Dessert on the Fly

    I went over to my neighbor's house to stash some stuff in her freezer. While I was there she gifted me a couple of Royal Riviera Pears from Harry & David. When I told her that I'd probably end up using them in a recipe, she got the mortified look on her face, "Oh no! These aren't for cooking! You want to eat these raw!"

    I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'm not a huge fan of this particular fruit. In fact, Regina I don't really like pears at all, but it was a gift. I knew they weren't cheap so I didn't want them to go to waste.

    Since I obviously don't care for pears, it stands to reason that I don't have any recipes that really call for them. Pretty much everything I've ever made from the Tartine Bakery cookbook has rocked, I figured this would be my one shot at pear dessert glory.

    The Frangipane Tart would be the vehicle of choice for this particular dessert. I think it's important to point out that a whole host of fruits can actually top this thing. In reality this is an "I got fruit I wanna use up" type recipe. If you can slice it, you can use it -today it would be pears.

A few notes:

• Keep butter and water as cold as possible! I put them in the freezer while I measure everything out.
• DO NOT OVERMIX the dough. Pulse that food processor until it the flour and butter can just be held together. Bigger pieces of butter make for flakier, more tender crusts.
• I like to make it as flat as possible before wrapping and putting it in the fridge. It gets colder faster, and reduces the amount rolling you do on the dough.
• Use a thinner, darker sheet to cook the tart on. I used a thick aluminum sheet and the center struggled to brown up.
• This isn't a pre-cooked tart shell so there is going to be a bit of a fudge factor on the doneness time. When the hour and 20 minutes is up, peak under the tart to see if it's cooked all the way to the center. My guess is that it probably isn't. I would suggest using the browness of the topping and the outer edge of the tart to be your litmus test. Take it as far as you can until you don't want the topping or the edge of the crust to get any darker.
• The person that I linked the recipe to, didn't use the apricot jam. I did, and it punched up the flavor quite a bit. I'd suggest using the heated jam.
• I sliced my pears at about a 1/4" at their widest thickness. They cooked all the way through. If you wanted, I'm sure you could go a little thicker with no ill effects.

 Frangipane Tart Topped with Pears

 As usual, it came out well. People loved it and it was a pretty painless dessert to make. It is a really flaky dough that offers a great textural compliment to the almondy filling. The pears pretty much softened up and melded with the frangipane filling. This is one for the "Best of" box. A highly versatile, and very receptive to freestyling type recipe.

I did have a few left over slices of pear, and admittedly, my neighbor was right - it was the sweetest, juiciest pear I've ever put in my mouth. Regular pears would have done just fine in this tart.

The recipe can be found here.

Chewy Chocolate Ginger Cookies

After dinner cookies are a staple at our house. Not a night goes by that we don't eat dessert. I know a lot of people that could go weeks without having dessert. For us it is an absolute necessity. In fact, if Regina doesn't have dessert she gets downright nasty - and not in a good way.

This past summer we were eating ice cream like it was going out of style. The one thing that both of us found is that it is one hell of an easy way to pack on pounds. As the summer wore on, my weight started to slowly creep its way up.

We eventually figured out that the ice cream was the devil, especially when topped with hot fudge, pecans, and freshly made whipped cream. It was about this time that we went into full on cookie making mode. It's taken about five months, but right now we've got one hell of a cookie rotation going. A trip to San Francisco lead to Regina's one suitcase being stuffed full of chocolate we bought at Spun Sugar in Berkeley. (Mine hovered just below 50 pounds with Pliny the Elder.) Cookie making was about to hit a whole new level.

 Chewy Chocolate Ginger Cookies

Martha Stewart actually has a very similar recipe to this, and I think we actually might like it a little better because of the fresh ginger and they don't spread as much, but this little gem from Gina DePalma is actually very good. The DePalma version calls for you to chop the chocolate up in to fine pieces, but we prefer a mix of chocolate chunks. As I mentioned before, they do spread a little more due to the use of oil instead of butter, but if they don't sit around that long it doesn't really matter.

Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but these? These are best served about 10 minutes removed from the oven.

Here's a link to Gina DePalma's recipe.

