press 1-2 shrimp into the center of the jam and serve.

Quote from Teen-age son: (Nothing, but he handed me an empty plate after-wards. Sometimes words are not needed.)
And here is the Fabulous Passion-Peppers-Prawns & Fennel lineup:

Bill's Brew-B-Que
Using his passion for the grill, Bill made "Mothership Wit Superbowl Skewers". The picture of the beer made me want to reach up and grab/drink it. The marinaded shrimp sound delicious! His passion for cooking is contagious and a fun name for his blog.

Prospect: The Pantry created a cozy, inviting Seafood Pot-pie with Fennel and Peppers, even though she was snowed in (which played well into her passion that included resourcefulness and making the most of all things).

I Could Even Eat a Baby Deer has a really fun spirited post and a recipe for a Prawn Burger and Pineapple Salsa that looks very flavorful. Always a nice read, here, too.

Lucullian Delights created a beautiful dish of Grappa and Fennel seed infused Prawns on a bed of Chickpea Puree. As always, her pictures are amazing too. Ilva is the gracious and talented co-host of Paper Chef and we newbies are so thankful that she continues this fun food event.

Culinary Annotations has a colorful and hunger-provoking dish of Italian inspired Prawns and a burst of Cognac is introduced. I'm drooling just typing about it. I particularly loved the information that is shared in the post, also.

Spikey Mikey's wrapped these ingredients up in a Rice Paper wrapper where the stripes of the red pepper showing through are such a fun presentation. This also sounds like a dish you would eat and feel good about what you just did for your body. Mike is also a Co-host and has been extremely patient with my many questions.

I'm sure it's no coincidence that this is such a long running challenge AND the two hosts are so passionate and generous.

Oh, it's SO hard to pick only one. Sorry for rambling, but having entered a few of these online events in my "less that a year blogging" time, I just want to applaud ALL of these entries. My final decision is just a personal feeling (which has been said to me in the casting world a lot, too) and here goes:

The Paperchef #49 winner is: Prospect: The Pantry (the use of almost every morsel of everything: shells for stock, stems for flavor and the feelings of cold and warm coming across in this tasty looking flaky pie just played my heart strings on this one.)

Great job, and I'll be visiting all these blogs over and over!

PAPER CHEF #49 - Love These Ingredients!

I can count on one hand the times I have actually WON something. So, you can imagine how excited I was last month to win PAPER CHEF (one of the longest running food challenges online) with my Rosemary Tuna Sliders & Pickled Red Cabbage. Also, I've discovered so many great Food Blogs because of Paper Chef;

Lucullian Delights - the ultimate in Italian flair and beautiful food and a devoted hostess
Prospect: The Pantry - so creative with ingredients
Spikey Mikey - a guy with great photos AND food ideas
Paulchen's - great sense of humor and unique foods
Culinary Annotations - global and gorgeous

If you haven't participated in Paper Chef, try it this month. It's like a segment of Iron Chef, or a Top Chef Challenge, or a Chef's Mystery Box game. You're given 3 ingredients, plus a theme to turn into a dish within a week. How you do it, and what you add to make it work is up to your own muse, imagination, creativity and audacity. There are no losers, really, because in the end you have a recipe that you developed and a boost in your kitchen-confidence. I hope you'll play along. My love and background in Improvisation feels right at home with this kind of fun.

For Paper Chef #49 - the WINNER of the last Paper Chef (that would be ME; just wanted to type it one more time) gets to randomly pick 3 ingredients, plus choose a theme for the next Paper Chef and pick the NEXT WINNER (that could be YOU.) Since there is nothing more "random" than a 14-year-old boy, I let my son pick 3 numbers, then count down the list to see what ingredient matched them. For the 4th ingredient, I'll be adding a theme. Here they are:

PRAWNS
FENNEL
SWEET PEPPERS
and PASSION

The theme of PASSION can be the fruit, a color, a drive, a Valentine or a story; whatever it may mean to you.

I'm pretty excited about the ingredients, as they are so workable and I hope it means that a ton of folks will be able to COOK-IT-UP!!

If it's your first time doing Paper Chef or just need a reminder; be sure to check out the easy-to-follow rules, regulations and more details when you click here. I can't wait to see all the entries.

Submit your entry by next Tuesday, Feb.9, 2010 to: paperchef@gmailcom.
Tell your friends on Twitter and FB and turn this into an International Kitchen-Party!

Rosemary Tuna Sliders w/Pickled Red Cabbage (and What is Paper Chef?)

This is about my Paper Chef entry. How do I explain Paper Chef? Maybe you've watched one of the varied Chef competitions where each contestant is given a surprise box of unrelated ingredients to turn into something that doesn't look like they were given a surprise box of unrelated ingredients? Well, the monthly food blogger challenge called Paper Chef is like that. For the month of January, the ingredients were: Tuna, Rosemary, Red Cabbage and the idea of "new".

