Labor Day Desserts

Hello from the other side of Labor Day! This early September post brings tidings of how I spent - or more specifically, ate during - my long weekend. I visited towns of the new and port varieties, doing Newburyport, MA one day and Newport, RI another. Your blogger is a sucker for New England seaside villages, so she got the most out of summer's last hurrah.

Newburyport

Ah, Newburyport - perhaps my favorite of all those villages, the place I could easily visit each weekend, the town which every other town should emulate. My family has a bit of history with the area, so I try to get there each summer. I'm so glad I was able eat fresh seafood at Michael's, sample fresh beer at Newburyport Brewing Company, enjoy live music in the waterfront park, browse endearing local shops, and eat raspberry chip ice cream at Gram's Homemade Ice Cream.

Gram's makes many fantastic flavors, but years (decades?) of trips have led me to zero in on this one. The raspberry flavor of this bright pink ice cream is not the diluted, overly saccharine version you usually find. Rather, it is bright and tangy, with a freshness (and occasional seed) that convinces me that real berries are in it. Imagine a sorbet's pert flavor with an ice cream's composition. Then, it has two kinds of chocolate chips! First, we have large, flat, semisweet chips. These brittle additions add a nice crunch, though they don't really melt in your mouth. Then, we have the scene-stealers. Imagine the tiniest possible peanut butter cups, but instead of having peanut butter on the inside, they're filled with raspberry jam. Such glorious nuggets were liberally incorporated into the ice cream, so that one could get tangy berry freshness, smooth creaminess, a bitter chocolate crunch, the warmth of milk chocolate, and a small burst of fruit all in one bite. A treat if I've ever had one!

Gram's always gets me going, but I was beyond excited to discover a new bakery off State Street! Buttermilk Baking Company's unassuming sign somehow caught my eye; when I walked up to their storefront and opened the door, I knew I had found the Clear Flour of Newburyport. You're greeted by the heady scent of warm, buttery dough and fresh fruit; you see cases filled with fruit tarts, pies, cakes, cookies, scones, all with that hearty and rustic look. It turns out that they're a year-old farm-to-table operation that clearly takes pride in what they've hand-made from local sources. (Thanks to Buttermilk's site [linked above] for this image!)

I took a small peach raspberry pie home, and boy, did it deliver! It made a fantastic visual impression, due to a lightly browned crust ornamented with sparkling turbinado sugar and occasional oozed filling. Also, I love the little dough heart that crowned it all!

The interior was similarly impressive. The filling had peach slices, finely-chopped peach bits, and whole raspberries, reduced by the oven into a soft and gooey mixture. I doubt any sugar was added to the filling, it was so delightfully tart. There may have been spices in there - I couldn't quite place what I'd call a faint chutney quality - but that quality didn't take away from the main event, the superior fresh fruit.

The combination of crust and filling was perfection. The crust was solid, chewy, and buttery, and it really stood up to the dense filling. Its bottom and sides did not get soggy! No flimsy flakes here, phew. The filling had mostly settled into the pie's base, but the top crust crumbled nicely (with its crunchy sugary bits!) into the filling to guarantee all bites had fruit and pastry.

Buttermilk offers a wide range of pies. I wonder what they'll have when I'm next in town. Will I bring home an apple cranberry? A strawberry rhubarb? Or even a Mississippi Mud?!

Newport
I saw a different side of Rhode Island's tony town this weekend. A past excursion involved the lovely Cliff Walk and amblings among stately homes, while this trip centered on the (unfortunately tourist-trap-like) shopping area and waterfront scene. At least there were delicious desserts among the tacky tees!

To me, fudge isn't eaten under "normal" circumstances. I won't crave it in the city or my hometown. Rather, I'll get it on getaways only. It's like it can't exist without quaint architecture, wildflower gardens, cobblestone streets, a town square, and fresh mountain or seaside air. Fortunately, such places tend to have at least one small-batch fudgery - and Newport was no exception! The Newport Fudgery's fudge is hand-whipped in copper kettles; imagine churning butter on a larger (and tastier) scale. They had at least 10 flavors available, so I left with (only) two! I ate the gooey treats over the next few days. I don't have pictures for you, but one description might get your mouth watering.

