Nov 14: Daring Cooks cook Sushi

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

Sushi (寿司 or 鮨 or 鮓) is much appreciated for its delicate taste and exquisite appearance. Sushi actually means vinegared rice, which is the essential ingredient in every sushi recipe. Sushi is simple and cheap to make at home, needs no special equipment and is an excellent way to use left overs.

Although sushi in various forms has been around for fourteen centuries, the modern version was invented in Japan in the 1800’s where a 'hand-formed' sliced fresh fish and vinegared rice ball was eaten as a snack food. Nowadays, sushi is made with various seafood, meats and vegetables, raw and cooked.

The challenge is in four parts:- {A four part challenge! For this challenge I detailed what I did as I followed the recipe. For the full recipe with tips and video links see Audax Artifex or The Bite Me Kitchen blogs}

Part 1: Making proper sushi rice – you will wash, rinse, drain, soak, cook, dress, and cool short grain rice until each grain is sticky enough to hold toppings or bind ingredients. Then you will use the cooked rice to form three types of sushi:
Part 2: Dragon sushi roll – an avocado covered inside-out rice roll with a tasty surprise filling
Part 3: Decorative sushi – a nori-coated rice roll which reveals a decorative pattern when cut
Part 4: Nigiri sushi – hand-shaped rice rolls with toppings

I had big plans for this challenge - fillings and a party. During college, we made sushi to save money since eating out was expensive for us starving students... lol. Also, sushi was made when we had parties. However, work has been pretty hectic. When I finally found time to invite people over, I caught a cold. I ended up scaling back on the fillings, not having the party and making the basic challenge.

PART 1 : SUSHI RICE (makes about 7 cups of cooked sushi rice)
This is an elaborate rice recipe that calls for rinsing, straining/draining, soaking and finally cooking.

INGREDIENTS:
2½ cups uncooked short grain rice [I used a medium grain Calrose rice]
2 ½ cups water
For superior results use equal volumes of rice and water

Sushi vinegar dressing
5 Tablespoons (75 mls) rice vinegar
5 Teaspoons (25 mls or 21 grams) sugar
1¼ Teaspoons (6.25 mls or 4.5 grams) salt

DIRECTIONS:

Rinsing and draining the rice
1. Swirl rice gently in a bowl of water, drain, repeat 3-4 times until water is nearly clear. Don't crush the rice in your hands or against the side of the bowl since dry rice is very brittle.
2. Gently place rice into a strainer and drain well for 30 minutes.

Soaking the rice
1. Gently place the rice into a heavy medium pot with a tight fitting lid (if you have a loose fitting lid use a piece of aluminium foil to make the seal tight).
2. Add 2½ cups of water and the dashi konbu.
3. Set the rice aside to soak for 30 minutes, during this time prepare the sushi rice dressing.

Preparing the Rice Vinegar Dressing
1. Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl.
2. Heat on low setting.
3. Stir until the mixture goes clear and the sugar and salt have dissolved.
4. Set aside at room temperature until the rice is cooked.

Cooking the rice
1. After 30 minutes of soaking add sake (if using) to the rice.
2. Bring rinsed and soaked rice to the boil.
3. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and simmer, covered, until all the water is absorbed, 12-15 minutes. Do not remove the lid during this process. Turn off heat.
4. Let stand with the lid on, 10-15 minutes. Do not peek inside the pot or remove the lid. During this time the rice is steaming which completes the cooking process.

Finishing the rice

* Turning out the rice
1. Moisten lightly a flat thin wooden spatula or spoon and a large shallow flat-bottomed non-metallic (plastic, glass or wood) bowl. Do not use metallic objects since the vinegar will react with it and produce sour and bitter sushi rice.

2. Remove the dashi konbu (kelp) from the cooked rice.

3. Use the spatula to loosen gently the rice and invert the rice pot over the bowl, gently causing the cooked rice to fall into the bowl in one central heap. Do this gently so as not to cause the rice grains to become damaged.

* Dressing the rice with vinegar
1. Slowly pour the cooled sushi vinegar over the spatula onto the hot rice.

The rice is turned out and the vinegar mixture is poured over the rice like flavoring over a snow cone.


2. Using the spatula gently spread the rice into a thin, even layer using a 45° cutting action to break up any lumps and to separate the rice. Don't stir or mash rice.

3. After the rice is spread out, start turning it over gently, in small portions, using a cutting action, allowing steam to escape, for about a minute.

