September Daring Bakers' Challenge - Kolache

The September Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Lucie from ChezLucie. She challenged us to make a true Czech treat –Kolaches!

I was super excited for this month's challenge. I'm not sure if you remember, but I've actually made kolache before. It was a Sourdough Surprises challenge a few months back (okay, more like almost a year ago!) and, in case you don't remember that post, it's here, and they were amazingly delicious.

So when I saw that I'd have the opportunity to make them again (read: the kick in the pants that I needed!), I was super excited.

Our hostess Lucie was awesome, and provided us with several different recipes for several different styles of kolache. Which, I'm going to be honest with you, was all new to me! I didn't know there were so many varieties!  I wanted to make ones similar to the sourdough ones I'd made, so I chose to make Moravian Kolache. The main difference between these and the sourdough version that I made (other than, you know, the sourdough...) is that these Moravian kolache have two fillings rather than just one.

But first, we need dough! The dough comes together really easily.

In one bowl, some yeast is prepared - mixed with sugar and milk, some flour sprinkled on top...

...and whoa does it take off!

Then, in the bowl to the stand mixer, all of the rest of the ingredients are combined! This includes flour, confectioners' sugar, egg yolks, a bit more milk (I used coconut milk) and some butter (I used coconut oil).

Add the yeast mixture, knead for ten minutes and the result is a beautiful, silky, smooth dough.

And that yeast continues to work its magic, as an hour later...

And then we're ready to roll!

I don't have a biscuit cutter, so to make my circles, I use my favorite cutter:

A drinking glass.

Then came the hard part. The filling. Or... fillings. The fillings that Lucie shared with us for the challenge recipe are a quark (cheese) filling for the inside and a plum jam filling for the top. I wanted to keep these dairy free for little man, so I decided to play around with different things that I had at home.

I first tried a s'mores inspiration.

That's a marshmallow that I put on the dough round, then wrapped it up, then put some chocolate chips on the top.

Then I tried to go somewhat similar to the traditional version in the challenge.

That's a small spoon of non-dairy Greek-style coconut milk yogurt for the inside, then a drizzle of homemade peach jam on the top.

And just for fun I made one more version.

There's Biscoff in that one.

I had to bake them in shifts, seeing as I had so many pans going, but the results?

Totally worth waiting for.

And we each had our favorite. Little man went with Biscoff. Little miss, s'mores.

Daddy and I? We couldn't get enough of the yogurt and peach ones.

Seriously, you can't go wrong with these. The dough is amazing and the possibilities are endless for flavors, fillings and combinations. I definitely think I'll be making these a lot more often.

Lucie, thank you so much for this delicious challenge and for the amazing inspiration!

To see the challenge as Lucie presented it to us, which I highly recommend, because there are lots of other amazing recipes to try, check it out here.


Moravian Kolache
(slightly adapted from September Daring Bakers' Challenge)

for the dough:
4 teaspoons active day yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup milk, warm, divided (I used coconut milk)
3-2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup butter, melted (I used coconut oil)
2 egg yolks

Filling or fillings of your choice

In a small bowl, mix together the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar. Add 1/4 cup of the warm milk, mix well and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 – 15 minutes.
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl) mix flour, sugar, salt, egg yolks, butter (coconut oil), remaining 3/4 cup milk and leavened yeast. Knead with dough hook (or with wooden spoon) on low speed for about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about one hour until doubled in volume.
Meanwhile prepare your fillings and set them aside.
Prepare streussel topping -  In a medium bowl, mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup flour. Add 1/4 cup cold, diced butter, and, with your fingers, mix all ingredients until crumbly.
When the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 340 degrees.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it with rolling pin to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Cut into rounds of approximately 4 inches around.. Press each piece flat with your hands and fill with filling of your choice. Wrap the dough around the filling into a “purse” shape. Put each kolach onto a prepared baking sheet with seam down. Press each kolach in the middle to create a little dent in the middle. Brush it with egg wash and fill holes with your second filling. Sprinkle it with streusel topping.
Bake for about 20 minutes to golden brown.
Enjoy!

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September Daring Cooks' Challenge - Dairy-Free Bechamel

This month, the Daring Cooks got a little saucy! Jenni from the Gingered Whisk taught us the basics of how to make the five mother-sauces and encouraged us to get creative with them, creating a wide variety of delicious, fresh sauces in our very own kitchens.

There are several "basics" which every cook hoping to increase their skills really should learn.