The fudge's texture was perfect - talk about incredibly smooth and consistent, entirely lacking the graininess that often spoils fudge. Flavor-wise, I'm happiest with the chocolate peanut butter fudge. It was a creamy, harmonious blend of milk chocolate and peanut butter; I really can't imagine a better expression of those two ingredients together. The only downside? It had occasional peanuts mixed in, which got soggy over time. Gross! The triple chocolate fudge was much less appealing, even though it lacked nuts. I thought of Baker's chocolate squares, fudgified - sure, you can tell it's made predominantly from semisweet chocolate (as the other two chocolate flavors stayed hidden), but there's also a waxy, chalky taste that really disappoints. I wonder if more sugar would have helped? This was my first semisweet fudge, and I won't need another.

I ate a completely different dessert on-site! Newport Cookie Company has a delightful bakery store that offers cookies, cupcakes, and ice cream in a tea room-inspired setting. Their big draw, for us, was the make-your-own ice cream sandwich. You could choose any of their varied cookie offerings, and an ice cream flavor, to create your own dessert heaven. I chose a heath bar cookie, a chocolate peanut butter chip cookie, and cookies 'n' cream ice cream.

Look at that monster! The ice cream was made by Gifford's, a Maine creamery whose distribution pattern seems to match wherever I'm allowed to have fudge. (I've seen their New England-inspired flavors before, at Woodman's of Essex - a fried-seafood institution just a short drive from Crane Beach.) Their cookies 'n' cream flavor is solid, though they use more Oreo crumbs than actual cookie pieces. The cookie "bread" was what really stole the show! The chocolate peanut butter chip cookie was lumpy and soft, almost like a chewy brownie, with a pleasantly rich chocolate flavor. The chips were sweet and gooey, obviously preferable to actual peanuts. The heath bar cookie was flatter and stronger, made of a sugar cookie dough with heath bar crumbles scattered throughout. I appreciated the cookie's (very high) candy density! I love the caramel notes and solid crunch that toffee brings to baked goods.

That said, these three parts didn't stay together too well. I spooned most of my ice cream out the sandwich's sides, and broke off cookie pieces as they crumbled away. However, those cookie bits that got soggy with melting ice cream were particularly good.

I'd stop by the Cookie Company again, though who knows if I'd get a cookie? I might have to encourage their tendency to decorate with my favorite color - seriously, all non-cookie items had purple flourishes - by buying a cupcake. :-)

Portlandia!, East Coast Edition

It's a weird and long story as to how I ended up in Portland, Maine the other weekend. Suffice it to say that I (finally) made it there, and I reaped delicious rewards for doing so. The trip was inspired by Maine's exploding craft beer scene, but I had several sweet treats alongside the Belgians and saisons. This travelogue will speak as much (or more) about the meals (and brews) as the desserts!

I have a weakness for - or, perhaps more accurately, obsession with - Belgian-style frites. Portland has a restaurant specializing in frites fried in duck fat. The appropriately-named Duckfat, therefore, was the first place we ate, and wow, were the frites amazing! Take a look at them in their cone, accessorized with garlic and Thai chili mayos as well as a hefeweizen from Belfast.

The Maine potatoes were substantive and earthy, and their frying medium imparted a rich, fatty flavor as well as a delightfully consistent, crisp coating. The cone was depleted in record time, washed down by the refreshingly light, orange-tinged hefe. Duckfat also offers panini sandwiches, so I enjoyed their house-cured ham and local Gruyere pressed on bakery bread.

That filling meal did not obviate dessert. Two Fat Cats Bakery specializes in pies, but they also have smaller treats. We split a chocolate whoopie pie with chocolate filling while walking back across the city. The cake part had a tough surface, with a soft and airy interior. Its chocolate flavor was very rich, analogous to that of Flour's homemade Oreos; I'd love to know what cocoa powder they used! The intensity was disproportionate to how light the cake was, which made for a very strong impression in relatively few bites. The filling was subtly flavored, somewhere between white and milk chocolate, and light on the tongue while being more solid than standard whipped offerings. There was a lot going on here, and I loved it! (I apologize for not having a picture; I did not want chocolate cream on my phone.)

