Tartine's Brownies

I'm not too good at remembering my dreams. There are a few that stick out in my consciousness-- like my favorite one, where I am being chased by a dinosaur on ice, and I have my hockey skates on. It wasn't scary, the feeling was more like being on an amusement park ride, with obstacles. In some of my more boring dreams, I am driving and it's totally natural, not the stiff and nervous way I drive in real life. I had one bizarre dream where I got married to a friend of mine, and there's totally nothing there (unless my subconscious is telling me otherwise), but at the reception I start talking to her, quite worriedly, that we don't have any money to fulfill our dreams together. It seems that I have to wreck even my dreams with my real-life worries.

Some of my recurring dreams involve me sitting in a classroom, in a weird class which is an illogical mix of my classmates all the way from elementary school to medical school. Nothing happens, but there's chats about topics I don't remember. I've had the dream where I show up in school in my underpants (maybe my brain has a protective mechanism that prevents me from showing up naked, lest I die of night terrors). But I've never had a dream where I cook or eat something fantastic. Maybe my conscious mind is already tired of it.

However, there are those times when you see something on a display window and it looks totally dreamy, but it turns out to be a disappointment. Surrounded by hundreds of lovely confections (though I realize by now there are tons better), the brownies at Godiva chocolatiers do look fantastic, but one bite shatters the dream. Fine, it's acceptably chocolatey, but the bitter, soapy taste of chemical leaveners (baking powder most likely) destroys it.

Then there are those brownies you see at the display cases of grocery bakeries, which I once described to Duncan as those brownies that come to the United States with hopes of living the American Dream, before they fall by the wayside and get totally whored up with vile chocolatey vomit, M&Ms, sprinkles, Maltesers, icing, a plastic "Happy St. Patrick's Day!", and, weirdest of all, a mini-candy bar, still in its wrapper. The brownie pimp wins again. (Why I bought it, I don't know. Hunger?)

And look at the ingredients list. US Standards mandate that the ingredients be listed in order of decreasing weight, and of course sugar, oil, and corn syrup precede anything that has to do with chocolate. And I appreciate the effort, but I don't think the paprika (?!) added anything of value to this brownie.

The brownie recipe from the Tartine cookbook is the answer to all these brownie nightmares. It only has 5 main ingredients, and salt and vanilla. However, I didn't have the easiest time making these: I scaled the recipe down and cut the baking time. After cooling, I tried to take it out, and the top crust shattered, the insides still batter-y. Bake for 10 more minutes. Uncooked. Bake some more-- till I'd baked it the same time as a big one. Still uncooked. Bake some more, beyond what a large pan would take. Still uncooked. Dismayed, I threw the whole thing in the freezer. Lo and behold, it emerged from the ice as a brownie of undeniable decadence. It now looked and cut like a brownie, and all my extended family greedily gobbled it all up before Christmas dinner was even presented. They told me I couldn't leave for the States, otherwise who'd make the brownies again?

Tartine's Brownies from Tartine
Maybe I should start calling these the brownies you can't overbake. My only advice would be to cool it completely before attempting to cut, or take out of the pan. These brownies are just as awesome straight out of the fridge or freezer as they are at room temperature, so that may be a plus for you somehow.

• 170g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter


• 455g (1 pound) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped


• 130g (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons) all purpose flour


• 5 large eggs


• 395g (2 cups) light brown sugar, lightly packed


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Line a 9x13 glass baking dish with parchment.

In a small saucepan or a microwaveable bowl, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from the heat/microwave and stir in the chocolate. If it's not fully melted, return over low heat for 10 seconds or microwave on LOW power for 15 second-intervals, stirring in between, until it is melted. Cool completely.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat on high speed for about 4-5 minutes, after which the batter will fall from the whisk in thick ribbons that slowly sinks into the surface. Fold the chocolate into the eggs with a rubber spatula. Sift the flour over the surface and fold in gently. Pour into the dish and smooth the top. Bake for 25 minutes (the top will slightly crack-- a cake tester won't be accurate for this one).

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San Francisco, Part 3 of Hopefully a Lot

Not long ago I was talking about how difficult it is to really get bored, no matter where you are. If you can't vary the places you go to, you can vary your interests, vary your company (in this case, it changed from last year to mostly just me, without my mom and my brother), or vary your activities. And always, always (unless you never plan on coming back) leave something for next time. When it comes to San Francisco, you'd have to be a dead fish to finally run out of things to see or do, or you're just one of those people who don't like what San Francisco stands for. Above is a pic I snapped of the Caltrain terminal between Mission Bay and SoMa. (There's no logic in the optics of this one-- the lens blur was applied in post because my camera can't achieve depth of field well.)

