Macaron, Not Macaroni!

Recently I have had an obsession with macarons, which is very odd since I don't believe I've actually ever had one. I am not French pro, but according to research I have done, there are macarons and macaroons. Macaroons could be the same thing with the English translation, or they can be a hard coconut or coarse almond paste cookie. Macaron is the sandwich cookie made with egg whites. Here is a picture of each:





I have had an odd obsession with the colorful ones. I just think they're so pretty. Every picture of them I see only makes me want it more! It started a while back when I saw something on TV about Ludaree in Paris. From what I hear, these are the Chanel of macarons. In fact, they even teamed up with Christian Louboutin for designer cookies. They have multiple flavors, which are represented by the different colors. They're a work of art. Being a home baker, I have decided to give these a whirl. I found this website which gave great detailed instructions on how to go about it: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/10/how-to-make-macarons-recipe.html . (This recipe took a long time.)

I had some mishaps in my baking. First, I decided Saturday morning that I wanted to make these, and being impatient, I did not let my egg whites sit overnight. I would definitely NOT do the again. Second, I was unable to find ground almonds, so I had to improvise. I bought diced almonds, measured the grams and placed them in a Ziploc bag. I then took all my aggression out and hammered them until they were as close to ground as I could get them. I would recommend this ONLY if you can't find the ground almonds. There were still small chunks I didn't get, and it gave my cookies a speckled look. Also, I think I made the mistake of mixing the batter too much. After pouring in the sugar/almond dry mixture, I think I folded the batter a few times too many. This was probably because I wanted pretty colors, so then divided the batter into 4 bowls and then mixed some gel food coloring in. Next time I will have to remember to take that into account while mixing the entire batch. And lastly, when I was removing the cookies from the parchment paper a lot of them stuck. The bottoms of most of them were not very hard. It made removing them very difficult and caused me to throw out a bunch of cookies.

All in all, my cookies tasted great, but I feel they could have looked better. Have a look for yourself.
Finished product:




Right after they came out of the oven:


Before the oven:

Fondant Fun!

Last winter I took a basic cake decorating class and LOVED it. Since then, I've used every opportunity I can to show off my skills. Also, the more I do it, the better I get. Last month, I felt the need to step my game up. So I moved into the big leagues and started playing with fondant. I did not venture into making my own yet, but I did add some vanilla extract into the Wilton rolled white fondant to add some flavor. I then used gel food coloring to dye it the colors I wanted. Getting a true red was very hard. I used A LOT of food coloring and still wasn't truly happy with the results. Plus, my hands were red for the rest of the day. I needed black fondant for a Groom's cake I was asked to create, so I also bought a large tub of black, vanilla fondant. I seriously doubt if I would've been able to dye the white fondant black using food coloring.

I had worked with fondant one other time (the open book cake I made for a bridal shower), so I had a little experience. I did the rest from watching so many baking shows and reading up on tips people posted online. I had a hard time at the end polishing the cake to give that WOW factor, but I think I did a pretty good job. Here are the two cakes I made. The Windows logo cake was for a Windows 7 Launch Party that Doug and I hosted and the other was the Groom's cake I mentioned earlier. The heart and skull is the symbol of the band Alkaline Trio and I filled the cake with homemade cannoli filling*. He was very surprised and loved it, which made me and his beautiful bride very happy.







*The homemade cannoli filling, was so easy and delicious I would recommend giving it a whirl. Here's the recipe I used:

3 c. very dry ricotta
1 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
Chocolate chips

Drain ricotta in a colander until very dry, overnight or longer if necessary. Mix with sugar and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer at high speed for 8-10 minutes. Fold in some chocolate chips and use to fill cannoli or between cake layers. Fills about 15-18 cannoli.

Also, make sure to let the filling sit in the fridge to settle. It will be firmer and the flavors will really blend. I also saw this idea online that sounds like a great idea: http://www.bigredkitchen.com/2009/10/cannoli-bites.html. I didn't get a chance to try that, but I am thinking I may try it for Thanksgiving.

