Chocolate Bread Pudding

My latest creation from the cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, I decided to tackle her Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding.  I am a huge fan of bread pudding, and with chocolate added to the mix...I can't resist!  This was the perfect recipe to try next as I was invited up to my sister's lake house in New Hampshire this past Saturday for a night with the girls and needed to bring a portable dessert item to share.  Enter Dorie and her Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding.

It is important to use stale bread rather than fresh.  It keeps the pudding from getting too mushy.  In making this is is also important to make sure to soak the bread in the custard mixture for at least 30 minutes.  If you soak it for less than that you run the risk of the custard not soaking into the bread entirely.  You really need a good soaking to get the best texture for your pudding.

12 ounces bread (brioche, challah, or white), preferably stale
1/2 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or dried cherries (optional)
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1. Have a 9-by-13-inch baking pan at hand (a Pyrex pan is perfect here), as well as a roasting pan big enough to hold the baking pan in hot water. Line the roasting pan with a double thickness of paper towels.

2. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. If the bread is stale, put it and the raisins or cherries, if you are using them, into the baking pan. If it is not stale, spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven to “stale” it for 10 minutes, then toss into the pan (with the fruit).

3. Bring the milk and cream just to a boil.

4. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, yolks, and sugar together in a bowl. Still whisking, slowly drizzle in about one quarter of the hot milk mixture — this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they don’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the rest of the hot milk. Add the chocolate and whisk it in gently until it is melted and the custard is smooth. Rap the bowl against the counter to pop any bubbles that might have formed, then pour the custard over the bread and press the bread gently with the back of a spoon to help cover it with liquid. Leave the pan on the counter, giving the bread the back-of-the-spoon treatment now and then, for 30 minutes.

5. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

6. Put the baking dish holding the unbaked pudding into the roasting pan, and then slide the pan setup into the oven and very carefully pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the pudding pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the pudding is uniformly puffed, the top is dull and dry and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

7. You could serve this pudding warm, but it is better at cool room temperature or even chilled — it also cuts better when it is cold. Serve the pudding simply with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar or less simply with vanilla (or rum or Grand Marnier or brandy) crème anglaise, chocolate sauce, or whipped cream, or crème fraîche.

I Don't Like Marshmallows

My main exposure to marshmallows over the years has been the ones that you purchase in plastic bags from the grocery stores.  While these marshmallows are fine for making the occasional s'more, or rice cereal treat, eating them "as is" is not really a treat.  They usually taste pretty stale, and like the bag they are packaged in.

However, I recently wanted to make a batch of rocky road ice cream, and decided that I would go all out and make my own marshmallows to include in the ice cream, rather than crack open a bag of the store bought ones.  This was possible one of the best decisions I have ever made (right after marrying Paul, and right before not giving my girls matches to play with).  These marshmallows taste of vanilla, with a firm but creamy texture that you can't find from any bagged marshmallow.  I had to stop myself from eating too many so I could keep some for my ice cream (which I have yet to make).

And while the making of these treats is a little sticky and messy, it is surprisingly easy as well.

So get out your mixer, and whip up your own batch of homemade marshmallows!

Homemade Marshmallows (from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by By Jeni Britton Bauer)

1/2 cup cold water
3 1/4 oz. packets of unflavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped out and reserved
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Grease a rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil.  Line with parchment paper and generously grease the paper.  Put 1/4 cup of the water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and sprinkle the gelatin over it.  Let stand for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the other 1/4 cup water, sugar, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla seeds in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Continue boiling without stirring until a candy thermometer registers 236 Fahrenheit. 

Turn the mixer onto low speed to break up the gelatin.  With the mixer running on slow speed, slowly pour the hot syrup into the gelatin, being careful to avoid the spinning whisk.  Turn the mixer up to medium, then to high. Continue beating until the mixture is very frothy, thick, and cool, about 12 minutes.

