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Desserts

Peach and Blueberry Crumble with Tarragon

August 9, 2011 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

Peach and Blueberry Crumble with Tarragon


I found some delicious, locally grown peaches at the market the other day, and they looked so good in their cute little wooden box that I had to buy them.  There were about 12 of them in the crate and were still a bit hard when I bought them so I left them on the counter to continue ripening for a couple of days.  When they seemed to have softened enough, my wife and I cut into one for a lunchtime dessert and were thrilled with how great they were, so juicy and very sweet.

Of course, the problem with peaches (and most fresh fruit for that matter) is that once they attain their peak of freshness, they begin a quick downhill sprint to the land of rot.  If we only had one or two to snarf down in a hurry I wouldn't have worried much, but with a ten or so peaches left, and most of our clan off at various camps this week, I was afraid we'd lose all the lovelies to our ever present summer battalion of fruit flies, before we had a chance to enjoy them.

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Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Fruit

Cherry Hand Pies

July 8, 2011 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

Cherry Hand Pies


It seems that over the past year whenever we had guests that offered to make a pre-dinner nibble to have with cocktails, they decided to craft something using frozen puff pastry dough.  Given that each of these folks brought a fresh box of pastry sheets with them, and used only half a box to make their appetizer, we recently discovered that we had 83 half used boxes of puff pastry in our freezer (no wonder we're running out of room there).

As I was starting to panic, wondering what the #@*& we were going to do with that many pastry sheets, my wife found this simple but delicious recipe in our latest issue of Bon Appetit.  This recipe is for little cherry pies, using a combination of fresh and dried fruit, but any type of fruit would work.  Beware though, if you're using a really juicy fruit you may need to up the amount of cornstarch used in order to guarantee a nice thick filling for your pies.  I'm thinking fresh apples and dried cranberries would be lovely, or how about peanut butter with a fresh strawberry compote, or dare I say, Nutella with some orange marmalade?  Oohhhh…..

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Filed Under: Desserts, Pies + Tarts, Snacks Tagged With: Fruit

Strawberry Shortcake with Basil Ice Cream

July 1, 2011 By Steve Dunn Leave a Comment

Strawberry Shortcake with Basil Ice Cream


This is a recipe for all you Gleeks out there.

Huh?……you don’t see the connection between this delightful confection and the runaway success that is GLEE?

Let me explain.

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Filed Under: Desserts, Ice Cream + Frozen Desserts Tagged With: Cheese & Dairy, Fruit

Nutella Banana Bread

June 9, 2011 By Steve Dunn 7 Comments

Nutella Banana Bread


Fate dealt me a lovely hand last week when I found a bag of chopped hazelnuts in the pantry that were getting a little long in the tooth and needed to be used.  I can't remember why I had bought them in the first place, in fact, I can't remember buying them at all…..dang memory.

My first thought was to toast them and toss them into a grain and veggie based salad to have with some grilled chicken over the weekend, and as I was rifling through the grain bin to find a suitable partner for the nuts, I glanced overhead and found a half-eaten jar of Nutella in the chocolate bin above.

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Filed Under: Bread + Rolls + Muffins, Desserts, Snacks

Coffee – Lemon Panna Cotta Parfait

May 6, 2011 By Steve Dunn 20 Comments

Coffee – Lemon Panna Cotta Parfait


Every now and again it’s nice to bring something to the table that makes everyone gasp with delight, don’t you think?  And even nicer when that something is a treat that takes no special skill or ingredients to make, just a little love and time.

I’m one of those guys that would be just as happy eating a tasty, but not particularly beautiful, braised dish most nights of the week.  A solid savory dish, well prepared, and simply presented is just fine with me, thank you very much.  It’s a whole different thing though when it comes to dessert.  Nothing gets me giddy like a beautifully composed temptation of sugar, one that looks as much a work of art, as it does a means of sustenance.

This, my friends, is just such a dish…..

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Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk Cookies

April 25, 2011 By Steve Dunn 11 Comments

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk Cookies


When Muppet had a hankerin’ for some peanut butter and chocolate action last week, we thought of a couple different ways to satisfy her craving.  First, was to make a batch of Buckeyes, which are always a hit, but to me seemed out of season.  Is it just me, or do you all find Buckeyes to be a winter holiday treat?  It seems that the only time I EVER see them is when they are being served at a holiday cookie swap, or as part of a dessert party spread at a Christmas open house.

Her next thought ran to modifying her world famous ganache filled cupcakes to have a peanut butter ganache filling, which was an idea I was totally getting behind until I looked at the clock and realized that we didn’t have the time for such an elaborate undertaking…ugh.  What we settled on were these lovely peanut butter cookies dotted with milk chocolate chunks, that come to us courtesy of the original Baked: New Frontiers in Bakingby Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

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Filed Under: Cookies + Bars, Desserts, Snacks

Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Cranberry-Raspberry Sauce

April 19, 2011 By Steve Dunn 20 Comments

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.

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Filed Under: Cakes, Condiments + Sauces + Jams, Desserts

Lemon and Thyme Ricotta Cheesecake with Lavender Chocolate Drizzle

March 29, 2011 By Steve Dunn 29 Comments

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.

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Chocolate Chunk and Cherry Skillet Cookie

February 27, 2011 By Steve Dunn 19 Comments

Chocolate Chunk and Cherry Skillet Cookie


I had my three-deep stack of beautiful cast iron skillets pulled out the other night, and while I was grabbing my monster-large 18″ one to make a braised sausages and balsamic onions dish (stay tuned for this one), I pulled my 11″ one aside to try this skillet cookie recipe that I found on Heidi Swanson’s site, 101 Cookbooks a few weeks back.  I was looking for an easy dinner – dessert combo as we were all packing for school vacation week ski trips, and we didn’t have a lot of time to be futzing in the kitchen.

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Filed Under: Desserts, Snacks Tagged With: Chocolate

Chocolate Tofu Pudding!

December 17, 2010 By Steve Dunn 26 Comments

Chocolate Tofu Pudding!

No…… your eyes are not deceiving you, the title of this post is “Chocolate Tofu Pudding”.

Yes…..you are visiting “Oui, Chef”, the VERY last place where you would expect to see tofu at all, let alone in a dessert!

For those of you who’s jaws have dropped to the floor, we’ll pause here a moment for you to pull yourself together.

Feeling better now?  OK, let’s proceed.

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Filed Under: Desserts, Snacks Tagged With: Chocolate

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I started Oui, Chef a few years back as a means to chronicle my efforts to teach my kids a few things about cooking, and how their food choices over time effect not only their own health, but that of our local food

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