Bread and Butter Pudding

So a little while ago my husband and I were going to go on a diet. It devolved quickly into a promise from me that I would stop baking cakes for awhile. Technically, this is not breaking the deal, because it’s a pudding, not a cake.




For the flavored butter:
100g/3.5oz unsalted butter
large pinch of ground nutmeg
large pinch of ground cinnamon
zest of 1 large orange


8 x 1cm/1/2inch slices of bread
9 large eggs
140g/5oz sugar
500ml/ 17.5oz whole milk
565ml/ 1 pint double cream
1 vanilla pod scored lengthwise and seeds removed
4tbsp good quality fine-cut marmalade

preheat to 180c/350f

Mix together the butter ingredients, and use some of the flavored butter to grease your baking dish. Use the rest to butter each slice of bread, and then put the slices into the buttered dish
Separate the eggs using all nine yolks, but only one white, and whisk that with the sugar. Gently heat the milk and cream with the vanilla pod and seeds, and then pour into the eggs, stirring all the time. Remove the vanilla pod and pour the mixture into the bread leaving to soak for 20 min.
Put your baking dish into a roasting tray and pour enough boiling water into the tray to come halfway up the baking dish. Bake for 45 min until the custard has just set. Meanwhile, gently warm the marmalade in a saucepan. Remove the dish from the oven, and brush the warm marmalade over the top, then return to the oven for 5 or 10 min. Allow it to cool some, so the custard can set.

I had a bad day yesterday, and I decided that I needed a dessert. I also decided that if I was going to abandon the last vestiges of the concept of dieting, it was going to be for something special. I turned to Jamie Oliver, as I do in times like these…

I forgot to get a vanilla pod, but I had some vanilla sugar, so I used about a quarter or a third vanilla sugar, with the plain sugar. It worked nicely. I also used a pan that was slightly too small. I had to get rid of some of the custard mixture that just wouldn’t fit. Luckily, over the coarse of the 20 minutes of soaking, the bread absorbed enough that I could pour a little more in every few minutes. You want a pan small enough that the tops will stick up and out, but it has to be big enough to accommodate around two pints of liquid.

This was soooo good! It had all the consistencies that you want in your dessert. There is the silky custard all around the bread, there is the smushy part of the bread that is all warm and soaked with custard, and then the crusts are all crispy and chewy from the marmalade. Totally satisfying, I forgot my whole bad day.

Figs Soaked in Sweet Vermouth

delicious breakfast treat

recipe # 192

I got these figs from the farmers market, packed them into a jar, filled the jar with sweet vermouth and have been letting them sit for a week now. The recipe came from the Cafe Pongo Cookbook and suggests serving them with ice cream. I think that they might be good for breakfast over pancakes.

Miso Soup and Sunomono

miso soup costs about 30 cents to make at home.

recipe # 190 & 191

I'm learning to make these to save on the cost of sushi takeout. I figure that making these at home will save maybe $7 to $10. Also, amazingly, I had everything I needed to make this stuff. I've been hauling around the dashi and wakame from apartment to apartment for 4 years now. It is older that my kids. It still tasted okay, tho.

Miso Soup
1/2 cup dried wakame
1/4 cup shiro miso
6 cups dashi
1/2 lb soft tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion greens (I skipped those)

Prepare wakame: Combine wakame with warm water to cover by 1 inch and let stand 15 minutes, or until reconstituted. Drain in a sieve.

Make soup: Stir together miso and 1/2 cup dashi in a bowl until smooth. Heat remaining dashi in a saucepan over moderately high heat until hot, then gently stir in tofu and reconstituted wakame. Simmer 1 minute and remove from heat. Immediately stir in miso mixture and scallion greens and serve.

Serves 6.

this salad is often served with a variety of raw fish, but it s still nice without it.

This is from the Food Network
Sunomono
1 large English cucumber, or 2 to 3 Japanese cucumbers
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 drop soy sauce

Peel and slice cucumbers into very thin slices. Sprinkle sliced cucumber slices with salt and let stand a few minutes. Squeeze out excess moisture. Combine vinegar, sugar, and soy in a bowl and mix well. Pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumber slices and mix well. Serve in individual dishes.

May add Wakame (seaweed), crab, and shrimp.

tags technorati : japanese food

Magic Cookies

recipe # 189

Buy this book.
These are tasty.

tags technorati : cookies, vegan, wheat free

Mustard Pickles

I had this boyfriend in college, whose grandmother used to send him care packages with home made mustard pickles. They were the greatest pickles I ever had. When you shook up a jar, it became an ugly dirty yellow cloud of pickle juice. The first bite of one would always give you a burning sensation in your nose the way Wasabi does . I asked him if I could have the recipe once, but it turned out I would only be able to get it from her on her death bed, and even then, I would have had to be married into the family.

mustard pickles

Here’s what I made…
Mustard Pickles
1lb/450g cucumber
1lb/450g onions
8oz/225g carrots
1 cauliflower, medium size
3 pints/1710ml vinegar
2oz/50g sugar
2oz/50g mustard
1oz/25g salt

Chop all the vegetables into even sized pieces, keeping the carrot and cauliflower separate.
Add sugar and salt to the vinegar and bring to a boil. Mix a little vinegar into the mustard for easier mixing, then add the mustard to the vinegar on the stove and mix well before adding the cauliflower and carrots. Boil for 15 min, then add the rest of the vegetables and cook until tender. Pour into warmed jars, seal and label.

I didn’t have any cauliflower, so I used extra cucumber instead. I went with white wine vinegar, though ran out just a little early, and replaced the last bit with cider vinegar. Also, I used mustard powder. I figured that’s what they meant, otherwise why would you have to pre mix it before adding it to the pot. I might have been wrong there.

NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!

Here is my advice to you. ONLY MAKE THESE ON A WARM DAY. I cannot stress this enough. As it turns out, when you mix mustard powder with vinegar and use it to boil onions, it makes your entire house a little toxic. My eyes were tearing up even at the opposite end of the house. It was not a terribly nice day, but I still had to open all the windows, and the back door. The smell went away fairly quickly after it was done, but next time I will wait for a sunny lovely day.

We opened the jar tonight and tried them, even though I should have let them sit longer. They are really quite tangy. I’m pretty excited about them. Not as good as the original, but an acceptable substitute for now.

This recipe was from a website called Hookery Cookery.

tags technorati : pickles, pickling

Pickled Eggs

scary good, I hope

recipe #188

AteThat, the pickled stuff looks good so I want to get in on some of that action too. I came across a pickled egg thread on chowhound and I decided to go for it.

I settled on a recipe provided by Kaisgraham. I changed it a bit because I didn't have somethings on hand. My changes are in ().

Pickled Eggs
3 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp seasoned salt (cajun seasoning)
4 Tbsp tobasco sauce (skipped)
1 small can hot peppers (2 oz. chipolte peppers in adobo sauce)
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
1 can sliced beets
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 or 3 bay leaves
2 dozen hard boiled eggs, shelled

Throw it all together in a big jar and seal it up for a while.

This recipe horrifies my husband. He actually shouted in shock and fear upon opening the fridge door and seeing the jar lurking there.

We'll see how it is in 48 hours.

Roasted Asparagus with Poached Eggs and Miso Butter

my first recipe from chowhound

recipe #185

This one is right from chowhound. Not surprisingly, most look really good.

Roasted Asparagus with Poached Eggs and Miso Butter
Makes: 2 servings
* 2 tablespons unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons white miso paste
* 1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar
* 1 bunch of thin green asparagus, bottom ends trimmed (about 1 pound)
* 2 teaspoons olive oil
* 2 poached eggs
1. In a small bowl, combine the butter, miso, and sherry vinegar, stirring until it is smooth. (Mixture will be thick.) Set aside.
2. Place asparagus in a large mixing bowl and toss with the olive oil. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Heat a large, dry frying pan over medium heat. When hot, place asparagus in the pan and let it pan-roast, stirring only occasionally, until it is tender and lightly blackened. Remove from heat.
4. Divide the miso butter between two serving plates and top with the roasted asparagus. Place a poached egg on top of the asparagus and sprinkle with more salt and freshly ground black pepper.

It is pretty damn good. I made it for breakfast, but it would be a darn tasty side dish too. I'm a big fan of asparagus with poached eggs. I'm going to try a few different varieties.

tags technorati : eggs, breakfast, recipe

Miso Orange Salmon with Sauteed Pea Tendrils

a lovely bunch of pea greens from the farmers market. They were only a buck.

recipe # 186 & 187

Miso Orange Salmon with Sauteed Pea Tendrils
1/3 cup yellow miso 2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon mirin
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
6 6-ounce salmon fillets
Finely chopped green onions

Whisk first 6 ingredients in small bowl.

Preheat broiler. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place salmon on foil, skin side down. Spread miso mixture over salmon. Broil fish until glaze begins to blister and brown, about 3 minutes. Cover fish loosely with foil. Broil until fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer fish to plates. Top with onions.

photo by my husband, jordan

Makes 6 servings.

I skipped the onions. This is a good recipe for salmon that isn't the best. We have this huge bag of salmon filets from costco that is just okay so I have to slather it with all sorts of stuff to make myself want to eat it. I prepared this one, my husband cooked it up. I think it could have stood another few minutes in the broiler to get brown.

The pea greens were great. I sauteed them up with some olive oil and garlic. Easy breeze.

tags technorati : salmon, greens, miso

Loin Chops with Maui Onion Guava Marmalade

I don't have mad pork cooking skills

recipe # 183 & 184

Loin Chops with Maui Onions Guava Marmalade
two 1-inch-thick boneless pork loin chops (about 6 ounces each)
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion (about 3/4 pound), halved lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons red-currant jelly

Trim excess fat from pork chops and sprinkle with rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. In a heavy 10-inch skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté pork chops until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer pork chops with tongs to a plate.

In drippings remaining in skillet sauté onion until it begins to brown. Add water, vinegar, and jelly and bring to a boil, stirring until jelly melts. Simmer mixture, covered, over moderate heat until onion is tender, about 5 minutes.

Return pork to skillet and cook, uncovered, turning once, until cooked through and almost all liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes.
Serves 2.

lovely maui onions from the farmers market

The yams recipe is from The Down to Earth Cookbook, which is co-written by my friend Lacie.
Maple Roasted Yams
Basically the recipe goes like this:
Boil up some yams for 5 minutes. Chop them up, mix them with sea salt and olive oil. Throw them on a baking sheet and roast them at 400 for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes toss them with some maple syrup and roast them for 10 more minutes. Then eat.

Good. Loved the pork (surprise) and really loved the yams. Nice dinner together.

tags technorati : pork, dinner, food,

Eggs Mc Meg

This wasn't the best bread for this sandwich, but it was what I had

recipe # 182

Recipe coming soon

tags technorati : breakfast, sandwich, eggs