Habemus Papam Franciscum

Pope Francis is going to be formally installed tomorrow. And at my house, where we happily waved goodbye to Benedict XVI, we are celebrating!

All of my loved ones are undoubtedly tiring of my obsession with the conclave, the pomp and circumstance and spectacle and glory of all the proceedings, the Latin, the chants, the intrigue, the mystery, the suspense, the new details gleaned about the pontiff as I read everything I can about him. You can take the girl out of the Catholic Church, but there's a reason we're always called "recovering" Catholics! The fascination lingers.

I didn't just have one "Vatican cam" on my computer screen at all times during the conclave - I made sure that I checked in regularly with two different ones, just in case there was some issue with one site or the other. (Go ahead, shake your heads along with me. I know, I know ....)

And, of course, the white smoke came just as I sat down in my Hebrew class, which is offered where I work, after having paid so much attention to the chimney! (As they say, a watched pot never boils.) Everyone knew how fixated I was upon this entire scenario, so I immediately received 4 texts and 2 phone calls all at once to disrupt the class. Fortunately, there were only 7 of us and everyone indulged my announcement of the news even though we didn't know who'd won the election yet. I got back to my desk just before the presentation at the balcony.

So now, instead of babbling incessantly about what might happen and what I wanted to have happen, I am babbling about what did happen. A new pope! From the New World! A Jesuit, from an order noted for intellectualism, education, and service. A transitional figure with ties to Rome by virtue of his Italian immigrant parents, but raised in Argentina. A man who brings many "first"s to the Vatican.

My favorite photo of Pope Francis, who has a wonderful smile.

I am enormously happy to read about Francis' humility, of his devotion to the poor and to those who are most marginalized in society, of his support for those whose choices he might not agree with but whom he still views as God's children (i.e.: caring for patients with AIDS, saying Mass for prostitutes, baptizing the babies of unwed mothers). He seems to strive to truly live the gospels and to follow Jesus' example.

And so, with significantly more hope than I've had for the Church in ages, I welcome Pope Francis.

And how could I not love this about him: the new pope is someone who is noted for preparing his own meals!

His favorite dinner is baked skinless chicken, salad, fruit, and an occasional glass of wine - healthy, benign dietary choices.

But this is a celebration! So, although he might eschew dessert, it seemed only fitting to make a beloved Argentine treat which is infused with Italian tradition - perfect for a man raised in Buenos Aires by parents who emigrated from northern Italy.

There is a sizable Italian community in Argentina, and it has distinctly influenced the cuisine. Pastas are enormously popular, but the flavors differ somewhat (Argentines seem to always add peppers to the sauce, as well as cumin and paprika); Argentines also sauce their pasta much more heavily than is done in Italy. Pizza is another favorite that crossed the Atlantic; but in Argentina the crust is much thicker, and the dish is often also served with a chickpea-flour flatbread called fainá [fah-ee-NAH].

But today, we are enjoying Pasta Frola [PAH-stah FROH-lah], a fruit-filled pastry with a buttery crust that is reminiscent of Italian crostata [krohs-TAH-tah]. According to Wikipedia:

"Pasta frola is a typical Argentine recipe heavily influenced by Southern Italian cuisine, also known as Pasta Frolla in Italy. Pasta frola consists of a buttery pastry base with a filling made of quince jam, sweet-potato jam or milk caramel (dulce de leche) and topped with thin strips of the same pastry, forming a squared pattern .... The traditional Italian recipe was not prepared with latticework as it is in Argentina, but with a lid pierced with molds in forms of heart or flowers."

Quince products are readily available in Latin markets. And I just happened to be near one of these stores recently; so I took the opportunity to buy a can of dulce de membrillo [DOOL-say day mem-BREE-yoh], which is quince paste (a product much thicker than jam). If you don't have access to this, however, a thickened jam or Solo pastry fillings would be excellent substitutes.