Next came the pilgrimage-worthy Novare Res Bier Cafe. You could spend hours, days, weeks in that bar - it's a fascinating hybrid of cellar-style beer geek hangout, German-inspired biergarten, and hipster dive. Anyone and everyone fits in! I went there to access Maine brews as well as something rare and European (their list of Cantillons had me drooling), both of which were easily found. Maine came in the form of Oxbow's Freestyle #15, a light saison with Centennial hops that had an odd (but delicious) Fruit Loop quality...and Europe appeared as Brasserie de Cazeau's Saison Cazeau.

It's a dry, rustic saison that's brewed with elderflowers. I have likened elderflower to the mythical nectar of the gods; its honeyed, floral sweetness is among the most transcendent flavors (and aromas) I have ever encountered. Now a hint of that glory manifested in a favorite beer style, and I wept. Well, not really. But my appreciation was deep and sincere.

Eventually, it was time for a nightcap. An imposing edifice along Commercial Street promised "haus-brewed beer"...

...so in we went. In'finiti Fermentation and Distillation opened 2 months ago, and I wish them every success! The atmosphere is great - think dark, shiny wood tables and chairs; lighting fixtures made from barrel staves and hoops; portholes in the wall; visible brewing apparatus; and a sweeping view of Portland's industrial harbor. Their drinks and food are similarly excellent. I sipped the dankly floral Headstash DIPA, brewed in collaboration with Maine darling Oxbow, and snacked on a soft, sweet pretzel dipped in mustard.

The following morning brought a return to Two Fat Cats - but not for another whoopie pie! Instead, this cheerful chalkboard sign dictated our eating.

Here's my slice o' blueberry pie on the bakery's outdoor picnic table.

The pie, predictably enough, contained tiny Maine blueberries. Those small fruits are sweeter than their larger cousins, which made the filling rather sugary; I'm sure the actual sugar in the filling didn't help. However, the filling also had a Julie-approved (read: excessive to most) quantity of cinnamon. The spice cut through the sweetness nicely! The flaky yet substantive pie crust was near perfection...and the coffee? Two Fat Cats' proprietary blend, of course!

Lunch was a waterfront lobster roll and clam cake, courtesy of Portland Lobster Company. Their lobster roll's filling is simply lobster meat, tossed in butter - none of the 'lobster salad" embarrassments often seen elsewhere. Delicious! Also: lemonade with maple syrup is fantastic.

After lunch came The Reason I've Wanted to Go to Portland All These Years. I've been a fan of Allagash Brewing Company since 2009's Interlude triggered THE moment of my beerwakening. Their Belgian lineup is both accessible and creative, offering standard abbey ales as well as inspired experiments in yeast, flavors, fermentation, and storage. I was eager to get closer to their processes and products via a tour and a tasting! Their tour took us through their expanding operation, which involved shiny new fermentation tanks, barrels...

a foudre... 

and this cheerful definition.

This apparatus lover was in heaven. Post-tour, our guides offered pours of Allagash's four flagship beers - White, Dubbel, Tripel, and Curieux. I left the brewery with a bottle of Coolship Cerise (a lambic-style cherry beer, brewed in an open fermentation vessel [the coolship] inoculated with naturally-occurring area yeast) and FV 13 (a sour ale brewed in the aforementioned foudre). I also have a cookbook of dishes inspired by Allagash's beer. I can't wait to try the recipes!

I knew it would be hard (read: impossible) to top the Snallavisit, but dinner and dessert back at In'finiti was a solid way to end my time in Portland. Their pilsner wasn't as noteworthy as their DIPA, but I appreciated its calm drinkability after all the Allagash hullabaloo. My fish 'n' chips were fried in a delicious and substantive beer batter; the batter was solid enough that I could eat the fish as finger food, dipping the pieces liberally in a tangy, spicy sauce. Then, our dessert defied all expectations.

The Gingerbread & Bacon dessert features a gingerbread cake and black pepper ice cream, both of which are drizzled in salted bourbon caramel and joined by granola and candied bacon. The cake was soft and moist with an assertive ginger flavor, while the ice cream's pepper was subtle and complementary. The salted bourbon caramel won by having some bourbon flavor, but none of the boozy zing I dislike - much like the Curieux sampled earlier! The bacon's candy coating was sweet and grainy, though the bacon bits themselves were a tad fatty and chewy. I've never had a dessert that combined so many unusual or savory elements together; the fact that it disappeared in 5 minutes or less is a testament to how well it worked. I can't wait to see what In'finiti is up to whenever I'm in town again.

