Tag Archives: dessert

Grape and Basil Crumble

30 Mar

I have yet to master shopping for fresh produce in NYC.  With only 2 of us and a NYC apartment, I try to shop in small batches to make sure things don’t go bad.  However, as many a day does not play out the way we expect, and we wind up eating out a LOT more than we should, I have the inevitable problem of having to throw too much food away. It makes me want to cry… wasting all that food.

So when I had a whole bushel of grapes that were a few days from being too soft, I had to ask myself “How do I use up a lot of grapes before they go bad?”  This is when I got creative…

First, there was mixing grapes with brown sugar.

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Then it was “what can I do that will make this unique?” and the spice cabinet was opened and basil was sprinkled and with a moment of both bravery and hope, I threw it all together.

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Then topped it with the leftover crumble I had from the Drunk ‘N Nutty Pie.

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And I popped it into the over and prayed.  I removed it when it was bubbling and starting to brown.

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And it was good.  BOY it was good. I actually wished I had added MORE basil.  The flavors were incredibly complimentary.

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So today’s lesson in baking: Don’t be afraid to mix in spices that wouldn’t ordinary be thought of as baking supplies.  Enjoy the creative spoils.

 

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Fudged Fudge

23 Mar

I have heard horror stories about fudge.  And I have also heard that you can make it in the microwave and no one will notice.  When looking for recipes one day, I decided to try the latter one and see how it turned out. 

I only had deep pans, and I was concerned about getting the fudge out.  So I greased up the sides and put parchment paper on the bottom (cut to size).  Turned out perfectly and came right out.

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And it was easy to make multiple varieties just by mixing it right in the pans (that I made small to have a few flavors).  This one had white chocolate chips in it.

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I then just used a simple bench scraper to cut into squares.

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And we had perfect little servings of fudge.

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 I still had some leftover sweet glazed pecans from the cheesecake, so I added them to one batch. (This wound up being my favorite)

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It was remarkably simple, tasty, and the texture was actually BETTER than many homemade fudges I have tasted.  Next time you need to make an impressive dessert with about 10 minutes of hands on time, look no farther than microwaved fudge. (Let the fact it was so damn easy stay our little secret)

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RECIPE
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Microwaved Fudge
(borrowed from AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional.  I tried white chocolate chips and pecans.  I think it would be amazing with pretzel pieces, fruit, or peanut butter)
  • I also added a bit of salt after melting until the chocolate was to my liking

Directions

  1. Line an 8×8 inch square dish with aluminum foil.  (if you want to make multiple flavors, use a smaller pan.  And when I tried to use aluminum foil, it wouldn’t get flat and I didn’t want wrinkled in my fudge, so I just buttered the containers and put parchment paper on the bottom)

    2. 

  2. Chop chocolate and place in a large, microwave safe bowl with condensed milk. Microwave on high, stirring once or twice until chocolate is soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir until completely smooth. Stir in vanilla and walnuts. Spread in prepared pan.
  3. Refrigerate 2 hours, until firm. Cut into squares.

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Mercato

9 Feb

We are fortunate at work to have a boss who is Italian and loves good food.  This ensures that we eat well during team lunches with him. 

He scheduled a team lunch around the corner at a place I always just passed right by without a notice, Mercato (on 39th Street just before 9th Ave, right near Port Authority).

It was decorated in a way that made you feel like you were dining in someone’s eclectic home.

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I especially appreciated the mirror frame made out of corks and the wine vault made out of old wine crates.

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They did a nice job of making it look inviting and simple.

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And the food was QUITE good.  We started with some shared apps, including meat balls…

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Olives…

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And a trio of bruschetta.

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We all got our own dishes including linguini with seafood.

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And seafood soup.

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And grilled skirt steak with roasted potatoes, broccoli rabe, and balsamic vinegar.

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I went with the branzino, which included 2 perfectly prepared fillets with raisins, spinach, celery, and garlic mashed potatoes (which I traded out for the roasted potatoes).

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It was very well cooked and I really liked the mild sweet contrast from the raisins in the sauce.  I expected a bit more from the potatoes, however.

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We put 3 small desserts on the table for everyone to split (I always find it funny how no one ever wants dessert and then when something comes out with multiple spoons… it magically disappears). 

They had a special dessert that day which was like a pound cake drizzled in chocolate.  It was pretty good.

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We also got the pistachio and almonds ice cream cake served with chocolate and honey.  This was my favorite.

