Did YOU win the Gourmet Fall Cheese Tasting Party Giveaway?

Here is the list of the qualified entries:

1    Maria
2    The Food Hunger
3    Ashley
4    Nikki
5    The Duo Dishes
6    Carole Resnick
7    Kristen J
8    Amy I.
9    Deeba
10    Sunita
11    Laura
12    Wendy
13    NOelle
14    NOelle
15    Victoria
16    Heather in SF
17    Wendy R
18    Wendy R
19    Lisa Cain of http://www.snacksnoop.com (Yes YOU! )
20    Sharon

Lisa, these are all yours:

• Mariposa Gourmet Two-Toned  Wooden Cheese Board w/ Wine & Cheese Access. (Board is made of Natural Wood.)
• Cheese Markers
• Customized Cheese Rating Cards w/ Pens (Party of 10) – customized with your name and date/year of party.
• Alouette recipe cards for entertaining
• Alouette coupons for Baby Brie, Spreadable and Crumbles
• Slow Down & Savour Tips

Please email me at gourmeted /at/ gmail /dot/ com with your US mailing address plus the name and date/year of the you would like to be printed on the cheese rating cards and the pens. You can skip the date/year if you like.

Thanks for joining everyone!

Quick note: Don’t forget to join our Fall giveaway for a cheese party! Contest ends at noon today (Oct 29), PST time. :)

This took a long time, eh? And I’m doing it in chunks, too. Before you know it, I’m back there and I haven’t finished talking about last month’s mini-tour. Haha. Oh well. Bear with this old lady.

So here some of my fondest memories of my first trip to San Francisco:

1. BART — my DUH moment

My love (and not-so-love) affair with San Francisco began at the BART station. I found myself putting a $20 bill into the card machine and I thought it “ate” the twenty and left me with a one-way ticket to Embarcadero station. Hello, dumb tourist! It’s different in Canada and I was thinking — “Uh, things are much simpler in Vancouver!” Haha. I eventually asked the guy beside me. “Your $20 is in that card.” OH. Duh.

The train is much wider compared to our Vancouver’s Sky Train and the seats are more comfortable for longer trips. Made me really wish Vancouver had the foresight to build wider trains.

Upon passing the different stations, I’ve learned what my San Francisco guidebook really meant by “microclimates”. One stop it’s sunny, the next it’s as hazy as my brain on a Sunday morning.
The day I arrived in downtown San Francisco, it was really windy and chilly and it made me wonder whether I accidentally flew into Chicago. I told a few other BlogHer attendees to bring clothes for the cold temps. Little did I know that on the day most of them were to arrive, it would be so hot. Yikes.

3. I found a friend: super awesome Kristina of Tennessee Locavore

Ask me what do I not love about her. I could not have gotten a better roommate from the roommate lottery. Seriously. I had a hotel booking and she got a last-minute pass to Blogher Food. I offered her a place to stay, and days letter she tells me that we can stay at a timeshare…for free! I know. I’m guessing this is good karma coming back for sending forth good karma. I like it. But that’s just the cherry topping to it all. Kristina and I hit it off right away because a) we have a lot in common; b) well, we’re foodies; c) she’s one person you won’t have a dull moment with. I love her! This trip would not be even half as fun without her. I miss this girl. I’m so glad we met, Kristina!

2. Tartine

I heard about Tartine for weeks before going to the city, and I remember Manggy tweeting that I must visit it. I’m so glad I had Kristina to go around the city with, because she definitely has an excellent list of foodie places to go to (also thanks to Anita for that). Tartine Bakery lived up to my expectations.

We split one ham and cheese croque monsieur:

And we took a bag of these ‘cookies’ back to the hotel:

3. Bi-Rite Creamery and their Salted Caramel and Creme Fraiche Ice cream

There are simply no words to describe how much I LOVE these two ice cream flavors together. I fondly remember the exact moment I tasted it and groaned with much delight. Where have you been all my life?! I’m not exaggerating.

4. Bi-Rite Supermarket

That was some serious good food haven. Heaven, possibly. We got some food to take back to the hotel, where we had a kitchenette.

