Profiteroles with Caramel-Chocolate Sauce

Profiteroles > cream puffs minus the cream replaced by ice cream. This particular recipe, found in my grandma's Food&Wine magazine, was fun to prepare for friends. What made this recipe a little special is the rich caramel-chocolate sauce drizzled over the puffs topped by candied nuts.

Super easy dessert to prepare. Quick prep time. Cost is around $40 (hawaii market price) for a dozen big profiteroles (or 2 dozen mini puffs).

Makes 24 bite sized desserts | Chef Allison Levitt of La Tache, Chicago

Pastry Puff

1 C Milk

1 stick unsalted butter

1 t salt

1 1/3 C flour

5 large egg beaten with 2 T water

Candied Nuts

1 T sugar

1 T hot water

1 C (1/4 lb) unsalted pistachios, candied macadamia, almond or other nut

¼ c sugar in the raw

Caramel-Chocolate Sauce

1 C sugar

1 Cinnamon stick

1 C heavy cream

6 oz bittersweet chocolate (such as Gherardelli cooking chocolate chips)

2 pints vanilla ice cream (pre-scooped into 24 rounds and re-frozen) (Haagen Daz pistachio or peppermint bark makes for a holiday treat).

Pastry Puffs:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In medium saucepan, combine milk and better, vanilla and salt and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Add flour and using a wooden spoon, beat until a smooth doughy forms. Reduce heat to low and cook dough for 3 minutes, stirring constantly to dry it out. Remove pan from heat and beat in 5 eggs, one at a time. (will look runny but keep working the eggs in). (also, in my opinion, I would add some sugar to the puff recipe).

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or you will burn the puff bottoms). Drop 1 ½ t size mounds of batter onto the sheet, space them 2 inches apart (or make 12 big puffs on 2 baking sheets dividing the dough evenly). Brush the puffs with the beaten egg wash and bake on 2 lower oven racks for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees and bake for 20 minutes longer or until the puffs are brown and dry. Let puffs cool on the baking sheets (don’t remove too quickly or will tear the bottom off).

Candied nuts: Raise oven temperature to 325 degrees. Lightly oil a large rimmed baking sheet. In medium bowl, stir white sugar into the water until dissolved. Stir in nuts then the raw sugar. Spread the coated nuts on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until shiny. Let the candied nuts cool on baking sheet then break apart.

Caramel-Chocolate: In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cinnamon stick and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring a few times to dissolve the sugar and simmer until a deeply colored caramel forms, about 10 minutes (don’t lower heat or it won’t caramelize).

Meanwhile, in another saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove the caramel from heat. Slowly and carefully pour the hot cream, stirring constantly. The caramel will bubble up. Keep stirring until the bubbles subside. Return the pan to the heat and stir to dissolve any hardened bits of caramel. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the chocolate and let stand for a few minutes to melt. Discard the cinnamon stick and whisk the sauce until smooth.

Cut each puff in half. Fill profiteroles with ice cream and cover with puff tops. Pour the sauce over the puff and sprinkle with candied nuts. Serve immediately.

Puffs can be frozen for 1 month. Sauce can be refrigerated fro 5 days. Nuts can keep overnight in airtight container.

Departures - Foreign Film

It won the 2009 American Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of the Year, and swept the Japan Academy Awards winning a slew of 10 additional oscars.

"Departures" is a film confronting the realities and rituals of death, and thereby ultimately embracing the beauty of life itself.

The story revolves around a 36 year old man who takes on a job as an encoffener after loosing his job as a celloist in the Tokyo Symphony. The story revolves around the conflict between the art of encoffening (that of providing the family of the deceased with an opportunity to remember their beloved in a beautiful state) and its impact on his marriage, family and community.

It's unique for film producers to take on such a stark topic for a film script, but the writers, producers and directors of this film unfolded dynamics of dying with such care and beauty that one leaves the film feeling more connected to and comforted by the inevitable reality of our eventually confrontation death in our lives. It's a light and tender movie, not one of haunting sorrow and sadness.

Americans strive to keep death and aging at arms length. Our markets are plagued with anti-aging products, new medicinal practices, and efforts to extend life for as long as possible, our western mindset leaving no room for the acceptance of death as a part of the natural course of life. It is a film produced in an East Asian country, I sensed, that would best be able to offer a cultural framwork that would allow others around the world to celebrate the art of both life and death. "Departures" and its Japanese cast and crew does this well.

The music score was beautiful, and particularly commendable given that the theme song had to be written with the cello as the main and dominant instrument. The cinematography was nice, but I think I've seen better > it wasn't the memorable and striking part of the film. It's really the script and the courage to bring this subject matter to the big screen that is most impressive.

Penguini - Best Gourmet Gelato & Sorbet in Paia, Maui

Penguini is the best kept secret in Paia. I like revealing hidden finds and supporting local start ups, and mark my words...it’s just a matter of time before this place gets hoppin'.

Melissa, the chef-entrepeneur, makes fresh gelato and sorbets daily. You never know what flavor will be offered until you get there. She herself doesn't know what she will create until she wakes up in the morning, sees what fresh ingredients are around, and embarks on the process of exploring a new creative combination. Kula Strawberry and White Chocolate is her most popular sell. I enjoyed her Ruby Red Grapefruit with Mint sorbet, Goat Cheese Gelato, Coconut Kifer Lime Sorbet, Chocolate Hazelnut Rum gelato, and Green Tea gelato. As you can tell, her culinary training inspires her to work with flavor combinations, and use ingredients you'd not usually associate with frozen desserts (the goat cheese was fabulous, btw).

The texture of her gelato is smooth, creamy and rich. Her sorbets are light and filled with flavor. She uses local and natural ingredients when possible. And check out the unbeatable price: 2 scoops with your choice of flavors for only $3.00! Now that's a real treat!

Melissa McKelvy left her post as pastry chef at Wolf Gang Puck's Spago and opened up her own little joint in Paia. This sweet 30-something entrepenuerial chef kicked the fast paced beat of the glizy restaurant world to put her tastebuds to work under her own direction and whim. I was inspired by her courage to leave her post at a nationally reknown restaurant to start something small yet authentic to her soul. Her shop opened just six months before I stumbled upon it, and chatting with her was an inspirational delight.

Her shop front is a cozy little room in the back of Paia Inn. The location is pretty hidden and one would easily miss it were it not for a little "A" shaped sign perched on the sidewalk. Currently, the store is simple--it's just a wide window opening where customers order their treats (they have homemade cupcakes, petite pastries, Chai tea, and coffee too.) If you peek inside, the wall of her kitchen is painted a bright hot-peony pink, with a side door dressed in French inspired black and white toile window curtains. Her decor taste is whimsical and fun, and I can't wait until she's able to expand her business into a bigger space. For now, customers can enjoy her treates outside in the shade of a wooden bench.

See you there!

93 Hana Hwy #3 (look in the far back of the building)
808.214.4608

Hours: Tuesday – Sunday - 12:30p.m. to 8:30pm

Mahalo to Leah who dropped such a sweet line of encouragement and appreciation:

"I've just returned to my home in Melbourne, Australia, after spending three weeks in Hawaii (two on Oahu, one on the Big Island). Just wanted to thank you for your blog! After stumbling across it during my trip research, i loved it so much that i printed out some of your tips and traveled with them.. especially your food tips ;) Wouldn't have known about half of the local treats and where to get them without your posts!Absolutely loved both islands, and can't wait to return at some stage. Thanks again!"

Thanks for dropping a line, Leah.