The Houndstooth Gourmet

 Termini Bros.has been a South Philadelphia baking institution since opening in 1928. Their tradition of Italian confections has made Termini’s a househould name to the Italian-Americans of South Philly, and well beyond the city limits. Known for making mouth-watering canolli, cookies, and pastries, Termini’s carries on the Italian tradtions passed down from generations of Italian immigrants.

 Termini’s canolli are considered the best there are by many, and one look at the photo above show just how fresh each canolli is made, with riccota filling piped inside to order. The filling  is a luscious foil for the crisp outer shell

. Among the pantheon of great Italian desserts is the sfogliatelle (SFOO-ya-dell, or SPOO-ya-dell are among the pronunciations), a shell-shaped pastry which is typically filled with orange scented ricotta, and sometimes has candied citrus and cinnamon added, as is the case with Termini’s version. Sfogliatelle originated in Naples, Italy and is said to have been perfected in convents and monasteries, as they are labor and time intensive to make.

Impossibly intricate, the sfogliatelle’s pastry shell is redundant with many, many layers of crisp crust that lightly shatters to the to bite. Sfogliatelle pastry is rolled very thin and slatherd with shortening. Then, the pastry is rolled so many layers are formed. Next, the roll is cut into what looks like rolled ribbons, and the center of the roll is pushed out, creating the point and many layers, as well as a pocket for filling. Once filled, the sfogliatelle are sealed and baked so that the many layers stay separated and become crisp. Kind of like a “crunchy” al dente!

During my stay in Philadelphia, I made a visit the famous Reading Terminal Market.RTM is a cornucopia of food, ranging from eateries reflecting cuisines from around the world, to fresh produce, baked goods, spices and of course, the good old favorites of Philadelphia; cheesesteaks, hoagies, and roast pork Italian sandwiches.

After being sated (if not stuffed) with an incredibly juicy roast pork with sharp provolone and brocolli rabe at DiNic’s Roast Beef & Pork lunch counter, I headed over to Termini Bros. to buy  dessert for later. I decided on the flaky clam shaped pastry just begging me to buy it! The sfogliatelle ($4.50) pictured above was fresh and heavy for its size, with flaky crust and dense ricotta filling. The semi-sweet nature of the pastry allows it to pair well with teas, or even espresso (with a shot of grappa, of course).

If you can’t buy excellent Italian pastries near you, you can either visit one of Termini Bros. locations in the Philadelphia area, or order from them online!

Tags: dessert, mail order, pastry, Philadelphia, travel by Ramona
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At the West End Alexandria Farmers Market this week, I bought concord grapes at Papa’s Orchard. I had never eaten a concord grape-well, besides jelly that is. OK, I’ll cop to drinking Manischewitz wine and liking it too. So, when I popped one in my mouth, the first thing that struck me was that the grape tasted….grape-y! It tasted like grape bubble gum, or grape water ice. While the skin was a tad bitter, the inside of the grape was intense.

With grapes in hand, at home I began googling “concord grape sauce” and found many recipes that paired the grape with pork. Although it sounded delicious, I’ve done the pork with fruit thing a lot, and was looking for something along the lines of dessert and I eventual found a dish which had inspired me before. Stephanie Izard, the most recent winner of Top Chef, made an amazing gorgonzola cheesecake with sweet potato puree and a concord grape sauce. It was a risky dish, but a true winner according to the judges, so I took her idea and applied it to this blintz dish.

With equal parts Gorgonzola, ricotta and cream cheese, the filling for these blintzes is creamy and piquant, and plays nicely against the sweet grape sauce, thickened by reduction.

Gorgonzola Cheese Blintzes with a Concord Grape Sauce*

makes about 15 blintzes

Ingredients

For the Blintzes (from How Stuff Works)

• 3 eggs
• 1-1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup All-Purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature

For the Filling

• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup crumbles Gorgonzola or Gorgonzola dolce

For the Concord Grape Sauce

• 4 cups concord grapes (reserve a small handful to garnish at serving)
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3-4 tablespoons sugar to taste

For the Topping

• sour cream

Directions

For the Blintzes

Combine all ingredients except butter in a food processor or blender. Mix until fully incorporated. Heat a 6-8 inches nonstick pan over medium heat. Dab a pastry brush into butter and spread a small amount in pan to coat. Add enough batter to just coat the pan. Swirl pan to evenly distribute batter. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side, allowing blintz to get golden brown. Transfer blintz to plate and stack them as you go.

For the Filling

Combine ricotta, Gorgonzola and cream cheese in food processor until smooth.

For the Concord Grape Sauce

Heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. Add grapes, water and sugar. Bring to a low simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Strain grapes through a chinois or fine sieve. Return sauce to pan and simmer on low until the sauce is thickened.