And so, a toast to Pope Francis! He has quite a lot of work to do to rebuild the Church, as the inspiration for his papal name - St. Francis of Assisi - was charged with doing. May God bless him and help him.

And in his honor, enjoy a slice of this lovely tart with a cup of espresso or a glass of Moscato, both of which are popular in Argentina as well as in Italy.

Habemus Papam Franciscum!


Pasta Frola
(adapted from this recipe)

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup + 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs divided
1 tablespoon water
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Filling:
1-1/2 cups dulce de membrillo (quince paste)
3 tablespoons water

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 cup sugar. Add all of the butter and mix in with your fingers until crumbly.

Combine vanilla and 2 eggs; pour over dough and stir to mix. Knead dough on countertop just until it comes together. Cut dough into two portions: 1/3 and 2/3. Wrap in plastic for 30 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine quince paste and 3 tablespoons water; cook over low heat, stirring, until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom.

Roll out the 2/3 dough portion to a 13" circle; carefully place into the tart pan, letting excess hang over the edges.

Fill tart with quince paste, spreading to edges.

Roll out the 1/3 dough portion to a 10" circle. Cut into 3/4" strips. Lay 5 strips vertically over the tart pan, then fold back the 1st, 3rd, and 5th ones.

Lay a strip across the remaining two strips of dough, then fold the strips back down.

Fold back the 2nd and 4th dough strips, lay a strip of dough across, then fold the strips back down. Repeat until you have a lattice top formed of 5 dough strips in each direction.

Press dough strips against the bottom crust to seal, then trim edges flush with the baking pan.

Combine remaining 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash. Brush over the dough, then sprinkle with the remaining 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar. Place tart onto a baking pan, to catch any drips.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until tart is golden. Let cool completely, then dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.

Makes 12 servings.

(I found I had enough extra dough left over that I could likely make another tart. Gather any scraps, knead them together briefly, and save for future use.)

Bear Claws

Although he was raised in the Detroit suburbs, Craig spent many years living in California, primarily the San Francisco area. He often tells me of fabulous Mexican or Asian dishes he ate while there, of favorite restaurants he remembers fondly.

But what he seems to miss most of all is the giant bear claws - puffy, flaky, almond-filled delicacies - from the Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes, which "has been bringing fresh, organic, handmade pastries ... to the North Bay for over 20 years."

Well, you know me - I love to bake, and I have a lot of air time to fill both here and on AnnArbor.com. I'm always looking for kitchen entertainment, something new and novel to write about.

And so, we undertook a baking adventure and sought to replicate - or, at least, approximate - the Bovine's delicious goodies.

I emailed the bakery and was thrilled to get a lovely response:

"Thanks so much! Love to hear about people hooked on our treats! :)

It is our policy not to share exact recipes (proportions and process), but I will happily tell you the ingredients. Unfortunately for the home baker, bearclaws are probably one of the toughest products to replicate."

They proceeded to let me know what they mix into the filling, and that their recipe for croissant dough - which they also use for these pastries - is so overwhelming (both in quantity and difficulty) that I'd be "better off finding a smaller scale recipe to follow." I was so happy to receive so much information and such gracious guidance!

Craig told me that the pastries are flaky rather than doughy, so I decided against making my own yeast dough and let Pepperidge Farm do the labor-intensive work for me; I purchased a box of its puff pastry, ready to use.

For the luscious center, I relied upon a can of Solo filling, which would offer a rich and sweet almond taste. Since I also had some poppy seed filling, I stirred a bit of that in, as well, following the Bovine's lead. (They combine poppy seeds with everything else, for a very complex flavor.)

I read up on the procedure for making and baking the pastries from a variety of recipes, trying to determine how large to make them and how long to keep them in the oven in order to cook the centers while not burning the edges.

And then, on a cold (wind chill of 16!) and snowy (7" on the ground) evening, I set to tinkering with my project. Although there are a number of steps involved, these treats are actually very easy to make since they rely upon some convenience products.