One of those skills is how to make a correct, good sauce.

Well, this month's Daring Cooks' Challenge helped us learn exactly that.

There are five basic "mother" sauces from which you can create hundreds upon hundreds of amazing, delicious and impressive variations to use in almost any dish you can think of. Knowing the differences between these sauces and the basic tricks for perfecting them can increase your kitchen prowess (and confidence!) greatly.

The question for me this month was which sauce to try! Granted, I want to try them all over time. The trick, though, was finding one that we could fit into our schedule this month, and that had the greatest likelihood of most of the family eating. And enjoying.

Most of the sauces involve dairy of some sort - butter, milk or cream, specifically, all of which little man can't have.  So I decided to be creative.

I chose to make a simple, basic bechamel - a white sauce made from a roux (generally butter and flour) and milk, then seasoned.  But I challenged myself to make a dairy free bechamel.  Using little-man friendly ingredients.

Coconut oil in place of butter, coconut milk in place of milk. And flour. Because it's nice to not have to substitute all three major ingredients...

The basic process is simple.  Melt the butter (coconut oil for me), then whisk in the flour.

The recipe called for two tablespoons of flour. I could tell right from the first tablespoon, though, that the oil wasn't behaving the same as butter does, and that this sauce would need a little bit more flour in order to thicken up properly. So I went with three tablespoons.

Once the flour is fully incorporated and cooked, slowly add the milk (coconut milk).

And then you whisk.

And whisk.

And whisk some more. Eventually, the mixture comes to a simmer and thickens up beautifully. The whole process is supposed to take about half an hour.  I don't know whether it was the coconut oil, the coconut milk or the combination, but mine took a lot longer to simmer and thicken, but finally (after about 45 minutes) it did, as you can tell by how it coated the back of my spoon.

(I ran my finger through it to see if it would hold the line - it did!).

When it came time to add the seasonings, I had to think about what I actually wanted to do with this dairy free bechamel.  And then I remembered a chicken tikka masala spice mix given to me by a friend recently.

Coconut sauce... tasty spice mix... Aha! I added half of a can of diced tomatoes, a nice scoop of the spice mix and some diced leftover roasted chicken to my bechamel, let it simmer, and voila!

Served with cauliflower and a pan-toasted tortilla (I didn't have time to make naan - next time!) and there we had it! A dairy free, simple chicken tikka masala curry!

So maybe it's funny that a French sauce led to an Indian dinner, but either way, I'm super glad to have made this. Jenni, I never would have tried it without this challenge, so I thank you. And I look forward to trying other delicious sauces, too!!


Dairy Free Bechamel
(my own variation, based on the Daring Cooks' Challenge)

1 tablespoon coconut oil
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 coconut milk (I used Silk coconut milk beverage)

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the coconut oil.
When the coconut oil is fully melted and heated through, stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until a paste forms. It might not form a real paste, but stir until it is well incorporated and feels a bit thick. Continue stirring and heating this mixture for about four or five minutes.
Whisk in the milk about ½ cup at a time, making sure that the addition is fully incorporated before adding the next addition of milk. Continue to whisk the mixture over the heat until it simmers and thickens slightly.  This took me about 30 minutes once all of the milk was added, so be patient. I promise - it will work!
At this point, add in your seasonings. Salt, pepper and nutmeg are the standard for a basic bechamel, but let your creativity guide you as to how you'd like to use your sauce!
Enjoy!

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August Daring Bakers' Challenge - Chimney Cake

Oh my gosh, this month's challenge was so awesome.

I absoltuely love when challenges introduce me to new things and new methods, and this one did both.

The August Daring Bakers' Challenge took us for a spin! Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen taught us to make rolled pastries inspired by Kurtoskalacs, a traditional Hungarian wedding pastry. These tasty yeasted delights gave us lots to celebrate!

Kurtoskalacs, also called chimney cakes, have their roots in Transylvania, and are fun treats baked in a super fun way.

It starts with a very sticky, soft dough. Once the dough is ready, the fun begins.

A section of dough is rolled out very thinly on a well-floured surface, then cut into a long strip. Easily achieved by cutting the roughly-square shaped thin dough in a spiral pattern.

The strip is then wrapped around a rolling pin that has been wrapped in many (I did four...) layers of aluminum foil.  This was a little tricky, since you have to keep the dough from unwinding as you go, but once you have all the dough on the rolling pin, just give it a couple of rolls on the counter top to seal all the edges and keep it in place.

