French Macarons!!

Oh yeah! I did it. I tackled the macarons a second time and it was a success. The first time I tried them, they were not a complete success. They became thin crispy wafers instead of puffy looking cookies with fringes at the bottom.

One of the best Macarons I had was at "Sucree" in San Diego when we (me and my good friend) went for "high tea". It was an excellent experience with tea, sandwiches, petite fours and some macarons to go! I would totally recommend their pear and Gorgonzola one.

Macarons can be touchy things to make so I would recommend a small batch first. The perfect recipe I found for that is here:
http://www.dessertfortwo.com/2011/05/french-macarons-with-nutella/

What I did different:
1. I ground up entire almonds without blanching them (the good stuff is in the cover right?)
2. When beating the egg white, beat it until stiff peaks form instead of soft peaks. Remember the time I made wafer thin ones? I think I did not beat them enough. If you really want to tackle this particular dessert, I also recommend doing a little research on them and watching a few videos on YouTube or from "Joy of Baking" site.

Next time I will reduce the amount of sugar and try some other flavors.

Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Yup. Here's the recipe I used: http://kelseysappleaday.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-ever-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html?m=1

I also like the recipe outside the nestle choc chip bags :)

Modifications I made: used only half cup of butter and if the batter is too try add 1 tblsp of milk, buttermilk or water (whichever you have on hand) at a time until its just right. ENJOY with some milk! YUM!!!

For you vegetarians out there skip the egg completely and add 1/4 cup of buttermilk ! It will be a little more fluffier and biscuit like consistency :)

Chicken Stock

Oh yes.. Nothing like a hot pot of soup on cold cold winter days/nights. What you see here is Chicken and dumpling soup. I bought the dumplings this time but more on making them from scratch another time!

I usually make stock out of rotisserie chicken carcass i.e bones and some skin. Costco rotisserie chicken or even if you roast your own chicken, every part can be used. 

Here's what I do:

In a 5 qt stock pot add carcass, one onion cut up In chunks, carrots, about 5 small or 2 big ones, celery (4-8 stalls roughly chopped in big chunks), garlic cloves (4-5  - peel and just crush), ginger (abt 1/2 inch - can be skipped), herbs (use what ever you have or skip it)... I add parsley or cilantro stalks, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf depending on what I have. Sometimes it's just thyme or just cilantro, sometimes all, 1-2 tsp salt.. Fill it up with cold water. Boil for about 45 mins to an hour.

Drain and use right away or to store put it silicone ice cube trays, freeze and then put it freezer bags and store in freezer. Use couple of ice cubes or a lot more depending on recipe. 

Babaganoush

Can't have eggplant and not make baba ganoush. Call it hummus's yummy cousin. Or consider this a low calorie snack. Completely vegetarian/vegan. Love this with some pita chips or cracker of your choice or even some bread!

Here's what you need:
Eggplant, olive oil, tahini (sesame paste) you can add some toasted sesame powder or skip this if you don't have any), garlic, salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Here's what you do:
First roast the eggplant. Put the whole eggplant with some oil in the oven @ 400 F for about 30 mins (or 375 for 45 if you got the time) until its very soft and skin is browned [turn it to the other side after first 15 mins]. You can also roast garlic (skin on) for about 25 mins at the same time. If you are using roasted garlic use atleast 6/7 cloves. Roasted garlic gives it a subtle garlic flavour and some sweetness.

Note: you can even cut the top off and roast an entire garlic bulb. Use remaining as spread on crackers/ bread.

After eggplant is done, peel it and mush it lightly. Then in a blender or food processor add eggplant+tahini+ olive oil (lil bit) +garlic +salt +pepper+lemon juice and process until smooth. Watch out for raw garlic. Start with half or one small clove and add more as necessary.

Pita chips: cut pita into triangles, toast in a 400 degree oven for about 8-10 mins.

Eggplant and Pork stir fry!

Easy peasy dish to make on a snowy day. I bought an eggplant for something I don't remember anymore. So I had that and some leftover pork from the patties.

So here's what you do:
Ingredients: ground pork (1/2 lb or lil more), eggplant (small half), shiitake mushroom (coz I had some lying around) abt 6-7, lil bit onion (half of a half), half a tomato (coz I had that too), oyster sauce, ginger 1/2 inch, garlic (2-3 cloves) and sambal oleak or your favorite chili garlic sauce, parsley or coriander whichever you have!

Put some oil in a fry pan, add pork, break it down and cook until its no longer pink. Add ginger, garlic, onion, tomato and cook until fragrant. Add eggplant and mushrooms. Add oyster sauce (start with abt 2 tblsp and add more if necessary), sambal and some water. Cook until eggplant it done. I find that eggplant takes a while to cook so if the water is almost dry and it's still raw, add abt 1/4 cup water and cook some more. Obviously taste :) Add more oyster sauce and sambal if you want it spicier. Repeat the step of adding water and cook until eggplant is done. Add parsley/ coriander for garnish.

Serve with rice or couscous or this would even be great with mash potatoes.

English pasties and Jamaican Patties

Hand held pockets of goodness! Yup that is what I would call them. English pasties, Jamaican patties, Malaysian curry puffs and chicken patties that I grew up eating in Nepal. They are all very similar to me. My friend from Indonesia mentioned that they have something similar called pastels! Buttery pastry filled with meaty goodness although the ones back home have puff pastry on the outside.

I used a basic pie dough recipe so pick anything that you prefer or buy pre-made pie dough or even puff pastry (depending on degree of laziness for that day). For the meat filling I used pork but the same basic recipe can be used for chicken or even potatoes. I don't do beef so you are on your own there but if you are using curry recipe, beef would need a little bit more seasoning than pork or chicken. Here's what I did:

English pasties: ground pork, onion, garlic, wine, worcestershire sauce, thyme, salt: I just put it all in a pressure cooker but you can cook it on stove top but I found that pressure cooker makes it luscious and soft. Sautéed mushroom cut in lil pieces and mix with meat mixture. Stuff pie dough, bake @ 375 until golden brown (about 15-20 mins)

Jamaican patty: ground pork, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin pwd, coriander pwd, salt + lil water - cook in pressure cooker or on stove top. Cool the filling and stuff inside pie dough in any shape you want. Bake @ 375 till golden brown (abt 15-20 mins)

When life hands you Oranges...

make cocktail with it ofcourse! Someone sent us Honeybell oranges at work. These were wonderfully sweet and juicy! So here's what yo do: Juice one fresh orange, add a splash of Triple Sec with some Vodka or Gin and some fizzy water on top! YUM