Bakery Review: Prolific Oven

Prolific Oven - visited July 31, 2013

I first heard of Prolific Oven over 15 years ago when I brought my Chocolate Caramel Brownies to work.  One of my coworkers said she brought one home to her husband and came back to me the next day with "he said he would divorce me and marry you for your brownies."  And that those brownies could put Prolific Oven out of business.  Huh.  Brushing aside the facetious marriage proposal, my ears only heard "Prolific Oven" which translated in my brain as "new bakery I must try".

Back then I only found them in Saratoga but, 30 years since their start, they're still a family-owned business and now in four locations.  The expansion is well deserved as the first thing I discovered about Prolific Oven is they make really good cakes.  I haven't tried a brownie in recent memory as I rarely buy anyone else's brownies since I prefer my own (okay, that sounded vain but I can't help it) but I couldn't beat Prolific Oven's cakes even if I tried.  Rest assured they're not going out of business due to my baking anytime soon.

I recently went there with one of my coworkers to get a dessert to go.  What I like about them is you can buy any individual-sized desserts, even a slice of cake.  The cakes in the display case always look so mouthwatering and unlike some other bakeries where I'm leery of having something that's been in a refrigerated display case for too long (which means they can be dry), I've never had a bad cake slice from Prolific Oven.

For this particular trip, I chose the Chocolate Mocha Cake.  The cashier took the partially sliced cake out of the display case, cut a piece for me and packaged it up in their plastic to-go container.

Unfortunately, the paper sleeve she used to situate the cake inside the container smushed the frosting so this isn't the best picture so in this case a picture might not say a thousand words but a forkful of this cake does and they all start with "yum......."  I love the soft texture of the cake and it was moist with a perfect mocha flavor enhancing the chocolate.  More importantly to me, it was just a simple, no-frills, all-goodness mocha cake: blend of coffee and chocolate with a reasonable amount of frosting.  That meant I didn't have to scrape off piles of frosting and waste it and there was no jam or jelly or fruit to interfere with my enjoyment of a good mocha cake.

Their bakery cafes also offer savory items and entrees for lunch but I'd rather save my calories for their cakes.

Restaurant Review: Lion & Compass

Lion & Compass - visited for dinner on July 30, 2013

If you're keeping an eye on the dates when I bake things and when I go out to eat, I'm caught up to August for my baking experiments but the eateries are still where I've gone in July. Yeah, I really do eat out a lot.  And this isn't the last restaurant/eatery/bakery post for July either.

Macadamia-Crusted Seabass

Lion & Compass is the quintessential restaurant for business lunches and dinners.  It's in a bit of an odd location in that it's a standalone restaurant amidst a residential area of condos and apartments but across from a half-empty office park and right off the freeway. But the restaurant is large and portions of it can be sectioned off and there are little rooms that would cozily hold a party of 8 and a library (yes, it really seems to be a library if you call a room lined with bookshelves and books with dim lighting a library) that can hold a larger group of 16-20.

Grilled Filet Mignon

Its cuisine is best classified as upscale American fare and they do a nice job with various seafood, pasta and meat dishes. They also have a good selection of salads and vegetarian entrees so it's usually safe to take business acquaintances and colleagues here and not have to worry that someone won't be able to find something to suit their dietary preferences.  It's a higher price point but the food is generally pretty good. For this dinner, I ordered the filet mignon pictured above and it was cooked perfectly, was tender and the mushroom sauce was delicious.

Someone ordered this but I can't remember what it was

I get together regularly with a group of former colleagues from my last company.  Our get togethers started out as my VP and another VP doing combined team dinners so all the team members can relax and get to know each other.  Turns out we liked each other outside of the office too and it's now morphed into friends getting together for dinner, no longer bound together just by work.  Which is really nice, especially considering that out of the 9-10 people in the regular group, only 1 person is still at our old company yet we all continue to get together because we like seeing each other.

