chocolate covered cherry

Remember last semester in Contemporary Cakes when we were assigned flavors or themes as inspirations and challenged to plan our own cakes?  That was one of my favorite parts of that class, and so I was really excited when we did basically the same thing this week in RPD.  Actually, it was very similar, except multiple mini versions.  I was assigned passionfruit, which I was a little bummed about because last semester I got passionfruit & coconut.  But then another group at my table had cherry as their flavor and they were not excited about it either.  So I offered to trade and I am so glad I did. 

The first thought that came to my mind was this chocolate-covered cherry cookie that my mom makes at Christmas time.  It is basically a dense chocolate cookie with a maraschino cherry placed on top in the middle and then covered with a rich fudge sauce.  I didn't want to use maraschino cherries because fresh cherries are just so much better and I have access to much better ingredients at school - all of our frozen fruit purees are really great and I wish I could have a freezer full of them at home.  But I definitely wanted to go with the chocolate covered cherry theme.  Oh, and my partner was absent so I got to plan the dessert all by myself (a little too excited about this part.  I know it's a flaw I need to work on, but it is really hard for me to compromise when I have a vision for how I want something to turn out).

There were some parameters I had to stick to;  there was a required chocolate curl garnish, and the dessert had to be a mini mousse cake with: 1. a fruit (cherry) bavarian, 2. either a chocolate wrap or a sponge cake wrap around the outside, 3. creative inserts, 4. a crunch factor, and 5. another garnish.
Here's what I came up with: the fudge cookie base from Mom's cookie recipe, a super-dark chocolate cherry ganache, amaretto-soaked fresh cherries, and a stencilled chocolate biscuit (thin sponge cake) for the surround.  Oh, and of course the cherry bavarian. 

And here is the finished product:

And of course a shot of the layers once we cut into it - not quite as precise as I would have liked, but it's a little harder on a miniature scale....

I was very happy with the outcome, and the flavors were awesome.  The only thing that didn't stand out was the amaretto - it just got a little overwhelmed by all the cherry and chocolate.  But I can live with that.

In IPP, we have been making petit fours.  Last week was petit fours sec, or dry.  Most people think of petit fours as the cute little bite-sized decorated cakes I made in Cookies last spring, but it turns out that is just one kind.  Anything one-or-two-bite-sized is considered a petit-four.  And cookies are considered dry petit fours.  I was still a little disappointed and frustrated after this class.  I mean, we are way past using the creaming method to make cut-out cookies.  Although I must admit the Speculos ones were yummy in all their cinnamon-sugary goodness.  And the gingerbread was tasty too, it just needs something else to be a little more exciting - it needs to be a component of a petit four, not one all by itself.  In my opinion, at least.



Speculos - supposed to be star-shaped but all we had was a heart-shaped cutter....

Soft gingerbread petit fours

This brings me to a quick reflection - I have been realizing over the last few weeks that  my goals may have changed since I started this journey.  Originally, my vision for myself was baker, baker, baker.  I kept emphasizing that I didn't want to be considered a pastry chef - that I was just going to culinary school to learn the basic skills I felt I needed to open a successful business.  I wanted to make pies, cakes, muffins, etc - no fancy-pants, elaborate plated desserts.  Now, those are my favorite things to make both at school and at home.  I don't know if I could be happy with just making muffins and cakes forever.  So maybe my vision for my business is starting to change too - in fact, I was more than a little inspired by one of the places we ate breakfast in Chicago, and I have a new concept brewing in my mind - more on that later, when I have it more figured out.    (Also, quick flashback to this time last year - remember how nervous I was to go to Ingredients class and make muffins? Now I keep thinking, give me something harder!  Challenge me! This stuff is too simple!  It still amazes me how far I have come in a year!)


Ok, back to the yummy stuff - IPP got a little better this week.  Each group made a macaroon and then another petit-four.  My group made hazelnut macaroons with a hazelnut-coffee buttercream filling.  Then we also made "Praline Crunch" petit fours - a soft sponge cake with a hazelnut buttercream, a little chopped cherry, and Romia Discs - cooked brown sugar, butter, and almonds baked in a mold to make adorable, shiny little discs.  Can you tell the discs were my favorite part of this one?  I think this is the first new technique I have learned in this class, and it is definitely something I would use again - except I would bake it a little longer because they were supposed to get nice and crunchy and ours were still chewy (we tend to run out of time very quickly in this class....).

hazelnut macaroons

"Praline Crunch" Petit Fours

 

