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Pecan Pie Macarons

Pecan Pie Macarons

Every now and then, I come across a food that simply intrigues me. One that I’ve never had before, but that people often talk about and I think I would like to try it, even if people don’t always like said food. One such food was brussels sprouts (which I tried for the first time earlier this year and discovered I quite enjoy them.) Another was macarons. Not that you can blame me. After seeing them so often on Helene’s blog and on other food blogs around the internet, I just had to know what this new, fascinating dessert that I had never seen before tasted like.

So they’re not the prettiest macarons…

So, on a whim, I baked up a batch. Well, not quite on a whim. I didn’t actually get around to baking them until a week after I decided I wanted to… at first I had no almonds, then I had no time, and then… well. Here they are.

Now, you know how people always proclaim this chocolate chip cookie, or that chocolate cake, or whatever it is that they’re writing about is “better than sex”? I always thought that was silly. I mean, chocolate cake is great, but I’ve never had a slice that’s quite that amazing. But these macarons… oh man. The first bite… heaven. The second… euphoria. The third… well, we needn’t go there. Better than sex? Well, I wouldn’t say that. Erm, not that I would… uh… know anything about that. *blush* But… er… in the case that I did know anything about that sort of thing… I’d say these are pretty darn close. By far the best cookies (or cookie-type baked goods) that I’ve ever had.

…but with that oooey gooey caramel…

Here’s the recipe, which I slightly adapted from Tartelette’s Pecan Pie Macarons.

Mine didn’t turn out nearly as pretty as hers did. I have a feeling I might have piped the macarons too thickly on the parchment paper, so when baking they may have risen too much and then fallen over so they ended up lopsided. I also opted to leave out the pecan brittle. But they still tasted great, and I would make them again without hesitation.

…they’re the best cookies I’ve ever had.

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites (about 90 g)
• 40 g granulated sugar
• 200 g powdered sugar
• 55 g almonds
• 55 g pecans
• 240 g sugar
• 80 ml water
• 115 g salted butter
• 150 ml heavy whipping cream

Cooking Directions

1. The day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam. Gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry.
3. Combine the almonds, pecans and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground.
4. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down.The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
5. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) or a ziplock bag with one tip cut off with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.
6. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
7. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.
8. If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don’t let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.
9. In a heavy saucepan set over low heat, combine the sugar and water and heat just until the sugar is dissolved.
10. Add the butter. Let it come to a boil and cook until it reaches a golden caramel color.
11. Remove from the heat and add the cream (it will splatter, but that’s okay). Whisk to combine and put back on the stove. Let it come to a boil again over low heat and cook 10-15 minutes until you reach a nice creamy consistency.
12. Refrigerate for a little while before spreading the caramel onto the shells, so it doesn’t ooze out when you press the shells together. (If it’s too hard when you take it out from the refrigerator, just let it sit at room temperature for a little while until it’s at the right consistency.)
13. Place about a tablespoon of sauce on one shell, then top with a similarly-shaped shell. Repeat with all remaining shells. Makes about 20.

Coconut Ice Cream with Saffron

Coconut Ice Cream with Saffron

It’s summertime. It’s hot. It’s time for ice cream.

Actually, who am I kidding? It’s always time for ice cream. But now, even more so. Not only because it’s hot, but also because… *drumroll*… I got an ice cream machine!

We got this one, to be exact. From Costco. For $35. (In case you may have had any doubts about the price, Son took a picture of the price tag with his iPhone, because they accidentally overcharged us. We have proof!) It’s a steal, if you ask me. And totally worth it. In the week since we got it, we’ve made 6 batches of ice cream. And… erm… only gotten pictures of two. Not that we’ve been eating them too fast to remember to take pictures… no… of course not. *looks around innocently*

But never fear! There’s no doubt that we’ll be making them again… for pictures, of course. Not because I’m pigging out on ice cream. No, definitely not because of that. It’s the… um… duty of a food blogger, to perfect her recipes then take pictures of them for her adoring readers. (Because you all do adore me… right? … *crickets* …) Yes, such is the life of a food blogger. (Woe is me. )

However! I am pleased to tell you that there was one ice cream recipe that I didn’t consume too quickly to take pictures of. Well, actually… the first batch was gone pretty darn quickly. I blame that on Son. But then he suggested I make a second double-batch for his parents, because they would love it! So I did. Then stole some. For pictures, of course.