Then brush it with some melted butter (or, to keep it dairy free, like I did, melted coconut oil)...

...and roll it in some cinnamon sugar.

Then, you bake. I rested the handles of my rolling pin along the edges of my roasting pan to make sure that the heat would get all the way around the pin and dough, and to keep the finished chimney cake from having a flat side.

And, much to my surprise and delight, it worked!

When it came out of the oven, I sprinkled on a bit more cinnamon sugar, then removed it from the rolling pin mold by firmly tapping the end of the rolling pin on the counter top. Again - I was delighted and surprised when that actually worked!

And the finished product was both super fun and super delicious.  Seriously, these were fun to eat. Somtimes we'd fill the hole with some ice cream, sometimes we'd just grab a section and un-ravel it as we went. Either way, it was delicious, and I really want to make it again.

Swathi also provided us another recipe for a different coiled treat, a Spanish treat called an Ensaimda. I didn't have the opportunity to make both recipes this month, but stay tuned, because I really, really want to try those, as well.

Thank you, Swathi, for this amazing, delicious and fun challenge!

To see the challenge as it as presented to us, check it out here.


Dairy-Free Chimney Cake
(from the Daring Bakers' Challenge)

For the dough:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
3 tablespoons melted butter (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup milk, lukewarm temperature (I used coconut milk)

For baking:
melted butter (I used coconut oil)
sugar (I used cinnamon sugar)

For the topping:
Approximately 1/2 cup sugar (I used cinnamon sugar)

Directions:
Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and the active dry yeast to the lukewarm milk and set aside for 5-10 minutes until it proofs (becomes foamy).
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar and salt. To this add egg, melted butter, and milk/yeast mixture. Stir the mixture until it comes together to form a dough, and then knead for about five minutes.
The dough will be sticky. Don’t be tempted to add extra flour. Grease your hand if needed.
Transfer the dough to a well greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap (spray the plastic, too) and allow the dough to rise for 60 minutes at room temperature, until doubled in volume.
While the dough is rising, prepare your rolling pin(s) by covering it (them) with aluminum foil. You'll want to use at least two or three layers, to protect the pins from burning in the oven.
Brush the wrapped rolling pin(s) with melted butter.
Gently deflate the dough and divide it into 4 equal parts (about 4 oz each).
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
On a well floured surface, roll out one portion of the dough, shaping into an approximate square shape, about 1/6 inch thick.
Using a pizza cutter or a very sharp knife, cut the dough into a long ribbons of about 1/2 inch wide.
Wrap one end of the dough strip around the prepared rolling pin, tucking in the end so the dough doesn’t unwind.
Keep the dough very thin (under ¼ inch (6 mm)) as you stretch and wind it on the rolling pun. Then roll the whole thing slightly on the counter top to flatten it/press it together.
Brush the rolled up dough with melted butter and roll it in the (cinnamon) sugar.
Set the rolling pin in a roasting pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
Turn the rolling pin at once least once (or more) throughout baking time to ensure uniform cooking.
When cake is done, roll it once more in sugar again.
You can be creative here and use other toppings, like nuts (or whatever you want) at this point. If you are using other toppings brush on more butter, then roll the finished cake in the toppings of your choice.
Tap the end of the rolling pin on a table top to release the cake and set it up right to cool on a cooling rack. It might not seem like it, but it will release pretty easily.

Enjoy!

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August Daring Cooks' Challenge - Freezer Meals

This month, the Daring Cooks challenged us to think inside the box - the icebox, that is! Audax taught us some really cool tips and tricks for stocking our freezers with prepare-ahead meals that can keep our taste buds satisfied even during the busiest of times.

I have a confession to make. And it's a doozy.

This is the first month ever that I don't have something new and original to post for a Daring Kitchen challenge.

It is not that I didn't want to. Or that I wasn't interested. On the contrary - I found the challenge topic fascinating and useful and really and truly perfect.

But this was a difficult month for me to fill a freezer. Between moving and the family being sick, we actually spent more time emptying freezers than filling them.

BUT.

I learned a lot.  And the dishes that our members chose to freeze? Who knew!

You can par-bake pizza dough and freeze it. I knew you could do that with dinner rolls, but never thought to try it with pizza crusts.

One member froze falafel "dough," to speed up the prep time for future falafel-baking endeavors.

You can freeze fruit and veggie purees.

