Dinner At Bergamot During Boston Restaurant Week

I don't do restaurant week. I used to. When I first moved up here, I was so excited about it. I saw it as an opportunity to try new restaurants at a fraction of the price to see if I liked them enough to go back and pay full price. I seldom wanted to return to any restaurant I visited during restaurant week, and I finally gave up on it.

But for months I have been trying to make dinner plans with one of my friends, and the night we could both get together just happened to be during Boston Restaurant Week. And the restaurant we chose to go to just happened to be participating in Boston Restaurant Week. So I found myself heading to Bergamot this past Wednesday night to check out the restaurant week offerings. And I'm happy to report that Bergamot does restaurant week just as well as it does regular service. (Bergamot was already among my favorite restaurants before this visit.)

We were warmly welcomed by the host and led to a small table near the windows. (I actually wasn't originally planning to write about this dinner, but the lighting was so good I couldn't resist taking pictures.)

Our waitress, who was incredibly friendly and easygoing, came over and helped us choose from the wine and cocktail selections, brought our drinks, and took our dinner order. When she noticed my friend opted for the meatless choices, she asked if she was a vegetarian, just to make sure they would send an amuse-bouche she could actually enjoy.

We each had a different amuse-bouche, and we both agreed that they were a nice touch but a little underwhelming.

Hers was a little beet crostini

Mine was a flatbread with prosciutto

Along with the amuse bouche, we were also served fresh bread with honey butter, which we snacked on throughout dinner.

For her first course, my friend got the goat cheese salad with shitake mushrooms, frisée, oranges, and toasted hazelnuts. She tells me it was tasty.

Goat Cheese Salad with Shiitake Mushroom, Frisée, Orange, and Toasted Hazelnuts

I went with the split pea soup with chicharron and barley salad. The soup was incredible. I've never had a pea soup with barley in it, and I enjoyed the contrast in textures between the smooth, creamy soup and the toothsome barley pearls.

Split Pea Soup with Chicharron and Barley Salad

The plaintain gnocchi my friend ordered was definitely a good choice (and the vegetarian option among the entrees). She let me try one of her gnocchi, which I made sure to use to scoop up a little avocado. The gnocchi had such an interesting texture, and the flavors in the dish really popped. We talked about how some restaurants don't put much thought into their vegetarian dishes, but Bergamot definitely does.

Plantain Gnocchi with Black Beans, Avocado, Roasted Red Pepper, and Portobello Mushroom Confit

My entree was very good as well. I ordered the duck confit with tarbais beans, garlic sausage, confit fennel, and rutabaga. The flavors melded together and the textures contrasted, making each bite interesting.

Duck Confit with Tarbais Beans, Garlic Sausage, Confit Fennel, and Rutabaga

We also shared a side of potatoes over romesco sauce because we couldn't resist after our waitress described the dish to us.

And then, shocking the waiter who came to take our dessert order, I asked if we could get all three restaurant week desserts (paying for one a la carte). I don't know why that's shocking. I like my desserts, and if a restaurant has good ones, I'll order more than one for myself. I know from previous visits that Bergamot has phenomenal desserts.

One dessert I've had there before that is very popular is called That Grapefruit Dessert, and it was an option on the restaurant week menu, so of course we had to get it. A warm madeleine cake comes topped with wedges of grapefruit and a toasted white wine sabayon. After our first bites, my friend and I agreed that grapefruit is not used often enough in desserts.

My favorite dessert of the evening was the chocolate cremeux with avocado sauce. It sounds so strange, but somehow it just worked. And I loved the garnish of tiny avocado marbles on top. That white dust you see around the plate had us puzzled for a bit. It's olive oil dust made with tapioca. It pretty much melts in your mouth.

Chocolate Crémeux with Avocado Sauce, Olive Oil Dust, and Orange Zest

The profiteroles, while tasty, were our least favorite dessert. They weren't as light as we expected, but the flavor was very interesting.

Profiteroles with Cardamom-Orange Blossom Pastry Cream and Chocolate Ganache

We ended our meal with small bites of warm, moist cinnamon chocolate cake sent out by the pastry chef.

I think restaurant week offers one very key benefit to Bergamot. Often people are too full to order dessert, but during restaurant week, it's part of the package. Everyone who comes into Bergamot for restaurant week gets to try one of Pastry Chef Stacy Mirabello's creations. And because these desserts are so inventive and flavorful, maybe when they return for their next visit, they'll remember to save room for dessert.

I'm happy to say that I had a great restaurant week experience at Bergamot. It holds fast on my list of favorite restaurants, and I love that it's just a 15-minute walk from where we live.

Have you been to Bergamot yet?

Chocolate Guinness Cake With Irish Cream Sabayon

You didn't think I'd let St. Patrick's Day go by without making some sort of dessert, did you? I didn't think so.

I was all set to make some Irish coffee cupcakes when I got an email newsletter from how2heroes featuring a video and recipe for chocolate Guinness cake with Irish cream sabayon (from Pastry Chef Clare Garland of Ashmont Grill). I made a chocolate stout cake last year, so that wasn't the part that intrigued me. It was the Irish cream sabayon. (And, you know, the fact that the dessert looks like adorable pints of Guinness.)

Sabayon is typically a mixture of egg yolks and sugar cooked over simmering water and lightened with whipped cream. This version also adds in Irish cream for flavor and a little bit of melted chocolate for color reminiscent of the foam topping a pint of Guinness.