The saffron gives it that beautiful yellow color.

Actually, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t have more than a bite of this ice cream. Really. I’m (*sigh*) very ashamed to admit that… I don’t like coconut. Or at least not much, anyways. Not at all, compared to Son and his family. (Did I mention they’re Vietnamese? I think that might have something to do with it. Maybe. Or not.) Not that it was a problem. Son loved it, his family loved it… and I didn’t have to feel too bad about not so much liking it. But if you like coconut… you’re going to love it as well.

As for the recipe, I adapted it from David Lebovitz who adapted it from the Delicious Days cookbook, I believe. Not that I have the cookbook, so I couldn’t tell you for sure. *gives Son a gentle nudge, reminding him that I would love that cookbook* But it’s good. If you like coconut.

And that gorgeous yellow color of the ice cream? That’s from the saffron. (Yes, I was highly amused watching the pretty yellow swirls trailing from the saffron while the ice cream cooked. Both times. What? I’m easily amused.) It also adds a subtle flavor… very nice. (Quite a rich ice cream indeed, if you get the double entendre. Okay, I’m a dork.)

(One last thing… no making fun of my terrible ice cream styling. I don’t have an ice cream scoop. I’m planning a grand ice cream scoop heist from my parents’ house… soon. But until then, I must relegate myself to scooping ice cream from the container with a spoon. Which unfortunately doesn’t make for such pretty ice cream pictures.)

Very rich, very decadent

Ingredients

• 2/3 c heavy cream
• 1 c coconut milk
• 1/4 c white sugar
• scant 1/2 tsp saffron threads

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, bring all the ingredients to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and chill the mixture thoroughly.
3. Once chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Once churned, be sure to scrape any saffron threads clinging to the dasher back in to the ice cream.

Scallops, and some Molecular Gastronomy

Poached scallops, edamame, and various powders

When I make a dish, I want to like it. I really do. But it seems all too often these days, I end up making dishes that involve way too much effort for a final result that’s just… underwhelming.

Unfortunately, such was the case with this dish. Originally, the recipe called for skate wings, green beans, and different flavor powders. So I’m willing to accept that my dislike of the dish could be due to the changes I made to it. But given how often I talk about sustainable seafood over on Sushi Day, I couldn’t possibly use the incredibly unsustainable skate wings in my dish. So I opted for the more sustainable scallops.

The best part of this dish, in my opinion, was the edamame – cooked in the beurre monte, it was actually quite good. But the scallops were bland (which makes me sad because I normally love scallops) and the powders weren’t that great… sadly, not worth the effort.

If you’d like to see the original recipe, it (and a lot of information about molecular gastronomy) can be found here. (I would link to the blogger who hosted this month’s Daring Cooks challenge, but I believe his blog is down at the moment. Besides, Audax Artifex always has some of the most creative dishes based around the challenge.)

Green onion, wasabi, gari, and togarashi powders

Ingredients

• 8 scallops
• 300g shelled edamame
• sea salt
• 4 sticks butter, cubed and cold
• water
• 16 slices gari
• 8 stalks green onion
• 1 tbsp wasabi powder
• 1 tbsp togarashi

Cooking Directions

1. Wash and thoroughly dry the green onion.
2. Chop the green onion coarsely.
3. On a paper towel, microwave the green onion for on HIGH for 2 minutes. Set aside any fully dried green onion pieces. Microwave the remaining green onion 2 more minutes on HIGH or until fully dried, stopping at 1 minute intervals to set aside dried pieces (so they don’t burn).
4. Crumble the green onion finely between your fingers. (Or if you have a mortar and pestle, or a coffee grinder, you can use them to grind the green onion.)
5. Dry the gari between two paper towels.
6. Microwave on HIGH until fully dry, about 2-3 minutes.
7. Crumble into a powder, like you did with the green onion.
8. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion – known as a beurre monte. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees.
9. Bring 100g water, 100g beurre monte, and edamame to a boil over high heat. Cook until the water has evaporated (about 3 minutes). When the pan is almost dry, remove it from heat and season with salt.
10. Bring 300g water and 300g beurre monte to simmer over medium heat, add scallops and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and flip the scallops over and let rest in pan for two more minutes. Transfer to warming tray lined with parchment and season with 5 grams of fine sea salt.
11. To plate, top a scoop of edamame with the scallops. Garnish the plate with the green onion, gari, wasabi, and togarashi powders.
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Ravioli with Spinach and Bacon

