Everyday Treats

Roasted asparagus with proscuitto & Sauce Gribiche

In the past few months family obligations, happy and sad, have taken priority over cooking and writing about food. Most of our meals of late consist of a roasted veg, grilled meat, and bread. (Happily, the Manresa Bread project is now a resident of our Sunday farmers market, so the bread is really great bread.) Friday nights are reserved for our ongoing exploration of frozen store-bought appetizers- more about at some future date.
I have found that spending a little time throwing together something extra adds tremendously to the quality of our meals. Here are some of the ideas that I've been doing recently, and me being me, two of them are desserts, naturellement!
Zuni Cafe Cookbook "Four-Minute" Egg Gribiche
This tangy sauce gives any vegetable a soupcon of interest. Even the redoubtable Dr. Hal, who professes to dislike mayonnaise-y mixes, gives it a thumbs up. For some bizarre reason, I find it quite fun to crack open a coddled egg, and also like the fact that as long as you maintain the basics of this sauce (egg, mustard, and olive oil) it lends itself to whatever flavorings you might have in the cupboard.
Makes about 1 3/4 cups

1 large egg
Salt
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups olive oil
1 Tb. chopped shallot, scallion, or mild onion
1 Tb. chopped fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, tarragon, etc)
1 Tb. capers, rinsed & dried between towels, then slightly chopped
2 tsp. sherry or red wine vinegar
Pepper

Place the egg in a small pot of barely simmering water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Drain and cool the egg in a bowl of ice water.

When the egg is cool (I let it cool while I chop the onions, herbs, etc.), crack it and scoop into a small bowl. Stir in a pinch of salt and the mustard. Mash the egg and mustard together with a whisk, and then begin whisking in the oil, a few drops at first, and then gradually increasing the flow to a small stream, whisking continually. Stop adding oil when the sauce is satiny and has lots of body, like a hot fudge sauce. Stir in the onion, herbs, and capers. Add the vinegar and salt (won't need much if you use the capers) and pepper to taste.

Right now we are eating this sauce with fresh asparagus, but it is also extremely attractive stirred into some steamed new potatoes, for a quick potato salad. I really can't think of a vegetable that would not be brightened by a touch of Egg Gribiche!

No matter how hasty the meal, dessert always perks things up. here are two that are easy to keep around, in freezer and cookie jar.

Don't hesitate! This sorbet melts in a flash, in or out of the mouth.

David Lebovitz's Chocolate Sorbet (from The Perfect Scoop via Epicurious)
This recipe yields the most satisfying small scale dessert ever. Hugely popular with chocolate mavens throughout the blogosphere and beyond. Just be sure to remember to freeze the bowl of your ice cream maker in advance, don't skip the step where you blend (I was lazy and omitted it the 1st time and the results were grainy), and make sure that the chocolate mixture is really cold before you start to churn it. And, of course, remember the usual admonition to use best quality chocolate. I promise, the results will be ambroisial.

Makes 1 quart (1 liter)

2 1/4 cups (555 ml) water
1 cup (200 g) sugar
3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large saucepan, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk, for 45 seconds.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it's melted, then stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup (180 ml) water. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 15 seconds. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If the mixture has become too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.

April Bloomfield's Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from A Girl and Her Pig by April Bloomfield.
April Bloomfield holds almost legendary status on the East coast for her innovative snout to tail British cooking at her restaurants, the Breslin and the Spotted Pig. She recently has attained a higher West coast profile since collaborating on the reopening of a legendary San Francisco North Beach cafe, Tosca.
I was interested in taking a look at her cookbook after reading an amusing home cook's review of it by one of my heart-throbs, actor Stanley Tucci, and was puzzled by the fact that few libraries in my area owned it. Turns out it seems that the anti-animal butchering contingent were offended by the cover photo of April carrying a (dead? sleeping?) pig on her shoulders, and negatively reviewed it. I guess I ignored the cover, but went straight for these moist and tender oatmeal cookies.

This dough needs a little head start- soak your raisins the night before and it's best to let the dough chill for a few hours before baking. I make a double recipe because they keep well in or out of the freezer.
Makes about twenty two inch cookies

3/4 cup mixed raisins (golden raisins, Thompson seedless, currants- can use any combination but cookies are nicer with a variety)
10 Tb. butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
large pinch of salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds or pecans)

Soak the raisins in water for about 4 hours or overnight. Drain well and pat dry on a dishtowel before adding them to the cookie dough.

Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a small bowl and stir together with a fork. Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, along with the vanilla, beating about 30 seconds between each addition. Add the flour mixture on low speed, mixing just until the flour is incorporated. Stir in the oats, raisins, and nuts by hand.

Chill the dough for at least 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Form the dough into 1 1/2" diameter balls and line them up about 3" apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minues. Rotate the pan and bake the cookies for another 5-10 minutes, until they are just firm. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet (they will continue baking a bit), then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

The Picky Eater's Awards for Best Dessert, 2014

The awards season is rolling around, and we here at The Picky Eater decided to throw our winners for best desserts of 2013 into the ring. Trust me, you will be green as creme de menthe with envy when you peruse the delicious sweets that we enjoyed whether out on the town(s) or made at home this year.

Best New Cookie
Commercial: "Corn Cookies" from Momofuko Milk Bar in New York City
We haven't tried to recreate them at home, but you can find a version of the recipe at The Kitchn

Homemade: 
"Chewy Expresso Cookies"
(Broadly adapted from Smitten Kitchen's "Crispy, Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe)
This cookie dough must be refrigerated for at least 4 hours before baking to prevent spreading. Also under bake the cookies to maintain their chewiness- they will finish baking on their cookie sheets as they cool.

Chewy Expresso Cookies
Makes about 32 cookies.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2  cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tb finely ground (to a powder) coffee beans - preferably decaf beans. If you have ground coffee, pulverize it in a blender or food processor.
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 TB vanilla extract
1 cup nuts, toasted & chopped (Heat on a cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven for 5-7 minutes, until they just start to taste toasty.)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Melt the butter on the stove or in the microwave and set aside to cool slightly. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, and ground coffee.

Using a stand mixer, beat together the melted butter and both sugars on medium speed for two minutes.

Whisk together the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla in a measuring cup with a spout. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the egg mixture and beat until it is thoroughly combined.

Remove the mixer bowl from the machine and hand stir in the flour with a wooden spoon, in three portions. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and place the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out walnut size balls of dough and place them about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Bake about 12-15 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets from the top to bottom racks and front to back. The cookies should still be slightly squishy in the middle when you remove them from the oven.

Allow them to cool about 5 minutes on the cookie sheets and then transfer them with a spatula to a cooling rack.

Best New Cake 
Homemade:
"Eggnog Pound Cake with Crystal Rum Glaze"
from Baking for All Occasions by dessert maven Flo Braker
Be still my heart- this is the most scrumptious new cake to grace my oven in recent memory- moist, without being heavy and hits just the right note of sweetness. We had the luxury of substituting an old E&J Gallo brandy for the rum, which may have accounted for this cake's extra smooth deliciousness. The lesson there- use a quality liqueur for best results, and spring for a nutmeg grater and fresh nutmegs! You can make your own non-alcoholic eggnog out of season (recipe below, adapted from Dumbies.com)

Eggnog Pound Cake with Crystal Rum Glaze
Makes a 10" bundt cake- about 16-20 servings
(have all the ingredients at room temperature)
1/2 cup dried currants
2 Tb dark rum, brandy or water
3 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature (plus more for buttering the pan)
2 cups white sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten (Don't ask me why, but if a baker asks you to beat something, I listen.)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup store-bought refrigerated (not canned) eggnog

Crystal (Rum) Glaze
3/4 cup white sugar
2 Tb rum (or freshly squeezed orange juice for a non-alcoholic version)
2 Tb water

Prior to starting the cake, combine the currants and liqueur or water in a small bowl and set aside for 15 minutes. Place your rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees (325 degrees if your pan has a dark finish). Thickly butter and flour a 10"bundt or springform tube pan.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a medium size bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light colored and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stop several times during beating to scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on medium low, and the eggs a tablespoon or two at a time, continuing to stop and scrape down the bowl, until all the egg is incorporated. Briefly mix in the vanilla.

Remove the mixer bowl and hand stir in the flour mixture, alternating with the eggnog- 3 additions of flour & 2 of eggnog, making sure that each addition is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next. Gently fold in the prepared currants and soaking liquid.

Use a rubber spatula to spoon and evenly spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until the top springs back when lightly touched and the sides are starting to come away from the pan, about 45-60 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes while you make the glaze . Stir the sugar and liquids together in a small bowl with a rubber spatula until just blended.