Sometimes, our adventures provide us only with a story to tell. Other times, we also get success, pride in accomplishment, and fabulous things to eat. The bear claws worked out perfectly in every way - light, puffy, golden, toasted, rich, delicious, decadent, and indulgent!

With many thanks to the Bovine Bakery for its inspiration, assistance, and support ... :)

Bear Claws

• 1 12.5-ounce can Solo almond filling
• 2 tablespoons Solo poppy seed filling
• 1 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm puff pastry
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Combine almond filling and poppy seed filling; set aside.

Lightly flour the countertop and unfold one of the two sheets of puff pastry on top of it; lightly dust the top of the dough with flour, too. Roll dough to a 12" square, then cut into 4 squares.

Place a scant 1/4 cupful of the filling onto the center of each dough square.

Combine the egg and the water to make an egg wash; brush on to the edges of one dough square.

Fold dough over and lightly press edges to seal them.

Cut several slits into the long sealed edge of the dough.

Curve the pastry a bit to open up the notches, then place onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining squares of dough.

Brush the pastries with egg wash and sprinkle the tops with almonds.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until pastries puff up and are golden brown. Remove to a rack to cool completely, then repeat with rest of dough, filling, egg wash, and almonds.

When pastries are cool, stir together confectioners' sugar and half-and-half. Drizzle glaze over pastries and let set.

Makes 8 large bear claws.

Frugal Floozie Friday - The Northside Grill

Jeremy and I enjoyed a great breakfast at The Northside Grill this week, thus making it today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature. Tremendously friendly service, a festive atmosphere, and great food made it a wonderful place to visit!

I debated many options, as always, from the classic dish of an egg with hash browns and a biscuit to an assortment of side dishes to splitting a sandwich. But I settled upon two items, for a bit of variety: fried eggs served "over easy" plus a warm bear claw proudly made in-house. Generously filled with walnuts and fragrant with cinnamon, the pastry was perfect with my vanilla-flavored coffee. It was a tremendous value at only $2.29.

The eggs - costing a mere $1.25 each, ordered a la carte - were perfectly cooked, and were a nice complement to the sweet treat.

Jeremy, as usual, was much more decisive than I was and readily settled upon the short stack of buttermilk pancakes for $4.39. This was an enormous serving that fully covered the plate, and I can't even imagine being able to finish a full portion! Tender and light, with just a hint of tartness in contrast to the syrup, Jeremy told me he can't remember the last time he enjoyed a plate of pancakes so much.

Another option, had we not been there for breakfast, would have been the Brownie Sundae "topped with ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, walnuts and a cherry. Enough for two!" At $5.75, this would readily have met our per person budgetary requirement.

From an assortment of side dishes to pastries, from muffins to soups and chilis, and even plate-sized single pancakes or servings of French toast, there are many frugal options to choose from at The Northside Grill. That you also get a warm welcome, free coffee refills, and the comfort of a neighborhood hang-out only makes the deals that much better.

The Northside Grill
1015 Broadway
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
734-995-0965
Open 7 days a week from 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.



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Wordless (sorta) Wednesday: Baklava

I know I said I was only going to post on Mondays and Fridays, but I couldn't resist - I'm so proud of both the photo and the recipe! Check it out here on AnnArbor.com ... :)

Frugal Floozie Friday - Cafe Ambrosia

On one of our recent wretchedly hot days, I stopped by Cafe Ambrosia for an iced tea to take with me as I continued on my afternoon of appointments and errands.  Just as I was walking up to the door, a very nice gentleman passed by and told me, "They make great coffee there."  He smiled as he walked away.  Unfortunately, the temperature was hovering 'round 100 and I don't like iced coffee, so I'll have to take this suggestion some time when it's merely summery rather than sweltering.  But it was sweet of him to make the recommendation.