You can freeze a variety of prepared casseroles.

You can freeze soups and sauces.

Heck, during the school year, I prepare a week's worth of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches each Sunday night, storing them in the freezer, so that making little miss's lunch each morning is a snap.

You can pretty much make weeknight meals stress free with just a little bit of forethought and preparation.  And that is awesome.

I was the lucky recipient of some freezer meals when each of my children were born, and have shared prepared, frozen meals for friend when they've had babies or surgery or I felt they needed the time-saving help.

So now, after this awesomely thoughtful, informative and well prepared challenge, I have even more inspiration to fill both my freezer and those of my friends.

Audax, thank you so much for hosting this challenge.

To see the challenge as it was presented, check it out here.

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July Daring Bakers' Challenge - Surprise-Inside Cake

For the July Daring Baker’s Challenge, Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to bake a cake. But not just any cake; she asked us to add in a special surprise for our eyes as well as our taste buds!

This month's challenge was both fun and extremely challenging. Most months, we are introduced to a new style of food or challenged to try a new and interesting recipe. This month, the challenge wasn't recipe based - it was a test of our creativity! And, as an extension, it encouraged us to try new techniques for creating tasty masterpieces.

A surprise-inside is just what it sounds like - a cake that, when cut into, has something unexpected or special that could not be seen until the cake was cut.  I have actually made some previously that qualify, including this zebra cake and this rainbow cake.  So for this challenge, I wanted to try something different.

Now, please keep in mind that we moved a week after this challenge was announced. So, my kitchen was in disarray and I had a new oven to test out. Which, as it turns out, is not calibrated correctly. It actually runs about 40 degrees (F) low. Which is a lot. Live and learn.

Anyway, for my surprise inside, I wanted to try my hand at this cool tie-dyed heart-inside cake. 

Now, remember, this was all about technique for me. It was also all about getting over my aversion to food coloring. Just for this cake.

I started with my go-to yellow cake recipe. And then came the tie-dye aspect.  I divided the batter into four portions and let the kids choose some colors.

Little miss started with blue.

Little man started with green.

And then we added pink and purple.

Each of these tinted portions of batter was then transferred to a zip-top bag. Simply snip the tip of each bag and... make a mess.

No, seriously, it was a mess. Squiggle the batter around a (sprayed) (and next time - parchment lined!!) rimmed cookie sheet, but try not to blend the colors. Make sure to reach the corners of the tray!

Then bake!

Pretty cool!

Hindsight being 20/20, I should have just frosted that and been done - called it a surprise tie-dye cake and called it a success.

But I wanted to make the heart-inside cake. And I was super optimistic.

The next step is to create the hearts. Using a cookie cutter.

My cake was really soft. Which... should have clued me in to the fact that maybe this wasn't the right recipe for this kind of treatment. But, again, I was optimistic.

I cut out as many hearts as I could from my tie-dyed cake and lined them up on a pan.

These went into the freezer, and I then prepared another batch of the aforementioned yellow cake batter.

Now, following the technique demonstrated in the youtube video linked above, I lined a loaf pan with foil, sprayed it well, and poured in a thin layer of cake batter. I then baked this for about ten minutes to let it begin setting up.  After those ten minutes, I removed the pan from the oven and removed the hearts from the freezer.

The next step is to stack up as many hearts as it takes to run the length of the pan and... embed them in the partially baked cake.

Upside down, no less. So that when you turn the cake out, it's right side up.

Then simply pour the rest of the cake batter over all of this and continue baking until done.

Which I'm sure works if your oven is actually the temperature that you tell it to be... and that it tells you it is... but I suppose that's another story.

This story had a frustrating next chapter. The cake took forever to bake (probably because the oven was 40 degrees too low), I tried to frost it while it was still too warm, and, because this cake is more delicate than it should be for this treatment, it completely fell apart. And my camera batter died. And the charger was resting comfortably at my old house. Yeah. None of that worked out very well.

BUT!

I still had ten hearts resting in the freezer!

And I was still optimistic!

So I tried one more time. But with the same cake recipe. Because... I really, really wanted it to work.

This time, I tried a few things differently. First, I retrieved my oven thermometer from the old house and adjusted the oven temperature setting accordingly.  Secondly, I didn't pre-bake any portion of the cake batter before adding in the frozen hearts. I just lined the hearts in the empty, sprayed pan, then poured the batter around it.

The results?