Macaron Monday: Basil and Lime

Typically this would have been one that I saved for the summer, but we just so happened to have both basil and lime in our refrigerator. If I had any reservations, it was that these were not going to have enough lime taste to them. The lime we had was getting ready to check out, so I didn't have high hopes for its overall flavor. The basil was still pretty turgid, so I felt that if there was an imbalance in taste it was going to come from the lime.

As with most things the first time you try and make them, this was a learning experience. Let me explain.

Gelatin
This recipe called for sheets of gelatin - which we didn't have. We had the powdered stuff, but it's hardly one to one ratio between sheets and the powdered stuff. This is what I learned: If it calls for sheets - get sheets. If it calls for powder - get powder. Most anything you do as a substitute is going to be fairly inexact. Since it was a bit of a guess as to how much powder to actually use, there was a decidedly "thick springiness" to the filling. Not what I would call my favorite texture.

Splitting Italian method macaron batter
Highly inadvisable. It is very easy to weigh everything out and split up 50/50, it's not that big a deal. However, when you have one mixer to mix the meringue with, you end up trying to split a bowl of meringue between two bowls of mixed almond flour. The stuff is sticky and difficult to get out of the mixing bowl. Meanwhile you're trying to bust out a macaronage that can easily have too much or too little of the meringue. We came pretty close to 50/50 but, the egg whites were quickly losing their volume. Regina's batter was considerably fluffier and yielded more shells. Live and learn. Settle on a shell color and use it for the whole batch. Don't get cute like we did and try to split it in two.

Basil Quality
The basil flavor was completely lost in the taste of the filling. I think basil at this time of year just doesn't have a strong enough flavor to it. Get your hands on some really fresh and fragrant stuff, or just wait to make these until you can.

In the end this recipe had promise. The lime flavor was surprisingly strong. The basil was completely overpowered. I can't really say that I'd add more basil or reduce the lime, until I've had a chance to try making it with ingredients at their peak of ripeness. It never ceases to amaze me how much of a difference there is between herbs from mid-summer versus everything else.

Sorry, no link for the recipe in this post. I will, however, be happy to write up a modified version once summer hits. My guess is that some of the quantities are going to need adjusting to suit our own tastes. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Bowl of Pho

This little Vietnamese spot recently opened a few miles away from my house. While ramen will always be near and dear to my heart, on a cold December day a nice hot bowl of pho will more than suffice.

As you look at the menu you notice a lot of the usual suspects: pho, grilled noodles, a variety of rolls, banh mi, and rice plates. One thing I was hoping to strike gold on was clay pot pork, but no such luck. The prices seem to be right inline with places like Superior Pho and #1 Pho.

BoP is located around the corner from Whole Foods on Chagrin right next to DeGaetano's Pizza (where you can gut your own crust read here). From a decor standpoint, I have to say that it's more refined than Superior or #1, but not quite as slick as Bac, in Tremont.

I went with the beef pho. They give you a quart of beef stock, a container with hot sauce, hoisin, a load of bean sprouts, and a large container with thinly sliced rare beef on top of scallions and vermicelli-like rice noodles. When you put it all together it's pretty good. If I have one gripe, it's that you can pretty much taste every single component in the bowl. This is a nit picky thing on my part which I readily admit, but I more of a flavor harmony person. I think to the casual eater this is going to taste just fine, though.

I've not had the banh mi yet, but look forward to trying it on a future trip. I think for an Eastsider it's worth a stop. There's not a great deal of pho in my neck of the woods, so when the jones hits I know I don't have to drive too far. If I'm West Side do I come here? Well, assuming you're closer to Bac than here - no, I'd go to Bac. Don't expect Slanted Door, this isn't that kind of restaurant. It's a clean place, with decent food, good value, that serves the void that used to exist in the Shaker Heights/Wooodmere area.

Bowl of Pho

27339 Chagrin Blvd.

Woodmere, OH 44122

(216) 831-1730

bowlofpho2011.com

Bay Area: Romolo's Cannoli and Spumoni Factory

We had just got off the plane in South San Francisco and were headed to Berkeley. It was early afternoon and we had a decision to make, drive up through the city or go down and around. While we pondered this question, we decided to grab a quick snack in San Mateo. (Not to hanging, we decided on going up through East Bay.)

