Instawares Cooks: Vanilla Bean Cookies with Marcona Almonds

What is it?

Sweet vanilla beans and delicate Marcona almonds make buttery shortbread cookies even better. Shortbread cookies are simple to make. The dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Prep Time

20 Minutes

Total Time

1 Hour 20 Minutes

Servings

24 Cookies

Ingredients

226 grams / 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
60 grams / 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Madagascar vanilla bean
260 grams / 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 grams / 1/4 teaspoon salt
24 Marcona almonds
16 grams / 2 teaspoons Turbinado Sugar

Directions

Split vanilla bean lengthwise, and then use the back of a knife to scrape vanilla beans from pod.
In the bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand blender, beat butter and vanilla beans until smooth and creamy.
Scrape sides of bowl then add sugar and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Then, with mixer or hand blender on low speed, add flour and beat just until incorporated and the dough comes together.
Transfer dough to wax paper or plastic wrap. Shape dough into a 12-inch long log.
Refrigerate dough 30 minutes to 1 hour until thoroughly chilled and firm.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove dough from refrigerator then slice into 24 (1/2-inch) rounds
Place cookie rounds onto prepared baking sheets. Lightly press one almond into the middle of each cookie then sprinkle tops of cookies with sugar.
Bake cookies 9 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Cool on wired rack.

… Read the rest

South Korea’s Take On: Taco Bell

Americans might think Taco Bell is taking chances, with dishes such as Doritos Locos Tacos (and it’s recent variant, Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos) being as absurd as flavor can get, and their Grillers being decent budget food. Additionally, there’s the whole Cantina menu that offers healthier, higher-budget options. Looking beyond the border (despite Taco Bell encouraging you to run only to the border), you’ll find that other countries have their fair share of oddities. South Korea has a few interesting treats we’re going to share.

Bulgogi

To understand some of the oddities of the (South) Korean Taco Bell, you need to understand what “bulgogi” is . Literally translated as “Fire Meat”, bulgogi is grilled marinated beef, chicken, and pork. It’s a Korean staple, as much as barbecue in America, and naturally, Taco Bell would look to incorporate it in their dishes.

Two items jump out as taking advantage of the meat. The Fiesta Bulgogi Taco and Grilled Bulgogi Burrito, for the most part, look exactly like the ground beef burrito and tacos that the Bell serves worldwide, but the taste is definitely a variation from their norm.

Sides and Desserts

While traditional American Taco Bells carry chips as their main side dish, South Korea is one of the many countries where you can actually get a decidedly un-Mexican side dish: french fries. Offered up as Fries Bellgrande, it’s a nacho-stylized take on the fast food favorite.

For dessert, or a sweeter fare, you can have Sweet Toastadas (or “Tastadas,” as the site varies in spelling), which are sugar-dusted sweet chips with chocolate and caramel dipping sauces, or the Chocodilla, a chocolate-filled quesadilla (which is definitely one of the odder ways to make a quesadilla). No Choco Tacos in site, despite being the superior chocolate, Mexican-inspired dessert.

If you went … Read the rest

April Food Holidays

April 1

Sourdough Bread isn’t any sort of April Fool’s joke, but is the right way to start the month. Maybe make a sourdough bread bowl to pour soup in if it’s cold.

April 2

It’s a classic combination, but Peanut Butter and Jelly should be enjoyed today. Maybe keep some leftover sourdough bread to make the sandwich.

April 3

There’s not much to a Chocolate Mousse outside of whipped cream, but it’s a very sweet, light, and airy dish that’ll be a nice dessert.

April 4

Chicken Cordon Bleu? Veal? Pork? Pound it out flat, wrap it around ham or proscuitto and swiss, bread it and bake or fry it. Surprisingly simple, so you should give it a shot.

April 5

Caramel might be a decent dipper for a Raisin and Spice Bar, although it’d be a little unhealthy.

April 6

Popcorn is one of the healthiest snacks out there. Naturally, drizzle caramel all over it to make Caramel Popcorn, a much-less-healthy-but-more-delicious snack.

April 7

It doesn’t have to be a Drake’s Coffee Cake, but Seinfeld might fight someone over it.

April 8

“Empanar” means to wrap or coat in bread. Therefore, an Empanada is a dish that wraps a filling in bread, fried. The filling can be meat, cheese, veggies, fruit, and more. Effectively, it’s a calzone, Spanish-style.

April 9

While Chinese Almond Cookies might be a delicious treat, they’re not actual from China; they come from Chinese restaurants in America. From there, they went back to China.

April 10

Make crescent rolls, but spread cinnamon butter across the pastry to make Cinnamon Crescents. Bake them the same, and your savory breakfast treat has gone sweet.

