Chocolate Eclairs

Éclairs....Mmmmmmm! Éclairs consist of 3 different components: 1)Pâte à Choux (the dough), 2)Pastry Cream and 3)Chocolate Ganache. I had never heard of the term Pâte à Choux until we made eclairs in school. Also known as Éclair paste, it is unique among doughs because it is cooked on the stove top before baking. Pàte à Choux can be used to make Eclairs, Paris Brest, Cream Puffs or Profiteroles. It just depends on how you pipe out the dough.

These take some time to make since there are 3 different recipes that have to be assembled together in the end, but the outcome is very rewarding. These are amazing!!! Even the leftovers from the fridge were great the next day.

I made most of them into eclairs but the ones below are little cream puffs filled with chocolate ice cream!

Incredibly Easy Chicken & Noodles

Today I am going to share my go-to chicken and noodle recipe. I love it because it's super easy. Early in the morning I will start cooking the chicken in the crock pot with the chicken broth. Put it on low for 6 hours. Then I take the chicken out, shred it and add all the other ingredients except the noodles. About 45 minutes before serving time, add the noodles.

These are great served with mashed potatoes and corn. I love mixing my corn into the chicken noodles and mashed potatoes. I have since I was a kid. Doe anyone else do this or am I the only wacko? :)

Mojo Pork

Check out this amazing pork dish that my friend Catherine made for us a few weeks ago. It tasted like she spent the whole day cooking it because it was so juicy, tender, and full of wonderful flavors! It just so happens to be a crockpot recipe! I love using my crockpot!!! Catherine served this pork with rice, black beans, and fried plantains. Each person sitting around the dining room table that night gave it a two thumbs up!

The secret is in this bottle. It's called Goya Mojo Criollo Marinade. It is full of flavor, takes little effort to use and is perfect for a pork, chicken, or beef.

BLT - New and Improved

I saw this idea many moons ago and have been wanting to try it out. I had a couple tomatoes from the garden left so I thought now was a great time to make a BLT sandwich. I love bacon! Don't we all? But I hate when my bacon keeps sliding off my sandwich while trying to eat it. I know longer have this problem! Introducing... the bacon weave!!! It's perfect! It fits the entire size of a slice of bread and does not slide off while biting into it. It's just like weaving a basket or making a lattice top pie shell. Give it a try. I promise you're gonna love it!

This is what it looks like after you weave the pieces together:


BLT - New and Improved

"B"acon
"L"ettuce
"T"omato
Bread
Miracle Whip

For each sandwich, take 3 slices of bacon and cut them in half. Place 3 of the cut slices vertical and 3 slices horizontal. Weave them together and then fry! Assemble your BLT and enjoy.

{I cannot remember where in the world I saw this idea. Unfortunately I did not come up with it on my own. I'm sorry for not giving any credit to the person who deserves it...I just can't remember who to give credit to!}

Culinary School - Weeks 10 and 11

Let me first let out a sigh of relief....Finals are over!!! :)

During Week 10 we focused on plating desserts. We had to pay special attention to the way we presented the desserts we made this week. Flavor, temperature, texture, color, and garnishes were all taken into consideration while we each practiced arranging different desserts on plates. We made Poached Pears with a red wine reduction sauce; Fudge Brownies topped with a square of marshmallow and small serving of Mardarin Sorbet on top, garnished with a dried orange slice; practiced making more Pate a Choux and garnished it with Chocolate Caramel Sauce and some fresh fruit. We also made Raspberry Mousse served in shot glasses and our Banana Pecan ice cream with Tulipe cookies.

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week I had finals! The written exam for my Baking and Pastries Lab was on Wednesday. Thursday I had a 4 hour cooking practical and a 2 hour written exam for my Baking and Pastries Concepts class. I rocked the cooking practical!!! It could not have gone any better. I got 5's (on and 1-5 scale) on most everything I turned in. What a great day!

For the cooking practical we had to make:
1. Sweet Tart Dough baked into little tartlets
2. Pastry Cream
3. Pate a Choux
4. Creme Anglais
5. Caramel Sauce
6. Cinnamon Rolls

We had to plate 3 decorated tartlets and 3 empty shells; 3 cream puffs filled with pastry cream and garnished with caramel sauce and creme anglais and 3 empty cream puffs; as well as 6 cinnamon rolls, 3 glazed and 3 plain. In the prior weeks, I had a tendency to underbake my cream puffs a bit and overbake my mini tart shells, but today was a day of perfection. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

I am excited to have the next week off of classes but pretty bummed that these classes are over. They are by far my favorite so far and I had so much fun making so many amazing desserts! It's also hard to believe that I am half-way done with this program already!

My next three classes are Advanced Cakes and Classical Torts, Chocolate & Confectionary, and Sugar Works. Should be fun!

Fresh Pineapple Salsa

Kudos to my sister for making this amazing salsa for us. It was such a great change from ordinary salsa and it tasted wonderful. There was sweetness from the pineapple and a kick at the end from the jalapenos.

No Bake Banana Crunch Bars

I'm a huge fan of breakfast cereals. I can't start my morning off without eating breakfast first. I'll even admit that most of the time, my breakfast consists of a sugary kid's cereal.

I'm also a big fan of Post Banana Nut Crunch. My dad eats a bowl of it every single day and has for the last 10+ years (or however long the cereal has been on the market). I needed to make a dessert to take to the lakehouse one weekend and I knew my Dad was going to be there so I wanted to try this recipe.

It has a great peanut butter taste but I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't taste any banana from the Banana Nut Crunch cereal. Other than that it was very tasty and a good change from the standard peanut butter Rice Krispie treats.