This week's competition:

Cold competition - not to be eaten, only admired.

Started on Tuesday. Prepared shrimp stuffing. Prepared chicken mousse. Prepared chicken stock. Prepared honey pickled onions (recipe in previous post).

On Wednesday. Prepared chaud-froid sauce. Blanched asparagus. Blanched artichoke hearts. Prepared chaud-froid decorations. Made giant meaty "marshmallows"...

On Thursday. Made whole wheat caraway crisps. Decorated the "marshmallows". Laid first layers of "crazy glue" gelatin on food.

On Friday. Laid final layer of gelatin. Plated food. Careful not to smudge the plate. Fussed over plate. Cleaned plate. Fussed some more. Accidentally smudged the plate. Cleaned plate again. Fiddled with the food. Made asparagus tepees. Tried to keep hands steady. Re-glazed the asparagus. Destroyed asparagus tepee accidentally. Started over again. Blew on the gelatin to dry. Tried to let go of asparagus only to find them glued to fingers. Got unglued. Took a deep breath. Started the asparagus tepees over again. Plated the asparagus. Double checked plates for smudges. Triple checked plates for smudges. Smoothed out bumps in the gelatin. Quadruple checked plate for smudges and crumbs. Said a prayer and move plates to table.

I now present to you my plate:

Mousse de volaille chaud-froid with shrimp stuffed artichoke heart,

garnished with honey pickled red onions, asparagus tepee and whole wheat caraway tuile

Today's fun...

Today's fun came in the form of honey pickled onions. Sweet, sour and spicy and absolutely yummy! A perfect condiment to chicken, fish, and pork. Or as pictured here, on its own with a few water crackers.

Honey pickled onions

(Yield 1 - 500ml - 2cup mason jar)

• 1 large red onion
  
• 250 ml - 1 cup liquid honey
  
• 250 ml - 1 cup red wine vinegar
  
• 3 ml - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  
• 5 ml - 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 pinch fresh ground pepper
  

Slice the red onion into thin slices. Place the onions in a sterilized* mason jar.

Measure all of the other ingredients and place them in a small pan. Bring to a boil. Pour the syrupy mixture over the onions and screw on the cover. Place the jar in the refrigerator and rest for 12-36 hours.

If you're lucky, this keeps 10-12 weeks. I haven't been able to keep a jar that long yet so... enjoy! :d

*Sterilizing jars:

Jars should be made from glass and free of any chips or cracks. Preserving or canning jars are topped with a glass, plastic, or metal lid, which has a rubber seal. The rubber seal should be intact and viable. It's best to use new ones. Two-piece lids are best for canning, as the actual lid with the rubber seal can be replaced as needed, where the screw-top can be re-used indefinately.

To sterilize jars, before filling with items to be preserved, etc; wash jars, lids, tongs, etc with hot, soapy water. Rinse well and arrange jars and lids open sides up, without touching, on a tray. Leave in a preheated 175 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Or, boil the jars and lids in a large saucepan, covered with water, for 15 minutes. Also, they say a quick wash in the dishwasher at hot wash and heat dry works, mind you I have concerns as food items can sometimes stay in the dishwasher between washes. The heat itself could well sterilize the jars, but we could be laying down a new layer of bacteria if the dishwasher is not pristine.

Use tongs when handling the hot sterilized jars, to move them from either boiling water or the oven. Be sure the tongs are sterilized too, by dipping the ends in boiling water for a few minutes. Let the jars cool down before handling. Cold preserves go into cold jars (no warmer than room temperature. Hot preserves can go into warm jars (no colder than room temperature). This will prevent the glass jar from shattering due to extreme temperature differential.