Truly Scrumptious

Just because I haven't been blogging much recently does not mean I haven't been cooking!  Yesterday was no exception.  I decided to do a spot of baking and finally got round to making macaroons, something which I have been wanting to try for ages.

My first macaroons

Having never made macaroons before I decided to keep it relatively simple, choosing this recipe for chocolate and raspberry flavoured ones.  In general it was easy to follow, however it was a little tricky in places as, this being my first attempt, I was not sure how thick the almond and sugar paste should be, nor what a macaroon looked like when it was ready to come out the oven.  So with a little bit of estimating and educated guessing I produced my first ever batch of macaroons.

I actually weighed out all my ingredients in advance, something which I often don't do, so that I knew I had everything ready to go.  Sieving almonds and icing sugar is easier said than done, although the point is to get rid of any bits of almond which are too large.  I managed not to burn my simple syrup and the meringue looked as it should.

When it comes to food colouring I will have to do a little more reading.  The recipe recommended 1/2 teaspoon of red food colouring which was certainly not enough to produce the bright colours shown in the picture.  A lot more would have been needed to get anywhere near that colour, however I'm not sure what effect that quantity of liquid would have on the mixture.

Folding the meringue into the almond paste was tricky as it took longer than I expected owing to the consistency of the paste (I may have needed to make it a little runnier by adding more egg whites) but it seemed to work out fine.

The meringue and almond paste mixture

Next came the fun part - piping the macaroons!  It is very difficult to pipe a circle just two and a half centimetres in diameter so some of my macaroons ended up being a little larger than planned but I don't think it mattered, I just made slightly fewer than the recipe suggested.

Before baking

They need to be left for half an hour so that a skin forms on the macaroons before they are baked in the oven for 14 minutes.  After taking them out I would definitely recommend leaving them to cool before using a knife to scrape them off the tray as hopefully they will crumble less.

Fresh out the oven

In the meantime I set about making a ganache.  Now, for my birthday I was going to post about a lovely cake I made with a ganache coating, but my ganache failed not once, but twice and while delicious it was not blog-worthy, so that was the end of that idea.  Fortunately I was able to produce a lovely ganache yesterday simply by using a chocolate with a lower cocoa content.  Previously I had used Lindt 80% dark chocolate which hadn't melted properly and caused the ganache to split and go lumpy.  This time I used Sainsbury's 53% dark baking chocolate and the ganache turned out perfectly!

The ganache

I needed less ganache and more jam than the recipe called for but that really wasn't a problem.  I got the piping bag out again and piped generous amounts of ganache around the edge of the macaroons and went back filling in the centres with raspberry jam.  If you want your macaroons to have a stronger taste then I would recommend adding some flavouring along with your food colouring, although not too much as you do still want to be able to taste the almonds.

Pipe a ring of ganache

Fill with jam

All that was left to do was sandwich the macaroons together.  I can confirm that macaroons are definitely best enjoyed fresh!

Delicious!

Brunch time!

It's time for another brunch post!  With the weekend not far off it's the perfect time to start thinking about what you'll be eating.

I love this time of year, the weather is improving, spring is in the air and asparagus is in season!  So I made a deliciously simple brunch made from asparagus, pancetta and eggs.

Asparagus, pancetta and eggs - simply delightful!

First of all fry the pancetta.  You don't need to use any oil - the pancetta is fatty enough on its own.  Once it is brown and starting to go crispy put the asparagus stems into the pan.  Fry them, making sure to turn them regularly so that they don't burn.  Finally crack the two eggs over the asparagus, then cover the pan and leave to cook for a couple of minutes until the white is cooked but the yolks are still runny.

The beauty of this dish is its simplicity.  If you don't eat pancetta then you can miss this step, heat some olive oil in the pan and fry the asparagus.  While the eggs are cooking you can sprinkle on some cheese to give it a little more flavour, I would recommend parmesan.

You could even add some Hollandaise

Asparagus also goes well with poached eggs and bacon or with a simple Hollandaise sauce and it is for that reason that it is one of my favourite brunch ingredients.

Brunch also happens to be my favourite meal.  It's perfect for those lazy weekends when you've slept in past breakfast but want something to eat before midday.  Brunch doesn't have to be just a boring fry up and I'm always looking for new ideas to try out, so if there's something that you love cooking for brunch please comment below, I'd love to hear about it!

Udon Noodle Soup

Sometimes you really want something warm and tasty for dinner, but don't have the energy or time to cook something fancy, it is at times like these when you need a soup like this udon noodle soup.  It is really simple, quick to make and tastes delicious.  Although it may not seem like it, this dish is actually quite cheap (and the more people you cook for the cheaper it will be).  I made it for 5 people and it cost about £1 per person (I still have most of a bottle of teriyaki sauce left as well as several stock cubes and a pack of noodles, so I will probably be making this dish again over the weekend).

Udon noodle soup

For 5 people you will need:

1 vegetable stock cube

60ml teriyaki sauce

1tbsp vegetable oil (for frying)

250g chestnut mushrooms (sliced)

3/4 bunch spring onions (sliced)

410g udon noodles (we used fresh egg noodles)

250g bag spinach

Chop the mushrooms then fry them over a high heat for a few minutes until they turn golden brown, add the spring onions and fry for a minute more, then set the pan aside.  While doing this boil 1.25 litres water in a kettle (or a saucepan if you have a second hob) and once boiled add the stock cube and teriyaki sauce.  Bring to the boil again and add the noodles for 2-3 minutes.  Then add the spinach (my pan was a little small so I had to do this gradually) and cook for about a minute until it has just wilted.  Finally stir in the mushrooms, spring onions and some seasoning before serving.

• If you aren't a fan of vegetarian cooking then this would taste great with some chicken, either cook it beforehand (under a grill or in a frying pan) or before you add the noodles, slice the chicken and cook it in the broth.
• For a more unusual vegetarian alternative you could substitute some of the chestnut mushrooms for other varieties of mushrooms.

The great thing about this dish is that it is so versatile, you can make as much or as little as you want and substitute ingredients depending on what you fancy.  I personally loved the dish the way it is, especially the spinach but I would be tempted to try the two variations I suggested above to change it up a bit.  This really is a simple yet great-tasting dish!

Adapted from the BBC GoodFood Magazine

French Toast

French toast is possibly one of the simplest, yet tastiest, brunches I can think of!  It's perfect for a lazy morning when you want something a little more special for not a lot more effort.

French toast with mixed fruit

For 2 people you will need:
2 eggs
Splash of milk
(vanilla essence)
Bread (this was enough for 4 slices)
butter for frying
1tsp brown sugar
Your choice of toppings - for the first slice I used fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries) and for the second I made caramelised apples with cinnamon.  You could also add a dollop of Greek yoghurt, or golden syrup if you fancy something sweeter.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl (the wider the better - to make it easier to dip the bread in) with a splash of milk and a drop of vanilla essence (optional).  Melt some butter in a frying pan (enough to coat the bottom of the pan), dip both sides of a slice of bread in the egg mixture and fry it in the pan.  It should only need a couple of minutes on each side.  Once browned remove from the pan and sprinkle over the fruit and sugar or syrup.

If you have a little more time you could peel and slice an apple and sauté (fry quickly in a hot pan) the slices in 1tsp brown sugar, 1tbsp butter and 1tsp cinnamon.

French toast with caramelised cinnamon apples