Cooking Club Challenge

Your March Cooking Club Challenge: Michael Smith’s Jerk Chicken

Catherine Jheon — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:25:00 GMT

How much do you guys LOVE Michael Smith? It's a pretty safe bet that if there's a Michael Smith recipe in the mix, I can count on you guys to vote for it.

So for the month of March we are making Michael Smith’s Jerk Chicken with Brown Rice (optional). Out of a total of 375 votes, 197 of you voted for Chef At Home's recipe -- a whopping 53 % over Roger Mooking’s Coconut Shake and Bake and Christine Cushing’s One Love Corn Soup.

Be sure to check out the mouth-watering cakes from last month's Cooking Club Challenge: Greta and Janet’s Shockolate Cheesecake.

Here's how the Cooking Club Challenge works:

Make the chosen monthly recipe: Michael Smith’s Jerk Chicken with Brown Rice (optional).
Feel free to follow it to a "T" or add your own creative flair.
Email us (blogATfoodnetworkDOTca) a picture (in .jpg format and no more than 1MB) ) and a short descriptive paragraph of no more than 50 words before the end of each month for your chance to win prizes!
Thanks to our new site, you can share tips and opinions immediately with fellow challengers. No need to wait until the end of the month.

Michael Smith’s Jerk Chicken with Brown Rice
Yield: 4

This is my version of one of the tastiest ways ever invented to flavour grilled chicken; a jerk marinade. The marinade is essentially highly seasoned pureed raw onion, and, of course, the longer the chicken sits in it, the better it will taste. Try overnight! You don’t have to use a chipotle pepper but I prefer its smoky flavour and medium heat to traditional fiery hot habenero peppers.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken

2 tablespoons of ground allspice
1 dried chipotle pepper
2 bunches of green onions, roughly chopped
4 limes, juiced and zested
1/4 cup of molasses or honey
1/2 cup of olive oil or vegetable oil
Salt
1 Pound chicken, cut into 4 pieces (2 breasts and 2 legs)

Rice

1/2 stick of butter
1 cup of brown rice
2 cups of chicken stock or water
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Chicken

Place allspice, chipotle pepper, green onions, limejuice and zest, molasses, olive oil and salt into a blender and puree until a smooth paste forms. Scrape it into a large bowl, add the chicken pieces and toss until thoroughly coated. Wrap with plastic wrap or place in freezer bags and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
While the chicken marinades, and when it’s almost time to eat, make the rice. Begin by melting the butter in a medium saucepot over a medium-high heat. Continue simmering the butter until it begins to foam. Swirl gently until you see golden brown particles on the bottom. Immediately add the rice grains and stir well. This will toast them adding a layer of nutty flavour and will also prevent the butter from heating up too much and burning. Turn the heat down to low. Add the stock, season and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until tender.
Preheat a grill, barbecue or oven. When grill is hot, place chicken pieces on it, skin side down. Turn chicken after 10 minutes and continue cooking the other side for another 10 minutes or so, until done. If the grill flames up, or chicken chars, splash with water until the flare-up subsides

Related:

February Cooking Club Results: Shockolate Cheesecake

Catherine Jheon — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:28:00 GMT

(L- R: Gorgeous Shockolate cake by Nicole D. and Kirsten T.)

I have to be honest; I wasn’t thrilled about making Feb’s CCC: Shockcolate Cheesecake – no offense Podleski sisters.

For one I don’t really have a sweet tooth (salt is my thing), two, I not crazy about chocolate (call me crazy) and three, the recipe called for a commercial brownie mix (yes, I confess I can be a bit of a food snob).

But in the words of Laura V., Holy Chocolate Batman!! I LOVED this recipe! I loved it so much I made two cakes in one week – hello, fat pants with elastic band.

This recipe is super easy and it’s not too cloyingly sweet, you know how commercial cheesecakes taste sometimes?

(L- R: Katherine S.'s cake with gold luster dust! and Sara N.'s group-effort cake.)

The sour cream provides a nice balance to the sweet as well as cut down some of the richness. And did I mention that it’s low-fat! Well, as low fat as a cheesecake can be. I know, like AvaDJ I got a few laughs from my friends.

Like Nicole D. and Jamie D. this one’s definitely a keeper. Everyone who participated this month enjoyed it too. Check out the gallery and their comments below. Sara N. will be receiving a book for making this recipe and Feb. CCC part of her Valentine's Day tradition.

