Author Archives: Anne

La Maschera Ristorante & Enoteca
Old Town Pasadena

My friend Steve and I wanted to try a new place in our old hood for dinner. Old Town is an easy drive from both our homes, but it’s also filled with lots of mediocre restaurants. My personal favorites are Parkway Grill which is consistently all gracious service and good food, Saldang (not Song) for good Thai in a nice atmosphere; and Akbar for smokin’ Indian food (hellllllo Tandoori Chilean Sea Bass!). Other than those + a couple more, Old Town has a lot of good looking places that just don’t have much substance. Kind of like Kelso on That 70′s Show…..but not as funny.

I was perusing Citysearch under Pasadena and saw an ad for La Maschera. “Where on earth did that pop up from?” I wondered. I spend a lot of time in Pasadena and had never once heard of this place. Intrigued, I called and made a 7:30 pm reservation for Saturday night. It isn’t on the main drag, but just north of it on Fair Oaks. I was eager with anticipation.

We arrived promptly at 7:30 pm and were seated immediately. The place was about 1/2 full- not bad for a new place, I thought. The tables and chairs are dark, rustic wood and the walls had various wrought iron designs on them. The lounge next door has a much cooler vibe, but the dining room is nice and cozy.

We were given water and a bread basket containing flat breads and regular French bread. The accompaniments were a tomato/basil/garlic bruschetta topping which was very good, and a thin, pink creamy-mayonnaisy looking thing. I tasted it with my flatbread and it just, well, didn’t taste of anything in particular. When I asked the waiter what it was, he said it was pureed cannelloni beans, “no dairy at all.” Apparently no seasoning at all, either. But I digress. After all, I didn’t order it so who am I to complain?

After having a bottle of zinfandel opened, we decided to split three dishes to really get a taste of what they had going on at La Maschera. We started with the Gambaretti- a plate of sauteed Black Tiger Shrimp topped with a salsa of avacado and honey melon. We were presented with six large shrimp- quite a bargain considering that it was less than $9.00 and off the bar menu. The shrimp were good but something was strange- they were still slightly translucent. Steve and I ate them and they tasted good, but agreed afterward that we’d prefer the shrimp a bit more done. The chef probably tried a little too hard not to overcook shrimp- which no one likes! Overall, good flavors.

We got the next two dishes at the same time- Insalata Di Cesare, an “eggless” Ceasar salad w/ Croutons. We got the added grilled chicken. My friend doesn’t like anchovies so in addition to the dressing being eggless, my little sea friends were missing as well. It was surprisingly good, but I missed the strong tang that anchovies bring to a Ceasar salad. It was served wedge style with slices of very tender chicken and a few croutons.

The last dish we got was the Pizza Al Prosciutto, a white pizza with mozzarella and sliced parma prosciutto. The crust was very, very thin, just the way I like it. It was topped with a conservative amount of cheese and thin slices of prosciutto. I loved this – it was almost like eating a snack. No gooey heavy pizza here. You could probably eat slices of this while walking on a treadmill or mopping the floor with one hand. Make sense? My only wish was that it could have been hotter. But again, overall flavor was good.

After dinner, we moved into the lounge area and had a couple of drinks. My friend ordered a cosmotini made with shoju since they have no hard liqour license. It was very tasty. The lounge is really the great space here- beautiful sconces line the walls and old black & white movies are projected onto a screen. Dim lighting and an enormous wine wall complete the mood. Would be great for a private party.

The verdict? With the prices being as reasonable as they are (bottle of wine, 3 plates = $60) I would go back for the pizza or to have a drink but it wouldn’t be my destination restaurant for Italian food. I’d like to see how their pastas are next time.

La Maschera Ristorante & Enoteca
82 N Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena, CA
(626) 304-0004

Dine & Dish #5- Asian Persuasion
A day late and an unagi short

First off, apologies to the fabulous Sarah of The Delicious Life for my tardiness in submitting my entry! I really do have a good excuse- I got a fun little visit from Mr. Flu yesterday but I’ve fought him off with multiple doses of various drugs. So better late than never, here is a tale of a girl, her husband and some sushi at Izaoyoi in downtown Los Angeles.

