French Macaron Biscuits with Chocolate Ganache

Well this week I was bitten by the masterchef bug and today for the first time in my life I made French macaron biscuits.

Kylie was really the instigator but the bug hit me pretty quickly, sort of like a fast moving virus. I HAD to see if I could do it. After googling and reading everyones' horror stories and failures I was totally prepared for a dismal flop but very oddly for me they worked! I don't think they'd sell in a French Patisserie but they sure as hell made fine eating!

We sandwiched them with a chocolate cream ganache.

Some refinement is needed though. I'd go slightly lower on the oven temperature and make them smaller next time and I'd also cook them one batch at a time on the middle shelf of the oven as a few were a touch browner than I would have liked.

BUT overall I'd say today was a success and a big thank you goes to Kylie for helping and keeping me company while I cooked. It's her turn on the weekend and she is going to attempt a double batch, or so she has told me.

Now I want to play with all sorts of fillings and then the next step after that will be to make different flavoured macarons...............but that's for the future.

This is the recipe I used with a few amendments of my own that came from google research! http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/10/how-to-make-macarons-recipe.html

If you go to the original you will see the differences.

Basic Macaron Biscuits

225g icing sugar

125g gound almonds

110g egg whites (we used 3 and a half), aged overnight at room temperature

30g icing sugar extra

pinch of salt

Using a texta draw 2.5cm circles on sheets of baking paper (ours made 31 single biscuits but our circles were bigger than that, we used a toothpick holder to draw them)

Turn the paper over so that you don't pipe the mixture on to the texta and place on baking trays

Sieve the almond meal and the icing sugar separately and then sieve them both together into a bowl to make sure the mix has no lumps and is very fine, mix thoroughly

Beat the egg whites in another bowl with the salt till soft peaks form and then add the extra icing sugar gradually, beating till you have stiff peaks (you are basically making a meringue mix)

Gently fold the icing sugar mixture (in small batches) in to the egg whites till it reaches what a lot of people call the "flows like magma" stage...which sort of means when you pick a bit up with your spatula and drop it back down on the mixture it dissolves back in to the mixture slowly

Using a piping bag with a 1cm round tip, pipe the mixture on to the prepared circles (or go freehand!)

Tap the baking sheets to remove air bubbles

Let dry for half an hour so a skin forms on the top of each biscuit

Bake in a 180oC oven (I'd use 160 next time, like the original said) for 10 to 11 minutes, with the door propped slightly open with a wooden spoon, turning the tray/s around after 5 minutes for even cooking

Remove from the oven and transfer the baking paper to cooling racks

Whe cool use a thin spatula to remove them from the paper (if this doesn't work I have read that you can put the baking paper on a wet teatowel and that helps remove them, though we had no trouble and didn't even need a spatula)

Pair the biscuits in similar sizes and pipe (or freehand) about a teaspoon of the filling onto one biscuit and sandwich with his mate

Chocolate Cream Ganache Filling

230g chocolate (I used 70% lindt)

1 cup heavy cream

60g butter, softened

Chop the chocolate finely and place in a heatproof bowl

Cream the butter with beaters

Heat the cream till just at boiling and add to the chocolate and stir to melt

Let cool slightly then stir in the butter with a spatula in 2 lots

Cool to a spreadable consistency, I used the fridge to cool it down, but keep an eye on it as it can set pretty quickly

IF it does set too much nuke it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it again

ENJOY!!!

Homemade Salty Caramels.....yum yum yum

The July Australian Good Food magazine came with an added bonus....a little cookbook called "Winter Warmers" and on the back page (courtesy of saxa salt) was a recipe for chewy salted caramels with white chocolate. Now for anyone who knows me I LOVE salt so I just had to make them, it became imperative!

The first time I tried them I didn't cook the caramel for long enough and they didn't set so I had to scrape it all back into the pan and recook it and then because the pans I was going to use were dirty I decided to use mini muffin cases (the paper ones) and I didn't spray them with oil so they sort of stuck a bit..........though I did get used to the taste of paper after a while.......it added a whole new dimension to the word "texture".

But one failure has never really stopped me so I decided to try again yesterday and this time they worked! Mind you this was after I went out and bought 2 X 12 silicone mini muffin pans last week. I got lucky, they were on special at Target.

So here is the recipe and what I changed in brackets after each bit. Thanks Aussie Good Food magazine and saxa salt.

Chewy Salted Caramels with White Chocolate

makes 24 (and it DOES too!)

