Traditional Bread Pudding

I was going to create a lenghty post around the Ohio State - LSU Championship game for which cooked a traditional New Orleans feast, but I lost my motivation when the game took a turn for the worst. I am over it, so now simply in the context of food...not food and game... I will share my Bread Pudding experience.

Bread pudding with warm bourbon sauce
4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

4 cups cinnamon-raisin bread ripped into 1/2 inch pieces

Butter or use non-stick cooking spray -- 8-inch square baking dish. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Place bread in prepared dish. Pour milk mixture over and let stand 5 minutes. Push down bread into custard. Preheat oven to 375°F. Place bread pudding in larger baking pan. Add enough boiling water to baking pan to come 1 inch up sides of dish with bread pudding. Bake until pudding is puffed and golden brown on top, approximately 50 minutes. (Be careful not to overcook -- really keep an eye on it the last 15 minutes.) Remove dish with bread pudding from water and cool slightly. Cut into squares. Serve bread pudding warm with sauce. (Can be made ahead - microwave to reheat.)

Bourbon Sauce (if you are not into the bourbon sauce - whipped cream and chocolate sauce will do)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons whipping cream

2 tablespoons bourbon (like Wild Turkey)

Pinch of salt
Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Simmer until thickened, whisking often, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly.

Easy soup for a cold winter day...

I love soups that are essentially a meal in themselves. This one is really easy and great with store-prepared rotisserie chicken. (Or leave it out and make a veggie version)





Chicken Tortilla Soup
6 tablespoons Vegetable oil
4 10" to 12" corn or flour tortillas
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 small bunch of cilantro
1 - 8.5 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
4 cups broth – veggie or chicken
14 ounces of canned or frozen corn
3/4 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon chili powder
4 bay leaves
2 cups Rotisserie Chicken
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
juice from 1 lime

Cut up 2 of the tortillas into 1/4 inch strips and fry them in 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. You want them to be a golden brown. Remove the strips from pot and transfer to some paper towels to drain. Season with a little salt. (Kitchen essential – tongs for flipping)

Heat the remaining oil over medium high heat and sauté the onions for a couple of minutes. Then add garlic and sauté for another minute or two. Tear the remaining 2 tortillas into bite size pieces and add to the pot.

Now add the cilantro, stir, and cook for a minute more. Add the canned tomatoes and the stock, cumin, chili powder, and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, add the corn, chicken, and cayenne.

Add your lime juice and adjust spices. Reheat, and serve with the fried tortilla strips..

I served this soup with the fried tortillas, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream. You could also add some avacado.

I want an hour to myself. VW here I come...

So, today is Saturday and my car needs an oil change, so....I am “volunteering” to take the car in for the next oil change. Many car dealers and oil change shops have cable TV, magazines and comfy chairs. It usually takes about an hour…just enough time for your “mental moment”!

The Art of the Junk Bowl

Rachael Ray has mastered "fast" cooking and her "fast" cooking is very appealing to moms who need to cook fast!

I definitely believe that one of Rachael Ray's keys to her ability to cook so fast and so well is her ability to be organized and efficient in the kitchen. She is always thinking 3 steps ahead. One of her best suggestions that has saved me a lot of time is her "junk bowl" for the left over stuff, e.g., onion peels, wine foil, paper towels, ends of garlic, seeds from a jalepeno......etc.

Anyway, I either use a tupperware container or a larger mixing bowl if I am really going to make a mess. It saves me several trips to the garbage can, could potentially be used in a compost, and saves you from clogging your disposal. (It took me a long to find out that there is very little you can put down your disposal.)

My "junk bowl" was a result of the chili below, which was quite good, especially with the corn cakes.

Beef and Black Bean Chili with Green Onion Corn Cakes
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
2 pounds ground beef sirloin, 90 percent lean
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 to 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons dark chili powder, 2 palm fulls
1 tablespoon cumin, 1/2 palm full
1 cup beef stock or broth, 1/2 a 14-ounce can or paper container (I used Better than Bouillon)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce or tomato puree
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, a handful, optional
2 (8 1/2-ounce) packages, corn muffin mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
3 scallions, thinly sliced
Butter, for greasing griddle pan

In a large deep skillet or pot, brown ground beef in oil over high heat. Season meat with salt and pepper, then add Worcestershire sauce. Reduce heat to medium high when the meat is browned and crumbled, then add onion, garlic, red peppers, jalapeno. Season veggies and meat with chili powder and cumin. Cook veggies and meat together 5 minutes. Stir in broth and scrape up pan drippings. Stir in diced and pureed tomatoes and black beans. When the mixture comes to a bubble, reduce heat to simmer and stir in cilantro, optional.
Mix together 2 packages of corn muffin mix with 1 cup milk, 2 beaten eggs, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and sliced scallions. Batter should be thick. Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle pan over moderate heat. Nest a pat of butter into folded paper towel and wipe hot pan surface with it to lightly grease. Pour corn cake batter into the hot griddle pan or skillet in 3 or 4-inch rounds. Cook 2 or 3 minutes on each side, until golden. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining batter.

To serve, top bowls of beef and black bean chili with green onion corn cake toppers. Eat the chili and corn toppers as you would a pot pie, grabbing some of the corn cake with each spoonful of chili.

Top Chef Recipes

I don't get to watch Top Chef very often, but when I do I find it "food inspiring". Anyway, last season I saw a recipe for Fingerling Potatoes with Cauliflower, Cherries, and Goat Cheese. I gave it a try with regular small white potatoes. (Fingerlings are good, but $$.) Dried cherries can be hard to find, so you could also use Craisins -- you know for kids or just dried cranberries, but I really like the sweetness of the cherries. The cauliflower can definitely stink up your kitchen, so be prepared.

A note about Top Chef recipes - Because they do things on the fly on the show, the recipes are not always well-documented, so be prepared to improvise to deal with the ambiguity. The one below was an exception and rather easy.

Cauliflower and Fingerling Smash
3 cups fingerling potatoes, sliced, half-inch rounds
3 cups cauliflower florets, medium-bite size
Milk (enough to cover)
1/2 cup chevre
1/2 cup chopped dried cherries
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped fine
Salt and pepper to taste
Place potatoes and cauliflower in heavy bottom pot; cover with milk and simmer on medium-heat until tender making certain not to overcook potatoes. Strain; reserve some cooking liquid.
(I used a potato masher before adding the remaining ingrediants.) In a mixing bowl, add potatoes, cauliflower, chevre and cherries, folding repeatedly, breaking down potato starch. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper

My essentials...

Broth is obviously a requirement in lots of recipes and I try to keep it as a staple in my cupboard, but I also always keep Better Than Bouillon on hand. It's a great concentrated broth that needs to be mixed with hot water. It also adds great flavor. I have only tried the veggie version. (I try to do veggie versions of lots of things as my mom and one of my most amazing friends, Marya are vegetarians.)

Gordon Ramsay Anyone?

Okay, I admit it...I love Gordon Ramsay. Next time I am in NYC or London, I am definitely going to visit one of his restaurants. I also love the BBC version of Kitchen Nightmares. Anyway, my wonderful mother gave me a Gordon Ramsay cookbook for Christmas and I gave one recipe a go tonight...a relatively easy one. Tagliatelle with mushrooms -- I didn't have time to make my own pasta -- will I ever? And, I could not find Tagliatelle, so I used a long wide pasta that I found at Giant Eagle which worked fine. Essentially, it was mushrooms, shallots, olive oil, butter, cream, arugula, parmesan, and pasta -- in that order. How could it not be good?