IZAYOI is a fairly new sushi/izakaya place opened by the former owner/chef of Sushi Ryo in Hollywood. We’d always been fans of Sushi Ryo’s tradional-yet-open-to-new-things form of sushi and other items. Once I had some anago tempura there that was almost life changing. Anyway, we’ve been to Izayoi a few times and always enjoyed it just as much, but our last visit wasn’t quite as satisfying.

I love the blonde wood sushi bar, the peaceful atomsphere and the staff- service is usually great. However, it took us about 15 minutes to get our hot sake (we’re usually cold sake people but it was so coooolllld outside! We’re wimpy LA people, remember?) and I had to ask for it twice. Once it arrived, it was so boiling hot that it made me think of that woman who sued McDonald’s and won for the coffee being so hot it burned her lip or something. Not that I would ever sue for such a ludicrous reason, but damn, was it hot.

We started off with salmon sushi, which was good. The aji (spanish mackeral) was good but the texture was on the crunchy side- a theme that would permeate most of the sushi tonight. Even though the hamachi looked buttery and laden with belly fat, we got that same crunchy texture that just wasn’t so….pleasing. It tasted fine, but you’d expect that texture from ika (squid) or tako (octopus), not hamachi (yellowtail).

The kitchen items were better- we had the ginadara (black cod marinated in sake/miso) which was melt-in-your-mouth good. When I saw seafood cream coroquette on the menu, I almost shouted out an order- they are my favorite and I hardly ever see them on any menu here in the states. I had found it at another Little Tokyo place about a year ago, but their version was awful. So, I was excited. When four, perfectly golden brown balls came to our counter with some tonkastu dipping sauce, I was thrilled. I bit into one and the crunchy panko-encrusted outside broke to reveal a creamy and hot center containing a good amount of real, shredded crabmeat. I was in love. It’s the ultimate Japanese comfort food.

Our last kitchen item was not so great- shrimp shumai. They were oversteamed (in the microwave) so the skins became tough and chewy. I could tell they were homemade shumai and would have been so good had they been steamed properly. We finished off with a salmon skin roll which tasted ok….but mostly of overly charred skin.

I must admit- I was really surprised that Izayoi seemed so off. I am sure it was an off night, and I simply can’t forget all of the wonderful experienes I have had at both Sushi Ryo and Izayoi in the past. I will definitely be back, and am pretty confident that they will find themselves back in my happy place!

Weekend Cat Blogging

Even though I don’t really think that indoor cats need baths, I had to give my little Cory (ok, she isn’t so little but she’ll always seem that way to me!) one. I made the preparations: closed all of the bedroom doors upstairs, got the towels on the bathroom floor, made sure the water would run warm from the start, and then went downstairs to grab my poor, unsuspecting cat. Earlier in the day, she plopped down next to me as usual, and I got a nice, big whiff of something that I’ll only describe as being not-so-fresh smelling. It didn’t take much investigating to figure out that the odor was coming from my cat. Since it’d been about, oh…..5 years since her last bath, I figured it was time. I felt so bad but hey- you can’t have a stinky cat rubbing up against all of your furniture. And besides, everyone wants to feel squeaky clean and smell nice, right?

Let’s just say that it was very traumatic for poor Cory. She hollered and made such frightening sounds that I had to close my bathroom windows for fear that my neighbors would think I was killing a boar or something. At least now she has another 5 years before the next bath!

Gobble Gobble

As a food lover, I am fighting a constant battle between two ideals: 1) life is short and is meant to be enjoyed so eat whatever I want and 2) life will be longer and more enjoyable if I stay healthy and fit. I’ve come to the conclusion that all things in moderation is key, although that thought isn’t exactly at the forefront of my brain when I’m staring down the barrel of an eggroll. However, I grew up eating a variety of balanced food so my tastes run to things that are generally on the healthy side. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like to see how the other half lives…..

Which brings me to Paula Deen – the Queen of Southern Cooking. I watch her show from time to time and always marvel at the amount of butter, mayonnaise and sugar in most of her dishes. Her sweet nature and southern drawl make for an all around entertaining show. Just don’t watch it while you’re hungry. Although most of her recipes seem appetizing (in a comfort food type of way), I have to admit I don’t get the appeal of a shrimp “salad” which is made from chicken flavored Rice A Roni drenched in mayonnaise tossed with some shrimp. Yikes.