Turn the mixture out onto the prepared baking sheet. Wet your hands (very important to do this!) and spread and smooth the mixture out over the pan.  Cover with a sheet of well greased plastic wrap and let stand overnight.

Cut the marshmallows into 1/2" cubes using a sharp, thin knife or a bench scraper. Toss with powdered sugar to coat.

Cookies with Dorie

Here I am on day two of my Dorie Greenspan project. I am able to actually do two consecutive days of baking mostly because both my husband and children are out of the house!  My husband is in Atlanta and my mother took the girls to Cape Cod for the week.  I am alone, and bored, so what better way to break the boredom but to bake.

Today, I picked Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters from "Baking: From My Home to Yours."  Again, I picked this recipe mostly because I had all the ingredients on hand, plus I wanted to make a recipe where I could bake off part of the recipe, and freeze the rest, and cookie recipes are great for that!  I baked one dozen of the cookies, and then portioned out the rest of the dough onto cookie sheets.  froze the portioned cookie dough, and then put the frozen dough into Ziploc bags to keep in the freezer.  Then, whenever I have a hankering for some fresh baked cookies, I just need to take out however many cookies I want to eat, and bake them.  You just need to add a couple of minutes baking time; keep checking the cookies after a couple of extra minutes until they are done.


Anyway, these cookies came out great!  When Ellie and Maggie get home, I can bake them a fresh batch from my frozen dough.

Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

Getting Ready: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. (I only baked one batch at a time on the center rack. In fact I baked one dozen and then froze the dough and did not reuse it for another week. I then let the dough thaw and baked the rest one batch at a time)

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Mix in the chips.

If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours or for up to one day. (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.) If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets. Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges. Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with a wide metal spatula - they'll firm as they cool.

Dorie Greenspan's Corniest Corn Muffins

 I am a big fan of Dorie Greenspan.  I have her cookbook, "Baking," and have made many recipes from it.  Each recipe I have made has been just delicious and wonderful!   In a fit of copy-cattiness (all respect to "Julie and Julia"), I decided that I want to make each and every recipe from that cookbook!

So, here is the first of many recipes to come from the wonderful cookbook "Baking" by Dorie Greenspan.  I made these muffins today as my first recipe.  Mainly because I already had all the ingredients needed on hand, but also because I LOVE corn muffins, but have never found a recipe that I have been satisfied with.  Again, Dorie to the rescue!  These muffins are wonderful; very "corny" tasting and super moist!  A total winner.

 

Corniest Corn Muffins

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 tablespoons corn oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup corn kernels (add up to 1/3 cup more if you’d like), fresh, frozen or canned (in which case they should be drained and patted dry)

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter or spray the 12 muffin molds in a regular-size muffin tin, or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.

Working in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In a large glass measuring cup with a spout or in another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg and yolk. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the corn kernels. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin molds.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Pull the pan from the oven and carefully lift each muffin out of its mold and onto a rack to cool.

Serving: The muffins are great warm or at room temperature and particularly great split, toasted and slathered with butter or jam or both (if they’re not in breadbasket at dinner, that is).

Storing: Like all muffins, these are best eaten the day they are made. If you want to keep them, it’s best to wrap them airtight and pop them into the freezer, where they’ll keep for about a month; re-warm in a 300°F oven, if you’d like, or split them and toast them—do that and they’ll be that much more delicious with butter.

Things You Post on Facebook I Don't Care About...

1)  What you ate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  Or what you are planning on eating for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  I do not care about the fantastic salad you put together with what you found in you pantry.

2)  A detailed accounting of your day, from the time you woke up, to how much toothpaste you squeezed on your toothbrush before you went to bed.

3)  Your belittling of others.  While I can't say I have never done this myself, I hope it isn't the in mean spirited way you remark about how terrible people look in clothes, how many minorities are living in your town, or why you are better than the person sitting next to you on the T.

4) Why I should do what you are doing, because it is "life changing".  Maybe I am happy with my life.