Once I found myself in the blissfully cool shop, I found that not only was the iced tea properly brewed (rather than the instant "tea" that is often served in restaurants), but I was also able to stay within my mandatory $5 budget and buy an utterly decadent chocolate-almond croissant to go with my drink. Sugar and chocolate are good, even when it's hot out. Thus, Cafe Ambrosia meets all the criteria to be today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature!

When I do go back for that cup of great coffee, I'll happily be able to splurge on another treat to go with it  and still not have to spend a fortune; coffees - from a basic house cup to specialty drinks - range in price from $1.25 to $4.50.  Chai and cocoa are also available within the same price range.

Baked goods are provided by the Pastry Peddler Bakery and are lovingly made by Kathryn Loy, a graduate of the French Pastry School in Chicago. My flaky, crumbly, perfect croissant - authentically made in the French manner with sticks of chocolate rather than chips - cost a mere $3.25, an extraordinary price for such an exceptional item.  Palmiers and oatmeal raisin cookies cost only a $1 each; and other sweet treats - from pecan sticky buns to almond croissants - are less than $4.

So whether you're looking for a hot drink or a cold one, be sure to stop by Cafe Ambrosia to find what you need.  And don't pass up the pastries ... they are utterly sublime!

Cafe Ambrosia
326 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Friday: 7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.



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Frugal Floozie Friday -- Frita Batidos

Tom and I had a lovely date night recently, featuring a treat that he declared to be "the best dessert (he's) had in a very long time."

And where did we find this fabulousness to spotlight in today's
Frugal Floozie Friday feature?

At Frita Batidos, a cheerful and casual Cuban-influenced eatery run by famed chef Eve Aronoff whose late, great restaurant eve was the site of one of my very favorite and most memorable meals.

The small but intensely bright white restaurant was nearly empty when we first arrived, though we watched more than a dozen people stream in and fill the space only a few minutes later. We perused the menu, always a complicated matter with so many enticing dishes from sandwiches to salads to sweets.

But we'd already eaten our dinner and had come prepared for dessert. A batido, perhaps, which is a fruit-based milkshake? Rum-soaked pineapple? The highly recommended cinnamon-sugar plantains that Tom had eaten on a previous visit to Frita's?

Nope. All were excellent possibilities, but there was a clear winner among the choices: a churro sundae - fried pastry strips paired with rich ice cream for dunking.

Now, these were not just some plain ol' doughnuts - ha! The churros were still warm from the fryer, fragrant with a generous coating of cinnamon sugar and infused with the scent of orange. They were crisp upon first biting in, followed by a spongy interior cooked to airy perfection. The ice cream was a lovely complement, rich and creamy and perfect to dip the churros in, but the pastries were clearly the star of this show.

At $7, this amazingly luscious dessert clearly falls within the mandatory $5 per person Frugal Floozie Friday budget because the portion is so generous that it would be impossible to finish it without a loved one to share it with. You could really economize and share it among a group of four, but I don't recommend this strategy; then you'd only get one churro per person, and they're too fabulous to settle for such a measly portion!

Frita Batidos
117 W. Washington
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-761-2882


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Frugal Floozie Friday -- Silvio's Organic Pizza

Tom and I recently ate dinner at one of our very favorite restaurants: Silvio's.

Since today is Frugal Floozie Friday, I won't rave on too much about the amazing Capricciosa [cah-pree-CHO-suh] pizza we ate, which - at $11.89 - just exceeded the mandatory budgetary limit of $5 per person. But it was exceptional! The pizza (a term which seems so inadequate for a hand-formed work of art) was rich with the flavors of pungent ripe olives, beautiful thin slices of a lovely Italian ham, artichoke hearts, and restrained quantities of mozzarella which balanced the other ingredients rather than burying them, all on a thin and crisp crust.

Instead, I'll tell you about the two - yes, two! - desserts we shared. (We were feeling celebratory and indulgent about our reunion.) Each was priced at $2.89. Therefore, individually they clearly met the budgetary constraints; but they also were within the per-person limit when we combined them, so why not have a bit of extra fun?

