THE DARING COOKS JULY 2010 CHALLENGE: NUT BUTTERS

I know I'm really late posting this, but I have a really good reason. Around midnight of Tuesday another typhoon slammed the Philippines. The wind was howling and whipping the trees like paper. I had a sudden feeling of de ja vu, would this be like the other typhoon last September last year that cost us our house, cars and pets? I had to remind myself that we now lived in a safer place, in a 3-storey townhouse, away from the flood-prone community. Just when I was recovering from my initial panic attack, all of a sudden the electricity was cut off and Quezon City was plunged into darkness. And this black out went on and on ...the electricity was down, internet was down, even the phone lines were not working properly. And the worst thing was the rumors swirling around that we would be in this state for at least 3 days...but wonders of all wonders, after 26 hours, we finally got the power back, the internet back and the phone lines were working perfectly! And so here is my post...as they say..better late than never :)

The July 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network Online.
While I was lurking in the forums, I noticed that almost everyone had food processors for their nut butters--I was already thinking if I should use the blender at home to make my job easier, but then someone suggested using a mortar and pestle, which was what I did. The thing about turning nuts into butter manually is the amount of labor that goes into it. I was getting tempted to just whizz everything in the blender...but I chose to make it the good old fashioned way with a lot of elbow grease and well...grease in the form of oil. Even then, my nut butters didn't turn out as smooth as my fellow daring cooks. But when I used it to thicken and flavor my dishes, it was well worth it.
The first dish I made was Pipian which originally used chicken, I wasn't too keen on using plain chicken so I made chicken meatballs instead. For this recipe, I made cashew nut butter.

Pipian

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon annatto seeds (atsuete/achiote)
green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small thai chili, chopped
2 teaspoons coconut vinegar
1 tablespoon rice flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 T cashew nut butter
1 tablespoon fish sauce

Chicken Meat Balls
500 grams Ground chicken
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Onions, minced
salt
pepper

In a bowl, mix ground chicken, garlic, onions, salt and pepper. Make sure all the ingredients are well blended. Form into meatballs, makes approximately 12. Set aside in the refrigerator, this can be done ahead of time and frozen.

Heat olive oil in pan, add the annatto seeds, cook and stir until the oil takes the color of the seeds. Discard seeds using a slotted spoon. Increase heat and add the chicken meat balls, brown them. Remove chicken to a plate. Add the green onions, garlic and chili and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Dissolve rice flour in a large cup of the chicken stock. Add to pan with the cashew butter and Fish sauce. Return the meatballs to the pan and simmer, covered for 20 minutes until sauce thickens, adjust seasoning as necessary. Garnish with whole cashew nuts and chili, seve hot.
*The original recipe calls for peanut butter, but I took the liberty of using cashew nut butter.

Seafood Kare-Kare
2 tablespoons Oil
1 tablespoon Onions, chopped
2 teaspoons Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Peanut butter
2 tablespoons rice flour (toasted and dissolved in about a cup of shrimp stock)
2 tablespoons annatto seeds in 1/4 cup of boiling water
2 eggplants, sliced
1 bundle string beans, sliced
2 whole Flower crabs
1 whole Cream Dory Fillet, sliced
1/4 kilo shrimps (head, shells and tails removed)

Clean shrimps by removing the heads, tails and shells, do not throw. Make stock by boiling the heads, tails and shells in about 2 cups of water, let it come to a boil, skim the surface of scum and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and throw out the shells, set aside the shrimp stock.

Preheat pan with oil, saute the garlic and onions. Add the toasted rice flour dissolved in shrimp stock. Add the peanut butter and the annatto water. Mix well until sauce is thick and smooth. Add more stock and add the seafood. Remove the fish and the shrimps as soon as they are cooked. Let crab cook and add the vegetables.
Serve hot with sauteed bagoong (shrimp paste).

Peanuts being crushed for my nut butter

Seafood Kare-Kare with Flower Crabs, Shrimps and Cream Dory Fillet

I really had fun with this challenge and it made me explore the Filipino dishes using nut butters. Thank you Marge and Natashya!