Daring Bakers October! Macarons, kind of

I have successfully made macarons before, but today was not one of those days. This month we made macarons, one of my favorite cookie sandwiches, but it just didn't work out for me. Don't get me wrong, they were good. But wrong. They were too sticky, didn't have feet, and felt wrong. I usually make the recipe from Gourmet, but I tested out this recipe. It worked for some other people, but not for me. Oh well.

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.

I won't be posting the recipe because it's posted everywhere else, but just because it didn't work out for me don't think it won't work for you! The 99% humidity here probably has something to do with my failure, too.

Chicken and dumplings from Cook's Illustrated

I get free magazines from work. It's pretty cool, I love magazines. It takes me forever to get through them all, though. I just finished last months Cook's Illustrated and decided to make this for dinner, and Alex was soooo happy. He loves soups and I love dumplings, we're a good pair.

Chicken and Dumplings

From Cook's Illustrated, kind of.

6 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs

salt and pepper

2 t olive oil

2 small onions, diced

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped

1/2 bulb fennel, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

1 c quartered mushrooms

1/2 c white wine

1 t thyme

6 c chicken broth

1 pound chicken wings

Sprinkle the chicken thighs with the salt and pepper. Heat up the oil in a Dutch oven until it shimmers, then sear the chicken on both sides to brown. Remove the chicken, pour out all but a tablespoon of the oil, and stir in all the veggies. Cook slowly until they start to caramelize, then stir in the wine and thyme, scraping the brown bits off the bottom. Add the thighs back to the pan, along with the broth and chicken wings. Cover and simmer 45-55 minutes, until the chicken is almost falling off the bones. Remove the meat from the pan and let cool. Skim the fat off the top, and shred the chicken back into the pot. Bring to a slow simmer while you make the dumplings.

Dumplings:

2 c rice flour mix

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t xanthan gum

1 t sugar

1 t salt

3/4 c buttermilk (or 1/2 c milk and 1/4 c sour cream or yogurt)

4 T butter, melted and cooled

1 egg white

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Stir the butter into the buttermilk, then stir in the egg white. Pour into the flour mixture, and stir slowly until just incorporated. Don't over mix! Drop by large teaspoonfuls into the simmering broth. Cover with a dish towel and then a lid, and cook for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the dumplings have doubled in size.

Daring Cooks! Vietnamese Pho

Oops! Better late than never. This month we made pho, which I love. Pho is a Vietnamese dish of broth with rice noodles and meat, and you get to customize it to your taste. Served alongside is usually a plate of sprouts, lime, chilis, basil, and maybe a few other things. I added scallions, cilantro, and onion as well.

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.

Vietnamese Pho

Green means my addition

For the broth:

2 T whole coriander

4 whole cloves

2 whole star anise

2 cardamom pods

1 T fennel seeds

8 c chicken broth

1/2 onion

1 3-inch hunk of ginger, peeled and chopped

1-2 T sugar

1-2 T fish sauce

Heat a pan over high heat. Add the spices and toast, shaking the pan so the spices don't burn. When you can start to smell them, they're done. Remove them from the pan, then combine all the ingredients (including the spices) in a pot and cook for 20-30 minutes. Strain the broth, then keep it on a low simmer while you get everything else ready.

For the soup/assembly:

1 lb rice stick noodles

1/2 lb thinly sliced beef

2 c bean sprouts

a handful fresh cilantro

a handful Thai basil

1/2 shaved red onion

1/2 lime, cut into wedges

sliced fresh chilis

3 sliced scallions

Cook the noodles according to your package directions.

Arrange the bean sprouts, cilantro, basil, onion, lime, chilis and scallions on a plate. Divide the noodles between bowls, top with sliced meat, then pour the hot broth over. The broth will help cook the beef. Add whatever additions you'd like, and enjoy!

We were supposed to make a dessert wonton, but I didn't have time and also, us gluten-free people can't use wonton wrappers. I wasn't up to that challenge today.

pancakes I love you

I've been on a pancake binge. When I went to Massachusetts a few weeks ago my mom bought some Kinnikinnick pancake mix, and oof it's delicious. I snagged a bag of it at the Wholefoods up there, since my store doesn't carry it.
I've gotten up early a few times in the last week or two to make pancakes before work. Then maybe I eat them all. I love pancakes.
This mix has pea starch, which helps make the mix high in fiber and protein. And it's easy, delicious, and makes yummy pancakes. Get it here or here or find it at Wholefoods (or, if yours doesn't carry it, ask them to special order it for you).

