Pi Day for Ron

Pi Day (or March 14th for the 3.14 in Pi) never meant much to me. In school, I had a number of math teachers who tried to make it fun, but math was never my favorite class.

My brother Ron, however, loved it. At his last job, he had instituted Pi Day festivities, sending out invites months ahead and rallying everyone to join in on a silly mid-week celebration. In fact, he loved anything quirky or odd or just plain stupid like Pi Day. That's just the kind of guy he was.

Ron passed away suddenly last year, and pretty much nothing has been right since. He was one of my best friends, and I think he was finally starting to see me as an adult and not his stupid kid sister. He was the one who was constantly finding things to share with me - YouTube videos, new TV shows, weird catchphrases - and this past year has been awkward trying to find and enjoy these things on my own. I've been left with a lot of sad memories, which I know he would have hated.

Pi Day, though. That's a thing he loved for no real reason other than it was quirky. It's something I can be damned sure I'm going to celebrate for the rest of my life because it made him happy. And if pie can't fix things, even just for a little while, then I don't know what else can.

Because I'd much rather remember Ron on a day like today, for reasons like pie.

Bacon Chocolate Cream Pie
1 1/2 cups crushed Oreos (about 15 cookies broken in a food processor)
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 pint heavy cream
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 package chocolate pudding, prepared as directed
5 pieces candied bacon, chopped

Mix together crushed oreos and butter until all the crumbs are moist. Gently pat into the bottom and sides of a pie dish. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a mixer, whip heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Don't overwhip the cream. Gently fold half the whipped cream into the pudding and pour into the prepared pie dish. Top with the remaining whipped cream and decorate with the chopped bacon. Chill before serving.

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011 - Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

When an event has a name like The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, you know it's going to be a big deal. In the past few weeks, hundreds of bloggers have been busy baking and mailing their holiday cookie creations. It's been a nice way of building community that I've enjoyed taking part in.

I had some trouble coming up with a recipe I wanted to use, but as soon as I tasted the Candy Cane Coal from Trader Joe's, I knew what I had to do. I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and simply swapped out the chocolate for the candy cane bits, and I had a perfectly festive cookie. I made these a little smaller than usual, so they were a little flatter and crispier, but just as tasty.

Now I just need to stock up on this candy so I can make sure I can make these cookies in the future!

And since this was a swap, I got some wonderful cookies in return. I received double chocolate coconut cookies (top left) from Elizabeth at A Chronic Venture, chocolate lemon ricotta cookies (top right) from Janet at Food Beautiful, and hazelnut linzer cookies (bottom) from Athena Plichta. You can be sure that I've made short work of all these cookies.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3-4 ounces chocolate-covered candy cane bits (like Trader Joe's Candy Cane Coal)

Preheat the oven to 325°. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

Mix the sugars and butter just until thoroughly mixed, then add egg, yolk and vanilla and mix until creamy. Add the sifted ingredients and mix until just blended. Stir in the candy can bits, then drop dough in heaping tablespoons on a cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart, and bake for 15-17 minutes until golden and puffed. Slide the sheet of parchment off the cookie sheets and let the cookies cool without disturbing them for a few minutes. Once they have cooled slightly, move the cookies to a cooling rack.

Friday I'm In Love... with Trader Joe's Candy Cane Coal

It's seeming like every Friday I'm In Love post is candy from Trader Joe's, and rightfully so. There are always new products every time I walk in, and I can't help but walk out with at least one new item to try. And Christmas time is an even better time for new products - you never know what kind of gifty thing you're going to find there.

Case in point: Candy Cane Coal. It's got kind of a stupid name, but I'll let that pass, because it tastes so damn good. The box is small (although I like the simple design of a fireplace) and holds about 3.5 ounces of the candy. Doesn't sound like much, but there's lots of flavor in each little bit. The candy is tiny bits of crispy candy cane covered in dark chocolate. That's, like, two of my favorite flavors in one food. How could I not love this?!

I've already eaten plenty of these straight, but I've also done a little baking with them as well. Stop back on Monday for the recipe. I'm thinking I might have to stockpile this stuff after Christmas because I don't want to not have this in my life.

Friday I'm In Love... with Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar with Caramel and Black Sea Salt

Recovered from your Halloween sugar coma? I would have traded all the Halloween candy I ate for just one of these bad boys. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar - Caramel with Black Sea Salt (say that 10 times fast) is just too damn good. It's a very good 70% chocolate with a nice snap, filled with a deliciously runny caramel and topped with giant flakes of salt. I'm a fool for anything salty/sweet, and if you add in chocolate, it's a perfect trifecta. This bar doesn't fail on any of its three components. Oh, that caramel... I've heard rumors of jarred salted caramel at TJs, and if it's the same stuff as this, I'm glad I haven't found it yet - I would eat it all with a spoon.

This is not a pretty chocolate bar, though. I know, I took about 50 pictures of it. One side of the bar is nice and smooth, but the opposite side, where the salt is sprinkled, is more unruly. Between the salt, which could stand to be distributed a lot more evenly, and holes where the caramel had oozed out a bit, it becomes clear that the reason Trader Joe's can sell this bar for a very, very reasonable $2 and something is because it's pretty hideous. This isn't something to give as a gift, as it will win no beauty pageants. But then, I'd have a hard time giving one away. I want to keep them all for myself.

