Saturday Ramblings about Friday: Trapper, Beer, Local Celebrities, Wood-Fired Pizzas and S'mores Cheesecake

It's only Day 2 of NaBloPoMo and I woke up in a slight panic. What am I going to post today? I didn't cook yesterday. I had leftover Caramel Apple Custard Tart with my coffee for breakfast, some yogurt and fruit around lunchtime, and a media dinner at ENO Artisan Pizza & Wine Bar. I will be cooking something today - not sure what yet, but we're having a girls' night and I need to figure out what to bring. Hopefully, whatever I make today will be blog-worthy tomorrow ;-)

Yesterday was an enjoyable day. I took my handsome but dirty boy to coffee, home for his breakfast, and then back to the village for a bath at Wags'N Tails. They have two tubs, an assortment of shampoos, brushes and combs, big fluffy towels, a powerful blow dryer, and treats, all for $12. I always feel a tinge of guilt leaving the walls sprayed in water and the tub lined with black fur, but it's so much easier than pulling out all the bath paraphernalia at home. Trapper doesn't love baths, but he tolerates them and is so full of himself afterward. Even though I haven't decided whether to show him, I would still like to take him to one of the Newfoundland handlers who also specializes in show grooming/trimming to see how he looks all decked out. One of these days...

A clean and cuddly Trapper

Later in the day, I learned the November/December issue of Coronado Lifestyle magazine was hot off the press. My first article for the magazine is about Coronado Brewing Company, our local brewpub, and how it has gone from local to global in the exploding craft beer industry. The article includes several photos taking during my visit to the new off-island brewhouse and tasting room, and a few food photos from a past photo shoot I did for the web site. If you're interested in reading Coronado Lifestyle magazine online, you can do so here.

Brewer Pete checking the mash

Food Network Star, cookbook author, and Coronado mom, Melissa D'Arabian, is featured on the magazine cover and I was privileged to visit Melissa at her home during Samantha's interview and take some photos for Sam's article.

Melissa D'Arabian, at home in Coronado

Last evening's media dinner at ENO was for another article I'll be writing, scheduled to be published in the next issue, about ENO'S new wood fired pizza oven and expanded menu.

As a side note, I participated in the Coronado Walk for Scott Kelby's Annual Worldwide Photo Walk last month and just so happened to walk by ENO on my way to the beach for the end of walk sunset photos. The sunset wasn't looking too dramatic, so we lingered at The Del to take photos of the pizza oven and pizzas instead. I ended up submitting this photo and it was surprisingly chosen as the winner for Coronado! I just thought the winning photo would be something more representative of Coronado (I guess it is in a way, since it's the pizza oven at the historic Hotel Del). I'm not holding my breath to be chosen as one of the finalists, but the annual walk is something I will look forward to joining again, maybe even in a different city next year.

ENO's custom wood-fired pizza oven

Getting back to last night's dinner at ENO...

I won't elaborate too much, because I still need to sit down and write the article, but our evening was extraordinary. I started off with the Pizza Partners wine flight featuring an Italian red varietal from Santa Barbara and two reds from Tuscany. Ashley Luna, 1500 Ocean and ENO Sommelier, sent out marinated olives, toasted almonds and seasonal pickled vegetables to nibble on with our wine. He chatted about the artisan Neapolitan-style pizzas on the menu and the custom pizza oven built by Wood Stone. Ashley said ENO's oven is the only outdoor pizza oven in Southern California. Obtaining the permit was no easy feat, especially since it sits in such close proximity to the 125-year-old hotel.

We met Max, the 19-year-old pizza chef, who recently graduated from culinary school. He is passionate about his job and his face lit up when he talked about being able to rotate through and gain experience with the various kitchens at The Del. As each pizza came out of the blazing 600 degree oven, Max meticulously brushed the rim of the crust with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt.

Max preparing our pizzas of the evening

Max prepared two pizzas for our dining pleasure - the Margherita and Funghi. Both are fabulous, but I think I'm partial to the Salsiccia, with fennel sausage, charred broccolini and garlic oil, and the Housemade Veal, with San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella. Yes, I've been to ENO a few times!

Pizza Margherita with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella and basil

We were completely satisfied after wine, nibbles and pizza, but Ashley insisted we sample the desserts. In addition to a chocolate "flight", ENO now offers Butterscotch Pudding, with caramel, sea salt and a shortbread cookie, and Cheesecake S'more. The Cheesecake S'more, inspired by one of the hotel's summertime activities, Family S'mores Night, has quickly become ENO'S signature dessert. Picture a generous hunk of New York-style cheesecake, topped with a thick layer of Hershey's chocolate ganache and even thicker layer of house made marshmallow, slipped into the pizza oven just long enough to melt and toast the marshmallow layer so it drapes over the sides of the cheesecake. Something like this...

Cheesecake S'more

We couldn't stop going back and forth between bites of cheesecake and butterscotch pudding. Yes, please, I'll have s'more.

Okey dokey, that's what I'll leave you with for Day #2 of NaBloPoMo. I need to figure out a dish for tonight and get my butt to the store so I have something to share tomorrow.

Enjoy your day!

Denise & Trapper

Ready for the NaBloPoMo Challenge and Kicking it Off with Salted Caramel Apple-Almond Custard Tart

National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), inspired by National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), is a commitment by participating bloggers to publish one post on their personal website or blog every day for the month of November (read more about it here). I chose to participate in the challenge sponsored by my advertising network, BlogHer, along with over 500 BlogHer bloggers. Yes, there are prizes involved, but I was more motivated by the challenge to cook, write and photograph much more than I have for the past year. My life is still somewhat up in the air, but it's beginning to move in many different directions. I'm hoping this challenge will also help me focus on the right path to take.

I do not intend on cooking and blogging about food every day. I have quite a few activities planned this month, so I'll be sharing stories and photos about those and, of course, Trapper will make appearances in several posts. 

I thought I should start with a French Fridays with Dorie recipe I missed a few Fridays ago, rather than the Hurry-Up-And-Wait Roast Chicken scheduled for today. I am SO very behind on French Fridays with Dorie! This Caramel-Almond Custard Tart sounded like a winner the week it was scheduled, but I just didn't need an entire tart hanging around the house. 

I had a good reason to make this tart yesterday because I wanted to bring something to our annual Halloween get together during treat or treating hours. Coronado is a very sought-after trick or treating community. All of the stores along Orange Avenue pass out candy to the kids in the late afternoon and then the island is swarming with kids until about 9:00 p.m. Alec & Nina hosted with a big pot of chili and homemade bread. Jim and Carmen brought over a bountiful charcuterie platter. I figured the tart would be a complementary contribution for an adult dessert. Alec shared a scrumptious bottle of Sika Cabernet Franc later in the evening.

For the tart, you begin by preparing a tender, buttery sweet tart dough, easily pulsed together in the food processor and pressed directly into a tart pan. The crust is partially baked, cooled, sprinkled with a layer of sliced, toasted almonds and filled with creamy, salted caramel custard. It's then baked, cooled to room temperature, sliced, and served with whipped cream or crème fraîche. I changed it up a bit by adding sliced apples, which I sauteed for about 5 minutes in a little butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. I also used crushed marcona almonds I had on hand.

I think this tart would be a little boring without the apples, but maybe because I'm not a huge fan of nuts in desserts. It would have been even better with whipped cream or crème fraîche, as suggested. I had a little bite last night, but really enjoyed a leftover slice with my coffee this morning.

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French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!