Hot Dish Review

Few things are better than fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, especially on a chilly night. Served with an ice cold glass of milk, they are the antidote to the winter blues as well as that tiny bikini you think you’ll be wearing in a few short months!

Since I was a kid, my favorite has been the tube of dough, usually Pillsbury. Sure, I know it’s pedestrian. I can’t have Babette’s dried cherry tart with creme fraiche all the time!

The dough used to be dense enough to slice, then cut into quarters but they’ve changed the consistency so now it is best handled with a spoon (which often ends up in my mouth rather than on the cookie sheet!)

These days one can find all natural cookie dough at Whole Foods. And there are gluten-free mixes too (I think SAVI Urban Market might have some). Pillsbury and Tollhouse both make chocolate chunk, flavors with nuts, and ready-to-bake varieties but why mess with a good thing? I like the old-fashioned roll of dough. Baked until chewy and just starting to brown.

It’s cold outside so just snuggle up with a dozen warm chocolate chip cookies….f*ck the bikini, you can join a gym tomorrow.

This is my favorite dessert of all time! Marla, chef and owner of Babette’s Cafe, is a food genius. The restaurant is among my top ten and the dried cherry tart ranks as the best dessert in Atlanta. Offered only in the Fall and Winter, I just can’t go to the restaurant when the tart is not on the menu.

I don’t know why I never did it before, but this year I order a whole tart for Christmas to take home to my family. The shelf life of the tart is several days so we split the leftover….no worries, I can polish it off! It combines tart, chewy dried cherries in a crisp almond pie crust.

Me and my Mom made homemade whipped cream (not so sweet, Deutschland style!) and I requested vanilla bean ice cream (Haagen Dazs Five,check out The Blissful Gluttons post) to top the tart slices. After Christmas Eve dinner at Red Lobster, we counteracted the white trash meal (I mean this in the best possible way) with the quintessential rich French/Southern tart.

Each tart is eight servings, however, we made it into 12. Damn, it’s good! The texture is amazing, the crisp nutty crust the perfect compliment to the sweet yet tart chewy dried cherries. I can’t believe I forgot to take a photo of the whole tart, but at least you can see half of it!

Coming from a chick that hates pie, this is not pie. You must try this!