Cream Puffs

My dear reader,

I must confess that I am only making the puffs of cream puffs, sans cream. I totally made a delicious filling.

They are quite good on their own admittedly, I just ate one. It was savory goodness.

I used Jaden Hair's recipe, as featured on her blog, here, for the pate a choux (or choux) dough.

The recipe is as follows:

• 1 cup water
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup of flourDanielle
• 4 eggs (large) or 1 cup of eggs
• pinch o' salt

I like how making the dough is different, because you cook in a sense. This type of dough starts in a pot on a stove. I placed my butter and water into a saucepan (which I wouldn't suggest, in retrospect) and let it come to a simmer (that is, after the butter is all melted). Also, when the butter is simmering, if the water gets to the surface it will boil rapidly. (Prepare to be blinded by SCIENCE!!!) The water has a lower boiling point, so by the time the butter starts simmering, the water is already prepared to boil, and furiously.

A sea of butter

Once it gets to this simmering point, it's time to add the flour. I stirred with wooden spoon (wooden utensil highly recommended for minimal mess) in one direction until the flour sopped up all of the liquid and yielded a squishy dough.

Add the eggs one by one, and don't worry if its real slippery at first. They get incorporated eventually. Each time you add an egg, keep stirring it in until the mixture returns to its original doughy texture, then add the next.

I used a template to ensure mine came out at a similar 1.5" diameter. To pipe them, take a ziploc bag, stand it up in a container like a cup, and fill. Then snip off a corner, small one, and squeeze in one spot until you have a blob to a size of your liking.

I used a ruler and right triangle tool--the one in geometry sets

This method is highly recommended ;O

If you don't bake it all at once...you can store the dough like this.

The tips burn easily...

So wet your finger...and smush them down

The blobs are baked at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then at 325 degrees (all Fahrenheit) for 18 minutes more (or longer if your puffs are bigger, up to 30 minutes).

After they came out of the oven, I slit little mouths into them, to let out steam and help them cool.

A close up...if you were here...you'd smell butter :)

Once they are cool, I used a pack of instant chocolate pudding mix, but reduced the milk from 2 cups to 1 3/4 cups. After mixing, I immediately put it into a baggie, as I did with the choux dough, and let it set. After it set, I snipped off a teeny corner, 2 mm, and fed the puffs the pudding...and viola!! Delicious chocolate cream puffs. Pictures will be added.

Stay cool!!

Sweet Pea

Japanese Cuisine Adventure: Day 1

Hello readers,
It's officially summer. It's so hot. Thank goodness for the thunderstorm last night, otherwise I would have to resort to living in my cold basement for the rest of summer, and living on water.

I've decided to start making japanese food, following some recipe's of Sabi Shinojima's Authentic Japanese Cuisine: For Beginners.

I decided that I wanted to start with simmered dishes. So that starts by making Kombu Dashi.

All you need is some Kombu Dashi seaweed, and water.

She gives a helpful tip for measuring; if you know the size of your hand span, then it makes for easy reference. Mine is about 6".

I took 5" piece of the kombu dashi, wiped it down with a damp paper towel on both sides, then placed it in 6 cups of water. Then I put the bowl of water and seaweed into my fridge to sit overnight. It was that simple.

5 inches/12 cm of dashi kombu seaweed

wipe

let sit overnight

All I did today was prepare the Kombu Dashi, tomorrow, I will do some simmered dishes.

(Though it would be incorrect if I said that's all I did, I made sushi and tempura too. My tip is to use 3mm thick slices of eggplant, it tastes sweet and refreshing. Also, my mom used enoki mushrooms for tempura too, and it was good. Just separate them into little bunches of 3 or less stems, place them in tempura batter, and fry them in bunches like a nest of mushrooms.)

Enoki mushroom tempura looks like modern art :O
Or something from underwater

Cucumber triva: Cucumbers glisten when you cut them :D

The adventure continues...

Until then, stay hungry :)

Sweet Pea