The Chocolate Tarte, Somerville

Almost a year ago, my blogging friend Rachel of Fork It Over, Boston!, in the middle of a quest for the best cupcakes in Boston, declared that she had found a winner (of course, that wasn't going to stop her from continuing on her quest). Her praise for The Chocolate Tarte in Somerville seemed too good to be true. Because, frankly, I've had a lot of bad cupcakes and some good cupcakes, but none that left me talking about them for days.

So when Linda of The Chocolate Tarte invited a few bloggers to her shop to try her wares, I was ready to see if her cupcakes could possibly live up to the hype. I walked into the store and immediately had delicious chocolates thrust into my hands. Pistachio white chocolate? Yes! Raspberry Anise? Of course! Tequila? Don't mind if I do! We were all so distracted by these little gems that I almost forgot there were cupcakes to be had.

Linda had lined up a whole bunch of vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet mini cupcakes, and I jumped for the chocolate. I couldn't have been more surprised to find the moistest mini cupcake I'd ever tasted. Anyone who bakes knows that it's tough to keep miniature versions of pastries as tasty as the full-sized thing, so this tiny little piece of cake was a revelation. The frosting on top was light and creamy, like whipped cream with a bit of Fluff thrown in for good measure.

There was also a whole red velvet cake that we went at like wolves, and it was as perfect as the cupcakes were. The Chocolate Tarte does beautiful cakes to order, and I know where I'm going the next time I need a tasty birthday treat.

Of course, there's more to The Chocolate Tarte than just cupcakes. As the name implies, tarts (chocolate and not so chocolate) are a specialty. We tried mini chocolate rosemary tarts (above) which were just fantastic. The rosemary was very subtle, and the chocolate filling was creamy and smooth. If I had to pick a favorite dessert of the night, it would probably be these tarts. There were also fudgy brownies that were so dense, you only needed a few bites to be sated.

So while I didn't believe Rachel when she said these cupcakes were THAT good, I do now. Don't believe me either? Head out to The Chocolate Tarte in Somerville yourself and tell me I'm wrong.

Full Disclosure note: The pastries were provided for free by The Chocolate Tarte. But I wouldn't write about them if I didn't like them.

Zombie Easter Bunny

Like any good geek, I enjoy perusing the ThinkGeek website. I could probably go to any page on that site and find something I want. (And any non-food website that has a category for bacon is fine by me.) Every April 1st, ThinkGeek comes up with a bunch of stuff that seems real enough, or at least, should be.

Enter this year's batch of April Fool's Day objects. I personally think the Star Wars lightsaber popsicle molds should be real. And when a friend mentioned wanting to buy one of these zombie Easter bunnies for another friend, I knew I could at least make that one happen.

I found a bunny mold that is, I think, even better than the original because he's holding a brain (ok, ok, an egg, but it works so well as a brain!). I colored white chocolate with gel food coloring to get that great zombie green tint and away we went! I had bought a bag of Nerds jelly beans to snack on and was pleasantly surprised to find that the pink ones looked a little bit like brains and would fit in the bunny's basket.

I don't make my own chocolates much, but when I do, I love putting a fun twist on it. Do you make your own chocolates?

Restaurant Week Lunch at the Melting Pot

Can I start by saying that it's really hard to take a picture of fondue? Maybe not as hard as soup, but pretty damn close.

Yesterday, my friend Ann and I acted like ladies who lunch and headed to the Melting Pot in downtown Boston to enjoy a leisurely meal, mostly because the Melting Pot was still running their $20 Restaurant Week promotion, and who can pass up that kind of deal? The RW lunch menu includes salad, entree, and dessert, and we added on a cheese course (how could you skip that?!) for only an additional $6 each. I know a lot of people bitch about how RW is a pretty bad deal at most places (I'm amongst that wall of sound), but this is one deal that is well worth it.



Like I said, we added a cheese course because it's sacrilegious (sacrilicious?) to go for fondue and not get cheese. We tried the special of the month, Fondue a la France, which included brie, fontina, gruyere, and raclette, plus bacon, onions, white tuffle butter, and a sprinkle of fresh chives. This was the best fondue I've had at the Melting Pot (and I've tried a number of them) hands down. Bacon! White truffle! Brie! This was serious not-messing-around fondue.

Our salads came just as we were finishing the last of the cheese. I had gone with the Caesar, and was greeted by a pleasant surprise of parmesan-encrusted pine nuts as a garnish. The pine nuts were on the sweet side and didn't quite work with the salad, but I would have liked a whole bowl of them for a snack.

For RW, the entree is cut down in size, but in reality, it's really all you need. We both chose the beef plate, which included six pieces of beef teriyaki and six artichoke and spinach ravioli, as well as a pile of fresh veggies. I probably ate my weight in broccoli, but I figured that was a good idea knowing there was more decadence to come. I love the leisurely pace that this course takes as you wait for your meat to cook in the boiling boullion.

Dessert was, of course, wonderful. What's not to love about dipping sweets in molten chocolate? We opted for dark chocolate with a shot of Bailey's (a favorite of both of us), and surprisingly, neither of us touched the cheesecake - we opted for more strawberries and rice krispy treats instead.

As I said, lunch at the Melting Pot is one of the rare occasions when Restaurant Week works well.

A Little King Cake for Mardi Gras

I have never been to New Orleans, nor have I ever had a real king cake, but that didn't stop me from making one when asked. My friend Ann, who has lived in New Orleans, was the one asking, and since I was using her flour and butter, I was happy to oblige.