Turn the cake out onto a rack and leave the decorative side up. Place the rack over a large plate or tray to catch the excess glaze. Use a pastry brush to generously coat the top and sides of the warm cake with all of the glaze. Let it cool completely before serving. To transfer the cake to a serving plate, use a large offset spatula to loosen the cake from the rack and slide it onto the plate.

Kid-Friendly Eggnog
Yield: about 2 cups (2 servings)

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
f1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Beat or blend together in a blender the milk, cream, sugar, and eggs until smoothly mixed. Add the vanilla and nutmeg.
This eggnog is uncooked, which works just fine for baking in a cake. If you decide to make a recipe to consume, drink it asap or cook the milk, egg & sugar mixture on low heat, whisking constantly, until it just thickens. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and nutmeg and chill before drinking, adding a jigger of rum, whiskey, or brandy for the adults in the audience.

Best Cold Dessert
Restaurant: "Geranium Ice Cream with White Chocolate Mousse and Huckleberries" (Sons & Daughters, San Francisco)

Homemade:
The Picky Eater's adaptation of David Lebovitz's "Salted Caramel Ice Cream" She makes hers with a "wet" caramel, no praline, and less sugar and salt.
Picky Eater Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Makes about 3 cups

2 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (60 gr) unsalted butter
1 tsp Fleur du Sel
6 large egg yolks
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract


Make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they’re floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quarts) over the ice, pour 1 cup of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.

Spread the cup of sugar in a small, heavy saucepan in an even layer. Add 1/2 cup of milk and gently stir together as briefly as possible. Cook over moderate heat, without stirring, until the mixture is caramelized. Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until the butter is melted. The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in 1 cup of the milk.

Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 F (71-77 C).

Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.

Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Best Chocolate Confection
Commercial: Dude, Sweet's FDA Chocolate Salami - whole meedjoul dates and dried figs ground and added to California marzipan with Valrohna cocoa nibs and 72% South American rolled in powdered sugar - a vegan delight!

Homemade:
"Pistachio, Almond, Dried Cherry and Cranberry Bark" from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz.
We made a good thing even better by doubling the amounts of fruits and nuts and adding dried cranberries to the mix. This chocolate bark is a cinch to make, and also vegan to boot.

Pistachio, Almond, Dried Cherry and Cranberry Bark
Makes about 1 1/2 pounds

1 1/4 pounds (20 oz) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup almonds, toasted (see the toasting instructions in the Chewy Expresso Cookie recipe, above)
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Flaky sea salt (optional, but recommended)

Stretch a sheet of plastic wrap tautly across a flat cookie sheet.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water until it is almost melted. Remove the top double boiler pan from over the hot water and stir the chocolate until it is completely melted. Mix in the nuts and dried fruits.

Scrape the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet and use a spatula to spread it out, trying to evenly distribute the fruits and nuts. Flick bits of salt across the top of the bark. Refrigerate the cookie sheet until the chocolate is solid. When the bark is firm, break it into rough pieces. Store in the refrigerator for from one to two weeks.

Best Jam or Jelly
Commercial: "Blood Orange Marmalade" from June Taylor
Homemade: Robert Sabbatini & Bonnie Loyd's "Pear Vanilla Jam."
Smooth and succulent on the palate; essence of vanilla predominates at the start, but there are strong notes of pear in the finish.

Best Plating
Restaurant: Tie between
"The Fire Split" (Fire Food & Drink, Cleveland) - a fudge brownie, salted caramel ice cream and brûléed banana

and "variations of dark chocolate and pumpkin" (SPQR, San Francisco) - Pumpkin cake, chocolate sauce, pumpkin gelato, and pumpkin mousse enrobed in chocolate ganache.

Couldn't resist- took a bite before the photo was shot!

Maida Heatter Lifetime Achievement Award
Since the 1970's Maida Heatter, a.k.a. "the Queen of Desserts," has been making the world a sweeter and more chocolaty place. She is the author of nine classic dessert cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts.  Ms. Heatter is a member of the James Beard Foundation Hall of Fame, has been named to Cook's Magazine's Who's Who in Cooking, and was one of the first people inducted into the Chocolatier Hall of Fame. An octogenarian, she continues to bake joyfully from her home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Commercial: Macarons from Laduree

Homemade:
"Fudge Crackle Cookies" based on a recipe, with a few additions, from The Village Baker's Wife by Gayle Ortiz.
Often imitated but never duplicated. Our standard household cookie since 1997. I estimate that I have baked more than 2500 of these babies in my time, and, unlike many things in life, they are still as good today as they were the first time.