Spumoni is one of Regina's favorite. A couple years back, there was a parade held in my honor because I made a birthday spumoni ice cream cake for her. I shuttled her favorite Cleveland spumoni (from Crostatas) to our house. It has been said that it may have been my finest hour.

Romolo's Cannoli and Spumoni Factory is old school in every single way. Now run by the grandsons of the original owners, the decor has yellowing press clippings on the walls, old school ice cream ephemera, and other trinkets that have accumulated over the years. Like the rings of a tree, every memento adds street cred to the newby customer. Its as if the interior whispers to you, "I may be old, but I've still got it." 

Beware of this highly persuasive man

Obviously they have more than just spumoni. There is a wide assortment of ice cream, packaged frozen treats, and cannolis to go. I believe is all of this stuff is made on site. They also specialize in cannolis that they fill to order. The picture above shows one of the grandsons with a locked and loaded pastry bag, some powdered sugar ready for the sprinkling, and a tray full of accouterments ready to coat the ends of the crispy dessert.

Leave the gun. Take the Cannoli

You've got to watch that guy at the counter. He's very personable and informative, and what starts out as a quick duck inside for some ice cream, turns into a cannoli, cafe americano, almond cookie, and of course plate of spumoni.  I didn't even like cannolis (until I had these), and he talked me into one. The plain cream with pistachios was the way to go.

 

That's it. A little dab'll do ya.

As I said earlier, they make the ice cream on site. I think he said there was like fifteen ingredients in each part of the spumoni. I thought the texture was surprisingly smooth with the intermittent mini-chunks of cherries and nuts in each bite.

The place is worth a stop. While we were there, a lot of people wandered in after going to the pizza place next door. You could tell this was a popular pit stop for people that were on errands that they'd stop in for a quick snack. 

Romolo's Cannoli and Spumoni Factory

81 37th Ave

San Mateo, CA

(650) 574-0625

http://romolosfactory.com

Macaron Monday: Lemon Macaron

We touched upon this a little in yesterday's post about our Five Picks for the Holidays post, but this is our first foray into Pierre Herme's, Macaron. For us, this book was really about exploring his wider array of fillings. I think once you've settled on a technique and honed your recipe, the shells are for the most part an afterthought. With the exception of a few shells such as coconut or pistachio, there really isn't much variability between the meringues.

As I said yesterday, we have a recipe that works well with our stove and seems to yield exactly enough batter to fill two half baking sheets (yields (30) 40mm macs total). In my opinion the oven really seems to be the fly in the ointment when people talk about failed macarons.

We figured we'd start out with a classic that seemed pretty straight forward - the Lemon Macaron. There aren't a bunch of crazy ingredients needed, and the technique was pretty simple. It's basically the coloring of the shells and making the lemon curd.

 The Lemon Macaron

One thing we find over and over again in Herme's recipes is the presence of some almond flour for the fruit fillings. The two of us weren't quite sure what it was going to taste like, but in the end it did a good job of suspending the curd so that it didn't squirt out the sides when you bit into the mac. It isn't much, but the curd seems to hydrate the flour enough to where it blends in with the lemony filling.

These had a creamier color to them, and aren't really that vibrant yellow you would expect from a lemon mac. I'm not sure how I feel about the pastel-y color of these. I kinda like it, but it also seems to imply something more along the lines of a lemon cream. In the future I think we're going to add a 0.5g more of the yellow coloring.

We were pretty impressed with how the whole thing came together. The shells came out very smooth and the filling wasn't too thin or thick. Aged for a couple of days, these things really take on the lemon flavor. I've attached a link to the recipe here.

Columbus: Ray Ray's Hog Pit

As we were passing back through Columbus, it was pretty obvious that our dinners plans were going to diverge. Regina was opting for the more healthy and light fish tacos at Yerba Buena, and me? I was going to load up on meat. Lots and lots of meat.

