Bread Pudding

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posted in Sweets by Kathy Maister

Difficulty:

Bread Pudding is home cooking at its best! Chances are, you already have on hand almost all the ingredients you will need to make bread pudding: sugar, milk, bread, butter, and eggs.

Add four more ingredients – cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and raisins – and you’ve got the fixings for a wonderful dessert that everyone is going to love!

It takes just a few simple steps to make bread pudding:

Cube 4 slices of hearty bread and put it in a baking dish
Combine eggs, milk, sugar and spices in a bowl
Pour the egg mixture over the bread
Make a bread, butter, sugar and cinnamon topping
Bake for 50-55 minutes

Let’s startcooking!

Step 1 – Prepare the Bread

Spray a 1-and-1/2-quart baking (or casserole) dish with non-stick cooking spray. I’m using an 8x8x2 inch square baking dish.

The recipe calls for 6 ounces, in total, of hearty white bread – 4 ounces for the base and 2 ounces for the topping. (That’s about 6-to-8 slices of bread.)

With a knife, cut four ounces of the bread into cubes and put the cubed bread into the prepared dish.

Sprinkle on 1/3 cup of raisins. Set this dish aside for the moment.

Step 2 – Make the Egg Custard

Put in to a large mixing bowl:

2 eggs, plus one egg yolk*
2 1/4 cups of whole milk
6 Tablespoons of sugar (that’s 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons of butter, melted in the microwave

*(For a quick review on How to Crack and Separate Eggs – click here.)

Mix everything together.

Step 3 – Combine the Bread and the Egg Custard

Pour the egg custard over the cubed bread.

With the back of a spoon, gently press the bread into the egg custard.

Let the bread pudding rest at room temperature on the counter-top, for 30 minutes. It will look like the picture below after 30 minutes.

Step 4 – Make the Bread Topping

While the pudding is resting, make the bread topping:

There are two ways to prepare the bread topping. One way is with cubed bread…..

…and the other way is with slices of bread.

I will demonstrate both ways, but I personally prefer the topping made with the slices of bread. They both taste the same but I like the crispier texture of the sliced topping. Try both approaches, and then you can decide which you prefer!

For the sliced topping, combine (in a small bowl) 1 Tablespoon of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Spread soft butter on the bread and sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar. Cut the bread into four pieces and….

…place it on top of the pudding.

As it cooks, it develops a nice crispy, toasted top.

*****

If you prefer a cubed topping, cube the remaining 2 ounces of bread and put it in a bowl. Sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar…

…and 1 Tablespoon of the butter, which needs to get melted first!

Toss these ingredients together with a fork.

Add the cubes to the pudding.

As it bakes, the topping develops a lovely golden color.

Step 5 – Bake the Bread Pudding

Bake the Bread Pudding in a preheated 325º F degree oven for 50-to-55 minutes.

(325º F = 165º C = gas mark 3-very moderate)

The custard should be puffed and jiggle when you wiggle the dish.

If you want an even crispier cubed or sliced topping, you could put the cooked bread pudding under the broiler for just a few minutes. (As long as the baking dish you are using is safe to put under the broiler. Pyrex dishes are not broiler safe and could possibly explode from the intense heat of the broiler!)

Let the pudding sit for 20 minutes before serving it. It will not be quite as puffed as when you took it out of the oven, but it won’t burn your mouth either!

Bread pudding should be eaten while still warm. If there are any leftovers, store it in the refrigerator. By the next day the, it will have deflated quite a bit and have developed a much heavier texture – quite different from when you first baked it.

Bread Pudding is perfect plain, but you can add all sorts of toppings – including whipped cream, butterscotch, caramel, chocolate, or bourbon sauce.

Enjoy!

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Cranberry Pinwheels

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posted in Appetizers and Snacks, Vegetarian by Kathy Maister

Difficulty:

These cranberry pinwheels are a great hors-d’oeuvre to serve year round, but they are especially perfect for the holidays. The dried red cranberries and the green scallions make them look really festive. Plus the sweet/savory combination of the cranberries, feta cheese and green onion make them particularly tasty. They can actually be made 1 day ahead of serving them.

