Daring Bakers: Eclairs.

So. The Daring Bakers challenge this month was... eclairs. I love eclairs. In ninth grade, there was a fundraiser for band. Well. This was back in California, so the band fundraisers were actually good. This particular one sold cheesecake, cookie dough, jellyrolls, and.. eclairs. (The band fundraiser here in Texas? Personalised pens. Yep. Twenty-dollar pens that had your name on it. They told us we had to get a sample to show everyone. So we all signed the paper. Then once we got our sample pens they told us, "Oh, if you don't sell at least seven pens, you have to pay for the sample." Anyone want a black-ink green pen that has me name on it? I only write in blue ink. All they offer is black.) Anyway. I had my mom buy me the eclairs. They were amazing. I loved them.

So a few months ago, I decided I wanted to try making eclairs. They didn't work out so well. I didn't fancy them at all.

Nevertheless, I pressed on with this challenge. It called for a pate a choux, a chocolate pastry cream, and a chocolate glaze. I chose to follow the recipe for the choux and the glaze. Instead of pastry cream, I filled it with milk chocolate mousse.

They were... okay. I wasn't thrilled by the choux. I don't recall -how- long I baked the choux, but I know it was about thirty-five minutes or more. And -still- they weren't completely dry. They were still moist. But I was impatient. It was also really eggy. It made me think of french toast. But without any vanilla or cinnamon. When I paired it with the chocolate mousse, it helped some, but. It didn't help enough for me to make the rest. I made three. My sisters and I were home alone that night, so I made one for all of us. The youngest liked it. The other decided she didn't like the chocolate mousse.


With the rest of the mousse, I chose to make a chocolate mousse pie with. And just because I happened to have graham cracker crumbs in the pantry. I was addicted to that crust. Really. I baked it and it was toasty goodness.

Tacos. Fish Tacos.

Okay, so. There's not much of a recipe here. More.. just showing of the picture in hopes you find it interesting.

I had some frozen salmon I had been doing all sorts of things with. This was probably my favourite. I just made a rub for the salmon, cooked it in my cast iron skillet, cut it into chunks, and put it into two warmed flour totillas. Then I topped it with what I found in my fridge. Which was basically the leftovers from the hamburgers we ate the night before. It was amazing.


Salmon Tacos

1 4-ounce salmon fillet
seasonings or rub of your choice, enough to coat the fillet
oil
toppings of your choice (I used shredded lettuce, slice avocado, caramelised onions, and salsa)
two small flour tortillas, warmed

Rinse and pat dry the salmon. Sprinkle on your seasoning, then cover and set in the fridge for about fifteen minutes or so. (I simply seasoned it, and put it in the fridge while I prepared my toppings and heated my skillet.)

Which brings me to my next point. Preheat a small skillet and lightly coat the bottom with oil. Take the salmon out of the fridge and cook the fillet, about four minutes per side, or until cooked completely through.

Cut the salmon into chunks and divide the chunks evenly amongst the tortillas. (I cut my fillet into eight chunks and gave each tortilla four.) Top with whatever toppings you'd like. I chose left over carmelised onions, lettuce, and avocado, with a little salsa. Oh, my god. Those onions really made it so amazing, paired with the creaminess of the avocado, the cool, clean crisp of the lettuce, and the refreshing salsa. (Fresh local salsa... it's so good; I'm actually willing to pay the four bucks for it, so yeah. It's good.) It really was amazing.