...and with that, I was on my way back to Boston.

Oh, I almost forgot a treat I saved for the trip home! Bam Bam Bakery sweetened last summer's business trip; now, I had a gluten-free treat on my own time. The chocolate chip cookie dough bar was an immense square - at least 3"x3"x1.25" - of blondie-style dough, baked and interspersed with chocolate chips, that in turn was topped with heaping chocolate chip cookie dough crumbles. A bittersweet chocolate drizzle decorated the top of the bar. Part gooey, part crumbly, and all so good, I highly recommend this treat (and bakery) to the gluten-free crowd and omnivores alike.

Lastly, some words on the city itself. I had assumed it would be a larger version of the standard seaside village - quaint streets, neatly manicured buildings and gardens, cute shops, creative eateries, waterfront parks, and so on. Portland has all those things, but in limited quantities; the city as a whole is grittier, and more dilapidated, than I anticipated. There's an edginess and tiredness to the place that you don't see or feel in the seacoast's other havens. Also: so many hipsters! The whole thing almost felt out of place in the larger context of New England. Still, I appreciated the exposure to something so unusual - and as this post attests, there's plenty to enjoy and go back for.

Until next time...

New Orleans, New Desserts

I know, I know. It's been 3 months since my last post. Let's imagine that, in those months, you read about:

• the German chocolate cake I made for Christmas,
• Flour's maple cranberry pecan bread, and
• the 2013 edition of this wintry vacation.

You might still read about them, but for now, you get to read about your blogger's first trip to New Orleans! I traveled there for a conference, which didn't leave much time for Julie-style exploration. What little taste I did get of the city, outside of the mile-long convention center (no joke), came in the form of nightlife and restaurants. I learned a few zydeco dance steps. I listened to live jazz on Frenchmen Street. I walked through the French Quarter on a balmy evening. I had the best pulled pork sandwich. And I discovered Boucherie. 

As soon as my coworkers and I set foot in the restaurant, I had an idea of what the experience was going to be like - and said idea came to be true. Bostonians will understand when I describe Boucherie as "the Craigie of New Orleans". I'm a huge fan of Cambridge's Craigie on Main, and Boucherie has a similar friendly welcome, casual yet refined feel, appreciation of local gastronomic traditions, and pride in its food that made me question for a moment - before the warm night air and accented speech brought me back - whether or not I was back home. Think: smiling staff; simple, modern, yet rustic decor; snout-to-tail menu items; herbal cocktails; wine, wine, and more wine; and a groaning table ready to hold 16 eager eaters. In other words, Boucherie is a slice of restaurant heaven.

My group sampled most of the small plates on the menu, which gave me a wide insight into creative Louisiana cooking. I researched more terms on this menu than any other restaurant's, and as a result I can confidently tell you what boudin is as well as how it tastes! (Pork rice sausage; fantastic. And I don't even like sausage!)

We also split several entrees to maximize our tasting options. Here is the Wagyu beef brisket with parmesan fries. I can't think of another piece of beef, or any gastropub's fries, that are better than this.

We ended the meal with desserts for the table. It was a good decision.

I rarely order bread pudding, since bread's taste and texture is too savory and rough for a satisfying dessert. However, there's an easy way to get around that issue: use a sweeter bread or cake in the pudding. Boucherie implements that workaround with a Southern level of excess by replacing the bread with Krispy Kreme donuts. That's right - this is a Krispy Kreme bread pudding.

It would be hard for me to not love this, considering the ingredients and process - donut pieces, an abundance of sugary glaze, and caramel, all baked into a square of deliciousness. My few forkfuls were very happy ones.

Next up was a type of dessert I had never seen. Wikipedia defines it as a single crust filled with a mixture of eggs, butter, white and brown sugar, vanilla, and cornmeal. I'm sure Boucherie honors those ingredients, but they add hot spice and chocolate to their spin on the Southern classic. Behold the Thai chili chocolate chess pie.

