daring cooks: macaroons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Thanks Ami for choosing macaroons. I have never done any baking except for basic cakes and I am pleasantly surprised by the result. Even though my macaroons did not rise to be leggy, its still soft and airy and I am loving every bite of it! Again, thanks for making us do this.

PS: Also, being this is my first time piping, my shapes are all over the place. I have macaroons that is as big as my fist and small and dainty and round.

Mandatory:
-Make Claudia Fleming’s recipe for macaroons
-Fill and sandwich the macaroons

Equipment required:
• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• Rubber spatula
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip
• Sifter or sieve
• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets
• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

I saw this filling recipe from userealbutter.com. I love her food photography. She rocks!

espresso ganache
from Death by Chocolate by Marcel Desaulniers

1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsps unsalted butter
2 tbsps granulated sugar
8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp instant espresso powder

Heat the heavy cream, 2 tablespoons butter, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a 2 1/2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil. Place 8 ounces semisweet chocolate and 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder in a stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and espresso. Let sit for 10 minutes, then stir until smooth. Keep at room temperature until ready to use.

daring cook's challenge

Holy crap! I forgot about the posting date and I saw someone already had this posted. I hope I am not too late.

here goes:
The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

A really big thank you to Jaden for making us do this. My husband is from Vietnam and he just flipped when he saw what I was making. Short of time and good beef bones, I opted for Chicken Pho, short version. The next time I go grocery shopping in Atlanta, I will surely get some beef bones and try out the Beef Pho! I overbooked myself last weekend, visiting 2 families in one day and then checking out some downtown festival. Short cut Chicken Pho is only what I have time for. It taste good, a tad sweeter than what my husband like but as long as its noodle, he will eat it. Also I opted out of the 2nd challenge, just not enough time!

The garnish

Chicken Pho

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Pho Broth:
2 tbsp. whole coriander seeds
4 whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 quarts (2 liters/8 cups/64 fluid ounces) store-bought or homemade chicken stock
1 whole chicken breast (bone in or boneless)
½ onion
1 3-inch (7.5 cm) chunk of ginger, sliced and smashed with side of knife
1 to 2 tbsps. sugar
1 to 2 tbsps. fish sauce

1 lb. (500 grams/16 ounces) dried rice noodles (about ¼ inch/6 mm wide)

Accompaniments:

2 cups (200 grams/7 ounces) bean sprouts, washed and tails pinched off
Fresh cilantro (coriander) tops (leaves and tender stems)
½ cup (50 grams/approx. 2 ounces) shaved red onions
½ lime, cut into 4 wedges
Sriracha chili sauce
Hoisin sauce
Sliced fresh chili peppers of your choice

Directions:

1. To make the Chicken Pho Broth: heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the coriander seeds, cloves and star anise and toast until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately spoon out the spices to avoid burning.
2. In a large pot, add all the ingredients (including the toasted spices) and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes, skimming the surface frequently.
4. Use tongs to remove the chicken breasts and shred the meat with your fingers, discarding the bone if you have used bone-in breasts.
5. Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or sugar, if needed. Strain the broth and discard the solids.
6. Prepare the noodles as per directions on the package.
7. Ladle the broth into bowls. Then divide the shredded chicken breast and the soft noodles evenly into each bowl.
8. Have the accompaniments spread out on the table. Each person can customize their own bowl with these ingredients.

MACY OR CHARTER, who is dumber?

It has been a long time since I have a new post but I want to tell the world, no I need to tell the whole how 'wonderful' customer service is at this age, this age, this era, where China had sent an astronaut to the moon, where with a click of mouse, or mouse pad you can shop, bank and research just about anything under the sky. But, Macy's customer service takes about 40 mins to change my address and phone number, and when I received the new card and tries to activate, it takes me 10 mins and finally gave up and cancel the account. Who, in their right mind, would remember addresses that they have either, been there, live there or associated with (ie, when you are out of country and needs a mailing address) from a few months to a few years. But Macy's security system will require you to answer 3 security questions before they let you do anything, and those questions are street addresses that might or might not be on your credit history for as long as your credit history has been. And when you hmm, and ummm, or gave a wrong answer or said I don't know, they proceed to repeat the question, louder and slower this time, and if you said you don't know, they repeat the question again, spelling out the street address. Dude, I am not senile yet, (hopefully), when I said I don't recognize the options the first time, it meant that I don't recognized them. And what happen? They won't change the address, the phone number, or activate the card. Please, they already have my full name, my last 4-digit of my SSN, my mother's maiden name and my first college address, which was in 1997. What year is it now? 2009!!! It was 12 years ago. And as with everyone in college and post college, you moved every semester, from dorm to dorm, from apartment to apartment when the lease is up. I understand the advanced security measure taken by them, but 40 mins on the phone the first time to change address and telephone number and 10 mins the next time (that is when I said I want to speak to the supervisor), I would still be on the line now trying to answer street addresses, with the poor woman on the other line spelling out every freaking word she said, trying to activate the damn card so that I can spend some money! Finally I told the supervisor, CANCEL THE CARD and THE ACCOUNT. There, nobody is ever going to use the card or my account anymore, so no worries about addresses for the last 20 years. I had some pretty 'amazing' experience with Charter 2 years ago when I moved into this apartment. Read it here and tell them which one is dumber?

Did Charter filed bankcruptcy? I heard Macy is heading that way too.