I bought Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook before Christmas like everyone else in Boston, but I didn't get a chance to make anything from it until well into the new year. For some reason, I decided to skip any of the easier recipes and jumped right to brioche. The recipe came together with no problems and couldn't have been easier to follow. However, the recipe makes enough dough for two loaves, so half went to make a regular loaf and the other half went to the king cake.

Ann started listing things that would be tasty - I don't think this is actually based on a cake that she has eaten. She wanted chocolate and orange and, of course, something to use as the baby (the small token that brings good luck to whoever gets the piece with it). I ended up dividing the dough into three parts, rolling them into logs, adding a filling, then braiding them together. Ann tells me it was just like king cakes she had in New Orleans (only better, I would assume, because it had both chocolate and orange in it), so I'll just have to take her word for it.

I'm not going to give you the recipe for the brioche, since I used the one out of the Flour cookbook, so feel free to use your favorite brioche recipe. My recipe starts after the dough has had its first rise, but before it has been shaped and given its second rise. Seriously, though, check out Flour - it leaves me wanting to lick the pages every time I look at it.

Braided King Cake
1 brioche dough, after its first rise (half a recipe if using the Flour cookbook)
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped
zest of 1 orange
1-2 Tbsp white sugar
1 large nut (almond, walnut, or pecan are good)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
milk (about 1 Tbsp)
colored sugars (purple, green, and yellow)

Combine orange zest and white sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Divide dough into three equal parts and roll each into a long rope. Flatten the ropes - lay chocolate down the middle of one, orange sugar down the middle of another, and the nut somewhere in the third. Pinch sides together to seal the fillings in, then reroll if needed back into a rope shape. Braid the three ropes together, then bring the ends together to form a circle. Pinch the ends together to form a seamless circle. Place the loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, then let rise in a warm spot for 3-4 hours, until it has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350°. Brush loaf with egg. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until completely golden brown. Let cool before icing.

Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and a splash of milk until smooth. Add a little bit of milk at a time until the glaze is just slightly runny (you don't want it too watery, so go slow!). Drizzle over the king cake, then sprinkle on colored sugars.

Chocolate Madness 2010

For the second year in a row, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts invited me to be a judge at their annual Chocolate Madness event. It wasn't even a possibility for me to say no.

I arrived just as the rest of the judges were sitting down at the tables in the center of the Cyclorama. The participating bakeries and restaurants had been split up into five groups, and five sets of judges worked their way through their candidates. I was on the "Down to Earth: Mother's Contemporary Candies" table, and we all carefully sampled our five offerings before debating their merits. One point that came up amongst us was that only one choice - Taza's chocolate - could actually be deemed a candy (although I thought Care's Bakery's Chocolate-Covered Caramel Waffles fit the bill as well because just about anything enrobed in chocolate can be considered a candy). We voted based on taste and originality, and when we were done, we were sent to look at all the table displays, to vote for our favorite.

The six (well, seven) winners:

Into the Aether: Sky High Layer Cakes
Canto 6 Bakery's Chocolate Whiskey Cake

Down to Earth: Mother’s Contemporary Candies
better batch/Cakes to Remember's Mini Chocolate Meringue Sandwiches

Flowing Water: Spoonfuls of Puddings, Ice Creams, and Sorbets
Christina’s Ice Cream's Ice Cream Surprise

Out of the Fire: Fresh from the Oven
South End Buttery's Bacon and Brooklyn Brown Ale Cupcakes with Espresso Smoothies

Light as Air: Served in a crust (A tie!)
Beacon Hill Bistro's Chocolate Custard Tartlets with Maple Sugar and Sel Gris
and
Petsi Pies' Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pies

Best Dessert Table Display
Canto 6 Bakery (picture at top of post)

My favorite desserts of the evening were:

• Flourless Chocolate Cookies from Athan's Bakery - I've eaten dozens of this type of cookie over the years, but this was probably the best one I've ever had. The edges were crispy and the middle was chewy, almost brownie-like. The nut flavor didn't even bother me, although I'm usually adverse to nuts in cookies or brownies.
  
  
• Mini Chocolate Meringue Sandwiches from better batch/Cakes to Remember - This was the ultimate winner at my table, although we argued over whether it could be considered a candy and that it was really more of a marshmallow than a meringue. Whatever - it still tasted damn good, with a crispy cookie base, chewy marshmallow middle, a hint of espresso, and a topping of chopped hazelnuts.
  
  
• Chocolate Mignardises Trio from Peter Ungar's Dining Alternative - These three little bites are something like what Chef Ungar serves at the end of a meal, when you need something sweet but don't want to eat much. Each of these bites were filled with flavor. They were chocolate truffle cubes with yuzu and candied meyer lemon, marzipan and chocolate madeleines, and dark cocoa and peppermint meringues. They were just one bite each and yet immensely satisfying.
  
  
• Chocolate Lavender-Ganache-Stuffed Cupcakes from the Regal Beagle - What seemed like a fairly normal chocolate cupcake (albeit moister than most that are out there) was filled with a delightful creamy lavender ganache. Lavender can often be overpowering of cloying, but this was mild while still imparting its flavor. I've enjoyed savory food at The Regal Beagle, and word is they're starting brunch soon. If they called this a muffin, I'd have one for breakfast ;)
  
  
• Bacon and Ale Cupcakes from the South End Buttery - I enjoyed these last weekend at the Bacon and Beer Festival, and I'm glad more people got to try them.
  