Alrighty, last but not least, I have been doing a little experimentation at home, too.  Trevor and I have been together for over six years now (and married for almost one! eek!), and I just found out while we were in Chicago that he likes caramel corn.  He has always been anti-popcorn, and I guess I just assumed this went for caramel corn too.  But I was wrong!  So I was pretty excited, because I always see different caramel corn ideas and recipes floating around Pinterest, etc.   So I decided to put my own twist on it for his meeting this week - Butter Toffee Popcorn.  I made the same toffee I made a few weeks ago for the choco chip-pecan-toffee cookies because I loved it so much.  And then I just coated some microwave popcorn in it right when it came off the stove (of course I chose the popcorn with the least butter and salt).  This is sooo quick and easy and great for fall, so let me know if you want this recipe! 

Salted Butter Toffee Popcorn

Speaking of fall, all of the fall recipes I keep seeing everywhere are starting to torture me.  Fall is one of my favorite food seasons, but it just doesn't feel like fall here.  And it won't for a while.  But I tried to get in the spirit last week and used some of my toffee-corn to make a quick plated dessert at home (the week I missed in RPD was apple-themed, so I'm counting eating this as school work).  I made some skillet cinnamon apples and then topped them with some dulce de leche Haagen-Dazs, some toffee corn, and some white chocolate shavings.  Yum! 




Skillet cinnamon apples with dulce de leche ice cream and butter toffee popcorn

 

Alright everybody, I think that's all for this week....thanks for reading!

won't you please come to Chicago - part 2

annnd we're back.  Where did I leave off?  Breakfast on Thursday...ok.  So after breakfast we did a little more sightseeing and then started our Wicker Park food and beer tour.  There were a lot of places we wanted to try in this neighborhood, so we braved the L again and headed that way. 

Wild Boar Meatballs

Our first stop was Revolution Brewing.  I really liked the decor and atmosphere of this place, the only bummer was that it was pretty empty, I just hope it gets busier later in the day...  The beer (full list below of all the beers we tried) and food were also great.  I tried a few of their in-house brews and Trev had another local beer.  Then we shared the wild boar meatballs - with polenta, cilantro-pumpkin seed pesto, arugula, and maple-chipotle glaze.  Yum! 

 

Revolution Brewing

The second stop was Big Star.  This one was not on the original list, but a school friend sent me a facebook message at the perfect moment right when we got to Wicker Park and it was about two blocks away, so we definitely had to check it out.  They were out of the Chicago beer I ordered, so I settled for a Zombie Dust from Munster, IN.  I figured that was close enough to be considered "local" as compared to Florida.  Turns out they are famous for their bourbon and whiskey collection, but neither one of us drinks the stuff.  We did try some of the tacos and they were might tasty.  I had the taco al pastor - marinated, spit-roasted pork shoulder with grilled pineapple, grilled onion, and cilantro - and Trevor had the tacos de pollo - marinated, roasted chicken thigh with green cabbage, chipotle, crema, queso fresco, and pickled red onion. 

 

 

Taco al Pastor in the front, Tacos de Pollo in the back

 

The third stop was Piece Brewery & Pizzeria.  I went with the sampler option again to taste as many beers as possible, and we shared a mini thin crust pepperoni pizza.  We had already tried deep dish on Tuesday, so we figured we had to give the other side a chance too.  It was delicious.  It reminded me of the thin crust pizza at Todaro's or Peppino's in Clemson, which is something I have just not been able to find yet in Kissimmee. 

Thin Crust at Piece

Trev @ Piece Brewery & Pizzeria

By then, we were pretty stuffed full of food and beer, so we decided to skip a sit-down dinner and go straight for dessert.  This was probably my second-most-anticipated stop of the trip, and my favorite by far.  We went to Mindy's Hot Chocolate, a restaurant-but-more-importantly-dessert bar in Wicker Park owned by Chef Mindy Segal, the 2012 James Beard Award winner for outstanding pastry.  Of course I couldn't choose just one dessert, and honestly I probably would have ordered one of everything if I hadn't been so incredibly full by this point. 

Warm Lemon Curd Brioche Bread Pudding with Roasted Nectarines and Kilgus Cream

I had the warm lemon curd brioche bread pudding with roasted local nectarines and Kilgus cream.  I am not a huge fan of bread pudding, but we all know how much I love lemon curd, and the server assured me it was one of the best things on the menu.  And I sure am glad he did, because it was amazing.  It had a light, airy texture I have never gotten from a bread pudding before.  In fact, if I hadn't seen the menu, I wouldn't have even guessed it was bread pudding. 

