Physical Challenge: A BBQ Triple Header

So this weekend was pretty standard. Ran some errands. Hung out with friends. Got some writing done, oh... and... pulled a TRIPLE bon appetempter.

The inspiration for this physical challenge wasn't Marc Summers, but rather the fact that Matt and I are house-sitting the house that has the KitchenAid that gave me the courage to try the cake that started this whole blog, and well, another tool they have that I don't is a GRILL and a back yard, which isn't a tool, but it does have a sandbox and a swing set, which could be tools in a MacGruber sketch. Soooo, we decided to do an impromptu barbecue with friends.

First, there was Gourmet's homemade ginger ale.

Gourmet's version:

our version:

sponsored by PYREX.

Everyone should make this. It's amazing, refreshing and the only annoying part is peeling all the ginger. Corinne, my collaborator on the fauxstess cupcakes, helped with this even though Matt kept downshifting her knife skills. Matt got his though when some ginger squirted into his eye, sidelining him while we boiled the ginger syrup.

Next up was the Corn-and-Tomato Scramble:

Gourmet's version:

my version:

Note: Because the BBQ was last minute, we were running around and the picture matching suffered slightly. (I'm just as disappointed as you are, but have a special something at the end of the post to make up for it.)

House-sitting also involves dog-sitting. Meet Gatsby. She helped shuck the corn.

Jodi brought this delicious salad. I think the conversation went something like this:

Jodi: It's a fennel and arugula salad--from this month's Bon Appetit.
me: Oh, is it an attempt?
Jodi: Do you want it to be?
me: Yes.

bon appetit's version:

jodi's version:

The main event was Gourmet's Sticky Balsamic Ribs.

Gourmet's version:

my versions:

OR

These ribs called for a conglomeration of things I've never done before, which included buying ribs. We started with a 24-hour marinade/rub.
Have you ever taken a cleaver to a piece of meat like this? I had to just to fit the pieces in the roasting pan and man, did it feel weird. Also, thanks to Sara for aforementioned roasting pan and cleaver--two things that also made this attempt possible.

So, after roasting for 2 hours, making a glaze out of the juices, brushing that glaze all over the ribs and grilling for 6 minutes, they were finally DONE, and I believe, a complete success...

I leave you with one last comparison. If any of you subscribe to Gourmet, you may remember the below mysterious gentleman from your issue:

Our version:I tried to get him to wear a similar hat and tried to make him give me a more mysterious look, but this being the opposite of Matt's kind of thing (while I was asking for mystery, he was asking, "How much longer do I have to dangle this rib bone?"), I think I was pretty lucky to snap this one. And the outtakes are priceless.

Guest-attempt: Mare's Lemon Layer Cake

When Amelia asked me to guest-attempt on her blog, I was filled with trepidation. How could I top the dacquoise? Was I setting myself up for a heartbreaking non-success? I'm not much of a baker, so naturally I decided to bake something. I decided to go real low-pressure and promised my sister that I'd bake the cake for her birthday party. Noooooo pressure there.

That said, I really rose to the occasion, in my opinion. Their version:

And my version:

Now lest everyone gets all, "I can't even tell which is THEIR version and which is YOUR version!" I must admit that I didn't choose a side view before and after because while Gourmet's layer cake was a self-described "8-inches" tall (whatever, Gourmet--you lie), my cake was what one might call a "shorty." In fact, I think one should call it that. It was more like 2-inches tall sans frosting. Side view of the shorty:

Well, in case that picture doesn't quite capture it, it was one short cake. Despite its shortness, it was lemony and delicious and looked quite classy with the petals I pulled off my rosemary plant and scattered casually all over the top. (By casually I mean, I painstakingly arranged them that way to make them look random/casual.) And note I did not follow the recipe when it called for "candied violets" that one is supposed to candy oneself. Whaa?? Also, I did not curd my own lemon curd for the frosting, because frankly I think that sounds gross.

Let's revisit some highlights from the baking bonanza, shall we? Pretty white ingredients:

Are these peaks stiff enough for ya, Gourmet magazine??

(Prob not.) And let's take one more look at my casually scattered rosemary petals:
All in all, I really have Bon Appetempt to thank for my first from-scratch, non-mom-involved cake. Thanks, Bon Appetempt!

Bon Appétit's Spicy Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato

I've been looking to recreate Buddha's Belly's Spicy Tom Yom Koon soup for a while now and even though this recipe isn't really it, I thought it would satiate the craving and make for a good culinary challenge, or, what the laymen refer to as a bon appetempt. I'm happy to say, it didn't let me down on either front.

bon appétit's version:

our version:

The part of the challenge of every attempt that isn't captured via photos is the gathering of ingredients, and this soup was the most difficult to date. Check out just some of things we had to buy:
And after four grocery stores, and two specialty food shops, we still couldn't find yellow curry paste and decided to substitute with the readily available red curry paste, which explains why our version isn't as yellow as bon appélittleheadsupontherarityofyellowcurrypastewouldvebeennice.