Acme Bread loaf, dry-farmed tomatoes and Tartine Bakery macaroons

Burrata cheese that's made with cream wrapped in mozarella

5. Chinatown

Oh look! I took a video of the fortune cookie lady…

So here’s a story Kristina and I have about that fortune cookie place. We both bought some flat fortune cookies (basically they are fortune-less), she got one bag, I got two. Then I noticed the lady grabbing a handful and put them in my bag. So we headed out and while we were yapping I said, “Oh, let’s eat some of the extras she gave us.” Then Kristina said she didn’t get some. “Are you sure? Look at the bottom of the bag.” None. Whooops! We both laughed and thought she was discriminated against, and it was all because of the karma from her husband’s Asian joke earlier via crackberry. We had a good chuckle out of it.
Ok…to be continued…

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S of Baking Without Fear.  She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I’ve been meaning to make macarons since spring, when it wasn’t warm and I could still use the oven to my heart’s content without creating a heat wave. Then I had an army of excuses: I had no almond flour, no candy thermometer, no time, and just the thought of making them only to fail was exhausting.

Of course, that’s what the Daring Bakers Challenge is for: to push you to do things you do not like (haha), but we enjoy tough love anyway. I’ve been so busy with other things that the deadline for the challenge really crept up and then whacked me on the head last night. Yes, I only did my challenge last night. Oh, not just last night…LATE last night.

This is how I roll…

My fellow Daring Bakers have talked about their failures even after numerous tries with the recipe posted by the challenge’s host, so they eventually sought someone else’s recipe. I followed suit. I was doing this last-minute that I really cannot afford to try many times just to make it work. I need it to work the first time. Tall order.

I’ve had my eyes on Jef and Eliza’s (MyFoodGeek.com) macaron recipe for the longest time, so I picked that. Others I know used Helen’s (MyTartlette.com) or Aran’s (Cannelle et Vanille) recipes — and hundreds of readers can attest to the reliability of their recipes, so do check them out.

Ok, so I sort of used the recipe from My Food Geek. I made a boo-boo. What else is new? To make the long story short, I could not follow baking directions for the life of me. My macarons probably have way too much sugar in them. The truth is, now that they answered my question, my macarons shouldn’t have had sugar syrup. Haha. What do I know? As long as I saw magma-like batter last night, I thought I was doing the right thing. No wonder I’m bouncing up the ceiling all night and I’m having major drawbacks from the sugar rush this afternoon.

I won’t even tell you how many mushroom-like sugary caps I’ve eaten. I even had to bite into another one for the photos. Good reason, no?

I really am just glad that they closely resemble the real thing, except for the fact that:

• These babies have ‘skins’ that remind me of ostrich eggs; and
• They have prim and proper “feet”. They stay within the perimeter of the mothership, no feet sticking out to the sides. No, ma’am. You’d think my macarons went to the Miss Manners night school for misbehaved macarons!

Their skins are so smooth and almost pebble-y. I did not use blanched almonds, so you see the flecks of almonds on them. What’s more, I made penance for my tardiness with the Daring Bakers gods by not only grinding my own almond powder, but painfully sifting it. It think that paid off.

One pivotal factor that made these macarons look like this is the drying/wait time. The first 3 trays that I put in the oven didn’t have time to sit. I mean, c’mon, I’m not a patient person at all. After 3 erupting episodes, I quickly searched on the internet and found out from a Pierre Hermé (the god of macarons) recipe that you should let them sit to brood and ponder their soon-to-be esteemed footed life for at least 45 minutes. So I did that. In the meantime, here are the remains of the magmatic macarons that certainly weren’t shy about their eruptions. [Some went totally criminal: Macawrongs!]

Macaruins

The 4th tray in the oven, which sat on the counter for the longest 45 minutes of my past-midnight baking shenanigan, came out with beautiful, proper hats and walking feet. As for the filling, I made buttercream and used the rose water given to my friends. That thing is strong…like, I-want-to-put-it-on -me strong. But it was delicious.

I think I will try to make some again this week, if I don’t die from all the sugar. Hah.

I’ll post the recipe tonight! Watch out for my blank promises. LOL.

Macarons with Lemon-Rose Water Buttercream (recipe last updated 11/12/2009)

These are my first ever macarons and I completely made a mistake on the recipe I was following. This mistake, however, gave me such smooth, perfectly shaped macarons. A number of people still requested the actual recipe I ended up with for the macarons. So here it is!

This recipe makes about 30-35 sandwiched macarons.

Ingredients

Macarons

• 100 grams egg whites (give or take, 3 large eggs), divided
• 100 grams confectioner’s sugar
• 100 grams sliced or whole almonds (can be blanched or not, up to you)
• 180 grams granulated sugar
• 90 grams water

Macaron Filling

• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
• 4 teaspoons rose water [You can use less for just a tiny hint.]
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• a drop or two of red liquid food coloring (Optional. Amount will vary depending on your color preference.)