Gooey Chocolate Skillet Souffle with Salted Caramel Ice Cream and Pretzels

Peanut-Caramel-Bourbon Ice Cream

Trevor ordered the gooey, chocolate skillet souffle with salted caramel ice cream and pretzels.  Three of my favorite flavors, and they made this dish really amazing.  Then for good measure, I added on a dish of peanut-caramel-bourbon ice cream for us to share.  We could barely walk back to the train station.  Oh and I forgot to mention I got two cookies to go - a kumquat and blackberry kolache and a blueberry and lemon kolache - and saved them to eat in the car on the way to Indiana the next day.  AND they gave me a menu to take to school for extra credit.  I know I'm repeating myself, but this was my favorite restaurant we went to all week.  I highly recommend it if you find yourself in the area. 

The cookie display at Mindy's Hot Chocolate - I got the two on the bottom right

Friday morning we packed up and headed to South Bend, but not before chowing down on some cinnamon rolls from Ann Sather we had picked up the day before.  This was another "Best Thing I Ever Ate" recommendation, so we took a trolley out to Boystown (an adventure in and of itself) and got a few to go.  The best part - they give you an extra side of icing without even having to ask for it.  For anybody that has ever gone out to eat with me, you know I am a dipper and sauce lover.  I am constantly asking for an extra side of the sauce that came on my sandwich or a side of wing sauce to dip my fries in.  Heck, I even have a stash of Taco Bell fire sauce in my fridge for dipping emergencies.  So I was pretty excited to have an entire container of extra icing to dip my cinnamon rolls in. 



Cinnamon rolls at Ann Sather

We had a few minutes to kill before our trolley picked us up, so we wandered into a secondhand bookstore and I am so glad we did.  They had so many amazing things to look at, but I was able to settle on three vintage cookbooks to take home with me.  Mr. Boston's Spirited Dessert Guide (a first edition, no less), The Souffle Cookbook, and Homemade Bread - all for about $15.  Score!

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the food we ate in South Bend and Elkhart (where our hotel was) because frankly there just isn't the same level of gourmet available as in the big city.  But there were a few highlights - gator balls at a bar in South Bend - chicken breast wedges stuffed with cheese and jalapenos and wrapped in bacon.  Pretty tasty once I stopped burning myself on the molten cheese inside. 

"Gator Balls"

And then, the best part of Elkhart, Indiana - the best breadsticks in the nation.  Especially when you've been craving them for years and they have closed all of the locations within a three-state radius.  Now some of you may be appalled that I would even dare to put Fazoli's breadsticks on the same list as a James Beard award-winning pastry chef, but I don't care.  Because good is good, and they are GOOD.  I ate about seven breadsticks, and about three bites of my ziti.

ohhh yeah

Last but not least, we stumbled upon yet another chocolate shop in downtown South Bend - perfect timing to reward myself for surviving the College Football Hall of Fame.  I had an alpine amaretto meltaway, a dark chocolate cherry meltaway, and of course a chocolate covered salted caramel. 

Oh wait, I almost forgot!  We had to drive back to Chicago on Sunday to drop off our rental car and catch a plane back to FL, but first we had time for lunch, so we headed to Grahamwich - the sandwich shop by Graham Elliot Bowles (one of the judges on MasterChef).  It was good, but I was a little underwhelmed.  Don't get me wrong, the sandwiches were delicious, but I wouldn't have known it was a famous chef's restaurant if I hadn't picked it for that reason.  I had the grilled cheese - Wisconsin cheddar, cheese curds, and tomato marmalade on Pullman bread - and Trev had the reuben (pretty self explanatory).  We shared some homemade salt and vinegar chips and tried the homemade lemonade.  It was all great, I guess I just expected a little more of a twist on the classics or something to make it a little more exciting and special. 

grahamwich

And now to end on a high note, a list of all 25 beers we tasted on our trip:

Goose Island 312
Goose Island Green Line
Goose Island Marisol (Frontera exclusive)
Rock Bottom White Ale
Rock Bottom Red Ale
Rock Bottom IPA
Rock Bottom Chicago Bold BelJuice Dynamite
Rock Bottom Fjordenpils
Rock Bottom Ginger Wheat
Revolution Rosa Summer Ale
Revolution Oktoberfest
Revolution A Little Crazy (Belgian American Pale Ale)
Metropolitan Krankshaft
Metropolitan FlyWheel Lager
Three Floyd's Zombie Dust (Munster, IN)
Piece - Golden Arm (Light German Ale)
Piece - Worryin Ale (English Style)
Piece - Top Heavy Hefeweizen
Piece - Victoria Pale Ale
Piece - A Lil Strange Belgian Ale
Bell's Two Hearted Ale (Kalamazoo, MI)
Bell's Porter (Kalamazoo, MI)
Upland Helios Pale Ale (Bloomington, IN)
Upland Rad Red Amber Ale (Bloomington, IN)
Barley Island Barfly IPA (Noblesville, IN)