To Assemble

Add 2 teaspoons of filling to the top 1/3 of blintz. Roll over top and fold in sides. Roll blintz like a fajita to make a package. Brown blintz in a non-stick pan using small pat of butter. Cook on each side for 1-2 minutes, until the blintz is browned. Plate blintz and drizzle grape sauce over top and sides. Add a small dollop of sour cream on top and garnish with concord grapes.

*Everything can be made a day or two ahead of time, then reheated and assembled prior to serving. The blintzes can be wrapped and frozen for one month.

Tags: blintz, dessert, grapes, Recipe by Ramona
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As I mentioned in my dispatch from the Old Town market last week, raspberries are still around–albeit few and far between at this point. However, berries from north of Virginia are plentiful at our area supermarkets, and the prices are very good according to the Wednesday food circulars.

Berries freeze handily by simply placing them in a single layer on a baking sheet and placing them in the freezer. Once frozen, the berries can be stored in a zipped plastic baggie, and used as needed. I know I will be stocking up on them in order to taste summer on winter nights when it seems like these warm, long days are far, far away.

Sorbet is so simple, yet elegant. Furthermore, berry sorbets are fat free and can be used at various points in your meal. For instance, this sorbet is punched up with lemon juice which acts as a terrific palette cleanser and therefore, can be used as a simple intermezzo. Wouldn’t this impress your guests?

Of course, raspberry sorbet is also delicious after a summer meal. Right after you’ve picked that corn from your teeth!

Raspberry Sorbet

Ingredients

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

• juice of 1 lemon

 

 

Directions

To begin, make a simple sugar by combining water and sugar in a heavy bottom pan. Heat over medium heat and stir until sugar disolves completely. Add raspberries and allow the berries to mascerate for 5 minutes. Add lemon juice.

Strain mixture through a very fine sieve or chinois. Cool mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Add mixture to an ice cream machine (be sure that the barrel has been in the freezer for at least 24 hours). Turn on machine and allow to run for 20-30 minutes, or until sorbet thickens and the blades meet some resistance.*

Transfer sorbet into an airtight container and chill at least 2-3 hours.**

*If you do not have an ice cream machine, transfer the chilled mixture into an airtight container and place in the freezer. Stir to fluff up the sorbet every 20 minutes until the sorbet chills completely, about 2-3 hours.

**I used a Cuisinart ice cream machine and my sorbet turned out exeptionally smooth.

Tags: dessert, raspberries, Recipe by Ramona
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I hope all of you are still enjoying rhubarb. In case you’re running out of ideas (like I was!) here’s some photos of my most recent haul of rhubarb, and the rhubarb bars that I made. I had never made these before, so I turned to the trusty internet to find this recipe from Cooks.com.

Of course I changed it a tad!

I skipped the vanilla extract, and put a handful of coarsely chopped pecans into the crust. Overall, this recipe is delicious and really-what with the oatmeal and fresh rhubarb-it has to be good for you. A little, at least!

A little hint …add 4-5 drops of red food dye to the rhubarb filling as you are preparing it. That’s how I got it so red.

Enjoy!

Tags: dessert, Recipe, rhubarb by Ramona
5 Comments »

How great is Top Chef this year?!! There is a great mix of true talent, and the elimination challenges are bringing out the best (and worst) in the cheftestants. I am rooting for Stephanie to go all the way this year-it is about time a woman took the title of Top Chef. And well, if Richard wins, that would be great too. He’s got class, style and terrific instincts.

I was happy to see Restaurant Wars play out again with the remaining contestants. Antonia et al. were the designated dream team, and seemingly handled the challenge with aplomb. Let’s face it-they smoked their competition. I was especially impressed with Stephanie’s handling of the FOH, but what she did in the BOH was even better. Her pasta was singled out as terrific, and her dessert of agorgonzola cheesecake with a concord grape reduction sauce was tricky-but it worked. I was inspired.

Making a savory dessert can go wrong on so many levels. Making a souffle in itself can be daunting (remember TC’s Eric and his nacho souffle?). But Stephanie’s dessert scored big time, and made Richards banana scallops look trite and so yesterday. It was a bold move, and it worked.

So, that’s my inspiration to make a savory dessert with leftover Gorgonzola dolce I had on hand. With what was left from a bottle of pinot noir the prior evening, and some strawberries, I made a semi-sweet sauce that held over nicely for a few days in the refrigerator. I found the recipe for the souffle online from the San Fransisco Chronicle. The souffle was very easy to make. Basically you make a roux, a bechamel sauce, then a cheese sauce. The cheese sauce then gets the egg yolks tempered and added, followed by the whipped egg whites. Pour the batter into ramekins, make a bain marie and bake. While the souffle baked, I further reduced my pinot noir and strawberry sauce.

De-lish!

For the pinot noir and strawberry sauce, you’ll need 1 cup of pinot noir, 2 cups of sliced strawberries, and 2-3 tablespoons of sugar. Heat all of the ingredients in a sauce pan. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until it is reduced by 50%. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, or chinois. Spoon sauce over the souffles prior to serving.

Tags: dessert, Recipe, strawberries by Ramona
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