Sweet Pasta Salad

             
         Pastas and noodles are in good terms with my son and he likes to have them plain. He hates cooked vegetables in them and find excuses to avoid them. When I make vegetable noodles, he tend to fish out the noodles from among the vegetables and blame it on his tool. To my questions, he answers with a cheeky grin. "Oh mom, only the noodles tangle on the fork and the vegetables tend to fall away" (!) And I find myself at a loss for words...

           But he likes raw vegetables, unless they are not 'plants' ( that's what he calls the green leaves like lettuce and parsley). So when he started fishing out the 'plants' from his salad, I had to think of a better plan to make him eat them. He love the salads we used to get from Pizza hut and Sweet Pasta Salad was his favourite. I have wondered, why he never noticed lettuce in it. More often he ate more salad than Pizza. So I thought it was high time I tried the pasta salad at home. I googled for the recipe and what I found tasted no where near to the salad on our tongue. So I made my own experiments and somehow the salad turned out to be a Pizza hut sibling (if not a clone). Actually it was so simple and I was glad that my son loved it. Surprise! Surprise! he didn't notice 'plants' in it.

Sweet Pasta Salad

Things you need:

300g spiral pasta/ Rotini pasta
2 carrots, cut into small cubes
1 small head of romaine lettuce, torn
1 green /red bell pepper (capsicum). cut into small pieces
1 cup steam cooked sweet corn
1/2 tsp black pepper pdr
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp oregano (optional)
Salt to taste


Method:

• Cook pasta in lightly salted boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes.
• Drain and transfer to a salad bowl. Add the carrots, lettuce, bell pepper and sweet corn and combine.
• In another bowl combine the mayonnaise, honey, pepper, lemon juice,salt and oregano.
• Toss the salad with dressing.
• Chill for 1 to 2 hrs in refrigerator and serve.

Padavalam Parippu Thoran

           
              You must have noticed by now that I have posted a variety of Thorans in KB till date. Being a Keralite, I cannot help making thorans as they are the most commonly eaten side dishes at home ( with rice) and with out one the lunch seems bland and uninspiring. Coconut being an important ingredient of Thoran, I am sure that people beyond Kerala (where coconut is not abundant) doesn't make thorans at home, as obsessively as a Keralite. I usually temper the thorans and upperis (mezhukku puratti) with coconut oil to impart that real authentic taste.

             This is a Thoran made with Snake gourd or Padavalam and lentils, which I frequently make at home and my family enjoys. Just thought of sharing it with you..

Padavalam Parippu Thoran

Things you need:

Snake gourd/padavalam - 250g

Red lentil or yellow lentil (parippu) -1/4 cup

Grated coconut         -  1/4 cup

Green chilli                -  2 to 3

Shallots/pearl onion (cheriyulli) -3

Garlic                                      - 2 cloves

Turmeric powder                     - 1/4 tsp

Salt                                          - to taste

For tempering:

Mustard seeds     - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds/ cheriya jeera  - 1/4 tsp

Shallots, sliced                     - 2

Dry red chilli /vattal mulaku  - 1 or 2

Curry leaves                        - a sprig

Coconut oil                          - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Skin and seed the snake gourd and slice it to small thin slices. Pulse the coconut along with the green chillies, shallots, garlic and turmeric powder.Cook the lentils in a little water and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and slutter mustard seeds and cumin. Add sliced shallots and red chillies and saute for a few minutes. Now add curry leaves and add the pulsed coconut mixture. Add the sliced snake guard to this and stir well until combined. Add 1/4 cup of water and salt and cook covered until done.
3. Add the cooked lentils to this and serve hot with rice.

Avocado Smoothie

          Juices and smoothies are in vogue now. As the temperature starts climbing again after a stagnant state at low, thirst quenchers and cool drinks are in favour again. Simple iced drinks to nourishing and energising smoothies has begun hitting the screens of blogs recently.

