Oui, Chef

Baked NYC - Sweet and Salty Brownies

In our seemingly endless effort to ferret out the best brownies on the planet, for you, our devoted readers, we come to you today with yet another contender for the title.  Many of you will recall our first foray into "Baked NYC" territory with this post about them back in January.  In it, we put the original "Baked" brownie to the test, and found we really loved it's deep dark flavor, and almost fudge like consistency.  

Well, the guys at Baked Bakery in Brooklyn are back with not only a new cookbook called Baked Explorations , but also a new take on their now famous brownie.  To put it simply, the Sweet and Salty Brownie is their original on steroids, and while we may hold steroids and all those stupid athletes that use them in low regard, in this instance, they are a VERY GOOD THING!

Chocolate-Caramel Slice

This little ditty is a treat my wife found recently and asked me to make to help feed the crowd that was joining us on the 4th of July.  As it turns out, what with other goodies we had made along with treats that guests brought, we didn't even have to dip into these babies.

Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Cranberry-Raspberry Sauce

Muppet and I pulled this dessert together about a week ago in honor of some international guests we had visiting.  We had the pleasure of hosting three Chinese college students who had won a negotiation competition in China that my wife has been involved with.  Part of their "winnings" was a trip to the US to further study our legal-mediation system, and for a bit of good old fashioned tourista time.

They stayed with a host family in Boston for a bit, where they attended a Celtics "WIN" at the garden, and joined us for a visit to the MFA and saw the newly installed Dale Chihuly exhibit, which was quite fabulous.  Then they came to stay with us on the South Shore where they were able to visit the Plymouth Plantation, and the Cape Cod National Seashore among other things.

Lemon and Thyme Ricotta Cheesecake with Lavender Chocolate Drizzle

This is a recipe I whipped up for a recent Food52 competition that asked for my best "Recipe with Fresh Ricotta Cheese" .  To be honest, I don't cook with ricotta that much, and for the life of me I can't figure out why, because I really do love the stuff.  As a good Italian boy, my first exposure to ricotta was in my Mom's fabulous lasagna, and I have used it occasionally as part of a filling for homemade raviolis, but I have to say my favorite way to enjoy ricotta is in a cheesecake.

Carrot Cake

Those of you who have been with us for a while know that we make a pretty big deal about birthday cakes here.  I try hard to make good on birthday cake wishes, regardless of how challenging or esoteric they may be.  So....when my birthday rolled around recently, my wife promised to do the same, and bake me the cake of my choice...what she ended up doing was to bake me the cake of my dreams.

Yeah, this one's a keeper!

Buche de Noel

 
I don't have a lot of time today, but did want to wish everyone out there a joyous holiday season!  As another year wraps to a close, we at Oui, Chef are grateful for the friends we've made here, and look forward to cooking more great food with you in the new year.

This buche de noel is one that Boris and I whipped up over the past few days, and will be enjoyed after our Christmas Eve dinner tonight.  It is a combination of a few different recipes we found, inspiring a whole new holiday treat.  It has a chocolate genoise cake layer, a filling of white chocolate mousse, and a coffee buttercream frosting....a few meringue mushrooms for decoration and you have a festive dessert worthy of any holiday table.  This is not a difficult cake to make, but it does take some time.  It would be a great holiday school vacation week project to tackle with your kids...serve it at your New Year's party and thrill the crowd!

Wishing you all holidays full of love, laughter and lots of DELICIOUS food!  Thank you so much for being such an important part of our little blog, we'll see you next year!

 

Cheers - Steve and the Mrs., Grid, Boris, Arthas, Peyton and Muppet

 

Ganache Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

It will come as no surprise to any of you who have been visiting us here for a while, that the impetus for this particular recipe comes from our young friend, Muppet.  I honestly can't remember a post on this site that featured the use of chocolate and DIDN"T have something to do with her.  To say that she's been riding me for a while to help her concoct a ganache centered cupcake would be an understatement.  It's fairer to say that our persistent little angel ground me down by hounding me morning, noon and night for weeks in order that I get off my soft, large bottom and get focused on making this dream dessert with her.  Mission (finally) accomplished.....

Double Chocolate Layer Cake

This has been my "go-to" chocolate cake for a few years now, though I usually make it with a white butter and sugar, or cream cheese frosting.  Here in the "Oui, Chef" kitchen, every family member gets to choose which cake we'll make for their birthday each year, and this one has been a staff favorite for some time now.

Peyton generally goes for a cheesecake of some sort (key-lime was a big hit), Muppet is death by chocolate all the way (no surprise there).  Arthas requests a chocolate-pistachio log that I learned how to make at Le Cordon Bleu, and everyone else requests some version of this cake.

Muppet's Madeleine - Mousse Cake

 

Pierre Hermé.....Ladurée.....Gerard Mulot......Hugo & Victor......Hediard.......Fauchon......Eric Kayser.

This is but a sampling of the famous pastry chefs / shops that kept us giddily happy and full during our recent trip to Paris.  This same group is also responsible for opening Muppet's eyes to the heights that the very best pastry can achieve.  These folks are the best of the best, the "Top Gun" pilots of the pastry world, and eating their confections has inspired Muppet to dream-up her very own original creation.

 Aren't we all lucky?

Jean-Georges' Molten Chocolate Cake

This is one of the first "fancy" desserts I ever learned how to make, their inclusion in my repertoire pre-dating my training in Paris, and they are absolutely one of the family's favorites.  Rumor has it that these little lovelies were born out of a mistake made in the pastry kitchen of legendary chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, when a tray of individual cakes were pulled from an oven before being baked through. Good thing he tasted one as it's liquid chocolate center oozed across the plate, and didn't just chuck it in the trash....can you image where we'd be right now without the ubiquitous "molten chocolate cake" in our cooking lexicon?  Nowhere I'd want to be, I can assure you of that!