so Keith’s out of town and hopefully he doesn’t read my blog as often as he says he does because TEASER – this is what I’m making him for our anniversary dinner.  Wedding anniversary you ask?  AH-nope, 10 years A DECADE, since we began dating as young children who bought each other squirt guns as gifts.  I wish I were kidding.  Except I really don’t because, let’s be honest, squirt guns are the tits.

So I decided to cancel our dinner at Blackbird and if you know anything about the Chicago food scene… Blackbird is a decent place to go.  It has won some awards and shit.  But frankly, I figured a gourmet meal from the heart is feelier and gooier and cheesier (did someone say cheese? Haloumi perhaps?).  * Let’s Hope! *  Twinkly stars should help.

So I brought on Stephanie Izard (Girl and Goat) genius and Ferran Adria (El Bulli) genius = genius squared.  Two different chefs, two different countries – loads of inspiration.  Thank goodness I ran smack into Izard’s book at Unabridged Books (my favorite bookstore ever – sorry B&N you just don’t cut it).  I read it from cover to cover – seriously every single recipe.  Stephanie, I still haven’t been to your restaurant – can we please be best friends?  I feel like you get me.

Ok I’m done.  Olives, marinated and warm are up for the first part of the meal.  Who doesn’t love olives and wine and celebrating a decade of dating the same person?  Well we all know I love ADORE all of these things – so bring. it. on.

Marinated Olives – Warm

(Slightly Adapted from Girl in the Kitchen – read it and weep tears of joy)

I’ve decided that since this blog is called PANCAKE THERAPY and I haven’t shared either one… I’ve kind of thrown you under the bus.  Or given you false hope.  Or any other clichéd sayings when what I really want to say is, “sorry, I fucked up.”

Anywho – if you notice the title today it has the word THERAPY in it.  Can you read it if I put it in lowercase?  I thought not.  Anyway – I have a humble way of turning really cute things into obsessions.  Like my dog, obsessed.  Kitten heels, obsessed.  Coffee mugs with little mini handles, obsessed.  I also love little chode spice bottles that look adorable all lined up.  (haha, I said chode).

What?  Spice bottles? I thought this was a food blog.  Nope – I told you there would be random stuff in here and dang, I meant it.  So here’s a little DIY awesome.

 Thanks to my mother and all of her crafty wisdom, she instilled in me a bit of, “you need to do this to make it cute.”  I owe her one.  Seriously, mom, as close to mother’s day as we are.   You made me a perfectionist.  I love you for it.   You, me and your unbreakable ribbons.

On to the next thing:  so here are these little chode contraptions full of my spices.  Not just in the regular containers hanging out, but in these adorable little containers with sealable tops.  Then bring on Martha Stewart chalkboard stick-ons.  Aha moment.   Can’t go wrong with Martha.  So I cut them out into little rectangles.  Wrote in a silvery chalkboard looking sharpie – and voila I had some mad cool container sticky on things.

I tried using actual chalk and ended up like this:

So needless to say – if you need something adorable in your life.

Cute glass containers  (I’ll tell you a secret, I got mine at Crate & Barrel)

Martha Stewart Chalkboard sticks

Sharpie – preferably in silver or white or aquamarine

Your spices…

Duh and scissors.

It’s therapeutic to organize right?  Or is that just me?!  I swear, I’m making pancakes this weekend in lieu of this week stressing me RIGHT out.  AND they are going to be the best dang pancakes you’ve ever eaten.  Also stay tuned for what I do to these spices at the new place.  I got the go ahead to take over a wall for spices.  Spice up your walls, literally amigos.  Bangorang.

I’ve been out searching for a lot of answers to life lately – and this seems to be one of them:  the simpler the better, fools.  It makes my life to show these photos to you and have you experience what Keith has termed “some of the best dinners, EVER.”  Congratulations to me.

I may not post the recipes just yet as I’m still tweaking a little here and there… But think Lemon Rosemary Chicken on a bed of homemade hummus, with greens, roasted tomatoes, olives and feta.  Okay I know you’re thinking this sounds like a LOT of ingredients.  But for me, it was stuff I had in my fridge at a moments notice that all went together surprisingly well and took about 10 minutes, yes 10 minutes.  Except for the homemade hummus, I had to use a smoothie maker and it took like 12 batches to get it all pureed.  However, best hummus I’ve ever eaten and like 7 ingredients.  Take that, hard recipes.