           When I was in college, I used to visit a nearby cool bar with friends amidst tiring and boring sessions of OP on my internship. The drinks which always cooled our souls were Avocado smoothie (which was called Butter shake there) and Chickoo shake. It had such a soothing cooling impact on our body and soul that, I feel a sense of hugging coldness in my throat whenever I think about those super yummy milk shakes.

Needless to say we were frequent customers at that tiny, crappy coolbar.

          

            Those milk shakes were made with frozen milk cubes which were smashed with a hammer like thing and blended with fruits. They were too cold and we felt like it froze our food pipe on its way down. And more often we felt difficulty to talk with numb tongues just like after eating super cold ice creams. Yet it was a pleasure and we never stoped visiting the cool bar for those ultra cold thick milk shakes and smoothies.

           Lately Avocados have hit the market from different parts of the world and there are lot of varieties to choose from like US, Kenyan, SriLankan etc.. We take our share of Avocados every week and mostly use it for smoothies. Avocado smoothie is a favourite in my place and I make it the way we used to get it from the coolbar, but I don't use frozen milk. Instead I use plain milk and ice cubes. Here is how it is....

Avocado Smoothie Recipe:

(Yields 4 cups)

Things you need:

1 ripe Avocado

2 cups milk (full fat or low fat)

1 cup ice cubes

Sugar or honey to taste

Mint leaves(optional), to garnish

Method:

1.     Check the Avocado for ripeness. It should yield slightly to touch but should not pit excessively. If not properly ripe it would be rigid to touch and taste kind of bitter. Now cut the avocados horizontally and remove the seed.

                                 

2.    Scrape the flesh with a spoon into the blender and discard the skin. Now add the remaining ingredients and blend in a blender until thick and with out lumps.

3.   Pour it to tall glasses and garnish with mint leaves or avocado slices. Serve.

Sunshine Macarons inspired by Summer

Spring is in the air

Summer is here

Sunshine never seize to inspire

Play with colours

Red n yellow showers

Simply think it's again happy hours

         So Yes! It's that happy time of the year.. So poetic and picturesque. The broiling sunshine, the jaded green grasses, sparkling calm waters and chirping birds.. You would simply love to scribble poems and sit and enjoy the beautiful weather. Such a blissful occasion to let your imagination loose in everything from food to fair writing. The weather is so pleasant that it imparts a realistic essence of vigour in all actions... and I set out to make macarons again.

         I had lot of ideas. I haven't yet participated in the Mac Attack at MAC TWEETS, a blog started exclusively for Macaron enthusiasts to share their mac adventures by two talented bloggers, Deeba and Jamie. This time they have set the theme to 'dual colored macarons' and I was more than willing to take the challenge in my elated mood. Thinking of the coming summer and the vibrant sun, the two colours which came to my mind were orange and yellow. Yes! the colour of Sunshine.

          For the double colour effect I borrowed Kim of Macaron Fetish's method of putting different bags of batter into one piping bag and then squeeze to finish. For the shells I used the basic macaron recipe. For the flavour sake, lemon curd for the filling and dashes of 'sumac powder' on the top of the shells. Tangy and tempting, it tasted perfect for the season. If you are not a tangy love kinda person, the flavour may seem a little overpowering. In that case you can always go for jams and jellies and of course chocolate ganache.

            This time I baked all the batches in my fan forced convection oven and they came out perfect as the heating was even. I found that baking macarons is easier in it than in the conventional gas oven I have with heating element at the bottom. I have seen some blogs quoting that you cannot bake macarons in a fan forced convection oven which I find is ridiculous as I get better results in it. I have doubts on whether they have even baked their macarons in fan forced CO, before they commented on its outcome. To see more about oven temperatures and macaron tips check my previous post on macarons.