Soy-Seared Salmon with Shrimp Potstickers

There were seven of us at this last dinner as a few others couldn't make it but we had a good time and were lucky enough to be in an enclosed room.  It wasn't such a tight squeeze that we were sitting on top of each other but it was secluded enough from the rest of the restaurant and the bar just outside the room that we could talk comfortably and not worry about making too much noise or having the noise from the rest of the restaurant intrude on the conversation.

Butterscotch Pot de Creme

All the pics posted here aren't what we got at the last dinner (just the first 4 above were taken then) but since I've been to Lion & Compass often enough before, I'm also adding the pictures I've taken on previous visits.  I had the filet mignon and didn't have room for dessert this time around so these dessert pictures are from past visits.  The Butterscotch Pot de Creme above is my dessert of choice when I want to indulge (and have room).  While I normally don't like custard-type desserts, I make exceptions for creme brulee and creamy custards like this one.  I also don't normally like butterscotch since it can get too sweet but the one from Lion & Compass was really good, smooth and creamy with the perfect butterscotch flavor.

Apple Tart

The Profiteroles are quite good as well because a) they're filled with ice cream instead of whipped cream, b) the choux pastry is crisp and light and c) they're smothered in chocolate sauce.  What's not to love?

Profiteroles

German Chocolate Brownies

German Chocolate Brownies - made August 5, 2013, adapted from The Brownie Experience by Lisa Tanner

I had made this recipe long, long ago, back during my college days when I first got The Brownie Experience. I've had this book for so long that it isn't even easily available at retail anymore and you pretty much have to get it secondhand.  I'm keeping mine until it disintegrates or I've documented everything from it online because I've gotten some good recipes from this book.

Even though I'd made these before, it was so long ago that I had no memory what these brownies tasted like so it was like trying out a new recipe again. And let's just say I'm glad I did.  I like German chocolate versions of brownies and cakes, usually because of the topping because I love that coconut-pecan combination.  But in this particular case, the brownie base was the star. It had a soft, moist, fudgy texture that I loved.  Usually the drawback with German chocolate brownies is it literally uses German chocolate which is a sweet chocolate so by definition, it's more sweet than chocolaty.  This version, however, uses unsweetened chocolate and is only billed as a German chocolate brownie because of the topping.  That works for me because the unsweetened chocolate gave it a lot more chocolate punch.

The only thing I would do differently though is I think I cooked the frosting too long even though I did it for 12 minutes as the original recipe directed.  But that thickened and evaporated it just a trifle too much so I think I would take it off after less than 10 minutes on the stove before adding  the coconut and pecans.  In case you want a more gooey frosting.

2 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used 3 ounces)

½ cup butter, softened

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

¾ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup flour

Coconut Pecan Topping

½ cup evaporated milk

½ cup sugar

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

¼ cup butter

½ teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup coconut, flaked or shredded

½ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Butter an 8” square pan.
2. Melt chocolate, set aside to cool.  Cream butter with sugar and eggs.  Stir in vanilla, then flour.  Thoroughly blend in melted chocolate.  Spread batter in pan.
3. Bake about 20 minutes. 
4. Let cool in pan, then spread with Coconut Pecan Topping.  Cut into squares.
5. Coconut pecan topping: Combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla in a small saucepan.  Stir constantly over medium heat until thick, about 12 minutes (remove after 9-10 minutes if it already seems thick enough).  Remove from heat.  Stir in coconut and pecans.
6. Cool completely, stirring occasionally.  Mix in chocolate chips.

Makes 16 brownies

Eatery Review: The Habit Burger Grill

The Habit Burger Grill - visited July 27, 2013

I like a good burger but I typically don't have it that often unless I'm at St John's.  I don't go to fast food places more than a few times a year, if that (if you've ever read Fast Food Nation or watched Supersize Me, you'd know why) or to specialty burger joints because, honestly, I hate condiments and all the "stuff" most places pile onto a burger.  I'm often looked at cross-eyed when I ask for a burger "plain", meaning I want the burger and the bun and that's it. The cashier always wonders if he or she has heard me correctly and anyone I'm with rolls their eyes (yeah, they judge) but I stick to my guns.  I have them add cheese if I'm feeling indulgent and lettuce if I want the illusion of virtue but that's all.  No ketchup, no mustard, no pickles (shudder), no tomatoes, no onions, no mushrooms, nothing!

My friend Cindy, on the night we went to ToBang, told me about The Habit as a good burger alternative to In N Out (if I do go to fast food, I go to In N Out before anywhere else, both because they have good burgers and because they pay their employees a higher wage than your average fast food place) so I thought I'd go see what they were like.  According to their website, The Habit started out in Santa Barbara, CA when two brothers borrowed some money from their mom and bought what was once a burger stand in Goleta, CA.  Since then, they've built the Habit to what it is now, including a 70-location franchise. 

I hadn't really noticed this one near me until Cindy mentioned it and since it was in the pathway of my usual round of weekend errands, it was a perfect opportunity to try it out.  I was there a little before noon so it wasn't too crowded.  I gave my order to the nice cashier (ahem, plain hamburger with lettuce for virtue and cheese for indulgence) plus sweet potato fries which lately had become my caloric splurge of choice over regular french fries.

I took it to go and the wait for my food wasn't too long - not so short that I would think they just took a burger patty out from under the heat lamp but not so long as it make me impatient.

The burger was pretty good and the bun was fresh. The patty wasn't as thick as the ones at St. John's though so it doesn't usurp their spot as my favorite burger place. The only drawback to The Habit's burger is I would've preferred leaf lettuce instead of what I consider lettuce shreds.  Otherwise, Cindy was right and it is a good burger alternative to In N Out.  I liked that their prices were similar to In N Out in terms of cheapness ($6.20 for a burger, fries and drink but I upgraded to sweet potato fries and paid around $8) but not so "99-cent menu" as to make me wonder what the burger or fries were made of (or not made of).

Plus, really, I like any place that serves yummy sweet potato fries. Two thumbs up for The Habit.

Brown Sugar Toffee Cake

Brown Sugar Toffee Cake - made August 7, 2013 from Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson

Sometimes the downside of baking so much is I could swear I've already made a particular recipe because it seems so familiar.  But when I can't find it on my blog or in my "already made" files, it's time to admit I just think I made it but actually haven't.  In my defense though, this recipe is so similar to other brown sugar and/or toffee pound cakes I've made, that it's easy to be mistaken.

Remember how I always seem to need to use up buttermilk so I have to make this cake that uses it or that one which also does before my buttermilk expires? Someone told me I could preserve buttermilk by pouring it into ice cube trays and freezing them until I needed buttermilk again. But I could never remember to buy ice cube trays (in these days of ice makers in freezers, I can't even remember last time I saw ice cube trays in a store) and I kept having to throw out buttermilk on its expiration date.  Well, I finally crossed the chasm and decided to give powdered buttermilk a try. I tried out this one from Hoosier Hill Farm via amazon. It got good reviews and was made in the USA - that's good enough for me.

Although the directions don't say so on the packaging, thanks to the info on amazon, I knew to mix 4 tablespoons of the buttermilk powder with 1 cup of water to get 1 cup of buttermilk.  It was much more watery than I expected.  I think I was expecting something like the thick, creamy consistency of the fresh buttermilk I bought from Trader Joe's but that wasn't the case with reconsituted buttermilk. Nevertheless, I forged ahead.

This was a pretty standard pound cake recipe and it was fairly good although I don't know if I found it particularly memorable, a rare occurrence for a Lisa Yockelson recipe.  Neither the brown sugar or the toffee really came out in the flavor and this didn't even seem that buttery.  It was just a somewhat bland (to me) pound cake. The texture was good but I'm not going to remember the flavor as anything particularly striking. It did go fairly quickly at work the next day so I guess this is another case where my taste buds are annoyingly picky.

3 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped toffee bars

½ pound (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

4 large eggs

2 ¾ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
4. Toss the toffee with 2 tablespoons of the sifted mixture in a medium-size mixing bowl.
5. Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 4 minutes.  Add the granulated sugar in 2 additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added.  Add the dark brown sugar and beat for 1 minute longer.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for about 20 seconds after each addition to combine.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl thoroughly with a rubber spatula after each addition.  Stir in the toffee, making sure to fully incorporate the candy.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan.  Smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
7. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes to 1 hour, or until risen, set and a toothpick inserted into the cake withdraws clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. 
8. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Invert the cake onto another cooling rack.  Lift off the pan.  Cool completely.  Store in an airtight cake keeper.

Restaurant Review: Jang Su Jang

Jang Su Jang - visited July 27, 2013

Since I started including write ups about bakeries and restaurants I've visited in addition to my usual recipe trials (and tribulations), by now you've probably noticed I eat out a lot.  I actually didn't think I did until I started lining up the blog posts and realized I have quite a queue when I include baking experiments, bakeries and restaurants. As in, I could skip baking for the rest of the month and still have plenty of material to keep my blog alive nearly every day.  I think part of it is my birthday was last month and that necessitated a flurry of get togethers with friends to go out and celebrate at various restaurants. And every time I meet with any of them, I have to bake something to bring to them, right? Also, let's not kid ourselves: my social life revolves around eating out with friends. Then I have my bakery run group, Sugar Rush, at work with my colleagues. Plus I bake to try out new recipes.

Not the best interior shot

Oh well :).  The best part about this though is I've become much more aware of my culinary surroundings and keep realizing how fortunate I am to live where there's a plethora of eating places to try.  In my perpetual quest to support local small businesses, restaurants and bakeries are natural choices to enable that goal quite easily.  Or at least I assume most of them are small businesses; sometimes the websites don't say but I'm going by whatever information I can find.

 

Although I had gone to ToBang Korean BBQ the night before with my friend Cindy, I didn't plan very well and had also made plans with my niece, my cousin and her son Vanilla King to try out Jang Su Jang, another Korean BBQ place and a Michelin Guide recommendation for the last couple of years.  Good thing I like Korean BBQ since I was about to have it two nights in a row. Jang Su Jang has a 4-star rating on yelp plus a couple of friends also personally recommended it so I was looking forward to trying it.  We got there at 6:30 but it was already crowded and we ended up having to wait almost 45 minutes for a "regular table" as the BBQ tables where you could cook your dinner at your table were going to be an even longer wait.  When you have an 8-year-old with you, it's not a good idea to wait any longer than necessary, although I must say he bore up surprisingly well.  We amused ourselves by watching K-Pop on the TV in the foyer while we waited for our pager to announce they had a table for us.  (side note: I know nothing about Korean pop stars but it's always startling to see blond Asians on TV.)

Steamed Dumplings

Inside the restaurant, it was pretty busy but the tables were sectioned off with fairly high dividers so we actually seemed more enclosed and it was nice to have some privacy.  We each put in an order for a dish to share with everyone else.  The steamed dumplings came out first and I liked that they had a fairly thin wrapper so each one its own wasn't too filling.  The other dishes came out fairly quickly and the service was good.  When Vanilla King speared another dumpling, I teased him and asked if that was his third one.  His response: "no, my seventh".  LOL, there's an endorsement of the dumplings for you.

We also had a tasty noodle dish with glass noodles, common in most Asian noodle dishes, and one I prefer to more traditional wheat noodles.  The seafood pancake wasn't free like it was at ToBang but I have to admit it was really good.  They served it hot on a cast iron skillet so it was crunchy and had a light crispy texture.  I normally don't like all that "stuff" in my food but even I enjoyed the seafood pancake.  Now I know what the yelp reviewers were talking about when they praised the pancake.