Pomegranate pulled chicken

At work the demo team was sampling pulled pork the other day, and it smelled sooooo good. The recipe they used had Worcestershire sauce (questionable) and soy sauce (gluten). I had all the ingredients at home to make it, so I did. I changed a few things, using chicken instead of pork, adding a pinch of pepper flakes, and adding an apple.

Pomegranate pulled chicken

From a Wholefoods recipe

2/3 c pomegranate molasses

1 small can of tomato sauce

1 T gf soy sauce

1 T Worcestershire sauce

a big pinch of chili flakes

3/4 c sliced onion

5 cloves garlic, sliced

1 apple, peeled and cubed

3 pounds chicken thighs, skin removed

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix together the pomegranate molasses, tomato sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and chili flakes in a casserole dish. Add onion, garlic, apple and chicken. Stir to combine. Cover the dish and bake for about 2 hours, until the chicken is falling off the bone.

Pull the chicken out of the sauce and put in a bowl, then stick the bowl in the fridge until the chicken is cooled enough to shred. Shred back into the sauce, discarding any bones, and then reheat the saucy chicken on the stove top until heated through.

Serve over rice, on a sandwich, or however you want.

Pumpkin chocolate chip biscotti

I know I post a lot of biscotti recipes, and here's another one. I'm going to a pumpkin-themed pot-luck tonight, so I adapted my favorite biscotti recipe to have pumpkin and chocolate chips instead of plain with pecans. They worked, and are delicious.

Pumpkin chocolate chip biscotti

Based on my favorite biscotti recipe

1 1/4 c rice flour mix

1/2 c almond flour

1/2 t xanthan gum

1/2 t salt

1 t baking powder

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t ginger

1 stick softened butter

1 c brown sugar

1 t vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c pumpkin puree

1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350, and grease a loaf pan. Combine the rice flour mix, almond flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside. Cream the butter with the sugar, then add the vanilla, then eggs, then pumpkin. Stir in the dry mix, fold in the chocolate chips, and scrape batter into the pan. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, cover with a damp paper towel, then foil, and let cool.

Once cooled, wrap well in plastic wrap and stick in the freezer for an hour or overnight. When you're ready, preheat the oven to 325. Slice the frozen loaf into thin slices, lay on a cookie sheet, and bake 15-25 minutes, until starting to brown around the edges. Cool on a rack, they will crisp up when they're cool.

I can't stop eating these.

So obviously I'm busy working all the time and am not doing all the updating I should be. Since I'm busy working, I need quick things to eat that will keep me going throughout the day. I was sent a box of these a few weeks ago, and was a little skeptical. Vegan jerky? I like meat! These kind of things are yucky and chewy, as far as I know. At least I thought so. These little strips are delicious, high protein, low fat, and I can't stop eating these.

Seriously. I ate all the ones the company sent me, and then went on a quest for more. They're sold at some Wholefoods, but I had to go to the one on the other side of the city to find them. Then I ate those. I picked up some more when I went to Amherst last week, and shot some pictures before I devour them.

And the other thing, besides that they're vegan, gluten free (only the hickory smoked and texas bbq flavors), is that they're cheap. They cost $1.39 each, which is a good price for a delicious filling snack. Check them out.

Granola.

Sorry. Again. Eventually I'll start posting regularly again.

Who cares though, because this granola is banging. So delicious. This recipe was all over the internet this summer, and I made it then, but ate it all so fast I didn't get any pictures. Yum yum.

Don't forget that not all oats are gluten free, I used Bob's Red Mill because I can find them sometimes.

My version of olive oil granola

From the NY Times

3 c rolled oats

1 c raw pumpkin seeds

1 c walnut pieces

1 c coconut flakes

1 c raw sunflower seeds

1 c chopped almonds

3/4 c honey

1/2 c olive oil

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1 t salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t cardamom

1 c dried cranberries

1 c chopped dried apricots

Preheat oven to 300. Mix together everything except the fruit, stir well, and spread onto a cookie sheet. Bake 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Once it's done, stir in the fruit and let cool, stirring once or twice. Eat with yogurt, or ricotta and berries, or just eat it straight like I do.