Sunshine Macarons Recipe:

For the Macaron shells:

65 g ground almonds
100 g icing sugar
50 g aged egg whites (about two egg whites)
25g granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
Yellow and orange powdered food colour
Sumac powder (for garnish)

Lemon curd filling:

Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk

Method:

For the shell:


1. Firstly age the egg whites: Place egg whites in a clean bowl and cover lightly with a kitchen towel or tissue paper. It should not have any streaks of yolk in it. Keep it in your kitchen counter for 24 to 48 hours or up to 5 days in the fridge. Aging egg whites help to reduce its water content which is turn makes firmer shells for cookies.

2.Pulse the almond powder and icing sugar in the food processor or blender until fine and sift it into a large bowl to break lumps and aerate it. Discard any lumps or almond pieces. Keep it aside.

3.Whisk egg whites in a squeaky clean stainless steel bowl with no traces of fat in it, using an electric beater(medium speed) adding a pinch of salt.When the egg whites become foamy( like bubble bath) start adding granulated sugar slowly and beat on high until stiff glossy peaks.

4.Fold in the dry mixture to the meringue( beaten egg white) in two batches,quickly with a flexible spatula until well combined and no dry mixture is visible in the batter (it takes about 50 to 55 folds).At this stage your batter should be smooth, thick and shiny which slowly and ruggedly drips off your spatula as a ribbon when you lift it. Do not over mix once you have reached that thick batter stage.

5. Divide the batter equally and add orange food colour powder to one batter and yellow powdered food colour to the other and fold gently until combined. Take 2 plastic freezing bags, fold the bottom side up to the right, so that you can fill up the bag via the opening.Staple along the sides and fill each one with different coloured batter.Or you can use two piping bags and fill each with the different coloured batter.

6. Put those 2 bags carefully in the piping bag ,fitted with a round tip nozzle and  pipe your macarons on to the baking sheet lined with parchment paper (about 2 and1/2cm diameter) leaving two inches between them. It should spread a bit as it settles. The point should slowly disappear if the mixture is the right consistency. If not you could hit the bottom of the tray with your hand to smooth the point. Sprinkle sumac powder over them.

7. Let your macarons sit for about 10 to 15 minutes. This will depend on the humidity in your house and the day. Try touching the macaron softly, after 15mins. It should not stick to your hand.If it does keep for a few minutes more.

8. Preheat the oven(fan forced convection oven)to 180 degree Cand then reduce to 160 degree while baking and bake the macarons for 15 to 20 minutes until completely done.

9.Take them out and let cool on a wire wrack along with baking paper for 15 to 20 minutes. Peel them out carefully with an offset spatula and sort them out with same size shells.

Make Lemon Curd:

• Stir together the lemon zest, juice and sugar in a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
• Beat the yolks together in a medium bowl and temper with the hot lemon mixture.(that is: add a little hot liquid and quickly whisk in, then add a little more and whisk in)
• Pour the egg mixture into the sauce pan and stir constantly over medium heat until the liquid thickens (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Filling:


Take two shells of same size, invert one and pipe a small dollop of lemon curd on to the base. Gently press the other shell over it to sandwich the filling in between. Do like this for the rest of the shells and keep in fridge to mature before you eat it. Enjoy!

Sending this to Mac Attack #29 conducted by MACTWEETS

Savoury bread toast

                      

             Every body knows, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Yet making kids eat it as you wish is a near impossible task. If they are picky eaters the matter becomes all the more abrasive. Since all the busy moms find cooking up complicated meals for them, time killing consuming, easy and quick fixed breakfast dishes are more than ever in demand.

           I always keep a pack of bread in my fridge to use when ever I run out of breakfast ideas. They come handy even while making snacks for tea. If you don't feel like making anything, you can still use it with cheese or jams or with your favourite left over chicken curry.

            This is a dish, my mom used to prepare often for us. She usually made it with tea in the evening. Those days, tea time was important as breakfast for us, as we kids were hungry and tired after a day at school. So actually it was a second breakfast for us and we had wholesome meals with eggs, chicken, noodles or bread.