Still extremely crumbly. Again, because I really think that this technique requires a slightly heftier cake batter.  But - you could see the heart!

Even though...

...the hearts did turn sideways during the cooking process.

BUT.

I learned a lot. And had fun doing it. And everyone thought it was both fun and delicious, so, regardless of how frustrated I was that it didn't turn out as beautiful as the example, I was told that this was a success. So I will accept it as one.

Ruth, thanks for inspiring us to bake outside of our comfort zones this month!

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July Daring Cooks' Challenge - Bibimbap

The July Daring Cooks' Challenge took us to Korea, where Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado taught us to make bibimbap. This colorful rice dish can be customized to meet any taste, and is as much fun to eat as it is to say!

Two posts in one day?? That's what happens every few months when the second Monday of the month (SRC posting day) happens to fall on the 14th of that month (Daring Cooks' posting day).

And, yes, that means that I had two challenges in flux while preparing to move. Whee!

But I couldn't not participate in this awesome challenge, hosted by the even more awesome Renata.  Renata is from Brazil, but spent the last few years in Korea, so has such amazing influences in her cooking. She is always an inspiration and I just had to cook along with her.

This month she challenged us to make bibimbap, a Korean rice dish that usually involves a variety of vegetables, some sort of protein and, in most cases, an egg - usually added to the dish raw!

The dish is usually a bit spicy, thanks in part to a red pepper sauce that is served alongside the main dish.

Preparing to move, I didn't want to add another jar to my pantry, so I decided to forgo the red pepper paste and create my own sauce, inspired by the given recipe.  Many Asian dishes use peanut sauces, so I went with a nut-allergy-friendly version, and made a Sunbutter sauce, made with Sunbutter, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and minced garlic.

It was super thick, even though I added quite a bit of extra soy sauce, but I decided to just go with it.

Sauce resting in the fridge, it was time to consider the main dish. Bibimbap is a rice dish, but the rice is the hidden part of the dish, being placed in the bowl under a variety of sauteed  vegetables.  The possibilities are endless, so I just went with what I had on hand.

The longest part of the process is prepping all those veggies.  They all had to be sliced into relatively similar matchstick sized pieces.

Then each veggie is sauteed, separately, in sesame oil.

But the result is a really pretty plate of deliciousness.

The final aspect is the egg. Now, the traditional dish is served in a stone bow, which is heated prior to serving. What does this have to do with the egg? Well, when using that traditional, heated dish, the egg is added just prior to serving - and is cracked right into the bowl, over the finished dish.  When served, one simply starts stirring things together, which results in the egg cooking right in the bowl.  Pretty cool.

Except I don't have any stone bowls.

So I had to cook my egg prior to serving.  So I whipped up an egg and cooked it nice and flat...

...then sliced it up into matchstick sized pieces comparable to the veggie pieces.

Then it was time to construct the meal!

It starts with a layer of rice...

...then all of those veggies and the egg strips, arranged as artistically as you can manage. Not so much for me, but hey.

For the finishing touches, add a protein of your choice (I chose chicken tenderloins, sauteed in sesame oil and seasoned with salt, garlic powder and soy sauce), and serve with a side of the previously prepared sauce.

I know it seems like a lot of work and a lot of steps.  But it actually isn't so bad, and the results? Totally worth it!  This was interesting to prepare and actually really fun to eat.

Renata, thank you so much for this fun challenge - I can't wait to try other versions of this rice dish inspired by the recipe that you chose.

To see the challenge as Renata presented it to us, check it out here.

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June Daring Bakers' Challenge - Cinnamon Rolls

This month the Daring Bakers kept our creativity rolling with cinnamon bun inspired treats. Shelley from C Mom Cook dared us to create our own dough and fill it with any filling we wanted to craft tasty rolled treats, cinnamon not required!

Hey - no need to click that link this time - you're already here!

This month I took a turn hosting the Daring Bakers, and dared the group to make a treat that, if you've been around for a while, you know I love - cinnamon rolls. And, as you probably already know, I love getting creative with my cinnamon rolls, sometimes skipping the cinnamon altogether and going for all kinds of creative fillings.

As examples for the group, I provided links and recipes to many of the varieties I've made over the years, including Peter Reinhart's traditional cinnamon buns, roasted banana cinnamon rolls, pumpkin brown butter apple cinnamon rolls, sourdough cinnamon rolls (of course! I borrowed Jenni's here because hers came out so much better than mine!), and, for anyone nervous around yeast, I even included my unyeasted sweet cinnamon biscuits.