The pie's texture was very strange, somewhere between brownie batter and a (fully baked) buttermilk muffin. The exposed part of the filling had crusted into something resembling a dense, dry brownie; thinking back on it now that I know the ingredients, I wonder if it had a hint of cornbread flavor. The chocolate wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but the Thai chili sure poked through - especially a few seconds after starting to chew a bite! You can see that whipped cream was on hand to help with the heat, and the actual crust provided a nice, mild, buttery base. I'm not sure if I'd order a chess pie again, but I'm glad gave the regional specialty a try.

Who knows when I'll be back at Boucherie, and if they regularly change up their desserts to entice repeat visitors. Perhaps a meal at Craigie will suffice until then?

Several folks suggested I try the cafe au lait and beignets at the French Quarter's famous Cafe du Monde. I had every intention to do so, really - but I didn't get up in time before my departing flight. (The alarm was already set to an unseemly hour!) I'll make them a priority if I'm ever back in town.  

POSTSCRIPT

I connected through Chicago's Midway airport when heading back to Boston. It wasn't until I was looking for lunch that I remembered - I could find Fannie May candy here! As a Chicago-born daughter of Midwestern parents, I grew up on this regional chocolatier's sweets. Heck, it's still such a part of the family candy consciousness that I get a Fannie May chocolate bunny every Easter. So, I had to come back with something. None of Midway's convenience stores had the boxed assortments I was hoping for, but I did find a row of colorfully-wrapped chocolate bars! (Please excuse this promotional image in lieu of a photo taken while hauling luggage.)

A bit later, I got on my plane with a few raspberry dark chocolate bars! My family and I enjoyed the bars the following weekend. Fannie May, at least in this range of bars, does not buy into the irritating "percent cacao" trend. (Phew!) They use a simple, solid, and delicious dark chocolate that has an extremely smooth texture and just a hint of sweetness. A raspberry bar has 6 sections, and each section is filled with chocolate raspberry fudge. This surprised me, as I usually see bars filled with raspberry jam or glaze; the different medium ended up being just as tasty. It had a smooth creamy texture, sans seeds (a definite win over jam!); the raspberry flavor was tart and assertive. It held its own against the similarly strong chocolate, resulting in a satisfying flavor combination.

Each section melted in my mouth, and when I saw the empty wrapper, I wished I had another one to open. Still, I shouldn't get too mopey. Easter's right around the corner!

The Friday Night Burger Crew Does Dessert

The Friday Night Burger Crew, somewhat of a "thing" in December 2011, has come back in full force in January 2012 - though not always on a Friday, and usually with more than a burger. In fact, adding "Dessert" to our name would be appropriate! Let's review what we ate together this month.

Our first gathering featured a Fleming's burger and a Finale dessert, on a Wednesday, no less. If I had a picture of the burger, it would probably get blogged in this post, but I'll have to content myself with telling you all about a new item at Finale that combines two of my favorite things. This, dear readers, is Finale's peanut butter pie!

This immense dessert consists of a thin cocoa-peanut crust, one thick layer of peanut butter mousse, a thin chocolate ganache layer interspersed with peanuts, another thick mousse layer, and a substantive frosting-style topping of chocolate ganache. Garnishes include crumbled peanut brittle, chocolate gelato, and a creamy peanut drizzle.

The pie's crust is unremarkable. A dry blend of cocoa powder and peanut flour, it has less flavor than you would expect, and it crumbles too easily. The mousse itself is interesting, but not substantive enough to be the core, defining component of the dessert. It is extremely light and fluffy, with a very faint peanut butter flavor. It's more of a sturdy whipped cream than any mousse I've had, so I could more easily see it as a garnish on a cake or tart. The ganache layer separating the mousse layers is delicious, albeit too thin; fortunately, the topping makes up for that! The peanuts sounded like a nice touch but were actually disappointing. They had become too soggy in their proximity to the moist mousse, and as you may know, few dessert items are more unpleasant to me than soggy nuts. Moving on up the cake, we end with a gloriously thick topping of that chocolate ganache. Smooth, dense, and bittersweet, it is the perfect opposite to the airy, sugary mousse.