            I had almost forgot about this handy and quick bread toast some how but it became a frequent visitor to the breakfast table recently thanks to my picky eater son who muddled my head to think of all  the left out easy and quick breakfast dishes.

Coming to the recipe..
                     

Savoury bread toast recipe:

Things You need:

4 to 5 slices of bread
1 large egg
3 tbsp milk
1 small onion, sliced
2 green chillies, diced
1 tomato sliced circularly
salt to taste
Veg. oil for frying

Method:

• Pulse the onion and green chillies in a blender until coarsely blended. Beet the egg with milk and salt. Add the pulsed onion chilli mixture and beet again until well combined.
• Heat a frying pan and add oil to it. Dip the bread slices in the egg milk batter and transfer to the frying pan. Top it with a round slice of tomato and shallow fry in medium heat, turning the side once. You can also toast it in the oven brushed with a little butter on top.
• Carefully transfer to a plate when done. Cut into halves and  serve hot with tea or milk.

Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Butter cream frosting

 

"Coffee makes it possible to get out of bed. Chocolate makes it worthwhile."

~Author Unknown

 

      
                       Though I like baking very much, big fat (iced) cakes tends to suffocate me. Even while thinking about the long sessions of frosting, smoothing and  decorations, my spine makes a lazy squeak and my mind tends to go suddenly numb and wary. And I frantically find excuses to leave the larger cakes for another day zeroing in on cup cakes again and again. For I have the excuses that they are easier to make   more charming and beautiful, no fuss about elaborate icing techniques and just a piped swirl or flower looks cute and stunning on them than on any other cakes. And what more, no strangulating thoughts of cutting the cake to smooth slices or how to decently serve them to your guests or kids. So there! cup cakes pop up in my oven very often and big cakes, once in a blue moon.

                     Being a great fan of coffee,I recently wondered why I didn't post any recipes with coffee in KB yet. Though I use coffee in everything from dessert to bread, the thought of posting them had queerly abandoned me!The combination of chocolate and coffee is a tempting flavour in any desserts and cakes. For those who are both chocolate and coffee lovers, there is no better option other than mocha. Add a streak of mocha sauce to your vanilla pudding and it becomes all the more vibrant and flavourful.The sweet aroma of coffee and chocolate which wafts up while the cup cakes are being baked, can never be traded with anything better.

            I make mocha muffins often, as my son loves chocolate and I love coffee. But my cupcake icings were not as good to gawk at. I recently saw a cup cake swirl tutorial ( there is a lot going on in U tube, by the way)  and tried my hand at it. I know it is not as beautiful as they did, but still it is a swirl, and Jr KB gave the verdict 'pretty'. He loved it with chocolate butter cream even better, though there were a lot more clothes with annoying streaks of chocolate cream in the laundry! Mr.KB took one with out comments and then grabbed one more soon after, which is a complement in itself as he is not a great fan of chocolate, nor is he a sweet tooth.

       Coming to the recipe..

Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate butter cream frosting

(Makes about 3 dozen cupcakes)

Things you need:

     

                                                           For muffins:

2 large egg (at room temperature)

1/2 cup (120 ml) butter milk

1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable or canola oil

1/4 cup (60 ml) black coffee or espresso (at room temp.)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup (130 g) all purpose flour

3/4 cup (95 g) whole wheat flour

1/4 cup (25 g) regular, unsweetened cocoa pdr

1 cup (205g) light brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking pdr

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

For frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature

1/4 cup cocoa powder, or 2 ounce semi sweet chocolate squares, melted

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups sifted confectioners sugar

1& 1/2 to 2 tbsp milk



Method:

       Preheat oven to 190 degree C (375 degree F). Place the rack in center of oven and line 2 muffin trays with paper liners.

       In a large bowl , beat the eggs and sugar until creamy and pale.Beat in the butter milk, oil, coffee and vanilla extract.

      In another bowl, whisk together flours,cocoa powder, baking pdr, baking soda and salt.

