Recipe challenge 2010

[teagal]

Wow... even with the holidays coming up I'd like to try a few things while its still 2010. Done a few new things the last month or so. Pulled pork, salmon, fruit galletes and turnip greens are the ones that came out memorable. Many not so much. After reading this thread I found even more things to add to the ongoing list I have like crumpets, souffle and macarons. Two others now ...hmmm homemade marshmallows and a good cocktail that I can make by the pitcher.

[Pierogi]

FABULOUS topic, Anna !

I want to play, I just need to put the old thinking cap on about my first 5...

Off the top of my tired head, I'd say

1) make brioche from scratch

2) roast a duck (or parts thereof....)

3) make Middle Eastern preserved lemons (this has been limited by storage and amount, I usually cook for just me. But a friend gave me Judith Jones' cooking for one cookbook for Christmas, and she gives you proportions and techinque for just 4 lemons, works for me)

Numbers 4 & 5 to come later. Can't wait to see what others post !

#1 done ! And successfully, albeit in a loaf pan rather than the traditional brioche pan. However....about 3 months ago I scored a brioche pan from Goodwill for $0.95. Brioche de tete to come !

#2, not quite. Haven't been able to find/afford said bird. Maybe over the holidays...

#3, done, and 2 of them used. Very easy, and very flavorful. Now that it's finally coming on cool weather, a tagine is in my future.

#4 turned out to be making a souffle, done. And was I absolutely BLOWN away by how easy it was. Pushed that souffle fear right out of me.

#5 was undetermined, so I'll say it was making my own, homemade hummous, pita breads, corn tortillas and naan bread. All of which were also incredibly easy and so superior to store bought I'll never go back. This week is slated for flour tortillas....

Oh, and thanks to a new CSA subscription, I learned to face my inner butternut squash and collard greens fear, and embrace both of these previously shunned veggies !

Gotta work on that duck thing, though....

[abooja]

I finally made sausages this year -- on Christmas day, in fact -- but I'd like to try different varieties, including andouille. That will be cool (hot?), because I'll get to use the grinder, the sausage stuffer, and the smoker for one dish.

Speaking of smoking, I'd like to try to make my own pastrami this year. Not that I even like pastrami (I don't love it), but DH does, and we only ever get the good stuff when we drive into Philly or back to NYC.

To go with the pastrami, I'd like to bake a great loaf of rye bread. I've made rye bread before, and I have included rye flour in certain bread recipes, but it was never anything outstanding. The combination of good, homemade pastrami and rye would certainly give me bragging rights in this household.

Like KateinChigago, I'd also like to try my hand at cassoulet. Ever since DH "lost" his bean allergy, I've been forcing one bean recipe after another on him. Cassoulet seems like the most complicated bean dish I can come up with. I've already made my own duck confit, sausages, and often cook beans from scratch, so this seems like the next logical step.

Last but not least, I'd like to try my hand at Pierre Herme's macarons, once and for all. I've purchased the various nut flours and I have repeatedly saved/aged the egg whites from ice cream making, but never took the final plunge. This is my year.

I tried, but was apparently not up to the challenge. My pastrami and rye were a disaster, and my macarons looked like hell. I never got around to making other types of sausage, and I certainly never made cassoulet. There's not enough time left in the year for me to give that a good go. Maybe January.

[Pierogi]

...and my macarons looked like hell....

Well, but you said they TASTED great ! Isn't that the most important thing ?

[abooja]

...and my macarons looked like hell....

Well, but you said they TASTED great ! Isn't that the most important thing ?

It is for me with most recipes, but with macarons, I cannot possibly present what I baked last week as a success to anyone other than my husband. Fortunately, I just purchased a second coffee mill for dedicated nut grinding, and will soon be stepping up my macaron making efforts.