Café Paradiso in Cork

Ireland is not known to be a culinary highlight, but if you spend time researching you can find some gems. Of all the places we ate at the two weeks we were there I would have to say that Café Paradiso in Cork was my favorite. I knew about the café well before ever planning the trip as I had bought one of Denis Cotter's, the owner's, cookbooks called "Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and Me...". So it was a given that I would have to visit the café when in Ireland. It turns out that they also have two rooms above the café to rent so we went ahead and got their midweek special which included two nights' stay with two breakfasts and one dinner.

Café Paradiso is a vegetarian café that focuses on serving regional, seasonal produce. All the food we had at Café Paradiso was very fresh and tasted amazing. The flavor compositions of each dish were astounding and the presentation of the food was beautiful. On top of that the staff was always friendly and the atmosphere of the café was relaxed. The name Paradiso is well deserved.

Breakfast is only served for the overnight guests so when we got to the café the first morning we were the only ones there. A table by the window was set for us and the Irish Times was waiting on the table next to ours. We got to choose two courses each, but I could unfortunately only handle one. Here's what we got for the first breakfast.

Obligatory toast, salted butter and jams

Macroom oatmeal porridge with whiskey sultanas, cream and brown sugar

Yoghurt with fresh cherries, honey and granola

Poached eggs with warm sungold tomato and avocado salsa, spinach and toast

For dinner we could also choose as many courses as we wanted. We made sure to only have a light lunch that day so that we could enjoy all the food we wanted in the evening!

Dinner snacks: pumpkin seed crisps, olives and spiced cashews

Roasted baby aubergine with chilli, cardamom and honey marinade, sugar snaps and sesame-yoghurt dressing

Vegetable sushi with tempura of carrot and scallopini squash, pickled ginger, wasabi and a dipping sauce

Deep-fried summer squash flowers with Knockalara sheep's cheese and caper filling, panfried courgettes, grilled polenta and a tomato, oregano and citrus broth

Recipe

Risotto of fresh peas and broad beans with Oisin goat's cheese, roast beets and lemon parsley oil

Strawberry trifle with lemon mascarpone cream and pistachio praline

For breakfast the next day we tried two new dishes from the menu.

Panfried king oyster mushrooms with chives, sour cream and grilled sourdough bread

Buttermilk pancakes with vanilla mascarpone cream, strawberries and maple syrup

I urge everybody who goes to Cork to visit this café!

Paris for Sweet Teeth

Finally I have made it back to Paris after 18 years! Wow, that just made me feel old...Anyways, let's get back to the subject here. My sister and I got to spend three nights in Paris with our beloved aunt. In anticipation of the trip I went nearly crazy ploughing through books and guides and blogs trying to figure out which patisseries and chocolate shops we would have to visit (since there's nothing else to do in Paris, right?). I spent hours putting together a list and then marking the addresses on the map. The good thing about all that extra work was that once in Paris there was no "uh, where should we go now?". It was more like "well, we could walk down this street a couple more yards and then turn left and check out this place...".

Here are my favorites, all of which have multiple branches in Paris and all of which are meticulously kept. Some department stores, such as the food court at Galeries Lafayette or publicisdrugstore also sell the products of these shops.

Pierre Hermé

We visited the branch on rue Cambon, right near the Jardin des Tuileries. They sold macaroons, chocolates, teas and other goodies, but no pastries. Although none of us three are really big fans of macaroons we decided to give Pierre Hermé a chance and bought a jasmine, a chocolate and an apricot-pistachio macaroon. We ate them later back at the room and all three of us were pleasantly surprised. We all agreed that the chocolate macaroon was the best, but that the delicate flowery taste of the jasmine macaroon was also very good. The apricot-pistachio one was too sour for our taste. On the last day we went back to Pierre Hermé and got some chocolates to try on the train ride back to Switzerland. We got Chloé (raspberry), Infiniment vanille (vanilla), Azur (lime and yuzu), Almera (almond with orange flavor), Ouvre-toi (sesame) and pietra (hazelnut praline). All six chocolates were fantastic. Next time I go to Paris I definitely want to try the pastries, which they carry at the rue Bonaparte branch.