* Fanning & Tossing the rice
1. Continue turning over the rice, but now start fanning (using a piece of stiff cardboard) the rice vigorously as you do so. Don't flip the rice into the air but continue to gently slice, lift and turn the rice occasionally, for 10 minutes. Cooling the rice using a fan gives good flavour, texture and a high-gloss sheen to the rice. The vinegar dressing will be absorbed by the hot rice. Using a small electric fan on the lowest speed setting is highly recommended.

The rice is fanned as I turn, mix and break up any rice clumps. I couldn't find my small fan so I ended up using a cardboard pizza box. :-)


2. Stop fanning when there's no more visible steam, and all the vinegar dressing has been adsorbed and the rice is shiny. Your sushi rice is ready to be used.

* Keeping the rice moist
1. Cover with a damp, lint free cloth to prevent the rice from drying out while preparing your sushi meal. Do not store sushi rice in the refrigerator leave on the counter covered at room temperature. Sushi rice is best used when it is at room temperature.


Rice Vinegar – this gives prepared sushi rice its unique clean, crisp taste. Do not use bottled “sushi vinegar” as it is too harsh and has a bitter after-taste. Look carefully at the label of the rice vinegar it should have NO SALT and NO SUGAR in the product. Apple cider vinegar is a good substitute if rice vinegar is not available. You can use mild white wine vinegar or mild red wine vinegar if you cannot find rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar. DO NOT USE NORMAL WHITE VINEGAR it is too harsh.

PART 2 : Dragon Rolls (also called Caterpillar Rolls)
Yield: 2 inside-out (uramaki) sushi rolls

Looking up Unagi (eel) on Seafood Watch, I see that it's on the "avoid" list. As an alternative, I decided to use black cod/sablefish. Also, it's a regional product so freshness is good.

The black cod is sliced and glazed with eel sauce. However, a terriyaki sauce can be used as an alternative.


Cooking was done under the broiler, after 5 minutes the cod was flipped and glazed again. Cooking continued until a nice char is achieved.


INGREDIENTS:
* 1 sheet 7”x8” (17.5cmx20cm) of toasted nori (dried seaweed sheets), cut into halves [Oops... I didn't read the halving part. I ended up using a full sheet.]
* 1/2 Japanese cucumber
* 2 cups of prepared sushi rice
* Glazed Barbecued Eel (ungai) (about 3½ ounces or 100 grams)
* 1 Avocado
* Vinegared Water – ½ cup of water combined with a dash of rice vinegar
* Various small amounts of sauces to use as the flames of the dragon (or legs of a caterpillar)

Optional
* 2 tablespoons (25 grams or 1 oz) Fish Roe (Fish eggs)

The ingredients ready to be sushi-fied.


DIRECTIONS:
1.Cut cucumber into strips ¼ inch (6mm) x 7” (175mm) long, then salt, rinse & dry the strips.
2.Grill (broil) the eel for about 2-5 minutes until bubbling. Cut into two lengthwise strips.
3.Halve, pit and peel the avocado. Cut the avocado halves into thin even 1/8 inch (3 mm) slices. Fan out the cut avocado into a 7 inch (175 mm) overlapping pattern.
4.Cover bamboo mat with plastic wrap. Place a sheet of nori shiny side down, lengthwise, on the edge the mat.
5.Moisten lightly your hands in the bowl of vinegared water.
6.Place one cup of rice on the nori and gently rake your fingertips across grains to spread rice evenly. Do not mash or squash the rice onto the nori, the rice should appear loosely packed and be evenly distributed over the entire sheet, you should be able to see the nori sheet in a few places.

Also, sprinkled a littled sesame seed on the rice.


7.Flip the rice-covered nori over (so the bare nori is now on top) and place on the edge of the mat closest to you.

Relief! I flipped the rice over with out any problems. :-)


8.Arrange one of the eel strips across the length of the nori, not quite centred on it but a little closer to you. Place half the cucumber sticks next to the eel.



9.Lift the edge of the mat closest to you with both hands, keeping your fingertips over the fillings, and roll the mat and its contents until the edge of the mat touches straight down on the nori, enclosing the fillings completely. Lift up the edge of the mat you're holding, and continue rolling the inside-out roll away from you until it's sealed. Tug at the mat to tighten the seal. If the rice doesn't quite close the roll add more rice in the gap and re-roll using the mat to completely cover the inside-out roll. Place the roll on a damp, clean smooth surface.

10.Spread about 1 tablespoon of the optional fish roe along the entire top of the rice-covered roll. Using the plastic covered mat gently press the fish roe so it adheres to the rice.

