Monday, February 15, 2010

THE DARING COOKS FEBRUARY, 2010 CHALLENGE: MEZZE!

The 2010 February Daring Cooks Challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

I was excited when I first read the DC challenge for this month, because I really like the idea of mezze or small dishes over eating one big dish. Plus there's more freedom to make other small dishes, so I started making my pita bread early but alas--I don't know if it was the weather or it was me but the result was less than I expected. My sisters said they tasted good but they looked more like chinese steamed buns. I had no choice but to follow the recipe that was given to us, but it was frustrating for me because I had a fool-proof pita recipe and the temptation to use it to redeem myself was really great. But what is a challenge if I didn't try to conquer it? So I tried again and voila! I made perfect ones this time!!
The hummus recipe was really good, it was my first time to make it and it was good! I made it again and it was better! I will definitely use this hummus recipe again and again.

The hummus I made from canned chickpeas

The mezze platter--Red pepper keftedes, Sardines in Olive Oil, Feta Cheese garnished with flat leaf parsley, Fried Shrimps, Pita Bread and tomatoes. The Hummus alongside some Olives is on a smaller plate

For the mezze platter (I prefer to call it mezedes--the Greek version) I made Red Pepper keftedes (made of canned roasted red peppers and batter), Sardines in olive oil, Feta cheese, Fried Shrimps, sliced Tomatoes and Black Olives.

Thank you Michele for this challenge and this really good hummus recipe!

21 comments:

Kris Ngoei said...

Don't we just love when every single detail comes together as one? It makes a perfect and eye pleasing meal, just like your Mezze, plated so well in great color combination...

Sawadee from Bangkok,
Kris

Anonymous said...

Really nice mezze platter. My pita dough was kind of weird, too, I had to add about 9 cups of flour instead of the 5-6 called for in the recipe!

Anonymous said...

This was a great challenge. I like this style of eating - lots of things on the table to nibble is fra better thna a HUGE plate of food.

Sarah said...

Your mezze look great! The keftedes are especially intriguing. I haven't ever had those.

Monkeyshines in the Kitchen said...

Congratulations on conquering the pitas! I like how you took your mezze platter in a seafoody direction.

justforlicks said...

I love your combination of mezze! The shrimp and red pepper keftedes look fantastic.

Valérie said...

I really like your presentation! And those keftedes are intriguing!

Evelyne CulturEatz said...

Oh! pretty pic with a nice mixture of tastes and flavors!

Kiyi Kiyi said...

Yum! Love your mezze. Those red pepper kefteds (sp?) intrigue me. LOVE red peppers!
Beautiful pics - looks like I could eat it right off the screen!
Thanks for your comment on my post! :)

Margie said...

Your pitas look fabulous! I admire your persistence. I would be tempted to use the fool-proof recipe for sure. Your mezze spread looks delicious. The sardines were a great idea.

TaGa_Luto said...

NICE!!!! I love the use of seafoods! OMG, i thought i'm going to be done w/ Mezze but now i like to try keftedes. Which recipe did you use? And good job for your pita, that was good that you made it again!

Barbara Bakes said...

What a beautiful presentation! Everything looks delicious!

Angelica said...

Your pita bread looks great, Not like steamed buns at all! You've also got great plates to go with this challenge, everything looks beautiful!

Lynne Daley said...

A lovely mezze-the feta sounds like a great complement to the other dishes. I also added more flour to mine and made it in the bread machine.

Lisa said...

What a spectacular, gorgeous and mouth watering spread! I love the red pepper keftedes! Great photos too. I'm mourning my lack of natural light more and more!

Olga said...

Good job for trying the challenge again and succeeding! I obviously did not do that :)

All the meze look delicious.

showfoodchef said...

Love the seafood on your mezze and the red pepper sounds tasty.

pigpigscorner said...

Lovely platter!My bread didn't turn out as expected too,yours look great!

Olive said...

your plating is beautiful..I love evrything in it.esp the spanish sardines..Congrats on completing the challenge :) .. I wasn't able to make this month's challenge.. :(

Michele said...

Thank you so much for cooking along with me this month. Your food looks amazingly delicious.

Your presentation is gorgeous!

Eat4Fun said...

Delicious looking Mezze. Nothing wrong with Chinese steamed buns... lol :-) Congrats on completing this challenge.