Comfort Foods and Indulgences

I have a special fondness for pot pie. It's one of those all-in-one meals that always hits my comfort spot. And it's a welcome dish to eat on a cold and rainy day like the ones we're having this season. The origins of pot pies can be traced back to the English settlers who brought their love for pies to America. In the States I had never eaten a savory pie. It was always the frozen pies that scared me into believing that pies were no good. Not until my traveling in England did I finally eat my first savory pie. On first bite I fell in love with the flavorful meat and vegetable filling topped with flaky, buttery pastry.

While studying abroad in London, I came to know and appreciate the local cuisine. It was the discovery of a small eatery that really caught my attention and helped change my mind about pies. Every day on my way to class through an alley passage I couldn't help but notice a sign that read "Upstairs Pie Room" right next to an unassuming door. One day a group of us decided to find out what this room was all about. We discovered a homey little restaurant with a menu of traditional English savory pies. It was was one of the best things that could happen. That summer the Pie Room ended up becoming a regular haunt for all of us. The experience turned out to be one of my most memorable, one that I repeated many times until I had tried every pie on the menu.

I always take inspiration from the restaurants where I dine. It's fascinating to see what chefs create especially when it comes to dessert. Last summer I had the opportunity of visiting a number of D.C. Restaurants thanks to Destination DC. As soon as I visited Birch & Barley, run by husband and wife team Kyle Bailey and Tiffany MacIsaac, I was taken by the great food, but even more so by the baked goods and desserts, expertly created by pastry chef MacIsaac. A goat cheese cheesecake particularly stood out.

Until then I had never thought that goat cheese could even be turned into a dessert, but I was wrong. It was there that I had an amazing goat cheese cheesecake with balsamic syrup and cherry sorbet. It was tangy, just slightly sweet, refreshing, and palate-cleansing—all things I look for in dessert. I'm not much of an "only chocolate is dessert" kind of guy, so I always appreciate something different and unique. I knew then at that moment that I'd make my version of the recipe and here it is.

I’ve steered clear of biscuit-making ever since I mixed up a crumbly mess of dry ingredients with butter and buttermilk years ago. The end result, inedible hockey pucks, came after a very frustrating baking experience. The wanna-be biscuits wound up in the garbage. That was when I decided I just didn’t need to ever, ever be making biscuits. And that’s why, when Katie Novotny, owner of St. Paul Classic Cookie Co. said that scones are simply a biscuit, I got nervous.

Katie Novotny offered to show members of my Bemidji Cookbook Club how to make the perfect scone. We gathered in her bitty bakery with an enormous menu of sweet treats in the south St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul on a recent Friday morning.

She sliced small chunks of butter into a bowl holding her measured dry ingredients, emphasizing the fact the butter must be well-chilled. I use the same technique when I make my favorite recipe for scones — the ones I plop onto a baking sheet using a measuring cup. That technique keeps my hands off the dough, convincing me that I am making scones, not biscuits.

This is a funny little recipe.  It only has four ingredients and requires no baking. I used to make this cake when my boys were little and it always amazed me. I was looking through my recipes the other day for something and came upon this and had fond memories of it. I can't even remember where I got this recipe from anymore, but it's a winner.

How does a cake require no baking? It's made from chocolate graham crackers and after you've frosted the crackers and let the cake sit for several hours, they soften up and become cake-like. No kidding. It works very well. You make two frostings, one with peanut butter and one with chocolate. It's easy and a great make-ahead little cake with very little effort.

The frostings are definitely worth making from scratch. They are basically just flavored whipped cream frostings, one peanut butter and one chocolate, and they are light and fluffy and absolutely delicious.