Jean-Paul Hévin

Right near Pierre Hermé we visited Jean-Paul Hévin on rue Saint-Honoré. On the ground floor was the shop and on the first floor the salon du thé, the tea room. We only saw the shop, but I'd like to visit the tea room next time. The shop sold macaroons, pastries, chocolates and other goodies like chocolate covered nuts. We decided to get two pieces of cake, one with chocolate ganache and raspberry and one with chocolate ganache and tonka bean. We tried the cakes later back at the room. Both were outstanding in terms of quality, although the raspberry cake could have had a little more raspberry flavor in my opinion. The tonka bean cake was great because of all the different textures it had. It had the chocolate creaminess of the ganache, the light cakiness and a crunchy layer of nuts. However, I'm not sure I'm a big fan of the tonka bean as it has a sort of oily vanilla taste, the oily part being the problem. Next time I'd like to try the macaroons and the chocolates.

La Maison du Chocolat

At the rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré branch they sell chocolates, chocolate pearls for making hot chocolate, chocolate bars, and also macaroons and refrigerated desserts. They also had a freezer for ice cream, but it was empty. Maybe they only make it in summer. We tried a variety of chocolates: orange (I don't recall the name), Petit Rocher (almond and hazelnut), Anastasia (almond and hazelnut praliné), Cannelle (cinnamon), and Zagora (mint). We liked all of them. The mint was especially surprising because it tasted more like spearmint than peppermint, the usual mint flavor used in chocolates.

For more info check out these books:

The Patisseries of Paris by Jamie Cahill and Alison Harris

The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz

Paris kulinarisch: Einkaufen und geniessen by Pierre Rival and Christian Sarramon

Zuccotto

Finally I made one of the desserts my mom used to make when I was a kid: zuccotto. The reason it took me so long to make was that I was horrified of the shape it has and how I would make it do that shape! Turns out it's not so hard after all as sponge cake is pliable and will retain its form when pressed into a bowl and kept that way for a few hours. This is definitely on my favorite recipes list now!

The recipe I used is the same one my mom used to use. It's from The Great Italian Cookbook by the Italian Academy of Cooking.

Recipe

For sponge cake:

4 eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c confectioner's sugar

1/3 c all-purpose flour

1/3 c cornstarch

For the filling:

1/2 c blanched almonds

1/2 c shelled filberts (hazelnuts)

scant 4 1/2 c heavy cream

3/4 c confectioner's sugar

1 1/4 c grated semisweet chocolat

2 tbsp cognac

2 tbsp sweet liqueur (I used Grand Marnier--not sure what they use in Italy)

cocoa powder

This is a traditional dessert from Tuscany. To make the sponge, beat the egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar in a bowl until light and frothy. Whisk the egg whites stiffly and fold carefully into the egg mixture. Gradually add the flour and cornstarch, mixing continuously. Butter and flour a moderately deep cake pan, about 10 in (26 cm) diameter. Spoon in the sponge mixture and bake in a moderate oven (350°F/177°C) for about 40 min until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

To make the filling, toast the almonds and filberts and roughly chop them. Whip the cream in a bowl with the confectioner's sugar and mix in the chopped nuts and grated chocolate.

Cut the sponge horizontally into slices 1/2 inch thick and sprinkle them with the cognac and sweet liqueur, mixed together. Line a semi spherical mold or basin with well-buttered wax paper and then with some of the sponge slices (I left the lining step out--it turned out to be just fine). Fill up to the brim with the whipped cream, level the top with a spatula and cover the dessert with the remaining sponge slices. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Turn out on to a round serving plate and sprinkle with cocoa and confectioner's sugar mixed, or with first one then the other to give alternate brown and white segments.

