Showing posts with label pie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pie. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Top 7 Eats in Maui, Hawaii

This past December, I took my mom on a trip to Maui - it was a trip that I won on an Instagram contest from Expedia. Yes, people do win contests! This is proof! But keep in mind you'd have to pay taxes on it ... that caught me by surprise this tax season. But hey, it was still a cheap trip to Maui, and of course I spent most of it eating (and driving The Road to Hana)!

Here are my top 7 picks on the island of Maui:

1. Ululani's Shave Ice
I had Ululani's for the first time on my previous trip to Maui and I was wowed by their shaved ice. The flavors of the syrups, made from real fruits, and the texture of the ice ... It was the best shaved ice I've had then. Now, after finally visiting Kauai, I would still say Ululani's is the best in all of Hawaii!
Untitled

2. Leoda's Kitchen and Pie Shop
Leoda's is another popular spot, known for the pies and sandwiches. It's hard to tell you what the best pie here is - it all depends on your preferences, but all in all they make excellent pies! As always, my favorite is the banana cream pie, but I have an obsession with banana cream pies (I blame it on Apple Pan).
Leoda's

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Atticus Creamery & Pies (West LA)

by guest blogger @btsunoda

If you haven’t noticed, pies have made a comeback. Doing a simple search on pies in the LA area yields a lot more than simple coffee shops. Many bakeries are featuring pies in a big way and I found that many pie shops now exist. Atticus Creamery & Pies is a new dessert shop in West LA. What is unique about their operation is that they are first and foremost a pie shop.
IMG_0999 (1)
Each day, they painstakingly hand roll their crust and slowly assemble their pies by hand using natural ingredients. Unlike traditional pies that only have a crust and a filling, Atticus makes unique four-layered pies. They begin with their hand rolled crust, then add a filling such as fresh fruit jam, then layer another filling such as mousse or custard. It is then topped with light cream with additions such as caramelized popcorn or toasted pieces of coconut. IMG_1024

Monday, April 13, 2015

Aussie Meat Pies at KO Catering and Pies (South Boston)

Meat pies. Australian meat pies. That's what KO Pies in South Boston is all about and these handmade pies are delicious.

Untitled
They offer 6 different pies at KO (along with sausage roll, fish and chips, and sandwiches) and there's always a vegetarian option.
KO Pies

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Eating and Drinking at High West Distillery & Saloon (Park City, Utah)

If you're in or going to Park City in Utah for the Sundance festival or to go skiing, make sure to visit the High West Distillery & Saloon. It's perhaps the only ski-in ski-out distillery, but it's also a great saloon serving nice cocktails and food.

High West
You can go to the saloon to try one of the rare High West whiskies you might not find in your own city. I tried the Valley Tan and Son of Bourye (unfortunately, they no longer make or sell the Bourye).
High West

The menu is what they call "high country" food with some local game meats but you'd also find a plate of locally cured meats with housemade mustard
High West

For my first drink I ordered the Hootspa Special with Double Rye! (that's one of the High West whiskies), Rendezvous Rye, Amontillado sherry, Masala chai, lemon juice, and egg ($11)
High west

Friday, March 14, 2014

The Birthplace of Key Lime Pie? (Key West, Florida)

Happy Pi Day! In honor of this day, I'm sharing about my visit to Key Lime Pie Factory. This small shop in Key West, FL is said to be the birthplace of the key lime pie. But, a lot of other places also claim to be "the original" and Epicurious had a nice story about the history of key lime pie (and how key limes were wiped out by a hurricane and most of the local limes are now Persian limes ....)

Key Lime Pie
Dating back to ... 1856? Wow, that's a long time ago.
Key Lime Pie


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Recipe: Evan Kleiman's Chicken Pot Pie With Duck-Butter Dough

Remember when I took that pie making class with Evan Kleiman and Sherry Yard as a fundraiser for KCRW? Well, here's Evan's amazing chicken pot pie recipe. I get hungry thinking about this pie!

Untitled
The first part is, of course, the pie dough. Evan uses part butter and part duck fat for her chicken pot pie dough. Love ...

