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Macaron Party

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

About a year ago, a friend and I decided to make macarons in preface to a group dinner party.  After reading through the recipe when she showed up, it was one of those moments where I realized exactly how much of a production macaron making could be.   The macarons turned out… okay — I mean, they were pink and tasted good, but if we’re being perfectionists, the shells had started to crack and they weren’t exactly sized very evenly.

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A year later, in my own kitchen, we decided to celebrate that same friend’s birthday by doing macarons part deux.  This time I assiduously studied allll the steps, read them a few times through, printed out the directions and made notes.  It was like prepping for finals.

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I aged the whites, made sure we had all the pastry bags and tips and even made an extra filling (chocolate ganache) instead of the one that was in the recipe I’d read.  Food Nouveau has a wonderful recipe that has step by step instructions on how to make the perfect macaron.

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I basically used this one but added some vanilla extract, and then used both buttercream and dark chocolate ganache fillings.

I didn’t quite manage to capture all the steps since I was rather nervous about making sure the eggs white peaks did not collapse and that the shells didn’t crack while baking.

But the rest of the baking went well and the macarons were so good that we couldn’t stop eating them!

Ingredients

3 egg whites (from large eggs), separated at least 24 hours in advance and kept in the refrigerator
210 g powdered sugar
125 g almond meal
30 g regular granulated sugar

Directions

  1. Measure the powdered sugar and almond meal and put them in the bowl of your food processor. Finely grind the two together for a minute or two. Stop the processor, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and process again for a minute.
  2. Put the egg whites in a cold stainless steel bowl. Start beating them at medium/high speed with your mixer. Once they start to get bubbly and white and you see the whisk is lightly leaving marks, add a tablespoon of the granulated sugar.
  3. Continue beating and add the remaining sugar slowly over the next minute or two. The eggs will now be white and fluff but not stiff enough. Continue beating at high speed until peaks form.
  4. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites, slowly a bit at a time.
  5. Transfer the batter into a pastry bag with a 1/2″ tip, and pipe into 1″ circles on a parchment sheet covered baking sheet.  Let them rest for at least 20 minutes.
  6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Once the maracons have rested for 20 minutes, bake for 14 minutes.
  7. Let the macarons rest for at least 10-15 minutes out of the oven, and then fill with whichever filling you would like!

Adapted from Food Nouveau.

Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Cilantro

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

One day I will buy myself a fancy tagine (or even not so fancy tagine).  But realistically speaking that’s not going to happen until my kitchen doubles, and for now I’ve been content to make braises and slow cook the heck out of meat in my Staub Dutch oven.  lamboncouscous2

I had a hankering for cooking something that wasn’t just chicken or beef, and so Matt suggested lamb, which of course triggered a rabbit hole search on some of my favorite recipe sources — Food52 and Epicurious.

Lamb browning

Since I trust Epicurious ratings, it was pretty easy to narrow it down to this delicious looking tagine.  Slow cooked all day and with some cilantro thrown on top, it was so good that I was only sad that we hadn’t doubled the recipe.  The original recipe called for a spice blend that I did not have on hand, but I had a Baharat mixture that I made a while ago and just stored for all my Moroccan recipes and so I tossed that in instead.  I also did not have quite enough dried apricots (time for a Nuts.com order!) but I did have a bunch of golden raisins on hand and threw those in.  The result?  Fantastic.

cilantro

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup dried chickpeas
  • 5 garlic cloves (2 whole, 3 chopped)
  • 1 large cinnamon stick, broken in half
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 pounds 1″ cubes lamb shoulder
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 5 teaspoons Baharat spice blend
  • 1 tablespoon chopped peeled ginger
  • 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with juices
  • 2 1/2 cups (or more) low-salt chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup halved dried apricots (or golden raisins)
  • Steamed couscous
  • Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

  1. Place chickpeas in a medium saucepan. Add water to cover by 2″. Let soak overnight.
  2. Drain chickpeas; return to same saucepan. Add 2 whole garlic cloves and cinnamon stick. Add water to cover by 2″. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until chickpeas are tender, about 45 minutes. Drain; set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season lamb with salt and pepper. Working in batches, brown lamb on all sides, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer lamb to a medium bowl. Add onion to pot; reduce heat to medium, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until soft and beginning to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic, Baharat , and ginger. Stir for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and lamb with any accumulated juices. Bring to a boil. Add 2 1/2 cups stock. Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lamb is tender, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
  4. Stir in chickpeas; simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes. Stir in apricots; simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Spoon couscous onto a large, shallow platter, forming a large well in center. Spoon tagine into center. Sprinkle cilantro over.