  
• Chocolate Lime Ice Cream with White Chocolate Chips from Christina's Ice Cream - Wow. This stuff was just amazing - chocolately and limey, with most of the sweetness coming from the white chocolate. It was refreshing while also being chocolatey, which I don't think I've ever had before. Christina's was also serving their Taza 80% ice cream, which I've had in their store before - if you like chocolate, you MUST try the Taza 80%.
  

There are a few more pictures of the event on Flickr.

Brownies with more than a touch o' the Irish

I read a lot of food blogs - probably too many. Often, I find myself skimming through my Google Reader without paying too much attention to details (sometimes even just looking at the pictures). When I'm in that kind of mood, it takes a special recipe to pull me out of my stupor.

And that's exactly what happened when I saw these Irish Cream Brownies on Baking Bites. I wasn't craving brownies until I saw the recipe, but as soon as I did, I HAD to have them. Luckily, I can just say the word brownie to my friend Ann and she's on board. We baked up a batch on Saturday night, to pair with Chipotle burritos, video games, and Caprica. Our group likes to talk, but we were silent as soon as these brownies came out.

I loved them so much, in fact, that I had to make them again a few nights later. We didn't have regular Baileys in the house, but we did have some of the mint Baileys. How awful could that end up, I wondered. How about even better? I'm sure the caramel Baileys would be amazing in these as well.

Man, are these tremendous brownies. Usually when something says it's Irish Cream (or Baileys) flavored, it means it has a hint of Irish Cream. Not these - these taste like the real thing (maybe because it uses the real thing?). Baking Bites included a glaze for the brownies, but I didn't feel it was needed (plus it didn't work for me). All on their own, the brownies form a crisp, thin crust while staying dense and fudge-like inside. I like these so much, they may become my default brownie recipe. What better thing to make for Saint Patrick's Day? My mother was asking for the recipe before she had finished her first bite...

Irish Cream Brownies (adapted from Baking Bites)
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup Irish Cream liqueur (like Baileys) - the flavored Baileys work well too
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9x9 baking pan with tin foil and grease lightly; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder. Add egg and vanilla and whisk until combined. Whisk in liqueur until smooth (this will take a minute). Add in baking soda and salt, then whisk to distribute. Add flour and whisk until there are no streaks of flour left. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the brownies comes out with only a few crumbs, no uncooked batter. Remove using the tin foil and let cool on a wire rack.

Friday I'm In Love... with Best Friends Cocoa

I'm not usually a big fan of cocoa - it gives me a stomach ache like nothing else - but there are times during the long, cold winter when you want something hot that isn't coffee or tea, or you just HAVE to have chocolate and there isn't a bar in sight. For years, I put up with the crappy box of packets from the supermarket when I needed a fix, but more often than not, I just went without.

A few weeks ago, though, I got an email from the folks at Best Friends Cocoa, and my thoughts changed drastically with one taste. By "folks," I mean Linda and Uri Guttman, who bought the company from its founder about 6 years ago when it was about to close. Since then, they've run the company from a small factory space in Arlington with just a few employees.

Like I said, Best Friends Cocoa changed my thoughts on cocoa as a whole. This stuff is smooth and sweet and comforting, while the supermarket stuff just tastes like dirty water in comparison. (It also doesn't give me a stomach ache - must be the all the chemicals in the mass-produced stuff.) It takes a little more effort to stir into your hot water (like I said, no chemicals means you have to do a little more work), but it's well worth it. If stirring is too much trouble for you, Best Friends Cocoa can also sell you a little battery-powered milk frother to mix up your cup of cocoa.

And did I mention flavors? Besides the traditional, which is fun to dress up with your favorite liqueur as a treat (I've enjoyed it with mint Bailey's as well as PAMA), they also offer Marshmallow Cloud (Linda's description is best: "a marshmallow toasting over a campfire, melting into your cup of cocoa"), Cinnamon Twist (a warm flavor with just a bit of kick), and Raspberry Truffle (Oh. My. God.).

Best Friends Cocoa is available to order through their website (including a sampler pack so you can decide which is your favorite), at Whole Foods Markets in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and through various markets and gift shops. Linda and Uri also have a table at Dedham's Indoor Farmers Market, held Sundays from 10am to 2pm in the Odd Fellows building at 626 High Street in Dedham. Above is Linda, Queen of Cocoa, holding court over her booth.

Girl Scout Cookie Creations 2010

As I mentioned last year, I am a Girl Scout. Like, still a Girl Scout. Like, a lifetime member of Girl Scouts. So when Girl Scout cookie time rolls around, I'm always excited to buy a box or twelve. (It helps that my niece is now a scout and gave me a box of Thin Mints for Christmas - like a drug pusher, she is. First taste is free...)

Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts has, for a few years now, put together an event called Girl Scout Cookie Creations. They ask local chefs to create recipes using Girl Scout cookies, and then they throw a big bash where people consume inordinate amounts of sugar. This year, they split the event into two nights - one in Salem and one in Boston. I only attended the Boston event, but from looking at the recipes, the night in Salem sounded just as delicious.

My friend Melody, who went through all 12 years of Girl Scouts with me, and I arrived right at the beginning of the event and quickly got to tasting. Our first bite was the Peanut Butter Terrines (featuring Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Shortbread) from Turner Fisheries (above). And from the first bite, it was clear that this was the dessert to beat. With the Shortbread as a base and the peanut butter puree on top, this was a perfect little treat. The puree was just sweet enough, and I loved the textural difference between the puree and the shortbread base.