Evan Kleiman's Duck-Butter Dough
Ingredients:
12 oz flour
pinch of salt
5 oz high fat butter (Plugra, Kerrygold) cut into 5 pieces, chilled
3 oz rendered duck fat, pulled into 3 pieces, chilled
4 to 5 oz ice cold water

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Toss the butter and duck fat lumps around until they are coated with flour. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to mix the fats and flour together until you have a mixture with uneven crumbles, some as big as almonds and some as small as peas.
IMG_7854
Add the water a tablespoon at a time, fluffing up the mixture after each addition with a fork. Once you can create a clump by squeezing the dough in your fist it has enough water. Don't worry if it's a little shaggy, as long as it sticks together.

Divide the dough in half and form into flat discs.
Dump the crumbly mixture onto your work surface and bring the mass together by first pushing it away from you with the heel of your hand then gathering it up with a bench scraper. Repeat if necessary. Here's a video of Evan's instructions on rolling the dough:


Thursday, August 29, 2013

Learning Pie Making with Sherry Yard and Evan Kleiman

Evan Kleiman started "Pie a Day" on the KCRW Good Food blog a few years ago by making a pie a day for 100 days. That took off and culminated in an annual Pie Contest where home cooks compete. Sherry Yard is one of the best pastry chefs in LA. She's put in years at Spago but is now set to open her own bakery in Culver City. The two came together to give a pie making class at Culver City's New School of Cooking recently to raise funds for KCRW.

To be precise, they're raising funds for the 5th Annual Good Food Pie Contest, which will take place on Saturday, September 7 from 2-4pm at LACMA. If you want to enter, you can sign up before September 1 on the website, and the fee is $10 per entry! There's also a Kids and Vegan category.

I don't know a thing about making pie, but I can tell you what tips I learnt from the pie class! First off, the set up is pretty nice. A glass of sparkling wine greeted us as we were seated at the tables. There's a full table setting because we're not just watching a cooking demo, but will soon be eating three delicious pies while drinking more wine!

IMG_7853
The pie class was completely sold out, so it was a full house, but most can see what they're doing pretty clearly on the overhead mirror.
IMG_7851
First up is Evan Kleiman making her chicken pot pie (I will post the recipe tomorrow!)
Untitled
So Evan uses part butter and part duck fat for her pie dough, genius! She passed it around so we can smell it.
IMG_7854

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Holiday Pies from Cutie Pie That!

Holiday season is pie season! Well, any season is pie season, but you certainly can't think of Thanksgiving without pumpkin pies. I'm no baker, so I just buy my pies. Like from Cutie Pie That! They recently invited their loyal customers and friends for a holiday pie tasting (I thought it was nice that they invited not just the press but the most important people, their customers).

Cutie Pie That's buttery crusted pies are the creations of Tonya Dooley. Among their current seasonal lineup is an eggy quiche. They have one with bacon and a vegetarian one, but I'm sure you can guess which one I prefer.
Of course they also have pumpkin pie, and I really like Tonya's version since it has more spice than the usual.
A do-not-miss is their Down Home Sweet Potato Pie! This quickly became the crowd favorite during our tasting. It's rich, creamy, and well spiced. It was hard to choose between this and the pumpkin pie, but the sweet potato pie gets bonus points for being harder to find.

Both her pecan and chocolate pecan pies are also made bourbon and .. walnuts! Walnuts are easier to chew and I tend to like the flavor better, so I loved their additions here. Perhaps one day she should make an all-walnut pie?
Cutie Pie That! currently does not have a storefront, but you can order their products online (the commercial kitchen is based in Pasadena), and they also appear at various craft fairs and farmer's markets (you can see the schedule for that here).


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Thanksgiving Dinner With a Vietnamese Touch, To-Go from Tiato Cafe

Tiato Cafe is a market and cafe in the afternoons that turn into a private event venue in the evenings, with the catering branch of House of An (Crustacean, AnQi, etc) running from the kitchen in the back. I've never been here before but the venue looked beautiful at night- they have the largest patio in Santa Monica.