Adapted from Epicurious

Chana Dal Kichadi

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 3 Comments

I love making the Chicken with Spices recipe, and to be honest, I’ve only ever served it over this delicious mix of chana dal and short grain rice.

chanadal precook

But then again, it’s so good, so why change up a good thing when you’ve got it!  It’s to the point that we refer to the entire meal as just “Chicken and Chana Dal” and we know that it means making these two recipes.

completedchana dal

This would also pair nicely with any other roasted chicken or white fish dish with some roasted vegetables.

Ingredients

¼ cup chana dal (can be ordered from Lisa and my favorite purveyor of dried goods, nuts.com)
¾ cup short grain brown rice
1 tablespoon oil or butter
4 whole cloves
1 clove chopped garlic
1 fresh green chili, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
3 cups water

1. Mix the dal and rice together in a bowl and thoroughly wash under running water

2. Drain the rice and dal and put aside.

3. In a medium-to-large pot heat the oil or butter over a low temperature.

4. Add the whole cloves, chopped garlic and the optional green pepper (for added

zest)

5. After 2 minutes or so, the cloves will begin to swell and release a sweet fragrance.

6. Immediately add the washed and rained rice and dal mixture.

7. Stir with a fork for 5 minutes and hten add the salt and turmeric

8. Tir for another 3 minutes to mix in all the salt and turmeric

9. Now add the water and cook covered over a low temperature for 45-50 minutes
until both grains are quite soft.

From Lisa!

Chicken Curry with Spices

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 6 Comments

One of the meals that I ate at Lisa’s that has now made it into our regular rotation has been this chicken with spices recipe.  I love finding new ways to eat chicken and this curried version with spices and coconut milk really hits the spot for when you’re in the mood for a comforting dish with a flavor kick.

ChickenwithFreshSpices_complete

While the original recipe calls for fresh spices, I must confess that I have yet to find fresh coriander at my local grocery store, so I’ve instead just stocked up on a bunch of spices (dried). (Update: Lisa tells me that fresh coriander is just cilantro.  Never too late to learn!) It’s funny because when I first started cooking, I’d look at recipes and think, 1 tsp of turmeric, that’s it? Or 1/4 tsp of all spice? When will I ever use it again?

cookingonions

But in the course of cooking meals from a similar genre, I’ve ended up using all those spices up in due time and feeling quite satisfied with my bursting spice cabinet (by which I mean my shelf in my cabinet that can barely hold all my spices!)

spices

In any event, this recipe is quite straightforward and delicious, and pairs nicely over some Chana Dal Kichadi with some dry Rosé, or surprisingly, a Pinot Noir.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons corn oil
3 medium onions, sliced thinly (1 ½ cups)
3 garlic cloves, put through a press
1 inch of fresh gingerroot (or I use pre-chopped ginger that you can get in a jar in the store)
3-4 fresh hot red chilies to taste, seeded but whole
2 cardamom pods
2 whole cloves
2 peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 ripe tomatoes, sliced thin or an equal amount canned (1 cup)
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 chicken, 3 lbs cut into 8 serving pieces
¼ cup chopped fresh coriander (or 2 tbsp ground coriander)
14 oz. can coconut milk
Juice of 1 lemon, 2-3 tablespoons

1. Heat the oil in a pan add the onions and sitr-fry over moderate heat until they are golden brown. Add the garlic, ginger, chilies, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon and salt. Continue to stir-fry for 3 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and turmeric and mix well for 2 minutes.

2. Add the chicken and fresh coriander and stir for 3 minutes until the chicken changes color. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring
occasionally, until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened. Stir in the lemon juice.

This curry does have ample sauce.

Serve hot with rice, salad and cooked vegetables. Serves 6 (or 4 very hungry people).

Adapted from Lisa!

Peach, Tomato and Mint Salad

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

When I first started cooking, I was enchanted by the idea of “Oh! It’s rhubarb season” or “Oh! It’s butternut squash season!”  Having grown up in California, also known as the land of plenty, it was so strange to start cooking on the East Coast where there was one time of year that butternut squash “made sense” to cook.  A few years snowy winters and melting summers, the whole food and season connection finally makes sense to me.