I mean, just look at the cheeky shops you can see on Castro! Even the restaurants seem to have joined in on the fun. (That, or I'm just that filthy.) Under One Roof is a great shop filled with little gadgets for the home and furniture, and their proceeds benefit AIDS research.

Since I was in San Francisco for Saint Patrick's Day (AGAIN!), I was able to witness quite a bit of craziness. I chanced upon people participating in the pub crawl known as Brides of March, though I got confused by 1) lazy-ass college students wearing a white sheet as a toga (get a real wedding dress!) and 2) your garden-variety "Adam and Eve" protesters (see blurred sign in background). I had no idea what was going on at the time. Anyway, it reminded me of the movie The Bachelor, which incidentally was also filmed in San Francisco.

Online travel guides can also be a big help. This year I was able to start riding the bus, MUNI and bart systems (I should've last year, but that's what happens when you travel with family, sigh). A few blocks from the 24th Street and Mission bart station, you'll see an alley full of murals: some uplifting, some thought-provoking (some frightening).

I also got a better taste of the culture. As I really needed a drink, I stopped by Cafe Flore, also in the Castro district. I can't comment on the food as I didn't have any, but it is one of those very charming places where you can hang out alone (free Wi-Fi, w00t) or with friends. I really love this picture I took-- reminds me of the calmness and warmth of the quaint cafe.

The reason why I insisted on going to San Francisco during my interview period (even with all the other plane rides I had to take) was because I wanted to finally catch Allen, one of my favorite bloggers (and people as well, heh) before he left for Vancouver. He told me that I was exactly like how he'd imagined me, so make of that what you will. Grr. Dinner with Allen and Joe was so much fun and I felt like I'd known him for ages, like a (not much, heh) older brother. Also, they were super-cool and forgave a whopper of a faux pas I committed as we said our goodbyes, which is too embarrassing to share here. (Also, I wanted to spend time with my super-cute cousins, and I did end up babysitting for quite a while, so mission accomplished!)

Neither of us were actually staying in San Francisco, so we ate at La Boheme, which Allen probably suggested as he and nearly everyone who knows me knows, I want a good dessert. We had escargot on brioche toasts, which I think Allen ate for the first time. We also had sauteed scallops, and I had the caramel ginger glazed sea bass with honey-balsamic reduction. Which was utterly de. licious. For dessert, we had a Reine des Neige (white chocolate mousse with raspberries), millefeuilles fraise, and black and white chocolate mousse cake.



This was also the trip where I FINALLY got to eat at Tartine. I actually went twice! In contrast to Cafe Flore, Tartine was frantic, but still awesome in its own way. I had the Devil's Food Cake made with Valrhona (heaven) and a brioche bread pudding. The latter wasn't really to my taste: it seemed a little wet and eggy, whereas I like my bread pudding sweet and firm. Lisa is going to attempt this, so watch out for her blog post next week (and I hope you liked it more than I did)! As it was winter, the summer pastries were unfortunately not being made, except for the odd strawberry tart. However, you could still get desserts such as banana cream pie, coconut tart, lemon meringue cake, and of course, their huge quiches and tea cakes.


If you remember last year's post, I had dismissed Miette because I thought it was too plain and ordinary, and Jen quickly set me straight, but too late. This year I did try it, and man, was I ever wrong about skipping it. The gingerbread cupcake still lingers on in my memory as one of the best I've ever tasted (especially since I later tried to get gingerbread in New York, also in a famous bakery, which sucked!). Those who follow my tweets know that I still crave it, months later. That's strong stuff. If ever a cookbook comes out, I'm going to be first in line to get one.

Before I went to Tartine, I made it a point to go to what is reputed to be San Francisco's best ice cream-- Bi-Rite Creamery. It was sinfully delicious (and all I had was BANANA!), but it's hard to declare it definitively the best, because the US has a pretty fantastic track record when it comes to ice cream production. Anyway, I had banana because we don't have that flavor here. Even though we export tons of it. Apparently, it's just too common for people to crave in an ice cream?

I also met up with one of my favorite blogger/people (and don't just throw around the word "favorite", just so you know), Marvin, who was in town on business. (Not only do us male food bloggers have to stick together, but it goes double with Marvin because he's Filipino!) We went to L'Osteria del Forno, located on San Francisco's North Beach, of course. It's among the 100 must-try restaurants in San Francisco. He had the Pizza San Francisco (ham and artichoke hearts, yum!) and I had the Gamberi Adriatic style.

