Tiffany Tastes

Gone for a while...

I really meant to post again this week, but I ran out of time.  I'll be out of town until November 3rd for job training, so I won't be updating :(  But, I promise to bring you a bunch of new material when I return. 

Until next time...

My First Product Review

I know that I have been slacking the past week, and I have done a disservice to my loyal followers (however many of you there may be.) I hope to make it up to you by posting my very first product(s) review.

As I walked through the grocery store a little while back, something caught my eye; Häagen-Dazs had released a special line of ice creams called Häagen-Dazs Reserve. This limited edition set of flavors includes Amazon Valley Chocolate, Brazilian Açai Berry Sorbet, Fleur de Sel Caramel, Hawaiian Lehua Honey & Sweet Cream, Pomegranate Chip, and Toasted Coconut Sesame Brittle. The ice creams in this series are supposed to contain rare and unique ingredients, therefore explaining their limited availability and slightly elevated price tag. At my local store, a pint of traditonal Häagen-Dazs ice cream costs $3.69 with the Reserve varieties coming in at a hefty $4.07.

I decided to sacrifice myself and choose two flavors to review, Fleur de Sel Caramel and Hawaiian Lehua Honey and Sweet Cream.  The Fleur de Sel Caramel was a great combination of textures; the base was a rich caramel flavored ice cream with caramel swirls and chocolate-covered Fleur de Sel caramels.  I really love salted caramels, and this ice cream is a perfect embodiment of the delicious contrast between salty and sweet. Fleur de Sel (which is literally translated as Flower of the Salt) only comes from Brittany, France. It is a delicate counterpoint to the rich and decadent caramel.  The end result is luscious, sinful, and quite possibly the best ice cream I have ever eaten.  It is worthy of my first 4 smiley review.

Häagen-Dazs Fleur de Sel Caramel Ice Cream :) :) :) :) out of :) :) :) :)

The Hawaiian Lehua Honey and Sweet Cream is a much more delicate ice cream that starts with sweet cream base that is swirled with rich Lehua honey.  This honey is gathered from the Lehua flowers on the Ohia tree in Mauna Loa. I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle flavor and textural contrast between the ice cream and the abundant pockets of the Lehua honey, which is delicate with definite floral notes.  The overall ice cream is light, sweet, and would be a great addition to a bowl of fresh berries. 

Häagen-Dazs Hawaiian Lehua Honey and Sweet Cream :) :) 1/2  out of :) :) :) :)

Final Impressions: I probably made a mistake in trying the caramel ice cream first. The honey ice cream was behind from the start.  Don’t get me wrong, the Hawaiian Lehua Honey and Sweet Cream ice cream is perfectly tasty, but if you want a frozen treat with a little pizzazz, then Fleur de Sel Caramel is the way to go.

Manna From Heaven

Not too long ago, the hubby and I traveled to Nashville on a beautiful Sunday morning to pick up my car (which I had wrecked a few weeks earlier while driving on I-40 in a tornado).  Once I reclaimed my vehicle, we decided to stop and eat at Tin Angel, a local Nashville eatery and popular brunch destination, before heading back to Memphis We arrived at about 1:00 in the afternoon, and while it was packed with the after-church crowd, it didn't take long before we were seated.

We both began our meal with an appetizer. I chose the sweet potato biscuits, and the hubby settled on smoked salmon angel wings.  The biscuits were delicious, sliced and filled with sweet potato puree and served with sorghum, peach preserves, and whipped butter.  The biscuits had a nice, fluffy texture and the overall package was sweet, but not too sweet.  We definitely had to consume them with a knife-and-fork approach.  The Angel Wings, a signature dish, were actually smoked salmon quesadillas with cream cheese and scallions and served with grapes on the side. Tom thought they were tasty, but nothing really specially. However, he did say that it would have made a tasty light lunch with the addition of a side salad.

For my entrée, I chose the banana bruleé French toast, and yes it was as good as it sounds.  I love the fact that it was made with wheat bread (which is the only kind of bread we eat at home). It was stuffed with a lemon ricotta filling and topped with slices of banana that had been sprinkled with sugar and torched (hence, the bruleé effect).There was an appealing textural contrast between the soft French toast and the crunchy bruleé topping on the bananas.  It sweet and rich, almost like dessert. My meal was served with a side of house-made sausage patties, which were extremely tasty and had just the right amount of kick.  The sausage offered a much needed savory counterpoint to the almost too sweet French toast.  Tom ordered the San Francisco Joe for his entrée, which consisted of eggs scrambled with filet mignon, caramelized onions, spinach and cheese and served over hash brown potatoes.  He felt that the dish was very filling, and that everything was well-seasoned. The hubby doesn't usually eat a lot of steak, but he was very satisfied this time.  His only complaint was that his eggs were a bit runny.  He was also very happy that I let him finish off my sausage :)

Final Impressions: Tin Angel is a great choice for Sunday brunch, but beware; parking is absolutely terrible. The restaurant has a miniscule parking lot behind the building, and most of the patrons had to park along the street up a very steep hill.  Be sure to take advantage of their valet parking service.   The restaurant itself has a very cool bar area, so it seems like it would be a good place to grab a drink with friends after work, but it's also nice enough that you should feel comfortable bringing a date for a romantic evening out. 