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For example, I spent the last couple of months waiting for rhubarb season, only to go on vacation for much of June and coming back to find that the rhubarbs had moved on (without me!).  So when I started reading that “it’s the last of peach season” I hurriedly ran out to the store and stocked up on peaches.  I’m already dreaming up peach cobblers and peach cakes but for today, I thought a simple peach and tomato salad with some fresh mint leaves would be a nice starter for a steak dinner.

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It’s so easy to throw together, and the blue cheese and mint add some nice flavor.

Ingredients

3 tomatoes
2 peaches
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tbsp sliced mint leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
pepper to taste

Slice tomatoes and peaches into wedges.  Add the blue cheese, mint leaves and toss with olive oil.  Add pepper to taste.

Serves 2 for starters

Chicken and Vegetable Paella

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

Yes, I know, we’ve already posted on paella, but during the summer months there’s nothing like making paella in one of its many variations and having it outside on the deck with a nice glass of wine.

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After making our seafood paella last time, we couldn’t help but thinking that we’d like it much better in a former variation, with chicken and vegetables!  I think the variety of ingredients is what we craved, but in any case we made it again.

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It’s become a lazy Sunday afternoon tradition to eat this later in the day, after reading the paper or going to the gym in the morning.  We’ll start cooking around 1 and by the time it’s ready, it’s appropriately late enough for “Spanish” lunch, and reminds us of our leisurely days in Southern Spain when we first came encountered this lovely dish.

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You can really add whatever vegetables that seem good, which is why so many are optional in the list.  The other thing that makes this relatively easy to make is to buy some of the vegetables pre-cut or jarred (I know, it sounds like what do you mean you don’t buy it all fresh?! But honestly, it saves time and still tastes amazing.)  The real key to a truly good and authentic paella is to ensure that you let it cook enough at the end to get a true “soccarat” – or that crispy burned layer on the bottom.

Ingredients

  • 4.5 cups unsalted chicken broth (if using bomba rice, else use 3 cups)
  • 1.5 cups bomba rice (great for paella)
  • Pinch of saffron threads
  • 2 heads of garlic, crushed or just cook the cloves
  • 1/2 onion coarsely grated on a box grater
  • 1.5 lb chicken breast, cut into 1-2″ pieces
  • 6 oz chorizo slices into rounds
  • 12 oz green beans, trimmed
  • 1 tomato grated on a box grater (or just 1/2 cup of chopped or crushed tomatoes from box or can, I like the Pomi box tomatoes)
  • 1/2 12 oz jar of roasted red peppers (optional)
  • 1/2 can of chickpeas (optional)
  • 1 jar of artichoke hearts (optional)

Directions

  1. Saute the chicken in olive oil in the paella pan for about 8-10 minutes on Medium heat until it looks cooked through.  Remove chicken from the pan and place in a separate plate and cover with foil.
  2. Take the crushed garlic and let it cook for about 3 minutes, and then add the green beans and artichokes and cook until soft but not wilted, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove green beans from the pan and put on another plate and cover with foil.
  3. Make the sofrito: Reduce the heat to medium and saute the onion and garlic until the onion softens, about 5 min.  Add the tomato, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until the mixture has darkened to a deep burgundy and is thick like a compote, 15-20 minutes.  If it starts to stick to the pan or burn, add a little water.
  4. Add the rice and cook: Bring the broth to a simmer.  Add the rice to the pan with the sofrito, and cook for 1 – 2 minutes.  Raise the heat to medium-high.  Pour in 3 cups of the broth (reserve the rest) and stir or shake the pan to evenly distribute the rice.  Arrange the chicken, chorizo, green beans, chickpeas , roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts (if using) in the pan, submerging them as much as possible below the level of the liquid.  From this point on, do not stir the rice.
  5. Simmer vigorously, moving the pan over one and two burners to distribute the heat and to cook the rice as evenly as possible.  When the rice is at the same level as the liquid, after 8-10 min., reduce the heat to medium low.
  6. Continue to simmer more gently, rotating the pan as necessary, until the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 min. more.  Taste a grain just below the top layer of rice; it should be al dente, with a tiny white dot in the center.  (If the rice is not done but all the liquid has been absorbed, add a bit of broth and cook a few minutes more.)
  7. Create the socarrat: Increase the heat to medium-high and, rotating the pan, cook for about 2 min., until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating a socarrat.  The rice will crackle, but if it starts to smell burned, remove the pan from the heat immediately.
  8. Let the paella rest: Remove the pan from the heat.  Cover loosely with foil or a clean kitchen towel and let the paella rest for 5 min. to even the cooking and let the flavors meld.
  9. Serve: Set the paella pan in the center of a table, remove the foils and dig in!  (Optional: Squeeze lemon on pan for taste.)

