Food.


Yes and I was both pleased and touched when J decided to cook brunch for me.

We did not celebrate Valentine's day this year as both of us found it overly commercialised. Well, it's good if your bf did celebrate with you but ah well, I guess we just did not want to jostle around with the crowds and pay uber high prices for mediocre food.

Back to the topic of brunch...

The eggs benedict breakfast he cooked was long overdued as he promised to make it a really long time ago. That complaint aside, brunch was really filling as it was lovely.

Our brunch consisted of perfectly poached eggs with store-bought hollandaise sauce coupled with fried bacon, grilled sliced tomatoes, satueed spinach and beautifully-rolled smoked salmon slices. Yummy!

Brunch was especially good.
I'm not just saying it because he made me say so.
So I guess we won't be heading out to eat $20 bucks eggs ben anymore. =))

On a good day, we just MIGHT attempt to make our own hollandaise sauce just to see if it's worth the effort!

Presenting to you my beautiful and yummilicious brunch

***
Korova cookies

A taste of Paris

***

As for me, I decided to make Korova cookies for J because who can resist chocolate?

Korova cookies- these chocolate- chocolate bits cookies are from the inspiring French patisserie chef, Piere Hermé. They are great snacks because the cookies are made from bitter cocoa and chocolate bits- for this, I used milk and dark Lindt chocolate. I love the texture of Korova cookies- crumbly sablés. Also, the hint of saltiness adds a lovely end to the taste of the cookie. I use fleur de sel-the one that my dad bought from France.

Fleur de sel is natural sea salt that is havested from the marshes of Guerande, Brittany. Fleur de sel's crystals are larger and moister than those of table salt and sea salt. The taste is also not as salty. This salt is really great to be added into pastry doughs or even when sprinkling over a finished dish.

The cookies didn't turn out too well in terms of shape due to some problems with the dry ingredients. However, its taste is still as irresistible though it could do with slightly less time in the oven. That I shall take note and attempt my korova cookies soon.

Sift the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together and keep close at hand. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until the butter is soft and creamy. (Alternatively, you can do this and all subsequent steps by hand, working with a sturdy rubber spatula.) Add both sugars, the salt, and vanilla extract and beat for another minute or two. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix only until the dry ingredients are incorporated -- the dough will look crumbly, and that's just right. For the best texture, you want to work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a smooth work surface and squeeze it so that it sticks together in large clumps. Gather the dough into a ball, divide it in half, and working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1-1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter. (Cookie-dough logs have a way of ending up with hollow centers, so as you're shaping each log, flatten it once or twice and roll it up from one long side to the other, just to make certain you haven't got an air channel.) Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill them for at least 1 hour. (Wrapped airtight, the logs can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for I month.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and keep them close at hand.

Working with a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick. (Don't be upset if the rounds break; just squeeze the broken-off bit back onto the cookie.) Place the cookies on the parchment-lined sheets, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) spread space between them.

Bake only one sheet of cookies at a time, and bake each sheet for 12 minutes. The cookies will not look done, nor will they be firm, but that's just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies stand until they are only just warm or until they reach room temperature -- it's your call. Repeat with the second sheet of cookies.