She's Fast and Easy

Most everyone likes a salad....

Do you do this?

I know it looks like a restaurant assembly line, but it's quick and easy once the prep work is complete.  I like to do lots of work all at one time, then putting my salads together for several days is a snap.

The past couple of days I've been using these ingredients on top of my greens: red sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes, beets, potatoes, radishes, and blue cheese.  I have carrots and cukes in the fridge but I haven't sliced them just yet.

I really love the cheese, Fourme d'Ambert, which is a wonderful French cheese from the Auvergne region of southwestern France.  If you like blue cheese, try to get some of this particular cheese. 


***Click here for the interesting history of Fourme d'Ambert.  Really worth reading IMHO.***

If I want to top the salad with more protein, I have roasted chicken and tuna ready to go.  Sometimes, I have beans and rice, too.


I guess I'm an orderly person when it comes to eating....or at least making salads.  It sure is fast after the initial prep work. A simple oil and vinegar dressing completes it, along with freshly cracked pepper and a dash of sea salt.

The finished product is really just what I wanted....and oh so tasty!  I usually have it with sparkling water or a glass of white zinfandel.  We continue to enjoy hot summer days and evenings in the 80's and 90's...


Mem

The challenge

A fellow blogger, Nicola, @ Growing Berries, put the "challenge" to me .....

"try making Macarons with the extra egg whites."


Never being one to pass up a good challenge, or good suggestion, I said, "Yes, bring it on."

For those of you who don't read food blogs, making macarons isn't the same as turning out a batch of cookies.  There are hundreds of recipes with each one containing its own set of rules to follow for being successful.  One wrong turn, et voilà, try, try again.

This was my first attempt, would I whip the whites correctly?  Could I fold in the almond flour and powdered sugar without deflating the mixture?  What about all the other "rules",  would I pipe the rounds just so, or let them sit just so long to form a crust?  The list goes on, and on, and on.  Chef Nini even says to put the baking sheet in the fridge (without the macrarons) while the oven is heating, it's suppose to facilitate the rise...give them a thermal shock, no less!

I located a blog, Chef Nini, who detailed her version of the right way to proceed in making a successful macaron, plus she had a video to watch.  It's all in French, so those of you without that language skill, you can read David Lebovitz's directions.

For a first try, I think mine turned out "ok"....well, maybe better than just okay...giving myself a pat on the back.

I did some things wrong, but I did succeed in getting the "pieds" on some of the rounds.  They were all crusty on the tops and soft inside, too.  Several of them cracked as they cooled...that's a bad thing!
Perhaps my oven was a bit too hot, I'll have to read up on how to correct that for my next batch.

One of the reasons I chose Chef Nini's recipe was that it made just 8 macarons....not too much to discard if I failed completely.

I didn't have to throw any away,  yay!  I made chocolate macarons (David says these are the most difficult to make, but I always have chocolate in the pantry), and filled them with a wonderful chocolate caramel ganache.  Basically, I heated some cream, poured it over the chocolate pieces, then stirred in a little of my homemade caramel already available in my fridge. 

I ate one today...after eating a healthy breakfast, of course...it was very good.  In fact, I just ate a second one now, as writing about them got my defenses down!  It, too, was good ---lots of calories--- but nonetheless, good.  I suppose I'll have to skip the bowl of ice cream I was thinking about, on this, another one of our beautiful, hot, summer days.

These are aprox. 4 cm. in diameter., before going in the oven....I waited 40 minutes for them to dry on top.

Two of my favorite friends, now frolicking in doggy heaven, but not forgotten... Casey and Marzipan.

This is a good example of the "pieds".  

What do you think?   Not bad for a first attempt?

No matter how they appear,  they sure taste rich and decadent.

Now, I'll have to try some other flavors....hmmm, pistachio sounds good.

Thanks for dropping by!

Mem

Highs and Lows

I'm still trying to use the egg whites!

My inspiration for the cheese soufflé came from reading another blogger's post.  Once again, it's been ages since I've made this dish...but, I had egg whites galore........ so why not.


Here's where I got the recipe.

These individual ramekins hardly ever get a workout in my kitchen,  but this time they really looked marvelous, encasing all the puffed up, browned egg and cheese fluff.

I'm not sure why this one in front rose so much higher than the other three....more competitive perhaps?  A show-off?

Of course, I ate one quickly before it fell.  Aaaah, delicious!


Mem