FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

The Unassuming Macaron

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Between living in Austin and being a part of the food blogging world, a day without seeing a macaron just doesn’t happen.  And even though I think they’re completely adorable, I’m always the first to admit that I don’t love them.  In fact, I don’t love them at all.

But I do love a good challenge and I’ve heard these delicate bites are among the more challenging ventures a baker could take on in their  own kitchen.  I looked up Jenna’s recipe from way back in the Project Food Blog day and decided to see how difficult a macaron could be.

Thankfully, I read the recipe in its entirety before starting so I knew to make the ganache first in order to allow plenty of time for cooling.  Naturally, I looked in my fridge hours later and realized I had totally forgotten to add the cream.  Other than these teeny tiny mishaps and my inability to gracefully use a pastry bag, everything turned out pretty well in the end.

As far as aesthetics go, I could use a ton of practice with a pastry bag.  Like a whole day’s worth.  Stuff was spilling and merging together and oozing into my hands.  It was a total mess.  Such a mess that I couldn’t even begin to worry about uniformity sized pastries.  Or the cracking…  Perhaps I needed to keep a closer eye on them around the 10 minute mark.  Next time?

I wouldn’t have thought there would be a next time, you know, cause I’m not the biggest fan of macarons.  However, I liked the texture of the macarons that came from Jenna’s recipe wayyy better than any restaurant version I’ve had.  And since some solid QT with a pastry bag is beyond necessary, it looks like there will be plenty of next times.

Back In The Swing With @VegaTeam

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Three weekends in a row of out of town visitors will do a number on a health kick.  So much eating, so much house cleaning, and not nearly enough gym have been the story of my life lately.  And although I wouldn’t have had it any other way (I miss all of my guests like crazy), having some me time is feeling pretty pleasant right now.

The kind folks over at Vega couldn’t have had better timing in sending me some smoothie samples.  Non-dairy days and green smoothie nights are exactly what I need to feel like a normal person again.  Oh and gym, lots and lots of lunch hour gym.

FoodFash Tropical Vega Smoothie

1 serving of Vega Tropical Tango

1 cup of almond milk

1 cup of frozen kale

1 cup of frozen fruit (I used a mix of bananas, mango, and strawberries)

Blend til smooth and enjoy!

Farewell Muffins

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Once upon a time, I let a Tampa friend borrow my muffin tray.  A few months and a few ugly muffin recipes later, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy a new tray.  I also decided it was time to bake a Joy the Baker recipe and use Matt’s temporary move as an excuse.

I was excited to try Joy’s lemon poppy seed muffin recipe partly because I love a good lemon poppy seed combo, but mostly because I had never baked anything using browned butter.

The browning butter how-to seemed like common sense.  But after a while of butter that wasn’t browning, I started googling on my phone.  I came across this instructional and was glad I did.  The time it takes to go from unbrowned to almost burned butter is… not that long.  I tasted my browned butter to make sure it didn’t taste torched before pouring it into the batter.

After mixing in the poppy seeds, I scooped a big ol’ spoonful of batter into my mouth.  I blame a lifetime of impatience for my love of dough and lack of fear for raw eggs.  I poured the rest of the dough into muffin cups, knowing a dough this good would yield a delish muffin.

I couldn’t decide whether or not I wanted to ice these muffins until taking a bite (sorry Matt, you only get 11 muffins).  I came to the conclusion that if you wanted these to be a breakfast muffin you should skip the icing and, in turn, skip the associated AM sugar coma that would follow.  However, if you want to deliver dessert muffins to friends, then icing these muffins is the way to go.

I’m off to deliver these sweet treats!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Quinoa Meatless Balls

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Ever since the grape leaves and quinoa recipe, I’ve become a ton more confident cooking with quinoa.  Quinoa tabbouleh, truffled quinoa and cheese, and now… Quinoa meatless balls.       

I’ve also become severely addicted to using my food processor to “chop” veggies.  Shredded, chopped, same difference to me if it means tear-less eyes.

FoodFash Quinoa Meatless Balls (yields 12 balls)

2 cups water

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cube

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 yellow onion, shredded

1 green pepper, shredded

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 eggs

1 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small pan, bring water, quinoa, and bouillon cube to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes.  While the quinoa is cooking, brown garlic in olive oil over medium heat.  Add shredded onion and green pepper and continue to cook over medium heat until the onions are wilted and transparent.  Stir in seasonings and quinoa.  Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in the eggs and breadcrumbs.  Form into 2″ balls and place on greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes and serve.

I was super happy with the way these meatless balls turned out.  I had tried a couple store-bought varieties over the years and was never happy enough to buy them again.  In this recipe, the egg and veggies keep the quinoa moist and held together, while the bread crumbs add a crispness to the outside and texture throughout.  And there aren’t 16 unpronounceable ingredients in these, which is a huge plus.