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And we tried the ricotta cheesecake with vanilla beans.  It was good, but, per usual with cheesecake, I like mine better. :)

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Overall, this place serves high quality, classic Italian food at reasonable prices for the area (all pastas were $10-$16 and all the main courses were $14-$22).  I still give a slight edge to Il Punto and Carbone for Italian in the Penn Station/Port Authority/Broadway/Javitz Center black hole of a neighborhood I live in.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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NYC Restaurant Week- Winter 2011: The Modern Bar Room

28 Jan

Still wondering where to go for Restaurant Week this time around (thru February 6th, as of now)?  This year there is a slight change:  No more Saturdays, and Sundays are optional (I’m sure a lot of restaurants are happy about that).  There are still plenty of reservations available on Open Table (though some places aren’t on there, so you have to call.)

Every year, one of the hardest Restaurant Week reservations to get is at The Modern.  I was browsing who had some openings, and was shocked to see a spot for 2 at The Modern Bar Room (in MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art) on the first day of Restaurant Week for 6pm.  I jumped on it, and invited That Lori (of Stuff I Ate) to join me.  She was more than happy to oblige.

I was slightly obsessed with the floral design in the entry-way.

Beautiful purple lilies (I think) of some sort.   It looked like a dark purple calla lily.  Simply lovely.

Right behind that was a bar, that had thoroughly stocked glass shelves.

A view of “The Bar Room.”  It was simple, tasteful, and (shocker) modern.

The menu was quite lengthy for Restaurant Week.

I had trouble choosing because so much sounded great!

It was as we were browsing this menu that we started running into the problem of the evening… our waitress was MIA.  And continued to be MIA for at least 30 minutes before taking our order, which she rushed through.  We noticed she gave everyone else a shpiel about restaurant week and how you could pick one thing from each category, however, the entrees were half portion and you could pick a full-sized portion of anything on the menu for $17 additional.

I was famished, so I scarfed through both pieces of bread quickly.  The butter was obviously homemade and delicious, but lacking in salt.  And there was none on the table… and no one to ask…

Lori decided to begin with a dish she had tried in the past, but was so enamored by it that she just had to get it again.  It was roasted Long Island duck breast with peppercorn-crusted apples and toasted pistachio-truffle dipping sauce.

The peppercorn-crusted apples were very good, and Lori LOVED them, however, I’m not a huge pepper fan.  The duck was perfectly ducky.  But the sauce… HOLY CRAP.  Now THAT was good sauce.  What could possibly be bad about pistachios and truffles?
I decided to go with the artichoke soup, since I can’t get enough archies.  The combination of the artichokes with pearl barley, toasted almonds, and ricotta was very nice, and didn’t overpower the artichoke flavor.  The biscuits had rosemary in them and were deliciously buttery.
I’m glad I had a hearty portion of soup… we proceeded to watch someone sit down, give their order, and receive BOTH apps and entrees before our entrees even came out.  The manager came over to apologize… our waitress did not.  She didn’t seem to have any problems with her other tables, however, we were the forgotten children all night.  Literally the red-headed step-children.  And SHE was a red head! (Perhaps she’s a self-hater!)
Lori chose the squab for her entree.  When it came out, it was VERY tiny, even for squab (as was mine… though I have to say, both of us left completely satisfied and perfectly full without being too full… I wish portion control was always that easy).  The squab was spice-dusted and I LOVED the cinnamony tang it had.  It also came with braised romaine, haricots verts and bacon salad.  (Did somebody say bacon salad?)  Delightful little squab.
I went with the pork belly that came with rutabaga choucroute and ginger jus.  It was a decadent few bites of porky goodness.
For dessert, I chose the dark chocolate tart that came with chocolate ice cream.  It had a delicious, crackly top like creme brulee (though made out of chocolate, not sugar).  It was scrumptious!  I even liked the chocolate ice cream, which is rare for me.
Lori chose the coffee caramel dome with vanilla ice cream and amaretto gelee.  It hinted a bit towards Star Wars…
The layers were awfully tasty, however, I forgot to take a pic.  D’oh!  I’ll link to Lori’s pictures once she posts.
I wish the light was better, but the gelee made for a very artful decoration.
Overall, besides the AWFUL waitress, the food was sensational and this ranked very high on the Restaurant Week experiences list.  The selection is fantastic and while the portions are small, they are packed with flavor, very satisfying, and in no way did I leave wanting.  If you can secure yourself a RW reservation at The Modern, DO IT!  (In fact… they have been extending Restaurant Week during the final week lately, so go ahead and snag a reservation for the week following while you can and see if they extend… you can always cancel!)
Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

