1) thenewgreen
2) OftenBen
Previous Participancies: ghostoffuffle, veen, Complexity, _refugee_, flagamuffin, zebra2, rjw, wasoxygen, thenewgreen humanodon
Get your votes in by 11/3/2014 9 AM. Or maybe PM.
Holy shit. All participants went the extra mile on this one. The level of effort presented is off the hook. I'm gonna give it to OftenBen though for the simple fact that his prep fell apart and he soldiered on, nay, conquered. However, all three participants clobbered. I move that Challenge #5 go to OftenBen, but @ghostoffluffle@ and thenewgreen be badged for special "exhibition" grubskis of their choosing.
Thanks for the nod. I too think the win should go to OftenBen, mostly because he made his own pasta. I've never done that before and I have to give him props for that. It looks like the kind of thing that would be time consuming and a bit tedious. ghostoffuffle took a dish he was familiar with and was able to transform it with a new base (mushrooms), that's pretty damned cool. This whole #grubski thing is fantastic. Thanks humanodon for conceiving it. So yeah, my vote is for OB too. Nice work Ben, but next time take a final photo of the food when plated. Sheesh.
One more point for OftenBen because I had the same idea when I saw the post and they must have tasted awesome! On Christmas my polish family prepares something similar called Uszka (translated: little ears) and they are then added into the beetroot soup called Barszcz
Here's a food challenge for you: Come up with something for me to cook for a work potluck tomorrow. We have these a few times per year, and I feel like my go to (an amzingly delicious beet-apple-onion salad) is getting old and stale. The challenges for a potluck are (a) make something that can be easily made for about 30 people; (b) make something that doesn't suck when you make it the previous night (I prefer dishes that can be served cold, because I don't like reheating--there's always a stupid long line to use our lone microwave); (c) I don't want to spend a fuckload of money. Not so easy. I have a lot of tomatoes on hand, so I'm leaning in the direction of a caprese type of dish. Not married to the idea, however.
I like meatballs, and as far back as I can remember they were a staple at every potluck. Not hard to do a lot of them, and you can make them in a crockpot like this and they're delicious.
How do you feel about hummus? This one is easy to make, and the only pricier ingredient is the tahini. Flatbread's easy to make too, and both of them can be made in advance. On the other hand, nothing wrong with bringing the same thing every year if it's received well. Good chance that you make something else and everybody gives you lip for not bringing the salad they were looking forward to...
I like hummus, but we have a couple middle eastern people who have the market cornered on middle eastern foods. Always hummus and tabbouleh to be had. You're probably right that although it's boring to me, other people eating the same side dish three times per year probably isn't boring to them. If it ain't broke... But still, it's more fun to experiment.
How about muhamarra? It's a walnut dip with roasted red pepper and pomegranate, delicious. Or an avocado and carrot salad with sesame. Roast the carrots with a lime/lemon and an orange, throw on top of salad with the avocado. Sprinkle sesame seeds and make a vinaigrette with the cooked orange and lemon. Really fresh tasting, I recommend toasting the sesame seeds.