My own tried-and-true recipes for home cooks.
Almond Croissant Cookies
From ChatGPT:
"Transform your kitchen into a patisserie with our Almond Croissant Cookies recipe. These delightful treats capture the essence of a traditional almond croissant but in a convenient cookie form. Perfect for any occasion, these cookies are a delightful blend of buttery, flaky layers and rich almond flavor. Let's dive into this simple yet scrumptious recipe that will have your family and friends begging for more."
Chocolate Macarons
Arguably the ultimate flavor of macarons if done correctly is chocolate (or maybe it’s vanilla, or possibly raspberry…it could actually be pistachio, too). And you’d be shocked at just how different a homemade chocolate macaron is versus what you buy at even the best French bakeries. When you make this recipe, you’ll never want to buy another macaron again. They’re rich, moist, crisp at first and then chewy on the inside. The chocolate flavor is almost too naughty. This is essentially a brownie taken to the most elevated and elegant level. Store-bought ones are nothing, and I mean like trash, compared to these.
Strawberry-Shortcake Macarons
I wanted to make this variety of macarons because I had never seen it before, the filling is so easy to make, everyone loves strawberries, and you can make it year round. Usually macarons are filled with a buttercream of some sort. But if I can make something whipped cream over a buttercream, I’m gonna take that opportunity to save a lot of effort. I thought the whipped cream + macaron combo also made sense because a lot of the time a traditional buttercream is so rich inside a macaron (especially when you add as much filling as I do).
You can also feel free to experiment with other kinds of jam (just make sure to dye to shells accordingly). Raspberry would work great, as would blueberry and cherry.
Macaron Shells
Macaron shells, fairly though, are infamous for being very hard to make. I understand this sentiment completely. It’s my job to make these treats a little more digestible and convenient to make. My recipe is adapted from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery “Vanilla Macarons” recipe. This recipe gives consistently great macarons. But I made it even easier by swapping an Italian meringue for a Swiss one (less cleaning and less multi-tasking required). Note also that this recipe will work for all flavors of macarons. That’s because the flavor of macarons is not in the shell (besides chocolate and vanilla); it’s actually just in the frosting. Thus, you can dye the shells whatever color your heart desires to give the illusion that they are actually flavored the same way as your filling.
Trout Almondine
I think trout almondine is one of those classic French dishes that seems unattainable in a home kitchen setting. I don’t know where this thinking comes from because it’s actually quite a simple recipe. Brown the fish, take ‘em out, add the sauce stuff to the pan, and spoon the sauce over the fish. And what you end up with is something almost magical. Between the saltiness of the capers, the richness of the browned butter (it tastes like there’s more than just 2 tbsp. somehow), and the delicacy of the trout itself, this is my new go-to dish for trout or whenever I want to make an easy fish dish that impresses.
Citrus Salad with Radicchio and Endive
I wanted to make a salad that puts this citrus front-and-center, without making the dish watery, overly saccharine, or bland. To hit this perfect balance, I chose complementary toppings like manchego cheese and toasted almonds, as well as hardy radicchio and endive to give the salad some heft. Toasting the almonds in olive oil, which later becomes the dressing with lemon juice, imparts a roasted quality to the dish that is just so delicious. What’s best, though—use whatever sweet or tart citrus you want!