Bakin-n-Bacon

Cleveland - Foodie Destination?

Early this month, I met up with a group of friends in Cleveland for a foodie weekend getaway. (Note: I don't like the term "foodie" but words like gourmand sound so pretentious.) Why Cleveland? Frankly, until recently I viewed Cleveland as "The Mistake by the Lake." Watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations episode on Cleveland changed my mind, as did the Food Network's Next Iron Chef where Cleveland Chef Michael Symon beat out all other contestants for the honor. I started reading about great restaurants in the Cleveland area (Chef Symon's Lola and Lolita, The Flying Fig, Fire, Carrie Cerino's), a good brewery (Great Lakes Brewing Co.), and my attitude about the city began to change.

My husband imports motorcycles and the port of entry is Cleveland so he travels there frequently. Before, I never wanted to accompany him on his business trips but now I had a reason. In addition to the restaurants and the Westside Market, there are two Trader Joe's, a new Penzey's, Whole Foods and Sur la Table (none of which we have here). So I've been going with my husband, leaving him to deal with the customs officials and brokers, and going off shopping. I hadn't eaten at any of the above-named restaurants, though, until a group of people on the Cook's Illustrated Bulletin Board decided Cleveland would be the next destination to "meet and eat."

We certainly did eat. Everyone brought goodies for an initial reception (I swear I could live on Marilyn's toffee), and there was a plethora of spreads, dips, charcuterie and pickles. Desserts were not overlooked by this crowd - the swoon-inducing toffee and a variety of cookies were offered (including one of my favorites, speculaas). Yum. It's nice to be able to talk fervently about food with people nearly nonstop and not have them try to commit you to a nice, quiet hospital.

We ate dinners at Lola and The Flying Fig. The picture at the top is of the Tempura Green Beans appetizer at The Flying Fig, which Michael Ruhlman recommended when he spoke to our group. Yep, Mr. Charcuterie himself spoke to our small group after we had been cooking together all morning at The Viking Store in Cleveland's swanky Legacy Village shopping center. If I had a kitchen like the one at the Viking store I might finally have enough room. It is bigger than the apartment I used to live in! I have included a few photos below of our group cooking together.

Most of the other food photos I took didn't turn out very well. (I even forgot my camera for the Lola dinner. Doh!) I tried sweetbreads for the first time and thought they were pretty good, but I probably won't try to make them myself. I also had duck at Lola (excellent), but I must say I was a tad disappointed with dessert. I had the 6 a.m. special, which was French toast and maple-bacon ice cream. The ice cream was okay but not outstanding, and the rest of the dish was not memorable at all. Perhaps my expectations were too high because I make a lot of desserts myself, but I just wasn't impressed.

The Flying Fig dessert was better (fig and thyme crisp with lemon ice cream that was excellent), but the rest of the meal, while very good, wasn't quite up to the meal at Lola. I had a small plate sampler with Ohio lamb meatballs (fair), a local goat cheese served with candied pecans, toast slices and a strawberry preserve (excellent), and a scallop stuffed with short ribs (very good). The tempura green beans were tasty, although the dipping sauces were a bit strange. One was a sweet maple sauce and the other a mustard. I might try to make the beans at home sometime - everything is better deep fried!

 

 

 

New Cookbookitis

Every time I get a coupon for a bookstore, I am compelled to visit and browse the cookbook collection. Since I have a Borders Rewards card and a store right across the street from my office, this happens quite frequently.

Last year I swore off new cookbooks since I had a plethora of books from which I hadn't made a single recipe. This resolution, like most resolutions, didn't last very long. My husband says the perfect number of motorcycles to own is one more than you already have, and I guess that applies to my cookbook collection too. Of course my collection takes up a lot less room than his.

I have more cookbooks than he has cycles, but not many more. (I think last count was 18 motorcycles, not counting a few that friends have stored at our place). So anyway, I had another coupon and wandered across the street to browse the (very limited) selection at the Borders Express. How many freakin "cookbooks" does Sandra Lee have? And why does the Borders Express carry those but not Bouchon by Thomas Keller? (That is a purely rhetorical question.)