The Nutella Pocket was brought out first - a 6"-long vision of chocolate-drizzled beauty. There was an ideal balance between the sweet, flaky pastry and the strip of rich, luxuriant Nutella running through it.

Whereas many restaurants might engage in overkill with too much of one flavor, a gigantic and excessive portion, or dousing the dessert in whipped cream or other accoutrements, Silvio's practiced the perfection of restraint. The dessert was just the right size to share with someone, there was a splash of rich chocolate sauce as an accent rather than pouring it over the treat, and the flavors all worked in unison as the proportion of pastry-to-filling was sublime.

And then, as though the pizza and the Nutella Pocket weren't sufficient, we relished a Sicilian cannoli (pictured at the top of the post), which exceeds my ability to adequately describe it. Half of the filling was a creamy vanilla custard with just a hint of the vibrancy of lemon; the other half was a deep, bittersweet chocolate.

The fillings were lusciously smooth, almost sinfully seductive. In contrast, the fried shell was crisp and crunchy, providing just enough body when paired with the creaminess. And again, the proportions of each ingredient were in perfect balance. The cannoli was utterly decadent!

Needless to say, at Silvio's Tom and I more than received our money's worth. For less than $3 each, we indulged in unbelievably luscious desserts. What noble people we are, engaging in such strenuous research for today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature!


Frugal Floozie Friday: Food and Fun for Five Dollars or Less ... Really!!!


Silvio's Organic Pizza
715 N. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-214-6666


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Banbury Cakes for Bloomsday

Regular readers know that I'll celebrate virtually any holiday -- religious, secular, literary, whimsical. Since it's all about the food, it doesn't much matter to me whether I'm fully invested in the reason for the festivities, as long as there's something good to eat!

But today is a holiday which is completely and utterly a part of my very being: today is Bloomsday, in honor of the profoundly fascinating Irish author James Joyce.

Joyce's masterpiece -- the challenging, beautiful, lyrical and little read (even when it's assigned in college courses!) novel Ulysses -- takes place on June 16, 1904. It is modeled after The Odyssey, and tells of the adventures of Leopold Bloom as he travels through his day in Dublin.

This is very sweet and romantic, in that this particular date was chosen because June 16, 1904 is the date on which Joyce first went out with his future wife, Nora (née Norah). How often does one's first date get commemorated in a revered work of literature???

I love Joyce, though it has admittedly been many, many moons since I've indulged my affection and actually read his work ... I should remedy this, perhaps re-reading Dubliners, the book which began my Joycean devotion, on my sunny front porch this summer.

I have celebrated Bloomsday with lamb stew, with soda bread, with any number of traditional Irish foods; but I haven't yet resorted to preparing or eating some of the foods that Leopold himself relishes:

"Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods' roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine."

This year, I thought I would take some inspiration from the book ... but not with any organ meats! Instead, I made a sweet pastry described in Chapter 8 - "Lestrygonians":

"He halted again and bought from the old applewoman two Banbury cakes for a penny and broke the brittle paste and threw its fragments down into the Liffey. See that? The gulls swooped silently, two, then all from their heights, pouncing on prey. Gone. Every morsel. Aware of their greed and cunning he shook the powdery crumb from his hands. They never expected that. Manna."

And so today I offer Banbury Cakes: ovals of puff pastry filled with spiced dried fruits, and distinctively bearing three slits in the top. They originated in the Oxfordshire region of England and have been made since at least the year 1586.

I have actually made my own puff pastry before -- just once -- but can't really justify the time and effort, given how little counter space I have in my kitchen and how readily I can just open the freezer door at the grocery store to purchase a box of dough that Pepperidge Farm has graciously already prepared for me. So this recipe is very easy to make, and the fragrances emanating from the oven are absolutely divine!

