The CookingBites Recipe Challenge: Nov 2015-June 2017

Ken Natton said:
@classic33 threw in two more late yesterday, both using mushrooms, but neither are tagged or linked on the thread and are thus not included. And @Yorky threw in his Tom Yam Khung Gai late on, which is tagged and thus included. @morning glory’s Braised Mushrooms with Chickpeas, Spinach and Oyster Sauce came in a bit earlier. So, I make it a total of 16 recipes to choose from. A good crop indeed. And quite genuinely, there is not one of them that I could not think of attempting with full expectation of enjoying the results. Well, almost. I have to confess to you @Yorky, your Tom Yam presents a challenge both in terms of obtaining some of those ingredients, and in terms of my memories of my one experience of eating Tom Yam being that it was the kind of spicy that I don’t really enjoy. I get that it is likely very popular with others.

There are some interesting contrasts. There are plenty of clearly vegetarian recipes as well as some where the mushroom element is an important accompaniment to the central meat content. Among the vegetarian recipes, there are quite a few based on familiar, classic meat dishes where the mushroom content takes over the role normally filled by the meat content, and others designed from the outset as vegetarian dishes with mushrooms at their heart.

One good example of a mushroom version of a meaty classic is @Elawin’s Mushroom Cobbler. I have, in the past, cooked a beef cobbler to the Hairy Biker’s recipe. It seems clear to me that @Elawin’s recipe would stand up to the expectations of a classic cobbler recipe with mushroom as the key ingredient. And perhaps the striking contrasting example would be @SatNavSaysStraightOn’s mushroom curry, which is clearly not just a curry with mushrooms, but is actually a very well designed dish – one that incidentally, could be an entry into the current spice challenge.

From when it was first posted I did love @MypinchofItaly’s Tagliatelle with Champignon Mushrooms. As @morning glory pointed out, it is a very simple dish, that with very little effort and very little time gives you a truly beautiful plate of food, and one where the mushroom really is the star ingredient. This dish was always one of the strongest contenders, for me.

I had already made it clear just how much I liked @The Late Night Gourmet’s idea of adding powdered mushroom to the flour to make a mushroom pasta. I don’t have to make claims that I will make it, because I already have done. At one level, I can immediately identify that as my favourite idea in the whole set. But, and I can only hope that you understand this @The Late Night Gourmet, that is what it is, an idea, and great idea as it is, this is a recipe challenge and the recipe involves more than just the mushroom pasta and I’m afraid I can’t offer forward the recipe as my favourite.

But surely the prize for the most out of left field recipe has to be @classic33's Espresso and Mushroom Cake. I have to say I very much doubt that I will ever attempt to make that, but if fate were ever to present me with an opportunity to try it, I would definitely be taking that opportunity with some interest.

@morning glory’s entries are both everything we expect from @morning glory. Yes, as always, they are beautifully photographed, but the photography can only reflect the basic appetising nature of the food that is presented. I dare say, if this were being judged by a chef or a food critic, both of @morning glory’s recipes would, at the very least, be in the mix to win.

But of course, I am not a chef or a restaurant critic, and what this is all about, I think, is personal choice. I admit that I had missed the broader popularity of @classic33’s Beef, Guinness And Mushroom Pot Pies, and the fact that other’s expressed interest in the dish is a factor for me. But ultimately, the recipe does seem to me to be broadly the kind of steak and ale pie that I have made in the past. And actually, personally, I am not a big fan of Guinness.

Whereas, the Wild Mushroom Pudding recipe also offered by @classic33 also drew strong reactions from others, and had a very different response from me. For all my struggles with suet, the reasons that I have never really liked the steamed steak and kidney puddings that people from Wigan call a baby’s head is as much because I don’t really care for the filling as much as not liking the suet casing. The filling of this pudding does look genuinely lovely, and the prospect of vegetarian suet makes me wonder whether or not I should try it. So, for challenging me in good away, as well as for offering a genuinely excellent idea for using mushrooms, I select @classic33’s Wild Mushroom Pudding as the winner of this particular recipe challenge.
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You don't like Guinness!!
 
Ken Natton said:
And perhaps the striking contrasting example would be @SatNavSaysStraightOn’s mushroom curry, which is clearly not just a curry with mushrooms, but is actually a very well designed dish – one that incidentally, could be an entry into the current spice challenge.
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Agreed!

Ken Natton said:
At one level, I can immediately identify that as my favourite idea in the whole set. But, and I can only hope that you understand this @The Late Night Gourmet, that is what it is, an idea, and great idea as it is, this is a recipe challenge and the recipe involves more than just the mushroom pasta and I’m afraid I can’t offer forward the recipe as my favourite.
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Agreed and I was bowled over by the work that went into this.
 
classic33 said:
I've mi doubts now.

Wonder what would have happened if I'd included the whiskey recipe?
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Ah, now you see I might be going to really upset you. I don't often drink spirits, and if I do, actually my favourite is Cognac. But I am not entirely averse to a drop of the golden stuff, only with my Scottish heritage, it does tend to be whisky, rather than whiskey that I drink.
 
Ken Natton said:
Ah, now you see I might be going to really upset you. I don't often drink spirits, and if I do, actually my favourite is Cognac. But I am not entirely averse to a drop of the golden stuff, only with my Scottish heritage, it does tend to be whisky, rather than whiskey that I drink.
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There's a possible!
 
I was trapped in a corner, when I stuck in my thumb to find that the plums were no longer there. I got a lemon!

Lemons (any part of a fresh (natural and unprocessed) lemon) shall be the next ingredient in this challenge. Entries to be in by 1100 hours UTC (12pm BST), on Saturday the 10th June.

Mod Note: for those unable to obtain lemons, limes will be accepted. The same criteria applies (any part of a fresh (natural and unprocessed) lime).
 
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Usual rules apply.
Make certain to have the bill payers permission, before entering.
Late entries will not be included, but may still be charged for.
 
classic33 said:
Lemons shall be the next ingredient in this challenge. Entries to be in by 1100 hours UTC, on Saturday the 10th June.
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A quick question - does that include limes?

[Lemons are rare in these parts]
 
Yorky said:
A quick question - does that include limes?

[Lemons are rare in these parts]
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Lemons only.

I checked before choosing and they seemed fairly well available worldwide.

I'll check again later.

Mod Note: Limes are now acceptable for those unable to obtain lemons (same criteria applies (any part of a fresh (natural and unprocessed) lime))
 
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classic33 said:
Lemons only.

I checked before choosing and they seemed fairly well available worldwide.

I'll check again later.

Mod Note: Limes are now acceptable for those unable to obtain lemons (same criteria applies (any part of a fresh (natural and unprocessed) lime))
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weirdly even here they can be unavailable and are usually 4 times the price of limes. I have started to use limes instead of lemons as well!
 
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