Macaroons not Macarons.

Coconut.

I’m talking about coconut macaroons and not those colourful pretty macarons.

My first time making them and eating them. So good. Yum.

I had a little problem as it’s not possible to find shredded coconut here in the UK. Well you can, but you would need to order it online. I had to settle for desiccated coconut and was quite worried it would just be dried balls of coconut bits. Then I had an idea to rehydrate them!

 

Next step: Beat up egg whites with sugar, vanilla and some salt.

Some recipes only ask that you beat until combined but I wanted to give myself an arm workout so I beat them until they got really foamy. I don’t know why but I get such a nice feeling of satisfaction seeing my egg whites turn foamy…

Anyway it doesn’t matter if you beat them until they hold stiff peaks or not because you’re not using them as a rising agent. Unless you want your macaroons to be meringue-ish, then beat the egg whites as though making meringues and then fold in the coconut GENTLY.

Tadah!

Easy as pie.

Okay not really. I had some difficulty shaping them. You can see some nice rounded ones and some spiky ones. I wanted them to be somewhat neat but the spiky ones actually look nicer and more appetizing!

Here’s what you need:

4 large egg whites
3 cups coconut
1/2 cup sugar (or more if you like)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Optional: toast the coconut until lightly browned for a strong coconut flavour
2. Beat the eggs whites, sugar, vanilla and salt until foamy.
3. Stir in the coconut until moistened.
4. Wet hands and shape into 1.5 inch balls.
5. Place ~1 inch apart on a baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Dark Chocolate Truffles with a hint of Orange

 
Chocolate.

Something I can’t say ‘no’ to.

These truffles taste great but sadly they’re too soft to last outside the fridge. Especially since it’s so hot over here.

Made these for a friend as a gift. I was so glad they didn’t melt into a soupy mess of chocolate!

I followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe for really simple truffles. A few basic ingredients and many different recipes you can find on the internet.

I didn’t have 70% dark chocolate and used 85% instead, adding ~3 tbsp of caster sugar at the end. I just went by taste.

I’m amazed at how a little orange zest goes such a long way. It gives a refreshing kick at the back of your mouth!

Meyer Lemon Curd

When I saw these in the supermarket, I literally ran to them, grabbed a pack and threw it in my shopping basket.

I could never get them back home so I couldn’t take any chances. Had to get them there and then. No questions asked, no hesitation at all. What was I going to use them for? No idea.
After my little lemon hyped moment, I realised I couldn’t do much with them. I can’t bake much now since I have no equipment. With an expiration date on Boxing Day, I was running out of time.

Then the beautiful memory of lemon curd came to mind.

Meyer lemon curd. zfnoanfueiwnfiunsinuibwwufom.

Easy and simple.

Lemon Curd (no straining)

1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs (or 2 medium eggs)
Lemon zest *optional

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well. Lastly, add the lemon juice. Mixture will look curdled.
2. Pour everything into a medium saucepan over med-high heat. When the mixture becomes clear, turn down to low heat and KEEP STIRRING. Take note to scrape all the sides of the pan! It will take about 5 mins for the mixture to thicken to a coating consistency. Test by running your finger along the back of a wooden spoon. The mixture should stay.
3. Remove pan from the heat and stir in lemon zest. Pour into a bowl/jar and allow to cool slightly before chilling in the fridge.

Makes 1.5 cups, ~ 1 jam jar.

*Make sure the mixture doesn’t boil or you’ll get bits of scrambled egg inside your curd

Thursday Soup Lunch.

Rainy days and cold winter weather calls for some nice soup.

First time making soup, I won’t call this amazing but it was satisfying. A simple tomato soup with cannellini beans, courgettes and turkey. I had it with a thick slice of cornbread. So good. The farmers’ market here is fantastic. Everything looks fresh and delicious it makes me crave for it right there and then!
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 of a courgette sliced and halved
1 slice of roast turkey breast/ham/bacon
100g of tinned tomatoes*
100g beans of your choice
10g pasta (optional)
250ml vegetable stock
1 lemon wedge
Basil/coriander 

1. Heat oil in a small saucepan (you won’t need oil if you use bacon) and fry the onions. Add in the turkey/ham and fry for 1 minute. Then add in the courgette slices and fry until soft.
2. Add the beans, tomatoes, stock and pasta. Simmer for 8 minutes until the pasta is soft. 
3. Squeeze lemon juice into the soup, season to taste and garnish with basil/coriander.

*or 2-3 small tomatoes or 1/2tbsp red pesto

 

Thai by Weir

This is a Thai restaurant in Bath, located on the bridge after the Guildhall Market.

Last Saturday I went there for lunch with a friend. It was my second time eating there and it was still as good as before. This time round I had the red curry which was equally as good as the green curry. The serving is very generous and although it’s a vegetable curry, you get a wide variety of veggies so it really is worth the money. Not too expensive either. A good authentic Thai restaurant if you’re craving something oriental! As a rule of thumb, don’t try anything that’s not meant to be in the menu. It will usually be a bad experience.

Since it’s on a bridge, you may get a chance to sit by the window overlooking the river. There are ducks and swans hanging out and occasionally people come to feed them. A nice, relaxing view with awesome lighting for photographs

Apricot Chicken

This has become one of my mum’s ‘emergency’ food. That is, when there’s nothing to cook and she wants it simple that night.

If you google ‘apricot chicken recipes’ there are loads to choose from. So many different ways to make the same dish. A quick and easy method is to just pan fry the chicken and make the apricot sauce using apricot preserve/nectar. You won’t need to use French onion soup in this case.

I won’t bother putting down a recipe here because there’s so much variety out in the web!

I’ve recently started watching ‘Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course’ and it really lives up to it’s name. Just by watching 1 episode, I’ve learnt so much – how to sharpen a knife the right way, peeling one bulb of garlic in one go, cutting out the core of a capsicum without dealing with the seeds. Food telly shows here are so amazing…

Other good shows are ‘The Fabulous Baker Brothers’ and ‘Jamie and Jimmy’s Food Fight Club’. I watch them on 4od

Run Santa, run!

Marathon (or whatever it was), Santa style~

I had no idea where the finish line was but it definitely wasn’t someone’s chimney!