French Macarons- Coco Peanut Butter

Coco Macarons with Peanut butter

It's been a while, one year to be exact.  I moved back into my parent's house, and got a real job,(a career), which is why I haven't posted anything since.  Of course I feel bad because this is my diary of food!  I still cook and bake, however not quite as often as I used to.  When I started my blog, I was unemployed, lived in my beautiful condo, and had all the time in the world. 
I was quite proud on what I baked tonight and thought it was time that I updated my blog.  I seriously wondered how professional bloggers to this on a daily basis.  I'm used to my new routine, remember, I had to adjust to living with the parents again, cooking in their kitchen, and lastly adjust my working schedule to a 9-5. Anyways, enough ranting, I made coco macarons sandwiched with peanut butter filling.

I got this recipe from http://www.yoo-eatz.com/Earl-Grey-Macarons-Honey-Buttercream-Filling-Recipe-15579665

Here is a great Youtube video that showed me great step by step procedures on how to make them! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18PlAZS3Tc0&list=FLjiUOAftAAK8j2i_NrYkbmw&feature=mh_lolz

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites, at room temperature
• 4 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. almond meal (finely crushed/grind almond)
• 1 c. confectioners sugar
• 2 tsp. coco powder

Step1.  Separate 2 eggs and whisk egg white until frothy.
Step2.  Gradually add the 4 tbsp of the granulated sugar while still whisking and whisk until STIFF PEEKS. 
Step 3. In a separate bowl, swift the powdered sugar, almond, and coco powdered
Step 4. Combined the dry ingredients and fold mixture until well mix. stop mixing as soon as the mixture does not create permanent ribbons as you mix
Step 5. Pip into desirable circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and let it rest for 30 minutes or until a hard crust is formed.
Step 6. Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes.
Step 7.  Let cookies cool, spread with peanut butter and SANDWICH!

Enjoy!

Quick Pesto Fettuccini

Due to my work schedule, It tend to come home late in the evening.  I haven’t been getting home till past 9pm lately and instead of purchasing take-out food, I try to save money by whipping up something I find in my fridge.  I love grocery shopping, much more than clothes shopping.  I can spend hours in a grocery store, no, I DO spend hours in  a grocery store.  I enjoy going through each aisle and looking at all the different ingredients there.  I do have a grocery list I follow, but there are always other enticing foods I check out. 

This night I saw that I had 1 Zucchini, some mushrooms, onions, thyme (I had a lot of thyme leftover from my braised ribs dish)  half a tub of sour cream and an opened jar of pesto sauce.  There I also remembered I had some remaining fresh fettuccini pastas from a few days earlier, I decided to make a quick pasta.  I didn’t have any meat except for Chorizo but I thought it would add good bite to the dish.  

  

I cut the Chorizos and  zucchini in thin long strips so that they resemble the fettuccini not to mention it will be easy to twirl with the pasta.  

I put all the vegetables and thyme in a pan and cooked it till slightly tender 

I then added sour cream and pesto sauce and combined everything all together 

I then added the cooked pasta and VOILA! Dinner. 

This was creamy, and slightly tangy and from the sour cream.  My roommate enjoyed it very much.  I also added a few tablespoon of pasta water to thin the sauce a bit cause it was a bit too thick.  I like being creative and not always follow a recipe.  I guess this is the excitement in my life. 

AMAZING Braised Short Ribs

OMG.. This is officially on list of  favourites.  To be honest, I have never cooked with short ribs before, I can't believe I lived this long without ever experiencing braised short ribs.  When my roommate and I tasted it that night, we just looked at each other with happiness.  I immediately knew that I will be making braised short ribs more often.  Maybe once a week! I’m just so happy! 

When it comes to cooking savoury food, I tend to not follow recipes to the “T”.  I would go through hundred of sites and watch several Youtube videos and gather the general idea on how to cook a basic dish.  On the other hand, baking is a different story, I always follow baking recipes, if not, they usually tend not to turn out very tasty,.. and that happened a lot to me in the past.  In this particular case, I looked for recipes from the Food Network site and did a general search on Google.  I would also read comments from other bloggers and by readers who have made the dish.  I like reading them because they also usually state the pros and cons of the dish. The result? The usual ingredients are carrots, celery, onions, red wine, short ribs (of course) and seasonings.   General techniques involves browning the meat, and simmering for hours in the oven.  Simple enough =D  However, I decided to just simmer it on the stove cause I don't have any pots that are oven safe.  the result is still great.  I may invest in a oven-safe pot just to see if the flavour is any different, but I found that simmering it on the stove was just fine. 

This is my version of braised short ribs ( did I mention it was AMAZING?!):

Are you drooling yet?

 Yield: 4

Ingredients:

Short ribs 2 strips ( approximately 2 lb each)

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 stalk celery chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 onions chopped

5 clove of garlic, chopped

3 bay leaf

20 sprig of time

2 ½ cup red wine

5 cups Beef stock ( enough to cover the beef)

2 tbsp Worcestershire

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp rosemary

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.       Chop carrots, celery, onions

2.       Season the ribs with salt and pepper

3.       Coat the ribs with flour

The marbling of fat throughout this piece means that it is flavourful!

                  

4.      Between medium to high heat, sear ALL sides of the meat, this technique is call “browning”. Don’t crowd the pot, you want a good sear on all side. I only had 5 in my pot at a time. When all sides are browned, set aside in a bowl. IF there is a lot of oil in your pan, pour some of it out.

5.       Add carrots, celery, onions, garlic.  Stir while scraping  the brown bits on the bottom of the pot

6.       Add Thyme, balsamic vinegar, red wine and brown sugar.  Stir

7.       Return all the beef back into the pot

8.       Add beef stock and bay leaf( you only need enough beef stork to cover all the beef

9.       Put the lid on and wait till it boils

10.       Reduce heat to low when boil

11.       Cook for 3 hours or until meat is tender!

12.       Remove all the meat into a bowl

13.      Time to reduce the sauce, there is probably a lot of liquid still in the pot.  Turn stove on high and let it bubble till the sauce reduce to half.  Stir occasionally so the vegetables don’t burn.

14.       Serve with your choice of side, I made a plain mash potato!

The best part is that it taste just as amazing (if not better) the next day!