Ray Ray's Hog Pit is a spot I'd just never quite been able to make it to (they're only open Friday thru Sunday). With things needing to be on the quick side so we could pick up the dogs, this was going to be as good as it gets for me without driving out of my way or sitting down for a full fledged meal.

Located just off to the right of Super Food Mart in Clintonville at the corner of N. High and Pacemont, this "truck" serves up old school barbecue. More trailer more than anything, Ray Ray's busts out hickory smoked meat made in a converted propane tank smoker. I have a tremendous amount of respect for people that go old school like this. It's very easy to dry out meat, and requires much more attention than something made in a natural gas fired smoker. Heat loss, wind, and rain all make it very difficult to control the temperature inside one of these things.

As noble as the idea old school might be, they are charging you for the food, so it had better be good. I ordered a sample size of the ribs, pulled pork, and brisket with a side of beans and cole slaw.

Let's get the middling stuff out of the way first. The cole slaw and beans aren't anything special. I'm not saying that I spit them out or anything. I didn't. I thought they were just alright. They're what I would consider par for the course at a typical barbecue place - classic flavors. The brisket was unfortunately a little on the dry side. Again, the stuff doesn't stay moist forever, depending when it was taken out of the smoker, it's going to dry out a little bit. Again, not inedible or even bad. He could have cheated and thinly sliced it and put some ju on it to mask the dryness, but he didn't - they were full quarter inch slices.I respect that. There was a nice fatty crust on the outside, and a fat ass smoke ring - all telltale signs of brisket done right. I would've loved to bust this when it first came out of the smoker.

Now for the good stuff. They absolutely smash the pork here. The ribs were perfectly done. The meat clings half willingly to the bone, before it gives way to your teeth. Again, a delicate bark on top cloaks the dark pink smoke ring and welcomes another bite. The pulled pork is loaded with a plentiful mixture of ropey meat, buttery fat, and flavorful crust. Topping the whole thing off is an ever-so-slight dusting of rub coax out any flavor that may have been hiding. The sauce was thin and spicy with a good balance of sweet and spice.

Clearly a master practitioner here. Without the aid of temperature control - which I am guilty of - he cooks some fabulous meat, that is the most impressive thing to me. The product they turn out is of high quality, the flavors are well balanced and have been obviously been tuned over a long period of time.

Erin at Harvest Pizzeria said they have a grass fed beef brisket they serve on Sundays. There's a sauce that goes with it that it is supposed to be outstanding.  Her advice was to get a little extra. Be warned though, this is about the worst kept secret in Columbus. In fact, my wife saw a girl she knew that lived in the area and they got on the subject of food. Right after my wife mentioned I'd been to Ray Ray's, the woman's eyes lit up and she asked if I'd been there on a Sunday for the brisket. I'm admittedly intrigued.

So there you have it. Be forewarned that these guys are only there Friday thru Sunday. As you can see they don't have an army of warmers to keep a bunch of meat laying around. When it's gone, it's gone. I've always believed that barbecue is best at lunch time. There's a pretty good chance that they haven't run out of anything yet, and you're probably getting meat that is freshly cooked.

Ray Ray's Hog Pit

To the right of Super Food Mart
3166 High St. (Corner of N High and Pacemont)

Clintonville, OH 43202

(614) 753-1191

Macaron Class at Mille-feuille in New York City

by Regina

 It's not everyday that you can have a private macaron lesson with a pro...to be more exact, a French pastry chef who is turning out some of the best macarons that are actually made in New York City. However, that was just our good fortune a few weeks ago.

There were many emails exchanged this summer between myself and Olivier Dessyn, owner Mille-feuille Bakery & Cafe in Greenwich Village. (Click here to read about the Mille-feuille vs. Payard smackdown.) First, it was to tell him how much my husband and I loved his macarons when we visited NYC back in June. Next, it was me asking if he'd teach me how to make them.

Despite being extremely busy, he agreed to a class and we settled on a date in August. However, hurricane Rita struck NYC (of all places!) and I had to cancel my travel plans to the city. Finally, we rescheduled for October and in the 11th hour, he graciously agreed to teach my husband as well.

