Sunday, 31 May 2009

Paper Chef No.41

Ok, Its early Sunday morning (my time) and time to start thinking of the ingredients for the next Paper Chef challenge. We are well into Spring and Autumn (depending on which part of the world you live in) so there is a wide variety of ingredients available.
So far on our list we have:
Eggs, Rocket, Almonds, Lentils, Sunflower seeds, Raspberries, Cream, Ricotta, Pasta, Pine nuts, Salami, Dried tomatoes, Brown sugar, Corn, Bread, Butter milk, Golden syrup, Strawberries, Balsamic vinegar, quail, goat's cheese, green tea, tuna, lamb, Aubergines, Fresh Chilies, Lemon Verbena, Grapes, Mushrooms, Dark Chocolate, yoghurt, kidney beans, spring onions,green tomatoes, carrots, Broccolini, blood oranges, olives, Kidneys, mangos, asparagus, cashew nuts, Wasabi, cornmeal, asiago cheese, artichokes, edible flowers, couscous, pineapple, pork.

Feel free to suggest some other ingredients, but try to make sure they are obtainable (its not fresh truffle season everywhere...)

The winner from the May challenge, the lovely Alison from
Local Lemons will be selecting the final ingredients soon.

Wednesday, 20 May 2009

We have WINNERS

The Fairy Queen and her little fairy helpers have come up with a judgment and what a judgment it is.

I guess we have to realize that we live in a crude and harsh world different from that of fairies since normally there is only one winner. Now that we entered another dimension we all get to win, I love the idea. Everyone won for something; texture, shape, fragrance, creativity, happiness, color.

But there was one that won the over all price.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO IT IS.

Tuesday, 12 May 2009

Round up Paperchef No. 40

I must say that this month's paper chef was more interesting than any before due to the ingredients or the lack of it. Or could one call Mother's Day an ingredient? Anyway, I like the fact that it opened up for massive interpretation, something that could be served specially for that day, something your mum loves, something your mum got you hooked on, something shaped or coloured in the feeling of such a day etc So apart from yummy prociutto, floury potatoes and thyme we'll see what the people came up with.

Let start with Tanna from a kithen in half cups. She made something she thought her Mum would have loved, a sweet thought. Her submission is marinated portobello with steamed potatoes, caramellized onions and sauteed prociutto.



Then we have a newbie with the very suitable name Thyme. She doesn't only shows us the dish if you click the link but we get to follow her all the way to bed. I know you wanna click that link now. For her first attempt at Paper Chef she came up with a lovely Potatoes with Prosciutto, Olives, Green Garlic and Thyme. Her mum loves ham and olives and is less keen on leaves (I love that kind of an oddity), I think she was very happy with the result.


The " Spanish" Samurai amongst us, Murasaki Shikibu, spilled her heart on her relationship with her mother. There are differences but we can all see that there is love in the ecvaction as well. What do you think of her Potatoe Croquettas of love? I think they are just adorable and would melt any mum's heart.


Mikey is a bad boy who didn't even mention his mother, what would she say?! Maybe that she would love some of the colorful gnocchi with rosemary flowers as the mother's day theme. Great addition!



Allison from the blog Local Lemons made my mouth water with her Thyme-buttered gnocchi with fava beans, walnuts and prosciutto. It is the fava bean that does it for me. She also added citrus and walnuts that must have made it super yummy.


From the rolling hills of Tuscany we are presented with a warm salad of roasted potatoes and a row of other tasty ingredients. She also tells about her fond memorys of having the first spring/summer potatoe given to her with pride by her mother. There are few things as a dirty little bulb coming straight from the ground to make us feel connected, with our past, nature, one's origin.


Hunger for new way found not only one way to prepare this month's ingredients. At the same time as enjoying the food you get a bit of a family saga, inspiration coming from Amandas grand mother, mother and her own motherhood. Go and have a look at her Mother's Day potatoes three ways.


These fantastic Potato Proscuitto And Matzo Balls make me not only want to eat them but also have a drink, that is a good sign in my world. There is nothing as boring as a drink without a nibble - well maybe a nibble without the drink... Drink or no drink, these look down right great.


Kristina the former chef that still spends a lot of time in the kitchen decided to do a brunchy dish since this was her Mother's Day connotation. She made a lush Frittata with Prosciutto, Potatoes & Thyme. Do go over and read her post, I just love a good instructional post. Here we get the step-by-step so it can't go wrong. Reading the post reminded me that I need to by a mandoline for my own kitchen. B-day is coming up so now I know. Thanks Kristina!


My fellow Swedes, who almost could eat a deer, came up with something different compared to the others. They went for a side dish, potatoe swirls from heaven. Their dish Lamb patties
with Thyme Scented Prosciutto-Potato Swirls with Chèvreand Spiced Red Wine Gravy
would make me a proud mum - if I was one. Basic things like fluffed up potatoes wrapped in salty fatty ham makes me tick.


Noodle Cook gave this beautiful dish the name SIMPLICITY. Let's keep it simpel and read for yourselves.

Friday, 8 May 2009

What to do before Tuesday

Dear people,

the ingredients are up so get in to the kitchen bring out the tools and get started (if you haven't already). This post is just meant as a little reminder about what to do.

- Sure, the first thing is easy. Make use of the ingredients picked by the lovely fairies of Bron.(I knew there was a reason to record 'Lord of the Ring'in New Zealand. Wonder if Bron looks a bit like Cate Blanchett?)



- Post your creation on your blog and e-mail me the link. Should you not have a blog then you can partake anyway. You just send me the text and image per mail at PAPERCEHF@GMAIL.COM and I will post it for you. This should take place before noon Wednesday.

- Then pull the cork, enjoy your food and have patience for me to make the round-up.

That's it until Bron aka Galadriel will sway her fairy magic stick and bring us a winner.

Have a great weekend and have fun cooking!

Saturday, 2 May 2009

Time for more ingredients!

So come on and suggest some new ones to ut on our ingredient list:

Eggs, Rocket, Almonds, Lentils, Sunflower seeds, Raspberries, Cream, Ricotta, Pasta, Pine nuts, Salami, Dried tomatoes, Floury potatoes, Brown sugar, Corn, Bread, Butter milk, Golden syrup, Strawberries, Balsamic vinegar, quail, thyme, goat's cheese, green tea, tuna, lamb, Aubergines, Fresh Chilies, Lemon Verbena, Summer Squash, Grapes, Mushrooms, Dark Chocolate, yoghurt, kidney beans, spring onions,green tomatoes, carrots, tomatillos, Broccolini, yucca, blood oranges, cured olives, Kidneys, trotters, mangos, rucola, asparagus, cashew nuts, Wasabi, lavender, cornmeal, truffle oil, asiago cheese.

And remember to come back here next week on Wednesday the 6th to see the four ingredients the Judge, last month's Paper Chef winner, Bron of Bron Marshall, has come up with! See you then!