Here  is an ode that the Picky Eater wrote to these extraordinary cookies at age 10:
"She was a wonderful dark chocolate cookie. Many cracks mar the surface, and strewn about, half buried in the airy earth cookie itself, are boulders of chocolate and nut. I took a bite, and the delectable deep rich chocolaty flavor bordered by the sweet crunch of the sugar coating filled my taste buds with delight. I swallowed, and the chunk of cookie slid down my throat like an ecstatic kid skiing down a mountain. I couldn’t resist. I took another bite, and another and another, each better than the last. When I was done I licked the last crumbs off my lips, and ran off to play."

Fudge Crackle Cookies
Makes three dozen cookies
For proper baking this dough must chill at least 5 hours before baking.

1/2 c. butter
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate- quality chocolate only!! No Trader Joe's concoctions.
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. pecans, finely chopped
1 c. chocolate chips

Sugar for coating

Melt the chocolate and butter over simmering water. Set aside to cool. Beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth, Blend in the chocolate mixture.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Hand stir the flour into the batter until just incorporated. Add the nuts and choc. chips. Refrigerate the  dough at least 5 hours.

Preheat oven to 325°. Place coating sugar in a shallow bowl. Working with 1/3 of the dough at a time (leave remainder in refrigerator), take 1 Tb of dough, roll into a ball, and roll in sugar. Place balls 2” apart on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.

Bake 12-20 minutes, until cookies have a slight crust, but are soft to the touch. Cool on wire racks.

Eating Cleveland - Picky Eater Style

The Picky Eater had the good fortune to secure a summer internship at the flagship headquarters of Lubrizol, world renowned manufacturer of industrial lubricants and a Berkshire Hathaway company, in the Lake County (as in Lake Erie) suburbs just east of Cleveland. I really can't explain what she was doing, beyond what she seems to do best in both the kitchen and the lab- mixing unlikely ingredients together and making it work.

Despite her transport limitations (bicycle & public bus) in an auto oriented culture, she managed to hit a few of the high spots for dining during her sojourn in this rust belt metropolis, which she announced, prior to decamping there, "had a vibrant food scene."

Too much meat @ the Westside market!

Arriving with California sensibilities, the Picky Eater and her devoted mater quickly learned to follow their own instincts, rather than popular opinion, when it came to foodspotting. The highly touted historic Westside Market, overloaded with meat products, pierogies, commercially grown produce, and PEOPLE(!!) ran a distant 4th to the delights of the Saturday farmers market at Shaker Square, the University Heights Whole Foods, and her local suburban upscale grocery store, Heinen's.

Our two Saturday visits to the Farmers Market at Shaker Square were somewhat hindered by the onslaught of showers blowing off of the lake, which pretty much nixed the possibility of photos, but we loved seeing the local produce & producers. They were both somewhat different crowds from those at our local farmers market- homemade syrups, potatoes, meats, Amish and Mid-Western family farmers instead of nuts, Asian and Hispanic vegetables and ex-hippies. We loved the Mackenzie Creamery chevre-style goat cheeses, Chagrin Valley handmade soap, and the Shagbark Hickory syrup. Edible Cleveland, Northeast Ohio's edition of the locally focused food guide that has bloomed from coast to coast is a great source for farmers market locations and food purveyors in the area.

Wherever the Picky Eater ventures in the continental U.S., the local Whole Foods market is her home away from home. With limited internet access in her subterranean apartment, her regular Saturday routine was to ride her bike two miles to the eastern-most edge of Cuyahoga County, catch and transfer on two buses, and spend half the day availing herself of the free wi-fi and prepared vegetable dishes at the University Heights Whole Foods. While there are those ( like the Pater) who trash the Whole Foods concept on principle, in our travels we have been impressed by the efforts that are made to reflect local food mores, i.e. the Cleveland store is the first that I have ever seen to feature a "Smokehouse BBQ" hot foods bar and cook to order burgers and fries. (At our local Whole Foods it's burritos and udon.) I was disappointed that we left Cleveland before the launch of the cheesecake bar!

Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes @ Whole Foods!

In addition to the farmers market, Shaker Square offered two of our most promising restaurant finds in Cleveland- Sasa & Fire Food & Drink.

