Houston Pie Project - Beef Wellington at Black Labrador

The "beef Wellington" at Black Labrador is a great and affordable dish. The classic version uses filet mignon, but this version (closer to steak and mushroom pie) is probably half the price and still pretty tasty. Cubed beef was nearly fork tender with lots of mushrooms and served with a fresh horseradish and still crunchy steamed broccoli. The pastry lid was just right just like all the pub pies I've had in the U.K. The Lab should do an all mushroom vegetarian version too. I had several recommendations from friends for more classic versions of beef Wellington, including at Queen Vic, B&B Butchers, Tony's, and Maxim's. Stay tuned for those.

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Houston Pie Project - Pondicheri Bake Lab‬

The New York Times award-winning chai pie is reminiscent of Thanksgiving and cheesecake due to the chai tea spices in a milky creamy gelatin base. The Parle-G and crackine crust is crispy crunchy like French millefuille with tiny seeds and toffee flavor from the crackine. The pie is topped with fresh whipped cream and candied cashews. Highly recommended.

Parle-G is a popular Indian cookie in the style of an English digestive biscuit

Fruit galette with figs and plums. The crisp crust is pressed into poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and almond flakes, covered with a fluffy almond paste, and topped with sliced figs and plums. The idea of rolling the crust in seeds imparts the Indian sensibility that the Bake Shop is recognized for. Recommended.

A chickpea chaat provided a savory contrast to all the pies. My wife and I routinely visit the bake lab for the quinoa muffins, and the soup and 1/2 sandwich combo is always amazingly flavorful with complex combinations of Indian spices. I keep thinking about a lamb sandwich with fresh mustard I had there months ago.

quinoa muffins with pepitas and pomegranate arils

 

salmon sandwich with pea tendrils

Not your grandfather's root vegetable soup - think rasam with mustard seeds

This bar is reminiscent of a peanut butter bar but is topped with a variety of seeds and less sweetness

Houston Pie Project - Hay Merchant

Cajun meat pies are made empanada style for Chris Shepherd's Hay Merchant by chef Angela Rowley of Blackbird Foods. Knowing Angela's other meat pies, I'm sure this one is oozing with butter but doesn't taste greasy at all. Very pillowy unlike a traditional cajun meat pie. The meat filling is relatively sparse and a cilantro dipping sauce was offered, so these are clearly intended to be a shared appetizer rather than a main dish like the many savory meat pies Angela serves at the Eastside Farmer's Market. I paired these pies with Bavik Pilsner. I wanted to try them with a sour beer to counter the usual fattiness of the meat pies I had in Natchitoches, but the waiter was right that due to their lightness such a beer wouldn't be the right pairing here. ‪#‎Houston_Pie_Project‬

Hay Merchant is known for its diverse variety of beers

Houston Pie Project - Revival Market

 Revival Market has a shifted since my last visit to more of a restaurant and less of a grocery store. They still offer their house-made Worcester sauce, soy sauce, etc. The selection of pastries, fresh orange juice, and coffees not to mention the more savory breakfast options will be worth returning for.

Of course they are known for their butchery, cured meats, and charcuterie.

The chocolate cream pie by pastry chef Alyssa File is perfectly balanced. The chocolate was neither too sweet nor too bitter and much more dense than the typical chocolate cream pie, which usually has a mousse-like texture. Fresh sweetened whipped cream enrobes the entire pie, and bittersweet chocolate crumbles are scattered over the top. The pastry crust shreds rather than flakes. You need this pie. Highly recommended.

chocolate cream pie and latte

Cross-section of the pie

Houston Pie Project - Cafe Brasil

Three pastry chefs tag team baking a rotating seasonal offering of fruit pies and cakes. Today's pie was apple, but based on my experience I want to come back for the peach pie. Apparently the peach pies have been selling out regularly.

The apples were crisp tender suspended in a Mexican cinnamon streusel. I have yet to master this style of pie filling. Crust was slightly chewy. Recommended.

The cakes looked worthy also. Chocolate lavender with edible flowers, strawberry basil, and lemon blackberry.

Houston Pie Project - John and Jane Dough

John and Jane Dough (and Tejas Chocolates and BBQ) have become two of the reasons to travel to Tomball when it's not time for the German Christmas Festival or to shop for antiques. John and Jane Dough is owned by a couple formerly from Portland and you can see that Northwest sensibility in both the setting/decor inside a bungalow decorated with elementary school items and garden herbs and vegetables rather than flowers. With all Houston's sunny days unlike Portland we aren't feeling the need for carbs and breakfast all day to combat seasonal affective disorder, but rather indulging our love of those foods.

