Daring Bakers October 2009 Macarons

Biscochito Macarons

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.

I have been contemplating these little sandwiched meringue cookies for a while now- and now after getting the kick in the pants to make them, I am a girl obsessed! Macarons are so seemingly simple- just four ingredients. But, man, these little buggers are temperamental. Everything has to be just right, the weather, the measured ingredients, the moisture content, oven temperature... or it spells macaron disaster. This makes for the perfect challenge-strict parameters with an uncertain outcome. Sounds great to me. I actually bought an oven thermometer just because of this challenge. It has made a big difference (for these cookies and everything else). My oven is aparently 100+ degrees off when it says it is preheated. Good to know!
There is a lot of latitude for flavors and so I did a spin off of a local cookie called a biscochito. It is a cinnamon-anise shortbread cookie and it translated surprisingly well to a macaron. I added cinnamon and powdered vanilla to the dry ingredients and a touch of anise extract when combining the dry ingredients to the meringue.I wasn't sure if the little bit of moisture from the extract would throw things off-but it all turned out fine.




Claudia Fleming's Macarons

Baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

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 the nuts yourself)

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)

My additions for biscochito macarons
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp anise extract

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.

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Daring Cooks make Vietnamese Pho October 2009

I am all for learning a new a new dish, but can't for the life of me bring myself to pronounce this one correctly. I learned it is not said "foe" but "fuh". Yeah, sounds pretty slouchy...fuh-fuh fuh...just can't do it. Anyways...The October 2009 Daring Cooks' challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog the Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. We were given the option of making a short version of the soup or a longer one where the broth is homemade. I opted for the longer version of Pho Ga or chicken pho, (recipe here) and I'm so glad did. The chicken broth was so tasty...such a depth of flavor! I started by chopping the whole chicken to little bits so the the bone marrow could add to the richness of the broth. I am glad I tried this- though I can't say that I will do it again because handling the raw chicken carcass that much kinda grossed me out. Guess I am a little squeemish. I just hope that isn't the only reason the broth was so good. The recipe also called for charred onion and ginger. I really think these elements are what kicked it up a notch. After the broth is made the soup is served with noodles, chicken, onions, cilantro, lime, basil, hoisin sauce, hot sauce, chilis- and is customized by the individual. This was kind of fun and I am grateful to my parents for being such good sports by trying it out with us! And on to the recipe (for the shortened version)

Equipment:

• Frying pan
• Large stockpot
• Tongs
• Strainer, sieve or colander
• Bowls for serving

Preparation Time: 45 cooking time + 15 minutes to cook noodles based on package directions

Servings: Makes 4 servings

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.

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