Ravioli with Spinach and Bacon

In the northern hemisphere, it’s summer. Has been, for a while. But in Southern California, it has felt like spring up until a few days ago. Temperatures have been in the low 70s, which is just fine by me. Which is why, just days ago, a quick meal like this one that just happened to use the stove a little was a great dinner.

I couldn’t get enough of that spinach.

But now, it’s hot. Not inland, desert, burn-your-face-off-the-moment-you-step-outside hot. We are fairly close to the beach, after all. But in an upper-story apartment with no air conditioning and a downstairs neighbor who smokes 24/7 (meaning we can’t open our windows), it’s quite uncomfortably hot. Sweltering. Even despite the fans running all the time when we’re in the room.

Who needs the ravioli? I’d eat the spinach all by itself.

So now, with the heat, it wouldn’t be so comfortable to make this dish like it was just days ago when I made it. But even so… I would. Oh man. That spinach… that spinach! Screw the ravioli (which wasn’t all that great anyways – I used chicken and mozzarella ravioli… meh), I could eat that spinach by the bunch, all by itself. Even the bacon… a nice extra, but not entirely necessary. And if you know me at all – lover of all things bacon, not so much a friend of anything vegetable-like – you’ll know that says a lot.

Had to get that money shot of the bacon.

I got this recipe from the May 2009 issue of the Real Simple magazine. I did make a couple of changes, which are reflected in the following recipe.

Just sitting there, waiting for someone to eat it.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ravioli
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced (you can use more, if you like garlic. We do.)
• 2 bunches of spinach, stems removed

Cooking Directions

1. Cook the ravioli according to package directions. Drain and divide among bowls.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble.
3. Drain all but about 2 tbsp of the bacon grease. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the spinach. Cook, tossing, until just wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Stir the bacon into the spinach. Spoon the mixture over the ravioli.

Bakewell Tart

Bakewell Tart

The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800′s in England.

… with strawberry jam.

As far as Daring Bakers challenges go, this wasn’t so much one of my favorites. It didn’t seem like much of a challenge to me (the hardest thing was grinding the almonds by hand, which is why my frangipane probably ended up a little crunchier than it should have been). And the tart itself… it wasn’t bad, per say, but I wouldn’t make it again. All of us who tried it enjoyed it well enough, but just found it sort of… meh. Nothing special. If it had stayed at home, it probably wouldn’t have been eaten up. Of course, with something like the Daring Bakers challenges you can’t expect to love every single one of them… it’s too bad this Bakewell Tart was one of those that I just couldn’t fall in love with.

Son ate it so quickly, I barely got a bite!

Ingredients

Sweet shortcrust pastry:

• 225 g all-purpose flour
• 30 g sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 oz unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1-2 tbsp cold water

Frangipane

• 4.5 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 125 g powdered sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 125 g ground almonds
• 30 g all-purpose flour

Finishing the tart:

• 1 cup jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
• One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Cooking Directions

1. Sift together flour, sugar and salt.
2. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater.
3. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
4. Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract and quickly mix into the flour mixture.
5. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.
6. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
7. Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy.
8. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle, but that’s okay.
9. After all three eggs are mixed in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds then scrape down the sides again.
10. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.
11. Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it’s overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out.
12. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 1/4″ thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the center and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll.
13. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to a 9″ pie pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits.
14. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
15. Preheat oven to 400°F.
16. Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base.
17. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart.
18. Smooth the top and bake for 30 minutes.
19. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.
20. The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking.
21. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter.
22. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.