Paula Deen’s Thanksgiving spread, however, takes the cake as being one of the most heart-attack inducing meals this side of the Mississippi (or the LA Reservoir). I know that Turkey Day is a day when most people set aside any diets (or willpower) and go for the gusto by putting as much food on a plate as possible. But man oh man. Check out the stick-to-your-ribs-and-arteries smorgasbord of Thanksgiving eats on this lady’s table. Not a green thing in site!!

Let’s start with a few “bite sized” appetizers while we all get our tummies ready for turkey. How about some mini cheeseburgers wrapped in puff pastry? They don’t look so mini to me- each are about the size of Paula’s hand. If you’d rather go for pork in your hors d’ ovuers, there are some bacon wrapped breadsticks rolled in Parmesan cheese. The main course is your choice of a deep fried turkey or a turducken (chicken rolled in duck rolled in turkey with stuffing in between each layer). Don’t get me wrong- it all looks good, but I think we’ve reached the 2000 calorie mark (per person) and we haven’t even gotten to the side dishes! Speaking of which, how about some sweet potato balls? These consist of mashed sweet potatoes (mashed with brown sugar and a stick of butter) pressed around a giant marshmallow to form a ball, then rolled in a mixture of brown sugar, white sugar and sweetened coconut (er, because the two kinds of sugar don’t already make it sweet enough?) The rounds are then baked in the oven so the marshmallow oozes out when you bite into these hefty balls. I had to agree with Paula when she exclaimed “Now can you believe that this is a vegetable?!” No, actually, I cannot. It looks exactly like a snowball. The Hostess kind.

While these little babies were baking in the oven, it was time to make the stuffing. No, not the stuffing that is rolled into the aforementioned turducken. It’s time for the oyster stuffing, made with corn bread, white bread, saltines, butter and oysters. Are you getting full yet? Ms. Deen must have heard my “where’s the veg?!” cry right through my TV screen and said “Nah, I am gunna take out my fresh corn and take off the kernels.” My eyes brightened- could it be? A freshly grown veggie making it’s debut at her Thanksgiving table? She then said “Nah let’s take that cor-on and put it all in the bacon fat which we’ve already rendered.” I didn’t realize until later that the recipe was called “Mama’s Fried Creamed Corn.” After the corn is fried, it’s finished off with (what else?) a stick of butter and crumbled up bacon. Move over traditional creamed corn- there’s an even fattier version in town.

It’s time for the dessert! It’s a lovely apple butter pumpkin pie, topped off with whipped cream and crushed pralines. For those who think that apple butter contains actual butter, take heart. It’s simply apples that have been cooked down and pureed into a butter-like paste. Phew! Saved a few calories on that one! The pie did look delicious but I can’t imagine having the room for even a drop of water after all of that food.

Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s fabulous that Ms. Deen has built a virtual empire from humble beginnings with good, old-fashioned home cookin’. I realize that she is known for her country cooking and it usually involves something buttery and gooey. But I have to admit, the level of, hmmm, what’s the word? Dairyness? Heaviness? Butterness? Baconness? of her Thanksgiving meal was particularly surprising. Even my sister called me and asked, “Are you watching this?” We were both in awe of dish after dish of such heavy food. I think I felt a combination of envy, disgust, longing, salavation (no, not salvation, salavation) and concern (for health!) watching the show. I guess I’ll always be a girl who needs to see a little green on her plate.

But it was fun to see how the other half eats!

I can’t include any photos of the show, so in the Thanksgiving theme, I thought I’d include some photos from my own Thanksgiving (my first doing all of the cooking) from last year.

Enjoy!

Is it done yet? It’s done!

Choux pastry waiting to be filled with pumpkin mousse and drizzled with maple icing and toasted pecans

Cookies cookies cookies…..

Palmiers

I think I am still in a fog from turkey weekend, so I will post my entries for IMBB/Sugar High Friday cookie swap and save you all from my lame commentary about cookies! I made Chewy Pecan Diamonds, Jam Thumbprint Cookies and Chocolate Crackle Cookies. The jam thumbprint ones were my favorite. My coworkers, however, unanimously agreed that the Chewy Pecan Diamonds were the best. I guess it’s just a matter of taste- I love shortbread and the thumbprints are basically that + fruit. I adapted a recipe from Epicurious- the original recipe says to make the indentation, then bake, then fill with jam. I like the chewy consistency that jam gets when baked, so I put the jam into the raw cookie and then baked. I also rolled the dough balls in egg whites and then crushed almonds for a little extra crunch. The combo of the tart jam, crunchy nuts and buttery cookie is truly magical. The pecan bars were simply too sweet and gooey for my taste, but they’ll probably be a hit with the crowd. Not that my coworkers are very picky- if you bake it, they will come. I also had some puff pastry in the freezer so I made some mini palmiers just for fun. Enjoy!