Equipment

• Food processor or grinder/chopper
• Hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment
• 2 Large size bowls
• 1 Medium size bowl
• Small sauce pan
• Candy thermometer
• 2 to 3 baking sheets (we will bake double-panned, having an extra sheet will allow you to continuously bake one batch after another)
• Silicone baking mat or Parchment paper sheets to fit cookie sheet
• Piping/Pastry bag with plain tip (a storage bag like zip lock would work, too)
• Spatulas

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 300°F with the rack in the upper middle portion. You can pre-heat later on during Step #11). Place baking sheets one on top of the other (called double panning) and place the baking mat or parchment paper on the topmost sheet, and set aside.For the meringue cookies –
2. Grind almonds and confectioner’s sugar together in a food processor for 2-3 minutes, until you get a a powdery texture. If you have a mini one, you can use half the sugar for it to fit.
3. Sift mixture into a large bowl. If you still have big pieces left, put them back in the grinder.
4. Stir 40 grams of egg whites (about 1 egg white) with the ground almond mixture using a spatula. Mix until you get a uniform paste. Set aside.
5. Whisk 60 grams of egg whites (about 2 egg whites) on high speed in a large bowl until you achieve soft peaks. Set aside.
6. Pour water and granulated sugar into a small pan and place on your stove on high heat with the candy thermometer dipped into the mixture. Allow to boil until it reaches 230°F.
7. Resume whisking the egg whites on med-high speed in the large bowl and slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the bowl. Whisk for about 10 minutes. You will end up with a puffy and shiny meringue.
8. Quickly fold meringue into the bowl with the almond paste for 30 seconds, then slowly to check the consistency. Do not overmix. The resulting mixture would be thick, fluffy and viscous. It will not be watery. It will almost feel and look like marshmallow fluff.
9. Transfer meringue mixture into a pastry bag.

10. Pipe mixture onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Create small domes about 1-½  inch in diameter, 2 inches apart from each other to allow for spreading. If you have 3 baking sheets, you can pipe on 2 sheets.

11. Leave on your kitchen counter for at least 45 minutes, to allow a film to develop on each circle.

12. Place baking sheet into the oven and bake for 12 minutes.

13. The cookies should be easy to peel off the pan. If not, put return the baking sheet into the oven for 2 more minutes.

14. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring. Bake the next pan. Don’t forget the 45-minute sitting time for the piped meringue.

15.  The baked cookies have a smooth, eggshell-like top, a soft-ish center, standing on frothy-looking “feet”.

For the buttercream –

16.  Mix butter in a medium bowl until fluffy. Pour confectioner’s sugar and mix with a spatula until most of it is incorporated. Beat for a few seconds.

17. Pour rose water, lemon juice and a drop of food color and mix with a spatula first, before using your mixer.

Assembling the macarons –

18. Spread buttercream on the flat side of the meringue cookie and top with the flat side of another meringue cookie to form a sandwich. Press lightly.

Enjoy, but watch out for the sugar rush!

Today is “reveal day” for the Daring Bakers Challenge, but before I give you the goods, I’m bringing you the Macawrongs!!! [Addendum: The good macarons for the Daring Bakers Challenge is  posted here.]

Ahh…in the spirit of our #GreatHallowTweet — go check out the pumpkin sidebar!

I’ve found such great pleasure over the fact that the botched macarons have lives of their own. If you’re making macarons and you have a bad batch, try dressing them up for halloween. We can all make fun of ourselves and play with our food sometimes. :-)

Check out my featured criminal for the day:

He was caught taunting the others:

I used: nutella eyes and red food color painted with a toothpick. That’s all there is to it — the macarons were responsible for their own ugliness. Woohoo.

Apple Crumble Upside Down Cake

Four taste-testers don’t lie: this is some heavenly combination! A layer of light and moist cake underneath a generous overlay of sweet apple chunks and plumped up dried cranberries, then the coating of  crunchy, buttery cornmeal streusel… I mean, could it get any better than that?

All it took was a bite...

When you think about it, it’s a cake, that’s a pie, that’s a crisp! Haha. Oh, and  just one of the many ways to enjoy the gifts of the Fall season that I so love.

Speaking of Fall...we’re excited to collaborate with Vault Communications and Aloutte Cheese for a fantastic Fall Wine and Cheese Party Giveaway! It’s been a while since we’ve thrown a contest, oh dear. But check it out!