But those were just examples! I then asked this creative group of bakers to be... well... creative! To make whatever dough they wanted, fill it with whatever sounded good. roll it up and bake it!

Now, the more creative submissions that rolled in on the forums, the more I craved rolled goodness. So I had to make a few too.

I started with these mixed berry rolls:

(I used Peter Reinhart's dough recipe and whipped up a mixed berry compote for the filling).

A week later, at the urging of little man, I made traditional cinnamon rolls, but immediately gave half the batch to a friend.

After that, I decided to test my own creativity and made a dinner version:

Pizza! I used pizza dough (I'll share that recipe later - it's worth its own post!) and rolled it with sauce and cheese.  Messy. But super fun!

I wanted to make more. In fact, I really, really wanted to make another batch yesterday.  But I held off. For now. Trust me - another batch is coming soon.

So, if you feel like it, check out the full challenge as the group saw it (here).

And thank you to everyone who baked along with me - your creativity and excitement were contagious and it was truly an honor to see all of the deliciousness that you created this month!

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June Daring Cooks' Challenge - Haggis

Oh yes, you read that title correctly.

The June Daring Cooks Challenge was hosted by Ruth from Makey-Cakey. She brought out the Daring-est of Daring Cooks and challenged us to make real Scottish Haggis.

Unfamiliar with haggis?  It's a traditional Scottish dish, a meat pudding of sorts, made from organ meats.  Usually containing sheep heart, liver and lung. And encased in the sheep's stomach.

Yeah.

I have never wanted to try it.

Daddy actually tried it once. In Scotland. It was on the breakfast bar where he was staying. And he said it wasn't bad!

But I still have the truly American  squeamishness about organ meats, so I've never been brave enough to try it.

So when our hostess suggested that this would be the challenge she would like to host, I actually told her that it was a great idea.  I mean, we call ourselves daring, right? It's right there in the title every month!

But then... I chickened out.  And decided to make the vegetarian version.

Now... I don't know that you can rightfully call a vegetarian dish "haggis," but it is definitely inspired by the real thing, with the flavorings and process or preparing it.

It was quite simple to make, with a lot of fun flavors and textures.

It started with onion...

...then carrots...

...and then some protein. The recipe calls for ground hazelnuts and peanuts, but with little man's allergies, I substituted sunflower seeds. And there's also mashed kidney beans.

Everything is cooked together with some broth, some lentils and a delicious blend of spices...

...and then you add steel cut oats to bind everything together.  This is cooked on the stove top to soften up the oats...

...and then placed into a loaf pan to be finished off in the oven.

Little man actually loved it right at this stage, and gleefully chowed down on the bits that were left in the pot as I snapped a few photos.

The resulting dish is toasty golden brown on the outside and full of delicious flavors.

It made a very hearty side dish - it could probably stand all on its own, what with the lentils, beans and nuts (seeds for me).

This was definitely a fun dish, and I'd really like to make it again. I think it needed a bit more broth than I used, but it had tremendous flavor and was very enjoyable.

And I am seriously considering getting over myself and trying a more authentic version.

Maybe.

To see the most daring of Daring Cooks, check them out here.

And to see the full challenge, as wonderfully prepared by Ruth, check it out here.



Vegetarian Haggis
(from allrecipes.com)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
5 fresh mushrooms, finely chopped (I didn't have mushrooms, so I omm=itted these)
1 cup vegetable broth (I used chicken broth, making this not truly vegetarian...)
1/3 cup dry red lentils (I used regular lentils)
2 tablespoons canned kidney beans - drained, rinsed, and mashed
3 tablespoons ground peanuts (I used sunflowers, ground in the food processor)
2 tablespoons ground hazelnuts (again, I used sunflowers, ground in the food processor)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice (I used salt, pepper and garlic powder)
1 egg, beaten
1 1/3 cups steel cut oats

Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and saute the onion 5 minutes, until tender.
Mix in carrot and mushrooms (if using), and continue cooking 5 minutes.
Stir in broth, lentils, kidney beans, nuts (seeds), soy sauce, and lemon juice. Season with thyme, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and mixed spice.
Bring pot to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes.
Stir in oats, cover, and simmer for another 20 minutes.
While this simmers, preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Quickly stir the egg into the saucepan, then transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan.
Bake 30 minutes, until firm.

Enjoy!

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