11.Slide a knife under one fan of avocado and transfer it onto the top of an inside-out roll. Gently spread out the avocado layer to cover the entire roll. Lay the plastic wrapped mat over the avocado-covered roll. Squeeze very gently to shape the roll.

Ready to spread out the thinkly sliced avocado.


12. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the roll. Slice the roll into 6-8 equal, bite-sized pieces, wiping your knife with a damp towel before each slice. Discard the plastic wrap. Repeat the above to make one more roll.

Plastic wrap over the tope helps to press down the avocado and makes for easier slicing.


13.Arrange the cut pieces on a serving plate with the sauces so the finished dish appears as a dragon breathing fire and flames (or a caterpillar with many legs).

NOTES:
Bamboo mat (makisu) – A 10 inch (25cm) square mat made of thin slates of bamboo tied together with string.
Substitutes: a thin magazine cut to size wrapped in plastic wrap or a few layers of parchment paper cut to size about 10 inch (25cm) square.


PART 3 : Spiral Sushi Roll
This is easiest 'decorative' sushi roll.
This is a big roll where two sheets of nori are joined to form a large roll!

INGREDIENTS:
* 2½ cups prepared sushi rice
* 2 sheets of toasted nori, each sized 7”x8” (17.5cmx20cm)
* Six assorted fillings, each filling should be the size of a pencil (see note below)

Since this is a big roll, my inspiration for this one is Futomaki (which means "Big Roll"). Typically the ingredients are vegetarian.

Here dried shittake mushrooms and kampyo (dried gourd) are rehydrated.


Rehydrated, washed and sliced... ready for cooking. Simmered in 2/3 cup of water, 2 T of soy sauce and 1 T of mirin (sweetened rice wine).


The ingredients - eggs, carrots, cucumber, mushroom, gourd and spinach (seasoned with a little soy and toasted sesame oil.)



DIRECTIONS:
1.Join 2 sheets of nori by moistening the adjacent edges and overlapping them about ½ inch (12mm).

2.Place this double sheet shiny side down on a rolling mat, part of the nori will extend beyond the mat.

3.Using moist fingers place 2½ cups of rice on the nori and gently rake your fingertips across grains to spread rice evenly, leaving ¼ inch (6mm) nori showing on the both ends of the sheet. Do not mash or squash the rice onto the nori, the rice should appear loosely packed and be evenly distributed over the entire sheet, you should be able to see the nori sheet in a few places.

4.Using your fingers form six grooves (in the same direction that you will be rolling the mat) at even intervals across the bed of rice. Make the first groove about 2 inches (50 mm) from the edge of the nori sheet. Form the grooves by pushing the rice away, do not mash or squash the rice, leave a loose one grain layer of rice in the bottom of the grooves. Level the areas between the grooves where you have pushed the rice.

5.Place your fillings in the grooves. Fill the grooves a little higher than the surrounding rice bed.

Wow! This is like a double-decker sandwich of sushi rolls! Rice spread out and filling placed in the grooves. Now it's time to roll! I miscounted the grooves so I had to double up a groove with two ingredients.

6.Then roll the sushi up from the edge closest to you, this will form a spiral pattern of nori, rice and fillings inside the roll.

7.Slice into 8 pieces with a very sharp wet knife, wiping the blade with a damp cloth after each cut.

8.Place the pieces on a platter and garnish.

NOTE:
Make each groove about a finger-width wide they will hold about 1-2 tablespoons of filling. Use fillings that compliment each other and are highly coloured. Use parboiled vegetables cut into strips, seafood, left over eel, smoked fish or chicken, whole cooked beans, edible flowers etc....

PART 4 : Nigiri Sushi
Nigiri sushi is the type of sushi most often made in sushi bars. In Japanese, nigiri means “squeeze”.

INGREDIENTS:
* 2 cups prepared sushi rice
* 8 pairs of assorted toppings, 200 gms/7 ozs total of fish, meat or vegetables (see note below)
* 1 tablespoon Wasabi (paste, reconstituted powder) or any other paste to adhere topping to rice

Optional
* Garnishes such as Ginger (pickled), chilli strips, vegetables flowers etc
* Thin strips of nori or vegetables (for tying topping on)

Fillings for this part of the challenge - omelet and smoked salmon with onion/chive cream cheese.