After that, we talked about life and allergies over some pretty tame gelato flavors (okay, we're wimps! But I did try the cactus pear, among others. Tastes like pear) at Naia.

With my extended family, we ate at tons of places, but this particular dish at El Toro Loco, a Mexican/ Peruvian restaurant on Pacifica, stood out for me: it's mussels with a relish of sweet corn, pepper, and tomatoes. Awesome.



My aunt (cousin to you Americans) knew I loved food, so she was stressing out over what restaurant she should take me to impress. All her office mates said Burma Superstar, and they made absolutely the right choice. (You just can't go wrong with Southeast Asian food, can you? ;) We had the tea leaf salad (which you can sea being mixed above), Nan Gyi Dok, Burmese Samusas, and something that's bound to be one of my favorite dishes of all time: Fiery Chicken with Tofu. Check out that glorious, steaming pic! I want to have it right now! Drool.

After lunch, we headed to Schubert's Bakery, where the display case seemed to have warped in from the eighties, but the cakes are no less delicious. I had a princess cake (oh, shut up, I've never had one), which I thoroughly enjoyed. Each bite I took had to have a bit of whipped cream, jam, cake, and marzipan!

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this re-visitation of San Francisco as much as I have (though it has made me considerably hungrier). But it's not over yet! There's a Part 4 still to come (maybe next month)! Plus, still some New York and New Jersey!

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Mango Mille Crepe

Gâteau de Crêpes aux Mangues

Whenever I go on a shopping trip and my brother is around (especially when we were in the States), we have a gag where if the shop has unexpectedly expensive stuff, I'd reenact the taunt of the shopkeeper in "Pretty Woman." "It's very expensive." "We have nothing for you here." Of course, I don't take it as personally as Vivian did (not to mention no shopkeeper would be that rude).

I would make a terrible socialite. Not because I consider myself antisocial, but I just don't care about the trappings of status. And even worse, I don't particularly care for being part of a group that makes me jump through hoops just to feel worthy of them (employment excepted, heh). And all those secret conversations that these exclusive groups revel in... They can't be that important. Being a man has its perks here: no-one labels you a bitch/weirdo for not caring. You're just being the strong silent type. However, instead of yapping on and on about hundred-dollar handbags, you're now forced to keep up with impressive cars or something. Shrug. (Sorry, Marc.)

I'm not being a snob either by saying, "Oh, my concerns are better than yours." The important difference is that when I do my own thing, everyone else is welcome (the more, the many-er, as they say). I don't like putting others down or turning people away just to inflate my self-worth. I don't like speaking in code and I don't find anything interesting about rubbing noses with famous people (except for maybe, like, five of them, none of them Paris Hilton). And I don't necessarily want fancy things, to be in all the hot spots (and to think, when I was in medical school, this was freaking STARBUCKS, ugh), or to eat the finest dishes. Besides, when it's your hands making just honestly good dishes, you're pretty much all set.

Why did I suddenly talk about this? I've wanted to make this mille crepe since I had one at a patisserie on Manhattan's Park Avenue (not saying the name yet-- saving it for the travel story!) with Noah and Genie. Of course, since it was an immaculately white place in the middle of one of New York's swankiest neighborhoods, the clientele was appropriately hoity-toity. And of course the three of us were talking about totally inappropriate topics! I joked that they might throw us out. At least now that I can make my own, we can talk about all the silly stuff we want without fear of ejection.

Anyway, I wanted to put a Filipino spin on this French-by-way-of-Japan cake. Jen says I keep talking about our superior mangoes but never feature them, so here they are! (And right when she's on break too, oh well.) I didn't have a good estimate as to how many crepes would make how tall a cake at the time, but I managed an inch on about 7 crepes. So I advise in the recipe to double the batter.

Mango Mille Crepe
Crepes: double the recipe here.
You can leave the frilly, lacy edges of the crepes intact, but I wanted a neater finish, so I took a 6-inch cake ring and cut circles out of the crepes (and ate the scraps with condensed milk).