(serves 4 or 2 very hungry people, based on a 14″ paella pan)

Adapted from La Paella of http://www.paellapans.com

Chocolate Chip Whole Wheat Pancakes

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

Years ago, I decided it was worth investigating the hype with whole wheat flour for things that I traditionally only made with just regular old white flour.

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When I first heard about whole wheat pancakes I was dubious, but after trying it a few times, it really does seem to taste better: richer and more subtly textured than just plain old pancakes.  For good measure I also threw in Guittard dark chocolate chips, but you can make them plain, or add blueberries.

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You’ll notice my pancakes are on the thinner side, but I promise in a stack they’re delicious.  We wish we had a photo of cutting into the stack when the chocolate just oozed out, but unfortunately we were too busy eating to pause for the photo.

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Ingredients

1.5 cup milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup of chocolate chips (but add more if you’re a chocolate fan)
butter for greasing the griddle

1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt (or all the dry ingredients) in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk and the egg.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix through, leave slightly lumpy.  (note: whole wheat flour is very “thirsty” so you may need to add more milk, just adjust and eyeball it as you mix through the wet and dry ingredients.)

4. Preheat a griddle.  Once hot, add ladles of batter to the griddle. If using chocolate chips, sprinkle a few on each pancake.

5. Cook for a few minutes, until you start to see little bubbles forming on the surface. Flip the pancakes with a turner and cook for a few minutes on the other side, until you peek underneath and see that the bottom is golden brown.

6. Serve with maple syrup and enjoy!

Serves 2, or 1 very hungry person.

Adapted from Fifteen Spatulas.

One Pot Meals

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

As Lisa has mentioned before, there are some nights where after coming home from work, and going to the gym or an exercise class, there just isn’t that much time to get dinner on the table.  This is one of those lovely recipes that really does fit in one pot and takes 30 minutes from start to finish.  Not only is it delicious the day after, but it’s so flavorful that it’s hard to stop from finishing off the whole pot in the first sitting.

farro

I found this recipe a while ago on Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite sources of inspiration for dinner.  Not only did it look delicious, it really did live up to its lofty promise of being a 30 minute dinner!  I always double the recipe, since Deb’s “two hearty mains” is more like one serving for my always hungry husband.

I’ve also recently discovered the joys of variated olive oil flavors, after being introduced to Sciabica’s (and yes, their website is really aptly named because the oils really do taste like “sunshine in a bottle”).  Back when I lived in San Francisco, my avid chef friend had given me some samples as a birthday gift, knowing I loved to cook.  She had come across a stand for Sciabica’s at one of these plentiful farmer’s markets, and bought some bottles after having a pleasant chat with someone who appeared to be the family patriarch.  It turned out to be a great purchase.  Indeed, during the olive oil scandal when companies were being called out for not really using olives, Sciabica’s was held up as the shining example of “real” olive oil.  Plus with flavors such as basil, lemon, and grapefruit, it’s great to keep a couple of bottles in the kitchen to add a little flavor.

Why the long digression about olive oil? Well because a dash of basil olive oil to this dish really completes it as a gourmet dinner.  Pair it with a nice California Zinfandel and enjoy!

Serves 4 hearty mains (or 2.5 extremely hungry people)

Ingredients

  • 5 cups water
  • 2 cup semi-pearled farro
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 18 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher or coarse sea salt
  • Up to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • Few basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons
  • Grated parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. Place water and farro in a large pot to presoak while you prepare the other ingredients.
  2. Adding each ingredient to the pot as you finish preparing it, cut onion in half again, and very thinly slice it into quarter-moons.
  3. Thinly slice garlic cloves as well.
  4. Halve or quarter tomatoes.
  5. Add salt, pepper flakes (to taste) and 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan, and set a timer for 30 minutes.
  6. Bring uncovered pan (no lid necessary) up to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally.
  7. When the timer rings, the farro should be perfectly cooked, seasoned and the cooking water should be almost completely absorbed. If needed, cook it for 5 additional minutes, until farro is more tender.