Or just think about this, pause, Pork Carnitas – with about 6 ingredients.  Yes, they take three hours to roast, but c’mon you leave them on the stove and watch a movie – good to go.   With a glass of wine or beer it feels like 20 minutes.  You may think this stuff doesn’t sound simple or fun to make, but you’re just wrong.  Inspiration for food comes in so many forms – whether it’s fresh ingredients at the farmer’s market or just a time of the month craving.  Time to make things easier, especially with the warm weather and the fresh ingredients.  Get outside, kids.

So, I feel as though you have not experienced my true sense of self as I’ve been keeping a relatively low profile on the swearing, which if you know me at all – isn’t my style.  So if I offend or bug you with my use of swears – just plug in the family-friendly slang!

But on to the topic of the day – abnormal kitchen tools.  So all my stuff is in a storage locker outside Chicago and so I’ve been having to use weird things to get the job done.  Take for instance, my use of biscuit cutters to zest a lemon and to grate cheese.  Or my smoothie maker as a spice blender and a breadcrumb chopper.  It has truly enhanced my “think on my feet” skills, so perhaps my cooking will forever be changed by not being able to find a stupid zester…

Although, I still have been finding ways to cook some great meals.  And I have another brioche recipe… I know I know enough with the stupid brioche.  But I had a half recipe left and I was craving some Almond Brioche Toast.  Please tell me you’ve had this… smothered in almond cream, soaked with almond simple syrup and covered in almonds.  If you don’t like almonds.  Stop reading fool.  And note that this will be the last brioche recipe forever – so get your fill.

Anyway.. Almond Brioche Loaf:

Here is your almond toast bible:

Make the syrup – combine the sugar and water – bring to a boil and let that sugar dissolve.  Let it cool completely in a covered container – then add the almond extract.  You can cover and put it in the fridge – it will last a couple weeks.

Now make the almond cream:  beat together the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy.  Combine the almond meal and the confectioner’s sugar together in a separate bowl and break up all the lumps.  Add that to the butter mixture and beat until combined.  Just beat it.  Add the eggs and the almond extract and beat for 2 more minutes.  You need to be careful with the cream – you can overmix it – so keep an eye on it and make sure the ingredients aren’t separating.  If they do – do what I did and chill it completely and then use it cold.  It needs to chill for one hour before using anyway!

TOAST:  Preheat the oven to 400. Take your slices of brioche and with a pastry brush moisten the tops of the slices.  I used all the syrup so it would get down into that buttery bread.  Then slather it with some almond cream, about 1/4 cup for each slice.  Again, I used all of it to get the most out of my almond toast.  Heck ya.  Make sure the almond cream goes all the way to the edges.  Then sprinkle that shit with all of those sliced almonds.  As many or as few as you want.  I went crazy with the almonds, I sure do love them.  Then stick those suckers in the oven and bake them for 20 minutes.

Yes, so these are the jam.  They’ll turn any bored mouth into a happy mouth.  I ate at least 4, just shoved them in my mouth and then proceeded to lay on the floor and ask myself WHY.  You know why.   Because they are that good.  I sprinkled them with just enough parmesan cheese to cut the sweet flavor down – but you most definitely could sprinkle them with some sea salt or even course sugar.  Both would totally do these a favor.  I just really enjoy cheese.  Especially with pie.

You’ll always see me topping apple pie with cheddar cheese.  I can’t help it.  The flavors go together like crazy – and since pears are kind of like apples and the filling in these is kind of like apple pie.  Put two and two together and you get pear hand pies with parmesan.  Obvi.  So eat your hearts out with this one.

I combined several thoughts here, including a gem from the one and only Martha Stewart… The filling I just kind of threw together… Yields about 12 pies.

How to make these precious pies:

Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl and use a pastry cutter to blend in the butter.  Only until butter is course and is pea-size.  You can also use a food processor here – but I prefer the pastry cutter.  Easier to control (I like being in control of my pastries and everything else.. oops).  Then add 1/4 cup of water.  I use my hands here to mash it all together.  If it all comes together, great.  If not – add a tablespoon of water at a time until it does.  I ended up using 1/2 cup.  Then pat this into a disc and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

After an hour, make the filling. Cut the pears into thin slices and place in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients.  Let sit while you stamp out the circles for the hand-pies.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Roll out the pie dough to about 1/8”.  I used a tupperware about 5.5” in diameter to stamp out these hand pies.  They were perfect size – so I’ll suggest that – but you can use any size you want.  Stamp them out.  Then cover them in egg wash (egg plus a little water).  Then put about 1/4 cup of filling in each.  Not so much that they are overflowing.  A little goes a long way here.  Then fold the pies in half and cover the top with egg wash and sprinkle with parmesan.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the pies on there.  I did it in two batches.  But if you do not have a tiny little crap oven you could do them both and swap places in the middle.  Bake them for about 20 minutes or until they are a luscious golden brown.  If you do have a great oven, place your two oven racks in the middle and slide both baking sheets on there.  Swap them at 10 minutes – so they cook evenly.

