Daring Cooks April Challenge

The Daring Cooks April Challenge has been a goody. It has really made me think, puzzle and try to be inventive. Sadly, I'm not sure that I've succeeded on the invention test - I found it difficult to come up with anything non-obvious - but at least it tickled my brain cells!

So here we are: The april challenge was to make a "savoury edible container and fill it with something appropriate".

My immediate thought was to use a pumpkin and stuff it with interesting goodies before roasting it, but I rejected the idea as obvious, and also Dan doesn't very much like pupmkin so it would have been a little antisocial.
Then I thought I could make Pain Bagnat, which I have been meaning to try out for some time. This I rejected beacause the bread in pain bagnat isn't EXACTLY an edible container since the bread and filling are all squashed up together.

An interesting suggestion was made by Dan. He's recently been to Poland for work and had a traditional soup called Zur which he really enjoyed. It was served in a hollowed out round loaf of bread. I loved this idea, but due to time constraints I had to reject it for this challenge as I only had one free weekend to cook before the challenge results had to be posted. Given that I was going to be looking after 3 children that weekend making both bread and a complex soup didn't seem very practical, so I'm keeping this idea for a future occasion.

What to do, what to do......?

Chilled soup in an ice bowl was the front-runner until I saw someone else had already done a salad in an ice bowl. But then, in a dull day at work, I finally came up with the idea to make a savoury sorbet in a savoury cone. The idea pleased me because ice cream in a cone is so familiar, but the taste will be surprising. (Incidentally the savoury icecream research has brought up a few other to try at a later date.)

So, here we go....a gazpacho soup sorbet in a spiced tortilla cone.

Step one: I found a gazpacho recipe which sounded ideal in the Riverford Farm Cook Book. A lovely sounding combination of tomato, cucumber, chilli, herbs and red pepper, which looked beautiful and spring-fresh once all chopped up together:



Step 2: blend everything up and then push it through a fine sieve. I fully expected it not to look at all pretty at this stage!

Step 3: Add olive oil and chill for a few hours. Churn in an icecream maker the afternoon before you want to serve it for dinner, then freeze for at least half an hour.

Step 4: dampen a tortilla wrap (or a portion of one if that's the right size for you - I used about 1/2 of a tortilla for each cone) with a mixture of water and a little olive oil.

Step 5: roll it into a cone shape and secure with a cocktail stick. Sprinkle with a little salt and smoked paprika. Scrunch up some foil into a small ball and place inside the cone so that it doesn't collapse in the oven.

Step 6: place in a preheated oven at 220C for about 8 minutes until the cone is crispy and slightly golden.



Step 7: Allow the cone to cool then scoop your sorbet into it.

Step 8: finely chop some fresh mint leaves and mix with a couple of teaspoons of yoghurt (you can't have icecream with out toppings!), put a blob on top of the sorbet, and enjoy!



I have to admit that I wasn't sure how this would turn out - whether I would actually even be able to eat it, if it would delicious or totally disgusting! In fact, it made a really lovely, quirky, bite sized starter.

We enjoyed it before our sunday dinner on an unseasonably warm spring day, and it was brilliantly refreshing. My tastebuds enjoyed the confusion of having something that was a little bit spicey hot from the chilli at such a cold temperature.



The whole idea has proved a bit of a talking point in my office - opinion is divided on people believing this to have been delicious or inedible!

Blog-checking lines: Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th here at The Daring Kitchen!