Next up were Kickass Cupcakes' Caramel Delites Cupcakes. They were, like all of Kickass' cupcakes that I've tried, fine - a little dry and with waaay too much frosting. They used crushed Caramel Delites as a filling to the cupcakes, which added a nice crunch to the cake.

I was already feeling like I'd had too much sugar, and we were only 2 tables in! Some water cured me, though, and we proceeded to the Au Bon Pain table. Frankly, I wasn't expecting much of anything from the bakery chain, but their granola bars were fantastic. I tried the Caramel Delites bars, which were hearty, filled with granola, almonds, coconut, honey, and cookie chunks. I would most certainly buy this at an Au Bon Pain, and I might even make these at home. I didn't try the Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana bars (featuring Peanut Butter Patties) because I don't think bananas have a place in dessert, but Melody didn't like it as much as the Caramel Delites bar.

While enjoying our granola bars, we both thought we smelled something savory, like chicken wings. We took a swing by the cheese table in the front of the room, but there was nothing that looked like it would be giving off such tempting aromas. So we headed back to try the next sample, and lo and behold, Locke-Ober had ribs! Served with grits and sprinkled with crushed Shortbread, the ribs were delicious, but a bit of a cop-out. The cookies had almost nothing to do with the dish, making them an odd choice for a cookie-inspired event.

Ready for more sugar, we headed on to Aura's table, where they were offering something called the Layered Lemon Ice Box. The layered dessert was served in a push-pop, which made it all that more fun to eat. It consisted of layers of lemon curd, pureed blueberries, whipped ricotta, and crushed Lemonades cookies. The push-pops were fun, but they made it difficult to taste the layers together - instead, I really only tasted one at a time as I pushed the bottom up. Definitely tasty, though, and this has me wanting to make some citrus curd sometime soon.

Aquitaine was up next, and although I don't like bananas, I bravely tried their Boston Banana Cream Torte, featuring Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Daily Go Rounds. I can't say much beyond that it was good despite the bananas, and if this is your kind of thing, it looks very simple to make at home. But I do normally enjoy Aquitaine's desserts, so this is really just a personal preference thing.

Finally, we visited Tremont 647 for some Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Butterscotch Sauce, featuring Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies. After the first bite, I had a problem on my hands. Turner Fisheries had been on the top of my list the entire evening, and then suddenly, with a different take on peanut butter, Tremont 647 was turning everything on its head. I enjoyed the cheesecake, but the butterscotch sauce really tied the whole dish together.

Melody and I needed another break from the sweet, so we enjoyed some cheese and discussed whom to vote for. It seemed clear that we would vote for either Turner Fisheries or Tremont 647, and in the end, we went with Turner Fisheries because their dessert was something completely different. While Tremont 647's cheesecake was very tasty, it was cheesecake, which can take on any number of flavors, whereas the cookie puree in the Turner dish was something out of the ordinary.

And it looks like we picked a winner. Turner Fisheries got the crowd votes, and Aura won the judges over with their lemon curd push-pops. I was surprised that none of the chefs went for Thin Mints, the most popular of the cookies, but after stating that one of the mint offerings last year tasted like toothpaste, maybe I'm not so surprised. Is it sad that I'm already looking forward to next year?

And don't forget to buy Girl Scout cookies! If your local scout doesn't knock on your door, you can search for booth sales here. Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts also collect boxes of cookies for soldiers overseas, so buy an extra box to send to a soldier.

Pistachio Orange Peel Cacao Nib (Kitchen Sink?) Biscotti

Early in December, my father and I dropped my mother off at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education (for a class on gold leafing, which she has wanted to learn for ages), then headed off to tour the Taza Chocolate factory (along with roughly the entire chocolate-loving population of the greater Boston area). In pure Augustus Gloop fashion, we tasted everything they had to offer, including their cacao nibs (both plain and panned in chocolate). I could have bought one of everything in the store, but keeping my budget in mind, I grabbed a tin of nibs, intending to do some baking with them, and headed on my way.

Cacao nibs are chocolate that has been roasted and hulled but not yet ground into a paste, mixed with sugar and other ingredients, and formed into chocolate as we know it. They're not sweet, and they're not particularly chocolatey either. Instead, they're crunchy and nutty, and I usually taste an overtone of banana as well. I like Taza's a lot. They roast their chocolate carefully and in small batches - they know what they're doing.

Onto the baking. My father had been pestering me for a while about making biscotti, something I'd never done before, but he had seen on America's Test Kitchen and wanted to do. I quickly became hell-bent on including cacao nibs and pistachios (my father's favorite nut) in some way. I did a quick search and found these fabulous biscotti from Brownie Points.

These cookies came out perfectly, crispy and packed with flavor. I really like the combination of salty pistachios, crunchy cacao nibs, and sweet and chewy orange peel. I especially enjoyed eating them after they had sat on top of my coffee for a while, like in the picture above - the steam softened them up a bit without needing to dip them into the coffee. Feel free to play with the ratio of pistachios, cacao nibs, and orange peel - include as much or as little as you like. I prefer lots of little bits in my biscotti, so I added probably a little more than is called for in the recipe below. The base of the recipe is great, too, so you can use it with whatever mix-ins you feel like.

