Some stuff

Vacation, all I ever wanted

Taking a little time off from the blog. Life beyond pastry cheffing has been too fulfilling as of late, so I have been working on a little refocus. I will be back soon with something pastry related. Promise.

Low Key 33

April 15th. Tax Day. Ides of April. My birthday. A chill, chill day this year. And I loved it.

Mama o'YDPC came down from Columbia and worked with me in the restaurant on the 14th. She got just a glimpse of what goes on in our world. And, dare I say, she may have caught a little of the bug. I don't think we are talking new career here, but I think she could be booking a return visit soon.

Tuesday was a day of shopping, hanging out, and righteous food. Mom and I hit some stores and then stopped for lunch at The Glass Onion. This was my first time to this awesome little spot in West Trashly. And I recommend that everyone go. Yesterday I spent all day at work extolling the virtues of The Glass Onion. (For more info, check out their site at ilovetheglassonion.com.) The root beer glazed pork belly with collards and grits could in no way have been any better. Sarah, one of the owners, was also gracious enough to send me home with a strawberry shortcake. Her comment that it wasn't very fancy elicited a response of,"sometimes fancy ain't good" from me. Overworked food--and I am guilty of it sometimes--might be beautiful, but if the flavor is lost in the presentation, then why bother?

While we were lunching, we ran into three people that I know from work. The word is out there. And I am doing my best to keep it moving through town. When you find a source for awesome food, you gotta share.

More shopping filled the afternoon. More spending of Pappy o'YDPC's money.

Dinner at Lana was also a hit and when I get a sec this weekend I will highlight it. My time is more limited in the next few days than usual: gotta get recipes written for Saturday's practical exam and then compile all the question for the written final. Then school is done for the summer. Ah. Relaxation. Sort of. Gonna teach in Columbia in June and July to supplement the summer income. I know, I know. But I will have all of May and August to loll about.

Later,
ydpc

Tasting Menu Brings Back An Old Favorite

-->Rhubarb (yes, I am obssessed)

-->Local Strawberries

-->VanillaTapioca (no dairy)

-->Sesame Crisp

-->Crystallized Ginger

-->Pickled, Wild, Petite Rhubarb (the little green braid in the photo)

The Stutz gets hitched.

Congrats, Kids! And I will be invading ATL this summer just to see you (and visit Ikea).

R H U B A R B ! ! ! ! ! ! !

So beautiful that I was forced to kiss it. $7 a pound for the big stuff; $1 each for the green, petite, wild stalks.

I am such a pastry dork. Just seeing and touching such a gorgeous vegetable makes me happy. I accept it. Hell, I wallow in it.

Came up with an on the fly special of vanilla poached rhubarb planks, local strawberries, and Chantilly cream. If there is any left when I get to work today, I will get a picture.

Damn, I love me some rhubarb.

Adelsheim Wine Dinner

About once a year or so I get the chance to present a dessert for a wine dinner. A vinter comes to the restaurant and we pair our food with his/her wines. On Tuesday night, Adelsheim wines were our inspiration. The killer thing about these dinners is we can go all out. Ingredients that are too cost prohibitive or too limited in availability for use on the restaurant menu move to the forefront for these 5 course meals. The food is meant to reflect the flavors of the wine. And, instead of the usual choosing your course and then choosing your wine, the chefs are given the wine and we choose what foods will go best with these wines. It's a nice little change of approach for us.



For my course, I was given a late harvest Pinot Noir labelled Deglace. Dessert wine of course means sweet. And this one was characterized by the flavors of apricot, figs, and honeysuckle (all summery items when fresh; therefore, unavailable to me at the moment). But since the wine was sweet, I was happy to think of a more savory dessert to complement the wine. Plans were made and products were ordered. I was going to get rhubarb from the Chef's Garden in Ohio. However, come to find out on Tuesday morning that due to weather the shipment would not be making it. Back to the drawing board.

Focusing on the predominance of apricot in the wine, I started with filling dried apricots with goat cheese. The goat cheese was our usual brand from Split Creek Farms in the upstate. Into the cheese I whipped a little mascarpone, some Meyer lemon zest, a big pinch of salt, and honey. I had infused our Hartsville, SC (my home town) honey with three Tahitian vanilla beans. After filling the apricots, I froze them.



When the dessert course was served, I dipped the apricots in a yeasty fritter batter containing both the Deglace and some Sapporo. Into the fryer with those gooey nuggets of joy. Once they reached GBD (a technical culinary term meaning golden brown delicious), onto the plate the fritters went. We drizzled them with some of the vanilla honey and garnished with rosemary and smoked sea salt glazed Marcona almonds.



I was greatly pleased. The more savory flavors paired well with the wine. The goat cheese got all oozy and the apricots became warm and tender. I will definitely be using this dessert again somewhere, somehow.