When I trained as a chef, I used to love the "Mystery Box" days, where everyone in the class got a boxful of ingredients and had to cook a meal of (usually) two courses in two hours. You were allowed the usual pantry items (spices, a limited amount of flour, sugar, herbs, seasonings, oil, etc.) in addition to the ingredients that came in the box (which all had to be used). I was busy today, and didn't think about dinner til it was late. When I looked in my fridge, I had :-
a tomato lettuce half a pineapple stale french bread a rasher of bacon chicken breast
I peeled the pineapple, sliced off two slices and put them on an oven-proof dish. Then I sprinkled them with a little brown sugar and put them aside.
I cut the rest of the pineapple into dice, diced the tomato, added a few slivers of cheese that had to be used, and the lettuce. Added the pineapple juice to some mayonnaise and tossed the salad in it. Diced the rasher of bacon, crisped it up in the frying pan. While that was cooking, I cubed the bread, and mixed it with a bit of garlic, then added it to the bacon, cooked til it was brown, and set the whole lot aside to cool. I grilled the chicken breast and the pineapple (on separate dishes), set the pineapple aside to be served for dessert with a little icecream, sliced the chicken, dished up salad and sprinkled over the bacon and croutons. It was delicious, and ready in under 30 minutes.
What two courses would you have made?
melford,
Nov 11, 7:17pm
I think you are wonderful to make something like that virtually out of nothing. I wish I had your skill. If I looked in the fridge and saw those ingredients I would have bought takeaways! LOL
punkinthefirst,
Nov 11, 8:00pm
Well, I spent most of my married life on farms in the woop-woops. mostly at least 30 km from town, so takeaways have never been an option, really. I bet you could have come up with something. Have a go, just for fun! I won't make you use everything. just go for four of the ingredients! (And you don't have to make it. LOL)
daarhn,
Nov 11, 8:09pm
a tomato lettuce half a pineapple stale french bread a rasher of bacon chicken breast
Chicken; Butterfly room temperature chicken breast. Put chicken breast between cling wrap. Gentle wack until chicken is schnitzel thickness.
Pineapple Stuffing; Process 1/4 french stick into bread crumbs. Fry off 1/4 diced onion, diced 1/4 pineapple, 1/4 diced tomato in butter until onions golden and nutty, pineapple caramelizes a little and tomato liquid reduces. Add to one bowl bread crumbs, mix well, season with salt pepper. Cool mix.
Heap pineapple stuffing along one side of chicken schnitzel. Tuck in chicken sides and roll into a thick sausage. Wrap rasher bacon round chicken make sure bacon covers chicken seam. Place Chicken roll seam side down on to baking tray with baking paper. Add slice pineapple on top. This will help keep chicken moist. Gentle oven roast until just cooked. remove and let rest few mins. Reserve any juices and roasted pineapple piece.
Spicy Tomato Sauce; Dice remaining tomato, onion, garlic clove, add reserved chicken juices and chopped up roasted pineapple piece and fry off in oil until tomato breaks down and sauce reduces. Add chilli flakes. Season with salt and pepper.
Slice remaining french stick thickly on angle to make 1 long piece. Toast one side until just toasted. Butter other side then grill until butter melts and golden.
To serve; On a fabulous dinner plate, place toasted french bread, pile finely shredded lettuce. Slice chicken roll carefully on angle and place overlapping on lettuce. Spoon over spicy tomato sauce.
Pineapple Bread Pudding Cube remaining bread. Crush remaining pineapple. Arrange bread cubes baking dish. Mix together pineapple, couple well beaten eggs, melted butter. Stir into cubed bread until well mixed. Cover with tinfoil and bake until golden and puffed. Serve with ice cream, runny cream or custard.
punkinthefirst,
Nov 11, 8:42pm
Yumm!
punkinthefirst,
Nov 12, 6:35am
The ingredients for today's challenge are :-
apples pork sausages tomatoes
All are on special at Countdown today. Remember, you can use small amounts of other ingredients from the pantry, but these must be the stars of the show .
daarhn,
Nov 12, 9:23am
too easy. thats curried bangers on mash
daarhn,
Nov 12, 9:23am
or spicy meatballs
lythande1,
Nov 12, 11:26am
Why must there be 2 courses? Stale bread I make into breadcrumbs. Make the bread too. Pineapple, I'd have just eaten it as is.
Don't have lettuce. Chicken, if I had a couple of other thins - courgette, some mushrooms, peas perhaps, I would have made fried rice. Never have chicken breast either though, just legs.
Bacon I would have made into a pasta dish with the tomato.
punkinthefirst,
Nov 12, 1:28pm
That was what I had in my fridge to use up, lythande. and it put me in mind of mystery box challenges at Polytech, when I trained as a chef. The mystery boxes there always HAD to be two courses. I might have made fried rice,too, if I had had some of those other things on hand. I thought that the lovely cooks on here might like a bit of fun with their imaginations.
punkinthefirst,
Nov 12, 1:42pm
My menu for today? A great way to "stretch" sausages Remove the sausage skins and mix with grated apple, onion and carrot. If it's a bit mushy add some breadcrumbs. Form into a loaf shape and bake. Roast tomatoes in the same dish for the last half hour. Serve with a green vegetable and mashed potato. Sprinkle a couple of sandwich slices of bread thinly with sugar and cinnamon and bake til they are crisp. Cut into triangles Core the apples and cook in the microwave. Push through a sieve. Put the puree into attractive individual dishes and serve with the toast triangles.