The garnishes are complex and interesting. The gelato, a chilly burst of bittersweet Valrhona chocolate, packs enough chocolate punch to compensate for any bites of pie lacking ganache. The peanut drizzle, seen at the tip of the pie, is boldly nutty and heavy with cream. The dessert as a whole benefits from the assertive peanut flavor; I only wish there was more of it on the plate! I do not recommend the peanut brittle, seen at the far side of the plate. Nuts, salt, sugar, and condensed milk do not make for a dessert, in my opinion, though the powdered brittle would be an interesting topping for the gelato or the ganache.

I'm not sure if I would order this pie again, but I appreciate Finale attempting a flavor pairing that is near and dear to my heart!

The Crew's next outing found us dessert-ing at an unexpected location. Firebrand Saints serves all manner of meats - the options include, and go beyond, mind-blowing burgers - in a bustling industrial space near Cambridge's Kendall Square. (I'm totally obsessed with the Kendall nightlife renaissance, btw.) I came to FS for the burger, and stayed for the cherry pie! They serve pies made from local fruits; we could choose from pear-cranberry, cranberry-nut, or cherry pie, to be served with chocolate or strawberry ice cream. The cherry/chocolate combination sounded the most appealing, and wow, did we make a good choice. Look at this beauteous slice, with its plump fruit, thick crust, and generous scoop:

The cherries were a delight, so tangy and juicy and bursting with flavor. I detected a hint of citrus in the filling, most likely to brighten the taste (as I have done with apples), and maybe even a faint nuttiness, though I saw no nuts. The crust was really unusual, giving me even more encouragement to try making a crust from scratch. It was simultaneously flaky and substantive, something I've never encountered. The surfaces browned so nicely, and you could taste the warm butter in every chewy, mouth-coating bite. The ice cream was a bit too dense on its own, but that became a non-issue when it was left to melt over and into the pie.

I would guess that FS switches up their pies based on whatever fruits are available on any given day; so, I'd love to go back and see what other varieties they serve. In the meantime, I have a renewed appreciation for fruit pies, particularly the cherry variety. I usually overlook that genre when considering what dessert to order or make, but I now have some compelling evidence to change my ways!

Pre-Thanksgiving Feasts

Sometimes I'll digress from this blog's dessert focus and talk generally about awesome food. What better time to post such digressions than around Thanksgiving, when nearly every day involves epic eats?

Friendsgiving!

This is one of my favorite college traditions, which many of us BC alums still in the Boston area have kept alive in the years since. It all started our sophomore year, when we were living in suites and had access to our own kitchens for the first time. What could be better than a friendly potluck the weekend before we all went home for Thanksgiving? Mary offered to do the turkey and stuffing if the rest of us contributed sides…and as a result of these efforts, the common areas of Edmonds 333 were filled with feasting and fun.

8 years later, we still gather at someone’s apartment for Friendsgiving; Pat and Alyssa were kind enough to host this year. Here is my dinner plate!

As you can see, my portions were in no way moderate. (How can they be, when there is so much deliciousness to be had?) This made eating dessert difficult, as I had hardly any room for it. However, I managed to fit in a slice of my apple spice cake, a chocolate peanut butter cookie, and some chocolate pudding pie with an interesting cookie and nut crust. The only thing missing? One of Lena's "drunk pies". For the record, I would have had the chocolate-Frangelico pie!

*Burp.* I did not eat for 16 hours following that meal. I then broke the fast the following day with…

Sausagefest!

Dante regularly hosts spectacular food events. I had a blast at their Al Fresco Fiasco, so when Laura suggested we attend another event on November 20, I obviously said yes. Their yearly pre-Thanksgiving events have focused on a particular type of food – for example, a Ravioli Rumble or Soup Slurpdown – and this year’s sausage-themed event was…the Sausagefest. Chefs from area restaurants served bite-size portions of sausages and accompaniments throughout Dante’s restaurant space and patio.

I’m not traditionally a fan of sausage. I could rattle off a list of why: its composite nature, fashioned from what I consider the reject parts of its source animal(s); nausea-inspiring collegiate encounters with “street meat”; its (gross) best friends Onion and Pepper, and so on. However, I ate well at this event. I think the variety of meats presented – like wild boar! – and creative accompaniments – like cranberry jalapeno salsa! – piqued my interest. Also, Dante!

