Chou Chou à la Crème

is supposed to look like those pretty thingies up there :D om nom nom
home made chou chou a la creme recipe from a friend :X lil Vicky

should make 30 chou chou

for the chou chou
250ml water
100g butter
5g sugar
3g salt
150g flour
5 eggs

- heat water, butter, sugar and salt in a pot until all the butter has melted
- add flour and mix thoroughly
- add eggs in one by one and whisk until the mixture is smooth
- butter or oil the tray/ use baking paper. put mixture into a cone bag and squeeze out small portions. should be around 2cm in diameter. they will expand when baked
- preheat oven to 180*C, baked for 30 minutes. do not open oven in the first 15mins
- take out and let cool


for creme filling
50g flour
100g sugar
6 yellow yolk
500 ml milk

- separate 6 yellow yolks and beat well with sugar, add flour and beat well
- bring milk to a boil while stirring constantly
- pour the boiling milk into mixture of eggs, flour and sugar and mix well
- pour back into pot, continue heating and stirring until thick and presumably edible
- allow to cool and put into cone bag


for chou chou a la creme
- poke the cone bag into the chou chou and squeeze the creme in for a non messy look
- OR slice the chou chou horizontally on one side and stick the filling in there

it should end up looking something like this when you make it urself :3 photo and chou chou by Vicky

the end

Poutine

cheese + fries + gravy
sounds disgusting right?
yeah

it's actually not bad
gravy is gross i admit but at least it tastes decent. fries are just fries, you either hate it or you love it depending on your stand on fastfood. but the mozzarella makes up for it with the chewy texture and the oh-so-good-i-love-you sweetness that is MOZZARELLA !!

first time i had this? McGill metro station in montreal with my beloved baka.

it will not be the last. waiting to try some again.

Valentine's Chocolate

it's that time of year again -sigh- this time i wanna try to actually make chocolate candies

up on the list right now is
1. chocolate hearts
2. chocolate truffles

the hearts are pretty simple and this is what i think i want to do for it
- as much chocolate as you want
- parchment/baking paper
- ziplock bag
- a microwave~

- put small pieces of chocolate or chocolate chips of your choice into a ziplock bag and melt in the microwave.
- watch the thing spin around and around and remove the bag with caution since chocolate can be very hot. chocolate doesn't need to be completely flowly and liquidy. it should be thick for shaping.
- cut off a small corner of the ziplock bag and squeeze the melted chocolate onto the parchment/baking paper into shapes of your choice. if the chocolate is not thick enough, the shape may not hold or you can't get the pieces to have enough thickness.
- decorate with sweet candy, other color of chocolates or anything of your choice if necessary.
- allow to cool and harden in fridge.
- remove from fridge, eat it or give it to your friends and loved ones :"3

i'll have to try it out and see how this really works but i think it would be quite easy in fact. will post results by next week


truffles can be a tad more difficult. but i'm liking the recipe i found on 'joy of baking' website.
full article here. below is the shortened version/recipe only

8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons alcohol (Cognac, brandy

, kirsch, rum, bourbon, or Kahlua to name a few) (optional)

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth. If desired, add the liqueur. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm (this will take several hours or overnight).

Place your coatings for the truffles on a plate. Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. With your hands, or else a melon baller or small spoon form the chocolate into round or mis-shaped bite-sized balls. Immediately roll the truffle in the coating and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray. Cover and place in the refrigerator until firm. Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. Bring to room temperature before serving.

should look something like this

BON APPETIT~

what and why...

think of this as a collection of my favourite recipes
regardless of where i retrieved them from (of course credited) if they are simple, fail-proof and absolutely irresistible or they are one of the things i dream of at night, they are here

this is also a sort of journal for me to keep track of what i've done and what i need improving on :)


a few things i've tried so far

- french flan
- crème brulée
- bánh trôi
- bánh chay
- crispy crèpe (with peach, apple, chocolate, sweet milk or cheese filling)
- mung bean pudding
- odango with soy(terrible) or strawberry sauce (loved it)
- random fruit salads and juices

- club sandwich
- canh cải cúc/cải xanh
- bún chả/nem
- bún đậu mắm tôm :">
- kimchi chige
- bok choi sautée in soysauce
- cream seafood soup
- spaghetti in a heavy cream sauce with chicken and mushroom
- spaghetti in marinara with pork
- mango, pomelo, shrimp and avocado salad tossed in chili lemon dressing
- chicken simmered in ginger sauce
- caramelized pork with eggs

- other normal random dinner foods and weird salad combinations


i have a long way to go and i really hope i can learn much more

aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh the useless chef wanna beeeee~