Sasa was a Cleveland-style Japanese izakaya with a cool dim gray-toned (my new favorite color) interior, the requisite bar, and intriguing menu listings like "Salt and Pepper Wild Norwegian Mackerel," "Kobe Beef Meatballs," "Panko Hamachi Cake," and its namesake "SASA Fire Roll (lobster, crawfish and masago salad with Chinese broccoli, topped with shrimp, spicy mayo, unagi sauce and furikake and served flambeed!)" Second of all, it included guilt-free veggie dishes for the Picky Eater like "Agadashi Tofu Salad" "Shishito Peppers Sauteed with a Szechwan Sauce," and plain old "Steamed Spinach." And, third of all, with a menu divided into small, medium & large size dishes, you are encourgaed to order as you go along, rather than drive yourself nuts (as I do) trying to figure out how much you want to eat up front. I decided to forgo any sushi (as the Picky Eater would say, "This is the Midwest, after all.") as well as their signature "Sasa Fries" (too guilt inducing), but did enjoy the aforementioned mackerel and Kobe meatballs, as well as the Creme Brulee Trio for dessert.

                           

Sasa knows the way to the Picky Eater's heart!

Sasa Restaurant
13120 Shaker Square
Cleveland, OH 44120
216.767.1111

Fire Food & Drink's stripped down rustic interior (and food) hardly hint of Cleveland, and would feel right at home in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York, especially with its locally sourced produce, meats & cheeses. The big draw are the tasty results when meats & breads are thrown against the walls of the resident clay tandoor. There is even an outdoor seating area for those precious balmy nights when the winds on Lake Erie have taken a siesta.
We had two lovely meals there, including the following-
~ Il Follo Cuvee Rustat prosecco, Italy NV - for me nothing beats starting a meal with prosecco
~ Artisanal cheese plate (Ohio Bucheron, Wisconsin Buttermilk Blue, St. Nectaire) seasonal fruits, jams, nuts and croustades - Picky Eater stole all the candied walnuts

Baba ganooj, etc. @ Fire

~ Heirloom tomatoes with baba ganooj, sweet pickled cucumbers, clay oven bread and herb salad - Picky Eater main course
~ Tandoor roasted local pork chop accompanied by roasted rittman orchards fruit, arugula, spoonbread and bacon jus - a 3" thick chop, they do meat right in the Midwest.

The Picky Eater refused to share her Fire Split!

~ The Fire Split, a fudge brownie with salted caramel ice cream and brûléed banana - the Picky Eater blew caution to the winds and indulged.
~ Popcorn ice cream sundae, popcorn ice cream with caramel sauce and candied pecans - one of their signature dishes, but eclipsed by the split.
Fire Food & Drink
13220 Shaker Square
Cleveland, OH 44120
216.921.3473

A little further afield is Taza, a reliable Picky Eater pick introduced to her by her Lubrizol mentor Mark. Located in an upscale suburban Woodmere shopping center, it offers huge portions of fresh Lebanese food. The Picky Eater stuck to her regimen with the Lebanese Salata, greens with the usual Middle eastern salad veggies, kalamata olives, and feta, all tossed in a lemon-herb dressing. I had to take half of my "Vegetarian Feast" (tabouli, hummus, baba ghanoush, and falafel) home.
Taza
28601 Chagrin Blvd
Woodmere, OH 44122
(216) 464-4000

Even further afield is the picturesque village of Chagrin Falls, sort of the Carmel of Northeast Ohio, with an impressive double-sided waterfall (the "Falls") highlighting the center of town. With several intriguing restaurants & stores, and an epic ice cream shop, Chagrin Falls makes for an inviting excursion. The Picky Eater picked up a pair of cool designer pants on sale at Juicy Lucy, and I drooled over an ersatz antique chocolate sign that was too big to transport home for the kitchen in White Magnolia, a home decor & accessories shop.
On a return solo visit while the P.E. was slaving away in the lab, I enjoyed an outstanding lunch of goat cheese dumplings with a mu shu flavored mushroom & vegetable saute and seared scallops with bok choy and black rice flavored with a sweet tamari that added notes of blackberries, ginger, and balsamic vinegar at Umami, a tiny 8 table Pan-Asian restaurant on Main Street. It was fun (on the way to the bathroom) to pass by the tiny kitchen and see the handcrafted dishes being assembled.