Sant' Ambroeus Milan

Last week I spent three days with my mom in Milan. I hadn't been to Milan since I was really young and we were visiting some family friends. In anticipation of the trip I read up on some restaurants in Milan, but most of them were quite expensive. We finally decided on Trattoria Milanese the first night. It was listed in our guidebook and wasn't far from our hotel. We didn't have a reservation and were seated at a table with an older couple. The food turned out to be good, but we still found the restaurant overpriced. I took one picture of our artichoke appetizer and after overhearing the Italian woman at our table make fun of me for taking a picture of artichokes (she probably thought I'd never seen them before) I stopped taking pictures. End of story. Next time I will ask our Milanese friends for restaurant tips.

I do, however, have a recommendation for the best cappuccino EVER, well so far. I still have many to try. We had great cappuccino twice at Sant' Ambroeus. We didn't bother sitting down and took our cappuccino standing up Italian-style. The cappuccino was perfect! So perfect that we went back two days later. But this time we also got some pastries to go with the coffee. It wasn't easy choosing them since there were so many and there weren't any labels in front of them saying what each one was. I could tell the patience of the lady behind the counter was limited so we ended up pointing to four good looking pastries in the hope that we got something tasty. Turns out we ended up with (from left to right) tiramisu, vanilla cream puff, wood strawberry and cream and a chocolate pastry with some type of red berry filling. Each one was delicious!

Crème Caramel

I never thought I would actually get around to making crème caramel some day. I love crème caramel, but just the thought of having to bake it in a water bath made me go "nah, too much work". That's how lazy I am.

But yesterday I found myself in the situation of planning dinner for guests the same night and needing a dessert that wasn't cakey or chocolatey. Dinner was going to be roast chicken with vegetable and red wine risotto. Wanting something light, I searched through my cookbooks for something lemony, but couldn't find anything that sounded good. While searching I stumbled upon Carole Bloom's "Crème Caramel" in her book The Essential Baker and put myself up for the challenge.

The result was heavenly, divine, exquisite. Never underestimate the power of vanilla freshly scraped from the pod! And it turns out the whole water bath thing isn't too bad after all. Getting the caramel just right was worse.

Recipe

8 1/2 cup servings

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c water

2 tbsp. water

21/2 c milk

1 vanilla bean

3 eggs, at room temp

3 egg yolks, at room temp

1/2 c granulated sugar

1 quart (1 liter) boiling water

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350°F (177°C).

Caramel

Combine sugar and water in 1-quart saucepan over med-high heat. Bring mixture to boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Cook the mixture, without stirring, until it turns a rich golden brown, about 8 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in the 2 tbsp. water. Be careful because water may bubble and foam up. Return pan to heat and stir with wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula to dissolve any lumps.

Divide caramel evenly between oven-proof 1/2 c custard cups. Tilt and rotate so the caramel covers bottom of cups fully. Place cups in 3-quart baking dish or roasting pan.

Custard

Place milk in 2-quart saucepan. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into milk. Add the pod to the milk. Warm the milk over med heat to the point when tiny bubbles become visible at the edges. Remove from heat and let the milk infuse.

Place the eggs and egg yolks in a bowl and whisk until frothy.

With the mixer on med speed, slowly sprinkle on sugar. In a steady stream, pour in warm milk and mix thoroughly.

Strain the custard into a measuring cup and remove the vanilla bean. Pour custard into the cups, dividing evenly.

Place the pan with the cups on the oven rack. Carefully pour boiling water into baking dish until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cups. Reduce oven temp to 325°F (163°C).

Bake for 40 min until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out slightly moist and the center jiggles slightly when the pan is moved.

Remove the pan from the oven and transfer cups to a rack to cool completely.

To unmold the custards, run a thin-bladed knife around the edges of the custard cups. Place a serving plate over the top of the cup and invert custard onto plate.

Serve the custards immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.