Thank you so much for reading, especially if you made it through both of these long posts!

won't you please come to Chicago - part 1

well, we made it back from vacation.  And though it's always sad when vacation is over, and neither one of us was crazy about the idea of going back to work, I sure am glad to be home.  Because vacation is exhausting.  And terrible for the waistline if you're me.

As promised, I ate my way across Chicago and took lots of pictures.  The South Bend part of the trip offered less gourmet options, but I've got a few highlights to share anyways. 



Chicago Fire deep dish pizza

We got to Chicago around lunchtime on Tuesday, and I was already hungry when we got off the plane.  So we navigated two L trains and a few blocks with our suitcases, and made it to our hotel on the Magnificent Mile.  Then we immediately set out to find some Chicago deep dish pizza (duh).  Luckily, Gino's East was only a couple blocks away.  We ordered the Chicago Fire pizza - patty-style sausage made extra spicy, with fire roasted red peppers and red onions.  Now I'm not usually a fan of sausage on pizza, but this one was on The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and I am always a fan of anything "extra spicy."  Plus Trevor loves sausage, so we went for it.  And then we also ordered an antipasto salad because it turns out that deep dish pizza takes 45-50 minutes to make (I guess it makes sense when you think about it...), and I just couldn't wait that long.  Again, not something I usually order at a restaurant because I can't get past the fact that it's basically some cold cuts and veggies thrown on a plate.  But for some reason it sounded really good that day, and we went for it.  And I'm glad, because the cold cuts and cheeses were awesome, and I loved the house dressing. 


blurry picture of us @ Gino's East

The pizza itself was delicious.  Just the right amount of spicy, and the crust was awesome.  However, I have to say that if I was crazing pizza, it just wouldn't fill that role.  To me, it is a completely different meal.  Don't get me wrong, it is wonderful in its own way (not trying to start a debate here), but when you have even one kind of pizza your whole life, they can't really be lumped into the same category. 

After lunch, we did a boat tour of the river and lake.  If you haven't been to Chicago and plan on going one day, I highly recommend this.  We went with Wendella Boats and it was a great experience.  It was a great tour of the architecture along the river, and then some amazing views of the skyline from the lake.  And the best part was, we didn't get seasick!  (I was more than a little nervous because we have both been known to puke through an entire boat ride.) 

After the tour, we hit the first brewery on the list - Rock Bottom.  As much as I love beer, this spot was my least favorite on our beer tour.  The atmosphere wasn't my favorite, and I really only liked one of the six beers I tried.  (Don't worry, a lot of the breweries have SAMPLER options - I didn't drink 6 full beers on the first stop :D) 

I had to sneak a shot of all the charcoal grills lined up in the kitchen...

After that stop, we headed straight across the street to the Weber Grill Restaurant.  Now I didn't even know this place existed and it certainly wasn't on our list, but it smelled so good.  And I thought the concept was fascinating - a fine dining atmosphere, but all the food is cooked on charcoal grills.  And the food was almost as good as it smelled.  I ordered a sampler platter (which will happen any time it is an option because ordering food is the one time in life I am completely and utterly indecisive and just can't commit).  It consisted of beer can chicken tenders, ribs, grilled steak skewers, and barbecue shrimp.  The ribs were amazing and I loved the beer can chicken.  Trevor got a combo - brisket and Black Angus meatloaf.  Best. Meatloaf. Ever.  I don't even like meatloaf - one of the biggest challenges in our marriage - and I loved it.  Even the cornbread was pretty good, and I went into it knowing I would be biased.

brioche french toast

The next morning, my little bro drove up from Indiana and we planned to do some sightseeing.  But first, I wanted to grab breakfast at this adorable little local place around the corner from the hotel, named just "Corner Bakery."  Ok, if you know this place, you can start laughing at me now.  Because it isn't local at all.  In fact, we saw about 10 more locations in Chicago alone.  It was a lot like a Panera, but I'm still not sorry we went because I tried the cinnamon swirled brioche french toast baked in vanilla custard.  And it was pretty dang tasty for a quick service chain. 

