Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Knowing how much I love ice cream, you can probably imagine that in my greatest dreams I would wake up and find myself behind an ice cream counter and I’d be able to sample anything and everything. Thanks to Noel at Bravo Gelato, I can that dream has become a reality! I was so excited to be given the invitation, along with some of my other foodie friends, to come learn about, sample, and even make gelato.
A division of the famous Christie Cookie company, Bravo Gelato is a small business devoted to making a delicious product. Best of all (to me, at least) they happen to be located in Nashville. While it’s not something I’m too vocal about on my blog, I am very enthusiastic about Nashville’s local food scene. I go out of my way to support local businesses over large national chains whenever I can. Twitter is a great community for other local food lovers, and that happens to be how Bravo Gelato found me, and my enthusiasm for cold, creamy desserts!
BethEats (of Eat.Drink.Smile) deciding on her next flavor.
Gelato is an Italian ice cream that is made a little bit differently. One of the great things about gelato (and I didn’t know this until my visit) is that gelato is lower in fat and calories than American ice creams. But, it manages to have an incredibly creamy, intense taste. By comparison:
Bravo Gelato, Vanilla – per 100g serving – 150 calories, 4.5g of fat
other famous ice cream shops*, Vanilla – 230-274 calories, 14-17g of fat
Hmm… I think we have a diet winner. The difference is, ice cream is primarily cream based, and gelato uses milk. How they acheive the richer, creamier taste, is they churn it in a way that incorporates MUCH less air. Ice cream is up to 80% air, and gelato is only 8-12%.
The best part about Bravo gelato? All the incredibly inventive flavors! My favorites include: Pistachio, Yazoo Stout (gelato made with LOCAL beer? Yes please!), Fireball Cinnamon Bourbon (I have a thing for bourbon, being a KY girl!), Bailey’s Irish Cream (not an alcoholic, I swear!), Espresso (my other addiction), and Salted Caramel. Also, just listen to some of the other flavors they’ve made: Dulce de Leche, Mexican Vanilla, Banana’s Foster, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Pecan Pie, Roasted Peach with Bourbon, Honey Roasted Fig, Milk and Honey Toddy, Sweet Potato Marshmallow. AND, they’ve made some savory flavors including Avocado, Goat Cheese, Tomato Basil, Peppercorn. From what I understand most of the savory flavors are varieties they’ve made for some of the 40 restaurants in Tennessee and Florida they supply.
And did I mention they also make sorbet? Flavors include Apricot Chardonnay, Watermelon, Papaya, Lychee, Green Apple, Cherry, Tequila Sunrise, Blood Orange, and the list goes on and on and on.
*I’ll pause here so you can find a towel to wipe the drool*
On the day we visted, Noel let us help him make the Strawberry Champagne (using real Italian Proscecco), and the Maple Bacon flavor. Yes. You heard right, Maple BACON Gelato. It was a maple gelato with bits of bacon that had been sprinkled with brown sugar and cooked, cooled, and mixed in. I’m am not one of those bacon-obsessed foodies, but I’m definitely not anti-bacon. After one bite, I was a believer! Even The Boy, who refused to try it liked it. (Along with the Maple Bacon and Strawberry Champagne flavors I brought home, I picked up some Yazoo Stout for him, and wouldn’t allow him any of it until he sampled the Maple Bacon flavor.)
For the Strawberry Champagne, the ingredients were so simple, and delicious. Including these amazing strawberries (by the way, I have not touched the saturation on any of these photos, everything really was that bright and colorful).
Bravo Gelato is located in the Christie Cookie store in Green Hills (in the little shopping center across from Noshville and Nero’s Grill), as well as the Green Hills Mall. If you’re a Nashvillian, what are you waiting for? Get over there today! If you’re not, look out, because they might be expanding soon! And don’t forget to follow Bravo Gelato on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
*such as the one with 2o-something scoops, or the kind where they fold your toppings in on cold marble, or the one with the German/Scandinavian sounding name
I’ll take a moment to mention, as in the past when I’ve raved about a product I love, I was not paid to write this post. I was simply invited to the tasting without even the mention of me blogging about it. I just enjoy raving over something I love and want to share it with everyone. I did get to take home a pint each of the Maple Bacon and the Strawberry Champagne, after all, I did help make it!