Tiffany's Favorite Part: House-made sausages
Tom's Favorite Part: House-made sausages

Tiffany's Rating: :) :) :) 1/2 out of :) :) :) :)

Tin Angel: An American Bistro
3201 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 298-3444

Average Appetizer Price: (Brunch) $3-$6 (Lunch and Midday) $4-$9 (Dinner) $5-$10
Average Salad Price: (Lunch, Midday, and Dinner) $10-$14
Average Entrée Price: (Brunch) $8-$15 (Lunch) $9-$14 (Midday) $8-$13 (Dinner) $13-$21

Operating Hours
Lunch: Monday-Friday 11:00am-2:30pm
Midday: Monday-Friday 2:30pm-5:00pm
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 5:00pm-10:00pm
Brunch: Sunday 11:00am-3:00pm

Free Publicity

Big thanks to my friend, D. Kareem, for including a link to Tiffany Tastes on his blog, Blackout Blog.  I've also added a link to Kareem's page in My Favorite Links List.

The Great Cookie Throwdown

You may believe that all chocolate chip cookies are created equal...and you would be wrong.  A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie urban legend.  At the bottom of the post I stated that it would be interesting to see which cookie was better, the actual Neiman Marcus cookie or the Urban Legend cookie.  In order to find out, I decided to do a little experiment.

I made two separate batches of cookies, utilizing each recipe.  There were a few of key differences. 

1. The Urban Legend cookie uses oatmeal and two kinds of chocolate (milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate)
2. Instant espresso powder is included in the Neiman Marcus cookies
3. Each recipe has a different cooking time and temperature.  The Urban Legend cookies bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees and the Neiman Marcus cookies bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.
4. The Urban Legend cookies are molded cookies (The dough is a bit stiffer and rolled into balls), and the Neiman Marcus cookies are drop cookies (The dough is softer and "dropped" by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet)

I followed each recipe exactly, and I tried to create a controlled environment by using the same brands of flour, eggs, sugar, etc for each set.  I also baked all of my cookies on room temperature Calphalon Select cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. 

Urban Legend Cookies

The Urban Legend cookies were flatter and more golden.  The oatmeal made for a very chewy texture.

Neiman Marcus Cookies

The Neiman Marcus cookies were a little puffier and softer in the middle (probably due to the longer cooking time and lower cooking temperature)

Tom L. and I ate one of each cookie (Okay, we ate many more than that, but we had an official comparison ceremony where we only ate one of each :P) at room temperature.  Tom L. said both cookies stood up well when dipped in milk.  He felt the Urban Legend cookie was all about the chocolate and the Neiman Marcus version focused more on the cookie dough itself.  While he thought both cookies were very good, Tom L. didn't care for the "chewy bits" that the Urban Legend cookie left in his mouth from the oatmeal.  Therefore, he preferred the Neiman Marcus cookie.

I thought both cookies were quite tasty.  Being a chocolate lover, I really appreciated having two different kinds of chocolate in the Urban Legend cookie.  However, I felt the Neiman Marcus cookie had a deeper, richer flavor (probably from the addition of espresso powder), so I gave my vote to the Neiman Marcus cookie.

In order to ensure that the experiment was as fair as possible, we decided to do a blind taste test for Tom L's coworkers.  I sent him to work with two disposable containers of cookies each with an index card attached to the lid. One pan held the Urban Legend cookies and the other contained the Neiman Marcus cookies.  I included instructions for his coworkers to try each cookie and place a check mark on the lid of the cookie they liked better.  After two days, Tom L. returned home with the results: It was a tie.  Each cookie garnered 8 votes from Tom's place of business. I didn't want to include my or Tom L's opinion in the final vote, because our taste test wasn't blind.   In order to break the tie, I took some cookies to our neighbor, whose household results finally gave us a winner; two votes for the Neiman Marcus cookie and one vote for the Urban Legend cookie.  So with a final score of 10-9, the Neiman Marcus is the winner of The Great Cookie Throwdown.