5)  Requests for me to buy stuff from your kid to support whatever school, activity, group, church, etc. they belong to.  I have my own kids for that.

Thank you for listening to my annoying rant.  I feel better now.  Feel free to respond with your own annoying Facebook status postings.

Lemon Blueberry Walnut Bread

 

I love a good quick bread. They are easy to make and always seem to come out so yummy!

The other day my local grocery store was having a buy one get one free special on blueberry pints, so I picked up a couple. I didn't want to make the same old blueberry muffins, and I had some walnuts in my pantry, so I adapted a lemon bread recipe I found to include some blueberries and walnuts. This is what I came up with!

Lemon Blueberry Walnut Bread

• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, lemon zest, milk, lemon juice, eggs, vanilla, melted butter and oil. Whisk just to combine.
4. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add liquid ingredients and mix gently just to combine; do not over-mix. Gently fold in walnuts and blueberries.
5. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8 x 4-inch loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 20 minutes; remove from pan, cool to room temperature.

Fishtail Kitchen in Weymouth, MA

Last night, my husband and I went out to a movie, and decided to get some take out on our way home. We ended up stopping at a new restaurant in Weymouth, Fishtail Kitchen. Fishtail Kitchen specializes in Indian and Nepalese cuisine.  They are located at 532 Pond Street in South Weymouth, in a non-descript strip mall next to Papa Gino's.

The space is small but warm, with about 10 tables.  At 9pm on a Friday night, most of the tables were taken, and the staff seemed very busy.  We told the gentleman who greeted us we were interested in placing an order for take out.  He sat us at a table with menus and gave us water to drink while we decided on what to order.  We got an order of garlic naan, and I chose the Malai Kofta (balls of minced vegetables simmers in cardamon, saffron, garlic and cashew cream sauce) while Paul chose Chicken Saagwala (delicately spiced boneless chicken with spinach).  We both chose a "medium" level of spice for our dishes.

While we were pleased that we were seated and given water at our table just for a take out order, we were made to wait over 30 minutes before our order was ready.  The server was very apologetic for the long wait, but for take out, that was a little too much of a wait our our taste.

However, upon getting home and sampling our food, we were very pleased with the cuisine.  While Paul stated that there was not enough chicken in his dish, what was there was very good and tender, and he enjoyed the flavor.  My Kofta was very good as well.  Nicely seasoned with a very smooth, creamy sauce to go with it.  For me, it could have been a little hotter.  I was expecting a little more of a spicy kick.  Maybe next time I will need to order a "hot" level of spice to get that kick.

The naan was good, neither better nor worse than any other I had in the past, as was the basmati rice.  It was cooked well, but again on par with other rice I have had in the past.

All and all, Fishtail Kitchen is worth a try, if you are willing to wait to eat!

Paul Revere Rides Again

Being a born and raised Bay State-er (that's Massachusetts to y'all), I grew up knowing a lot about the early history of New England.  Most of us here could recite the Ballad of Paul Revere from a young age.  You know the one..."Listen my children and you shall hear / of the midnight ride of Paul Revere."

So when a certain possible Presidential candidate traipsed through Boston and mangled an important historical even in the building of America, I was appalled.  I was even more appalled when the same said person went on television to defend her statements by saying that she didn't mess up; that she was correct in her interpretation of the events.

So when I watched this segment from The Colbert Report, lets just say, I was more than pleased.  In fact, both my husband and I practically peed our pants from laughing!

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Order Spoonfudge Now

In a previous post, I gushed over the creamy, sweet perfection of Spoonfudge.  For the uninitiated, Spoonfudge is a smooth fudge that is poured into jars and eaten with a spoon.  The only problem with it is that there are only certain "orderng windows" when you can get it.

Well, hold on to your little plastic spoons.  The ordering window is OPEN!!!!  But hurry...you only have until June 5th to order.  So, get those orders in now.  What are you waiting for?  Go go go go!!!!