Daring Cook's November Challenge

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

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I want to thank Audax and Rose for the challenge.

It truly was a challenge!

The recipe is really, really long.

I didn't post it, because I wanted more room for my pics, but go to Audax or Rose's blog to see the step by step directions.

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Before this, I had never tasted sushi (or wanted to taste it).
And now that I've tasted it-

I hate it.

Let's just get that out of the way.

The nori tastes and smells like a stagnant lake.

The rice is sticky and sweet. And not in a good way.

Although, you might remember I said here in my Pumpkin/Bulghur post
that I wasn't crazy about white rice.

It also seems like a lot of work and mess for pretty, but inedible food.

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First, the spiral sushi roll with baby corn, coconut black beans*, fried red and yellow pepper.

Ta da!



I like wasabi and peppers so I ate that.


See below for the fate of the sushi.
Bwahaha! (evil laughter)



The dragon roll.


So cute!


And so yucky!





I used fake crab sticks and fried peppers inside.


Avocado on top and red pepper for the flames.



Black beans for the eyes.




And the nigiri sushi.
I thought I might like these, because they don't have any nori.


But it's a huge chunk of rice with toppings.


I ate the tops.


Yum! Smoked cheddar cheese, rum/ginger/cinnamon syrup raisins and kiwi slices.










I ate some of the rice with coconut black beans and topped it with avocado.

It was tasty.


What did I do with all of that sushi?




My girls had a sushi party!

They didn't like the nori.

Or the rice.

Too sticky for chicken beaks.

They picked out the fillings.

Silly chickens!

They usually gobble up rice.

*Coconut Black Beans

1 cup dry black beans, rinsed

1 can coconut milk

1 small dried chile

1/2 tsp dried onion
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger powder

salt to taste

Rinse beans. Add beans and 6 cups water to med. saucepot. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 mins. Remove from burner, cover and let soak for 1 hour.

Drain beans and rinse (again).

Add rinsed beans, coconut milk and spices to the saucepot.

Simmer at med./low heat until the coconut milk volume has been reduced in half.

About 1 hour.

Beans should be tender by now, but still holding their shape.

Add salt to taste and serve.

Lunch With Grandma

I visited my Grandma last week.

She gave me a cute brown sweater that she had knitted

and cooked a wonderful lunch.

The main meal was Tater Crust Tuna Pie, mashed potatoes and green beans.

It was so yummy!

Tater Crust Tuna Pie

Crust: 1 cup flour

1/2 cup potato flakes

1/2 cup butter

4 Tbs. ice water

1 can 2.8 oz french-fried onions - divided

Filling: 3/4 cup potato flakes

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese - divided

2 Tbs. chopped green olives

1 can 6.5 oz tuna - drained and flaked

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 egg

Combine flour and potato flakes, cut in butter until crumbly.

Add water, 1 Tbs at a time, until dough is moist enough to hold together.

Press pastry over bottom and up sides of ungreased 9 in or 10 in pie plate.

Set aside 1/2 cup of french fried onions.

Sprinkle remaining onions into pastry shell.

In a bowl, combine all fill ingredients except 1/2 cup of cheese.

Spoon filling over onions.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 mins.

or until crust is golden.

Sprinkle with reserved cheese and onions.

Bake additional 5-10 mins or until cheese is melted.

Let stand 5 mins before cutting.

6-8 servings.

Then we had a delicious squash pie.

It's just like pumpkin pie, but fluffier and lighter and made from my Grandma's homegrown squash.

And then we had blackberry/apple pie.

Hee hee!

We like pie.

My Grandma's blackberry crop was really good this year.

My Grandma with one of her giant squash.

She's 86 years young.

The squash is 4 months old.

My Grandma's food closet.

Look at that beautie!




Potatoes, onions and garlic too!