      With a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stir only until combined. Do not over mix or beat with a whisk.

      Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for 18 to 25 minutes or when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire wrack and let cool for 5 to 10 min, before removing from pan.

Chocolate Butter cream frosting:

 In a bowl cream the butter or margarine with a whisk until smooth. Add cocoa and vanilla extract. Gradually add confectioners sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, often. The icing will now appear dry. Add milk and continue beating at medium speed until light and fluffy.

      Fill it to piping bag and squeeze swirls or rosettes over cooled cup cakes. If you are not using the icing immediately, refrigerate it in an air tight container. It can be stored up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Re whip on low speed before using.

Sweet & Spicy Popcorn

             

                 It would be hard to find a person who just don't love munching pop corns. Irrespective of children or adult, this particular snack happens to be an obsession, when you start munching it. That's the reason why my son drags the bowl of popcorn near to him when he suspects me of taking a better portion before he gets the chance to munch a mouthful down ;) When asked about the flavour and taste of popcorn, I just don't find anything striking to explain ( like sweet, tangy, savoury,piquant..) Still, how it makes an obsession is a cure matter of interest. So I thought yesterday, while I was going to make popcorn for my son, 'why not make it a little flavourful?' (actually make it explainable, flavour wise), and.. this pop corn was born. Actually a little more flavourful and 'explainable' popcorn.
The result : The dragging of popcorn bowl from one person to another became all the more vigorous..
                    and the munching....., all the more obsessive :)

Sweet & Spicy Popcorn Recipe:

Things you need:

6 cups popped popcorn
2 tbsp confectioners sugar/ powdered sugar
1 tbsp melted  butter or liquid margarine
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon/'patta podi'
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/8 tsp cumin powder/jeeraka podi
1/8 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste)

Method:

 Combine one tablespoon of confectioners sugar and all the spice powders with melted butter. Place the popped popcorn in a large bowl and add the spice butter mixture. Toss to coat evenly. Now add the remaining sugar and toss. Serve immediately.

Chicken & Oats Soup

                                                   Cup of delight... Sip it hot

               A hot and delicious Chicken soup had always been my weakness. When my mom used to prepare her special chicken soup for us, fighting with my bro and sis, for a greater share of it was almost always inevitable. Mom used to cook her chicken soup in a pressure cooker with bony chicken pieces and removed the bones after cooking. Added pepper and salt while serving garnished with strands of egg whites. It was always a winner and ended up with me and my siblings fighting to lick the serving bowl and mom commenting on investing in a larger pressure cooker.

              For a lazy brat like me, cooking chicken in a pressure cooker, then removing the bones just seemed sort of painful. Also pressure cooking the bones (so that the marrow comes into soup)of oestrogen fed chicken is not a good idea unless you want to include half a dozen of life style diseases in your buddy list. Mom always prepared her chicken soup with organically fed chickens ( from local farms) which in turn is far from affordable nowadays especially when you are living abroad.

                                                       ..the comfort food..

             Every time we had chicken soup from our favourite restaurant, I had noticed that it had small chunks of chicken breast in it. Without doubt, they never cooked chicken with bones like my mom used to do and consequently took no pains to remove the bones either. So I inferred they added flavour enhancers and probably MSG to make it all the more yummy (which is what comes to my mind whenever I have tasty food from outside, though I don't consider myself a pessimist ;)

             So I was in search of a more easy and healthy chicken soup which ended at Zainab's soup at Arabic Bites and was more than thankful after I made it, in a matter of minutes. Slurp!Slurp! It just bowled me over. A perfect 'Chicken soup for the soul'.Visit her gorgeous blog for more finger licking Arab delights.
Here is the soup I made..