The bakery features several seasonal pies and cakes on their menu. They are quite popular, so I was lucky to have snagged the last piece of lemon icebox pie the day in early March that I and my friends made the drive. Their version was very lemony and creamy with a thick layer of vanilla whipped cream and some gray salt. Highly recommended.

Slices of cake are almost decorative items among the cake stands, antique mixers, and baking books.

 They serve breakfast and lunch. Breakfast includes an variety of biscuits, scones, and muffins. The sandwiches are made on the breads baked in house.

coffee and espresso comes from
Stumptown Roasters in Portland (one of the three best roasteries in the U.S.)

Their version of a donut muffin

Rhubarb Brown Butter Tart

With it being near the end of April and St. George's Day (April 23rd's celebration of England lesser known than St. Patrick's [Ireland], St. David's [Wales], and St. Andrew's [Scotland]) I've started eyeing the rhubarb in my freezer and wondering what to try to make with it besides my usual strawberry rhubarb pie. Seems like a lot of the classic British desserts suggested for St. George's contain rhubarb. So, over the weekend I decided to try baking a rhubarb brown butter tart.

To test the recipe I decided to try halving the recipe and baking it in one of my mini ceramic pie plates from Pottery Barn. While there is always a danger with proportions in baking, I thought the experiment worth trying. The product was edible but I definitely learned some useful lessons. For example the pie filling in this case was a custard. The custard was set by the baking process but very soft and not the chewy texture suggested by the photographs. However, the texture did firm up significantly after refrigerating overnight. I believe that the issue was that my pie plate has a lot of vertical height, in contrast to the tart pan that would probably lose much more moisture during the baking process and have a distinct texture. Next time I cut a tart recipe I will make sure to use a smaller tart pan rather than a pie plate.

I have in mind to try a few other rhubarb recipes including:

Rhubarb buckle 

Rhubarb custard tea cake 

Rustic Rhubarb Honey Almond Tart 

The Recipe:

Makes one 8-9″ tart, 8-10 servings

Almond Press-In Crust:

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on the finished tart

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ chunks

Rhubarb, Bourbon and Brown Butter Filling:

12 ounces rhubarb, trimmed, sliced on the diagonal 1/2″ thick (3 cups)

2 tablespoons organic cane sugar, plus 1/2 cup for the custard

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped

2 eggs

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey

Make the crust:

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350º.

In the bowl of a food processor, process the almonds, powdered sugar, salt and flour until the almonds are finely ground. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture just begins to clump together. Dump the crumbs into an 8 or 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Don’t bother washing the food processor bowl. Press the dough into the sides of the pan first, then the bottom, taking time to make square corners, a neat top, and an even thickness. (If the dough becomes soft or sticky, put the whole pan in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to firm it up again.) Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Freeze the crust until firm, 15 minutes, or wrap for longer storage. 

Place the tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet for easy maneuvering, and bake the unlined crust until it is pale golden, 15-20 minutes, rotating after 10 minutes for even browning.

Meanwhile, make the filling:

Toss the sliced rhubarb with 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a medium bowl and set aside to macerate while you finish baking the crust and making the custard.

Place the butter and vanilla pod and scrapings in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat, swirling occasionally. After about 5-10 minutes, the butter will foam up, turn golden and smell nutty, with brown flecks mingling with black vanilla bean seeds. At this point, remove the pan from the heat. Remove the vanilla bean (you can rinse and dry it and stick it in a jar of sugar, or use it to make vanilla extract). Pour the butter into a heatproof measuring cup to stop the cooking, and let cool 5 minutes.

In the bowl of the food processor, pulse together the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, the flour and salt to combine. Add the eggs, and process until combined. With the motor running, pour in the brown butter, including the brown flecks and vanilla seeds, then the bourbon. 

Assemble, bake, and eat the tart:

Scrape the rhubarb and any juices into the hot, par-baked tart shell in an even layer. Carefully pour the custard over the rhubarb, filling the shell to the brim.

Bake the tart until the filling is puffed and browned, 30-45 minutes, rotating the tart halfway through for even baking. Remove the pan from the oven and let the tart cool until warm. Set the tart on an inverted bowl or ramekin, and ease off the ring. Sprinkle the tart with powdered sugar, cut it into wedges, and serve warm or at room temperature.

The tart keeps well in the refrigerator for several days; re-warm slices in an oven or toaster oven for best results.