250g caster sugar (I used normal granulated)

1 cup (250ml) double thick cream (I used thickened cream)

2tbsp liquid glucose (I always wondered what I was going to do with the rest of the jar, now I need to buy more)

30g salted butter

3tsp Saxa Sea Salt Flakes (sorry saxa, I used normal cooking salt)

200g white chocolate, chopped

Grease 2 X 12 hole mini muffin pans

Place sugar, cream, glucose, butter and sea salt in a heavy based (and LARGE 'cause it boils up a fair bit) pan on medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves

Increase heat to med/high and boil for 6-7 minutes (no way, this was my mistake the first time, boil till it reaches a brown caramel colour and the bubbles look weird!) until mixture reaches 118oC on a sugar thermometer (see I don't have one of those, have to go on sight and feel)

Divide among prepared pans and stand for 3-4 hours till firm (otherwise when you unmould them they will spread over time!)

(I also put a very small sprinkle of Murray River salt flakes on the top of the caramels before they set and before I added the white chocolate layer and it was YUM........I did mention how much I like salt didn't I?)

Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (nah, no way, do it in the microwave in 30 second bursts till melted, checking and stirring after every 30 seconds)

Spoon over each caramel, tap gently on the bench (this is to even the tops out) to settle chocolate and stand for 2-3 hours (no way, white chocolate sets a lot faster than that!) until set

Remove from mould and put a sign on them saying "only for people I REALLY REALLY REALLY love!

This week I've been sucked in by the Masterchef macaron bug and I've had my egg whites sitting out all night in preparation for a day of macaron failure! Will let you know how it goes.........googling macarons could have been a mistake..........failure seems to be the order of the day.

Oh and the recipe I used the mole sauce in a while ago is coming soon........stay tuned.

What is a chowder?

This afternoon I'm making leek and potato soup because it's trivia night down the club and I have to have something easy on a Wednesday that everyone can eat whenever they happen to be there! I decided I wanted bacon in it and Sarah wants corn. As I stood pondering dinner in the shower this morning I wondered if that would make it a chowder?? So I had to Google it to satisfy my curiosity!

Here's an answer from the world according to wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chowder

So I guess we're having potato and leek soup with corn and bacon after all. I wonder though, how many people actually make chowder these days with "salt pork backfat"? Basically, I guess, a modern chowder would be a soup thickened with roux (fat and flour) and then made with milk.

Potato and Leek Soup Recipe

(no measurements given at all, I go by how thick I want it!)

potatoes (add more cooked ones if it's not thick enough after blending)

leek, chopped and softened in a little butter or olive oil

salt and pepper

vegetable stock (or chicken)

parsley

First sort out the leeks........cut the green tops off and discard, cut the white part in half and wash well as leeks can be very gritty, then sauté till soft but not brown.

Add the peeled and chopped potatoes to the pan and then add the stock.

Add parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Boil and then blend to make smooth.

Check seasonings.

Sauté some bacon that's been cut up into bits and add that and some corn (well tonight that's what's happening anyway)

Serve hot!

My weight....and Masterchef Australia

The two topics have nothing to do with each other.........I seriously can't blame Masterchef for my weight! I just like food a tad too much. Though maybe there is nothing wrong with that at all!? BUT I weighed myself this morning and usually I write it on the calendar in the kitchen. NOT TODAY......no way. Not that in anyway do I want to "diet" but I do try and stay about what I am and not gain any more. I blame winter and the rhubarb and apple crumble. Maybe I should stop eating dessert? OR there is of course another option....................I COULD shave my head. I wonder how much I would lose that way?

Anyway, enough of that............The Entrance Markets were on again last weekend and as usual we went to get as much as we could for the fortnight but this time it seemed a bit different. It was a lot busier and I'm thinking they are gaining in popularity plus there were a few new stalls (though I wish the potato guy was there on a bit more of a regular basis).

Drayton's Wines were back. They had issues with The Entrance being alcohol free and it's taken since Christmas for them to work it out with council. Sadly none of the wines I tasted did much for me except the white chocolate liqueur (yum yum yum)..............though I had cleaned my teeth before we went. That may have had something to do with it? Next time I think I'll have to sample the ones I didn't sample on Saturday and maybe retry a few I did sample.No teeth cleaning first though.

And........this is where Masterchef fits in............Jake (who was eliminated because of the Rick Stein seafood platter challenge) has opened a seafood stall. EXCELLENT! They do cooked seafood to order plus fresh seafood. As a bonus Jonathan was there to support Jake because Masterchef is on a production break. They both graciously consented to have their photo taken with my baby granddaughter Isabella. I know they were a bit scared because they thought she was younger than she really is............ "I don't hold them under 6 months" was Jonathan's comment.............she's 8 months so it was all good!

Here are the photos!

Jonathan for the win this season!!!!! Go Jonathan! Besides the fact he can cook he seems an exceptionally nice guy.

Babies in the kitchen!

Today was baby day in the kitchen! Cath and baby Charlie came to visit his girlfriend Isabella...the reason for baking day yesterday.

Cath was going to make treacle scones but there are times when babies and baking just DON'T go together so we ended up with some yummy passionfruit and white chocolate scones from Bakers Delight.......plus what we'd made yesterday.

All in all a wonderful breakfast at 11am!