Chicken & Oats Soup Recipe:

Things you need:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (finely chopped)
black pepper powder - to taste
1/4 tsp  Cumin powder(jeera powder) or to taste
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup red or yellow lentil(quick cooking)
5 tbsp quick cooking oats
4 cups water
Fresh parsley or coriander leaves (to garnish)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a sauce pan and add the chicken and saute until lightly browned and almost cooked. Add salt, pepper and cumin powder.
2. Now add lentil, oats and water and bring to boil. After that, simmer the heat and cook  for about 20 to 25 minutes.
3. When the soup starts to thicken, remove from heat,garnish with leaves and serve hot.

Finding feet on French Macarons and Lemon Macaron Recipe

PS: This is a 4 mile long post. So if you don't feel like reading the entire post, feel free to skip the write up and go straight to the recipe. There are a few tips and links to understand macaron procedure better, at the last two paragraphs..

         It has not been long since I too was drawn to the ‘Macaron Mania’. It seems every versatile food blogger is infested with this bug, lately. Often you hear enthusiastic portrayal of the very first success and about ‘finding feet’ and more than often about the ‘mac disasters’. Too many tweets and comments had warned me of the oncoming disasters, if you be even slightly careless. That was really the challenge in itself which gave me wings to play along. I cannot chicken out… not now! Because the challenge had hit me on the forehead and asked “Well, let's see if you would ever find your feet? May be you never would”. So well, ‘Its now. Or never’ I decided. I just couldn't leave this French Almond cookie alone to daunt me for the rest of my life.

                   So, What are MACARONS? (For those who doesn't know yet), They are french cookies made with almond flour, sugar and egg white and has couple of features very unique to them,without which they wouldn't be called MACARONS. It has a smooth crispy dome, a chewy gooey center and a pretty ruffled base which is lovingly called a foot (hence all those fuss about finding 'feet'). Usually two cookies are sandwiched with chocolate ganache or cream cheese or jams or anything of your choice.And it tastes explicit. It shouldn't be confused with 'Macaroons', the 'coconut burfi' like thing which is quite easy to prepare. So you got the clue that making MACARONS  is definitely a delicate and painful process.

                 Many had warned, making this French Cookie as well as eating them can be addictive. I’m not sure on the first because, it is just too much work from grinding, powdering, whisking, mixing and the like. Definitely not for me… but for the 'never tiring', may be. As for eating them, yes! I warn you… it can actually be addictive.  David Lebovitz says, “It is not safe to be home alone with a dozen macarons”. Actually, it is not safer even if your kids are around ;)

                 After reading Helene Dujardin's cute little book about macarons, I thought I had demystified the procedure. Only to discover, I was still a naive at making them, after 7 batches of total 'macawrongs'. But I didn't give up. After all, Pierre Herme (the legendary confectionist) was not born with macarons in his hands. By the time I began to get the hang on things I had read almost all the trouble shooting guides i could get hold of in the web and had seen too many videos (even french) on the 'macaronage technique'.

                  I started making it from scratch. Many had thought, the store bought almond powder can be a pain in the A**. So I decided to make my own, right from blanching the almonds. The wannabe Chef explains how to have perfect blanched almonds. I got fairly fine powder from it after grinding in the food processor and sifting. I think making your own almond powder is better as it is cheaper and more good. I aged my egg whites and beat it to the right consistency, and went with the macaronage (the process of incorporating almond powder with beaten egg whites) quite well, or so I thought. So the batch came out with feet, though not very pretty (They protruded out. Not a quality for good feet). Yet, feet was feet. After reading many blogs of even professionals,I had found that finding feet was not an easy affair; and here I am with a batch of macarons with real feet!!
Ahm! I felt myself taller and stretched a bit on 'my own feet'.
 