punkinthefirst,
Nov 12, 1:44pm
daarhn's turn to choose ingredients tomorrow.
daarhn,
Nov 12, 3:30pm
oi play by the OPs rules. a fab thread about using your imagination with what's provided. Go on have some fun, get Creative!
melford,
Nov 12, 6:05pm
Watching this thread with interest. Nope I've got no imagination at all, if I lived 30 km out of town it would have been a case of a dish of weetbix for dinner. LOL
Your Challenge Box if you dare. and ONLY use what is provided below. 1 Appetizer, 2 Mains, 1 Pudding
2 Blocks fresh Tofu 1 Pomegranate 1 White onion 1 Brown onion 3 cloves Garlic 1 Red Fresh Chilli 1 Cup herbed Labneh Ghee, olive oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil Tin homemade curry powder Tin Lychees Tin chick peas Pack Frozen broad beans Handful roasted cashew nuts Packet Besan flour Various Indian, Italian, Asian sauces, spices In the garden- various mescalin lettuce, parsley- Italian/ curled, oregano, coriander, thyme, rosemary, pineapple sage, lemons, kaffir limes, lemon grass, curry tree, chives, spinach
(what I actually have in my fridge/freezer/pantry/garden. It's bare minimum as I've been on a 12 week challenge-dropped 25kg and cleared most items to make fresh daily from local produce.)
aaaand GO!
punkinthefirst,
Nov 13, 6:57pm
Phew! This was an interesting challenge, using ingredients I don't use often. Sorry, I had to have a couple of extras.
Make small entree sized salads with the mesclun, fresh herbs, a few pomegranate seeds for colour and sweetness, and the labneh, diced. Dress with a little vinaigrette, made with olive oil and lemon juice. Sweeten the dressing a litlle, if desired, though it shouldn't be needed.
Roti 1 cup besan flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 tsp salt herbs and spices as desired just over 1/2 cup water Mix the flours and salt together in a bowl. Add flavourings if using. mix to a medium dough with the water. Oil your hands a little, and knead the dough til it is no longer sticky and cleans the sides of the bowl. Cover with gladwrap, and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 10. Leaving the rest in the bowl, take 1 part and form into a small ball in your hands. Roll the ball in flour, then roll out to a 6 inch circle on a floured board. Slap the roti between your hands to remove the flour, and repeat until you have formed all 10. If you have a helper, one could cook the roti, while the other could form them. Don't stack them up - they might stick together. Heat a dry griddle or heavy frying pan, and cook the roti about 30 seconds each side, until small blisters form. If they stick, the pan isn't hot enough. When all are cooked, if you have gas, hold each roti over a flame with a pair of tongs to toast them. If not, put them on a cake rack, and toast under the griller. Curry with tofu Chop the onions finely, and cook them in a little oil until transparent. Add the garlic, crushed, cook a little longer, then some of your curry powder. Add water and a little besan flour, and cook for a few minutes. At this stage, I'd then add some plain yogurt, to make a nice creamy curry sauce, and adjust the seasonings. Add some peeled broad beans to the curry and cook through Deseed the chilli, chop finely, and keep aside. Wash a couple of handfuls of baby spinach and drain well. I'm presuming the tofu is the firm kind. Dice it, roll in a little besan, and deep fry til crisp. Drain well. Add the spinach, chilli and cashews to the sauce, leave til the spinach JUST wilts, add the tofu, toss, and serve with the roti. For dessert, I'm cheating, and mixing most of the rest of the pomegranate seeds into ready-made icecream, retaining a few for decoration. The sweet/tart flavour will be perfect after curry.
punkinthefirst,
Nov 14, 12:14pm
Who else wants a turn?
daarhn,
Nov 14, 5:42pm
we need to write our own hack cook book and start our own foodie caravan. hehe
punkinthefirst,
Nov 14, 6:43pm
Haha. your pantry has a decided Asian look about it. Gave my brain a great workout!
daarhn,
Nov 14, 7:40pm
Before I cleaned it out for my 12 week challenge it was Gourmet filled with loads of spices from each country in separate big containers for easy go to when ever I felt like whipping up a particular countries dish. Lots of influence from all around the world. I do this fortnightly try a new dish from somewhere in the world I would like to travel to. Currently it is easy to have tofu and veggies on hand with minimal spices to keep a cleaner diet while I'm training. No temptations. and God Yes I miss opening up the pantry and not seeing all my little foodie treasures. My Indian neighbours do tell me I'm more Indian than them. But my love is Balkan Peasant. meals I grew up with.
punkinthefirst,
Nov 15, 7:15pm
Please treat us to some of those! The food is similar to Greek food, isn't it?
daarhn,
Jun 26, 9:09pm
Yup Southern fare, Croatian/ Dalmation, Greek, Hungarian, etc all that region. Simple comforting peasant food using the freshest of ingredients, fruit veggies meat and fish. I grew up on a vineyard. The 'tetes'/ aunties where renound for their cooking abilities in all forms including their tin smoke houses outback. The family gatherings with tables loaded and groaning from various dishes including ražanj of pig, goat, lamb, what you would call spit roast. Running away screaming in glee as kids if we managed to swipe a bit of the pigs ear or tail as it was turning- and all day event that accumulated to a night of feasting dancing singing and memories. Looking up into the sheds rafters to see legs of ham, sausages, salamis, meat and fish all smoked on order from folk all around. Making wine, vinegar and markets. such memories
Then there's my Baltic side. Fire and Ice- Balkan & Baltic
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