Pistachio Orange Peel Cacao Nib Biscotti adapted from Brownie Points
2 eggs
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup chopped pistachios
3/4 cup chopped candied orange peel
1/2 cup chopped cacao nibs

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix together the eggs, butter, and vanilla until well combined. Add in the baking powder, salt, sugar, and flour, and mix thoroughly. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Add in the pistachios, orange peel, and cacao nibs and mix until distributed evenly.

Divide the dough into two halves and form them into two logs (kind of like the shape of a ciabatta loaf). Place logs on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is slightly golden brown. Remove the logs from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Lower oven temperature to 325°. Cut logs into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place the slices back on the baking sheet, cut sides up (you may need a second baking sheet for this). Bake biscotti for 10-15 minutes on each side, then cool before eating.

Friday I'm in Love... with Cocoa Metro Milk

If you can ever find a time to wander around a place like Russo's when it isn't busy (is Russo's ever not busy?!), you'll be rewarded with little gems of products sitting on the shelves. Ann and I took a trip to Russo's last weekend, and the sleek packaging of Cocoa Metro stood out against the other milk options - crisp white lettering on a glass bottle, filled with silky-looking, deep brown chocolate milk.

Surprisingly, when I got home, there was an email in my inbox from the founder of Cocoa Metro, telling me about the product. I told him I already loved the packaging and their tagline (Carpe Cocoa - what, you think I like Latin or something?), and he offered to bring a bottle over for me to try.

I broke the milk out the next morning and gave it a small sip. It's thick and velvety and just sweet enough to balance out the dark chocolate. I'm usually a skim milk girl, so this 2% mix is a little thick for my taste, but it is utterly heavenly. It actually tastes like chocolate, not some weird amalgam of chemicals, with a touch of vanilla to balance it out. Plus, Cocoa Metro uses Callebaut chocolate, some of the best stuff around.

Back to that 2% thing. I knew I could easily have balanced it out with a measure of skim milk to water it down, but I had other things in mind. I poured some milk into a coffee mug, about halfway, then microwaved it until hot. I used my cheapo milk frother to whip it up, but if you don't have one, you can just use a small whisk stuck into the mug and twirled between the palms of your hands. Topped off with regular drip coffee, the Cocoa Metro made a better mocha than what you can get at a coffee shop. And for slightly more than the cost of one mocha at Starbucks, you can get a whole bottle of Cocoa Metro to make mochas at home for a week.

Cocoa Metro is only available in the Boston area: Bread & Chocolate in Newton, Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Russo's in Watertown, and a number of Whole Foods.

Bloody Eyeball Caramels and Other Halloween Chocolates

When I was a kid, my mother and I would make chocolates about once a year, usually around Valentine's Day. She'd fill an electric skillet with water and we'd fill glass jars with different colors of chocolate buttons, rest them in the water, and watch them melt. I don't think I was very patient with the whole process of filling the molds, putting them in the freezer to harden, then shaking the finished chocolates out, because there was chocolate involved! What kind of kid is patient when there's a big vat of chocolate in front of them?!

I don't know where that electric skillet has gone, and I use all my glass jars for canning nowadays. It's only been in the past couple of years that I've gotten back to chocolate making. I still only do it once or twice a year, but I've found that I'm much more patient with the process. And I love the whapping sound the molds make as you hit them on the counter to release any air bubbles.

Last year, I made gravestones, spider webs, and pumpkin cups. I couldn't find my molds this year, so I had to go out and buy some more (I know, rough stuff). When I saw these eyeballs, I knew immediately what to do.

These probably took longer than they should have to make, but that was because I was pretty detailed in painting on the red. I think they look pretty damn creepy, and seeing a whole bowlful stare back at me makes my skin crawl. And I really like the effect of blood-red caramel in the middle (just add some red food coloring to melted caramels, then let harden to cut).

These chocolate-coated Oreos took much less time because they aren't so detailed, but the mold only made four at a time, so there was still a lot of waiting involved. They're a little happier and good for anyone who's too squeamish to eat a bloody eyeball.

Do you make chocolates? Any favorite shapes/holidays/occasions for them?

Real Deal Peanut Butter Cookies

A few weeks ago, I got the sudden urge to make old-school peanut butter cookies. You know, pressed down with fork tines and all. But most peanut butter cookies don't cut it for me - the peanut butter flavor is subdued by the flour, and you have to keep eating them to get sufficient peanut flavor. (Not to mention the fact that they're usually made with processed peanut butters that don't just taste of peanuts.)

So with a quick Google search for "flourless peanut butter cookies," I found about 40,000 versions of this one recipe. It's ridiculously easy, and because it's so simple, you can play with it however you want. I used an all-natural peanut butter (ingredients: peanuts, salt) because I prefer the taste, although it makes the texture of the cookies just a little bit more delicate. I also sprinkled chopped chocolate on some cookies, but I ended up preferring the plain peanut butter cookies much more. If you play around with this recipe, let me know what you choose to do. Chopped peanuts would be delicious, or you can make them more like thumbprint cookies and add a dollop of jam to the tops.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine peanut butter and sugars in a bowl and mix until well combined. Add egg and baking soda and continue to mix until well combined. Roll dough into small balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press the balls down with a fork to create a criss-cross pattern. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Between batches, cover the dough with plastic wrap, as it will dry out and get crumbly.

