My anaconda don’t want none unless you got Potenza’s buns, hon

Ah, Potenza bakery. Reasonably priced goodies and sandwiches that are way better than any chain. They bake these buns fresh a bunch of times every day. I’m not the type that gets tempted by the smell of Cinnabon wafting through the airport, or by cinnamon buns in general. (They’re usually too rich.) These cherry sticky buns are awesome, though, which is why they made our Best of DC list ($2 each).

http://pievcake.wordpress.com/best-of-dc/

The first time I tried these, I shared one with a friend. Now I know better. BTW their sandwiches are awesome, too.

Potenza bakery, corner of 15th and H Street right near McPherson Metro.

Bread Pudding Throwdown with Bobby Flay: Get the Recipes

Now this is a truck worth chasing. Dessert Truck threw down with Bobby Flay last night, and…I won’t spoil the show for you. But if want to try your hand at one of Dessert Truck’s most popular treats, here’s the recipe via Time.com. 

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bacon Crème Anglaise
Recipe courtesy of Chef Jerome Chang of New York City’s Dessert Truck

Bread pudding:
1 loaf of your favorite bread (we use a Pullman loaf)
3 cups heavy cream
140 g (½ cup plus 2 tbsp.) granulated sugar
38 g (1 1/3 oz.) 61% chocolate
38 g (1 1/3 oz.) 72% chocolate
100 g (3½ oz.) egg yolks
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 ° F.

Cut crusts off bread. Dice bread into ½-inch cubes.

Fill eight 4-oz. ramekins about halfway with bread.

In large saucepot, bring the heavy cream and sugar to a boil.

Add both chocolates to the hot cream and whisk until even and smooth.

Add yolks and salt, whisking until uniform.

Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour the chocolate mixture over the bread until about ¼-inch from the rim.

Bake puddings in oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until they jiggle.

Bacon crème anglaise:
Makes about 1 qt. of sauce

4 strips of your favorite bacon (we use an applewood-smoked bacon)
2 cups half-and-half
75 g (2 2/3 oz.) granulated sugar
100 g (3½ oz.) egg yolks

Cook the bacon in a skillet until well caramelized.

In a small saucepot, bring half-and-half to a boil.

Add the strips of bacon, but not the excess grease. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and let the bacon infuse for 15 minutes.

Prepare an ice bath by placing an empty bowl into a large container of ice water.

Add sugar to the half-and-half and boil mixture.

Pour about half of the mixture over the yolks, whisk together, then pour back into the saucepot.

Continuously stir the custard mix over medium-high heat with a wooden spoon until the custard no longer looks watery when a finger is drawn across the back of the spoon.

Strain the custard into the bowl on the ice bath and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until cold. Store for up to 3 days.

Oh, and if you want to try Bobby’s bread pudding, the recipe’s here: http://bit.ly/3yP9n1

Dessert truck: www.desserttruck.com

Recipe from Time.com: http://bit.ly/3UIZE0

Whole Foods vs. Trader Joe’s

I know that there’s no comparison when it comes to say, the quality of produce or product selection–Whole Foods wins, hands down. But when it comes to other categories like frozen foods, Trader Joe’s whoops some serious WF butt. This tart was $5.99, what you’d pay for just a slice at a restaurant or patisserie. At Whole Foods, the nearly identical made-in-France tart was $9.99 over the summer. Ouch.

Sir Francis Bacon Peanut Brittle

The week wouldn’t be complete without a bacon treat of the week. So as we go into the Columbus Day weekend, I present to you baconized peanut brittle. These are available online and at Dean & Deluca. Check out the great logo.

Goodies from the Persian supermarket, Yekta

Yekta Supermarket is a Persian/Middle Eastern deli off Rockville Pike in a nondescript strip mall. We ended up here after a visit to Joe’s Noodles, a few doors down. Yekta is fragrant with Persian flavors: saffron, pistachios, orange flower water, limes, etc. It doesn’t smell like your average ethnic grocery store (with apologies to the Chinese grocery stores of my people).

They manage to cram a lot into a small space. In the deli case are the biggest chunks of fresh feta you’ve ever seen, flanked by rows of flatbreads, inexpensive spices, yogurt drinks and more.

We picked up this cardamom rock candy (left) and almond-honey-pistachio crunch (right). The former has cardamom seeds inside that act like a natural breath mint when you bite into them—almost a cross between mint and cinnamon flavor. Pungent, in a good way.

