The Daring Cooks July 2010 Challenge: Nut Butters

Thanks to  Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the kitchen with puppies for this great challenge. "We decided to go nuts and get creative with nut butters!" and we all went nuts!! Check Here for other recipes and different kinds of nut butters.

I obviously didn't make any of the recipes that were provided us, not because i don't like the recipes but it's just that i'm familiar w/ the taste profiles of all the recipes. I wanted to explore and take the advantage of using other nut butters that i've not made yet or taste profile that i'm not familiar. I intended to make at least 3 nut butters but just didn't have enough time.

I managed to make two dishes using two different kinds of nut butters, Peanut butter for KARE-KARE and Almond butter for BEEF RAVIOLI WITH DEEP FRIED EGGS AND ALMOND BUTTER SAUCE  I have also blogged some peanut butter sauces that might interest you, so check them out VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLL WITH PEANUT SAUCE  and  VEGETARIAN STIR FRY WITH SOBA NOODLES


Kare-kare is a Filipino dish..i know, i know this is a dish that i'm so familiar with but i'm excited to take this opportunity to share this to everyone especially to those who haven't even heard of this dish.

If you will ask a Filipino, this dish will for surely be one of their favorite or a must have during a celebration/ special occasions.

NOTE:

1. Beef short ribs or beef with morrow are perfect substitute for the oxtail and tripe.

2. This dish is an acquired taste. Some may find it bland, this dish is really intended to be eaten w/ a little of the shrimp paste. If you don’t like shrimp paste, you can serve this with Maggie Seasoning for taste or a little of soy sauce.

Kare-kare (Oxtail Stew in Peanut Butter Sauce)

1 ½ lbs. oxtail

1 ½ lbs. ox feet or shin

1 lb. beef tripe cut into serving pieces

8 cups of water or more in needed

2 T finely minced garlic

1 C chopped onion

4 T cooking oil

1 C raw rice, toasted and ground to a powder ** (use ½ c first)

½ C achuete (Anatto) water ***

1 ½ C peanut butter (homemade or store bought)

2 medium Asian eggplant cut into serving pieces

10 string beans (long beans, snake beans) cut into 2 inch length

1 bok choy (Chinese cabbage or Napa Cabbage) quartered

1 banana hearts (quartered) I omitted this, can’t buy them fresh here.

1 medium kabocha or butternut squash cut into cubes

5 pieces of okra

2 pieces of finger hot peppers or Anaheim peppers **

2 medium sweet bell peppers any color of your choice.

Salt and Pepper to taste

*** You can use either the achuete seeds soaked in water to extract the orange color, discard the seeds before mixing the water into the stew or the achuete powder w/c are available at Asian stores. Dilute the powder with little water before mixing this to the stew.

*** slice finger hot peppers if you want your stew spicy or leave it whole.

** It is imperative to roast the rice to impart a smoky flavor. This ingredient will give the thick consistency to the stew. Add ½ of the powdered rice first then add more powdered roasted rice if it’s not thick enough.

TO MAKE 1 CUP TOASTED RICE POWDER:

TOAST 1 CUP OF RAW RICE IN A DRY PAN UNTIL LIGHTLY BROWN AND FRAGRANT. POUND OR GRIND THE TOASTED RICE.

1. Boil oxtail in 8 cups water for 2 hours or until tender, add more water if needed. (I usually use pressure cooker to save time)

2. Set stock aside.

3. Sauté’ garlic and onion in oil in a large saucepan or stewing pot.

4. Add the stock, annatto water, oxtail, ox feet and tripe to the pot and bring to a boil.

5. Stir in the roasted rice powder and peanut butter. Add little salt and pepper.

6. Add the vegetables in order of which one needs more cooking. Avoid stirring from this point so the vegetables will not be disturbed and will remain intact. I added the squash first, let them cook until tender but not mushy, add in the beans, okra and the rest of the veggies.

7. Serve with bagoong (shrimp paste)

8. Best serve with steamed white rice.

My second dish for the challenge BEEF RAVIOLI WITH DEEP FRIED EGGS AND ALMOND BUTTER SAUCE WITH HORSERADISH

This is actually not a weird combo since horseradish goes well with beef and sometimes poached eggs are served w/ ravioli.

For my version i deep fried the egg and added horseradish cream and milk to my almond butter to achieve a sauce consistency and added fresh picked grape tomatoes and chiffonade basil. This is a keeper!

Almond butter- form a thick butter in about 2 to 3 minutes for blanched w/o skin almonds, or 3 to 4 minutes for whole almonds; the skin of whole almonds will leave dark flecks in the butter