Gluten-Free Marshmallow Treats

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I like a challenge. Gluten-free cooking continues to be a challenge for me, as I've been hanging out more with my GFF (gluten-free friend) of late and have been trying to think of fun things to make for her. So when U.S. Mills (which manages the brands Uncle Sam, Farina, and Erewhon, among others) got in touch with me about trying some of their cereals, I was most intrigued by their gluten-free options and what I could make with them.

While U.S. Mills has a number of GF options, I asked for some crispy brown rice. Honestly, all I can think of to cook when I see a big box of crispy rice is Rice Krispie Treats. So really, this isn't a new recipe, insomuch as it's a very easy way to adapt a recipe to be gluten-free. The crispy brown rice from Erewhon (as well as the cocoa brown rice from New Morning) are GF, as are any marshmallows that list the modified food starch as "corn" (I used Campfire brand, although most big-name brands of marshmallows are GF).

The best thing of all is that the brown rice is not all that different than regular Rice Krispies. I took these to a party after making them (since I knew there would be a number of GFFs there), and these were the first thing to go - everyone, non-GFFs included, couldn't get enough.


Gluten-Free Apricot Marshmallow Treats
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
10 oz. GF marshmallows
6 cups Erewhon GF Crispy Brown Rice
10 dried apricots, finely chopped and dusted with cornstarch, divided

Grease a 13x9 inch pan with butter and set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, then add marshmallows and stir until melted. Add brown rice and 3/4 of the chopped apricots, and mix to coat. Pour into the greased pan and, using a greased spoon, pat cereal down. Sprinkle remaining apricots over the top and pat down. Cool before serving.

Chocolaty Gluten-Free Marshmallow Treats
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
10 oz. GF marshmallows
6 cups New Morning Cocoa Crispy Rice
Chocolate M&Ms

Grease a 13x9 inch pan with butter and set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, then add marshmallows and stir until melted. Add crispy rice and mix to coat. Pour into the greased pan and, using a greased spoon, pat cereal down. Sprinkle M&Ms over the top and pat down. Cool before serving.

Bloggers' Dinner at Fleming's Steakhouse

Steak houses are, to me, a special occasion-type place. My visits are few and far between, and they tend to mark big occasions (like my brother's graduation, although that meal didn't go so well...). When Fleming's Steakhouse invited me and some fellow bloggers to dinner, I was sure we'd be treated to a great meal, but I wasn't sure if Fleming's would be a restaurant I could go to for something other than a special occasion. I'm definitely glad to see that's not the case.

As always, these events are as much (if not more) about getting to know other bloggers as it is about the food. I was happy to see some familiar faces (The Leather District Gourmet, Tales of the Basil Queen, and Megan from Menupages Boston), and even happier to get to know even more bloggers (FoodieMommy, BellyGlad, Grow. Cook. Eat., Forays of a Finance Foodie, and Fork it Over, Boston!). We had a great time talking about food and blogging and why we even bother with it all (not that we actually came up with an answer for that one). We were joined by Michael Dearing (operating partner) and Jason Carron (head chef and partner), who answered our questions and learned a little about bloggers in return.

Now, granted, I know this meal was amazing and plentiful because Jason and his crew were trying to show us what they can do. I would never order everything that they showed off to us. But the quality of everything was fantastic, and the dishes were all plentiful. We started out with the cheese plate, which is given to all customers in place of a bread basket. The specifics change frequently, but the variations we were given were champagne-infused brie and cabernet-infused goat cheese. Um, yes please. Whose brilliant idea was it to combine these flavors, and can they move into my kitchen and do all my cooking from here on out?

Once everyone was settled in their seats, the appetizers began to arrive. The most beautiful was the chilled seafood tower, heaped with shrimp, king crab legs, snow crab claws, and lobster tails. I found myself reaching for seconds and thirds because there was a GIANT TOWER OF SEAFOOD IN FRONT OF ME! How could I not? Each piece was impeccably fresh, and the dish was big enough to share with multiple people as a meal. My other favorite appetizer was the lobster tempura - buttery lobster wrapped in a crispy shell and served with tempura veggies. It was even better than it sounds.

For dinner, we each ordered our own main dish (steak for 90% of the table), and the chef brought out a variety of sides for us to try. I topped my petit filet with Bearnaise sauce (all the while thinking "Don't be saucy with me, Bearnaise") and took little portions of each side.

As much as I enjoy steak (and this was perfectly cooked), I'm more a fan of the sides. Shoestring fries, ginormous onion rings, mashed potatoes (two types - roasted garlic, and parmesan peppercorn), chipotle cheddar macaroni and cheese, sauteed spinach, grilled asparagus, spicy sauteed corn - all delicious.

Dessert was good, but honestly, the savory sides were so good that I was still focused on those. The chocolate lava cake was the stand-out dessert, with a center that was actually molten (unlike in so many restaurants) and served with fantastic pistachio tuille cookies.

This meal showed me that Fleming's can be a typical steakhouse, with finely cooked steaks served with massive side dishes, but it can also be a place to experience 100 different wines by the glass (or in flights) while enjoying your favorite appetizer or side dish, or taking advantage of one of their great deals, such as their Sunday prime rib dinner (prime rib, salad, one side, and dessert, all for $35). Fleming's is also participating in the upcoming Restaurant Week, so if you're feeling like a complete meal, it's a great chance to try the place for little money down.

Retro Chocolate Plate at Finale

Most people who really know food understand that holidays (especially ones like Valentine's Day) are not always the best time to go out to eat. It seems, though, that this won't be such a problem this year - Valentine's is a Saturday, and the following Monday is a holiday, meaning that the entire weekend is open for Valentine's-themed meals.