Tiato Cafe
Naturally the catering service will have turkey and all the other goods available for to-go orders for the upcoming Thanksgiving (you can order using this form)! To promote it, I was invited to try them at Tiato. You can order the herb-crusted turkey and select which sides you want, but I got to try almost all of them and more in Tiato's lovely private dining room.

The main attraction is of course the organic free range herb crusted turkey with garlic gravy

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Umami Burger, Now Open in Pasadena

Umami Burger has taken over the old Naga Naga Ramen space in Old Town Pasadena and line is already forming out the door for this walk-in only spot. After all, there aren't too many burger joints in Pasadena and Umami is inarguably an upgrade from nearby The Counter.

This location had a very different look than other Umami Burgers I have been to with its all-white interior and decoration and bright lights.
They have all the usual Umami burgers like the truffle burger ($12, pictured above), Port & Stilton, the Hatch burger with green chile, and a vegetarian burger. As an homage to the cooking school a stone's throw away, they have a special burger for this location only named Le Cordon Bleu Burger (created with the help of some people at the school -$13)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Single Serving Pies from Cutie Pie That!

Have you ever passed up on buying a pie because you didn't think you could finish the whole thing? Cutie Pie That! in Pasadena specializes in single-serving pies and "lollipies" (a lollipop-heart-shaped pie), solving that problem.

The lollipie ($2) was my favorite thing I tried. There wasn't really any "filling" in the one I got but I liked the sugar dusted crust.

They also have a Maple Bacon Apple Pie ($6 for 4" pie) for all you bacon lovers. You definitely get some saltiness/savoriness, although I personally could use more bacon in it! I'd like to try their "Wondrous Winter Apple Pie" and see how they do the staple.
Apple Bacon Pie

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Pie Galore at Random Order Coffeehouse (Portland, OR)

Days before our trip to Portland, Wandering Chopsticks found an article from Travel+Leisure for the top ten pies in the US, listing Portland’s Random Order Coffeehouse for their vanilla salted caramel apple pie. We just had to go.

Vanilla Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Random Order is a small coffee shop on cute Alberta street, very much like a neighborhood joint. On our first visit after “hiking” the waterfalls, we got three slices of pie and some tea.
IMG_6740
Of course, we had to get their award winning vanilla salted caramel apple pie. The filling is caramel apple and the crust is a vanilla sugar-salted crust.
I’m not a huge apple pie fan, but I have to say this was very good, especially the flaky crust. Random Order makes pretty much everything from scratch, including their crust, cream, and whipped cream.

The Flirty Berry was even better for me, filled with blueberries and blackberries.
Flirty Berry Pie

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Recipe Collection

Chicken Pot Pie with Duck-Butter Dough (Evan Kleiman)

Chicken Tamales in Green Sauce (Mama Hot Tamales, Los Angeles)

Crab Ravigote and California Avocado Napoleon - Chef Darrin Finkel (Jazz Kitchen, Anaheim)

Duck Rillette - Chef Joe Vasiloff (Cafe Pinot, Los Angeles)

Maine Lobster in Its Own Butter - Chef Brian Redzikowski (BondSt Restaurant, Beverly Hills)

Okonomiyaki - Yoko Issasi (Japanese Foodstory)

Scallops Arabesque (with Eggplant Puree & Ras El Hanout) - Chef John Sedlar (Rivera Restaurant, downtown LA)


Sautéed Day Boat Scallops/ Risotto, midnight moon, English peas - Chef Neal Fraser (Grace, BLD)

Slow Roasted Salmon with Green Rice - Chef Suzanne Goin (Lucques)

Steamed Black Mussels in Red Curry Coconut Broth - Chef Andrew Kirschner (Wilshire Restaurant, Santa Monica)

Red Beet Risotto - Chef Ray Garcia (FIG Restaurant, Santa Monica)


DESSERTS
Chocolate Torte with Caramel Lime Sauce - Chef John Sedlar (Rivera Restaurant, downtown LA)
Chocolate Pot de Creme - Chef Ray Garcia (FIG Restaurant, Santa Monica)
Rustic Chocolate Truffles - Valerie Gordon (Valerie Confections)

Gourmet Pigs   © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital

TOP