Kyle had been doing lots of fun things with charcuterie. I’m so proud of him and his crew at Birch. They have really committed to making great pates, cured meats and spreads. Oh, and I make the bread that they serve with it, so it’s really a team effort.
Monthly Archives: November 2011
How To Make A Perfect Pie Bar
Foodandwine.com is featuring my American pie table this Thanksgiving. How exciting! Tips on how to create a beautiful pie table that is sure to impress your guests. Be sure to check it out! And have a Happy Thanksgiving. Eat lots of pie!
Featured in Tasting Table: Sweet Potato Beignets
One of my favorite new desserts for Vermilion: Sweet Potato Beignets, Burnt Marshmallow Fluff, Butter Pecan Ice Cream & Fresh Pomegranate. I’m honored that Tasting Table enjoyed them too!
Happy Friday!
Some colorful cupcakes to brighten your day!
Simple Recipe: Granola
This is a quick and easy recipe to add to your repertoire that you can use for lots of things. Yogurt parfaits, (I like it with vanilla yogurt and blackberries,) ice cream sundae topping, cereal, or simply place it in a glass jar and give as a beautiful and tasty gift. For an added touch, include a copy of the recipe tied to the jar.
Honey-Pecan Granola
2 cups Chopped pecans
3 cups Oats
½ cup Coconut flakes
¼ cup + 2 TBSP Brown sugar
¼ cup + 2 TBSP Honey
¼ cup Oil
½ tsp Salt
1 cup Dried fruit optional
1. Place chopped nuts, oats, flakes, and brown sugar in a bowl and mix together.
2. Whisk honey and oil together.
3. Mix wet and dry until well combined. Use your hands to mix thoroughly, making sure all the oats and nuts are covered with the liquid.
4. Bake at 400 stirring every 15 minutes, being careful not to break up clusters. Do this for about 35-50 minutes (time varies based on your oven).
5. Remove from oven and cool. At this point you can add the optional dried fruit. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.
Pumpkin Bread Pudding
At Buzz I make bread pudding with cake instead of stale bread. In this case I used pumpkin cake and soaked it in pumpkin spice custard. Before we bake it we layer it with diced, roasted pumpkin and bits of house made hard toffee. Top with cinnamon whipped cream and enjoy.
Vices That Made Virginia
An event focused on bourbon, cigar and oysters? Uh yes please!
This was the 2nd year of our amazing fundraising event to benefit Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. It is actually on the farm and invloves eating and drinking a ton, a photo booth with costumes, live blue grass and freshly rolled cigars.
For dessert I did an American Pie Table with apple, pecan, sweet potato, key lime, and pumpin pie. You can see form the photos people were pretty excited when we brough the pies out. 50 pies gone in 14 minutes. Literally 14 minutes…. It was awesome.
If you didn’t go this year make sure to catch it in 2012. Besides being a great time it is for a great cause.
Quilted Wedding Cake
I wanted to do a wedding cake with a quilt pattern but I didn’t want it to look too busy. I decided that a slightly taller middle tier with the quilt design and a top and bottom tier that were decorated simply would have an delicate look. It turned out great. Katy and I decided to pipe buttercream under the fondant in the quilt pattern to give it more volume. It took some time but I love the results.
