Kitchen Musings chronicles my culinary obsessions from macarons to duck confit. Why macarons? I tend to gravitate toward the multi-step, epic long cooking instructions. Macarons, for example, require meticulous measuring of ingredients and require a certain amount of experience to mix the batter just right. Mix it too much and the little cookies become irregular and flat as pancakes; mix them too little and you get poofy, meringue-like shells. It’s easy to become obsessed with macarons, as they challenge me at every turn. Nowadays, I could bake 300 of them a day for my little pastry business but they still come back to bite me when I become too complacent.
Fine, they are finicky cookies, but what the heck exactly are they? Macarons are iconic pastries in Paris – flavors change with the season much like haute couture – it’s almost a sin to call them cookies. At first, I could not understand what the fuss was with them as I’ve tasted numerous mail-order ones and they tasted all too sweet with meringue-like texture. Then during a trip to San Francisco in a chic pastry boutique called Miette, I couldn’t resist these pastel-colored egg-white and almond confections that were stacked so adorably in a jar. I finally had my taste of a real macaron, whose shells gently crackle to give way to a pillowy slightly chewy interior, bonding exquisitely with the most luxurious buttercream.
But macarons are not the only things that preoccupy me nowadays. I’ve been on the quest for a stir-fry that embodies “wok hei” meaning the breath of a wok. Creating a dish like this is not only about technique. It also takes guts to see how high, I dare crank up the heat to attain the perfect stir-fry.
I wish I could say I’ve always cooked but that’s not necessarily true. I did grow up in the restaurant business but all I did was eat! However, at a later stage in my life I found my calling and started documenting my cooking adventures in this blog. I have amassed a library of cookbooks and though I have not extracted a recipe from every one of them, each has provided some inspiration in one form or another.
Through all my cooking triumphs and misadventures there is always one person with me every step of the way: "Hungry" Hubby, my lovable OCD spouse, food disposer extraordinaire, photographer and now videographer, part time dishwasher and muscleman around the kitchen, he is as much a part of this blog as I am.
So join me as I expand my recipe box from Asian to Persian and French gastronome. Each cuisine is diverse in preparation and taste but every one of them is a testament to my love affair with food.
For questions about a specific recipe, please email me at kitchenmusings at gmail dot com.
Follow my random thoughts on Twitter at @kitchenmusings.
Product samples – I have decided to stop accepting product samples. It is hard to review a product I have not paid for. You can email me to let me know about a great product and I’ll go check it out.
Book reviews – I accept cookbooks for review but I do not promise to devote a post about them.
Kitchen Musings
Tales of culinary obsessions
Recent Comments
Quick peek: The Cordial Cricket Sweets Table (2)
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I love tarts! (9)
- El: I’ve made this too. It’s really good, isn’t it? Love the pistachio!
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Hi,
i have a question. I would like to have a confit of pork belly but with crisp skin. It’s the texture im after. How would you achieve this the following day after the pork is refrigerated overnight.
Thanks,
E
Hi Enda,
I usually fry the pork belly. If you do a search for pork belly confit on this site, the post labeled “for the love of pork” is where I made it.
Veron, I think it is fantastic that you went from being a home cook to a professional cool. Every one of your baked creations looks phenomenal. Did you do a short-course or a full-year course at the CIA (sorry, wasnt able to discern by reading your posts). I would adore to do smthg like this at the Cordon Bleu in France or Ballymaloe in Ireland- but can’t take time off from work (and my husband!). How did you do it? *In awe and admiration*
Hi Veron,
I saw your post on Katheen Flinn’s site expressing your interest in Le Cordon Bleu. I am currently attending LCB’s Basic Cuisine program and am keeping a daily blog about my experiences at the school. I thought it may interest you.
Also, I love your blog. The recipes and the accompanying photography are fantastic.
Mark
ooops..I meant Kathleen. Sorry!
I was wondering about your transition from avid cook to professional as well. I work with The Culinary Institute LeNotre blog and am familiar with their programs. What was your jump?
sorry for my late reply.
Shayma -I took a week of classes at CIA, it was a bootcamp class. I don’t think I can do full-time pastry programs. I think I’m too old, I don’t think I have enough workable years to make back the cost. I grew up in a restaurant, so running food business is not exactly foreign to me. I still don’t know how far I am going to take this. It has been fun and scary so far!
Mark – I am envious. I love reading about experiences in Cooking school.
Patricia – I would love to take the chocolate program at lenotre next. I just finish a macaron stage at another school.
Patricia – regarding my jump it was 99% passion in the beginning. I’m going back through the business side of it right now. Actually I plan to close the shop for 4 months to redo some recipes, streamline production, inventory etc. It’s more than just “Oh, I want to start a business” so many things come into play, accounting, insurance and of course …profit.