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Top Recipes of 2010

31 Dec

Before going into the Top Nom Restaurants of 2010, I wanted to share with you my favorite recipes that I discovered and came up with in 2010 (click on the links for the recipes):

Best Brunch Recipe: Crustless Ham & Egg Tarts

Best After Work Dinner: Chicken Stuffed with Grapes, Hazelnuts, and Parmesan Cheese

Best Weight Watchers Recipe: Weight Watchers – Chicken Tagine with Apricots

Best Seafood: Scallops Lime & Vine

Best Odd Protein: Ostrich Steak

Best Chicken Recipe: Zuni Chicken & Bread Salad

Best Side: Corn Fritters

Best Desserts (You know I couldn’t pick just ONE):

Homemade Crunchie Bars

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Meringue Minis

Banana Faux Ice Cream

This year has taught me, above else, that the best cooking comes from reckless abandon.  Throw caution to the wind and spices in your pot.

Happy Nomming!

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

15 Dec

When a coworker’s birthday arrives, I always try to bake for the office.  It gives me a great excuse to bake and not have to eat it all.  For one coworker, Sam, I gave him a blank slate to choose what he wanted.  His choice: Pumpkin Cheesecake.  Wise choice, Sam.  Wise Choice.

I didn’t have a recipe that I loved, and usually actually wind up making no-bake cheesecakes (I usually prefer their texture).  For his, however, I did some searching around online to see what I could come up with.  My typical method for coming up with recipes is to check out some highest rated ones around the internet (AllRecipes.com is great), go to some of my most trusted resources for recipes (Food Network, Pioneer Woman, and Smitten Kitchen to name a few), then combine my favorite parts of each and my past recipes to come up with something a bit more Sara.  When I saw this recipe from Paula Deen, however, I decided to try it as-is.  And boy am I glad I did!  This was the best graham cracker crust I have ever tried.

You combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon and then add melted butter.  This is pretty much the same set of ingredients as every graham cracker crust, however, the proportions and texture is just perfect.

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Then you press it into the bottom of a springform pan.

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And if you want to make a sample for yourself and your boyfriend to “make sure it tastes okay” before cutting into the big one the next day… fill the bottom of a non-stick baking cup.   

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Next for the filling, you need cream cheese at room temperature.  It’s amazing how long it takes cream cheese to get to room temp, so I used the kangaroo pouch in my apron to speed it along.  (TIP: Take your cream cheese out a few HOURS before you start) 

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Then you fill the springform with the combination of blended cream cheese, pumpkin puree, eggs (both full and yolks), sugar, spices, and sour cream (which I think really added a perfect flavor!)  The one edit I made is that I added more spices, since I love the flavors of fall.  I honestly could have probably added even more. 

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Then I put the same filling into the cups.

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 And set the whole thing to bake at 350 for 1 hour. (Or 30-35 minutes for the mini cups).

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Then let it cool for 15 minutes before slapping yourself in the forehead.  Why?  Cheesecakes are finicky little things.  They just LOVE to expose their fault lines as they cool.   Every other cheesecake I’ve ever baked I have put in a water bath (which regulates the temperature so it doesn’t crack as it cools), and I just plum forgot.  D’oh! 

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Honestly?  No one cared and it still tasted MARVELOUS!  I don’t think I would change a thing about this recipe with the exception of a bit more allspice and clove.

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And what would a Sara dessert be without a homemade schlag to go with it?  I thought a salted carmel schlag would compliment the pumpkin cheesecake… so I looked up a recipe and found out that it was basically just making caramel, adding salt, then adding in the heavy cream, letting it cool and then whipping it up.  Easy-peasy!

Unfortunately, however, my pot has a hot spot and it kept burning in one corner.  Damn.  It was still delish though!

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I added the cream once it browned…

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 And the cool cream instantly made it into cracked caramel sugar.  But a few spins over medium heat and it blended nicely into a delicious base for whipped cream.

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 And the minis?  Well… a bit overcooked.  I did it for 45 minutes, so probably more like 30-35 would be better (cheesecake shouldn’t brown, and should be a little loose in the middle).

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 But they popped out beautifully.

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 And made a perfect bite with the whipped cream.

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This is a fantastic recipe.  And a TRUE crowd pleaser.

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RECIPE
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Pumpkin Pie
(Borrowed with hardly any changes from Paula Deen via FoodNetwork.com)

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

  • 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
  • 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (I would make this 1/4 or 1/2 tsp. depending on your love of cloves and possibly also add 1/4 tsp. Allspice)
  • 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

  

  

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Peach and Pear Crumble

10 Nov

I was reading TheKitchn blog and stumbled on this post, which led me to this recipe.  I had a whole bunch of peaches and pears to use up so I decided this was a perfect opportunity to bake up what sounded like a great recipe.