Umami seared scallops

Umami
42 North Main Street
Chagrin Falls, OH 44022
440.247.8600

I held back from dessert at Umami in order to treat myself to a double scoop of ice cream (Salted Caramel & Queen City Cayenne) at Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, famous from here to Pittsburgh and beyond. (A pint of Jeni's goes for $12.00 at my local Mollie Stone's Market.) And splendid it was! On my next visit to Pittsburgh when I have access to the Picky Eater's freezer, I will treat myself to a 4-pack of ice cream sandwiches, because even I can't manage four in one sitting.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream Scoop Shop
67 North Main Street
Chagrin Falls, OH 44022
440-247-2064
Other outlets in Central and Northeast Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee, & Georgia. Also available nationally packed in dry ice via FedEx delivery.

Other places we loved in Cleveland-
The Cleveland Museum of Art
A museum of the first rank with a collection built in the first half of the 20th century. A famous antiquities collection, tapestries to rival the Metropolitan (just not so many of them), early Renaissance masters, a Caravaggio, and more modern masters- Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh. A new wing has been skillfully appended to the old with an enormous glass enclosed landscaped atrium, which must be a real delight during the long Ohio winter. On the day we visited, it was set up for an after hours wedding, and was absolutely magical.

Cleveland Museum of Art
11150 East Boulevard
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Free admission; closed on Monday

Frank Gehry's Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western University
11119 Bellflower Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Amazing. One of those cases where a picture is indeed worth a thousand words! Luckily, we stayed one night at the nearby Glidden House Hotel (also recommended) and could saunter over and around this modern masterpiece at leisure.

Cleveland places that I loved whose doors the Picky Eater would never darken-

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Almost, but not quite worth a special trip to Cleveland. Especially appealing to those of us who survived the 60's. Memorabilia and artifacts, including Elvis's 1975 Lincoln Continental, pieces of Otis Redding's airplane which were recovered from the crash, Janis Joplin's psychedelic Porsche, and Jerry Garcia's custom-made guitars. Great music going 24/7. I loved watching dads sharing their favorites with their kids- clearly the kids got big doses of the music at home. (In our house when the Picky Eater was growing up, Otis Redding was known as the "Shake Guy," and she used to dance to him standing on her daddy's shoes.)

Janis Joplin by R. Crumb c. 1970

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1100 E 9th St  Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 781-7625

Slyman's Deli
Immortalized by the Bare Naked Ladies in "Slyman's Corned Beef- Rhymes with Flyman," Cleveland institution Slyman's Restaurant offers 5" thick corned beef sandwiches that defy your mouth. The only solution is to eat half the meat of half the sandwich with your fingers, chomp down the rest and take the other half home for dinner. Pungent dill pickles, hot mustard and horseradish, a non-stop auto meat slicer, and gruff but genial wait staff make Slyman's an "A"  list stop for this deli deprived Californian.
Slyman's Restaurant
3106 St Clair Ave NE  Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 621-3760
Open Mon-Fri 6 am - 2 pm; Sat 9 am - 1 pm

Internships may come and go, but we'll always remember the fun we had exploring the Cleveland food scene, just as vibrant as predicted. In honor of the Picky Eater's sojourn, I experimented with a batch of Ohio's official state candy- the Buckeye. Sort of a spherical Reese's peanut butter cup, this borrowed Smitten Kitchen recipe is a breeze until the chocolate dipping begins- definitely more of a challenge than it first appears!

Buckeyes
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes at least 3 dozen

1/4 cup (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (smooth, but you can use chunky if you are looking for more texture)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (from about 14 graham crackers)
1/4 t salt
3 cups powdered sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped

Make the filling:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat for 10 seconds. Add the salt, sugar and butter, and mix on the lowest speed until it stops floating off everywhere, then increase the speed until the ingredients are combined. Scrape down the whole bowl well, then mix again. The mixture will be quite sturdy and a little dry — perfect for shaping. Set it aside while you prepare the coating.

Make the coating:
Melt the chocolate either over a double boiler, stirring until it is completely smooth. Let it cool to tepid (about 100 degrees) while you shape the peanut butter centers.

Assemble the candies:
 Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out about one tablespoon’s worth of filling and use your hands to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared sheet and repeat the process until all of the candies have been shaped. They can sit close to each other but make sure they are not touching.

Using a fork or large skewer, dip each ball into the chocolate and roll it about so that almost the entire candy is coating, leaving a small circle uncoated. Play around with a few practice pieces; it's easiest to stick the skewer in the side, angle the bowl towards you and make sure it became submerged as you roll the candy around.

Chill the buckeyes until they are set, about 30 minutes.