Hamilton's Tavern & Cafe, Heaven Sent Desserts

I inched closer to 30.

So... I drank beer.

That's the way to ring in another year of existence. I don't feel old, but I didn't feel like making a big deal out of my birthday, either. M.T. and M.S. met us for dinner and beers at Hamilton's Tavern and Cafe. Later, J.T. joined us for dessert at Heaven Sent Desserts.

Hamilton's is a fun pub in South Park. Great selection of beers and they recently opened the cafe next door. We had brats and grilled cheese sandwiches. I enjoyed the "farmer in the dell" grilled cheese, which had manchego, chard, and onion jam. Yum.

For dessert, we headed to Heaven Sent Desserts in North Park. I heard they've had a new pastry chef for a while, so it was a good time to visit.

As always, the interior was lovely. The pastries are looking fabulous. Not in a mood for cake, I indulged in a chocolate-banana malted parfait. Chocolate pudding, bananas, malted cookie crumbs, and whipped cream layered in a tall glass. Note to Heaven Sent: a shorter, wider glass would probably work better, even though presentation might not be so impressive. I was given a longer spoon, but I was practically spelunking into the depths of the dessert.

Anyway, delicious overall and great combination of flavors. Just like the Whoppers on top, this dessert satisfies.

Hamilton's Tavern and Cafe
1521 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92102

Heaven Sent Desserts
3001 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92104

Tuesdays With Dorie: Double-Crusted Blueberry Pie and Henry VIII

I've wanted to watch The Tudors for a while. So, this past Sunday, I had a little get-together for the first two episodes of the show and Dorie Greenspan's double-crusted blueberry pie. To keep my baking muscles in shape, I joined Tuesdays With Dorie. This week's recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours (pages 361-363) was selected by Amy of South In Your Mouth.

I'd say the pie, with its rustic decadence, definitely paired well with the show. Watching Henry VIII whine, pout, and whore his way through his time as king is really entertaining and worthy of an excellent dessert. On a food-related side note, Henry VIII ends up looking an awful lot like Mario Batali. I'm not sure how the producers think that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers will end up looking like MB, but whatever. He's pretty and petulant. Oh, a heads-up to those considering The Tudors: there's a lot of gratuitous boobage.

Great, my first post for the group and I'm talking about boobs.

Right, back to the pie.

The one thing I love about fruit pies is that they're easy to make. This pie took about 3 hours, including chilling the dough. Take Dorie's failproof crust and add macerated blueberries. The crust stayed flaky and crisp, even when I accidentally broke the top crust while transferring it to the pie plate. It had to be rolled back into a ball, re-chilled, and rolled out again. Despite all of the handling, it baked into a crisp and flavorful crust.

It's a fantastic dessert, with the blueberries being both rich and refreshing at the same time. Paired with French vanilla ice cream, it's a moment of indulgence.

Henry VIII would approve.

Bear-Sitters' Dinner

There are very few words that properly describe my appreciation to our lovely group of Bear-sitters. Our friends volunteered to rotate through the house, keeping Bear at home and in his routine. He was happily hanging out with his aunts and uncles and we didn't worry about him staying with a stranger or in a kennel.

As a small token of thanks, we invited everyone over to try out a couple of recipes from the Penzeys One magazine. When I subscribed in-store, the cashier said I could have a copy of the current issue.

One of their ingredients of focus was honey, so D. wanted to try their pulled pork sandwiches and the Scotcheroos. I thought cornbread would pair well with the pork sandwiches, so we added corn muffins.

Honey Barbecue Sandwiches
(Sourced from Penzeys One, Volume 3, Issue 1, 2008)

Pork:
6 lbs. pork (pork butt or chuck roast work well)
1 1/2 cups water

Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hot sauce (recommended: Frank's Hot Sauce)
1 cup classic Coke
1 cup honey
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. aleppo pepper (paprika is an acceptable substitute)
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Tools:
Crockpot
Medium-sized saucepan

Place pork and water in crockpot and cook on high until meat falls off the bone, approximately 5 hours. Discard bones and juice/fat in pot. Pull meat with forks or, alternately, cut into smaller pieces and place in stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, gently stir meat pieces until they shred. Place meat back into crock pot. Combine sauce ingredients in saucepan and heat on low while stirring thoroughly. Once warm, pour sauce over meat, stir, and heat for 30 minutes. Serve on French rolls. (Note: the photo has the pork served on crusty French bread, which is a little too porous)

Cornbread recipe can be found here. Two changes: adding corn kernels to the batter and baking it in a muffin tin. Grease muffin tin liberally. Reserve two tablespoons of the 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Drain one can of whole corn kernels and mix with flour to keep them from sinking. Mix into batter, scoop into the unlined tin, and bake for about 18 minutes.

As for the Scotcheroos, they were so good that I forgot to take a picture. They're a great take on Rice Krispy treats.

Scotcheroos
(Sourced from Penzeys One, Volume 3, Issue 1, 2008)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup (it doesn't matter if it's light or dark... I used dark)
1/2 cup honey
1 cup peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Tools:
9x13 inch pan
Medium-sized saucepan

Grease pan. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and honey in saucepan. Cook over medium heat and stir frequently until mixture begins to bubble (roughly 5 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in peanut butter and vanilla, and mix well. Add cereal and combined thoroughly. Grease hands very lightly and press mixture into pan. Melt chips together in microwave, heating at 70% power in 30 second intervals. Stir between each interval until all of the chips are melted and combined. Pour over cereal mixture. Cool, then cut into pieces and serve.

With the holiday weekend coming up, these dishes are quick and require very little face-time with an oven, which is a plus if the weather is a blazing inferno. Happy 4th of July!