Gourmet Fall Cheese Tasting Party Giveaway

• Mariposa Gourmet Two-Toned  Wooden Cheese Board w/ Wine & Cheese Access. (Board is made of Natural Wood.)
• Cheese Markers
• Customized Cheese Rating Cards w/ Pens (Party of 10) – customized with your name and date/year of party.
• Alouette recipe cards for entertaining
• Alouette coupons for Baby Brie, Spreadable and Crumbles
• Slow Down & Savour Tips

That’s right, you’ll get all of these lovely items (a $150 value). Wine, wine glass and fruits not included. ** IMPORTANT: PRIZES CAN ONLY BE SHIPPED IN THE U.S. **

To enter, just answer this question in the comments section:

How do you slow down and savour life’s moments?

If you tweet about it, let us know in the comments. Each legitimate and unique comment to this post qualify as one entry.

Contest ends October 29, at 12 noon. Good luck!

[Contest disclosure: We have received the same items from Alouette Cheese, c/o Vault Communications. We have no advertising/sponsorship commitments with either company.]

Oh, and here’s the recipe:

Apple Crumble Upside Down Cake

It’s a cake, that’s a pie, that’s a crisp– light, moist cake underneath a generous layer of sweet apple chunks and cranberries, sprinkled with the crunchy and buttery cornmeal streusel.

Ingredients [Serves 8]

Apple Filling

• 3 medium-sized apples, peeled, quartered, chopped into ¼ x ½  x ½ -inch chunks and fills about 5 cups. Use what you have on hand or your preferred variety. (I used Okanagan Fuji apples.)
• 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• pinch kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon triple sec liqueur (optional)

Crumble/Streusel topping

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Cake

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Place the rack in the lower-middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch round, 2-inch-deep nonstick cake pan; set aside.

3. For the apple filling

• Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Toss the apple chunks in it.
• Melt butter over high heat on a Dutch oven until it begins to turn amber in color and the milky froth from the butter has almost cleared (don’t allow it to burn).
• Add the apples into the pot and reduce heat to medium-high. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add the cranberries and stir. Cover for another 5 minutes or until the apples begin to soften and break down in the steam. Juice will collect on the bottom of the pan.
• Remove from the heat and pour over a strainer with a large bowl underneath to catch the juice.
• Pour the juice back into the Dutch oven over high heat and mix it with heavy cream and triple sec liqueur (if used). Stir until the mixture is reduced and thickened. It’s done when you drag your wooden spoon on the bottom of the pan and it leaves a trailing line. Turn off the heat and toss the apples and cranberries in it.
• Transfer the fruits and any remaining liquid into the prepared cake pan. Lightly press into an even layer. Set aside.

4. For the crumble/streusel topping:

• Mix flour, brown sugar and cornmeal in a medium bowl with a fork. Drizzle melted butter while continuing to mix it until it forms pea-sized chunks.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the streusel mixture evenly on top of it.
• Bake it in the pre-heated 425°F oven for 5 minutes. Watch closely once you hit the 4-min mark. It might start to burn depending on your baking sheet.
• Take it out of the oven and set aside to cool on a trivet for 5 minutes. Toss the crumble with a small spoon to prevent it from burning if it is already getting dark. Set aside.

5. Decrease oven temperature to 350°F with the rack in the same position.

6. For the cake:

• Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Beat the brown sugar and eggs in a large bowl until thick and homogenous, for about 45 seconds.
• Slowly beat in butter until thoroughly combined. Add heavy cream and vanilla and continue to mix. Pour flour mixture and blend until just combined.
• Pour batter into the cake pan and spread evenly over fruit.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven until cake is golden grown, about 35 to 40 minutes. When you insert a toothpick into the center it will come out clean.
• Cool pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before running a knife around the sides of the cake pan.
• Carefully invert cake pan onto a large plate, and allow the cake to cool for another 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy with some vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped crème or crème fraîche on top.

Enjoy the homey flavors and aroma of baked apple pie in less than 30 minutes. You won’t miss the traditional flaky crust too much once you taste the crunchy-gritty toasted cornmeal streusel on warm, spicy apples.

I know, I know…you were expecting all the juicy details of my trip to San Francisco two weeks late and all I can offer you today is pie. Oh, and it’s not even a real pie, it’s a crisp! A crumble! I’ve been a horrible updater of this site, I’m so sorry. Worrisome exhaustion >> Blog, in the grand scheme of things. I will make it up to you…

This will make my super-late SF update worth the wait, I promise you.

