Daring Bakers Challenge: Eclairs!

Today is my first official "reveal" with the Daring Bakers. I was a little taken aback when I read that the August challenge was: ECLAIRS!

Specifically, the bakers were challenged to Pierre's Herme's Chocolate Eclair recipe. We were instructed that we had to use the Choux Pastry recipe as written. However we were allowed to substitute one of the chocolate components, if we liked.


I was successful the first time out of the gate with the puffs! I was quite well pleased.

Then it was on to the filling. I opted for a vanilla custard filling and used the chocolate sauce to top.


All in all, the family was happy and my friends impressed.

I was proud.

The Omnivore's One Hundred

The Omnivore’s One Hundred

I read this survey on one of my subs in my feeds:

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Da Bee's Knees' Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (I hope alligator is close enough!)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari (yum!)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (ate it as a young child with my Father. Found out what it was as a teen...Yech!)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (Homemade by the abuelita!)
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi Honey lassi rocks, though....
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (and had the headache to prove it)
39. Gumbo (ain’t none bettah dan Nana’s, no.)
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (Fruit should NOT smell like that!)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (Ewwwwww......... foiled by Daddy again!)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (over rated, IMHO)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky (And my kids love them, too!)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa (I’ve had harissa in West Indian food... it that the same?)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Seventy-three of the hundred listed! Not bad, eh???

Chocolate Chip Cookie or A Brownie?

Why would anyone choose between a chocolate chip cookie or a brownie, when you can have both?

Beats me.