April 11

Swiss, French alpine, and Italian alpine are different types of Cheese Fondue. It’s … Read the rest

March Viral Videos

The world demands the inverse of Pepsi Clear: Brown Sprite!

Kobayashi eats a pizza in one minute. It takes me eight days (“a slice of pizza for breakfast a day keeps the doctor well-paid”, I believe the saying goes.)

Free range bread has to be healthier than factory-produced bread, right?

Crown crust pizza in Canada proves that crazy pizza dishes aren’t excluded from North America.

Dominos likes you. They thought you should know that.

What is truly healthier, butter or margarine?

CBS News took a look into the world of the Jiro who dreams of sushi.

Dominos Pizza (a trend this month, apparently) awkwardly promotes Japanese digital superstar, Hatsune Miku.

Dominos Pizza also, awkwardly, promotes pizza in Taiwan.

And finally, they go to the moon.

“Blackanese” is an intriguing culinary fusion.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

MSNBC covers the “Soda Ban” heatedly, but donuts completely throw the discussion off.

This is the life of a burger.

Dabbawallas deliver more impressively than your local take-out guy.

An Oreo gun? YES.

Sticks of eggs? Maybe?

Triple Double Challenge? Definitely.

Who knew “They’re after me Lucky Charms!” would become a musical sensation?

Noted libertarian Ron Swanson has a longstanding history with food.… Read the rest

Beer Battered Onion Ring Potato Chips? Ruffles Takes It To The MAX

It’s not the oddest flavor around; that might go to the Sriracha, Chicken And Waffles, or Cheesy Garlic Bread trio coming from Lay’s as part of a contest. In fact, it seems a little redundant with the world of side-dishes. Still, it sounds rather delicious.

Ruffles MAX has announced a Beer-Battered Onion Ring flavored potato chip variety. The goal is to combine two men-oriented things, such as beer-battered onions rings and the Ruffles MAX brand, which is all about bringing real-world dish flavors to the potato chip form factor, Huffington Post reports.

The Beer-Battered Onion Ring flavor joins the other two Rufflex MAX tastes, Loaded Bacon and Cheddar Potato Skins and Smokehouse Style BBQ Flavored chips. What makes the onion-flavored potato chips different than the Sour Cream and Onion variety? Knock out the sour cream and pour in the beer.

These may go over well with a pint or two when watching the game with friends, sure, but there’s greater potential here. Instead of just using the chips as-is, you can always grind and crush them up and use them as a coating for chicken tenders, porkchops, and the like. How does Ruffles MAX Beer-Battered Onion Ring Flavored Potato Chip Crusted Chicken Tenders sound to you? It’s very little work for a large amount of success.… Read the rest

February Viral Videos

Every month, we grab the best video clips from the web that focus on food. Kill a few minutes at work and watch some food clips without having to turn on your TV.

It’s slightly horrifying, but this tea commercial proves how tea can drown fears.

“The Last Barfighter” looks to bring fighting back to the bar, in a safe way.

Did you know that White Castle becomes The Love Castle on Valentine’s Day?

The language might get a little R-Rated, but pizza has a long legacy on film.

The invention of the Long Island Iced Tea will make you want one.

The most expensive Starbucks drink? Better pay up in a dozen donuts if you order it.

Drinking bubble tea? That’s living Bobalife.

“Pizza Ramen” sounds better than it comes out, but still offers a nice idea.

“Udon Miso and Cheese” sounds a bit better.

Grey Poupon returns with a more action-packed angle.

But still likes the finer things, like gravy yachts.… Read the rest

Lays Offers Chicken, Waffles, Sriracha, And Cheesy Garlic Bread Chips?

We’ll admit, the following trio aren’t the craziest of potato chip flavors we’ve run across; that honor has to go to the Pepsi and Chicken-flavored chips in Japan. On shelves now, Lays is letting consumers vote on which new flavor of potato chip to make permanent.

Chicken and Waffles
Sriracha (this isn’t our first or even second article about Sriracha being added to everything)
Cheesy Garlic Bread

In May, only one bag will remain, according to Huffington Post. Actually, that’s incorrect. If they all sell well, then they might all stay. There’d be no reason for them to kill off a popular new item, after all. The person who submitted the winning flavor will win $1 million or 1% of the chip’s profits in 2013, whichever is greater (the other two creators will win $50,000).

Consumers can text VOTE to 24477, or use the hashtag #SaveSriracha, #SaveChickenWaffles, or #SaveGarlicBread to support their favorite variety.

I’ll check them all out, but even my favorite Sriracha seasoning might fall to the wayside next to cheesy garlic bread. I’m not a large potato chip eater, but I’ll give everything a shot. Which of the three are you ready and willing to try?… Read the rest