Here seems like a good time to catalog our many screw-ups:

1. buying light coconut milk. Thought I would sneak it in there and we wouldn't even notice, but this time my nod towards the healthy backfired and the soups richness and creaminess suffered. (My bad.)

2. Either not mincing the lemongrass enough (second from the right) or leaving too many of the outside layers on. Not sure, but we kept hitting tough bits of it while trying to enjoy the broth.

3. forgetting to add sugar to the stock. (matt's bad, if you ask me.)

4. Not asking the Whole Foods butcher to take the bones out of the thigh pieces. (My bad.)

5. Gifting Shalom Auslander's Foreskin's Lament to Matt's Dad and sister after hearing only the second chapter on This American Life. (While hilarious and moving, this book - the title alone should've tipped us off - makes for a bit of an awkward gift to the in-laws.) (Matt's and my bad.)

Anyway, let's give thai food some credit for its color palette.

and:

The end result is really one part noodles, one part soup and one part garnish. The noodles go into the bowl first, followed by the broth (with the sweet potato and chicken) and then, as garnish, the onions, cilantro, peppers, snow peas and lime.
Final verdict: the soup was spicy and refreshing, but truth be told, it was a little bland. Adding salt helped, but the full fat coconut milk and the two tablespoons of sugar were sorely missed.

In short, we made soup. It tasted pretty good. It's Father's Day and I've blogged instead of sent gifts off. (My BAD.)

Battle Challah: The Jew vs. The Goy

Two things I've been wanting to do: 1) make bread and 2) make something from the very inspiring smittenkitchen.com. Why not knock out two birds with one giant piece of challah? Hahahachallah joke.

here is smitten kitchen's version: (sorry, picture NOT forthcoming since the photo is licensed through Getty Images.)

and mine (not ours, which I'll soon explain):

One reason I chose this particular recipe is because smitten kitchen understands the meaning of no dishwasher. Go ahead without the KitchenAid, Deb says. And that's exactly what I did.

I was also worried about kneading it properly, but again, smitten kitchen was reassuring--as long as you are folding, pushing out and turning, you'll be fine.

After that, I set it in a greased bowl and

covered it with Cling Wrap, which is basically Glad's huge, ongoing joke (the only thing this wrap clings to is itself):

As we "wait" for it to rise for an hour, can I just tell you how much cooler organic eggs are than regular eggs? Each organic egg is slightly different in color, yolk size and personality. Regular eggs are the EXACT same from egg to egg. They are weird little egg clones.

(Also, cleaning up the dough, ruined my sponge. FYI.)

One hour later, my dough hadn't risen as much as I thought it would, but it stayed down when I pressed it with two lightly floured fingers, which according to smitten kitchen means that it is good to go, or

...good to get punched back down and then left alone to rise for another half hour! (If you don't show the dough who is boss early and often, it will never rise and it will never respect you.)

At this point, Matt comes into the kitchen and asks if he can help. So, we decided to each make a loaf. Begin BATTLE CHALLAH: the jew vOYses the goy. On the left you'll see Matt's (the jew), and on the right is mine (goy).

And here, mine is the sesame seed, and Matt's is plain.

I think the winner is obvi.

Matt swears he has never made challah, but the second he touched that dough, there was a strange look in his eye. We both knew he was chaneling something, something God-given. And his prize for winning the battle? He got to make two more loaves, which turned out to be even MORE beautiful than his first.

Could this be the biggest success to date? I don't know, but the apartment never smelled better. There should be a perfume called CKchallah.

Epilogue: Three of these beautiful loaves were sold at our the No Cookie Left Behind charity bake sale. The one I made was eaten by us. I want more challah, and I wanted it five minutes ago.

Bon Appetempt goes All American

The recipe is from Martha's little magazine, Everyday Food (everyday, Martha, really??) And here is her version:

And ours:

Yes, we made the whole menu, starting with...

a 24 hour soak in buttermilk.

Let the dredging begin. Chicken fingers.

Once you've dredged each piece twice, you are done and technically you can eat it.
However, we wanted to see the recipe through, so we decided to cook the chicken:

Apparently rosemary has a great internal clock, so as the recipe states, there is no need for a thermometer - when the rosemary hisses, remove and the oil is ready for the chicken.
At this point our house started smelling like KFC.
Meanwhile, Matt whipped up the parsley, mustard vinegrette...

Before:

After:

Here is the only place where things got weird. We put the half-cooked chicken in the oven to finish it off and within five minutes, started hearing some crazy sounds coming from inside. When Matt opened the door to see what was what, billows of black smoke started pouring out of it to which my reaction was: "Can we get a picture of it for the blog?!" (Sadly, we could not. (Smoke doesn't picture well?))

Anyway, we blame this on our baking sheet which doesn't have any real edge to it, so we think the oil was dripping onto the oven floor and turning into smoke. Despite all this, the chicken came out fine:

What did we learn from this Bon Appetempt? Fried Chicken is relatively easy, just very messy and if your attempting with no dishwasher and DIY tools, the process will require a couple rounds of dishes... The reward is well worth the work, though. The meal was tasty, relaxed, and super fun.