Pâte à choux avec crème de matcha

Love the cream + strawberry combo.

I used a regular puff pastry recipe. Basic puff pastry making goes like this:

• Bring to a boil 1/2 cup water, 2 tsp sugar and 3 tbsp butter
• Add 1/2 cup flour
• Mix, mix, mix with a wooden spoon
• Take it off the heat
• Add 2 beaten eggs and mix quickly
• Pipe the dough into balls
• Bake them at 375°F for 30 min

 When adding the eggs to the flour mixture, you want to mix them in quickly. That's called tempering your eggs, it prevents getting scrambled eggs even though you are adding them to a hot mixture. You can use a wisk when incorporating the egg with the flour mixture if they aren't combining properly. Your mixture should not be clumpy. This recipe make 8 big puffs or 16 small puffs (I prefer the small ones they are so cute!!).

The puffs, even if they are small must be baked 25-30 min. That's because steam is what makes puffs rise, and if they aren't cooked enough (even if they look poofy) they will collapse on themselves because the inside is too moist. This said, if your puffs are looking done trust your instincts! You can always pop them back in if they look like they're collapsing.

Matcha whipped cream is the best thing ever:
Whipped cream + icing sugar to your liking + knife tip of matcha

Split your puffs and cool them down before putting on the whipped cream. Keep your whipped cream in the fridge if it looks runny. Then just give it a wisk.

Slice your strawberries and dust icing sugar.

There, you've made a gorgeous and delicious (adorable!) dessert. I can't wait to have a dinner party.

The Granola Bar expriment - trial 1

After reading a Globe & Mail article questioning the nutritious quality of most granola bars, the general consensus in my house was that they were no better (sugar content wise) than chocolate bars. Big shocker! This just goes to show how much advertising can change our view of a product. I can also think of McDonald's recent restaurant renovations, trying to revamp it's image from a gross, dirty fast-food place, into a stylish and child-friendly restaurant.

Anyway, I'm not going to go into a hate fest about advertising! But this granola bar issue has inspired an experiment of mine. How to make a not-so-sweet granola bar? Or maybe, how to make your own granola bar? By making your granola bar, you can customize to your heart's content. Plus it's way cheaper than buying them.

So here is trial #1, a recipe from the heart and stroke foundation called Protein Bars.

They are more like squares than bars. They aren't really as hard as granola bars should be. But they are nutritious, I'll give them that! The recipe has no added oil other than that from the peanut butter and the nuts in the musli. There is only 1/4 cup of sugar, plus the dried cranberries and raisins. It's also got some tofu, non-fat yogurt, 1 whole egg and 1 egg white, how's that for protein!

Now that I think about it, perhaps the musli I bought wasn't chunky enough, which is why it absorbed the liquid and became mush. It doesn't help that I forgot to add the peanut butter once it was ready to cook. I had to put it back in the bowl and mix the PB in vigorously. Indeed, that can't have helped...

Regardless! I don't like it! I've realised there's no way out for the granola bar, it needs to have sugar as a binder. It's the only thing which will give the granola the perfect texture.

But I haven't given up yet, this was only the first trial.

Weekend breakfast

Guess what!!

I just had French Toast :)
I've always found the name french toast in english a little funny. In french we say pain dorée. Which means golden bread. A far more worthy word for the dish in my opinion. It's sooo tasty.

I don't know how you make yours, but I put some milk with my eggs so the bread stays mushy inside. And, I fry mine delicately in butter (a must if you ask me!).

Lately I love butter. It's so buttery. A great description, I know. It just helps round the flavors off so nicely. And it's such a homey, rustic taste as well!

I also don't recommend you add bananas in there. The starberries gave a tartness needed, but the bananas made things too creamy.

Wednesday home lunch

Hi guys, I seem to have gotten out of my hybernation. I'm going to make a point of taking pictures of what I eat more often!
This has rather japanese inspirations.
Tofu soaked in a little soy sauce and sweet potatoes, both baked.
Onions and wilted spinach. And a miso soup ( soooo goood on a cold day! ^__^)