Double Chocolate Bread Pudding

Double Chocolate Bread Pudding - made January 6, 2013 from Food Network (Sunny Anderson's recipe)

So that one challah recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day had three lives from one batch.  Two loaves of challah, some beignets and, with the remainder of the two baked loaves, this Double Chocolate Bread Pudding.  I first saw this dish on Sunny Anderson's show on Food Network.  Despite being a baking hobbyist, I don't watch Food Network as much as most people think I do.  I watch Cupcake Wars religiously but don't really follow any other show on there.  What I do watch is usually whatever's on when I'm working out at home.  Depending on when I'm working out, more often than not, the only shows that seem to be on are Chopped and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  But on a fluke, I caught Sunny's show and she was making this bread pudding.

She made it look easy so I pulled the recipe off the website and have been hanging onto it until I had bread I wanted to use up (challah experiment - check) and it was on a workout day for the calorie burn (5-mile run before baking this - check).

I only made a half recipe because I didn't want that much bread pudding (I wasn't going to run from West Coast to East Coast for the calorie burn after all) and I didn't have enough bread for a full batch anyway.  Instead of croissants and cinnamon raisin bread, I used the challah.  I listed Sunny's original recipe below but you can probably use any bread you wish.  Bread pudding is generally very forgiving.  Sometimes it's hard to tell when bread pudding is done especially chocolate since you can't always go by how brown it is (chocolate is brown to start with!) but for this one, it was easy because the bread pudding puffed out beautifully and you can tell the custard had cooked.  It was pretty good and I liked the added cinnamon flavor.  If you're not using cinnamon raisin bread, you could probably even increase the cinnamon by 1/2 to 1 teaspoon.

1 loaf cinnamon-raisin bread, cut into 1-inch squares
6 croissants, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
6 eggs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 to 6 scrapes of fresh nutmeg, on a rasp
1 1/2 quarts milk
1 1/2 cups chocolate syrup (I used Trader Joe's Midnight Moo)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Special equipment: 3 1/2-quart oval baking dish

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare the bottom and sides of the baking dish with the butter. In a large bowl, add the bread and croissant chunks along with the chocolate chips sprinkled over the top. Toss gently and pour into the prepared dish making sure all the chocolate chips don't settle on the bottom.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, milk, chocolate syrup, and salt.
4. Pour the chocolate custard over the bread and chocolate in the dish and press the bread down into the custard to soak it up. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then press down a bit again.
5. Bake uncovered until the edges are golden brown and the center springs back a bit when touched, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow it to cool and settle for about 30 minutes and then make pretty squares, or just dig in right away. 

Chocolate Chip & Caramel-Filled "Beignets"

Chocolate Chip & Caramel-Filled "Beignets" - made January 5, 2013, challah dough from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

 

Here's a good use of scraps of challah dough if you've made the Artisan Bread recipe and don't use it all for challah.  Roll out the dough, cut out with cookie cutters, put a scoop of nutella or a few chocolate chips and a dollop of caramel in the center, cover with another piece of dough, seal the two pieces completely (no filling should leak through), let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes then fry in hot oil until golden brown.  This is the actual recipe in the Artisan Bread book for beignets.  I've never had a real beignet (but I will shortly and I think they're supposed to be square, not round) so I don't know how it compares to the real thing.  I consider this more like a stuffed donut hole.  It puffed up and had a mind of its own in the hot oil; some even turned themselves and some refused to cooperate when I turned them and just flipped back onto their original side on their own.  Once you conquer the frying, these are best eaten warm so I'd advise only frying what you can eat right away.

Salmon with Browned Butter Lime Sauce

Pan-Seared Honey-Glazed Salmon with Browned Butter Lime Sauce - made January 5, 2013 from Cooking Classy

Back in the days when "cooking" to me (not to be confused with baking, you understand) meant frying or baking something that didn't have sugar in it, I ate very plainly.  I wasn't fussy about adding spices or flavor to food because I was (am) a very plain eater with bland taste buds.  And if it didn't have sugar in it and didn't come out of my oven on a cookie sheet or from a cake pan, I wasn't overly concerned with how plain-tasting it was.  Not that I didn't enjoy good, well-cooked, well-flavored food. I did.  Just not if I had to make it.