Chewy Pecan Diamonds

Crust
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Topping
1 1/4 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
4 cups coarsely chopped pecans (about 14 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, leaving 1-inch overhang on all sides. Butter foil. Blend flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt in processor. Add butter and process until mixture begins to clump together. Press dough evenly onto bottom of foil-lined pan. Bake crust until set and light golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Let stand while preparing topping. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Topping: Stir brown sugar, corn syrup and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils; boil 1 minute. Add pecans and cream; boil until mixture thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Pour hot topping over warm crust.
Bake nut-topped crust until caramel is darker and bubbles thickly, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to rack. Cool completely in pan (topping will harden). Lift foil out of pan onto cutting board. Using heavy sharp knife, cut crust with nut topping into 1 1/2×1-inch diamonds. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container at room temperature.)

Makes about 32.
From: Bon Appétit December 1999


Chewy Pecan Diamonds, Chocolate Crackle Cookie, Jam Thumbprint Cookie

JAM THUMBPRINT COOKIES

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
6 tablespoons (about) jam or jelly (I used cherry preserves from Trader Joe’s)
1 egg white
crushed almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 2 baking sheets. Using electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in egg yolks, lemon peel, lemon juice and salt. Add flour in 2 additions and beat just until moist clumps form. Gather dough together in bowl to bind dough. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Dip each ball into the egg white and then roll in crushed almonds. Place balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Using finger, make deep indentation in center of each ball. Spoon a teaspoon of jam into the indentations.

Bake cookies until firm to touch and golden on bottom, about 22 minutes. Remove from oven. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container at room temperature. Cookies will soften slightly.)

Makes about 36.
Adapted from: Bon AppétitFlavors of the World August 1999

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Makes about 5 dozen

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 up Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for rolling

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl, or the top of a double boiler, over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Into a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add melted chocolate. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk. Mix on low speed until just combined. Divide dough into quarters, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.

3. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. On a surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar, use your hands to roll each portion of dough into a log 16 inches in length and about 1 inch in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and transfer to a baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes. Cut each log into 1-inch pieces, and toss pieces in confectioners’ sugar, a few at a time. Using your hands, roll the pieces into balls. If any of the cocoa-colored dough is visible, roll dough in confectioners’ sugar again to coat completely. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies have flattened and sugar splits, 12 to 15 minutes.

4. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

From: Martha Stewart Online

There’s more to life than sugar….

Grilled steak w/ red wine reduction, mashed cauliflower and steamed asparagus

I’m really a salt-tooth…..

You may think that I have a big ‘ol sweet tooth judging by the first few entries in my blog. However, I am much more of a salt addict than anything else. If given the choice between chocolate cake or french fries, I’d almost always go for the latter. Anything that is salty & crunchy is my biggest weakness. Sun Chips are the greatest snack food ever invented. Wheat Thins comes a close second. I know those items aren’t exactly gourmet, but I truly believe that whoever invented Sun Chips (particularly the French Onion flavor) is a genius.

The reason I bake so much is that it gives me an outlet for my creativity. Sometimes an idea will just come to me- it isn’t because I necessarily feel like eating that item, it just……happens. Once I practically had an epiphany when all of a sudden I kept imagining this dessert made of macha spongecake layered with anko (sweet bean) whipped cream all covered in a white chocolate ganache and dusted with macha powder. I ran home and tried it- and miraculously, it just all came together….until the end. I had made the sheets of green spongecake, cut them into perfect rounds with a biscuit cutter, folded the thick anko paste in small batches into the whipped cream and started to assemble. I had a bag of white chocolate chips and used that to make the ganache, but the quality wasn’t high enough and the ganache was way too thin. You could see the green and purple layers underneath. It looked more like something out of a Dr. Seuss book than the elegant dessert I had hoped for. Although I am inspired to make savory creations, the ghosts of pastry just speak to me in my dreams. OK, that was cheesy but you get the idea.

