070 - NUTELLA French Toast

Okay. Quick one. Breakfast made easy.

Nutella French Toast.

Slay those girls, and serve this in bed. They’ll love you to death.

For 1 serving, you will need;

-         Bread – 2 Slices

-         Butter – 15 Grams

-         Nutella – 3 Tbsp

-         Eggs – 1 Whole

-         Milk – 5 Tbsp

-         Sugar – 1½ Tbsp

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Crack the Eggs into a shallow bowl, add Milk and Sugar, whisk thoroughly, set aside

Step 2 – Spread Nutella on the inside of the bread, sandwich the two together.

Step 3 – Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat.

Step 4 – Dip the bread into the egg mixture, gently press down so it absorbs a lot of the liquid. Do it on both sides.

Step 5 – Melt the Butter in the pan and fry the bread, and please, for the love of God, DON’T MOVE IT. Leave it be for 3 minutes on medium heat.

Step 6 – Once the bottom turns golden brown, give it a flip and let the other side cook for an additional 2 minutes on medium heat.

Step 7 – When you smell the lovely goodness in the air, it’s finished.

Step 8 – Serve!

Cheers

xx

058 - CREPES!

Welcome back people!

Phew, it’s been 2 weeks since my last post. Sorry for going A.W.O.L, I just can’t resist a cheap return ticket to Singapore on board the fabulous Air France! Yes sir, I got a USD 160 return trip with their newly retrofitted Boeing 777-300ER. Which, in short, is F*CKING AWESOME!

I’ve published my report about the flight here, but since this is food blog, let me talk to you about their meal. They served a three course meal in one plate. 

This is the best i could manage that night. Not bad, eh?

First one I tried is this cabbage/cucumber salad with lemon dressing topped with (a rather dry) grilled chicken. Thank God for the dressing, totally saved me from bad experience with the chicken. Second was a bread roll (I think it was wheat), paired with Camembert cheese. Cheese was off the shelves, so nothing there to complaint about. Last was a lemon-sugar cake. It was so sweet; I don’t think I can finish it. But thank God for the Coffee (now this one is delicious!), the bitterness counteract the sweetness perfectly.

Anyway, that story doesn't have anything to do with today’s recipe.

Let’s make some CREPES!

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For 4-6 piece of crepes (depending on your size), you will need:

1 Cup of Flour

2 Eggs

Pinch of Salt

1 Cup of Cold Milk

2 Tbsp of Melted Butter/Margarine

(optional) 1 Tbsp of Vanilla Extract

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Grab a large mixing bowl and proceed to crack your eggs. Grab a whisk and start stirring gently to mix.

Step 2 – Slowly pour the melted Butter/Margarine in. Once that’s done, do the same with the milk. Slow and steady. Gentle like the night. Don’t go it to quick, or else it won’t combine, and might separate.

Step 3 – Add the salt (and vanilla extract if you want), gently stir to combine.

Step 4 – Add the flour, a little at a time. Use the whisk slowly to avoid it from making a mess in your kitchen (at this point, 4 out of 5 of you probably done a little mess already :p)

Step 5 – Now, this is optional, but I like my batter to be lump free and as smooth as Scarlett Johansson’s tummy. So what do I do? I grabbed a fine strainer (mine turned out to be flour sifter), and run the batter through it. The results were a feast for the eyes. A lovely lump-free batter ready for the pan!

Step 6 – Heat your non-stick pan on medium high heat. Remember, non-stick is necessity for crepes, regular pan just don’t cut it. You don’t need to grease your pan, because the batter is not sticky at all. Once it’s hot, quickly pour your batter. Now, you probably wander how much would you need right? For this one, I use my ½ cup sized measurement cup to ensure standard shape of the final product.

Step 7 – Watch the pan, when you see holes forming, it’s almost done. I ended up cooking the first side for about 1,5 minute, and the other for 1 minute. Once it’s done, line the plate with paper towels between each crepes to avoid it from sticking.

Step 8 – Serve!