Pastry cream

• 250g (1 cup) whole milk


• 1/2 vanilla bean


• pinch salt


• 2 tablespoons cornstarch


• 57g (1/4 cup + 1/2 tablespoon) sugar


• 1 large egg (or 2 large egg yolks)


• 27g (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

Split the vanilla bean, scrape it, and place the pod and the caviar in a heavy saucepan with the milk and salt. Place over medium heat and bring to just under the boil, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, cornstarch, and sugar together until it forms a paste. Drizzle about a third of the milk in slowly, whisking the egg madly as you do, then pour it back into the milk. Continue whisking over medium heat until the small bubbles disappear and it is the consistency of lightly whipped cream, about a minute or so. Sieve into a clean bowl. When the cream is about 60°C (140°F), whisk in the butter bit by bit until smooth. Place a slit piece of cling film flush against the surface and cool the cream completely.

Slice 2 large mangoes into 2 cheeks each, then slice each cheek into 2-3mm (1/8-inch) thick slices.

Using the cake ring as a guide if you wish, place a round of crepe at the bottom and using a pastry brush, brush it with a thin layer of pastry cream. Repeat for the remaining crepes; I interrupted this once in the halfway through the process to add a single layer of mangoes over the pastry cream. Finish it with one last layer of pastry cream, then top with the mangoes.

As you can see, I tried to torch the top, but of course the high water content of the mangoes didn't allow me to brulée any sugar that I placed on top of it (I could have frozen it, but that would have compromised the rest of the cake). It just oozed mango juice when I did this for a prolonged period. Probably not worth it.

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Frosted Banana Cake

Before anything else, I'd like to share that Uncle Rob of The Curious Blogquat is going to give away an Espresso Maker for what he judges to be the best summer potluck recipe! Now you've got to be crazy not to want that, so go go go! I'm still deciding what I'll contribute. I want that prize so bad! Espresso makers are eeeexpensive here.
Over the weekend I'll be looking forward to more RSS-feed post accumulation as I will be heading to the beach with my buddies (friends from undergrad-- the closest friends I have). I'm trying to remember the last time I went to the beach with them, and that was when I was still in undergrad. Somehow nobody ever suggests that we go hiking in the mountains. What is it about the beach that repels me in the first place?

For one thing, there is implied shirtlessness and I have enough problems trying not to be referred as Mayor McCheesecake or Doughboy (for the record, no-one has called me that, but I err on the side of caution). There's also the hot sun, which I hate for reasons of skin health and just not the temperature extreme I prefer. There's the sea, which is mostly useless as I can't really swim (and even if I could, I probably wouldn't). Long car trips are not my cup of tea. So my tiger print speedos are collecting dust.

However, I DO love my friends and I do love hanging out with them (assuming they are still, uh, conscious after knocking back a few gallons) and it'll be a new experience being with them these days without the pressure of producing delicious food or knowing a good place to eat or shop (though writing that, I realize that I really, really love doing these things).

That's the thing I love most about blogging-- it's really opened me up to experiences. Somehow I just know that wherever I end up, nothing is ever really going to bore me. There's beauty everywhere to be captured on "film." There's a challenge in trying to cook with an absolute minimum of tools and ingredients. And of course, there's plenty of friends to catch up with. I guess I am a sunnier person than I thought I was!

For now I'll leave you with an easy but delicious recipe from the pastry chef of The French Laundry, Claire Clark, using one of my favorite tropical fruits. Unlike banana bread, the banana flavor of this is mild, so you can ease non-fans into it.

Frosted Banana Cake from Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts
The original recipe has 50g chopped pecans in the cake and 50g in the frosting (that's 1-3/4 oz for the rest of you). They're quite expensive here so I opted to leave them out, but I quite like the pristine finish of the cake.

• 180g (1 cup plus 4-1/2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour


• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder


• 180g (1 cup minus 1-1/2 tablespoons) soft dark brown sugar


• 2 medium eggs (I used large ones... meh)


• 55g (1/4 cup) vegetable oil


• 180g (6oz or about 2 small) ripe bananas (peeled weight), mashed to a pulp


• 65g (2-1/4 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature


• 190g (2 cups sifted) icing sugar


• 125g (9 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F). Grease the sides and line the bottom of an 8" round cake pan with parchment. In a large mixing bowl, beat the brown sugar, eggs, baking powder, and oil at medium speed until fluffy (about 4 minutes). Add the banana and beat for half a minute. Sift the flour over this and mix at low speed for half a minute. Pour into the pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Leave in the pan to cool completely, then turn out and place right-side up on a wire rack or serving platter.

For the frosting, beat the butter, icing sugar, vanilla, and cream cheese until well-combined. Spread over the top of the cake.

One of the fastest cakes I've ever produced! (And nearly as fast to consume...) And, by the way, love that George Harrison song :)

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