So many flavours! ..and they're still warm.

Visiting the Dogfish Head brewery in Milton, Delaware and their brewpub in neighboring Rehoboth Beach was an amazing experience.  We learned how their popular high ABV beers are made, saw the gigantic wooden tanks and were amazed by the winding, fast paced bottling line.  We also indulged in several samples and pints of the high ABV beer which made for an interesting evening and a hard morning.  Craving something sweet and deep fried we stumbled to The Fractured Prune, a donut shop just off the Coastal Highway.

The Prunewich: Egg, bacon, cheese on a fresh donut. It's a beautiful thing.

The Fractured Prune is a small chain of donut stores that originated in Maryland in the 1970s.  Named after Prunella Shriek, an elderly athlete who was known for her frequent injuries and called 'Fractured Prunella' by the townspeople.  The franchise has grown to 11 locations, mostly in Maryland but a few scattered in neighboring states.

Donuts at the Fractured Prune are made from a simple cake batter poured into one end of a Donut Robot moved through hot oil via conveyer belt and spit out the other end where it's hand-dipped in glazes, crumbles and chips.  A standard menu of flavours is posted and has classics like cinnamon/sugar, chocolate dip and signature flavours like strawberry shortcake (strawberry glaze, graham cracker, powdered sugar) and pebble beach (honey glaze, cinnamon sugar, chocolate chips) but you are also welcome to create your own combination.

Sold at only $.90 each the hot, crisp but soft donuts are a steal and will make you forever turn your nose up at the fresh from frozen donuts a certain Canadian hockey player named franchise offers.  Oh and did I mention you can order a donut breakfast sandwich?  Egg, bacon and cheese sandwiched between two donut halves - the perfect hangover cure indulgence.

It's so beautiful I almost don't want to eat it. ...almost.

 Wanting to recreate the fresh donut experience at The Fractured Prune I bought a gently used deep fryer from a seller on Kijiji ($20!), whipped up a bowlful of batter and glaze and spent an evening frying and dipping. 

Buttermilk Cake Donuts
(Yield: 2 dozen, depending on how you cut them)

For Donuts:

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 3 - 4 cups flour

For Chocolate Glaze

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 115g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups icing sugar

To cut your donuts use a large glass and then a smaller glass (like a shot glass) to cut the hole in the middle.

Instructions:

1. Beat eggs and white sugar together add butter, baking powder and nutmeg.
2. Mix buttermilk and baking soda; combine with eggs/sugar and mix 3-4 cups flour until it resembles a stiff cookie dough.
3. Let rest in fridge for 2-3 hours.
4. Heat deep fryer to 365°F.
5. Roll out dough on floured counter to 1/2 cm thickness, use glass or round container to create holes in dough and a smaller glass (I used a shot glass) to punch out the holes.  Set aside.
6. Combine butter, whipping cream and vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat.  When butter melts decrease heat and add chocolate.  Turn off heat when chocolate has melted, add icing sugar and whisk until smooth.
7. Place raw donuts in fryer carefully using spatula for 3 minutes, turn donuts after 1.5 minutes.
8. Remove donut from fryer using spatula, place on paper towel to cool for 2 minutes.  Dip into chocolate glaze.
9. Eat all of the donuts and feel guilty.

(Busy plating all of the components to 'Squash')

You'd think that after the first Eleven Madison Park (EMP) tribute dinner I would have learned that indulging in multi course menus on a work night turn me into a sleep deprived, brain eating zombie the next day.  I hadn't or simply didn't care and reserved a seat at the second EMP tribute, a whopping 20 courses, at Perspectives.

The first tribute, hosted by Atelier Chef Murray Wilson and Pej Vongpaisal was held just a few months ago.  Diners were treated to 16 beautifully complex courses crafted from the newly released EMP cookbook.  In attendance was Perspectives Chef de Cuisine Kyle Christofferson who was so inspired that he asked Wilson to help create a second EMP experience.  With the go ahead from Brookstreet's Executive Chef Clifford Lyness, Wilson and Christofferson enlisted the help of a team of chefs and sommeliers; notably Michael Hay of Courtyard, pastry chef Josie Weitzenbauer from Montreal and Brookstreet sommelier Rene Wallis.

