duckduck

Exweez me? You're joking right? We always caught them as kids and mom cooked them up and in the old neighborhood there was a brewpub that used to have a bucket of suds and bucket of 'dads night once a week. Whatevah. Besides, when you can go get fresh crabs, crawdads seem like an awful lot of work for what little meat you get. If I'm going to work for my food, I'm going for the motherload.

Sweet!

I've never tasted stevia and it's been awhile since I tried agave straight. I'll have to do that tonight. It was really laid back in the custard and didn't really stand out as it's own flavor. It just kind of let the other things shine. I did have a lot going on with it though. I found it interesting too that it's kosher and they said it softens the aftertaste of splenda when you combine the two. I can't imagine anything making splenda taste good but it would be to try just to know.

I'm gonna tweak the brownies a bit too before I'm done. I was munching on a mouthful of brownie with custard last night and sniffing each of my four cinnamons from Penzey's last night. I'll probably continue to play after the challenge is over and add an occasion note here on bean recipes I try but I think I might start a whole new thread on the agave. I found some great recipes here. http://www.deliciousorganics.com/recipes/agaverecipes.htm Overall, it's been a lot of fun.

So the first rule of making custard...uh, for me that would be check the fridge to make sure you have eggs left after the cannellini bean angel food cake from the night before. Oops. Had two eggs left and enough to make a little bit of custard. Split it into thirds and used a different sweetener in each. The original recipe called for palm sugar or a substitution of brown sugar. I did one of each and used agave syrup in the last one. I'm glad I decided to play with the agave because we actually like the texture and taste of that one the best. When we tasted them with the brownies, the difference was huge. When paired with the brown sugar custard, the brownies seemed much sweeter and much more intense than they were on their own. When paired with the agave custard, the sugar seemed to pull back and it really let the chocolate come forward. Gonna grab some more eggs on the way home from work tonight and tinker with it some more.

Found some interesting info on forbidden rice if anyone is curious or unfamiliar with it. http://www.classbrain.com/artaskcb/publish/article_181.shtml

For next week's challenge, anybody up for it? PM me. I have a them and ingredient in mind. I'll start poking peeps tomorrow if I don't hear anything. It's a very open challenge that can be as tame or as crazy as you want it to be.

I'm thinking that I'm going with two layers that kinda look like three. At least that's what I'm hoping for in the end. I haven't tried the top layer yet. I tried another cake last night. It's a bean version of an angel food cake. It tested clean like it was done but I don't think I cooked it long enough. It fell when it came out of the oven. When I pulled it apart, the middle was pretty soft. Tasted the edges and it wasn't bad. Not really beanie but not entirely cakey either. Kind of an odd taste. I might add some flavoring if I ever try it again. I'll post that recipe too. It called for lemon zest. I used Meyer lemon since that's what I had in the house. It was pretty mild. Anyway, I think I'm going back to the brownie layer and topping it with a coconut milk creme brulee with forbidden rice and sticky rice. We have a combination of steamed forbidden rice and sticky rice around the house all the time and I've been meaning to play with the coconut milk custard and the two together just sound like really good comfort food to me right now. Doin' a little taking time out to care for me and pulling off my challenge at the same time. I have sweet red beans and the tapioca stringy things for a halo halo type shooter but I was planning on using a fresh cherimoya with it and realized last night that it was moldy. Might run out to find some other fresh fruit to use with it if I find the time. Going to redo the green pea shortcake so it might be a little trio by the time I'm done. That's the plan for now. Custard tonight!

Somewhere I read a mention of a series of six books. I'm curious what the subjects of each will be as well.

It is green but overcooks and browns very quickly You have to keep an eye on it. I'll try to get a recipe figured out by the weekend.

I have to say that I have a lot of admiration for anyone passionate enough to do the "crazy" work it takes to create a better product. Drew, you obviously take a lot of pride in your work and it shows in your products. IMHO, to share g pectin with the rest of the world when you could keep it as your own secret ingredient is huge. It's a very cool thing. Thank you for joining us. I'm sooo looking forward to playing with these recipes.

Had a good night last night. Got a little wild and crazy and it actually paid off. A while back Tejon gave me a ride over to Bob's Red Mill and we found this green pea flour. We thought it was really fun looking stuff and figured it was something that needed to be played with. Last night I pulled out the old family shortbread recipe and did a couple mini batches, one substituting 25% of the flour with the green pea flour and one with 50%. The one with 50% smelled really strong, especially when baking and I wasn't so sure about it. When they cooled, the 25% was pretty mild and had a bit of green pea flavor but not a lot. The 50%, which smelled really intense baking, mellowed and was pretty good. It had better balance, as my mother put it. Got up about 1 am hungry and actually found myself snacking on it. Was considering another batch with a little mint and/or meyer lemon zest but was concerned about overwhelming it and not having enough pea flavor forward. Scratching and sniffing at the peel of a meyer lemon while munching reminded me of some vanilla tangerine curd I had left over in the fridge. Gave it a try. They seemed to work well together. Don't know how they'll go with the brownies and other components I'm working on but I think they're a keeper combination.

Just remembered that I had tucked a couple of those brownies in my bag last night to taste today. I could kind of find a bit of bean taste while they were warm, but I was looking for it. Now that they've set, I'm not noticing the bean flavor at all. Very moist and bit crumbly, very chocolatey. If I pair them up with my coconut custard, I might add a bit of cinnamon. I prefer a chewy brownie but these are nice if you like moist, cakey ones.