I didn't find anything I really had to have, so I wandered over to the "bargain" section. Normally I won't buy any of those cookbooks since they are often "can of this" type books or look like something a publisher threw together to grab a few bucks. But there was one called Baking: A Common Sense Guide that had beautiful photographs. It was printed in Australia and therefore had a few unusual recipes. The book is one of those publisher compilations, so there isn't a sole author. I am skeptical of most books like this, but it was only $5.99 so I decided to take a chance.

It was only after I really looked at it that I discovered it was published by the anti-Christ's company (Fox Media). OK, maybe that's an exaggeration; it's just a subsidiary. I leafed through the book and marked a few recipes to try. The first one was a Cardamom Cookie. Well, if all the recipes are like this, the photographs are definitely the best part of the book. I do have to give kudos to the publisher, though, for including weight measurements in both ounces and grams, in addition to volume measurements. It's tough to find an American cookbook with weights.

The cardamom cookie was on the greasy side, and the honey called for was such a miniscule amount that the flavor didn't come through at all. The cardamom flavor was fair, but the texture was pretty disappointing due to the greasiness. I'll try a couple more recipes before I damn the book, but I am not holding out much hope. Next time I'll restrain myself to a cookbook from an author I trust.

PS: everyone at worked liked the cookies (but no one loved them).

You Scream, I Scream for Sour Cream Ice Cream

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I took this past week off to catch up on some neglected chores around the house. I managed to get a few of them done - now I need to go back to work to get some rest.

Before I started my cleaning/fixing frenzy, we had a cookout. We made pulled pork, ribs, and all the sides. For dessert I whipped out my Cuisinart ice cream maker and the pizzelle iron I received for Christmas and made sour cream ice cream and vanilla waffle cones.

The waffle cone maker produces cones that are thinner and more delicate than you'll find at Dairy Queen. Their cones seem Flintstone-like after eating these. Of course they tasted a lot better too - the cones at DQ have crunch but little else. 

Shaping the cones proved to be tougher than I imagined because a) those suckers are HOT and b) even with the cone form I had a hard time making a point that didn't have a gaping hole in the bottom for the ice cream to drip out of. I think the idea of using a little chocolate plug in the bottom has merit. I may try that next time.

Since the cones weren't working so well, I turned to making waffle bowls. They were much easier to shape - I just draped them over an upside-down plastic tumbler.

The ice cream itself was a big hit. The tangy kick from the sour cream was unexpected but delicious. I took liberties with the recipe (an Emeril recipe from the Food Network), and my reworked version is below. The original recipe called for six egg yolks, which I have found makes ice cream taste way too eggy for me.

Most people were too stuffed to eat much ice cream so there were leftovers. Normally I am not a big fan of leftovers but I made an exception in this case. The next day I made a quick chocolate sauce and served the ice cream with pretzels. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I love pretzels and ice cream. The salty crunch of the pretzel is a great foil to the creamy smoothness of the ice cream. I am thinking of way to develop a pretzel cookie that could be used for ice cream sandwiches - or maybe just putting a layer of pretzels inside a regular sandwich. I don't want the pretzels to get soggy and that could be difficult.

Sour Cream Ice Cream
Adapted from a recipe by Emeril Lagasse
 
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1/2 of a large vanilla bean
3 egg yolks
2 cups natural sour cream

In a medium heavy saucepan, combine the cream and sugar. Slice open the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the pan. Throw in the remainder of the bean (just remember to fish it out later). Bring to a near boil (190 degrees or so) over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. 

Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, to the hot cream, whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (170 degrees F).

Remove from the heat and whisk in the sour cream, about 1/2 cup at a time. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container (optional, because some of the vanilla bean seeds may get strained out as well. If you don't strain, be sure to remove the vanilla bean pod). Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep a skin from forming. Refrigerate until well chilled (40 degrees or colder), at least 2 hours.