I've come a somewhat medium-length way since then and while my taste buds still have a narrow range, I've learned to experiment a bit with flavors I do enjoy.  Browned butter is one of them.  I've only ever used it in baking but this recipe for salmon piqued my interest.  And while I may not care for honey in most baked goods (too sweet), I often don't mind it in savory dishes - go figure.

Although the recipe title and the original recipe calls for pan-searing or pan frying the salmon, I actually ended up coating the fillets in flour, drizzling with honey then baking them in a foil-lined baking pan at 350 degrees until they were done (about 20-25 minutes).   The sauce was easy to make once you brown the butter - just throw the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend away.

I ate this on a bed of salad greens with the sauce drizzled on top as the "dressing".  Unfortunately I think I would've been better off sopping up the sauce with rice or pasta instead.  I don't normally like dressing because I don't like the greasy mouthfeel on my salad greens.  Well, guess what butter is?  Yes, grease.  Albeit the grease of choice when it comes to baking.  But not necessarily on a mixture of arugula, radicchio, baby spinach and other leafy greens.  So ultimately this didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  I think it would've been better thickened more like a roux to add some creaminess. I still like browned butter but I think I'll stick with baking with it instead.

P.S. For anyone still sticking to any New Year's resolutions to eat healthier, leave off the sauce and just have baked salmon drizzled with honey atop salad greens (skip the fatty dressings) and this'll still keep you on track.

4 (6 oz) salmon fillets, rested at room temperature 20 minutes
8 tsp flour, divided
2 Tbsp honey, divided
zest of 1 - 2 limes (I like it with a generous amount so in my opinion 2)
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Browned Butter Lime Sauce
6 Tbsp salted butter, diced
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Working in batches of two salmon fillets at a time (or using two skillets, because you don't want to overcrowd the salmon when cooking it on the stove-top so it cooks more evenly), place salmon fillets on a cutting board or plate and sprinkle 1 tsp flour over each side of the salmon fillets and spread flour to evenly coat. Evenly drizzle 3/4 tsp honey over each side of the flour coated salmon fillets. 

Pan frying option:
Drizzle 1 Tbsp olive oil into a 10 inch non-stick skillet, swirl pan to evenly coat bottom and heat over medium heat. Once oil it hot, carefully place salmon ) in pan and cook over medium heat, 3-5 minutes per side until salmon has cooked through and bottom has nicely browned.

Baking option:
You can also bake them in you'd rather at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until done.  Broil them for a couple of minutes at the end if you want them to have a little color.

Plate salmon immediately, drizzle each fillet with 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp Browned Butter Lime Sauce and sprinkle with lime zest. Serve warm.

Browned Butter Lime Sauce

Place butter in a small (light colored) saucepan. Cook over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until butter is fragrant and has turned a tan shade. Remove from heat and add browned butter along with lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute until well blended. Pour sauce into a small glass dish (note: whisk butter mixture with a fork before pouring onto salmon as it will separate, rewarm if needed).

Vanilla Pudding Snickerdoodle Cookies

Vanilla Pudding Snickerdoodles - made dough January 1, 2013, recipe adapted from Something Swanky

My sweet tooth seems to be returning.  (Let's not kid ourselves, it was never lurking too far away.)  But I did have impetus to bake cookies since I was meeting my cousin Christine and her son, Vanilla King, for dinner last week.  One of Vanilla King's favorite cookies is Snickerdoodles.  He doesn't like chocolate but he likes white chocolate (we just call them vanilla chips - shhh, it's all in the perception).  So I decided to go with a combo of the two.  I didn't have the white chocolate instant pudding mix that Something Swanky's original recipe called for so I went with plain vanilla pudding mix since I already had it in hand.

The rest of the recipe is like a traditional chocolate chip cookie.  But the key difference is not only the pudding mix addition but also the teaspoon of cinnamon.  I loved this cookie.  When you eat it warm (give it at least 10 minutes out of the oven to cool slightly), the edges are crunchy and the middle is moist and light.  The cinnamon gives it a really nice flavor as does the cinnamon sugar coating.  At room temperature, it's almost even better,  The cookie is chewy and moist.  Definitely a good choice for Vanilla King.

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3.4 oz. package white chocolate instant pudding mix (I used vanilla pudding mix)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For coating
1/3 cup cinnamon sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350º (unless you're going to freeze the dough first). Prepare baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
2. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars.
3. Add eggs first, and mix in, then add remaining ingredients, except the cinnamon sugar. Mix well.
4. Scoop out with a cookie scooper (about 3 tablespoons worth) and roll the dough ball in the cinnamon sugar, coating completely.
5. Place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until slightly golden and just set in the middle. Do not overbake. Let cool on baking sheet.

Challah

Challah - made January 1, 2013 from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

2nd loaf made from refrigerated dough - had a higher oven spring

I love bread.  Even more than sugar.  There's just something about a slice of homemade bread, still warm from the oven and slathered with melting butter that makes me forget I want to keep fitting into my clothes.  And out of all the breads out there, challah, a traditional Jewish bread. enriched with eggs, butter and honey, is one of my favorites (and I don't even like honey).  Challah is similar in taste and texture to versions of Filipino ensaimada, except without the butter and sugar on top that ensaimada has.  Challah is also typically made in braided loaves while ensaimada is coiled rolls.  Still, regardless of the comparison or non-comparison, my love for good challah knows no bounds.

But much as I love bread, I don't make it that often because of the time and effort involved.  When I do make it, it's on a rare Saturday when I have time to make the dough, knead it, let it rise, punch it down, let it rise again, shape it, rise, bake, yada yada.  In other words, when I have nothing to do all day....which almost never happens. And I still don't knead the dough properly enough half the time.  I'm so afraid of overworking the gluten that I don't work it enough.  Plus, there's that whole I want to keep fitting into my clothes thing.

Baked from newly-made, unchilled dough - spread out more

Nevertheless, I broke my self-imposed ban of not buying any new cookbooks by buying this book, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  A friend on my online fitness board had recommended it awhile back and someone posted a pic of their challah made from this book on pinterest.  Hello, did someone say challah?  So I bought it on impulse because amazon prime membership and two-day shipping are dangerous elements to combine with no willpower.

But one taste of this bread and I forgave myself.  As the book claims, it's really easy to make - you literally put all the ingredients in the bowl, mix it with a dough hook on the Kitchenaid, let it sit for a couple of hours then use it.  I like to think I braided the challah correctly but the dough was pretty soft (a must for this method of bread making) so when it rose, the braids blended into each other somewhat so the distinctive braids weren't quite so distinctive.  The authors say if that happens, try increasing the flour a bit more next time.  Still, I loved the taste.  I'm not a fan of honey but you can't really taste it in this bread other than as a slight sweetener.  I don't like hard crusts on my bread and this one was a bit soft yet a little crunchy when it was warm.  I think I ate two pieces before my mind was fully aware of what I was doing.  My taste buds had taken over all conscious thought processes.

If you like homemade bread but don't like the big time investment it normally takes, try out this recipe (the challah also serves well as good sandwich bread) and try out this book.  I've only made this one recipe so far but I think it's worth the entire book.  It does make more than enough dough for a couple of good-sized loaves.  I made 2 loaves on two different days and still have some leftover that I think I'll use the rest to make beignets - stay tuned.

Warm with butter - fantastic

1 ¾ cups lukewarm water

1 ½ tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)

1 ½ tablespoons Kosher salt

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup honey

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water)

1.     Mixing and storing the dough: mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey and melted butter with the water in a 5-quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2.     Mix in the flour without kneading using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor with dough attachment or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook.  If mixing by hand, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

3.     Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

4.     The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold.  Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days.  Beyond 5 days, freeze in 1-pound portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.  Defrost frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before using.  Then allow the usual rest and rise time.

5.     On baking day, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece.  Dust the piece with more flour and quick shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

6.     Divide the ball into thirds, using a dough scraper or knife.  Roll the balls between your hands (or on a board), stretching to form ech into a long, thin rope.  If the dough resists shaping, let it rest for 5 minutes and try again.  Braid the ropes, starting from the center and working to one end.  Turn the loaf over, rotate it and braid from the center out to the remaining end.  This produces a loaf with a more uniform thickness than when braided from end to end.

7.     Allow the braid to rest and rise on the prepared cookie sheet for 1 hour and 20 minutes (or just 40 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough).

8.     Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F.  If you’re not using a stone in the oven, 5 minutes is adequate.  Brush the loaf with egg wash.

9.     Bake near the center of the oven for about 25 minutes.  Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time.  The challah is done when golden brown, and the braids near the center of the loaf offer resistance to pressure.  

 

Slow-Cooked Pork Chops

Slow-Cooked Pork Chops - made December 31, 2012 from My Daily Moment

Another "real food" recipe.  Yes, I'm still trying to feed myself at home.  I don't usually cook with pork very much, mostly because I'm inept at it and pork chops can toughen up easily (well, they do when I get hold of them).  But I figure you can't go wrong throwing them in a crock pot since all you need to do is let them cook long enough to get tender.  Which is pretty much what this recipe is.  The beauty of it is you can prep and pan sear them in a few minutes then throw them in the slow cooker for the rest of the day and forget about it.  That's my kind of cooking.

After my brush with dry chicken breasts, I also wanted something with a little bit of sauce and this delivered.  This didn't get too soupy since you only put in the one can of soup and no water but the sauce wasn't thick either.  I cooked it on high for almost 6 hours, until the chops were fork tender.  Taste-wise, I don't think I'd win any culinary blue ribbons but this turned out pretty well.  It was a tiny bit salty for me but otherwise good.  I also added sprigs of rosemary to the crock pot.  The original recipe didn't call for it but I have a healthy, thriving, ever-growing rosemary plant and I figure I'd better be using it as much as possible.  Especially since even after I cut off half a dozen sprigs, the plant looked as bushy as it ever was.

6 lean pork chops
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons oil
1 10-oz can chicken and rice soup

Coat pork chops in mixture of flour, salt, dry mustard, and garlic powder and brown in oil in skillet. Place browned pork chops in crock-pot. Add can of soup. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 1/2 hours.

Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken - made December 30, 2012 from Juju Good News

Happy New Year!  Welcome 2013!  Try to stay a little longer than 2012 did because that girl just whipped on by.

It's that time of year when I temporarily switch over from dessert recipes to "real food" recipes.  It's partly because I've been baking so much over the holidays that yes, even I burn out on baking and sugar.  Don't worry, that particular insanity really does pass (give me another day week or so).  In the meantime, I still have to eat and as part of every new year, I make a concerted effort to cook for myself and stop eating out or getting takeout for my sustenance.  Actually, I've been getting better at cooking for myself (not necessarily the results, just the act of cooking) and as has been the theme with real food recipes this year, pinterest provides a lot of possibilities.

Case in point is this one I found on pinterest from Juju Good News.  This is a healthy rendition of Lemon Chicken where the main ingredient really is lemon.  I still have a bunch of lemons from my mom's lemon tree and she keeps asking if I need more.  Since I'm not baking, I decided to repurpose the lemons to a savory dish in an attempt to use up the bounty.  Plus, my friend Hongpei gave me a rosemary plant for Christmas so this had the added bonus of using a fresh herb I already had.  If you make the recipe as is, this is a pretty healthy choice, even healthier if you leave off the butter.  I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and had half a piece over a bed of salad greens (squirt of lemon as the dressing) for my dinner.  I know, I know, you think someone's hacked my blog and this couldn't possibly be me.  Would it help if I said I followed up that singularly healthy dinner with a chocolate chip cookie baked in a ramekin and topped with vanilla ice cream?  See, it really is me.

In any case, if you make this recipe, I don't advise using chicken breasts.  As I've discovered (more than once but I keep forgetting), they dry out too easily.  I baked mine a trifle too long so yup, they were a bit dry.  There isn't much "sauce" although the lemon does permeate the chicken nicely, especially considering I marinated it overnight.  So stick with the thighs or drumsticks per the original recipe.

However, all is not lost if you do end up with sauceless, slightly dry chicken.  I searched for and found this recipe for Lemon Sauce - bonus that it used up more lemons.  I may have to stock up on lemons after all the next time I go to my mom's.  This sauce is reminiscent of the sauce for lemon chicken in Chinese restaurants and is also thick, thanks to the cornstarch.  Don't be afraid to go big on the lemons - you want that nice lemon flavor.

2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2-4 lbs. of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks (I used chicken breasts)
2-3 tablespoons melted butter
Thinly sliced lemons, for garnished

1. Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper in a large zipper-lock plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake well to blend. Place the chicken pieces in the bag with the marinade, pressing out excess air and sealing once more. Refrigerate and let marinate for 2 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and transfer to a baking dish, skin-side up, reserving the leftover marinade. Brush the top of each piece of chicken with melted butter.

3. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the skins are crispy and well-browned. Halfway through baking, pour the remaining marinade over the chicken pieces in the baking dish. Once fully baked, cover loosely with foil and let rest 10 minutes before serving. Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with lemon slices and serve.