Crispy Seafood Pancake

Since we were at a Korean BBQ place, we had to have the marinated short ribs, which is probably what got me hooked on Korean BBQ in the first place, many years ago.  Jang Su Jang's version was delicious, very flavorful and tender.

Marinated Short Ribs

And I'm not going to lie - the Bul Go Gee (marinated beef) was spectacular. Also tender, also full of flavor.  If I'm ever on a low-carb diet, I could live on this stuff alone, even without rice. My Asian ancestors are probably disowning me for that one but it's true.

Bul Go Gee

Probably the only two downsides to Jang Su Jang were the wait time for a table and the cost.  The food was delicious but rather pricey. For two entrees, a noodle dish, two appetizers, steamed rice and a couple of sodas, it was just under $100 for the four of us with very little leftover food to take home.  I don't mind spending money for good food but this probably isn't somewhere I'd go to that often because it would get cost prohibitive to patronize regularly.  Plus I like trying new places so I'd rather try a spendy new place than to keep going back to a spendy place I've gone to before. However, I'm glad I tried it and know there's a good place for Korean BBQ I can always fall back on. 

And there are many other people who feel differently and wouldn't mind spending the money or waiting for a table; by the time we left the restaurant a little after 8 pm, there were even more people waiting for a table than when we had gone in and not only was the foyer crowded but there was also a lot of people milling around outside waiting for their pagers to go off announcing their table was ready.  Wow.  Clearly people know good Korean food when they come across it and they don't mind waiting for it or paying more for it. All good news for Jang Su Jang.

Buttery Brown Sugar and Oatmeal Shortbread

Buttery Brown Sugar and Oatmeal Shortbread - made August 5, 2013 from Fearless Baking by Elinor Klivans

I'm on my endless quest to try out the recipes from my baking books, especially ones I've had for awhile and have been meaning to try.  I had a day off last week so it seemed like a good time to knock out some recipe experiments.  Starting with this shortbread recipe.

As with most shortbreads, this was easy to throw together; the hardest part about making shortbread isn't mixing it up but baking it properly.  Take it out too soon and it won't be baked enough to have the "snap" of good shortbread and will be chewy instead.  Leave it in too long and it'll be too crispy and have a slight burnt butter taste.  This was my first time making this recipe and I baked it for exactly 25 minutes as the recipe directed.  Normally I'm never not that precise but I happened to notice I put it in at 35 minutes past the hour so I remembered to take it out at the top of the hour.  Although it was nicely golden brown when I took it out and appeared done, when it cooled, it was more chewy than crisp so it could've used a little more time in the oven.  

I thought this was pretty good although just a trifle too sweet for me.  But the oatmeal gives it a nice chewiness and the butter flavor came through loud and clear. At work, when I put something out in the communal kitchen, I gauge how well my coworkers liked something by how quickly it goes and whether anyone comments on it.  My theory is if it isn't very good, it'll last throughout the day (no one takes seconds) and they'll be too polite to say anything about it.  For this shortbread, it was gone by lunchtime and I got a thank you email and 2 stops in the hallway to tell me how good it was.  By that measure, I guess people liked it.

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cornstarch

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) soft unsalted butter

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

¾ cup oatmeal, not quick-cooking

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 350˚F.  Butter a 9 x 9 x 2-inch or 11 x 7 x 2-inch pan.
2. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon together onto a piece of wax paper or into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Put the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute until the mixture looks smooth.  Stop the mixer and scrape the mixture from the sides of the bowl and any that becomes caught in the beaters as needed throughout the mixing process.  Decrease the speed to low and mix in the flour mixture, mixing just until the dough holds together and forms big clumps.  Add the oatmeal, mixing just to distribute it evenly.  Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan.
4. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and immediately use a small sharp knife to cut 6 rows lengthwise and 4 rows across, cutting through to the bottom.  Cool thoroughly.  The shortbread will become crisp on the outside and remain slightly soft on the inside when cool.  Use a thin spatula to lift the shortbread pieces from the pan.