From the Pantry #1

Israeli couscous. Cooked with it once, couldn't figure out how, left it forever. I have a whole bag of it. So I tired it again and it's great! Loved it, very filling though. Don't kid yourself into thinking it's healthy. I mean...well, it is as healthy as pasta is. Cook it in a pot of boiling water, 15 or so minutes. I cooked up some swiss chard, red peppers, shallots, garlic, topped it with goat cheese and chives. Drizzled with some great olive oil. Next time I need to add more balance, like my aged balsamic vinegar. Yum!

Really!

Maple Bread Pudding

I made this bread pudding yesterday, although my hankering for one started two weeks ago.  Knowing I couldn’t get challah locally, I made a loaf of my own and sliced off enough for bread pudding to keep seperate.  Then I had the task of deciding which recipe to use, what flavours to go with.  I debated back and forth between two, a chocolate bread pudding with salted caramel and a cranberry maple bread pudding.  I love chocolate, a well known fact, but being that we have copious amount of chocolate leftover from Christmas I decied to steer away.  The cranberry maple bread pudding recipe I was attracted to was from a Martha Stewart magazine but it called for 2 cups of creme fraiche, which costs an arm and a leg around here.  I also figured that any recipe calling on that amount of decadence maybe wasn’t a very good recipe to start with.

In the end I choose a very simple, but perfectly so, bread pudding.  It was creamy and custard-y underneath and chewy and toasted on top, flavoured with nutmeg and cinnamon.  In place of rum I added maple syrup and then to top it off I made a maple cream sauce, which was very very good, though I did have some internal debate wether to make it after I saw the amount of creme and corn syrup it was asking for.  I’m glad I did, and I’m glad I sent it all away!

Maple Bread Pudding with Maple Cream Sauce

The bread pudding recipe was adapted from here and the maple cream sauce from here.

Topping:

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pudding:

4 eggs plus one egg yolk

150 g (3/4 c) sugar

2 1/2 c milk (at least two percent)

2 1/2 c cream

3 Tbsp rum (or maple syrup)

1 Tbsp vanilla

3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

12 oz good quality challah or american style white bread, cut 3/4 of an inch thick and into squares of 1 1/2 inches

1 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted

Heat oven to 325 F and grease 13x9 inch pan.  

Whisk eggs, yolk and sugar in a large bowl until well blended.  Whisk in cream, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, nutmeg and salt.  Soak 6 cups of bread in the mixture for 20 minutes to soften.  Gently pour mixture into baking dish.  Scatter two cups of remaining bread and press down gently to submerge.  Brush the exposed bread with butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture.  Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the pudding turns golden brown and jiggles slightly when you shake it.  Remove from oven and set to cool.  Can be served warm or at room temperature.  

Maple Cream Sauce

30 g (2 Tbsp) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups of cream

6 Tbsp maple syrup

3 Tbsp light corn syrup

Melt the butter in a medium pan over medium heat.  Once melted add the cream, maple syrup and corn syrup. Allow mixture to simmer for 20-30 minutes or until it is 1/3 reduced.  Make sure to stir often to keep the bottom from burning.  When finished transfer to a container in the fridge and cover the top of the sauce (with the wrap touching the sauce) to keep a skin from forming.  Cool.

Jan 7th

We’ve been keeping things really low key here recently. Pajamas after work kinda low key. Mind you, I cook in my pajamas. We watched Aladdin one night, and ate bacon, onion, rosemary pizza with a little truffle oil. We had it with some raspberry lemonade from the pantry. And blueberry pavlovas, from the freezer.

We’ve reached 100 days until we leave for Europe. Holy! With that constantly in mind I came to the realization that we have a LOT of food that I don’t want to go stale/bad/freezer burned. So I will attempt, in the next 100 days, to use up all these items and new and delicious ways. They come from the cupboards, the pantry and the freezer. I’ll be posting on my other blog any worthy recipes, and the rest will get quick mention here. I’ll call it, From the Pantry.

An example of something from the pantry was this salmon fillet. I spiced it up and ate it with some (AWESOME) herbed rice and my pickled beans (so many in the pantry!)

Eating Well...

No doubt about that.

No excuse for my absence.

But today we made homemade pasta!

A night in Austria

We spent a night in Austria, and it was great.  Except for the part where schnitzel makes me feel sick and shane doesn't like mustard or pickles.  HA!  At least we both like cake!

If you want to get technical the wiener schnitzel I made wasn't wiener schnitzel at all.  I made it with chicken, not only because I am lazy but because that is what I wanted.  In Austria, legally, any dish called by that name must be made from veal, so it's a darn good thing we're not in Austria yet. (102 days and we will be on our way!)  On top I made a sort of gravy, from beef stock, sour cream and dill.

I loved the potato salad, I thought it was great, no creamy dressing, but full flavoured and amazing none-the-less.  Much to Shane's dismay I will most definitely be making this dish again.  The body comes from some cooked potatoes mushed into the dressing.  It's quite vinegar-y and even has a little bite from the mustard.  Don't be discouraged by the look if it, because it's truly delicious.

The cake is called at Dobos Torte and...well I'm not sure I did it right to be honest.  I think I overcooked the cake layers.  The buttercream frosting was great, and held everything together nicely.  But the cake came out with a kind of chewy, slightly firm cookie consistency.  It was rather strange, but very tasty.

Austrian Potato Salad - (Cooks Illustrated version)

2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cut 1/2 inch thick slices
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard (I used grainy)
1/4 cup veg oil
1 small red onion, small dice (about 3/4 cup)
6 cornichons, minced (about 2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp fresh minced chives

Bring potatoes, stock, water, salt, sugar and 1 tbsp white wine vinegar to a boil in a large heavy bottomed skillet.  Lower heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 17-19 minutes.  Make sure to check on the liquid level or you'll burn them all to the bottom like I did.  When potatoes offer no resistance when poked with a paring knife remove cover and increase heat to high.  Cook two minutes, to reduce liquid.  Drain potatoes over a large bowl, reserving cooking liquid.

Pour off liquid and discard all but 1/2 cup.  If 1/2 cup does not remain add water to make 1/2 cup.  Whisk remaining 1 Tbsp of vinegar, mustard and oil into cooking liquid.

Add 1/2 cup cooked potatoes to dressing and mash with a fork until a thick sauce forms.  Add sauce to remaining potatoes, add onion, pickles and chives, gently folding with a spatula to combine.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Makes enough for about 5 sides of salad.

A doughnut to end the year

Yesterday night, as is a dutch tradition, we made oliebollen.  These are fried doughnuts, with many different recipes, though the one we use is from my Oma.  I don’t think I’ve ever not eaten oliebollen in the days leading up to New Year’s Day.  In fact, even if you are not the kind to pull out a deep frier and whip up some doughnuts, you can still eat them if you buy them locally, freshly made at a dutch owned produce store here in Chilliwack.  Or you can call me.  We doubled our recipe and made our rounds last night, a plateful to some friends I doubt have ever tried it, a bowlful to my very dutch in-laws, and a whole platter to Shane’s work, where they were promptly devoured.  We ate a few for ourselves too of course, and they were every bit as good as I remember.  

Here is the recipe I posted from January 2009!