Anyway, I did spend a nice chunk of my Saturday baking cookies for the upcoming IMBB Sugar High Friday cookie swap event, but I don’t want to post those just yet. Instead, I thought I would post a few savory dishes I have made in the recent past. Enjoy!

Paprika roasted chicken w/ vegetables

Linguini w/ seafood in a spicy tomato sauce

You put your mayonnaise in my chocolate…

I recently completed a “Pro I” course at a local culinary school. The experience was a good one, but I have to say I was disappointed that it wasn’t more challenging and a bit shocked that a few people in my class had never even boiled water. I don’t know about you, but to me, any course called “Cooking: Professional I” implies that you may want to know what a spatula looks like before enrolling. My dreams of a strict, French chef hovering over me and yelling that my julienne were not fine enough were quickly shattered. Although I learned a few new things, it wasn’t the experience I had been hoping for. I did , however, learn one secret that I wouldn’t have expected and it’s been very valuable to me ever since.

One day when we were all working on various poultry dishes, our teacher (who is a pastry chef by trade) started making us a chocolate cake for dessert. As I went to work on cutting up my chicken, I watched as she put all of the dry ingredients (cocoa, flour, salt, baking powder) in one bowl, and then reached for a giant vat of mayonnaise. She must be making some sort of sandwich spread for the chicken, I thought. But then I watched in horror as she took an entire cup of the white stuff and mixed it into the cake ingredients! I don’t even think I was aware that I burst out with “WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!!” My teacher turned to me and said dryly, “Anne, what wet ingredients are in a cake batter?” So I stuttered, “Um….oil and eggs.” She went onto say “Anne, what is mayonnaise made out of?” So I whispered, “Er…..oil and eggs.” Still, I was skeptical. I mean, I like my mayo (especially if it’s Kewpie brand) but this was a bit much.

After we all ingested enough poultry (chicken, duck, cornish hens, turkey, pheasant) to last us a lifetime, she presented the beautifully frosted chocolate cake. I sniffed, poked, prodded and finally took a bite. It was rich, beautifully moist and ever so chocolately with the softest crumb. Who’da thunk it? All this time I’d been going out of my way to Whole Foods to pick up chickens-got-daily-spa-treatments-organic eggs thinking it’d make a better cake, and my teacher whips out a can of…….Best Foods. You thought I was gonna say Whoop Ass, didn’t ya? She may as well have, because her mayo cake certainly kicked mine.

Since then, I’ve seen several cake recipes that include mayonnaise. It turns out that the idea is not so new and your grandmother probably knew this trick. I’m not saying that mayo should replace some good eggs and oil in all cakes, but if you’re looking to make a simple but ultra moist chocolate cake, it works very well.

I recently made one for a friend’s baby shower, and it was a huge hit- of course no one knew there was a cup of mayonnaise in it either.

Macaron overload

Note to self: just because your first attempt at macaron making turned out okay, it does not mean that you will have similar luck the next time. Or the next. Just because the chocolate ones you made last week looked and tasted pretty good, it doesn’t mean you can start throwing in other ingredients and concocting other flavors and expect the same result.

Today I feel utterly defeated. This past weekend, I mixed, whipped, folded and piped myself into exhaustion only to end up with boatloads of overly crunchy and misshapen macarons. I know practice makes perfect and you learn from your mistakes, yadda yadda yadda. It’s just too bad I had to go overboard and purchase every ingredient under the sun, only to have them go to waste. Ok ok, the macarons weren’t inedible, but they were nothing close to the little Nuggets of Perfection I had dreamt about. Oh well.

I thought I’d console myself by baking a couple of loaves of bread. I started my fermentation process the night before by mixing my yeast, water, honey and salt and putting the containers in the fridge. The next day I made my dough and went about my business as I waited for the first rise. I made sure not to peak so my little blobs could get some privacy. An hour later, I checked on them and they hadn’t risen an inch. Everything smelled ok, but they looked exactly the same as before. I told myself that the yeast was just taking a nap and needed more time (er, yeah….that makes sense….) and checked back an hour later to find that the little suckers STILL hadn’t grown. By this time I had my head stuck so far down in the sand that I actually went ahead, formed the dough into boules and stuck them in the oven to bake. Who cares if everything I’ve learned about baking told me that I’d end up with a couple of doorstops?! No air in the dough? Maybe a miracle would happen and I’d end up with edible bread! After spending five hours failing miserably at macarons the day before, my ego went into overdrive. I was NOT going to have another failure!