DIRECTIONS:
1.When handling sushi rice, make certain your hands are very clean. To keep the rice from sticking to our hands moisten your hands with vinegared water.
2.Form nigiri sushi by scooping up a small amount (about 2 tablespoons) of rice with your forefinger and second finger of your right hand and placing it in your cupped left palm.
3.Use the fingers and thumb of your right hand to form it into a long, narrow mound (about 2 inches x 1 inch wide or 50mm x 25mm) in your cupped palm.
4.Press enough to make the rice hold firmly together. Place the nigiri on a damp cutting board flat side down. Don't let sushi touch or they'll stick to each other. At this point, you can cover the sushi with plastic wrap, and they'll keep at room temperature (not the refrigerator) for several hours.
5.Smear a thin line of wasabi on top of the rice and place the topping piece on it. You may need to press the topping down lightly with your fingers and adjust the shape of the rice accordingly to form an attractive piece of nigiri sushi. If your topping is very loose like fish roe you can place a strip of nori (higher than the rice) around the nigiri and form 'battleship' sushi. The cavity that the nori forms holds the topping so it does not fall off.

Typically, the wasabi is applied to the ingredient. It just seemed more convenient at the time to apply to the rice ball instead.


6.Garnish as desired and use strips of nori (or vegetable) to tie the topping to the nigiri if needed.

7.It is customary to make nigiri sushi in pairs, so make two of each variety.
I kind of bucked the trend here. Ages ago, I attended a sushi making session and in the back of my mind, I remember it was "bad luck" to do even numbers. Maybe it was cutting sushi, but for the nigiri, I made 3's.


The Finished Sushi!
My caterpillar roll: Topped with Tobiko, the orange stuff.


The Futomaki spiral roll.


Finally, the nigiri - egg and smoked salmon with chive and onion cream cheese.


Overall, I enjoyed making sushi and learning a new way to make rice. The only downside this month is that I can't taste a thing. The cold has me congested so my sense of taste is pretty much shot. The texture of the black cod was very similar to unagi. I'll have to try this recipe again when I regain my sense of taste. :-)

Oct 27: Daring Bakers Macarons or is it Macaroons?

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.

In the United States, the term “macaroon” generally refers to a cookie made primarily of coconut. But European macaroons are based on either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites. The texture can run from chewy, crunchy or a combination of the two. Frequently, two macaroons are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam, which can cause the cookies to become more chewy. The flavor possibilities and combinations are nigh endless, allowing infinitely customizable permutations.

French macaroons are notorious for being difficult to master. Type in “macaroon,” “French macaroon” or “macaron” in your search engine of choice, and you will be inundated not only with bakeries offering these tasty little cookies, but scores and even hundreds of blogs all attempting to find the perfect recipe, the perfect technique. Which one is right? Which captures the perfect essence of macaroons? The answer is all of them and none of them. Macaroons are highly subjective, the subject of passionate, almost Talmudic study and debate. Chewy? Crisp? Age your egg whites? Ground the nuts or use nut meal or nut flour? Cooked sugar syrup, or confectioners’ sugar? In the words of a therapist, what do you think is the ideal macaroon? The answer lies within you.

Pictured below are chocolate macarons - cocoa powder added to the meringue with a chocolate ganache filling.

I'd like to claim I made these, but that would be dishonest. Having never had a macaron before, I found a local French bakery that made them so we bought a few so can have it a little taste test. As described by Ami S, above, the outer skin is slightly crunchy, but the center is softer, slightly chewy and filled with an marzipan (almond) and chocolate flavor.


On the surface, this appeared to be a simple challenge. Egg whites, powdered sugar, almond flour and regular granulated sugar, plus a filling. Five (5) freaking ingredients. For some reason, simple French goodies (Eclairs and now Macarons) seem to give me the most trouble.

Recipe Source: The macaroon recipe comes from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern. Our host, Amy, presents to us an adaptation of Ms. Fleming’s recipe.

Note: Macaroon making is somewhat labor intensive, yet simultaneously less difficult than you think it will be. One thing you must do is have your egg whites at room temperature. This ensures they beat up properly, as texture is an integral component to macaroons. You will be piping the batter onto parchment paper or nonstick liners, and some home bakers use stencils to make sure their macaroons are uniform in size. It’s your choice.

Be aware that you are beating your egg whites first to soft peaks. Soft peaks means that the peaks of the meringue curl over when you lift up the beaters. After you add the granulated sugar to the soft peak meringue, you will beat the mixture to stiff peaks, which, true to their name, stand straight up. Be careful not to overbeat your eggs.

