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THE MID CITY
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, n ov e m b e r 20, 2024
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Festive
Jan Risher THE DISH
These crackers are a big dill Pickle Saltines are quick, easy and addictive
Apple Cider Aperol Spritz
Ellen Daigle sent a recipe she says isn’t so much a signature dish as it is a signature snack used in wedding welcome bags or as a gift for guests to take home. She originally found the recipe for Dill Pickle Saltines on a recipe website called Fake Ginger, but Daigle doctored up the recipe and improved upon what was already a good idea. Daigle says that at her daughter’s recent wedding, the wedding planner said that the next time she has to make welcome bags for a wedding she plans to call Daigle to make the Dill Pickle Saltines. Daigle told the wedding planner that the shipping of the crackers would be prohibitive, but the planner assured her that people would be happy to pay for these crackers. I will confess that I was skeptical. I mean, I liked dill pickles in middle school, but I’ve moved on. After trying the recipe, I’m a believer.
PHOTOS BY LIZ FAUL
Friendsgiving
Put together a no-fuss meal topped off with a cocktail STAFF PHOTO BY JAN RISHER
Jan Risher baked Ellen Daigle’s Dill Pickle Saltines. The finished product is more addictive and delicious than anticipated. Recipe, 3G.
It is quick, easy and yields tiny flavor-packed crackers bursting with flavor that are completely addictive. Plus, they’re just cute. I had no idea Saltines made the mini versions until I tried this recipe. Daigle says she’s found that most people like the crackers — and I must say that, based on my experience after making them, I agree. My husband and I love them. To get the crackers out of the house so we wouldn’t eat them all, I took them with me to Mississippi to visit my uncle in the hospital.
ä See THE DISH, page 3G
BY LIZ FAUL
Contributing writer Thanksgiving has all the elements of an ideal holiday, the main event being sharing a meal with family and friends. But unless you are doing a potluck meal, cooking all day and cleaning after the meal is hard work. Not to mention, this year we will all be on one side or the other of a divisive election season. This makes planning holiday meals together all the more important. Community is built around dinner tables — one meal at a time — so let’s break bread together with easy and friendly holiday meals. To step into the holiday, it’s a fun idea to begin with a no-fuss Friendsgiving. This doesn’t have to be a multicourse meal. Keep it simple and fun. As kids, we all watched “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” by Charles Schulz. This animated holiday
Easy Cornbread
Turkey and White Bean Chili
classic demonstrates that an impromptu meal of toast, popcorn and jelly beans can provide a bonding experience for people with very different expectations.
ä See FESTIVE, page 2G
Cast-iron Kahlua Brownies offer an indulgent take on nostalgia BY GRETCHEN McKAY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)
Fig & Ash’s Cast Iron Kahlua Fudge Brownie Recipe, 3G TNS PHOTO BY GRETCHEN McKAY
PITTSBURGH — Most every restaurant worth its salt (and sugar) has a killer dessert on the menu that assures diners will leave the table on a sweet and happy note. If it’s prepared on-site, that often entails employing a professional pastry chef, which can prove expensive for places that are new and trying to keep costs down while getting established. That was Cory Hughes’ quandary when he opened Fig & Ash in Pittsburgh with his brother-in-law, Alex Feltovich, in 2020. Hughes knew he wanted an approach-
able dessert that would be easy to plate and, perhaps, lend itself to sharing. But with limited staff, he also knew he couldn’t go super fancy. What he and his culinary staff ended up deciding on after considerable deliberation was a confection that most people have loved since they were kids: an upscale version of a thick and gooey chocolate brownie. Or as he frames it, “We wanted to do something nostalgic.” Originally, Hughes thought they might be able to create the dessert using the restaurant’s wood-fired oven. When that proved unsuccessful for various reasons, they opted for the next best thing — making it “camping-style” by cooking it in individual cast-iron skillets.
While the first couple of batches were tasty enough, Hughes says the dessert didn’t prove great until he tweaked the batter with a better chocolate — he uses Callebaut dark chocolate pistoles crafted in Belgium — and added a little Kahlua, a liqueur made with rum, sugar and arabica coffee beans. “It gave it the flavor I was looking for,” he says. “What goes better after dinner than coffee?” The result is a gooey brownie with a cakey exterior that reminds Hughes of the chocolate batter he used to lick off a spoon when he was a kid. “It’s just a really feel-good dessert,” says Hughes of the lovely salty-sweet combo.