Monday, March 15, 2010
I rarely get the opportunity to make bar cookies. With bar cookies, you can’t as easily halve the recipe, and it’s not like cookie dough that you can just freeze and bake on-demand. You’ve gotta make the whole pan, then find people to share it with. So, when an opportunity arose with an ample amount of people, I knew just what dessert I’d make!
These are called Graham Cracker Chewy Bars, but they could also be called Pecan Chewy Bars. They are very reminiscent of a Pecan Pie. I skipped the powdered sugar dusting on top, as that tends to just make a mess! I think it wasn’t missed at all. I loved the chewy toffee flavor, and nutty pecans. These were a hit at the party!
PS. If you like these, then you’ll love the similar but still different, Browned Butter Blondies! Oh my!
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Graham Cracker Chewy Bars
Ingredients:
Crust
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
Topping
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 extra-large eggs (I actually just used 4 large eggs)
2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup pecans, chopped
Powdered sugar, if desired
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and flour until moist and well-blended. Press the mixture firmly and evenly over the bottom of a 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs to blend. Whisk in the graham cracker crumbs, vanilla, salt and baking powder until well-blended. Stir in the pecans.
Spread the mixture over the baked crust and return to the 350-degree oven until the filling is dark-golden on top and jiggles slightly when tapped, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Sprinkle a light coating of sifted powdered sugar over the pan if desired, and cut into 24 bars. The bars can be made 1 day in advance. Wrap in plastic and keep at room temperature.
(If cut into 24 squares, the nutritional info for each bar: 247 calories; 2 grams protein; 36 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber;11 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 50 mg. cholesterol; 184 mg. sodium.)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
First off, this photo isn’t for a new post, but I did update an older post. I have a lot of older recipes in my blog that I LOVE, but am not crazy about the photo. So sometimes when I make it again (and I often make things fron my blog over and over), if I remember I’ll snap a photo. So I updated the Weeknight Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps post. Go check it out!
ALSO… if you would like, become a fan of ErinsFoodFiles on Facebook! Don’t worry I won’t bombard your newsfeed with tons of postings all day. I plan on using it to share my newest posts, or any other food blog related ramblings. And I have *exclusive* feature, that you can only find as a Facebook fan. It’s called {Side Dish}. I’ll admit, often I’ll cook or bake something that tastes great, but due to lighting, or whatever issues, I’m just not crazy about the photo, so I won’t post it here if it’s not up to my lofty standards. This way I can still share it with you! I would love to use it as a way to interact with you, find out what your cooking for dinner, or what your favorite ice cream flavor is, etc, etc. So, what are you waiting for? Be a fan!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Let me introduce you to my December addiction: a Bourbon Ball Martini. Wow. Wow. Wow. I first spotted this on Kira’s blog. When the weekend rolled around I bought all the ingredients. The Boy and I were just relaxing late one night that weekend, sipping on these cocktails. Not long after, we heard a knock on our door. It was our neighbors popping up for a visit. We introduced them to the Bourbon Ball Martini, and they were equally smitten. We were all so taken with the drink, we drank them again the next night! I’ll just say, in the small span of 3 days, a bottle of Bulleit exactly like this had disappeared! Then, just a few nights later, when they left town for the holidays, I got a phone call from them asking for the recipe. (Have I ever mentioned how much I love these two?)
This cocktail is exactly the kind I like. I don’t want a drink that disguises the alcohol behind a bunch of sugary, fake fruity flavors, blended with ice. No sirree. The prominent flavor in this drink is most definitely bourbon. Maybe it’s because I’m natively a Kentuckian, or maybe it’s because my favorite tv show is Mad Men, but I’m increasingly loving bourbon and whiskey drinks. The hazelnut liqueur and creme de cacao and just the hint of sweetness. It really captures the strength and sweetness of a bourbon ball. The original recipe says to garnish with an actual bourbon ball, I just didn’t have any. Also, my martini is light in color, because the creme de cacao I bought was clear. I had the option of clear, or one with “artificial caramel coloring”. Anyways, I’m glad I finally got around to photographing it to share. Now, if only my neighbors would come back into town, so we could all partake together!
Print
Bourbon Ball Martini
Ingredients:
3 oz. bourbon whiskey
3 oz. creme de cocao
2 oz. hazelnut liqueur (like Frangelico)
Directions:
Fill a shaker with cracked ice. Combine ingredients, shaking to chill. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with two bourbon ball chocolates on a skewer.
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