You will also be folding the nut flour into the meringue. As with most recipes when you combine something with beaten egg whites, be gentle in your mixing to keep the egg whites light.

Some recipes call for drying the piped macaroons on the counter prior to baking for 30 minutes to an hour. This recipe stipulates that you bake the macaroons at a low temperature for 5 minutes, then take them out of the oven, raising the temperature, and baking them for an additional 7 to 8 minutes. Drying is necessary to get the trademark “feet” on your macaroons. Experiment to find the best technique for you.

If you plan on using parchment paper rather than nonstick pan liners, be careful when removing the macaroons from the paper, as they can stick and are very delicate. Some recipes suggest lifting up a corner of the paper and letting a drop of water fall onto the hot baking sheet, thus producing steam, which helps the macaroons release.

Mandatory for this Challenge:
-Make Claudia Fleming’s recipe for macaroons
-Fill and sandwich the macaroons

THE DARING COOKS OCTOBER 2009 CHALLENGE: MACAROONS
Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.) [I made my own by using a food processor to pulverize blanched, slivered almonds. It was the least expensive way to go.]
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.) {NOTE: I used superfine sugar and kept this constant when I downsized the recipe. The granulated sugar helps stiffen the egg whites.}
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

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.

I used slivered, blanched almonds. Coated with the powdered sugar. In the cup is granulated sugar for the egg whites.


The food processor was run for about 30 seconds to a minute. The mixture was passed through a fine mesh sieve to filter out any large bits. Surprisingly, 99% of the mixture passed through with no problems.


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.

Stiff peaks as desired!



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.

Folding in the almond flour and sugar mixture... sifting first.


Okay... I didn't know it at the time, but here's one spot where I went wrong in this challenge. I overmixed the batter. It's thick and flowing like waffle batter.


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.

Great tip to fill a bag with batter or buttercream! I learn something new with each challenge. :-)


5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

The batter flowed out of the bag like water... I had a hard time piping the batter into nice little rounds. Also, as you can see below, the batter expanded to connect with one another.


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.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami's note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

Results of my first batch... No feet and no puff. It looks like a tuile from the DB tuile challenge from Jan '09. This is not what I wanted.


After that first batch disappointment...
I went on the internet and read up on making macarons. Also, I sought out the help from fellow Daring Bakers. Daring Baker Tartelette, a pastry chef with a fantastic website full of beautiful pictures and recipes, provided some advice.
1. Beat the eggs stiff-stiff... meaning very stiff.
2. Using aged egg whites is a good way to go. Aging can be simulated by microwaving fresh egg whites for 10 seconds, pausing and microwaving another 5 to 10 seconds.

Note: I split the difference and went 7 seconds the second time around and started cooking the egg whites. So with new bunch of egg whites I went 10 seconds and 5 seconds without cooking the whites. Also, I used 3 egg whites instead of 5.

The weight before and after microwaving was 100 grams.

I followed the advice about beating very stiff and microwave aging the egg whites. Also, I was gentler with the mixing. The macarons kept their shape and didn't flow.


However, no feet and the tops looks coarse instead of smooth.


The inside was drier and more cookie like.
This time I under-mixed the batter.


My goal is to put feet on these suckers... This time around I aged two egg whites at room temp for 24 hours (actually 20 hours) and another two egg whites for 45 hours.

The 24 hour egg whites egg whites started out weighing 65 g. After 20 hours, they weighed 62 grams, while the 45 hour aged egg whites started out at 69 g and had a final weight of 61 g.

So I have aged egg whites, stiffly beaten eggs and based on more reading I mixed all the ingredients until it flowed like magma. We want all the ingredients to be incorporated, some of the egg whites deflated so that it's not to stiff and not too runny. We want the batter to flow like magma.

The macarons were piped. Any peaks just melted into the batter but the batter didn't spread out like batch one. Also, looking at the surface of the macarons, it's smooth. That's a good sign. It's definitely different from my previous two attempts.


Alright! We have little feet. They're not size 10's like the bakery macarons, but baby booties is better than nothing.


A closer look at the little feet.


Hmmm.... what do I fill the macarons with now?
Well... I have all these egg yolks. Being a cheapskate, I decided to make pastry cream in order to use some of those egg yolks... lol

The chocolate pastry recipe was the one used in the Aug '08 Eclair challenge.


Pipe and sandwich the pastry cream. Lick fingers as needed.


Oops... Looks like the pastry cream is a little bit loose. I guess these macarons are made for immediate consumption. Oh, darn... but somebody got to eat them.


Overall, I enjoyed trying something new. However, I'm not a big sweets eater and not sure if I'd try again. Actually, I will when I have more time. I don't take to failure. I'll keep practicing until I get Sasquatch feet on my macarons!

What I've learned about making macarons...
1) Whip the whites very stiff.
2) Age the egg whites. Room temp aging for 24 hours seems the best way to go. There was no appreciable difference aging for 2 days. Also, 24 hour aged egg whites seemed to produce smooth macarons. Egg whites from fresh eggs seem too efficient at making bubbles which effects the texture of the cookie.
3) Mix the batter until it flows like magma.
4) Use a ganache or buttercream filling for the macarons or add more corn starch to the pastry cream.

Finally, a big thanks to Ami S of (Baking without Fear) for hosting the challenge and the professional advice from Tartelette.

I had to go one more round... Not being successful on the challenge has been bugging me. Also, I had enough ground almonds for another two egg trail batch.

Fellow Daring Bakers were reporting success using Tartelette's recipe so I wanted to give macarons one more shot.

Reviewing her recipes...
The basic proportion was
90 g eggs (which works out to 3 egg whites)
50 g granulated sugar
200 g powdered sugar
110 g ground almond

I proportioned the recipe accordingly for two egg whites.

2 egg whites, microwave aged.
35 g granulated sugar (The granulated sugar is used to reinforce the egg whites so I usually use the full amount. However, I was adding cocoa powder so I backed off by the amount of cocoa powder)
135 g powdered sugar
75 g ground almond
15 g (about 1 T) cocoa powder

1) Microwave egg whites 7 seconds... stop... microwave 5 more seconds. Previous test showed it didn't help age the eggs for me, but it does bring cold eggs to room temp quickly.

2) Mix and sift the confectioners sugar, ground almonds and cocoa powder.

3) Beat the egg whites... when egg whites are near soft peaks, start adding granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks are achieved.

4) Sift the dry ingredients into the egg whites.

5) Mix the ingredients together.
What I noticed with this recipe, there is a lot more dry ingredients than the original challenge recipe. It almost seems like there's not enough egg whites to wet all the ingredients. However, as you mix, you'll see the dry ingredients wet out and eventually the mixture will become shiny. Also, the mixture will flow a little.

This YouTube video is very helpful, but it's in French. However, the video shows the process and with the new recipe, the mixing is very similar.


6) Bake
I baked per the challenge (200F for 5 minutes, remove, heat oven to 375F and bake 7 minutes) and per Tartelette's recipe (280F for 15 to 20 minutes). Both methods seemed to work. For convenience I would just bake at 280F for 15 to 20 minutes.

The results are what is expected for macarons - smooth tops and foot/feet at the base.
Hurray! Finally!

Besides adding more powdered sugar, I also had my pizza stone in the oven and baked on top of that.


For the filling, I used chocolate gananche on the outside and strained raspberry jam in the center... for a little surprise. I used David Lebovitz's chocolate filling recipe.


Finally, there results were very similar to the French bakery's macarons.
Crispy shell with a soft center. The almond flavor wasn't as strong, but these macarons reminded me of eating the tops of brownies. You know the yummy shiny, crispy tops of brownies and right beneath that crispy surface is a moist chocolatey brownie. That's the best I can describe these macarons.


Summary of Batch Results...

Batch 1: Daring Baker Recipe - recipe scaled to 3 eggs, eggs brought to room temp over 4 hours.
Comments: Overmixed macaron batter - was similar to a sourdough waffle batter.
Results: Marcarons were thin like a tuile.

Batch 2: Daring Baker Recipe - 3 eggs, microwave aged.
2a) Microwaved egg whites - 5 seconds, rest 30 seconds, microwave 7 seconds.
Comments - egg whites started cooking. Made for a nice breakfast omelet the next day.

2b) Microwaveed egg whites - 5 seconds, rest 30 seconds, microwave 5 seconds.
Comments - egg weight was the same before and after microwaving, 100 g. Undermixed the batter.
Results - Macarons did not spread out. Cooked resulted in no feet and coarse, bubbly texture.

Batch 3 - Daring Baker Recipe, 2 eggs used to conserve ingredients, eggs aged at room temp for 24 hours.
Comments - egg whites lost 3 g, 65 g to 62 g. Batter has a smoother appearance after piped.
Results - Macrons have small feet, smooth appearance. Soft, but slightly chewy.