You will need the following ingredients:

1-8 ounces carton of whipped cream cheese
1 cup (8 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup chopped green onion
6 ounces of dried cranberries
4-10 inch flour tortillas

There are many different brands of feta cheese. Some are saltier than others. You may have to try a few different brands until you find one that suits your taste! (Feta cheese is the one that is always served on a Greek Salad. I have used it on my Cold Mediterranean Plate.)

Tortillas are a Mexican, round, flat, unleavened, bread made of either corn or flour. For this recipe be sure to buy the flour tortillas. They can be found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store.

Preparation:

The green onions need to be washed. Then cut off the hairy end.

The white part has a stronger onion flavor than the green part. For this recipe I use the whole thing. Cut the green onions into thirds and line them up.

Now dice them into about 1/8 inch slices.

Put the crumbled feta cheese into a large mixing bowl.

Now add the whipped cream cheese.

And the chopped scallions.

Now all the cranberries.

Mix everything together.

Spread the mixture onto a dinner plate. Divide the mixture into four equal size piles. This way you know you have divided the filling equally and each Cranberry Roll-up will have the same amount of filling.

Using a knife spread ¼ of the mixture onto a 10 inch tortilla. If the filling is difficult to spread, dip your knife into water then try spreading the filling. (You can use the leftover flour tortillas to make Quesadillas!)

It is not necessary to spread the filling right to the very side edges. Those edges will get trimmed away later anyways in order to make perfect rounds.

Tightly roll up the tortilla.

Wrap each tortilla in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. (Or you can make them a day in advance.)

Slice off the ends about 1 inch on each side. (These are the bits that you sample!) Now cut each roll into about 10 slices. (If you cut them too thin they will fall apart.)

Arrange the slices on a serving dish and garnish (decorate) with fresh parsley or leftover green onion. Enjoy!

Source: Taste of Home

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Salmon Quesadillas

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posted in Lunch by Kathy Maister

Difficulty:

Quesadillas are flour tortillas filled with a few savory ingredients. This salmon quesadilla is great for breakfast lunch or dinner!

It also has a bit of elegance and sophistication because of the wonderful combination of ingredients which are:

2 -8 inch flour tortillas
3 tablespoons of herbed cream cheese spread
1 ounce of smoked salmon
2 teaspoons of capers
1/8 teaspoon of dried dill

Start with the 8 inch size flour tortillas. The bigger ones are just too difficult to try and flip.
Buy your favorite brand of soft herbed cream cheese.
One 4 ounce package of smoked salmon will make 4 quesadillas. Salmon is a bit expensive but a small amount goes a long way.
An extra sprinkle of dried dill (1/8 teaspoon) is nice but not essential.

The one unusual ingredient is capers. They are sold in a jar and are found in the grocery store near all the condiments. They are packed in a salty brine and should be drained and rinsed. They add a tangy flavor to these quesadillas which goes really well with the salmon.

Spread 1 ½ Tablespoon of the herbed cheese on one flour tortilla. You really don’t want to put too much filling in the quesadillas or they will fall apart when you try to eat them.

Lay the tortilla in a non stick fry pan, cheese side up. Chop one ounce of smoked salmon and sprinkle it on top of the cheese.

Sprinkle the capers on top of the salmon and then add the dried dill. (Left over capers are great on a salad.)

Spread 1 ½ Tablespoons of the herbed cheese on the other tortilla.

Place the tortilla, cheese side down, in the pan. It now looks like a sandwich.

Place the pan on the stove and set it to medium heat. It will take about 1 ½ – 2 minutes for the cheese to melt and the tortilla to get lightly toasted. (If you want you can brush a bit of butter or oil on the grilled side of the tortilla to give it a nicely browned and crispy finish. It’s not really necessary)

Using a spatula, flip the quesadilla and cook that side for about another 1 ½ minutes until is it lightly browned.

Slide the whole thing onto a cutting board.

With a big kitchen knife slice it, the way you would a pizza, in half, then quarters, then 1/8s.

Enjoy!

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