Sunday, November 23, 2008

A Thing-A-Week Part 40: Rocky Road Bread Pudding

This recipe also came from the same magazine as the Harvest soup. This was a weekend of trying foods I normally don't like but was intrigued by high quality recipes. Again, this is not mine so I will give you the ingredients and my instructions. If you know the source, please let me know as I want to give credit where due.

It turned out really well and was excellent served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Rocky Road Bread Pudding

1 cup salted nuts (I used a blend of cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts)
1 lb. brioche or challah with crusts removed (I could find neither so I used 1lb. croissants) cut/torn into one inch cubes
3 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
¾ cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean)
8 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chopped
½ tsp kosher salt
4 large eggs + 2 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups mini marshmallows

(You can toast bread and nuts if you wish. I opted not to.)

*Grease a 13x9 inch baking dish. Seriously...need to grease your dish. This stuff sticks.

*Coarsely chop nuts.

*Bring milk, cream, and sugar to a boil. Add vanilla, chocolate, and salt. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth.

*Whisk eggs and yolks in a large bowl. Gradually (don't curdle your eggs) pour hot chocolate mixture into eggs whisking until blended. Pour over bread cubes in baking dish making sure all are coated. Let stand for a bit (the recipe recommended 45 minutes but I was in a hurry and did about 20. No adverse affects but it would probably be more pudding like if left longer). Heat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a kettle with water and boil.

*Put 1 cup of the marshmallows and 3/4 cup of the nuts into soaked bread and mix in. Place baking dish into a larger roasting pan. Fill with roasting pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dish with the bread mixture. Bake 50 minutes.

*Scatter remaining nuts and marshmallows over top and bake another 10 minutes. Cool on a rack and serve warm (with ice cream…okay so that is optional but really really good)

A Thing-A-Week Part 39: Harvest Soup

At my part time job there is usually a ragged collection of magazines for folks to browse through between calls that have been donated by other co-workers. I don't remember where on earth I found this recipe but it looked really good and I don't even like squash. Since it is not mine I am not including the complete recipe just the ingredients and general outline of instructions. If anyone has the source I would love to have it.

I made this for the Greyfeathre gathering last week and it went over fairly well. I really enjoyed it and I think it will be included in my "someday" Thanksgiving menu when I finally am able to host Thanksgiving dinner in my own home. This was not originally a vegetarian recipe but I converted it to one by using a good quality vegetable broth and it worked really well.

4lb. pumpkin or squash of your choice, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2 inch chunks.
3 tbsps olive oil
1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 small leeks, sliced (about 1 cup)
About 8 oz of russet potato, diced (I added a lot more but I like potatoes which may be why I liked this)
1 stalk celery, diced
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
6 cups of broth (whatever kind you like)
2 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper

*Roast the squash or pumpkin at about 425 for 45 minutes. I used acorn squash because I couldn't find any pumpkins. I couldn't get the peel off easy enough to fuss with it ahead of time so I just halved the squash, scooped out seed goo, and put some butter and salt and pepper in the core.

*Saute the diced veggies with a little olive oil until tender. It takes a bit so it is a good way to kill time while the squash is roasting. I added a little season salt as well but that is optional.

*(I put this all in a crock pot and cooked it on low as I didn't have a lot of pots and stove space for the party. You can also make on the stove). I scooped out the roasted squash and added the vegetables to a the crockpot. I added the broth and let cook. When everything was soft, I pureed it with a stick blender and seasoned with salt/pepper to taste.

I didn't get a chance to make this because I ran out of time but it looked like a really nice addition. It is sprinkled on top of each individual serving)

Mushroom Topping
Saute:
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp buter
• 1 Tbsp minced shallot
• 3 cups assorted mushrooms (whatever you like)
Toss this together with:
• 2 Tbsp fresh chives
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste.