La Patisserie - visited January 14, 2018
I've been giving myself a break from baking since the holidays. It's my once-a-year hiatus. Leading up to Christmas, I use up all the baking ingredients I'd been stockpiling and see the bottom of my pantry shelves. So January's larder is rather sparse since I don't replenish my supplies.
It's also a chance for me to eat a little healthier since I'm not taste testing new recipes on a weekly basis. But, it doesn't quite mean I give up sugar entirely. Similar to my perusal of Manresa Bread, I also decided to check out La Patisserie, again before church so I can pick up some baked goods to share later with my parents.
La Patisserie is the kind of bakery that has a lot of fancy-looking desserts in its display cases rather than racks of freshly baked loaves of bread. Which should probably be obvious from its name.
I like the feast for my eyes as I kept snapping pictures on my phone. Not sure how it all tasted though because to keep that kind of well-stocked look, you never know how long the goods have been in the display cases. I like to think they're fairly fresh but I've had bad experiences before where a scrumptious-looking cake turned out to be dry because it's been in the refrigerated cases for too long.
Fortunately, I didn't have that experience here, at least not with what I tried. I decided to try the bear claw, similar to my earlier quest for my coworker to find good bear claws.
I wanted to try a little of the round loaves of pastries, especially some delicious-looking strudel and danishes but alas, the lady behind the counter said they only sold them whole and not by the slice. Bummer.
Instead, in addition to the bear claw, I bought the Hazelnut Bliss. Based on the description, I wondered if the "chocolate praline wafer" would be that light, crunchy, airy texture I'd once had in my friend's wedding cake, which, many years and dozens of wedding cakes consumed at my friends' weddings later, I still remember to this day.
I had the bear claw as that day's breakfast. Sad to say, I was disappointed. I suspect, given the random few pastries in that basket, it was a day-old bear claw. It was dry, not flaky or buttery and not very tasty. The filling was sparse as well. I wouldn't get it again.
Fortunately, the Hazelnut Bliss more than made up for it. It was delicious. Not dry at all and the praline wafer layer was exactly the texture of my friend's well-remembered wedding cake. It was also similar to the layer in the plaisir sucre I enjoyed so much from Laduree. That was worth the trip.
With its praline wafer layer, chocolate cake, white cake and mousse layers, this cake was beautifully made and artfully presented. The whole thing was covered in hazelnut ganache but it was more like a firm fondant. It also wasn't too sweet, which meant, of course, that my parents liked it as well. Although La Patisserie has a lot of offerings, it's hard for me to imagine I'd like anything else better than this cake.
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Friday, January 26, 2018
Bakery Review: Manresa Bread
Manresa Bread - visited January 7, 2018
One of the things I love to do - and don't do enough of - is travel. And only another foodie would understand that part of my travel plans are governed by what food my destination is known for, what famous bakeries or restaurants I can go visit while I'm there and, to be perfectly candid, sometimes I decide to go somewhere simply because of a well-renowned bakery or restaurant (usually a bakery, because, hello, it's me) at that location. Yes, my travel plans are governed by my taste buds, stomach and gluttony. What? That's also why I workout 6 days a week.
I even do some serious research. Meaning me and Google spend some time together while I plug in search terms like "top bakeries in the US" or "best cupcakes in (insert geographic area I've thought about visiting)". I go on a virtual gastronomic tour for extended periods of time. I compiled a list of places I wanted to try. Fortunately, it also occurred to me to research what's in my own backyard.
Which led me to stumble on Manresa Bread. You might have heard of David Kinch's Michelin 3-star Manresa restaurant. Yes, Manresa Bread is of that Manresa. I've never been to the restaurant (on my culinary bucket list) but I didn't see why I couldn't just pop on over to Manresa Bread as soon as I discovered its existence.
And pop on over I did, on an early Sunday morning on my way to church. I figured I couldn't finish off a load of bread during its peak freshness period but Manresa Bread offered a host of other choices to drool over.
I ended up getting the individual-sized Monkey Bread, kouign amann (my new favorite ever since I had one from Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho), a pain au chocolat and a whole wheat cookie. Before your eyebrows raise at that plethora of riches, I did share with my parents after church. If I couldn't eat a whole load of bread, I certainly couldn't eat all that but I could try a little of each, right?
Although, true confessions, I did eat the pain au chocolat myself as my breakfast that morning. A pain au chocolat, if you're never had one, is made of croissant dough so it has the same flakiness, shaped as a rectangle and filled with a stick of chocolate. That would be the good chocolate, mind you.
Manresa's pain au chocolat was delicious. The main drawback was it was almost too flaky. As in totally messy to eat. I think I was half-covered in pastry flakes before I had made my way halfway through it. While the earmark of a good croissant/pain au chocolat is that flakiness, I think I prefer something just slightly less flaky, not just for less mess but I don't like pastry that's too airy. But that's me.
The triangle of monkey bread that I sampled was good as well, just a little heavier. I think it tastes better warm.
The kouign amann was, not surprisingly, my favorite. There's something about that caramelized crunchy outer crust that's just spectacular. Next time I'd probably skip the monkey bread, more because I'd already tried it, not that it wasn't good, but I'd double down on the kouign amann.