After an hour in the oven, I pulled out my little boulders and wondered why I even tried. I knew they would be dense, chewy and inedible. I’ve read The Bread Baker’s Apprentice enough times to know that you need AIR in the little pups to make them delicious. I guess I was just in denial and hoped the baking gods would look down on me favorably.

And then a realization struck me. Even though I had done all the things I know I’m supposed to do- knead the dough considerably, place a towel over the bowls to keep out any draft, put the bowls in a nice warm place….I had a hunch that it was something else. I ran to the fridge, pulled out my handy little glass jar of yeast, and checked the expiration date. March 2003!!!! Yes, I am admitting this on the world wide web that I keep rancid food in my beloved refrigerator!!! Well, not exactly food but still- the poor little jar had been ignored since the US invasion of Iraq. New Year’s resolution: start taking weekly inventory of refrigerator and pantry.

I didn’t take photos of my failed loaves, but here are some shots of the macaron- wannabes for your viewing pleasure! The flavors are:

Pistachio w/ pistachio buttercream (a mix of butter, confectioner’s sugar and pistachio ‘butter’ I got in Italy)

Macha w/ chestnut buttercream (pureed chestnuts w/ butter and confectioner’s sugar). Notice the little nipples on there- a sign that the batter was too thick.
White sesame w/ black sesame buttercream (butter, black sesame paste and confectioner’s sugar). More nipples!

Yuzu w/ lemon buttercream

Macarons and me….

Before I write about the topic at hand, let me tell you that I just managed to erase my entire first real blog entry! I finally got the photos in the places I wanted, was fairly satisfied with the editorial and eager to see the finished product, when all of a sudden, I made a wrong move and it all disappeared. *Sigh.*

On the topic of macarons, I have a big confession to make. I spent three days in Paris last summer and didn’t eat any. Not one. I was prepared to lose my macaron virginity to Pierre Hermé but the Paris heat & humidity sent us running for the cool waters of Nice, so I never got my chance. I stood firm by my promise that there would be no first time unless it was with Pierre. So, after a week of eating the thin crust pizzas and pan bagnats of the French Riviera, I left, macaronless and heartbroken.

Did I say stand firm? Well, I figured that the chances of finding myself in Paris once again anytime soon are slim at best, and a girl has urges that need to be fulfilled! So I broke my promise to the Prince of Macarons and found myself staring at six tiny and colorful confections at Jin Patisserie- a well renowned bakery/cafe in Venice (California, not Italy). I had read about their macarons in various food publications and was eager to try them. I chose black sesame, caramel, mocha, pistachio, macha and vanilla. To all who think me a glutton- each one was about the size of a quarter, and at $1.99 a pop, not exactly a bargain. I had high hopes and carefully untied the pink ribbon from the box. I started with the caramel. Great flavor, but most of the cookie part crumbled all over me since it was crunchy and filled with large pockets of air. The pistachio one did the exact same thing, and so on, and so on. By this time I had a massive sugar headache since each one was cloyingly sweet. Krispy Kreme sweet. Bubble Yum sweet. You get the idea. I could practically hear Pierre laughing at my ignorance in thinking that anyone but he could sweep me off my feet.

The one good thing that came out of the experience was an inspiration to try and make my own. I have no delusions that I could make a macaron as well as even the most novice French baker, but I thought it might be fun to try. At the suggestion of the brilliant Cynthia (of FoodMigration fame), I read David Lebowitz’s account of his first attempt at macaron baking and carefully followed instructions. I made the chocolate/chocolate combo, and I must say- they weren’t half bad. My first batch came out a bit overdone but the cookies in the second batch were slightly crispy on the outside, chewy/melty on the inside. Yes, I just said melty. I think my years of living in Tokyo as warped my slang a bit.

I think I will continue my macaron baking and am eager to try out different flavor combinations. And one day, some day, I will have my long awaited encounter with Pierre.

I’m finally making my foray into the food blogger’s universe! Please be patient if there are technical difficulties in the first month or so!

My plan is to simply use this blog to share my cooking and eating experiences and join the vast and supremely talented food blogger world.

Hope you enjoy!

-A