Remove from the refrigerator and pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine. Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.

Chocolate for Breakfast

Almost any time I can incorporate chocolate into a meal, I will do so. While I was looking for the soured milk chocolate cake recipe that I posted about a couple of weeks ago, I rediscovered this chocolate waffle recipe. I suppose it is intended to be used as a dessert base rather than as a breakfast waffle, but I decided to read the word with a literal interpretation, taking a cue from my dad's Biblical philosophy. (Thank goodness my dad doesn't read my blog. I love him dearly but we can no longer discuss religion. Or politics. Heck, we can hardly agree on the weather.)

The recipe is quite easy and the waffles crisp, light and not too sweet. It too is made with sour milk, but you don't have to wait for your milk to turn - using a bit of vinegar in regular milk will suffice. You can also substitute cultured buttermilk as it will lend the tang that pairs so well with rich chocolate. (Coming soon to a blog near you: Chocolate Buttermilk Tart). Served with lightly sweetened whipped cream and a drizzle of Kahlua (I also eagerly incorporate booze into any meal), it was a tasty if not healthy breakfast. If you want the recipe, send me an email.

What would make these even better is to top them with strawberries fresh from my garden. I've been fighting with the moles, birds and slugs over the precious berries, which we have been eating as a dessert with nothing more than a sprinkle of muscovado sugar. These berries are so sweet, tender and ruby-colored throughout that to do anything other than to enjoy them in their natural state would be bordering on criminal. I rhapsodized about the strawberries we got straight from the farm in March, but these strawberries make even those red beauties seem like plastic food suitable for a child's playroom. I imagine that the majority of Americans don't really know what a truly ripe heirloom strawberry tastes like. Even at the height of strawberry season, the varieties of strawberries that are sturdy enough for shipping don't have the perfumed sweetness of an heirloom breed. I don't have a large strawberry patch, only a square of earth 4 feet by 4 feet, but we will get a couple quarts of berries over the few weeks these June-bearers are producing. 

Since strawberries here in Zone 6 stay green year round, they make an excellent ground cover. If you have a bare garden bed, use strawberries and you'll have a tasty ground cover that doesn't require too much effort, although you'll get more berries if you pinch off most of the "daughter" plants. If I had more space I'd grow more berries and make strawberry preserves to remind me in the dark of winter what I can look forward to in the late spring.

Sweet Miniatures, Java Sticks

Difficulty rating: 1 SOB

Another chocolate recipe seemed in order for this project. I chose one called Java Sticks, because who doesn't like coffee and chocolate (don't answer that, I know plenty of people who aren't fond of that combination. Weirdos.) This one is a chocolate shortbread enhanced with coffee, and coated with white chocolate and walnuts. The ingredient list was an all-star cast, so they had to be good. Right?

The recipe looked easy enough since the dough is made in the food processor. Once the dough is made, it is supposed to be piped with a 1/2 inch round tip from a piping bag. However, the dough turned out very stiff and I could not get it to squeeze through the bag. I thought perhaps the butter was too cold so I let it warm up a bit. The dough started to get greasy from being warm, but still wasn't soft enough for piping. I had to resort to Plan B. Actually, I had to come up with a Plan B since there isn't an alternative in the recipe. I decided to roll the dough into strips and cut it. My husband came in as I was doing this, and asked if they were Tootsie Rolls. They did look a lot like them, or like poo, depending on how your brain works. (This is the second recipe from the book that looks like poo, if you'll recall.)

The cookies flattened some as they baked, and no longer looked like either Tootsie Rolls or poo. Flo directs you to dip both long sides of the cookie in melted white chocolate, then in finely chopped walnuts. It was too much of a pain to dip both sides, so I dipped one side really far. I tried just dipping half across one short end, but the cookies were too fragile and broke when I tried that. So one long edge proved to be the winner.

I judge how good a cookie recipe is by how long they last at work. After two full work days, about 1/3 of them remain in the break room. This won't be a repeat recipe.