Kitchen Fails: Pâte Brisée

Oh, kitchen fails... I'm not a fan of making mistakes in general and, while it's nice that we learn from 'em & all, I don't think anyone REALLY ENJOYS making mistakes. Especially one that took a few hours off your New Year's Day. I was all excited to start a new tradition that would bring me and Mark into the New Year with extra luck (I don't know where I made the association between what I was about to do and having a lucky year, but my brain decided to make that connection somehow)...

Every New Year's Day I would make some type of celebratory pie. It would bring us luck and fortune in the coming year. Yes. Apparently a pie is responsible for all those things. And it's delicious to eat. One cannot lose, no?!

Well the tradition was set to start with my first homemade pâte brisée pie crust (Stirling Creamery was kind enough to let me sample some of their Churn 84 Butter for the recipe - it is delicious and is higher in fat content than other butters you can buy in Ontario so it helps pastries and pies and other treats be much flakier than if you use normal butter). This was an ambitious first attempt to say the least.

Long kitchen fail story short, here's what NOT to do when following a  pâte brisée recipe:

• Forget to chill the blade! Damn it! My butter was freezing cold but I. Forgot. To. Chill. The. Food. Processor. Blade.
• Add too much ice water! Even if the f*#*(*g dough won't stick together, DON'T ADD TOO MUCH BLOODY ICE WATER. Don't!
• Overknead it! It makes your pie crust extremely tough. I had a crumbly texture like the recipe picture showed, but when it came time to form it just a bit, enough to get it into ball form for chilling, I couldn't get the dough to stick together. And if I couldn't get it into a decent ball, I knew it wouldn't roll out. So I had to sort of knead a bit to get it into a ball form... you're not really supposed to knead it at all but what's a girl to do?! LOL I couldn't even get enough to roll out properly to make a good size crust, let alone a double crust as I had planned. It was edible, and eat it we did, but it was pretty tough.
• Use a food processor from the 1970s! Mine was my grandma's and, while I love it for sentimental value, I think its motor is a bit weak...

Pâte brisée, I will conquer you eventually! But I think for Jan. 1, 2014 I will master my mother's pie crust for sweet pies. :) Can't wait!

So what were you up to New Year's Day? Did you have any kitchen wins or fails? Tell me about 'em in the comments!

Yours in food,
-Stacey

Meet Baker Street: You've probably enjoyed their treats and not even known it!

The fine folks at Baker Street recently invited us to taste some of their pies, tortes and cakes, many of them geared toward holiday entertaining. Now although Baker Street might not sound familiar to you because they do not have a retail storefront, nor are most of their products branded as Baker Street, it's highly probable you've enjoyed some of their treats - the 30-year-old company bakes for grocery store private labels. While some items are branded as Baker Street, namely their apple pies which you've probably seen in the grocery store, most of them are not.

Of everything we tasted, I think my favourite dessert was the pralines and cream cheesecake (pictured below) - the crunchy sweet pralines made a delicious contrast to the smooth, creamy cheesecake. And while I could envision in my mind's eye some of my friends crying "It's too sweet!" I was in heaven - I have a sweet tooth like no one I've ever met! But I could see how someone with less of a sweet tooth might go into sugar shock just looking at it. But whatever. I like sugar shock, thank you very much ;)



The most unique dessert, which was probably my runner-up to the pralines and cream cheesecake, was the gingerbread torte with cream cheese icing. Now I usually don't jump at the chance to have cream cheese icing, I like buttercreams, ganaches and other frostings much better typically, but it was so well-suited to the gingerbread torte that I couldn't imagine it being iced with anything else. You also don't see a lot of desserts using gingerbread, so this was a welcome change from the typical desserts we get offered at grocery stores.

The apple pie was the closest thing to homemade I've had (nothing will ever top my Mom's, but this was pretty close). In addition to a typical full-size pie, you can get individual mini ones at Loblaws ($4.99 for two). Baker Street has a big emphasis on natural ingredients, which I noticed when reading the pie ingredients. You could tell the apples were nice and fresh, as in most pies they use bleached apples which tend, on my palate anyway, to taste more bland. I know, I know, some may argue it's like a very cool oldschool thing to try to bleach your own apples, but the truth is fresh granny smiths make for a better pie.

We also tried a few chocolate cakes which were also all moist and delicious. And although I usually run for the chocolate desserts first, I was impressed enough by all the others that the chocolate desserts were almost just an afterthought. Weird, I know - I'm sorry, chocolate - I still love you!



(For more photos, go here.)

Yours in food,
-Stacey

Maple Madness at the Drake

Spring is here (sort'a)! What better way to celebrate the changing of the season than to partake of that most quintessential symbol of Canadianness, maple syrup? We sauntered to the Drake Hotel for their Maple Madness Festival, featuring boundless maple goodness.

Our first stop was the Drake's General Store next to the hotel to try some Maple Cotton Candy. The cotton candy had the most intense maple smell you'll find. Spinning maple sugar does wonderful things that tickle your senses. Mmmm, that would definitely bring out the kid in anyone. A touch of heaven in clouds of sugar with with a twist.

Into the hotel we go for some cocktails and our maple meal.

We had an Apple Jack Rabbit (Calvados, fresh lemon and orange juice + maple syrup), and a Maple Me Tipsy (fresh ginger, maple syrup + bourbon). Both drinks were yummy and went well with the food, though Stacey insists that the Maple Me Tipsy was a "man drink" due to the definite kick of Jack.

The most decadent sandwich I have ever tasted comes in the form of the BSBFG (brown sugar, bacon + foie gras). Anything with foie gras is an uber-delight anyway, but this takes fat and sugar worship to new heights. I couldn't help but think this sandwich was giving me a foie gras.

Oh and the dip. The BSBFG came with a really dark, sweet and rich maple syrup, which must've been reduced since I've never had it that strong.

Nom, nom, nom. Speechless... speechless!

For the main course, if you could call the previous item an app!, we had Maple Glazed Brisket (w/ three cheese mac n cheese). Brisket is one of those cheap cuts of meat that is really not good enough for haute cuisine, but ironically offers the most satisfying flavour. You gotta love the fat! If a croissant were made of meat, it would be brisket. Honestly the meat was a little dry, but who am I to complain when I my palate was being bombarded by sweet maple and melt in your mouth bovine fat with a thin bittersweet crunchy crust.

Dessert was Maple Sugar Pie (molasses + maple syrup). It looks a la mode, but it's not. We figure that white stuff was probably sour cream with either whipped egg whites or mascarpone. An interesting contrast of sweet and sour, although judging by sweetness of the rest of the meal, maybe dessert should've been the first thing to be served and the BSBFG last.

Wow that was good. Time for a leisurely walk along Queen West to assuage the guilt and stave off duck liver nightmares.

Maple Madness: Thursday, April 1 to Sunday, April 18, 2010

Click here for more photos at The Drake Hotel

The Drake Hotel is located at 1150 Queen Street West (between Dovercourt and Dufferin). Visit http://www.thedrakehotel.ca or call 416.531.5042 for more information.


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