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Be sure to cast your vote for March's Cooking Club Challenge!

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Which Recipe Do You Want to Make for March’s Cooking Club Challenge?

Catherine Jheon — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:26:00 GMT

It’s time to vote my foodie family. March is Getaway Month here on foodnetwork.ca so I decided to look to the Caribbean for inspiration and found three recipes for you to vote on. They are:

Roger Mooking’s Coconut Shake and Bake
Michael Smith’s Jerk Chicken with Brown Rice
Christine Cushing’s One Love Corn Soup

I just wanted you guys to know One Love Corn Soup is famous here in Toronto. The recipe comes courtesy of Ras Iville Wright and Ikeila Wright, the uber chill Rastafarians (are there any other kinds?) who dish it out to long lineups in the summer.

It sounds like I’m trying to sway the vote but I swear I’m not. All three look delicious to me. But let me know what you guys want to make for March.

Don’t forget you still have to time to make the Greta and Janet’s Shockolate Cheesecake for February. I made it to rave reviews! I brought it to work this morning and it was demolished within seconds. I’ve never made cheesecake before, but it was super easy and very tasty. (The only thing I did was to cut down the amount of sugar in the recipe.)

Here's how the Cooking Club Challenge works:

Make the chosen monthly recipe - I'll announce the winning recipe at the end of the month.
Feel free to follow it to a "T" or add your own creative flair.
Email us (blogATfoodnetworkDOTca) a picture (in .jpg format) and a short descriptive paragraph of no more than 50 words before the end of each month for your chance to win prizes!
Thanks to our new site, you can share tips and opinions immediately with fellow challengers. No need to wait until the end of the month.

Related:

February's CCC Mid-Month Round Up

Val Outmezguine — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:39:00 GMT

People have been dazzling us with these incredible pictures of their personal Shockolate Cheesecake creations. So don't you think it's time you got started on this low(er) fat healthier alternative? After you dive into these pictures I'm sure you'll run to your grocer to pick up the ingredients which are listed below.

Thanks Michelle H. who decided to create her own low fat recipe for the brownies and spruce up her dish by dipping some raspberries in white chocolate. I do agree, it is a great contrast to the cake.

Way to show your love Maxine L! The perfect dessert for Valentine's weekend. I heart your cake decorations!

"Holy Chocolate Batman!" Go Laura V. that is the best opening line. Happy to hear that this recipe is a keeper.

So now that you've seen this recipe come to life, don't you think it's time you too make it?

Here's how the Cooking Club Challenge works:

Make the chosen monthly recipe: Greta and Janet Podleski's Shockolate Cheesecake.
Feel free to follow it to a "T" or add your own creative flair.
Email us (blogATfoodnetworkDOTca) a picture (in .jpg format) and a short descriptive paragraph of no more than 50 words before the end of each month for your chance to win prizes!
Thanks to our new site, you can share tips and opinions immediately with fellow challengers. No need to wait until the end of the month.

Shockolate Cheesecake

Yield: 16
Ingredients

1 box (15.5 oz/440 g) low-fat brownie mix (such as Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies)
2 cups 1% cottage cheese
1 cup light sour cream (not fat-free)
1 package (8 oz/250 g) light cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 ounces (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate squares, melted and cooled slightly (see Tip)
1 cup fat-free egg substitute or 4 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh raspberries
Melted chocolate for drizzling (optional)

Directions
   1. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Prepare brownies according to package directions, baking in springform pan instead of regular cake pan. Brownies should bake in 20 to 25 minutes.
   2. Remove pan from oven and reset temperature to 325ºF. Set brownie crust aside to cool slightly while you prepare filling.
   3. To make filling, whirl cottage cheese, sour cream and cream cheese in a blender until perfectly smooth. Scrape out mixture into a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, sift together sugar, cocoa and flour.
   4. Gradually add sugar mixture to cream-cheese mixture and beat on medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Add melted chocolate and beat again, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat just until eggs are incorporated into batter.
   5. Before pouring batter over crust, lightly grease sides of pan. This will help prevent cheesecake from cracking as it cools. Pour batter over brownie crust and smooth top.
   6. Place on middle oven rack and bake for 60 to 70 minutes. Cake will be puffed up and center will jiggle slightly when pan is shaken.
   7. Turn off oven, open oven door halfway, and leave cake in oven to cool for 1 hour. Remove from oven, run knife around edge of pan to loosen cake from sides, and cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
   8. To serve, remove sides of pan, slice thinly (it’s rich!), and serve with fresh raspberries and chocolate drizzle, if desired.