After being away for more than a month, I sorely missed the local farmers markets. I’m one of those weird gals who enjoy shopping for fruits and vegetables…must be the old-lady streak kicking. Haha. Last Saturday’s excursion was no exception from my market black book, I filled up the baskets with my hoarding eyes. I picked up six Fall apples, the Okanagan Fuji ones, which are were so sweet and crisp. All of them ended up being cooked and baked. Mmm…

Since I am not 100% physically well these days, I usually choose the path to anything that requires less of my time and energy. I really wanted an apple pie a few nights ago, but with an extra trip to the store to get vodka (Oh, that? I still have to tell you about that crust!) for the crust, that’s not going to happen. I stared lovingly at the Fuji apples and thought of what to do with them besides eating them as is. I didn’t dare search Gourmet.com because thinking about the demise of the magazine still brings me physical pain. So I decided to make use of my online membership to dear old Cook’s Illustrated. There was a recipe for Quick Dutch Apple Crisp, which inspired that night of experimentation.

After making Peach Crumble for years and being left with delicious, yet unsatisfying, toppings that become soggy and unappetizing as leftovers, I was hesitant to try another fruit variation. But what can you do? If you have a craving, you must give in to The Craving! I was not disappointed. Cooking the fruit and the streusel separately was a godsend, and the cornmeal in the streusel made it a perfect contrast to the soft apples. Oh…my…god. This is why I always have cornmeal in the pantry: it’s not just for cornbread or coating. Amen.

So here, ladies and gentlemen, is the quickie apple pie that will satisfy your cravings in a jiffy. Go back here and tell me it’s awful if you try it and you’re not satisfied. I just know you’ll thank me once you taste it. :-)

Quick Apple Crumble with Cranberries

Ingredients

Apple Filling

• 3 medium-sized apples, peeled, quartered, chopped into ¼ x ½  x ½ -inch chunks and fills about 5 cups. Use what you have on hand or your preferred variety. (I used Okanagan Fuji apples.)
• 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• pinch kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon triple sec liqueur (optional)

Crumble/Streusel topping

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preparation

1. Place the rack in the lower-middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

2. For the apple filling

• Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl, and toss the apple chunks in it.
• Melt butter over high heat on a Dutch oven until it begins to turn amber in color and the milky froth from the butter has almost cleared (don’t allow it to burn).
• Add the apples into the pot and reduce heat to medium-high. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add the cranberries and stir. Cover for another 5 minutes or until the apples begin to soften and break down in the steam. Juice will collect on the bottom of the pan.
• Remove from the heat and pour over a strainer with a large bowl underneath to catch the juice.
• Pour the juice back into the Dutch oven over high heat and mix it with heavy cream and triple sec liqueur (if used). Stir until the mixture is reduced and thickened. It’s done when you drag your wooden spoon on the bottom of the pan and it leaves a trailing line. Turn off the heat and toss the apples and cranberries in it.
• Transfer the fruits and any remaining liquid into an 8-inch square, or circular, baking dish and flatten the top with a spatula. For individual servings, you can pour them into ramekins or other oven-safe bowls.

3. For the crumble/streusel topping:

• Mix flour, brown sugar and cornmeal in a medium bowl with a fork. Drizzle melted butter while continuing to mix it until it forms pea-sized chunks.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the streusel mixture evenly on top of it.
• Bake it in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes. Watch closely once you hit the 4-min mark. It might start to burn depending on your baking sheet.
• Take it out of the oven and set aside to cool on a trivet for 5 minutes. Toss the crumble around with a small spoon to prevent it from burning if it is already getting dark.
• Sprinkle topping over the dish/ramekins/bowls filled with fruit.

You can skip to #5, as the fruit and toppings should be good to go. Continue with #4 if you prefer the streusel to be deep brown and/or want to warm up the dish.

4. Set the pie plate/ramekins/bowls on the now-empty baking sheet and place in the oven until the streusel is a deep golden brown, about 5 minutes.

5. Cool pie plate/ramekins/bowls on a wire rack for 10 minutes and serve apple crumble warm, preferably with vanilla ice cream on top, paired with a warm cup of coffee or tea.

You might also want to check out other food bloggers’ recipes:

• Alice’s Cranberry Apple Crisp Recipe or 10-minute Apple Crisp — that girl knows her desserts, and knows how to dessert. That’s right, I just used the word as a verb. :p
• Kalyn’s Low-Sugar Pumpkin and Apple Crumble — Pumpkin? Who would have thought? I love it already.
• Shaheen’s Crispy Apple Crumble with walnuts. I’m making a note here to try adding nuts next time I make a crumble.
• Annemarie, on the other hand, uses almonds and ameretto in her Apple and Almond Crumble. She’s not shy about putting 1/4 cup of liquor in her fruit mix. Adult crisp it is!
• Haalo’s Apple and Rhubarb Crumble with stewed rhubarb! and shredded coconut! makes me want to take a moment of silence to pause and ponder at the wonderfulness of it.
• Helene’s Crystallized Ginger Apple Crumble had me at ginger.