The Shop

So, it was a Monday afternoon when we arrived at his bakery just south of Washington Square, and quickly got to work. Over the course of four hours we made so many macarons that I lost count! He taught us the Italian meringue method, as well as how to make raspberry jam and chocolate and vanilla ganache fillings.

Looking around, we were struck by how well organized his shop was and the precision that he and his assistant, Stefan worked with. It's truly amazing when you realize how much work, dedication and love go into an operation like this...plus, we found it incredible that they could produce so many great things in such a small space!

As part of my macaron obsession, I've taken 3 different classes and Olivier's was by far the best. He was super patient with us, answering questions, providing insight and allowing us to be hands-on along the way. He shared the recipes, suggestions on where to find ingredients and supplies and encouraged us to stay in touch and email him with questions.

We Made These!

I took several of the macs we made at the class to work. All I can say is that I was a macaron making superstar for a day. Everyone loved them and more than one person swooned over how great they tasted.

We've tried the macs twice since we've come home and have had good success. We're working to get the right oven temp and proper heavy gauge pans, but we feel that his class gave us the fundamentals and technique to be successful at home. It's true that a hands-on class gives you something that books, you tube and countless internet posts can't.

The Teacher and Student

We were Olivier's first students, which was an honor for us. If he had told me that he had taught people numerous times before, I would have believed him. He was very focused, well prepared, and extremely patient. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone of his caliber willing to give you a one or two person class for what he charges. It is a tremendous value and would make a very memorable holiday gift for the macaron fan in your life. He's willing to offer the class to others, so if interested, email him through his website or ring the shop at 215-433-5698 and ask for Olivier.

I just learned that Olivier is now shipping his macarons across the United States. If you can't make it to New York anytime soon, then I highly encourage you to order some. They would make a fantastic holiday present for someone you love, or better yet, a gift for yourself!

Columbus: Yerba Buena Truck

While we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves at Harvest Pizzea, my wife asked bartender Erin what some of her faves in Columbus were. Almost immediately she said, "The Yerba Buena Taco Truck!" It wasn't a three or four second contemplative delay. It wasn't even a slight pause. It was an instantaneous declaration. And THAT folks is the kind of recommendation I like!

Menu

It seems that food truck politics are always at work, and as a result Yerba Buena had mysteriously fallen off the radar for a few days. Just a day or two before, everyone was on the lookout for these guys after being pushed out of a recent location. Contact was thankfully made and the truck (or in this case trailer) was found. On this occasion they were located right around the corner from where we used to live in Clintonville. As of the 15th of October they're going to be at 4100 North High St. *You have to check them out on Facebook ahead of time to make sure they'll be there. Going without checking could lead to major disappointment, as well as an angry stomach.

Fish Tacos with Cilantro Sauce

 The menu is obviously a little more refined than your average SoCal hole-in-the-wall Mexican taqueria. Erin told my wife that the fish tacos were the thing to get off the menu. She had suggested getting the cilantro sauce on the side or at least get an extra one. It turns out that was a pretty good tip, Regina wouldn't stop commenting on how good that sauce was.

Since I had already eaten at Ray Ray's Hog Pit not too far away, I figured I was done eating - until I saw the chicharrón on the menu. There was never a question. One chicharrón please. Sorry, I love me some crispy pork skin.

Un Chicharrón

As it turns out this was a new version for me. If you look at the picture the skin has been fried up, but includes one big hunk of fat, skin, and nipples.This a whole different texture to the fat scraped, dehydrated and then fried version, that one thinks of in the classic pork rinds sense.  The fatty part is more like a handle and you eat the thin slices of fried skin off of the fat. In the picture, the edible bits are the the sliced pieces pointing downward. These were pretty greasy and messy to be eating in my car, and - to my taste - just okay.

In the end it was a great call. Thanks Erin. It pays to talk to your bartender. Yerba Buena's a great find for a quick and delicious bite.