Rosemary Tuna Sliders w/Pickled Red Cabbage on Homemade Butter Buns

The winner of the previous month's challenge picks three ingredients from a compiled list, then adds another one of their choosing and...boom...we go off and create a dish. If you read my blog much, it's pretty clear; That's right up my food aisle.

This month's judging and choosing is Lucullian Delights, who has a wonderful blog and I always enjoy reading the tweets from @lucullian, too.

For my dish, I used my NEW Bread Machine to make sweet butter dough and turned that into mini home-made rolls w/ black sesame seeds.





I purchased the "NEWEST" piece of TUNA I could find. I chopped that into fine cubes and mixed it with a frothy beaten egg white, salt, pepper and finely chopped fresh ROSEMARY, then sauteed each little Tuna Slider in Rosemary infused Olive Oil.
I mandoline-sliced the RED CABBAGE and did a quick pickling of it with Rice Wine Vinegar, a dash of Balsamic Vinegar, a bit of minced Shallot, sugar, salt and pepper. I created a Stoneground Mustard & Rosemary condiment to balance the earthy, sweet and tangy tiny-burger, and topped each one with a Rosemary sprig garnish. I will not be shy about telling you that these were absolutely consumed so fast at my house I was lucky to get a photo of 3 of them on a plate. I have to thank this month's Paper Chef for helping me find a great new Appetizer and a probable addition to my catering menu.

QUOTE: My son said, "How did you get this stuff to be purple?"

ROSEMARY TUNA SLIDERS w/ Pickled Red Cabbage on a Homemade Mini-Roll
(makes about 12)

1/2 lb. Freshest Tuna - chopped very fine
1 egg white - beaten just til frothy
1 Tbls. minced fresh Rosemary
salt/pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients very well in a bowl (or pulse a few times in Processor)
Make small patties using a heaping Tbls. of Tuna mixture and Saute on Med/High heat in a pan coated with Rosemary infused Olive oil (or regular Olive oil).
Cook for only about 2 minutes on each side, be careful to not dry out the Tuna.

For Pickled Cabbage:
2 cups of thinly sliced Red Cabbage (using a mandoline or carefully with a knife)
1 Tbls. minced Shallot
3 Tbls. Rice Wine Vinegar
Splash of Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbls. Sugar (or Agave)
salt/pepper to taste

In a small bowl, mix vinegars and sugar to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the shallot, salt and pepper. Add the Cabbage, toss to coat, and marinade for at least 1 hour.

For the Rosemary Mustard Condiment:

Whisk together 2 Tbls. of Stoneground mustard with 1Tbls. finely minced fresh Rosemary. Drizzle in, while whisking, 1/4 cup Olive Oil until emulsified. Spread liberally on the bottom of each bun.

The homemade buns were made in the Zojirushi Bread Machine which I highly recommend.
I hope you'll check out the other entries at Paper Chef, and maybe even join us for February?

PAPER CHEF#44 - (#1 for me)

This is my first Paper Chef challenge. I stumbled upon this challenge while enjoying Deeba's Blog who coincidentally is the judge for this challenge. Evidently the Paper Chef challenge is one of the oldest running food challenges and it seems truly fun and wide open for imagination. For the 44th event, we were given the ingredients of: Ricotta, Dark Chocolate, Ginger and a theme of Fall to be worked in seasonally. We can use other ingredients (ala Iron Chef rules), but the ones chosen are an absolute.
I created - Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes w/ Chocolate & Candied Ginger syrup.
The stack used in my picture didn't make it back into the kitchen from my little photo shoot before my husband ate them. The rest I saved as they make great "toast yourself" breakfast goodies for my teen-age son.
The recipe is fairly classic and easy, hope you try them:

PUMPKIN/RICOTTA PANCAKES w/Chocolate, Candied Ginger Syrup

1 cup AP Flour
1 TBL. Baking powder
2 TBL. cane sugar
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup Ricotta
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup Pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. lemon zest

Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, ricotta, pumpkin, milk and zest. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until mixed well. Heat butter in a skillet on Med. and add 1/3 cup of pancake batter for each pancake. Flip each when the edges bubble, heat til cooked through and hold on a warm plate until ready to serve.

Chocolate/Candied Ginger syrup

4 oz. Dark chocolate pieces
6 oz. Cream, soy milk, or coconut milk
1 TBL. Chopped candied ginger
In a saucepan, heat the cream, soy milk or coconut milk til just simmer. Pour the heated liquid over the chocolate pieces and candied ginger in a bowl. Stir to melt and add more cream to your liking. Keep warm for serving.Garnish with more chopped Candied Ginger.

These are also delish with whipped cream or maple syrup. Also, try whipping a TBL. of chilled pumpkin puree into your whipped cream for color and extra pumpkin zing.