Mmm Mmm Marinade

The past few times Doug and I made some steaks at home, we used the easy-breezy Jack Daniels Honey Teriayki marinade bags. And they came out delicious. However, I was bored the other night and decided we should try our hand at our own marinade. I've created my own for chicken before (mixing EVOO, white wine, garlic, rosemary, thyme, S&P) and it worked well, so how hard could steak be? I'm a big fan of trying new things and changing recipes when I get them, but Doug likes to follow the book. He looks up recipes and the best ways to cook things, which does pay off, but I'd rather experiment! Why am I telling you this? Because Doug brought home the ESPN Game Day Gourmet cookbook (we <3 football) and that is where I got the idea for my steak marinade. And in true 24 year old fashion, I didn't quite have my pantry stocked, so I got to substitute some ingredients. So here's my version of the marinade (apologies if some things aren't exact):

Few tablespoons of EVOO
Juice of freshly squeezed limes (about 1 and 1/2 limes - what we had in our fridge)
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 cup red wine (ESPN notes you can sub in JD, brandy, or dark beer)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, chopped (we technically only used 3/4 of an onion - again, what we had left)
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Simply combine all the ingredients. Place the steak in a Ziploc bag with the marinade and let sit for a day before cooking. Also, we slice the top of the steak a little bit so it's absorbed more. This marinade is enough for 2 lbs. of steak. And feel free to experiment on your own - one example is using lemons instead of limes, that's what ESPN's version calls for!

I should also mention, we live in NYC and do not have a grill to throw this bad boy on. We simply put our oven on broil and cook each side for 6 minutes and then let it rest out of the oven. Also, wrap your pan in tin foil to make clean up A LOT easier.

Throw some veggies and mashed potatoes on the side and you got yourself a great meal!

*Apologies for not taking pictures.

Take it back now y'all

Over the weekend, Doug and I (along with Meg & Eden, our awesome friends) made a trip to Medieval Times. It was my first time ever going there, but at the age of 24, I'm pretty sure I had just as much fun as the 5 year old sitting next to me. Actually, I may have had more fun since I could sip on a cold beer as I watch the joust. But what does this have to do food? Here, have a look:Our bill of fare was: garlic bread, tomato bisque, roasted chicken, spare rib, herb-roasted potato and a "pastry of the castle." The soup, which was served first, wasn't too hot and was thin enough for us to drink out of our metal bowls - for at the castle, there are no utensils (although I'm sure the king used a fork and spoon, but whatever). I personally used my garlic bread to dip into the bisque and thought it made it even better. We were then served half of a baby chicken, as you can see in the picture. I must say, this chicken was delicious. Even the meatiest part of the chicken managed to stay juicy. I do wish that I had access to a fork because it did get a little messy, but it did not take away from the goodness. After being served the chicken, they then came around and added a spare rib (yes, a single rib) and half of a potato that had been herb-roasted. The spare rib was smothered in a BBQ sauce, which was very good but I thought it was a little bit of an odd thing to throw in. I wish I could say that I had the stamina to finish all the food, but I had to give up. And just when I thought my fullness wouldn't let me eat for the rest of the night or the next day, they brought out the pastry of the castle. It turned out to be an apple turnover, and I don't think I have ever been able to say no to that. I only had a few bites, but was surprised at how light it was. There was no sugar frosting on top of it and it was not over stuffed with apple filling. I wish I could've taken it with me but I didn't want to throw it in my bag without wrapping it up.

In conclusion, GO TO MEDIEVAL TIMES. I think it would be best to go in a larger group and have a couple of beers. It's entertaining and wholesome fun. And while I can't speak to what peasants and serfs ate back in ye olde days, the guests of the kings ate hearty and were merry!

Guess who's back

Hey y'all. The summer plus the loss of my laptop hasn't really enabled me to post. But I'm back and ready to get serious. Just to catch you up, here's some recent treats I made. More posts to come, so check back: