Macaroons

中文：马卡龙

More macaroons!  I do love making these little sweet treats. 

I have posted the recipe several times before.  Here we go again.  I add some super fine ground coffee to half of the batch.  That is why some of them are darker color. 

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites

110g powder sugar
24g granulated sugar
60g almond flour (available at Meijer)

Direction:

Combine powder sugar and almond flour.  Pour the mixture into food processor.  Run the processor for about 10 seconds.  And then shift the flour mixture.  Discard any big almond pieces.

Beat the egg white with an electric whisk at medium speed for a couple minutes.  Add sugar when beating, little by little.  Stop beating when the stiff peak forms.

Fold the shifted almond flour mixture into egg whites. Fold it gently until the batter can fall smoothly like a silky ribbon.

Prepare a medium/large size pastry bag and NO. 12 tip.

Line a cookie pan with silicone baking mat.

Fill the pastry bag with almond batter.  Squeeze a dollar coin size batter onto the silicone mat, about a quarter inch in height.   Repeat it until all the batter is finished.  You should be able to get 18 to 22 ones. 

Tap the bottom of the cookie pan when done to smooth the cookie dough tops.

Let the pan sit on countertop until the surface becomes dry to touch.  It might take 30 to 60 minutes depending on the humidity around.

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Bake in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes.  DO NOT open the oven to check cookies when baking.

Let cookies cool down on silicone mat a bit before transferring to a cooling rack.

Use any filling of your choice: jam, chocolate, cheese, nutella……….  Be creative! 

Lettuce Salad

中文： 生菜沙拉

I haven’t been cooking and posting as much as I used to because we eat like a rabbit most of the time recently.  O(∩_∩)O~

I love to make all kinds of salads and make them as colorful and appetizing as I can.  Well, it is true that you eat with your eyes first.  The salad showed in the picture is my portion.  It looks good, taste good and healthy.

Ingredients：

Lettuce (I use Boston lettuce and romaine lettuce）
2 mini cucumbers
1 hard-boiled egg
1/2 avocado
1/2 red bell pepper
1 tomato
2 to 3 radishes
dried cranberries
almond
sunflower seeds
crumbled bacon
feta cheese

 

Balsamic vinaigrette dressing：

1 teaspoon honey
2 to 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

 

Directions：

Combine the honey, balsamic vinegar, black pepper, olive oil, and salt in a bowl.  Whisk like crazy until they are all well combined.

Rinse the lettuces and spin them in a salad spinner. Cut or tear into bite sizes.  Rinse the radishes and cucumbers and then thinly slice them. 

Spoon out avocado fresh; cut into bite sizes.  Do the same to hardboiled egg, tomato and bell pepper.

Add lettuces, tomato, cucumber, radish, avocado, bell pepper and egg to a large salad bowl.  Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette dressing; sprinkle with dried cranberries, almond, sunflower seeds, crumbled bacon and feta cheese. 

Time to enjoy! O(∩_∩)O~

Cappuccino Coffee

Since we bought the espresso machine (this one from Amazon) last year, I have becoming so obsessed with coffee and making espresso drinks at home.  Top three popular coffees in the house are Americano, latte and cappuccino.

Ingredients:

1 shot of espresso
6 oz whole milk (it will make your coffee taste much better than the one made with non-fat milk)
a pinch of coco powder (optional)

All above are all small/regular size cappuccino.  Sometimes I find it not strong enough.  So I would use double shots of espresso, plus 8 to 10 oz whole milk to make a large one.

Make the espresso with espresso machine. 

With the steam wand, froth the milk until it is creamy and full of micro bubbles. If you are using a thermometer, stop when it reaches 140F/60°C to 150F/ 66°C.  Or, with some practice, you can always tell whether the milk is ready by the touching the milk pitcher.  

Frothed milk for cappuccino should contain more micro bubbles because more air is introduced to the milk.  It is also stiffer.

Pour frothed milk into freshly made espresso.  Sprinkle with a pinch of coco powder. 

Look how creamy and smooth it is! O(∩_∩)O~ 

Turkey Taco

 中文：火鸡肉TACO

I have a large piece of grilled turkey breast leftover, a avocado, tomatoes and cilantro in the refrigerator.  So, I guess we are meant to have tacos tonight! O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

6 crispy taco shells
1 large piece of grilled turkey breast
2 medium tomatoes
1 avocado
1/2  lime
1 teaspoon honey
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
chopped cilantro
chopped jalapeño
shredded cheese

 

Directions:

Dice the grilled turkey and tomatoes.  Squeeze out the lime juice.

Slice avocado into halves.  Remove the seed with a knife or spoon.  Spoon the avocado flesh into a bowl.  Smash it with a fork. Whisk in lime juice, honey, black pepper and salt.  

Add a layer of diced turkey to taco shells, and then 1 or 2 tablespoons guacamole; sprinkle with chopped jalapeno, cilantro and tomatoes; and then top with shredded cheese. 

It is indeed fast and simple, and delicious! O(∩_∩)O~

Rainbow Popcorn

I brought back a bag of rainbow popcorn kernels from my last trip to Frankenmuth.  They have gorgeous colors: red, purple, yellow, white, and blue. No wonder it is called rainbow popcorn.  However, all the colors are gone once they are heated in the microwave. 

I learned to use lunch bag to make popcorns years ago from Food Network Magazine.  And I have been doing my own popcorns this way ever since.  It is simple and fast.  More importantly, I can cut the butter/oil and sugar in half or more this way.  It is healthier!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup popcorn kernels
1 teaspoon oil
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (use more if you have sweet tooth)
1 large big paper lunch bag


Directions:

Sprinkle the corn kernels with oil, and then mix with sugar.  Whisk until corn kernels are evenly coated with a thin layer of sugar.   

Add corn kernels to lunch bag.  Fold the bag several times.

Microwave it on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes.  The time needed depends on microwave.  My old microwave used to take one and half minutes to make perfect popcorn, while the new one I bought needs 1 minutes and 45 seconds to get the job done.  You should be able to know how much time your own microwave needs after a couple times. 

Ta-dah! 

Throw in some beers; we are ready for a movie night at home!