L'heure bleue

The Portland food scene has been abuzz with gossip lately, mostly notably because head pastry chef at Bluehour, Alissa Rozos, is jumping ship to sign on with the folks at St. Jack. Luckily for me, my boss is good friends with said pastry chef, and he managed to orchestrate a field-trip of sorts for fifteen of us undergrads to Rozos' last official event at Bluehour--a private, three-course meal, topped off with our own personal pastry lesson from Rozos herself.

I remember stumbling across Bluehour for the first time about a year ago as I was en route to Cargo, a veritable warehouse of handcrafted goods from jewelry to furniture to glass. I stopped and stared through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows of this restaurant nestled right in the heart of Portland's Pearl District and scanned the menu with a sigh, knowing that the contents of my belly would remain as empty as those of my wallet. Bluehour became just another one of those many Portland restaurants whose menus I read longingly on the late nights when I want to find some dreamy refuge from my studies, immersed in fantasies of black truffle gnocchi and chanterelle flan.

Imagine my delight, then, upon being ushered through a non-descript door in the back of the restaurant and up a hidden staircase to Bluehour's private dining room, its walls lined with tall mirrors and old wine bottles. Our group settled in at a long banquet table, each of us brimming with excitement for the rare treat to eat at one of Portland's most celebrated restaurants. I waited eagerly, sipping on my coffee and talking with my classmates about our Thanksgiving plans.

The first course was a thick, nutty parmesan soup that I licked greedily off the back of my spoon. A crusty wedge of dark wheat bread came in handy to soak up the last slurps of cream from the bottom of my bowl--the perfect teaser for what was to come.

Nestled underneath a perfectly poached egg was a bed of crispy fried gnocchi, roasted Brussels sprouts, woodsy fried chanterelle mushrooms, and a tangy salad of daikon radish and haricots verts. There were almost tears, people. The chanterelles melted almost immediately upon hitting my tongue--soft, buttery, and sigh-inducingly rich. The acid from the lemon juice lightly dressing the radishes and haricots verts cut right through the fatty, delectable egg yolk oozing onto the plate, and made what could have otherwise been too heavy of a dish into a complex, utterly satisfying meal. Biting into the gnocchi through their crispy thin crusts contrasted wonderfully with the smooth and delicate burst of potato inside. After that dish, I almost slipped into a food-induced reverie so enchanted I could have easily forgotten about what we had been waiting for all along--Alissa Rozos and her dessert magic.

Wide-eyed and inquisitive, we all watched as Alissa seamlessly worked together the base of her chocolate earl grey tart--a dense, crumbly pâte sucrée. After she pressed her dough into tiny tart rounds, she whisked together even more chocolate with heavy cream, crème fraîche, an egg, and bergamot-infused warm milk, pouring it generously into another set of pre-baked crusts. Served along with a sweet and fluffy ice cream flecked throughout with vanilla bean, this bright, citrusy chocolate wonder made the perfect capstone to a deeply appreciated meal.

CHOCOLATE EARL GREY TART

Courtesy of Alissa Rozos

For the chocolate pâte sucrée:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder (Dutch process, if you can)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz. unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp ice water

For the earl grey custard:

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup whole milk

1 bag earl grey tea

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup crème fraîche

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Mix flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add egg yolks and ice water to dry ingredients. Add cold butter and mix until batter resembles a coarse meal.

2. Pour mixture onto a clean surface and knead together. Roll out dough, occasionally pressing it together with your hands as it will begin to crumble. Lift the dough off your work surface and lightly dust it with flour to prevent sticking. 

3. Roll the dough out to an eighth of an inch in thickness, making sure it is as even as possible. Cut the dough into circle 4" in diameter, then gently press the rounds into 3" tart shells. Chill the dough for at least an hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. After the dough has chilled, bake the shells on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 5-10 minutes until the dough is slightly dry and firm.

5. Meanwhile, bring milk to a low boil and add the tea bag. Turn the heat off and let the tea steep for 5-10 minutes, then discard the bag.

6. Melt the chocolate over a double-boiler. Add the milk to the melted chocolate and whisk to combine. Add the crème fraîche, egg yolk, and heavy cream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix thoroughly.

7. Pour the custard mixture into the tart rounds, nearly filling each one. Bake for 5-8 minutes at 325ºF. Remove from tart shells and serve with vanilla bean ice cream.