After breakfast, we headed to the SkyDeck at the [former] Sears Tower.  Holy crap.  Terrifying but pretty awesome once I inched out onto the glass.  We took a trolley tour around town for a couple of hours before rushing to make our reservation for my most highly anticipated meal of the trip - lunch at the Frontera Grill - one of Rick Bayless' Mexican restaurants.  Now we had to settle for lunch because dinner reservations have a three month waiting list and I only planned like two weeks ahead.  But I was so excited because I have never eaten at the restaurant of a famous chef, and Mexican food is one of my favorites.  We started with the just-made tortilla chips and two salsas - 1. three chile - cascabel, morito, guajillo 2. tomatillo with serrano and cilantro. 

chips and two salsas - plus Marisol, the Goose Island beer made especial for Frontera

I got overly excited and ordered three things.  The first was the Jicama Street Snack - julienned jicama, cucumber, pineapple, fresh lime, and fresh guajillo chile.  I always wanted to try jicama, but I was a little disappointed with this one.  The chile just kind of overwhelmed everything else in the salad. 




Jicama Street Snack

The second dish I had was the Smoked Chicken Tamal - banana leaf-steamed tamal of fresh-ground corn masa, smoked chicken, caramelized onions, epazote; campeche-style roasted tomato sauce, grilled orange, and spicy lime-pickled white onion.  Again, it was ok, but it just didn't meet my high hopes. 

Smoked Chicken Tamal

The third was my favorite of what I ordered - Enchilada Potosinas - chile-spiked corn masa turnovers with spicy homemade fresh cheese, avocado mash, Tamazula hot sauce, crema drizzle, and arugula. 





Enchilada Potosinas

Bucko had Frontera Chili tacos - grill-seared lamb and pork simmered with ancho chile and dark beer, red beans, queso de cincho, and cilantro. 

Frontera Chili

Trevor ordered the queso fundido made with artisanal cheese and chorizo and my favorite dish of the meal - duck carnitas quesadillas with red onions.  The duck carnitas were probably the only dish I was really blown away by.  Until dessert. 

Queso Fundido

Duck Carnitas Quesadillas

I might have passed up dessert except that I was a little bummed about this meal I had been looking forward to for weeks and I guess I just wanted it to redeem itself.  And ohhh, it did.  After much internal debate, I decided on the Pastel de Tres Leches con Cacahuate y Uva - classic Mexican style tres leches cake infused with roasted peanut and ancho chile, Concord grape compote, buttermilk ice cream, gooey toasted meringue, candied peanuts and ancho threads.  Now that's what I'm talking about.  Definitely made the most expensive lunch of my life worth it.  Almost.  









Pastel de Tres Leches con Cacahuate y Uva

That night, we decided to go a little less fancy and hit up the Navy Pier for some Chicago-style hot dogs.  Again, not trying to hurt anybody's feelings, but I just couldn't go for the full Chicago dog - mustard, relish, onion, tomato, sport peppers, pickle (spear) and celery salt.  I don't like mustard or tomatoes, and I figured it just wouldn't be the same thing if I left them off.  So I decided to build my own dog - bad choice.  It was gross.  But Gregory did order the Chicago dog, so I at least got a picture of it.



Chicago Dog

We also tried a free sample of the Chicago mix at Garrett's popcorn while we were at the pier - cheddar popcorn mixed with caramel corn.  Yum!

On Thursday morning, we had breakfast at Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe.  I had the Bliss Berry Crepes - oh my.  Sweet crepes filled with wildberry mascarpone, fresh blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries, topped with vanilla cream anglaise and blackberry coulis.  Wow.  Trevor had the breakfast burrito - chorizo, roasted poblanos, chihuahua cheese, avocado, cilantro, and scrambled eggs - and it was pretty yummy too. 

Bliss Berry Crepes

Trev's Breakfast Burrito

Oh and I conveniently forgot to mention that we passed a chocolate/candy shop on the way to breakfast and I got a milk chocolate mint meltaway, a dark chocolate CarMarsh - layers of caramel and marshmallow, and a dark chocolate raspberry truffle.  But in my defense, I only ate one of them before breakfast!  Hey, that's what vacation is for, right?
 

Fannie May Candies - Dark chocolate CarMarsh on the right

Alright, well this post is already so long that some people have stopped reading, and I still have so many meals to describe, so I am just going to have to split this into parts.  But I will be back soon to make your taste buds water some more!