Paper Chef 36 Winner!

This was an interesting Paper Chef round!

While there may only have bee four entries, they were all very different, very unique, and very good. Which means judging a winner was very difficult.
As last month's winner I had the privilege of selecting three random ingredients from the nominated list, and a fourth of my own selection. After seeing what the random generator produced as the first three ingredients (Vanilla Pod, Dried Chili, & Barley) I thought I'd play it safe and chose what I hoped was a fairly neutral ingredient, Beef.

With those ingredients in mind, let me introduce the entries:
The first entry is Terry of Taste Adventures who created a Pepper Crusted London Broil With Chili-Vanilla Balsamic Cream and Chili-Avocado Barley Pilaf.

Next up is Murasaki of Samurai Viking Cuisine, she came up with Barley Beef Spring Rolls with Cocoa Chili Vanilla Sauce .

The third entry is from Ilva of Lucullian Delights with her Barley and Chili Coated Beef Dice on a Barley and Vanilla Couscous Cake.

And finally there was my entry Chili Beef with Barley (obviously I can only take part in the People's Choice).

Like I said, four very different entries, which is part of the fun & pleasure of the Paper Chef - letting your mind run wild in the kitchen.

So who is the winner?
I'll start with the People's Choice: Murasaki of Samurai Viking Cuisine with her Barley Beef Spring Rolls with Cocoa Chili Vanilla Sauce . Congratulations!

And my choice as winner of Paper Chef 36 is:
I'd like to say it was a three way tie, but i can't so congratulations to Terry of Taste Adventures with her Pepper Crusted London Broil With Chili-Vanilla Balsamic Cream and Chili-Avocado Barley Pilaf. It was the Chili-Vanilla Balsamic Cream that grabbed my attention.
So don't be scared, be creative & see what you can create for the next Paper Chef.

Paper Chef - January 09

We had an interesting selection of ingredients this month.
The three random ingredients selected (see my earlier post) were: dried chili, vanilla pod & barley. The fourth ingredient was beef.
An interesting combination to say the least! A bit of thinking, head scratching, and the usual discarding of weird concoctions lead to a decision on a central American theme, as that's where most of the interesting items came from..
Don't be put off by the mixture of ingredients, I wasn't sure if this would work either, but it did! And I'll be making it again because it was so good!

So here is my paper chef entry: Chili Beef with Barley

Contents:
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp coriander seed, crushed
1 tsp dried chili, crushed
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 stick cassia or cinnamon quill
1/2 vanilla pod, split
2 cardamom pods, crushed
1 bay leaf
500g beef mince
1 red bell pepper diced
2 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup port
1x 400g can tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1x 400g can red kidney beans
Salt to taste

Method
Gently fry onion & garlic in a little oil till soft
Add the spices: coriander, cumin, dried chili, black pepper, cardamom & bayleaf; and fry a few minutes to release the aromas, then add the diced red pepper.
Add mince & brown
Add port, tomatoes & paste, and combine, breaking up the tomatoes.
Add cocoa, vanilla pod & cassia quill and mix in and bring to the boil
Cover and reduce to a simmer for 1-1 1/2 hrs till tender adding water or stock if it seems to be drying out too much
Just before serving add drained beans. Once they are warmed through remove the vanilla pod, cassia quill & bay leaf
Season to taste - I added a bit of Sambal (ground fresh chili paste) as I like a bit more of a kick

For the Barley
This is very simple & can be modified to your hearts content. You can add herbs & spices to the cooking mixture or other flavours after it has cooked. I used beef stock as the liquid but you can use any other liquid. The ratio should be roughly 1 part barley to 2 parts liquid.
1 cup pearl barley
2 cups stock
Handful raisins
Pine nuts
Sunflower seeds
Chopped parsley
Put the barley & stock into a rice cooker & cook until ready.
Add remaining ingredients & combine.
Season to taste.