Hello Veron,
My name is Janet and I would like to talk to you about your statement and tell you my story. It has something to do with age-
thanks
Janet 1-7-2010
hi there
i live in australia and we have a little market business selling italian and french patisserie products. would love to show you some pics too.!! we are desperately looking for the trays that you find in most patisseries throughout france that hold the macaron as we find transporting them is our biggest hurdle. any ideas???
p.s. your macaron look amazing
So you think starting a pastry program at my age (39) is not a wise idea? I really feel like I need the professional experience. I have no commercial kitchen experience whatsoever. All I have is a love of cooking&baking. I’m just happiest when I’m in the kitchen at home and producing good looking&tasting food makes me feel fulfilled. I feel I could do that forever. But I’m wondering what is the smartest way to achieve my goals? Your comment “…I’m too old, I don’t think I have enough workable years to make back the cost.” has me thinking. Should I invest the large sum of money in a baking & pastry degree or take small courses where&when ever possible? Hope you don’t mind my asking but I value your opinion.
I have found that many of the students at Le Notre are drawn by their passion of culinary and Pastry arts, often after many years at a career where they did not get the same satisfaction. I recently wrote 3 blogs after I interviewed 3 recent grads, all very different, all very inspirational. One thing I can say with regard to Odette’s question is that LeNotre has an amazing placement program and are very networked into the Master Chef network because of their pedigree. That is something I would recommend check out in a school.
Odette, By the way the average age in culinary schools is in your age bracket.
Patricia
Odette, By the way the average age in culinary schools is in your age bracket.
Hi,
Considering how much you love to bake, I thought this contest may be of interest to you. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and we want to make sure you know about the delicious Valentine’s Day sweepstakes going on right now for Pillsbury® Cinnamon Rolls.
You and your readers can enter for a chance to win one of several Valentine’s Day breakfast baskets, with everything you need to make a special Sunday morning for family and friends, including a signed cookbook from Sandra Lee.
Visit the Pillsbury Facebook Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/Pillsbury to become a fan and to enter. The sweepstakes ends Feb.10 – don’t miss this opportunity to make your Valentine’s Day a little sweeter!
I’m happy to answer any questions you have.
Thanks for your time,
Lia Middlebrook on behalf of Pillsbury
hello Veron,
i am interested in putting up a bakeshop also in nj- can you walk me as to how to start? thanks
Hi Veronica,
I heard this piece on NPR the other day and thought of you….Move Over, Cupcake: Make Way For The Macaron
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123566536
Vernon, understand the closing shop to get the business side together. I have the business background first. So many fail that do not think through the business plan, you obviously know that!
Veron, are you by chance a Cantonese as you’ve used the term “wok hei” – that is rarely used by those from Fujian in the Philippines. Moreover, there used to be more Cantonese in Baguio before 1960’s. And there are lots of “Leungs” there too like the owner of Sunshine (who later Filipinize their family name).
Keep on cooking or baking.
i love coming by at your’e blog for years now.
i do share your’e taste and agree with all we both have tasted
and, that’s amazing!
i little envie you for the being at the PH-atelier. i would love to participate a confiserie-class with him!! do you know how i could make my dream come true?
greetings and regards from a chef and fan living in switzerland
Veron, Not sure how it has taken so long for me to find your wonderful blog, but now that I have you will undoubtedly see me here frequently. As someone who lived in Paris for a couple of years, you have in me a kindred spirit where your culinary obsessions are concerned. Duck confit….macarons….oh my, a woman after my own heart. Best – Steve
HI, do you also use the double pan method?
Gail – I do not use double pans. I find it to clunky to do.
Hello,
I recently tried the pierre herme vanilla tart recipe from your blog and want to say thanks for putting it up, I had it in paris 5 months ago and it was the best tart ive ever had. I am a professional pastry chef and chocolatier in san francisco ca. I did have a problem with the glaze and have not glazed the disks yet, what I want to know is are you sure the recipe you have posted for the glaze is acurate, it immediately seized up when I added the neutrel glaze. I would highly appreciate your response if you have time, thanks so much
shawn
Shawn, the recipe is accurate. Did you boil the neutral glaze with the sugar syrup before adding it to the ganache?
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Since it seems of interest, I wanted to point out some culinary careers that I’ve recently written about on the Blog LeNotre. http://lenotreblog.blogspot.com/ Gives some good ideas about what businesses LeNotre Alumni have started after graduation.
Patricia
Hello, I have my heard set on doing macaroons as my wedding favors. I found a local pastry shop that will make them. The problem is packaging them. They tell me that the macaroons need to be kept cool so are advising that I wait to package them the day of the wedding so they look good once they’re at the wedding. I would rather not be packaging 200 macaroon favors on my wedding day.
Do you have any recommendations for a way to package the macaroons earlier so they don’t melt and look good once they’re at the wedding? Thanks for your help!
You can always package your favors a day or two before but you do have to keep them refrigerated. also it’s best to have ganache type fillings instead of buttercream or caramel for weddings more so for favors.
Hi Veron, I was just wondering how many trays of macarons do you usually bake at one time in an oven if you’re trying to make bulk macarons? Would baking multiple trays offset the temperature? Would you need to raise it? lol, I’m actually trying to figure this out myself. I’m basically on my 10th trial and error macaron batch right now…my oven or the macaron gods doesn’t wanna play nice with me