Serve onto bowls. Drizzle farro lightly with additional olive oil, scatter with basil and parmesan. Eat immediately.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Classic Seafood Paella

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

We love visiting wine country in Northern California, and a recent trip took us to an open invite celebration at Vincent Arroyo Winery.  We’ve gone to the winery in the past as we loved their Tempranillo and also because the tasting included a very thorough and scientifically oriented tour of the winery and explanation of how their wines were made.  This time when we stopped by, they were serving up paella, and we’ve never seen such big paella pans!  Entire gallons of water were poured into these huge pans that were placed on top of pits that appeared to exist for the distinct purpose of serving up paella in heaping quantities, and tools that one usually only associates with gardening were used to move around, mix, and cook the delicious paella.

vincent arroyo paella

Inspired, we went home and used our shining new paella pan, albeit a much smaller pan, to cook a seafood version that was more reminiscent of what we had eaten on our Spanish adventure the year before.  They’re actually quite affordable on Amazon, the purveyor of all things, and stores fairly well underneath our oven.

paella_seafood

Ingredients

  • 6 oz shrimp, peeled (reserve the shells for broth)
  • 1 small bottle of clam juice
  • Pinch of saffron threads
  • Kosher Salt
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 oz dry scallops
  • 1/4 lb calamari, cut into rings (optional)
  • 1/2 onion, grated
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1 tomato, halved and grated on a box grater
  • 1.5 cups medium grain rice (bomba rice is great for paella)
  • 8 small mussels, 8 small clams
  • 2 lemons, cut in wedges
  1. Make a seafood broth: In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups of salted water to a boil (if using bomba rice, use 4.5 cups of broth). Add the shrimp shells and clam juice and simmer covered, for about 10 minutes.  Strain the broth, and return it to the saucepan.  Toast the saffron gently (in a skillet), crumble the threads and add to the broth.
  2. Saute the seafood: In a 14 in paella pan, heat the oil on high.  Saute the shrimp, scallops, and calamari until just cooked through, about 2 min.  Transfer to a plate.
  3. Make the sofrito: Reduce the heat to medium and saute the onion and garlic until the onion softens, about 5 min.  Add the tomato, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until the mixture has darkened to a deep burgundy and is thick like a compote, 15-20 minutes.  If it starts to stick to the pan or burn, add a little water.
  4. Add the rice and cook: Bring the broth to a simmer.  Add the rice to the pan with the sofrito, and cook for 1 – 2 minutes.  Raise the heat to medium-high.  Pour in 3 cups of the broth (reserve the rest) and stir or hsake the pan to evenly distribute the rice.  Arrange the clams (if using) in the pan, submerging them as much as possible below the level of the liquid.  From this point on, do not stir the rice.
  5. Simmer vigorously, moving the pan over one and two burners to distribute the heat and to cook the rice as evenly as possible.  When the rice is at the same level as the liquid, after 8-10 min., reduce the heat to medium low.  Arrange the mussels in the pan.
  6. Continue to simmer more gently, rotating the pan as necessary, until the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 min. more.  Taste a grain just below the top layer of rice; it should be al dente, with a tiny white dot in the center.  (If the rice is not done but all the liquid has been absorbed, add a bit of broth and cook a few minutes more.)  Arrange the shrimp, scallops, and calamari in the pan.
  7. Create the socarrat: Increase the heat to medium-high and, rotating the pan, cook for about 2 min., until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating a socarrat.  The rice will crackle, but if it starts to smell burned, remove the pan from the heat immediately.
  8. Let the paella rest: Remove the pan from the heat.  Cover loosely with foil or a clean kitchen towel and let the paella rest for 5 min. to even the cooking and let the flavors meld.
  9. Serve: Set the paella pan in the center of a table, remove the foils and dig in!  (Optional: Squeeze lemon on pan for taste.)

(serves 4 or 2.5 very hungry people, based on a 14″ paella pan)

From La Paella of http://www.paellapans.com