I love crepes. Seriously love ‘em! I can eat them for breakfast all day.

The great thing about Crepes is that there are no limit on how one would enjoy it. With powdered sugar and lemon? Check. Nutella? Check. Maple Syrup? Check. Crème Fraiche? Check. ANYTHING!

Give this a go, and let me know how it turns out. Either comment here or tag me on Instagram (my username is @gilangshanahan btw).

Cheers

xx

013 - Chocolate Nutella Mousse

Yes yes yes, a lot of you over on Twitter and Path had been requesting dessert recipe for quite a while. Fret not, I’m going to fill your hunger for it. All hail the almighty

Chocolate

Nutella

Mousse.

This fucker right here will get any job done. No Joke!

This recipe is fast (under an hour cooking, that’s fast right?), it’s creamy, it’s sweet, it’s chocolatey (I’m not even sure if this is a right word tbh lol), and it HITS. THE. SPOT. Let’s cut the crap and go straight to the good stuff!

Here’s everything you need:

175 ml of Whipping Cream

150 grams of good quality chocolate. Always look for the ones containing ‘Cocoa Mass’ and ‘Cocoa Butter’ in it. This is a good sign that it is made with REAL chocolate, not with some cheap ass hydrogenated palm/vegetable oil.

6 tbsp of warm, full cream milk.

20 grams of unsalted butter

And here’s the one ingredient that will give this mousse that secret kick. That cream of the crop. That cherry on the top:

NUTELLA. Not too much, 1 tbsp will suffice!

Oh, you will also need either a whisk or an electric Mixer.

So, have you got everything prepped?

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Ensure your whipping cream is fridge cold, so does your bowl. But since I’m too lazy, it’s only the cream that is as cold as the Alaskan winter. Measure it, and put it into the bowl.

Step 2 – Whisk the whipping cream with your preferred utensil. I usually use whisk, but since that will gave your wrist the worst ache ever afterwards, I’m going with the mixer. You’ll need to whisk it until it reaches the stage of ‘firm peak’. That, is when you pick up the cream, it stays still, but soft enough to be still pliable. NEVER whisk it beyond that point. You will only get a lumpy, inedible, ugly looking cream.

Still Liquid.

BEGIN

Starting to take shape

ah, it's getting fatter by the minute

DONE

Stiff Peaks

Step 3 – Once you finished whisking, put the cream into the fridge to wait.

Step 4 – Fill a small pot and fill it with water. Once you done that, find a bowl that will fit on top of the pot. We will melt the chocolate slowly over the boiling water WITHOUT letting the bowl touch the water at all. Put your chocolate and butter together, and let it melt slowly for about 6-10 minutes. This technique is called au bain-marie, or, in simple English, water bath.

Chocolate and Butter in

Step 5 – Once all the chocolate and butter melted and looked like a lump, put your warm milk, 1 tbsp at a time. This will ensure a smooth consistency, or else, if you fuck it up, it will be much harder to fix.

Lumpy mess

Dairy to the rescue!

Step 6 – After all the mix had been mixed, transfer the chocolate to a large plastic bowl, and stir constantly with a spatula to bring it to room temperature. I use plastic because it doesn’t contain heat, thus, making cooling process much faster.

Still hot

Incorporating cold air

Ready for the mix

Step 7 – Once the chocolate has cooled, it’s time to mix it with the cream. DON'T FORGET YOUR NUTELLA!. We will use a folding motion to ensure the mix get blended smoothly. Remember: Chocolate mousse GOTTA be smooth.

The HOLY GRAIL

Starting

Still folding

Starting to take shape!

Almost there!

FINISHED. BLOODY 'ELL

Step 8 – Transfer the mix to your preferred serving glass,  and put in in the fridge for at least 3-4 hour.

Step 9 – INDULGE

Well I gotta tell you

*gulped a spoonful*

This mousse is

*gulped another spoonful*

FUCKIN’ DELICIOUS.

*munch munch munch*

Give it a try!

Peace

xx