The only thing I may do differently next time is swap in brown sugar in the filling and amp up the spices, feel free to do both or one or don’t take my advice!  Happy Hand Pie’ing.

Growing up in Michigan it’s hard not to eat venison.  It’s a school holiday when deer hunting season starts, I mean c’mon. Though as much as it was in-your-face, my family rarely ate it.  Except the year my dad got a deer, his only one to my knowledge, we ate venison every day.  Venison steaks, venison burgers, bla bla bla, everything was venison.   We were surprisingly creative with the recipes.  Hasn’t really been on my radar since…

Until last week.  I met a friend at a cute little restaurant Enoteca Roma.  Over many-a-glass of wine and so much catching up I stumbled upon this little gem of a venison dish.   Delicious, a little gamey, and right up my alley.  I was bored with traditional bolognese – but I was assured that this was much different.  Indeed.

I’m going to share with you my version of this dish sans fresh pasta.  (My tools are being held hostage in Boston – they will be moving soon!).  Theirs was made with campanelle pasta (which I had never seen before, hurray!) shaped like little bells that carry the sauce surprisingly well.  I used some curly q pasta that I can’t quite remember the name of…

As you may notice – this is my first post not about a baked good.  We can all get down with that right?

So I stole a little recipe from the El Bulli cookbook The Family Meal and put my own little spin on it with the venison.  PS I halved the recipe which will be reflected in the measurements below – feel free to double, but this made quite a hefty amount…

venison bolognese recipe

Put a large pan over medium high heat (I used trusty cast iron here) and melt the butter.  Add the venison and fry it up until it starts changing color, then add the sausage.  Cook for a few minutes (like 3) and then season with salt and pepper.  Cook until it becomes a dark golden brown (about 15 minutes for me).  In the meantime finely chop up the celery, onions and carrots (Mirepoix! I really like that word).  Once the venison was done cooking I dumped it into a bowl and put the carrots, celery and onion down in the fat.  Delicious.  However, you can obviously use a different pan.  Cook them for about 15 minutes… until they are soft and the onions translucent.  Dump the meat back into the pan with the vegetables and cook together so they’re mixed well.  Now you can add the tomatoes and the tomato paste and season with some more salt and pepper.  Throw the sugar down in there too.  Simmer this for about an hour and a half.  I kept taking tastes of mine until it was delicious and really full of flavor.

When the sauce is close to finished boil that pasta for about five minutes.  Yeah, I really undercook my pasta, I like it that way.  Feel free to do it a little longer.  Then drain it and put it right in the pan with the sauce letting the noodles soak up all that meaty heaven.  I did this for about 10 minutes, until I couldn’t stand not eating it any longer.  Shave a little parmesan on top and you’re ready!

Onward, the story behind these blondie bars is a simple one.  My husband will be in the windy city tomorrow (hurray! hurray!) and so I have to make something ridiculous for us to eat.  His favorite dessert ever comes from his grandmother, a simple chocolate chip cookie, that I can never seem to duplicate.  Instead I skirt around the issue and make things that are similar – but yet… different.

Also – I promised you a way to use the extra cornflake crumbs.

Preheat that oven to 350 degrees.  Now – just mix these up.  I mean it – dump all the ingredients into one bowl.  It’s a one bowl dish, ya’ll.  Put it in a 9×9 dish and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Don’t do what I did and put it in a 13×9 rounded dish and forget to double the recipe because than you get cookies like these.  When I’m in blondie mood again I’ll post pics of the real deal.  Just to make these more ridiculous I cut them with a biscuit cutter, obviously, to make them round and cute and unbearably eatable.  I suggest you do the same.

With Keith 1000 miles away, nothing drags me out of bed in the morning.  Today was a pleasant surprise – inspired by the day old loaf of brioche sitting on the counter I hopped out of bed and in my pajamas went to the grocery store to pick up some last minute ingredients.  My hair was still smushed to my face and the cashier was clearly impressed with my dedication to a delicious breakfast.

I’m visiting my parents in good ole Michigan and thought I’d give them some luscious 1.5-inch french toast.  This is a forgiving recipe – you don’t have to do exactly what I say – but use these mere guidelines for what I promise will be some bomb ass french toast.

Here’s your ingredient list:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Now, slice up that brioche into 1-1.5 inch slices.  Mix the eggs, half and half, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a shallow baking dish.  It’s the easiest way to dip the bread slices.  If you want, add some more spices, go crazy – this is your french toast.  I won’t be mad.  Dip the brioche slices in the egg mess for about 30 seconds on each side (longer and you get some soggy toast – if that’s your bag – keep it in for about 2 minutes per side).