Batch 4 - Daring Baker Recipe, 2 eggs, aged 48 hours.
Comments - eggs whites lost 8 g, 69 g to 61 g.
Similar results to Batch 3.

Batch 5 - Daring Baker Recipe, 2 eggs, microwave aged.
Comments - Confident that I'm mixing the batter properly, wanted to try microwave aging again.
Results - Similar to 2b... no feet and coarse appearance.

Batch 6 - Tartelette's Recipe, 2 eggs, microwave aged.
Comments - More dry ingredients, very apparent when mixing - appears to clump, but with more folding the batter begins to shine and liquefy. Baked 5 minutes (200F) and 7 minutes (375F). Also, baked 280F for 15 minutes.
Results - Best batch to date. The cookie part was very similar to the French bakery macarons. Smooth top, larger feet. Cookie has a thin crunchy skin but with a soft, melt in the mouth interior. Both baking methods gave similar results.

Based upon my vast experience with macarons (6 small batches... lol), I've come to the conclusion that the original challenge recipe is just too sensitive to the weather in the Pacific Northwest. Too little dry ingredients for the amount of moisture in the air. Tartelette's recipe has 25% more dry ingredients. I believe the extra dry ingredients help soak up any extra moisture in the air so we end up with better results.

Daring Cooks: Pho, Pho, Pho-un

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

I'd like to thank our special guest hostess, Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, for sharing a delicious recipe and our founders Ivonne (Cream Puffs in Venice) and Lis (La Mia Cucina) for doing all the work around The Daring Kitchen and for setting up this months Daring Cooks' Challenge.

From Jaden:
Hello Daring Cooks!

I’m ecstatic that you guys will be cooking one of my very favorite dishes from the cookbook, the Vietnamese Chicken Pho. On my site, I have a longer version of the recipe, which involves making the stock from scratch.

In the cookbook, I wanted to make things easier for those on a time-crunch. The book includes a recipe for “Quick Vietnamese Chicken Pho” which uses store-bought stock. For the challenge, you’re welcome to create either recipe.

So what is Vietnamese Pho? Well, it’s like the most insanely delicious noodle soup popular in Vietnam. The broth is simmered for hours and hours with either beef knuckle/leg bone or with a whole chicken. Other accompaniments include ribbons of rice noodles, fresh herbs like cilantro or basil, a wedge of lime or lemon, fresh bean sprouts and fresh sliced chilies if desired.

What makes Pho so different than any other type of noodle soup is the spices that go into the simmering broth. Warm spices like coriander, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fresh ginger transform an ordinary broth into a very authentic Vietnamese Pho.

Our challenge focuses on Chicken Pho, or “Pho Ga” in Vietnamese. By the way, the correct pronunciation of Pho is “fuh?” Yes, you say the word like it’s a question! Chicken Pho is lighter than Beef Pho and the spices used are a little different as well.

Some of the secrets to making great Chicken Pho is:
1) Toast the spices and char the onion and ginger. This brings out the flavor and fragrance of these ingredients!
2) If you’re cooking the longer recipe (on my site) make sure you’re pre-boiling the chicken first – give it a hard boil for a few minutes to get rid of the scum and stuff in the chicken. This will help you create a crystal clear, clean broth.

The spices for Chicken Pho is whole coriander seeds, whole cloves and whole star anise – they should be easily found in your grocery store.

An essential component of Pho is fish sauce. Make your best effort to find fish sauce – your local Asian market should carry it. And if not, visit your local Thai or Vietnamese restaurant and see if you can buy a bottle from them. Soy sauce is a poor substitute for fish sauce, but if you can’t find fish sauce, then go ahead and make the sub.

2009 October Daring Cooks’ Challenge (A Double Challenge!)
Recipe Source: Jaden of Steamy Kitchen from her new book The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

Challenge #1: Vietnamese Chicken Pho
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 (served with the noodle soup):
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.

Started out with homemade chicken stock and a whole chicken breast.


The rest of the ingredients... the toasted coriander, clove and star anise, 1 T rock sugar, 1 T of fish sauce, 1/2 onion blackened under a broiler and a 3" chunk of ginger - smashed and charred under the broiler.
Note: I found that breaking up the star anise would help toast the sides too.


All the ingredients soup ingredients added to a pot... I noticed my homemade stock was a little cloudy. When I've had pho in restaurants, the soup is usually clear.


Here's a step that I added...
Since I wanted a clear soup, I beat two egg whites to soft peaks and added a slivered scallion. The idea behind the egg whites is the whites will cook on top of the soup forming a "raft". The protein mesh will act as a filter to trap impurities (floaty bits) in the broth. The slivered green onion is there mainly to provide some structural support for the egg white foam. Also, it does add a little extra flavor to the broth.