                     I can simply understand the emotions of those people who jumped in glee saying 'feet', 'feet', when it actually happened to them. But I didn't do such silly things as there was none to witness my joyous enrapture. But didn't seize to peep into the oven every now and then to see if the subject of talk has actually made its divine appearance. And when it did I simply sighed and murmured.."You silly brat! why couldn't u appear half a dozen batches before. It would have saved my precious time and  a couple of kilos of expensive almonds" (joking here ! you cannot say such things to a macaron feet. It may just disappear after you take it out of the oven. So better give your utmost respect :) )

              Actually my first batch of macarons had feet.. No No No.. before you say Wow! let me explain fully. Yes, they had feet, but the shell was too fragile. So each one cracked while I tried to lift them out. Oops! I think I took them out of the oven too soon ( such an impatient crook like me, you know!). But well, MY FIRST EVER BATCH HAD FEET and that made me a little over confident. I thought those words of cautions and such elaborately expressed apprehensions were mere exaggerations of some whimsical vanity bakers. After all it was just a bit of whisking and folding..

'How wrong I was!'

          I just kept on mumbling after 7 batches of utter macawrongs (as ugly as feet less crabs!!). After the first disaster, making macarons (or macawrongs)  became a routine affair every alternate days, just to perfect the recipe, to the extend that my son started asking every morning "Did you make macarons, mom?" like I ask him, "Did you brush your teeth?"

          Even if they were feetless they tasted the same, just sooo delicious. So there is actually no issues of wasting the cookies. You can enjoy them yourself or give them to unsuspecting guests.So, yes. I began to find my feet after 7 batches (or may be 8). I have learned one or two things about these flimsy cookies too...

Here are a few things I found from my own experience...

1. Never make your batter, too thin. Even if your batter be a little too thick,(due to a higher quantity of almond flour or due to under folding) don't worry. You will probably have more success with it than with a runny batter. You can keep a little bit of almond sugar mixture in excess so that you can add it if you feel your batter is thin.
2. Just like adequate resting time does good to the macarons, too much resting makes them brittle. From my experience, if your batter is thicker, you need very less resting time or none at all and you can bake them right away. But if your batter is on the thinner side, you better keep it to dry out a bit (from 15 minutes to 1 hour)
3. While folding the almond flour mixture into the beaten egg whites, combine them as quickly as possible. Many trouble shooting guides say not to over fold (average 50 to 55 folds is adequate), but they have never mentioned to do the folding quickly. In my earlier batches, I used to fold my batter, counting to fifty but too slowly so as not to hurt the egg whites and at the end I had runny batter as the egg whites would be all deflated by the end.
4. Sift the almond flour with the icing sugar even if you have fine powder. This helps to aerate the batter.
5. If you have pointed domes, after the batter is squeezed to tray, just flatten them using a wet finger to have a smooth dome to your macarons.
6. And yes !I learned something about ovens. Baking macarons in a fan assisted convection oven helps to make the shell stronger compared to a conventional oven. I have a convection oven with fan and a Range cooker oven with the heating element underneath. You can see the difference of dome in my Lemon macarons ( which is a bit fragile and uneven, as you can see ) which was baked in the conventional range cooker oven and the peach coloured macarons, baked in my fan assisted convection oven(which has a stronger shell). Check out my Sunshine macarons baked exclusively in fan assisted convection oven.
7. Age your egg whites (from 2 to 5 days).This helps to make the shells less fragile. But if you are aging it for more than two days, keep it in fridge lightly covered with a paper towel. If you age it for more than 5 days, the egg white would have thickened and hence the volume reduced. So even if you find the weight of egg white same, you will have to take more amount to reach the required volume.
8. Last but not least, It is better to slightly over cook your macarons rather than under cook them, so as to make the cookie less fragile. The dome should be firm to touch when well cooked, but not browned.

                  Here are a few sites which made me understand Macarons and  its technique better.

   *  Ms. Humble of Not So humble Pie, answered many of my intriguing questions in her post, to the extend that every time my macarons flopped, I ran to the computer to see what went wrong.

  *Duncan Markham of Syrup and Tang helped me understand my oven better. You can go through the site to know all about oven temperatures and their effect on macarons.