The filling should theoretically offer currants, raisins and those little candied fruits that everyone else loathes in cakes and cookies at Christmastime. I don't actually mind them, but since it's not fruitcake season it didn't seem worth hunting them down; I used only currants, because that's what I had on hand ... that and some candied ginger, simply because I adore it.

Instead of "brittle paste" and "powdery crumbs," I found myself with warm, fragrant, freshly baked pastries that were sticky, sweet, perfectly spiced and addictive.

It would have taken virtually no effort to devour the batch, but I employed restraint and ate only one half of one treat ... though I can only claim that much virtue because I managed to clumsily drop the other half!

And I was valiant in my effort to save some because I didn't want to have a late-night craving and find myself wanting. These Banbury Cakes were so wonderful that they deserve to be savored with a cup of coffee or a glass of iced Irish breakfast tea.

Whether exhibiting more strength than the gulls did in resisting the temptation to eat every morsel in one fell swoop or taking the time to savor Joyce's intricate work, patience can be a virtue ....

Banbury Cakes

1 cup currants
1/2 cup green tea
splash of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons minced candied ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 sheet Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg

Place the currants, tea, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and brown sugar into a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Chill.

Preheat the oven to 425F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Lay the puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 6 rectangles. Roll each out just a bit, 'til 1" wider in each direction.


Divide the currant mixture among the rectangles, placing each dollop into the center of the dough.


One by one, bring the long sides of the rectangle up to meet each other; pinch to seal.


Trim the corners off each end of the dough.


Fold the dough up and pinch it to seal, forming an oval-shaped pastry.


Beat the egg. Flip the pastry over, and brush with the egg wash.


Take a pair of scissors and snip 3 diagonal slits into the top of the pastry.


Place the pastry onto the prepared baking sheet, and repeat with remaining dough and filling.


Bake for 20 minutes, until the pastries are golden and the filling is just bubbling. Let cool.

Makes 6 small (4") pastries.

A Most Decadent Delight

Is that a gorgeous photo, or what???

Let me assure you -- as beautiful as that fruit tart looks, the visuals can't begin to compare to how luscious it was!

Tom had gone to our favorite bakery, Decadent Delight, to pick up some Luv Bugs -- the adorable filled and frosted pastries we'd enjoyed so much last Valentine's Day that we absolutely wanted to have them again for our celebration.

But -- gasp! Decadent Delight was closed that day; they had been swarmed over the weekend, but we hadn't thought to go shopping quite that early ... we'd thought mid-morning on the day itself would be sufficient. Nope -- the word has gotten out, and pastry chef extraordinaire Bryant Stuckey's treats are now in high demand!

The Luv Bugs had made my AnnArbor.com listing of 5 Fabulous Favorite Foods Found in Ann Arbor as well as my Food Floozie 10 for '10 top ten list for the past year. They're sorta glorified and sophisticated Twinkie-like goodies, cakes with filling and frosting and adorable little faces. Alas, we will have to wait until next year ... :(

Instead, Tom went back over the weekend and bought two of the exceptional cinnamon rolls. (You do know that the proper way to eat these, of course, is to unswirl them, starting with the outer edge and working towards the center ...?)

But he also came back with two other treats, consolation prizes to relish instead of the Luv Bugs -- the gorgeous fruit tart above and one featuring caramelized pears.

The berries on the tart were so plump and so juicy that one could almost feel transported to summer when eating them. The colors were deep and intense, as were the flavors. And the pastry cream supporting them was truly a perfect complement -- thick, creamy and not so sweet that it competed with the stars of the show.

And then there was the crust, which was flaky and crumbly without shattering when broken either by a fork (if one is civilized) or by teeth (when one is so zealous that she picks up the tart to simply eliminate any barriers between her and her beloved!). It held its shape and supported the filling just as it should without making a mess. This excellent crust also made an appearance in the pear tart, which -- believe it or not -- even surpassed the fruit one ... who could have thought it possible?