The almond crunch candy is amazing, with a flavor not unlike the sesame honey candies you’d get from the bulk bins of natural foods stores. The sugars have been caramelized, so you get sweet, smoky goodness paired with a crunch that could result in some serious dental bills.

On a side note, for every ethic supermarket you hit, there always seems to be that one product that reminds you how far the tentacles of British Colonialism have reached. I’ve seen both Caribbean and Chinese supermarkets carry Ribena (blackcurrant juice) products. At Yekta, they sell tins of Quality Street chocolates. Apparently, the sun never sets on the groceries of the British Empire.

Yekta Supermarket, 1488 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD   20852 (301-984-1190)

ramen + chocolate. Komforte’s take on comfort food

Last weekend, I made a cabbage-ramen noodle salad for the first time. They key is to put the ramen noodles in at the last minute–right before you toss with dressing– to keep them crunchy.

In Asia, you can buy packets of savory ramen-like snacks. I’ve also seen something similar at Indian grocery stores.

But I’d never thought of ramen in the context of sweets. Bet they add a nice crunch to these new chocolate bars. The other ingenious flavors are Tortilla, Lime + Salt, and French Toast. And they’re $3 each, which is modest compared to other gourmet chocolate bars.

Order here: http://www.seattlechocolates.com/store/komforte-ramen-noodle-bar.html

More info: http://www.komfortechockolates.com/

advertising vs. reality: a reminder that reality is harsh

The Germans behind Pundo 3000 have just published a book comparing packaging shots to what the products really look like. Check out their “Advertising Against Reality” video. As you’ll see, even the company that brings us Kinder Eggs is lying! Lying to children!

vosges’ bacon caramel toffee beats their mo’s bacon bar

Apparently the American public can’t get enough of bacon treats, or we’re just developing a taste for salty-sweet confections. Ann went to Chicago last week and got me the latest from Vosges, who presciently brought us Mo’s Bacon Bar a few years back. I guess it’s a hit, because they’re now offering this milk-chocolate toffee with bacon bits. I prefer it way more than the Bacon Bar, where the bacon was chewier (and you’d occasionally wind up burping it up for the rest of the afternoon. It’s not as good the second time around.)

Here the crispy smokiness of the bacon really works well with the buttery cruch of the toffee. Beware, though. At $12, it’s pricey considering there were only about 6 squares in our box. Then again, I think they have the market cornered on this one. At least for now.

NYC sweets trucks

I would love to fine people who go around talking about how great NY is compared to DC. Don’t even get me started, carpetbaggers.

Having said that, I do get jealous of New Yorkers’ culinary options, especially in the food trucks department. New York magazine compiled a list of these, and I’ve noted the ones that serve sweets. If there’s any reason for me to take up running, it would be to chase after these.

1) Cupcake Stop: Cupcakes galore. (twitter.com/cupcakestop)

2) Treats Truck: Cookies, brownies and more. (Treatstruck.com)

3) Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream: Ice cream flavors that are off the beaten path. (twitter.com/VLAIC)

 

4) Wafels and Dinges: Just waffles. (twitter.com/waffletruck)

5) Big Gay Ice Cream Truck: This wins my award for best name and best toppings (caramelized bacon!). (twitter.com/biggayicecream)

6) Street Sweets: Brownies, scones and such. (twitter.com/streetsweets)

Food Network’s “Unwrapped”: Easy as pie episode

“Unwrapped” has been airing during prime time recently, where they go behind the scenes to show you how certain food products are made. Last night I caught the episode on all things pie, from whoopie to pizza.

Speaking of whoopie pies, we saw lots of red velvet ones while in Amish Country earlier this year. I’d always thought of whoopie pies as overgrown Devil Dogs, but lately I’m rethinking that. Whoopie pies may well be the next macaroons (which were the next cupcakes).

In fact, I’m going to attempt to make my own from scratch later this week, from a recipe that was featured in The Washington Post. They have a chocolate outer layer, white-chocolate filling. I hope it’s not too challenging, considering my recent track record of baking failures. If it turns out well, I’ll post the recipe.

**Update: Here’s how the white-chocolate whoopie pies turned out: http://pievcake.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/white-chocolate-whoopie-pies-from-scratch/ **

Here’s more on the pie episode:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/unwrapped/easy-as-pie/index.html