 * Macaron Mythbusters from Brave Tart helped eradicating some of the myths surrounding macarons and most importantly, gave the message that any one can make them with a little practice.

 * Food nouveau gives a detailed illustrated account of the process quite clearly.

  *Rose of Magpies explains her experience in the macaron baking class.

Basic Macaron Recipe I followed:

Ingredients for shell:

65 g ground almonds

100 g icing sugar

50 g aged egg whites (about two egg whites)

25g granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

(For Lemon Macarons I added 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and a pinch of yellow powdered food colour)

White Chocolate Ganache Filing

100g white chocolate

100 ml thick cream

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

Macaron Procedure:

For the shell:

1.   Firstly age the egg whites: Place egg whites in a clean bowl and cover lightly with a kitchen towel or tissue paper. It should not have any streaks of yolk in it. Keep it in your kitchen counter for 24 to 48 hours or up to 5 days in the fridge. Aging egg whites help to reduce its water content which is turn makes firmer shells for cookies.
2. Pulse the almond powder and icing sugar in the food processor or blender until fine and sift it into a large bowl to break lumps and aerate it. Discard any lumps or almond pieces. Keep it aside.
3. Whisk egg whites in a squeaky clean stainless steel bowl with no traces of fat in it, using an electric beater(medium speed) adding a pinch of salt.When the egg whites become foamy( like bubble bath) start adding granulated sugar slowly and beat on high until stiff glossy peaks. Add food colour (if using) and fold gently until combined.
4. Fold in the dry mixture to the meringue( beaten egg white) in two batches with a flexible spatula until well combined and no dry mixture is visible in the batter (it takes about 50 to 55 folds). Add he lemon zest (if adding) and fold until combined.At this stage your batter should be smooth, thick and shiny which slowly and ruggedly drips off your spatula when you lift it. Do not over mix once you have reached that thick batter stage.
5. Line your baking sheet with baking paper or parchment paper. Fit your piping bag with a round tip nozzle, clamp the bag with a cloth peg or clip just above the nozzle and scoop the batter into the piping bag keeping it in a tall glass to help with the filling. Now remove any air bubbles in the batter by squeezing it towards the nozzle by keeping the icing bag on a flat surface. Twist the ends and remove the cloth peg. Pipe out small rounds of about 2 and 1/2 cm diameter on to the baking paper leaving two inches in between them. Rap the baking sheet on a flat surface, a few times to flatten the batter and to remove any air bubbles, trapped in. 
6. Let the batter sit to dry as long as it leaves no indentation once touched, lightly. DO NOT keep it too long to dry.This resting time vary from place to place depending on weather and humidity. It may take from 10 minutes to 2 hours.
7. Preheat the oven (conventional) to 160 degree C. While keeping the baking sheet, reduce the temperature to 140 degree C and keep the oven door slightly ajar with a wooden spoon while baking. In fan forced convection oven, preheat to 180 degreeC and then reduce to 160 degree while baking and bake the macarons for 15 to 20 minutes until completely done.
8. Take them out  and let cool on a wire wrack along with baking paper for 15 to 20 minutes. Peel them out carefully with an offset spatula and sort them out with same size shells. Fill them with filling and keep in fridge to mature for a day or two for the flavours to blend. Unfilled shells can be frozen.

For white chocolate ganache filling:

         Bring thick cream to simmering point in a heavy bottomed pan. Once small bubbles start to appear along the sides, turn the heat off and add chopped chocolate to it. Stir well with a spatula and add vanilla essence. Leave for a couple of minutes and stir until everything is combined and smooth. Leave aside until firm enough to pipe.

Filling:

        Take two shells of same size, invert one and pipe a small dollop of cream or jam( as I did in the peach coloured macarons) on to the base. Gently press the other shell over it to sandwich the filling in between. Do like this for the rest of the shells and keep in fridge to mature before you eat it (this is the hardest part of all).

Enjoy the fruit of your labour taking time to savour each bite. Yum!!