Pierre Herme French Macarons

When Mike and I started planning for our trip to London and Paris, Mike was in charge of planning out London and I was in charge of Paris.  On my list of places to visit was "Pierre Herme", which is famous for french macarons.

After succumbing to the fact that the majority of things in Paris were expensive, I didn't even blink an eyelash at the fact that I paid ~12 euros for 7 macaroons.  It didn't seem so bad; until I paid off my credit card bill with the currency conversion back to US dollars. 
I was quite excited to taste Pierre Herme's macaroons after always reading about them in various food blogs. I also wanted to taste these macaroons, so that I had an idea of what I was striving for in the kitchen.

I was wondering why all my macarons seemed to have a brown autumn tone to them, until I drew the conclusion that Pierre Herme must offer macaroons to match the season. 

Here's our box of macaroons. 

Creme Brulee, Salted Caramel, Green Tea and Chestnut, Chocolate and Cassis, Coing and Rose (Pear and Rose), Chocolate and Passion Fruit, Dark Chocolate.

The white truffle macaroon had to be packaged separately from the rest of the macaroons, because the aroma would overpower the other macaroons. The white truffle macaroon was surprisingly good, but I'd have to say that my favorite was the Chocolate and Passion Fruit and the Green Tea and Chestnut. 

Pierre Herme macaroons were very flavorful and contained a lot of filling.  I also liked how there were a lot of non-traditional flavors to choose from. If I had to choose between Pierre Herme and Laduree, I think I'd choose Laduree's macaroons because I think there was more balance between the outershell and the filling.

Here is another dessert that we tried from Pierre Herme.  I think it was called a chocolate box or something. The chocolate was good, but I'd reccommend spending your money on macarons instead of this dessert. 

we're off to hawaii

Mike and I are taking our first vacation of the year!
We'll be back home in Hawaii in less than 24 hours! 
Shave ice, kulolo, manapua here we come!

Research Chefs Association (RCA) Conference Part 1

We're back from our short but eventful trip to the Research Chefs Association's (RCA) conference. I'll be posting pictures of all the food that we partook in and events that we participated in. Here's one of the highlights of my trip. We met Richard Blais from Top Chef Season 4-Chicago. If you do not know who Richard Blais is, he's the guy who did the "molecular gastronomy" cooking, but wasn't the arrogant mad scientist guy from the previous season. Personally, I think he should have won the season, but Stephanie, the girl who won that season was pretty good too. I just felt that through out the show, the producers were trying to push for a girl to win the season. Stephanie was consistent and didn't mess up in the finale. And if we've learned anything this past season of "Top Chef," a mediocre guy can win just because he did not mess up in the finale (this is in reference to Hosea's win). Yeah, after this season I think I'm going to refrain from adding "Top Chef" to my TV lineup.
When I watch these reality TV shows like "Top Chef" or "American Idol" I end up rooting for the contestants who seem like nice people. For example, my favorite this season of AI is Anoop. Do I think he has the best voice or that he is going to win? No, but I sure hope so. In reality (or in Vegas for that matter) I'm sure the odds are in favor of Adam (the Broadway singer) winning AI this season.
I digressed...my point was that Richard Blais is down to earth. My friends and I concluded that he seems like a star that did not want the spotlight. His "molecular gastronomy" session was speckled with self-depreciating humor and tidbits about "Star Wars" and "Top Chef," but I think that's what made him likable. Blais's "Tongue and Cheek" sous-vide pickled beef tongue and pork cheek with a yogurt ravioli (sodium alginate/calcium lactate reaction) over a picked beet and pear relish, with a horseradish foam all served in a petri dish.
And for kicks (and Derek) I took a picture with Louis Petrozza. I never became a fan of watching "Hell's Kitchen" but I did watch the season 4's finale and I thought this guy should have won that season. After talking to Derek, he said that Petrozza was the guy to watch during the season and he didn't win because he was much older than the girl who won.

So, I did not pull a "Bayless" as we now call it. Please refer to my previous post about my missed opportunity to meet Rick Bayless. When in the company of a famous person or someone I want to meet, I am not going to hesistate for a milisecond. I am just going to tap him/her on the shoulder and introduce myself. I am such a groupie....argghh.

