Sunday, June 21, 2009
Every reputable restaurant prefers to possess a menu that consists of a variety of appetizing starters, a number of main dishes with perfectly complimentary sides, and several mouth-watering closures that combine to create a nearly unlimited amount of satisfying and scrumptious combinations. When you're navigating these menus, a lot of them look like a foreign language exam, especially when it comes to the dessert section. One item that seems to be a frequent occurrence on most menus is the cookie/brownie a la mode.A la mode is French for according to popular style, which incidentally translates to mean served with ice-cream. Most restaurants around Lexington have some variation of this simple combo of cookie and ice-cream on their dessert menu. T.G.I. Friday's has their Chips Ahoy Ice-cream Sundae, Rafferty's has the Brookie, and Perkins Restaurant & Bakery has the Chocolate Chipper Sundae. My personal favorite restaurant in Lexington, Saul Good, has their Half-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae, and even a local gem, Cheapside Bar and Grill, has their cookies and ice-cream item.
What is the appeal of this popular dessert dish? Maybe the reason it appears on almost every restaurant menu is because it is very easy. This dish is very easy to make, very easy to describe on a menu, and very easy to enjoy. The recipe simply includes a cookie/brownie topped with some flavor of ice-cream and other toppings. The simplicity of the base recipe makes it easier for customization in taste and presentation by the chef. For example, the Saul Good variation is a chocolate chip cookie topped with one scoop of vanilla ice-cream, chocolate syrup, and a strawberry, while the T.G.I. Friday's variation is crumbled chocolate chip cookies topped with three scoops of vanilla ice-cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, and whipped cream. They're both basically the same dish, yet they produce two different tastes.
This dish is one of my favorites mostly because it is proven. No matter what, I know that the cookie a la mode that I ordered is going to be delicious. Plus, everyone knows that you're going to sample everyone else's dessert, so why not let your friends pay for the pricey specialty dishes while you munch on just a cookie and some ice-cream.
(Examiner)
Labels: Homemade Ice Cream, Ice Cream Recipes
posted
by kanth @ 9:55 PM
permanent link | Post a Comment
|
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home