The egg white raft is added to the soup... and the whole thing is brought to a boil and cooked per the directions... brought to a boil, heat lowered and simmered for 20 to 30 minutes.


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. I added another 1T of fish sauce. You want the broth to be strong at this point since we'll be pouring over unsalted noodles and raw veggies.

The before and after pictures...
looks like the egg white raft did the job filtering the broth. The broth is clear while the toasted spices and charred onion and ginger gave the broth a nice caramel color. I'm actually surprised there isn't more fat floating on the soup since chicken breast was not skinned.


6. Prepare the noodles as per directions on the package.

Soak in hot, just boiled, water for about 7 to 10 minutes.


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.

In the small cup - Chili sauce and Hoisin sauce.
The herbage - two types of jalapeno peppers, cilantro, Thai basil, mint, thinly sliced red onion, lime and bean sprouts.


The bowl of noodle is set up and waiting for the boiling hot soup to be added. The hot soup will help cook the raw veggies.


The finished bowl - hot soup is added.


I've tried many pho recipes with mediocre results - mainly blandness. However, this recipe surprised me with 1) how simple it is and (2) the flavorful broth. I'd say this is the best pho recipe I've tried so far.

Another surprise, the whole chicken breast simmered for about 25 minutes total, was very moist.

Overall, I enjoyed the results of this challenge. The broth was aromatic and flavorful. This recipe is something that I'll cook again.

Challenge #2: Dessert Wontons
(Note: This second dessert challenge is about being creative with filling and form. Knock yourselves out!)

This challenge is where we DC'ers come up with our own recipe for a Dessert Wonton.
Ingredients: I had many ideas, but I became fixated on bananas so there was no turning back... Probably influenced by jr high and high school, a majority of the students were Filipino, where banana fritter lumpias were a common item in bake sales and parties. Nostalgia. :-)

1 Large Egg (you will be using the egg white to seal the edges of the wonton)
12 Wonton wrappers
1 Banana, sliced
2 T Brown Sugar
2 T Shredded Coconut
Chocolate Chips
Confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)

The ingredients:
Egg whites - for sealing the edges egg whites are best.
The thinly sliced banana mixed with coconut and brown sugar.
Chocolate chips and the wonton skins.


Place a little of everything in the center... paint the edges with egg white and seal.


Deep fry at 350F for until golden... about 1 minute per side.
Drain and serve


My banana wontons were so-so. The thinly sliced banana cooked really fast becoming kind of mushy. Reminded me of pureed banana baby food... The flavors were good, but I was hoping the brown sugar would caramelize a little more to form a caramel. I think the texture threw me off the most.

Next time, slice the banana thicker or use plantains... actually make a caramel sauce if I want caramel flavors. :-)

Oct 08: French Fried Potatoes

About a year ago, I was watching a PBS show, "Hubert Keller: Secrets of a Chef" where he was making dishes using potatoes. He segment on the perfect French fry looked delicious and involved a double soaking in water overnight.

Even though I don't like deep frying at home, I thought I'd give it a try, especially if it involves a long, drawn out process.

This is my attempt at his recipe.

2 Russet potatoes, peeled
Oil for frying
Salt for seasoning.

1) Peel and soak the potatoes in water overnight.


2) The next day - cut the potatoes into 1/4" fries.
Here's were I unintentionally deviated from his recipe. I ended up soaking the cut potatoes 5 days. At work, I picked up extra assignments from people how left the company. We had a big deadline due so I put in massive amounts of OT to get the job done. Well... by the time I got home, I wasn't up for deep frying. The potatoes ended up sitting in the fridge until I got done with work.


3) Drain and dry the potatoes.
Deep fry at 250F for about 8 minutes.
Remove the potatoes from the fryer and set on a towel to drain and cool

The parcooked potatoes shown below are about 85% cooked. They're holding their shape, but squeeze a fry and you can feel the potato underneath the surface is soft and mealy (in a good way).



4) Heat the fryer to 400F.
Drop in the fries and allow to crips up, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Drain... Toss in a bowl with salt and you're ready to eat.


Considering I don't have a deep fryer, I ended up using a sauce pan to be the deep fryer...

The potatoes turned out nicely - soft and potatoey inside with a light crust on the outside. I was hoping for a crispier outside, but small fryer had problems keeping up with the potatoes.