My favorites were:

• ArtBar’s wild boar sausage in a miniature hot dog bun,
• Stella’s pork sausage with pickled onion, citrus aioli, and crispy potatoes, and
• Prezza’s mild fennel sausage with polenta, tomato sauce, and grated Parmesan.

Many attendees also liked these; Stella’s Evan Deluty was crowned “Sausage King” at the end of the event!

I then moved on to Brighton for…

Short Ribs and Dreamy Apple Pie!

Greg is an impressive cook! I knew this as soon he made me steak over the summer…and I was actually happy to eat it. (Believe it or not, your foodie blogger had never enjoyed a steak until then.) There have been many more delicious meals since that first cooking adventure. All the while, though, he has said that his short ribs are one of his best dishes. I got to see, and taste, that for myself this weekend...after quite the cooking process. The ribs were prepped with some oil, salt, and pepper, and then stewed in a savory sauce of red wine, tomato juice, onions, and shallots, all in a stock pot in the oven, for nearly 4 hours. The pieces of meat had fallen off their bones by the end of that time, and the sauce had taken on a deep, complex flavor. 

Imagine tender, flaky, flavorful beef, with creamy mashed potatoes and the sauce the ribs had cooked in. If it’s possible for meat to very nearly melt in your mouth, I think that’s what happened here. I enjoyed mixing everything together for the best of all meal components in every bite!

Dessert, courtesy of yours truly, was supposed to happen after dinner. We ended up being too full to enjoy it then, but fortunately the next day – today! –  has restored my appetite. One slice in, I know this is a go-to recipe. What is this dessert, you ask?

I came across this Dreamy Apple Pie recipe online, and was instantly intrigued by the creamy sauce used to coat the apples, as well as the pie’s substantial crumble topping. I followed the Pioneer Woman's guidance exactly, with these exceptions:

• Trader Joe’s pie crust instead of homemade – I know, she who prides herself on from-scratch baking really needs to suck it up and just make a crust already. However, I thought the premade version would be easier to work with.
• Cortland apples instead of Granny Smiths – would you have expected anything else?
• Moar cinnamon. Obv.

A few comments on the making of the pie:

• The heavy-cream-based filling, oh my! A nectar of the gods. This syrupy sauce smelled warmly of vanilla and sugar; my extra cinnamon was not enough to overwhelm the more subtle flavors in the mixture.
• I assembled the crumble topping in the food processor as instructed. Wow, that thing can make perfect crumble topping…in less than 10 seconds! I actually over-processed the ingredients and ended up with larger, sticky chunks of topping; I manually broke them apart to achieve a more typical crumble appearance.
•  The premade crust was a tad too thin. I tore it in several places as I tried to get it in the pie dish. I can see homemade crust having an advantage here, since I could roll it to an acceptable thickness.
• The pie baked for 1 hour, and was gently covered in foil up to the last 10 minutes. Those last, uncovered 10 minutes were all we needed to pleasantly brown the pie’s surfaces.

And now, thoughts on the finished pie! The crust was fairly typical and pleasingly buttery. The apples softened an appreciable amount but did not turn to mush, and some of their juice merged with the sugar-cream mixture. In fact, the Londonderry Cortlands' slight tang provided a pleasant and necessary contrast to that sauce. The sauce added a creamy heaviness to the pie, which wasn't a problem in a small slice - no ice cream topping needed! - but would have been overwhelming in a larger one. Still, it was very smooth and sweet, and just apple-y enough. The crumble topping was the best part. Of course, the crumble layer being nearly as thick as the apple layer immediately won me over. There was more to appreciate than just quantity, though. The chopped pecans added a nice nutty depth in both flavor and texture, and I'm still so impressed with the topping's consistency as achieved with the food processor. Overall, I love what this recipe does in terms of taking standard pie ingredients, doing something slightly different to them or adding new twists to the old favorites, and finishing with a really unique and memorable pie.

My only complaint? There is absolutely no way to serve a clean slice of this stuff. Instead, you may expect a plate of pie...slop. It's all good slop, I promise!

~~~

After all that indulgence, I'm going to give my stomach a break - until Thanksgiving, that is. Stay tuned for more on that holiday in these pages!