In the kitchen: butterscotch pot de crème.

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So let's not talk about yesterday's loss. The Ukes just couldn't get going; I knew it was going to be rough when, within the first three minutes of the game, France had two corners.

Instead, let's talk about one of my favorite desserts from one of my favorite restaurants in my absolute favorite neighborhood of Minneapolis. No hyperbole at all. We've been to Tilia quite a few times, for birthday brunches, summertime dinners, a particularly warm St. Patrick's day, and graduations. One afternoon, Andrew and I ordered their butterscotch pot de crème, created by Zoe Francois (who happens to be our go-to for all things pizza and bread). It was perfectly smooth, rich, and best yet, topped with a thin layer of crème fraîche. And then, we found that Zoe posted the recipe online.

I made these for our dinner party we had last week. Truly, this is such an easy dessert, but sounds so much fancier and more difficult than it actually is to make. I didn't grab a photo of the finished product...I actually had to run to grab the crème fraîche just a few minute before the appetizers went out. And that is reason number 23 out of 1098 of why it's best to live near two grocery stores.

Butterscotch pot de crème, via Zoe Bakes. 
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2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 C brown sugar
2 C heavy cream  
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped; or substitute 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks
Crème fraîche, for serving. 

Preheat the oven to 325.

Cook the butter and brown sugar over medium heat in a heavy saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sugar has completely melted and the mixture starts to turn brown and turn smoke slightly.

Add the cream one cup at a time, cooking the butterscotch until the seized sugar cooks down again. Add the remaining cup of cream, vanilla, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Temper the yolks with a ladle or two of the cream mixture, whisking until warm. Pour the yolks back into the cream and slowly whisk to combine. Strain out the vanilla beans.

Divide the custard into four 4-ounce ramekins. Place them in a baking dish and pour in hot water to reach half-way up the sides.* Bake for 25-40 minutes, depending on the heat of the water and your oven. Once the custards have set, remove the pan carefully, and allow the custards to cool in the water bath. Cool until they come to room temperature, then cover and chill for at least one hour (but they can easily be made a few days in advance, which makes this a perfect dessert for parties!). Before serving, top with crème fraîche.

*I find it helpful to have a kettle of hot water going before you start tempering the yolks. That way the water is hot and ready to pour for the water bath, and it's easy to do without splashing up your kitchen.

I love these for so many reasons. Zoe says you don't have to serve it with crème fraîche if the contrast of the sour and sweet isn't your thing, but for this Uki girl, who can't ever get enough sour cream, the topping is absolutely necessary. Enjoy!

MN Mondays: Marko visits.

This was a particularly fun MN Monday, as we had a MN visitor! My brother drove down for a short trip yesterday afternoon, and we thoroughly enjoyed having him stay with us, even if it was just for the day. It was great being able to drive around and show him the city; we also went out to a new place for dinner, called Stack'd, where Marky had a burger with foie gras and truffle butter! Burgers + beers + brat (brother in Ukrainian!) = excellent weekend! 

We have simply the BEST two weeks in store for us, which kicked off with Marko's visit. We were so glad to have him here yesterday and today...then my sister is coming this Friday and staying all weekend...and then three days after she drives back, we'll be heading home for Thanksgiving!!! It's quite exciting to have this much Minnesota love around and waiting for us! We are very thankful to be on this adventure here in Milwaukee, but are always so glad to be surrounded by friends and family, whether that's here or in the Cities. 

With that, I'm off to go running. That Turkey Run is coming up quick! 

Chicago Day Trip.

Happy Labor Day weekend! It's hard to believe that the unofficial end of summer is already here. We decided to take a short trip to Chicago yesterday - it's so close to Milwaukee! In order to spend as much time in Chicago as possible, we drove to Kenosha to make the 6:50 a.m. train and took that right into downtown. Metra's weekend pass is really reasonable, only $7.00 (and it only costs $2.50 per day to park in Kenosha); this is something we're definitely going to be taking advantage of!

The weather forecast was originally pretty bleak (I had been checking all week), but it turned out to be quite lovely; it sprinkled a bit when we first arrived, but otherwise it was just cloudy and breezy, so we were able to walk around without any trouble.

We went to breakfast at Xoco, one of Rick Bayless' restaurants. We've been to Frontera before, and absolutely loved it, so we were excited (and hungry, as we had been up since 4:30!) for Xoco. It was really good, but we both think it would have been better for lunch. The coffee drinks, though, were amazing. Andrew had a chocolate espresso, and I had a wonderful chocolate cafe con leche: thick, just the right amount of chocolate, and so smooth.

We walked around the city all day, visiting our favorite spots and discovering new ones. We've been to Chicago four times now since we've started dating, and it's the city where we got engaged last October. It's really a special place to us, and we're so excited about how close by it is.  

One of the reasons we love Chicago so much is the fact that there are so many incredible restaurants. On our last trip, we visited Cafe Spiaggia, Q, The Publican, and The Purple Pig, and all were amazing. We knew we only had one day for this trip, so there were certainly fewer meals to plan, but we still made sure we ate well. For lunch, we decided to try Bar Toma, Tony Mantuano's new restaurant. We had guanciale-wrapped sweetbreads with sage and shared the Calabrese pizza, topped with sausage, Calabrian chilies, and mozzarella. The crust on the pizza was the best I've ever had. You could taste the smokiness of the wood from the oven, and it was perfectly soft and crispy at the same time. Amazing. 

We also walked around the Fulton Market District, west of downtown and set in between the highways and the Chicago River. It smells like chocolate, but I'm not sure why. From the outside, it doesn't look like the posh and luxurious neighborhood that's home to some of the country's best restaurants, but famous names like The Publican, Next, Aviary, Blackbird, Avec, and others have found their place and are thriving in the warehouses and brick alleyways of Fulton. During our afternoon walk, we stopped in to Publican Quality Meats, which sells all sorts of local products, from smoked beef heart to artisanal honey (from MN!). Andrew was definitely in his happy place. 

We returned to Fulton for dinner, to a restaurant called g.e.b. The menu had smaller plates to share, which we really like because then we are able to order several dishes and and try more than one. We had calamari with green hummus, oxtail lasagna, a saffron risotto with clams, blueberry cake, and gianduja-filled beignets. Realizing we had some time before our train was to depart, we decided to try RM Champagne Salon, a new champagne lounge we had read about (and which happened to be next door to g.e.b.!). I can't wait to go back! I had a champagne cocktail and Andrew ordered a whiskey with cherry notes; it was the perfect way to end the night. 

We took the train back to Kenosha, and made it back to Shorewood by midnight. We're quite tired today, but already planning the next visit to one of our favorite cities!