Easy Coconut Macaroons Recipe

I never knew how easy it was to make macaroons! I found this recipe in my Real Simple magazine (love love love that publication). Literally took 10 minutes of prep. I’ve posted it here to share:

Ingredients

• 3  large egg whites
• 1/2  cup  sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon  pure vanilla extract
• 1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1  14-ounce package sweetened shredded coconut (about 5 cups)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 325° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
2. Vigorously whisk together the egg whites, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl until glossy, foamy, and the sugar is mostly almost dissolved. Fold in the coconut, stirring until evenly combined.
3. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop the batter in mounds (about 2 tablespoons each) 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes; let cool completely. The macaroons will keep for up to 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container.

The macaroons came out a little dry with this recipe, so I recommend adding a bit of milk to the mixture to make it a bit creamy. Jonathan and I also experimented by adding cinnamon to a few and mole spices (Mexican cocoa powder mix) to a few others. I was a huge fan of the cinnamon! Definitely have fun in the kitchen customizing this basic recipe.

How To Cook Bitter Melon

Bitter Melon is a vegetable that requires an acquired taste. It’s kind of like what an IPA is to beers, and in fact, in Asia, there are beers that replace hops with bitter melon. The vegetable is super healthy (some people attribute it with medicinal properties), and also very easy to prepare.

Prep

Like a squash, the bitter melon has seeds that needs to be scooped out. Halve melon, remove seeds, and cut into slices.

Cooking

It can be cooked multiple ways - in an omelette, in a vegetable stir fry, etc. but if you’ve never had it before, I would ease your taste buds into it by adding sugar. The sugar will off-balance the bitterness along with other sauces you may use. Tofu is also a great add because it has a neutral taste and soaks up the flavors that you cook the bitter melon in.

It takes a while getting used to, but once you’ve developed that acquired taste (and tapered down the sugar), it’s very enjoyable AND you reap all the health benefits.

FOOD ACTION PLAN #1

Use new ingredients at least once every two weeks.

Simple Roasted Delicata Squash Recipe

If you love squash as much I do, you must try Delicata Squash. It’s a seasonal squash only around in the Winter (so take advantage of it!) and rich in fiber and potassium. Besides how delicious it is, it is also so simple to make!

Roasted Delicata Squash

What you need

• Delicata Squash
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• And baking pan!

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425º
• Half squash, scoop out seeds (you can roast/eat the seeds if desired), and cut into 1/2” slices
• Place slices in baking pan and coat with about 2 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt lightly
• Roast for 10-15 minutes, then gently turn slices onto other side; roast until desired brownness!

FOOD ACTION PLAN #1

Use new ingredients at least once every two weeks.

Tomato Basil Soup Recipe

An interesting note about Seattle: weather can be so unpredictable. I remember the first 3 hours I was here, it rained, thundered/lightning, was sunny, then cloudy.

But on those rainy days, nothing beats some tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Allrecipes (compliments of MARBALET) has a great recipe from scratch (you can find it here). For a healthier option, I use half-and-half instead of heavy cream, and it still tastes delicious. Definitely make sure to use fresh ingredients. I recently bought a basil plant, and it has served me well; I definitely recommend using fresh basil.

For the grilled cheese, I used gruyere - can’t really go wrong with such a delicious cheese, especially melted. And when dipped in the tomato soup, it’s just the perfect thing for a cold rainy day.

Making MALASADAS!

My first made-from-scratch baby malasada!

After leaving Hawaii, there were two things that I really really missed: surfing and MALASADAS! Those Leonard’s malasadas were sooo amazing, and for a few months, I dreamed about them constantly. Sometimes, I get extremely frustrated with the lack of food diversity in Boston (#firstworldBostonproblems), but it fuels my resolve to make things from scratch! And so, I decided to give malasadas a go.

The recipe I ended up using was “A Punahou Recipe” (you can find it here). The directions were straightforward and didn’t require any fancy machinery. **One thing the recipe does not mention, though, is that the recipe makes a batch of approximately 3-4 dozen, so have hungry friends! For your convenience, here is the recipe as well:

Ingredients

• 1 package yeast (1 T)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup warm water

• 6 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 6 eggs

• 1 quart vegetable oil (to cook)
• Extra sugar for coating

Directions

1. Prepare the yeast based on the direction on the packet. (Dissolve yeast, sugar and water and set aside.)
2. Beat eggs. Measure flour into mixing bowl and add salt. Make a well in the flour, pour yeast mixture, eggs and other ingredients. Beat in circular motion until the dough is soft.
3. Cover, let raise until double. Turn dough over but do not punch down. Cover and let raise again. **THIS MAY TAKE UP TO 2 HOURS
4. Heat oil to 375 degrees and drop dough by teaspoon full into oil and cook until brown. Shake in brown bag with sugar. Best when hot.

Note: If the malasadas have a tendency to come out with the center still doughy, turn the heat down on the oil which will allow them to cook longer.

Some Tips and Observations…

I have never baked/cooked with yeast before, so I was a bit concerned with my dough, but luckily it turned out just fine! The dough doesn’t raise immediately, so it might look like this at first:

Place the dough in a warm spot (approx. 85º - I used my oven), and after one hour, try to turn the dough upside down. Let it sit for an hour more, and it should double in size like this:

This process may take up to 2 hours before any deep frying (I wish I knew that beforehand…) so plan your schedule accordingly!

Although the directions suggest coating the malasadas in a paper bag, I used a Pyrex tupperware so I wouldn’t have sugar slipping out of any holes or cracks:

Jonathan is from Hawaii, and he had one (then a few more…) and certified that they were Hawaii-scrumptious! The dough has a great airy/spongy texture that reminded me of the cinnamon-sugar coated malasadas.

Suggestions For the Future

If I attempt to make this from scratch again (I would prefer not to, but if I’m stuck in Arkansas for work, I might have to…), I think I will increase the flour in the recipe by 1/2 a cup. The dough was extremely sticky, which made it hard to form shapely malasadas. Additionally, though tasty, the dough lacked a bit of flavor, so I might add a teaspoon of vanilla extract. And lastly, I think I will attempt to make the coconut cream-filled malasadas eventually. If you slit the fried malasada, and pipe cream into the center, you get the same effect as the Leonard’s ones (of course, not as delicious!).

It seems like making malasadas is an extremely tedious chore, but I saw the cheater recipes using Pillsbury dough or bread? Uh uh, I don’t think so. I would love to find an easier recipe, but until then, I will make my malasadas this way again!