After being out sick for a couple days, I'll be back on it tonight. I had thought of red bean paste but felt it was a little too common and too easy. I have a couple of recipes from the Japanese Confections class at the WPF last summer. I felt I wouldn't be challenging myself if I didn't wing it and experiment a little. My first thought was of a restaurant where I go frequently for happy hour that offers salted edamame. I'm wondering about sugaring it with a syrup and pairing it with one the the salts I picked up recently at the Meadow. I also thought about tofu but it makes me think of those recipes that make cheesecake out of tofu and claim it tastes just like the real thing. I'm not so sure. But then again, I was wrong on the brownies. They weren't half bad. I'm not a huge fan of beans or peas either. Tinkering with the idea of using lentils too. And just so ya' know, my roommate called home the first morning I was home sick just to tell me that those brownies I left on the stove the night before were really good. Score.

I haven't read this whole thread so if I miss something, have patience. I've been out sick a couple days and it may take me a little time to catch up. I had questioned Drew about the g pectin and it's something he developed for his work. He said it's a soft one intended for bonbon use and will be available at Chef Rubber in the next week or so.

They firmed up nicely and they look and smell like brownies! Haven't tasted them yet. Whatever has been chasing the last couple days caught me and I'm curled up with 7-up and soda crackers for now. I'll have someone try them tonight. I think one thing that is key is using low sodium beans and rinsing them well. I think that was one of the things that was off when I tried to do the Alford Duguid bean bread was there seemed to be too much salt and it broghtened the bean flavor. I'll try another recipe probably tomorrow.

They are according to wikipedia. Beans, peas, lentils and peanuts. And we have achieved Shel status on the brownies. They don't suck. I added pecans and I think without them, I might notice the black bean flavor a tiny bit. They are still warm though. They are soft and cakey and crumbly. I know I need to let them cool but I just had to taste. They're not bad. They might make a nice base. Could use a little spice, maybe a splash of kahlua but they are decent. I'll try a few more recipes from this book tomorrow. There's a flourless chickpea cake that I'm looking at next. I forgot to mention that the basic idea of this book is making desserts with vegetables. I'm thinking of playing with a coconut milk creme brulee for the top and trying to figure out what to do in the center but who knows. Lots to play with. Black Bean Brownies Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9x13x2" baking pan. Rinse a can of black beans really well and puree in a food processor. Melt 1 cup unsalted butter over low heat with 4 oz. unsweeted chocolate. Take 2 cups sugar in the bowl of a mixer beat in 4 eggs, room temp., one at a time until light. Beat in the chocolate and butter. Beat in one cup of black beans and 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder until smooth. Pour into pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes.

Hey, hey, hey now...don't eliminate halo-halo. I was thinking a little shot glass action on the side. Got my sweet red beans, colored tapioca stringy things and my coconut milk. My original thought was asian influence so I combed through FuBonn Market today looking for inspiration. I'm also working from a book I've had for awhile called Desserts with a Difference by Sally and Martin Stone. I think one of the biggest challenges I see here at eG is when people ask for desserts that cater to special dietary needs like no gluten or milk products. I've been meaning to test some recipes and see what's possible. I think right now the pieces I'm working on are not things where I'm looking for an "OMG, this is amazing." What I'm looking for is Shel. If any of you have ever met Abra's dear husband Shel you will know what I'm talking about when I say I'm just looking for Shel's voice in my head saying, "Well...it doesn't suck." My chocolate is melted and I need to get back to my black bean brownies. Will they actually taste like brownies? I'm sceptical. But if the claims that I can make a decent brownie out of black beans turns out to be just a steamed pile of horse duckey, I can always go back to playing with the green pea flour from Bob's Red Mill that Tejon and I found when out shopping the last time I thought I would be challenged. Got lots to play with. Gotta bake now.

It doesn't have to be a full post. You can PM a small heads up if there's an ingredient in there I need to get.

At one point, I was like the squirrel in the movie Hoodwinked running around going ok, I have four different kinds of cinnamon, I have a dozen salts, several smoked, I have tapioca pearls in many colors...and on and on. I should be ready for this. If there is an odd ingredient involved, can I know today before I go do my shopping tomorrow? I live in Portland so I have access to just about anything. Let me know.

Yeah, for one more week. Feeling under the weather, worn out and have a full plate for this weekend already. Part of the problem for me is the challenge is issued like monday or sunday night if we're lucky and my weekend is sunday-monday. By the time I'm asked, it's like, man, if I'd only known a day or two ago. If somebody wants to pick me, could you let me know maybe on a friday night or saturday morning so I can have my weekend to work on it? I'll try to set aside the 14th-15th weekend for it if somebody wants to tag me for then. Edited to add, I'll take it if I can have until the 15th. The week of the 7th to the 12th to discuss and kick ideas around but give me until the 15th to get the dessert done and photos posted, which will probably be the bigger challenge for me. My photos post black and I still need to figure out why.

Pacific NW airs January 15th.

Got mine too. Been trying to get finish a review on it but there's just so much info. I think it will be a great reference/go to book. I think it would also be a perfect book for a newbie. Getting a chocosphere order together so I can start to play! I already have a long list of recipes I want to try. The folks at work were looking at me like I was crazy because I had a list of recipes penciled down and how much chocolate I would need. I'll only need 27 pounds of chocolate for the ones I want to try first!

Ring of Fire would be really cool.

I'm eagerly awaiting my book by Andrew Shotts as well. There are a couple good reviews on it already. I was planning on doing a "work along with me" type thread when I get it. Should be here soon. http://www.chocolatezoom.com/article.php/M...Chocolates/117/