I first cut up all the fruit (I think it wound up being 2 large peaches and 3 large pears).  I mixed all that with 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, two tablespoons of brown sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a dash of freshly-ground nutmeg (just as the blog told me) and put it into the bottom of a pie plate.  It said not to grease it, but that always makes me nervous… so I sprayed it with Pam Butter Spray before I loaded it all in there.

Then I made the crumble by combining sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.  This was then mixed with the egg.  If you mix it by hand (and I literally mean squeezing the mixture between your fingers), you will get little nuggets of crumble.

I then put that right over the fruit.

And poured the melted butter over top.

And put it in the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes until it was nicely browned on top.  (My oven takes a bit longer for most recipes, so I would check it after 30 minutes)

It wound up more liquidy inside than I expected.

And it certainly needed to be served in a bowl to look pretty since it had no form.  But I wasn’t impressing anyone.

And it was perfectly paired with some whipped cream.

As far as recipes go, this was a damn good one.  But I would at least one tweak.  Mainly… there wasn’t enough BROWN SUGAR!  Now yes… I do like my desserts sweet, but the best part of a crumble, in my opinion, is the fruit paired with the buttery crumbly top and the bit of molasses stuff you get from the combo of brown sugar and fruit juice.  Also, the original recipe called for crystallized ginger, which I didn’t have… so I went without.  Perhaps that was the missing piece to send it over the edge.

Here is the original plum recipe: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-i-do-now.html

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Nomming thru Maine: Portland Day 2

9 Jul

Our day 2 in Portland was planned to be our foodie day.  We booked at 2 restaurants that were well acclaimed across the food world.  Our first stop was for lunch at Five Fifty Five.

They obviously know their audience…


The first thing on the menu that struck my eye was their cinnamon bun.  I think there are few things so indulgent as a stick, cinnamony, fluffy cinnamon bun.  And since my Weight Watchers points were out the window… this was just perfect.

And it was SO. GOOD.

They also served delicious table breads that I believe were current biscuits and little muffins.  They were served with homemade butter. Nom Nom Nom.

Mike ordered the pork sandwich.  This was good but nothing to write home about.

My truffle eggs with a chive popover, however, were out of this world.  I never knew eggs could taste that good.  Usually truffle is just a mild essence, that is sometimes too earthy for even my tastes.  This one, however, was absolutely delightful.

And I do love me some steaming popovers!

I was pretty impressed with this place overall, though I’m not sure if it was a MUST STOP since Mike’s meal was just so-so.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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We had a bit of time to kill between lunch and dinner, so we booked ourselves a craft beer tour through the city courtesy of Maine Foodie Tours.  We started our tour at the Gritty McDuff’s Brewery.

They quickly took us behind the scenes to learn how beer is made.  I found the whole thing pretty awesome (though not quite as awesome as our tour of Mondavi where we learned SO much about how wine is made). It all starts with grain, and the toasting length determines the color and flavor (and the additives, like hops, really determine the flavor profile further).

We got to peer into the giant steel brewing vat to see what beer looks like during fermentation (maybe?)

Our next stop was at Sebago’s beer bar where we got to sample any 4 beers off the menu.  They had a nice display of grains toasted to different colors.

And I enjoyed my camera settings on this one.

Our final stop along the way was at a beer garden called Novare Res.  

The inside was quite cool and there were picnic tables for socializing outside.

They had quite the extensive draught list. I really liked how they put a flavor profile summary next to each one.

We got to sample two beers there.  One was Allagash White, which was good but one we’ve had in multiple places.  The second one was new and it blew my mind.  Marshall Wharf Deep Purple was described as “lager beer with peated malts. ‘smoke on the water.’” It tasted so smoky… almost like bacon… but in a VERY, VERY good way.

The beer tour was excellent and a lot of fun.  It really opened our eyes to how great craft beer is in Maine… we used this knowledge throughout the trip!

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Our last foodie destination scheduled for Portland was the one I was looking forward to the most.  Fore Street was the #1 restaurant that came up whenever I searched for or asked about where to eat in Portland, ME.  

Their kitchen area and ovens are pretty much in the middle of the space and fully exposed (which I love).  

They are big on the farm to table idea and their menu changes to reflect what is freshest at the time.

We were told that the wood oven roasted mussels were heavenly.  They certainly were!  The shells were so brittle that they just cracked away and they were easily the second best mussels I have ever had (after our epic mussel feast at Landmarc in NYC). 

The roast cauliflower was perfect cooked as a side.

Mike chose the two cuts of Maine Island Lamb (smoked shoulder and turnspit roasted leg) with roasted yukon potatoes.  Mmmm Mmmm this was GREAT!

I chose the pork chop with spice cherry and rhubarb sauce and pickled rhubarb.  I seriously nearly licked this plate clean.

We were epically stuffed, but not too stuffed for dessert!  I believe Mike went with the chocolate peanut butter torte.

And I chose the chocolate cake.  I couldn’t believe how good it was.

The best dessert I have ever had that I just couldn’t finish no matter how hard I tried!

I was actually so stuffed from this meal that I was nearly sick. My body just wasn’t used to eating like that after these last few weeks of dieting and 15 pounds less to stuff the food into!

The meal was sensational, however.

Total Nom points: 8.5 out of 10


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Hippie Pie

21 May

I affectionately refer to my dad as a hippie.  He loves to watch birds, attended the march on Washington for Nixon’s inauguration, and knows how to harvest weeds from the woods and eat them.  Need I say more?

This aforementioned pie is actually Japanese Knotweed Pie and I absolutely love it. 

It’s not quite as scary when you grow up with this, but trying to convince others to try a pie made with weeds harvested along a New Jersey highway is not an easy task.

So what exactly is Japanese Knotweed?

Facts about Japanese Knotweed (thank you Wikipedia and odd factoids learned in my childhood):
- It is not only delicious (similar to rhubarb), it is used in Chinese Medicine to produce resveratrol (same thing they extract from red grapes and they say is so good for you in red wine… used in Chinese medicine for anti-aging, may have some effect in lowering blood sugar in humans) and as a nutritional supplement to regulate bowel motility (and who doesn’t need some good ol’ bowel motility?)  
- The flowers are used in beekeeping for making honey
- It helps desensitize from allergies since it contains low doses of local polen

(Note: None of the above facts have been proven by anyone of any note)

Dad made it this season with berries, and I approve! It’s a base of basically whipped cream, condensed milk, and lemonade along with the knotweed in a graham cracker crust.  The recipe will remain a family secret (sorry folks) so you have to be in the right spot at the right time around April to get a bite.

Of course, being handed a pie this delicious a few weeks into Weight Watchers was not easy… but I ate it 2 points at a time (1/16th of the pie… not bad when you figure out that’s about half a normal slice).  Delish!

Can’t wait for next April!

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Homemade Crunchie Bars

12 May

I somehow completely forgot to post this from months ago, so you’ll forgive this pig out fest from pre-Weight Watcher days…

I have been in LOVE with Crunchie Bars (chocolate covered honeycomb made mostly in the UK) ever since I accidentally stumbled upon them in a Bridgett’s Irish Store in my neighborhood Jersey Mall.  Then I saw this poston TheKitchn (where I also learned there is an Australian Version called Violet Crumbles!) and knew I had to try this the next time my mom came to visit (since she also has a special place in her tummy-heart for Crunchies). 

You start with a combination of honey, corn syrup, and sugar. 

Then it heats…

After reading the post on thekitchn.com, I was terrified that the mixture might overflow.  They spoke of a chemical reaction after adding the next ingredient (baking soda) that makes the candy expand exponentially.  I envisioned myself somehow cleaning stick honey candy out of my gas stove and nearly quit right there… but I took out my biggest post and turns out I had little to be scared of…

Well… except killing my candy thermometer…

As I whisked the baking soda into the mixture furiously, it certainly did expand. But it maybe went from about 1 inch on the bottom to about 3 inches.


Then I poured the gelatinous foam mass onto my prepared silpat and thought that there was no way this could possibly make that interesting honeycomby like, sponge looking texture, could it?

It took about 2 hours to harden (I guess it was more humid in my apartment).

And when I cracked it open I was giddy. It was beeauuuuuuutiful!

I quickly coated it in chocolate (if you leave it exposed to the air it turns to goo I hear).

And it turned out perfectly.

Did it taste EXACTLY like a Crunchie bar? No. But it was pretty damn close.  And pretty damn good seeing as though I MADE it! Woo!

The recipe is very good on the originating site, so I’ll let you click on over and show this blog some love if you’d like to make your very own Crunchie bars: http://seattlest.com/2007/02/13/seattlests_answer_to_violet_crumble_.php

I highly suggest it!

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