The whole wheat cookie was the surprise in that I ended up liking it more than I expected. I'm very, very spoiled when it comes to cookies since I have the luxury of usually eating them while they're still warm from the oven. Manresa's whole wheat cookie not only tasted good but I liked the texture. Not too heavy or dense but satisfyingly chewy.
Overall, Manresa Bread is a highly recommend and I'd go back again. As soon as I work out a lot more.
One of the things I love to do - and don't do enough of - is travel. And only another foodie would understand that part of my travel plans are governed by what food my destination is known for, what famous bakeries or restaurants I can go visit while I'm there and, to be perfectly candid, sometimes I decide to go somewhere simply because of a well-renowned bakery or restaurant (usually a bakery, because, hello, it's me) at that location. Yes, my travel plans are governed by my taste buds, stomach and gluttony. What? That's also why I workout 6 days a week.
I even do some serious research. Meaning me and Google spend some time together while I plug in search terms like "top bakeries in the US" or "best cupcakes in (insert geographic area I've thought about visiting)". I go on a virtual gastronomic tour for extended periods of time. I compiled a list of places I wanted to try. Fortunately, it also occurred to me to research what's in my own backyard.
Which led me to stumble on Manresa Bread. You might have heard of David Kinch's Michelin 3-star Manresa restaurant. Yes, Manresa Bread is of that Manresa. I've never been to the restaurant (on my culinary bucket list) but I didn't see why I couldn't just pop on over to Manresa Bread as soon as I discovered its existence.
And pop on over I did, on an early Sunday morning on my way to church. I figured I couldn't finish off a load of bread during its peak freshness period but Manresa Bread offered a host of other choices to drool over.
I ended up getting the individual-sized Monkey Bread, kouign amann (my new favorite ever since I had one from Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho), a pain au chocolat and a whole wheat cookie. Before your eyebrows raise at that plethora of riches, I did share with my parents after church. If I couldn't eat a whole load of bread, I certainly couldn't eat all that but I could try a little of each, right?
Although, true confessions, I did eat the pain au chocolat myself as my breakfast that morning. A pain au chocolat, if you're never had one, is made of croissant dough so it has the same flakiness, shaped as a rectangle and filled with a stick of chocolate. That would be the good chocolate, mind you.
Pain au Chocolat |
Monkey Bread |
Kouign Amann |
Inside the monkey bread |
Inside the kouign amann |
Whole Wheat Cookies |
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Sweet Potato Cheeseburger Casserole
Sweet Potato Cheeseburger Casserole - made December 30, 2017 from Paleo Hacks
This was another fairly easy recipe to put together, made even easier by not having to slice and dice the meat since it’s just ground beef you have to break up while you’re browning it. Also fairly healthy since it’s tomato-based rather than cream-based. My only issue, which wasn’t really an issue, is, despite the name, there is no actual cheese in this cheeseburger casserole. But, ironically, it did taste like what I imagined a cheeseburger casserole should taste like. The spices (Penzey’s, of course) were just right and gave it a good flavor. I still have spiralizing issues but that didn’t detract from the taste.
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped (I left it out)
1 celery stalk, chopped (I left it out)
1 pound grass-fed ground beef
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup crushed tomatoes (I left it out)
chopped tomatoes and green onion for garnish
salt and pepper to taste
By now, you might have realized the past few recipes I’ve
been posting all have sweet potatoes in them. This is no exception. You can
safely take that as a sign that I bought a bag of sweet potatoes from Costco.
Even so, I had to give half the bag to my parents as there was no way I could
consume them all in time, even with making different recipes and putting most
of them in the freezer for later consumption.
This was another fairly easy recipe to put together, made even easier by not having to slice and dice the meat since it’s just ground beef you have to break up while you’re browning it. Also fairly healthy since it’s tomato-based rather than cream-based. My only issue, which wasn’t really an issue, is, despite the name, there is no actual cheese in this cheeseburger casserole. But, ironically, it did taste like what I imagined a cheeseburger casserole should taste like. The spices (Penzey’s, of course) were just right and gave it a good flavor. I still have spiralizing issues but that didn’t detract from the taste.
You’ll notice I left out a few ingredients than what the
recipe decreed. Yeah, if I don’t eat it, I don’t add it to my cooking. If you
want to make it cheesy, simply top with cheddar cheese at the end and let it
melt over the dish.
3 medium sweet potatoes, spiralized
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped (I left it out)
1 celery stalk, chopped (I left it out)
1 pound grass-fed ground beef
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup crushed tomatoes (I left it out)
chopped tomatoes and green onion for garnish
salt and pepper to taste
- Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onion, carrot and celery. Cook for 3 minutes until onion is translucent and veggies are softened.
- Increase heat to high and add ground beef. Cook for 5 minutes, breaking meat up as it cooks, until beef is browned and no longer pink. Add oregano, garlic powder, smoked paprika and chili powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir in the chicken stock and crushed tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring to a simmer; add spiralized sweet potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes until sweet potatoes are slightly softened and sauce is reduced. Remove from heat and top with chopped tomatoes and green onions. Serve warm.
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