Finale has taken this into account, and is offering a special menu for the entire weekend, all focused around their Retro Chocolate Tasting Plate. They got in touch with me to come try it out, and who am I to say no?

I've had Finale's savory food before and enjoyed it, and I've had their sweets (although as take-out, not plated in the restaurant). The idea of a restaurant that focuses on dessert makes me think of absolute decadence, and the Retro Tasting Plate is exactly that (and isn't decadence a good thing for Valentine's Day?).

The plate is HUGE, and each of the six offerings is definitely decadent. And it's definitely retro, filled with old-school favorites like peanut butter and jelly, s'mores, and malted milk balls. With so many different things on one plate, you'd think all the flavors would get muddled, but the through-line of chocolate ties everything together.

To start, let me say that I'm not a fan of either bananas or the combination of peanut butter and jelly. That's why I was so surprised when I genuinely enjoyed both the milk chocolate banana pyramid and the peanut butter and jelly truffles. In the pyramid, the flavor of the sweetened banana puree was mild enough not to be offensive but flavorful enough to evoke the fruit - if all bananas actually tasted like this, I'd eat them all the time. And PB&J is apparently more pleasing to my palate in truffle form.

Also included on the plate are chocolate-covered pretzels, a molten chocolate cake with orange sauce, a giant s'more with a Tahitian vanilla marshmallow and salted graham crackers, and a white chocolate Florentine "love boat" filled with Ciao Bella malted milk ball gelato. This is a serious amount of chocolate, and I couldn't stop eating it. The low point, if there was one, was the molten chocolate cake - it has become such a common dessert at almost every restaurant that everything else stood out in their uniqueness.

So if you're still looking for someplace to eat for Valentine's Day, try giving Finale a call - the Retro Chocolate Plate is something you'll want to savor with your loved one.

- Downtown Boston
- Harvard Square
- Coolidge Corner

Croissants are Surprisingly Easy

Another snowy weekend, another desire to bake. This time, I went with something a little more difficult than biscuits, and something I've only dreamed of making - croissants. I've always thought that croissants must be this time-consuming, nit-picky endeavor, since it is so difficult to find a truly delicious specimen. But as I started to tackle this recipe, I was astounded to discover that each step is fairly easy and short - it's just the waiting period between each step that makes this seem to take forever.

True, it took almost 24 hours to complete the croissants, but active time was under an hour. The result was exactly what I was looking for - buttery, flaky, light-as-air pillows of dough that practically dissolve on your tongue. I'm very happy to know that when I want the real deal, I can now make them at home, instead of driving all over, looking for something that may or may not sate my craving.

And since this was an experiment (I didn't even know if they would turn out at all - better to have low expectations when trying something "difficult," I feel), I opted to try both plain and chocolate croissants. Both turned out splendidly, and I actually liked splitting the batch in half so I could have both flavors. If you do split your batch, use only about half the chocolate I listed below, and save any chocolate that doesn't get folded into the dough for melting and drizzling.

Croissants

3 cups plus 2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp instant or rapid rise yeast (about 1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup warm milk
3 sticks unsalted butter
1 large egg, beaten
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (optional)

In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine 2 3/4 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. With the mixer at low speed and the dough hook installed, slowly add milk and mix until the dough begins to pull together, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-low and mix until dough becomes sticky and elastic, about 8 minutes. If the dough isn't forming roughly into a ball by about 5 minutes, add 1/4 cup more flour, 1 Tbsp at a time. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl and put the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Lay out a large sheet of parchment paper on a counter. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of flour on the parchment, then lay the 3 sticks of butter side by side on the flour. Sprinkle 1 more Tbsp of flour on top of the butter, then top with another sheet of parchment. Working with a rolling pin, gently pound the butter until it is softened and the flour is incorporated. Roll butter into a 12-inch square. Keeping the butter in the parchment, refrigerate for 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll out dough so that the butter square will fit diagonally in the center. Place the butter in the center of the dough in a diamond shape, with the corners of the butter at the middle of the sides of the dough. Fold the dough over the sides of the butter so that they meet in the middle and press to seal shut. Roll the dough out to a 14-inch square, sprinkling on more flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Once dough is rolled out, fold the square into thirds, like a letter, to form a rectangle, then fold that rectangle into thirds to form a small square. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Roll out the dough again, lightly dusting with flour to prevent sticking. Repeat the previous folding process, folding the dough into a rectangle and then a square. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper (rimmed baking sheets are best). Roll the dough into a 20-inch square. Cut the dough into two halves down the middle.

For regular croissants, cut each half into 3 rectangles, then cut each of those pieces diagonally into 2 triangles. Cut a small slit into the wide end of the triangle, then gently roll the dough, starting at the wide end and moving towards the point. Place the croissants on the baking sheet and curl the arms around to form the crescent shape.

For chocolate croissants, cut each half into 6 even rectangles. Place a tablespoon of chopped chocolate at one end, then roll the dough up around it into a log shape. Arrange on the baking sheet with the seam on the bottom.

Loosely cover shaped croissants with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 to 16 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°. Brush the croissants with egg wash and place the sheets in the oven, using both racks. Bake until golden, 18 to 22 minutes. Rotate and switch the baking sheets halfway through baking. Serve warm or at room temperature. For chocolate croissants, wait until the croissants have cooled, then drizzle with melted chocolate.