(Josie Weitzenbauer and Murray Wilson)

The intricate 20 course menu, quite different from Perspectives normal routine, took over 6 hours to present to willing diners who paid $125 for a seat (an extra $75 if you chose the wine pairing).  A delayed start and long pauses in service were quickly forgiven as picture perfect plates started arriving.  I had my favourites; the decadent chicken veloute with crispy sweetbreads and the beef tenderloin, crusted in bone marrow with ox tail wrapped in swiss chard to name two.  I also had my least favourites; scallop and lobster not because of taste but due to the soft texture of the shell fish.

The food was beautiful and even though at times it felt like we were in a foodie version of a marathon.  For this kind of dinner good company is a must and thanks to Claire and Don of foodiePrints, chef Robin Bowen, Katherine and her husband Allan the fun table never stopped smiling.

I've now been to three tribute dinners (EMP 1 and Atelier's El Bulli)  and as much as I love seeing complex dishes recreated from recipes I would never attempt I think I'll skip the next one.  I want to try the food of the next greatest chef before it ends up in a cookbook and reproduced.

Below are photos I took of the meal, for a different perspective check out the photos taken by foodiePrints and Ron Eade.

Gougere

Strawberry (gelée, confit, foie gras).

Pea (lollipop with mint).

Chicken (veloute and sweetbreads, crispy skin and livers).

Prawn (roulade with avocado and yogurt).

Caviar (poached egg yolk, sea urchin and buttermilk).

Cauliflower (Spiced, roasted, sous vide with raisins and grapes)

Squash (Bisque with prawns, bacon and coco beans).

Foie Gras (torchon with wild boar, figs and juniper).

Scallop (raw with persimmons and radish).

Lobster (butter poached with carrots, vadouvan granola and citrus).

Quail (glazed with dates and endive).

Guinea Fowl (parsnips and oats).

Beef (tenderloin with oxtail, bone marrow and swiss chard).

Kir Royal (cassis sorbet, champagne foam).

Hazelnut (pistachio, chestnut, raisins and grapes).

Chocolate (dehydrated milk foam, mousse, carmalized white chocolate).

From Seed to Sausage: Red wine and garlic sausage with duckfat hollindaise and crispy onions.

What do deep fried mac 'n cheese, The Meat Cone and beer have in common with a record label?  Nothing really but I am really happy that Kelp Records, a local record label, organized The Winter Warmer and brought food and music together.  Admission to

The Chefs (restaurants)  involved: Kate Klenavic (Whalesbone), Mike McKenzie (Seed to Sausage), Jeff Stewart (Pressed), Marysol Foucault (Edgar), Kris Kshonze and Summer Baird (Hintonburg Public House), Ryan Janssens (Dish), Jarrah Thomas (Manx) and Steve Mitton (Murray Street).  Mill Street Brewery, Beau's All Natural Brewing Co., Kichesippi Beer Co., and Broadhead Brewing Company were also on hand to ensure there was plenty to drink.

From Dish: Chorizo pogo w/ bacon jam.

From Whalesbone: Deep fried mac 'n cheese w/ salt and truffle oil.

From Murray Street: Spicy mustard mayo, pickled ox tongue, ham, sausage, cheese curd and pulled pork ...in a CONE!

Beau's at Bridgehead - celebrating a coffee/beer collaboration!

On Saturday I (with many others) continued the feBREWary celebrations at the Sparks St. location of Bridgehead where Beau's All Natural Brewng Co. celebrated the release of their coffee beer collaborations with the fairly traded coffeehouse.

Winterbrewed is an amber ale that has been brewed with organic, fairly traded Guatemalan coffee.  New Zealand hops were added for a fresh citrus flavour, the result being a refreshing coffee brew with citrus and herbal notes.  Collabrrrewator on the other hand uses a dark German doppelbock brewed to 8% ABV as its base with three different coffees (Costa Rican, Equadorian and Ethiopian Sidamo) steeped in the kettle after boiling.  You are treated to heavenly aromas of toffee and chocolate along with rich coffee/chocolate flavour.  I preferred the complexity of flavours from Collabrrrewator but I think I'd enjoy a chilled Winterbrewed on a warm day instead of an iced coffee.

Both beers are limited edition releases and are available through Beau's home delivery service or at the brewery.