Road Trip! Chicago

Mike and I spent Friday on a road trip to C-H-I-C-A-G-O! Okay, that's not so exciting when we actually live 2.5-3hours south of Chicago, but still, here's our action-packed day.
This our second trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. And guess what? Certain days are "Free Days" so our $19/admission was free. It makes the $16/parking easier to stomach. The museums in Chicago are super cool. I really like the Museum of Science and Industry and the Art Institute of Chicago. I'd rather *gasp* go to these museums than shop for clothes! I even curbed my clothes shopping habit, since after I graduate, I realize I have to pack my stuff up in the two suitcases I came with so I can fit on a plane to go home.

We then picked Kendell up since she was in town and then stopped at a restaurant I've been eyeing out for a while. Rick Bayless's Frontera Grill. Chou gave me a Rick Bayless cookbook last year, but Mike and I haven't made anything in the book yet.

Mike ordered the Puerco en Mole Coloradito (grilled-roasted Maple Creek pork loin in classic Oaxacan mole coloradito of ancho chile, sweet spices and chocolate. bacon-infused Iroquois white corn torta, frilled green beans)

Kendell had the Tacos al Carbon (wood-grilled poultry sliced and served with roasted pepper rajas, two salsas, frijoles charros, guacamole and homemade tortillas)

and I ordered the Pescado Encalabazado (red chile-marinated day-boat, cooked over the coals, in garlicky red chile-butternut sauce. Red chile rice, braise dlacinato kale, crispy butternut. I also ordered the tortilla soup from Frontera Grill's sister restaurant "Tompolobampo."

We shared the homemade ice cream (brownie chunk? and corn ice cream) with chocolate sauce and cajeta (goat's milk caramel). The corn ice cream was really yummy!

The prices were suprisingly reasonable for a celebrity chef's restaurant.

We had reservations for a 12noon lunch, and when we walk in, I my eyes quickly focus on Rick Bayless! The Rick Bayless. I didn't know that chefs actually are present in their own restaurant for a lunch service. In case you do not know who Rick Bayless is, he's a chef in Chicago known for Mexican/Spanish influenced dishes. He lost to Bobby Flay on the American version of "Iron Chef" and is the owner of Tompolobampo, which is frequented by Barack Obama.

I'm still kicking myself for not having the guts to go up to Rick Bayless and ask him if we could take a picture. He was sitting on a stool a few feet away from me (and looked just like he did on tv), and starstruck Lauren could not get over her jitters to go up to him.

*Note to self* Next time I see someone famous, I will not hesistate and I will muster up the courage to talk to him/her.

Dropped Kendell off at the airport and then headed to Trader Joe's. The mochi ice cream there was super cheap ($3.50?) for a box of 6, so Mike and I inhaled the whole box of mochi ice cream in the first 30 minutes of the drive back to Champaign. I mean we had to eat the mochi ice cream, or it would have melted.

And that left us with Saturday to sleep all our adventures off.

back in champaign, spam contest

(This is a picture of my grocery shopping and suitcase exploded on the floor. )
We finally arrived back in Champaign and boy am I tired! I will post pictures of my New Orleans experience in a few days. I have to do a few loads of laundry, organize my research and life, and then will post.
UIUC did quite well at the conference. Joey, the undergrad in our lab took first place in the undergrad oral competition; Alyssa placed first in the food micro poster competition; I somehow managed to place first in the sensory evaluation division's oral competition; and our Product Development team placed 2nd with our "Dream Pie Bars."

The most exciting news that I can't wait to blog about is the Spam contest that occurred last weekend in Hawaii. My friend Shayna won the competition! That is soooo amazing! Click here for the article in the Honolulu Advertiser. Shayna entered a spam mochi rice and won first place. And first place is an all-expensive paid trip for two to Las Vegas!
Shayna is a wonderful person and always so positive and smiley all the time. During and after college we would have double and triple date nights which were sooo fun! If you talk to her about one of our date nights, she'd probably bring up the time Ron and I started ice cream straight from the carton while she went to get bowls. Yes, she was very upset that we contaminated the carton. good times, good times.
This photo was taken from the Honolulu Advertiser online. PHOTOS BY FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM

been busy

I've been busy studying for my qualifying exam, so i do not have time to post much on here. plus it's crunch time at school and i have a lot on my mind. here are some food pictures from my trip to taiwan. on the left is a picture of some of the drinks available in taiwan. in the middle is a sticky rice stuffed in bamboo. the last picture is one of a typical taiwanese "special" dinner.