The pears were perfectly cooked, just barely resistant to the bite, not mushy and not crisp. Pears, of course, have perhaps a 10-minute window in which they are neither hard as rocks nor slimy goo. To work within that brief time span and also poach them to an ideal consistency without overcooking them requires skill.

There was not a heavy, thick caramel layer in this tart, but rather a hint of sweetness to enhance the subtly flavored pears. And the buttery crust which wonderfully supported the fruit and pastry cream in our other lovely dessert also served the pears ideally.

So, whether you're looking for breakfast, for a treat to go with coffee, or simply an indulgence, I assure you that Decadent Delight will satisfy any whim.

416 West Huron Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
734-761-8740
info@decadentdelight.com

Silvio's -- So Much More Than Just Pizza!

Tom and I had planned to go to Silvio's Organic Pizza a couple of weeks ago, after the Vital (A)(R)(T) exhibit that one of his digital photographs had been shown in; but the food was so bountiful and beautiful at the reception that we got sidetracked and found ourselves eating dinner -- hummus with pita chips and vegetables, fruit, egg rolls, salad, and an array of cookies and brownies -- at the buffet table provided. So this past Thursday night, after I met Tom downtown after work and we were debating our dinner options, Silvio's was the perfect choice.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am the least decisive person on Earth, especially when food is involved. I can make life-or-death decisions instinctively on the spur of the moment, and have unfortunately had to do that more times than I like to contemplate. So my theory is that when I actually have choices to peruse and the luxury of time in which to do so, my brain goes into paralysis.

Thus, in surveying the beautiful simplicity found in Margherita pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil) or Pesto pizza (basil sauce, pine nuts, parmesan); the novelty of the exotic Grape (with Fontina and -- of course! -- grapes); or the generosity of stuffed pizzas (vegetarian or tuna with rapini or cod, just for starters), my mind started to swirl as my soul cried out for all of it. Tom, fortunately, was able to hear potatoes calling him, and so we indulged in the sensuous -- on every level -- and seductive #9: Thinly sliced potatoes covered with blue cheese and mozzarella, with just a sprinkling of fragrant rosemary ... sigh.

Our pizza was brought right to us, with the cheese still bubbling from having only left the oven moments earlier. It smelled amazing, with the rosemary wafting through the air; and when we bit in, you could hear the crisp crust crunching but not resisting. It was hot but not sear-the-roof-of-your-mouth hot, and it held together both when cut or when folded (rather than the cheese oozing off and the entire slice deconstructing and falling apart). And the taste was incomparable, a combination that was perfect (a lot of carbs, yes, but carbs that worked in unison) with no one flavor overriding another. This was so, so much more than just "pizza" -- that stuff you can buy for $5 from a franchise or something you can toss into a microwave to turn to goo. This was a true vision of beauty and love, interspersed with kisses from Tom ... :)

Dessert was yet another indulgence -- a crisp round of puff pastry with a luscious creamy filling, delicately sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. Tom eats very nobly -- a former vegan and vegetarian, adores spinach and kale, eats organic food almost exclusively; and yet, he has a sweet tooth and loves baked goods. So the exceptional array of pastries was as tempting to him as it was to me, the girl who doesn't just have one sweet tooth but a full 28 of 'em (having had 4 wisdom teeth pulled decades ago). Tom had made the difficult decision of choosing from among the croissants and bombas (paczki-like filled "doughnuts") and strudels, thank goodness -- I'd likely still be there, 3 days later, if the job had been delegated to me! We hated to break into it, as gorgeous as it was; and yet, it called, it beckoned, it seduced us ... there was no way to resist, and it was so good that I literally picked at the flaky little crumbs left on the plate after the treat had been relished.

There was live music from a guitar-playing trio, warm and efficient service, and food so fabulous that it is difficult to fully describe. Silvio's ... sigh. Repeat visits will be inevitable ....