I'd never made a sabayon before, so I watched the video to make sure I understood the process. It's not difficult at all, but I recommend watching the video before making this dessert just because it will help you be better prepared for each step.

Sometimes I think baking can seem a little intimidating because you're scrambling to add things at the right time or do certain steps in the midst of other steps. As you'll notice in the video, Clare has all of her ingredients ready ahead of time. I rewrote the steps to this recipe so that if you attempt it, you'll have all your ingredients ready ahead of time too.

Chocolate Guinness Cake With Irish Cream Sabayon (adapted from how2heroes and Clare Garland)

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, but in small pieces
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup Guinness
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray bottom of a 9-by-3-inch spring form pan with baking spray, line with a parchment circle, and spray the whole inside of the pan.

Mix cocoa and sugar together in a medium bowl.

Sift flour and baking soda together in another bowl.

Melt butter and Guinness in a large pot over medium-high heat.

Whisk in sugar and cocoa, and remove from heat.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla (you can do this while the Guinness and butter are heating up), and whisk this mixture into the cocoa and butter mixture.

Whisk in the dry ingredients.

Then pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

The cake fell a little, but luckily, it just gets cut up and pushed into glasses.

Transfer to a cooling rack, and let cool completely before removing from pan.

Sabayon

Ingredients

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate chips
2 ounces milk chocolate chips
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup Irish cream liqueur (such as Bailey's)

Preparation

In bowl of stand mixer fitted with whip attachment, lightly whip heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Store in fridge until the rest of the sabayon is prepared.

Set up an ice bath. (Fill a large bowl about halfway with ice and water.)

Melt both chocolates together in a small bowl. (Microwave about 15-20 seconds, stir, microwave another 15-20 seconds, and stir until smooth.) Set aside.

Set a pot filled with 1 inch of water on the stove, and bring to a simmer.

In a stainless steel bowl that can sit in the pot without touching the water, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Add the Irish cream liqueur and water.

Place the bowl over the simmering water, and whisk until thick and frothy.

See how it thickened up? It clings to the sides of the bowl now.

Remove from heat, and whisk in melted chocolate.

Place the bowl over the ice bath, and whisk occasionally until mixture has cooled, 2 to 3 minutes.

Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Assembly

Select the glasses you want to serve the dessert in. Find a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter that is about the same size as the opening of the glass. Cut out pieces of cake using the cutter.

Press a piece of cake into the bottom of each glass (clean the glass off), and spoon the sabayon on top.

The finished dessert will look like a pint of Guinness!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish Beef Hand Pies

Instead of making corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day this year, I decided to do something a little different: Irish beef hand pies. These diminutive pies are chock-full of meat and veggies, wrapped inside a flaky pie crust.

Some of the comments on the recipe I used suggested that the filling wasn't flavorful enough, so I did my best to "beef" it up! The filling called for ground sirloin, cabbage, potatoes, and a few seasonings. Because Jeff doesn't like cabbage, I just sauteed some for myself to eat on the side. And I put carrots and onions in the filling instead. I also added a couple extra splashes of Worcestershire sauce at the end, just to make sure there was plenty of flavor.

And while the recipe suggests using store-bought pie crusts, I made my favorite pie dough recipe instead. It's incredibly easy (and inexpensive) to make your own. In order to accommodate all of the filling, I actually should have doubled the pie dough. But I enjoyed eating the leftover filling stirred up with some leftover cabbage. The pies can be made just by cutting squares of dough, filling them, and folding them in half, but I couldn't pass up the chance to use my Williams-Sonoma Pocket Pie Mold.

I loved the way these came out and am so happy we have leftovers in the freezer. I do wish I had followed my instincts and brushed them with an egg wash before baking though, as the crust looks kind of pale. And I would love some suggestions for a good serving sauce or gravy. I would have dipped them in Ketchup, but we were all out.

Irish Beef Hand Pies (adapted from Everyday Food, March 2009)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
10 baby carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/2 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
1/4 cup diced onion
Salt and pepper
1 pound ground beef sirloin
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (plus more for splashing, if desired)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup water
2 pie crusts or flaky pie dough
Egg wash (optional)

Preparation

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots, potatoes, and onions, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until they start to brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Add the ground sirloin, and cook until no longer pink, 6 to 7 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and water.

Cover, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes to keep potatoes from sticking.

Lightly mash mixture with a fork.

Season to taste with salt and pepper (and add a couple splashes of Worcestershire sauce if desired), and let cool completely.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with foil. (You can bake both sheets of pies or transfer one sheet to the freezer.)

Lightly flour your countertop, and roll the dough out thinly. Use the pocket pie mold to cut tops and bottoms for the pies. You should be able to make 6 or 7 pies with one batch of dough (re-roll the scraps).

Place a pie bottom in the mold and fill it with filling.

Wet the edges with water, place another cutout on top, close the mold, and seal the pie. Transfer to foil-lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have used all the dough.

(If making squares, roll each pie crust to a 14-inch square, and cut each into 4 even squares. Place filling on one half, wet the edges with water, and fold the dough over. Seal and crimp with a fork.)

Cut three slits in the top of each pie for ventilation. (At this point, place any pies you're not baking in the freezer. Let them firm up for 1 hour, and then wrap them individually in foil, and place them in a freezer bag. You can bake these from frozen the same way, just bake them for 28 to 30 minutes instead.)

Brush with an egg wash if desired.

Bake pies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.

What would you serve these with?