Tip: To melt chocolate, place chocolate squares in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on medium-low power until chocolate is melted. For 6 squares, it should take about 3 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave. Be careful not to burn chocolate! Remove bowl from microwave and stir chocolate until smooth. Cool slightly before using in recipe.

Per serving: 321 calories, 10 g total fat (5.9 g saturated fat), 11 g protein, 48 g carbohydrate, 2.7 g fibre, 65 mg cholesterol, 299 mg sodium

Related:

Your February Cooking Club Challenge: Greta and Janet's Shockolate Cheesecake

Catherine Jheon — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:15:00 GMT

It was close with over 500 of you casting a vote. But given the choice between making a savory Shrimp Stir-Fry for Chinese New Year, which falls on the 14th this year, and a decadent chocolate cheesecake for V-day, you went with your heart. I can’t say I blame you.

This Shokolate Cheesecake from the Podleski sisters looks good, verrrrry good. And since it’s from their show Eat, Shrink and Be Merry, you know it’ll be lower in calories than most cheesecakes out there.

And as Suzie the Foodie and AvaDJ suggested, there’s no reason why you can’t do both. If you throw in a sexy cocktail or two, you have the perfect V-day menu. (See both recipes below)

Here's how the Cooking Club Challenge works:

Make the chosen monthly recipe: For February it's Shokolate Cheesecake from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry.
Feel free to follow it to a "T" or add your own creative flair.
Email me (blogATfoodnetworkDOTca) a picture (in .jpg format) and a short descriptive paragraph of no more than 50 words before the end of each month for your chance to win prizes!
Thanks to our new site, you can share tips and opinions immediately with fellow challengers. No need to wait until the end of the month.

Shockolate Cheesecake
Yield: 16
Ingredients

1 box (15.5 oz/440 g) low-fat brownie mix (such as Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies)
2 cups 1% cottage cheese
1 cup light sour cream (not fat-free)
1 package (8 oz/250 g) light cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 ounces (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate squares, melted and cooled slightly (see Tip)
1 cup fat-free egg substitute or 4 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh raspberries
Melted chocolate for drizzling (optional)

****
Roger Mooking's Shrimp Stir-Fry with Fried Egg and Flavoured Vinegar

Ingredients
Shrimp Stir Fry

2x400 gram packages thick pre-cooked egg noodles
1/4 cup vegetable oil
½ red onion, julienned
2 cups shitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps quartered
2 cloves garlic, chopped
16, 21/25 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/3 cup oyster sauce
1/3 cup water, mixed in with oyster sauce
2 tablespoons ginger, finely chopped
3 plum tomatoes, medium dice
1 bunch green onion, chopped
1/2 cups spinach, roughly chopped

Flavoured Vinegar

1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon chili oil or chili flakes
1 bunch chives, finely chopped
salt

Fried Egg

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
Flavoured Vinegar

Directions
Shrimp Stir Fry

   1. Soak egg noodles in hot water for 5 minutes, drain and set aside.
   2. Heat oil in a wok, or a low, wide based pot over high heat.
   3. Once smoking hot, add red onion and shitake mushrooms, toss for 1 minute.
   4. Add garlic and toss.
   5. Add shrimp and toss.
   6. Once shrimp has turned pink, add oyster sauce and water mixture.
   7. Add ginger and noodles, toss.
   8. Add tomatoes and chopped green onions, toss.
   9. Remove from heat, add spinach and toss.

Flavoured Vinegar

   1. Place all ingredients except chives in a bowl.
   2. Add chives to bowl before serving.

Fried Egg

   1. In a non-stick sauté pan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat.
   2. Add eggs to pan.
   3. Turn heat to high and add butter.
   4. Cook eggs until bottoms are crisp and yolks are runny, remove from heat.

Assembling Stir Fry

   1. Place Shrimp Stir Fry in a bowl.
   2. Place 1 Fried Egg over Shrimp Stir Fry.
   3. Spoon Flavoured Vinegar with chives over Fried Egg.
   4. Enjoy with sliced Chinese Roast Pork.

Related: