WOW! I got GOOSIES!!

I should sub title this entry as "Tooting My Own Horn" but I admit it...I just cannot help myself. Last Saturday was a very happy day for me. I got up early in the morning to make some macarons because an ardent reader and I were meeting for the first time. We were set to have lunch together at the Empire Subang. I wanted to let her taste my macarons.

We had lunch at a newly opened Thai restaurant. The food was just so-so, but it did not bother us because we had such a great time chatting. In a delightful coincidence, the new friend turned out to be the daughter of the midwife that had delivered me (so many moons ago). Her name is Cindy and she is a very pleasant lady and so warm and friendly that it felt more like meeting an old friend.  She was so thoughtful and generous and had brought a lovely set of earrings and a necklace as a gift for me. What a delightful surprise  and I loved both the design and the color. I wore them to lunch yesterday. I think they matched my purple blouse. Thanks so much again, Cindy. 


As we were having lunch, a young lady came over to our table and asked me if I am Veron and introduced herself as Adrine. She is also a food blogger and a regular reader of my blog. It was a great pleasure to meet her and her family. What a small world this is!   


After our lunch, Cindy and I went window shopping together and then I asked her to tag along to watch a "Berries pie" demo at Jaya Grocers by the young and handsome Chef Ryan Khang.  Chef Khang is quite an accomplished chef. He had written his first book in 2006 and had worked as a consultant chef for a chain restaurant where he had developed new menus and supervised production. Currently he is the resident chef of The Cooking House and the editor-in-chief of a food and health journal called Malaysian Nourishment.

When I met Chef Khang, I offered him a piece of my macaron with my newly invented fillings that was suggested by my Quay Lo. What he said to me sent me to cloud 9! As soon as he took the first bit of my macaron, he said, "This is a French macaron, did you age the egg white for 7 days? What is the filling? This is very good!" I told him it was a filling I invented, kumquat preserves with dark chocolate and cointreau. He told me he had just returned from Paris and had tasted lots of macs while there and mine was better than the Dulce de Leche macarons he had there!! OH MY GOODNESS!! someone please pinch me and tell me that I am not dreaming!  When I felt my feet just about to touch back down to the ground, he sent right back to cloud 9. He asked if I would like to contribute an article to the Malaysian Nourishment food and health journal. I think he must be joking.

Me? write an article for a food magazine? I can hardly believe that. Wow! I got goosies all over!! Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to get a picture with this young handsome chef who is so kind to offer his opinion on my macarons (especially since it was favorable).

I am eager to share with you the new fillings recipe because it must be good when the compliment comes from a chef. 

Vanilla Macarons with kumquat dark 

chocolate and cointreau fillings

Vanilla Macaron shells:

83 grams icing sugar

64 grams ground almonds

53 grams egg whites (about 2 small eggs), aged for 48 hrs at room temperature

28 grams granulated sugar

coloring (optional)

½ tsp vanilla extract

Method to make the shells: (click to see the step-by-step photos)

Sift almond flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl and set aside.

The old lady at work with Ranger keeping an eye 

to make sure everything was done correctly. LOL!

Please ensure the mixture is dry is entirely dry. After it is well mixed, add in coloring and blend in. In a large clean, dry bowl whip egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Increase the speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar. Continue to whip to ALMOST stiff peaks like in the photo. With a flexible spatula, gently fold in almond and icing sugar mixture into egg whites until completely incorporated. The mixture should be shiny and 'flow like magma.' When small peaks dissolve to a flat surface, stop mixing. Fit a piping bag with a 3/8-inch (1 cm) round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets lined with parchment paper and try to have equal size circles. If you want to have uniform size of shells, draw circles before you pipe. 

I am so happy that I finally got 

these shells to look more decent

Tap the underside of the baking sheet to remove air bubbles. Let dry at room temperature for 1 or 2 hours to allow skins to form or when you gently touch the top of the batter, it does not stick to your finger. Place baking sheet into another bigger baking sheet. Bake, in a preheated 140°C oven for 20 minutes. Remove macarons from oven and transfer parchment paper to a cooling rack. When cool, slide a metal offset spatula or pairing knife underneath the macaron to remove from parchment paper.

Note: if the batter is overmixed, you will get flat shells and if it is undermixed, you will get Dolly Partons (click link to find out why Dolly Partons). LOL! So, be mindful when you mix the batter. 

Fillings recipe:

Kumquat compote with cointreau:
(adapted from Wendy of Table For Two and More with slight modification)

200gm kumquats, removed seeds

2 tbs cointreau (more or less to individual taste)

80gm Sugar

200gm Water

Method:

Half kumquats and remove seeds. Put cleaned kumquats, sugar and water into a saucepan and cook (on med heat)until the kumquat looks glossy and soft. Let cool and puree. Add cointreau and mix well.

Chocolate ganche:

100gm dark chocolate

200gm cream

Method:

Put cream in a microwave safe glass bowl and heat on high for 2-3 minutes, until just about to boil. Put chocolate in a medium sized glass bowl and pour hot cream over. Let sit for a minute or two then stir with a wooden spoon until completely smooth.

Kumquat dark chocolate cointreau fillings:

Add equal amount of  kumquat preserves and chocolate ganache and mix well. Put into a piping bag and pipe onto macaron shells. 


So what about the berries pie demo? I am sure you would like have the recipe from Chef Khang. I promise I will share with you in my next post. 

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers Challenge #17 - March Macaron Madness (March 2012 ) hosted by Alan from Travelling Foodies

Put one foot in front of the other

In Malay tradition, Kueh is a form of traditional "cake" or bite sized dish, that is either sweet or savory, and is especially abundant during holidays or celebrations. In this part of the world kueh is seen in such a large variety of offerings that there really is no description I can think of that perfectly describes these lovely morsels. Virtually all of the ethnic food traditions here have their favorite kuehs. They are a notable feature of the foods offered during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan for the Buka Puasa (breaking of the day's fast) each evening and the celebration of Hari Raya AidilFitri that follows, as well as during the Hindu celebration of Deepavali. So, given its prevalence here, I'm not sure why I had the preconception that it is difficult to make kueh, but it explains why I have not made any after I had attempted "chwee kueh" many months ago. 

If you would like to get the recipe, just click on the picture.

So why am I blogging a kueh now? It's because I decided to participate in this month's Aspiring Baker #12 which calls for traditional kueh. I was looking for a relatively simple kueh to make and since my mum likes pumpkin, I decided to make pumpkin kueh.  It was very fortunate that both the look and the taste were quite good after my first attempt.  I was very pleased.  Having said that, I remembered a post I had read recently from my friend, David’s blog, Pen to Page. It was a very simple picture but very powerful.  It showed a few steps of stairs and below it these words: "Things that seem hard are not always that hard. Put one foot in front of the other, and you’ll get to the end". I will keep this in mind and,the next time when something seems very hard to do and I procrastinate because of that, I'll remember to take that first step. It is pretty simple really. Just make yourself lift up that one foot and keep on putting one foot in front of the other. Very soon, you will complete a task which seemed difficult and perhaps come to realize it is not so hard after all. I did and it works! When I served a piece of this pumpkin kueh to my mum with a big grin, she said to me, "世上无难事,只怕有心人." (where there is a will, there is a way.)

Pumpkin Kueh

(Based on Madam Kwan's recipe with modification)

Steam pumpkin kueh
Largely adpated from Madam Kwan's recipe

Ingredients:

100gm green bean powder/flour

250ml thick coconut milk

200gm sugar

300gm pumpkin

Method:

Steam 250gm diced pumpkin and 50gm sliced pumpkin till cooked. Mashed diced pumpkin. Add green bean powder to cononut milk and mix well. Add in sugar gradually and mix well. Add in mashed and sliced pumpkin, cook over moderate heat till thick. Transfer to a pan or mould and let cool. Refrigerate and serve cold.

Note: If you do not want to have sliced pumpkin, just mash them all for a more consistent texture and mouth feel. 

I am submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #12 Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by Smallsmallbaker