If you want to go crazy?  Please dip the slices in the egg mess then roll them around in a pile of cornflake crunch!  Why would you do this?  Because you’d be mad not to.  Cornflake crunch adds an obvious crunch.. Have I used that word too much in this paragraph?  But you won’t be sorry and everyone will hail you as the best french toast maker EVER.
Meanwhile heat up about two tablespoons of butter in a large fry pan over medium heat.  Wait until it melts and put those soaked brioche slices right up in there.  They need to cook about 2-3 minutes per side.  You don’t want them to burn – you want them to be golden brown because you’re a super chef.  Once the slices are golden on both sides throw them on a sheet pan and stick them in the oven for 8 minutes.  I did this in two batches – 3 slices per batch.  This was the safe french toast.

Cornflake Crunch Recipe Extravaganza (remember you’ll only use half this recipe – but I have some good ideas about what you can do with the leftovers).  This recipe is stolen from Christina Tosi’s Momofuku Milk Bar – she’s a sugar wizard and this recipe will prove it.

Put the cornflakes in a large bowl and mash them to about a quarter of the size (you can use your fingers here, I used the back of a measuring cup).  Add the dry ingredients and then pour the melted butter over and toss together.  Spread the cornflakes onto a sheet pan covered in parchment paper and bake at 275 for 20 minutes.  Let them cool completely before you use them on your french toast.  Then USE them on your french toast, silly.  The cornflakes will have a tendency to burn so turn the heat down to medium low and cook for about 4 minutes per side.  I made the mistake of not doing this and had a very burnt first piece of french toast.  I can’t complain though, I doused it in syrup and mowed it.

Wondering what to do with those leftover cornflakes?  Eat them, plain or with milk.  Use them in another recipe.  That’s where I come in…  I’ll share soon.

But, well equipped with the Flour Cookbook and a handy-dandy Kitchen Aid mixer that has helped me through many-a-stressful moments, I’m going to attempt to relive some of my better Boston memories.  Obviously – all the best ones involve a sugary caffeinated mess.

So here we go kids:

This is adapted from Joanne Chang’s Flour Cookbook (Please do yourself a favor and visit the bakery when in Boston)

This is going to seem like a lot of directions – but actually the process is pretty easy…

Combine the all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water and 5 of the eggs in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes – or until all the ingredients come together.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.  Once together beat on low for 3 more minutes.  Dough will be stiff and dry.

Keep mixer on low speed and add butter one piece at a time (butter should be in about 10-12 pieces).  Wait to add the next piece until the butter is fully disappeared into the dough.  After all butter is incorporated – continue mixing on low speed for 10 minutes.  Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the bowl and make sure everything is getting its fair share in the pot.  It is important for all the butter to be mixed in so the brioche comes out in all its buttery goodness.  Break up dough with your bands if this isn’t happening.

Once the butter is incorporated turn up the speed to medium and beat for 15 minutes – the dough will be sticky, soft and somewhat shiny. It will take some time to come together – so be patient on the 15 minutes. Then turn to medium high and beat for one minute.  Should make slapping sound as it hits the side of the bowl.  The dough should be a little stretchy and have some give.  If it’s wet add a couple more tablespoons of flour and mix until it comes together.  If you can pick it up in one piece – it’s ready to go.

Place the dough in a large bowl and proof in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.  You can freeze the dough for up to one week at this point.  To make two loaves line the bottom of 9×5 inch loaf pans with parchment paper or butter the pans.  Split the dough in half and press each piece into a 9 inch square.  Fold down the top third toward you and fold the bottom third up – kind of like folding a letter.  Press layers together and place it seam down in the loaf pan.

Cover loaves lightly with plastic wrap and let proof/rise for 4 hours or until overflowing the pan – it will be about double in size.  When poked, the dough should feel pillowy and light.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and brush tops of loaves with egg wash.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until the sides of the loaves are golden brown.  Let cool in pans on wire racks for a half hour and then turn loaves out and continue to cool.

*Some notes:

If you want to use the other half of the dough to make another treat – there will be a follow up on this post on how to make rolls or cinnamon rolls or french toast – or something absolutely amazing.  Brioche dough is very adaptable and can be made into so many things.  I like to use my imagination so stay tuned.

This will keep wrapped for about 3 days.  Do yourself a favor and make some grilled cheeses, toast it and put some jam on it.  Or – let it get stale and make some bomb french toast.  Yep, bomb.