Yerba Buena Latin Grill

4100 N High St

Columbus, OH 43214

(614) 354-6394

www.yerbabuenalatingrill.com

A Couple of East Side Local Spots

I’m typically a little suspicious of places that call themselves “Cajun”. All too often what it means up here in Ohio is that they burn the hell out of the customer’s mouth and call it Cajun. Well, the authentic stuff involves a little more than that. It’s a developed heat that doesn’t coat your palate but instead presents itself when you exhale. It’s nothing painful, just a pleasing twinge in the back of your throat. If done correctly my nose runs just a tad, not the full on faucet you get with most places.

One of the knocks I had heard about Battiste & Dupree was that the service was slow. That may well be, but I got my Shrimp Ettoufe to go. It took five minutes. I can see how it could be slow if the place was full (there’s seating for about 15), because there are only two people working there.

Let’s talk food. The Shrimp Ettoufe was the real thing, not “burn your mouth bullshit”. Full of peppers, onions, shrimp, rice, and about 5 good sized shrimp, it was very satisfying. Service? The gentleman working was very professional and looked like he had been in the military. Wearing a ball cap that was folded just so, an upright way about him, a firm handshake, he thanked me for coming in and made me want to come back. I really enjoy going to places that take a tremendous amount of pride in what they do. I will be back, and would suggest going if you enjoy authentic Cajun food. Since I don’t like to wait, it seems to be the perfect “to go” kind of place.

Update: November 2nd, 2010
This place still kicks ass. Some will grumble at the prices, but you have to understand that it's a business and not a hobby. The Shrimp Po Boy is the real deal. The roll is a crusty but soft and doesn't destroy the roof of your mouth. The shrimp are cooked with an ever-so-delicate batter that only adds to the sublime texture of the bread. This is as perfect a marriage as your going to find between bread, protein, and fixins - absolutely not to be missed. I've included a picture of the sandwich as well as a scan of the menu, now you have everything you need to order one of the best sandwiches in Cleveland.

Update: November 20th, 2011
 Old Junior still has it. I'm a sucker for this place. Smooth, steady, and not willing to take short cuts in order to get the food out of the kitchen to a dining room full of impatient white folks. I had called about an hour before and they told me it would be about 45 minutes. Whenever I call I show up late. I drove down to Whole Foods and bought some beer, farted around the store a little bit, and then made my way to B+D. Was the food ready? Of course it wasn't, but I knew that going into the deal.

Shrimp Po Boy

 The guy at the counter asked me what I had ordered and then got this worried look on his face like, "You're not gonna make me ask Junior how long your order's going to take, are you?" I told him, "Easy. He knows what's going on. When it's done, it's done. I know when I get it home he will have made for me the best Shrimp Po' Boy he possibly can. Just let him cook."

I guess my way of looking at it is this: If I don't like it, I can always go to Fat Fish Blue, right? Oh wait, they shut down didn't they?

I've included a copy of the updated menu:

New Menu Page 1

New Menu Page 2

Battiste + Dupree Cajun Grill
1992 Warrensville Center Rd
Cleveland, OH 44121
(216) 381-3341



Make sure to check here for more Cleveland posts

On Friday I had to run a few errands, so I figured I’d hit an old favorite (J. Pistone) and a place I’d never been (Battiste & Dupree).

Located a few blocks from the Six Points intersection in Shaker Heights, J Pistone serves the local residents and businesses. The store consists of a deli section that offers soups, sandwiches, sides, and desserts. Apart from the food part of their business, they also have a small wine section.

I’ve had the soup, the lobster bisque to be specific, and I’m not really a fan. The bisque had shreds of lobster; not chunks. In my opinion, it wasn’t very good. The sandwiches are okay. There’s nothing that blows me away about the lunch items, but they’re no better or worse than, say, Panera.

The desserts are a different story. They are very good. They’re actually the most reasonably priced items here. My personal favorite is the giant S’More. Made with ample chocolate, this thing is worth the price of admission. I go here for one reason only, the S’More.

Update: November 2nd, 2010
S'More (pictured above) continues to be one of my favorites. The lemon curd cookies as well as the macarons (not maca-roons), when available, are quick sellers. Get there for lunch to catch the macarons, they're usually gone by dinner time.

J. Pistone Market and Gathering Place
3245 Warrensville Center Rd
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
(216) 283-3663