As I was saying in my last post, cookout season has arrived. And thus far the humidity around here hasn’t reached its usual god-awful Virginia levels, so it is actually pleasant to be outside. But I know that heat and humidity is lurking just right around the corner. Soon I won’t want to be outside and definitely won’t want to be hovering over a hot stove. So I thought I’d share a really easy, summer time salad recipe today. You don’t need to go anywhere near a stove or oven to whip this dish together. Served cold and always refreshing, Broccoli Salad is in heavy rotation in this household all summer!

My Mom originally gave me this recipe. But it wasn’t something we had for dinner when I was a kid. I don’t think she came across this one herself until I was off to college. When I was growing up the only raw vegetable dish I remember seeing was coleslaw. I guess I occasionally saw someone who was dieting eating raw carrots and celery sticks, but generally when vegetables were served for dinner, they were boiled until they were mushy. Now I know there are plenty of folks who love mushy vegetables and more power to them. I prefer a little texture to my vegetables. Perhaps it is a generational thing as most of the friends I have around my age prefer steamed veggies but say they remember mostly having mushy veggies served to them as kids. I have a great story about my Granddad and this Broccoli Salad along those lines. Many years ago I made a big bowl of this salad and took it to some gathering at my Mom’s house. My Granddad was chatting with my brother and said ‘ I don’t know who made this Broccoli dish, but I think they didn’t cook it quite long enough.” My brother just smiled and said, “Yes, it is a bit crunchy alright.”

This salad is very easy to prepare. There is a bit of chopping involved, but since I got a food processor that really has not been an issue. I will say though that you have to be careful not to process the broccoli too much. You don’t want a broccoli paste, so just give it a few quick pulses. Now I know I said that you don’t have to turn on your stove to make this, but you may be thinking “hey…there’s bacon in here.” That’s true. I usually buy a bag of those real bacon bits and throw those in. Of course, you are welcome to fry up some bacon if you like. I just wanted you to know that there is a bit of a time-saving cheaters option that can be done here. And even though this salad doesn’t take long to prepare, folks will go wild for it! That broccoli is so fresh and crispy and the dressing is a lovely sweet and tangy combination. And, come on… it has bacon and cheese in it! You know it will be nothing short of addictive. A great salad to take to parties, pot lucks, picnics or for just a regular week night dinner. Give it a try!

Broccoli Salad

recipe from: My Mom

yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• 3-4 crowns broccoli, chopped
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 10-12 slices bacon, crumbled (about 3/4 cup of crumbled bacon)

For the dressing:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Chop Broccoli (either in food processor, or old-fashioned way).  Place in large bowl. Add cheese, onion and crumbled bacon. Set aside.

In small bowl whisk together mayo, sugar and vinegar until smooth.

Pour dressing over the broccoli mixture and stir until thoroughly coated. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Have those backyard cookouts fired up in your neck of the woods yet? They are in full swing around here and I found just the perfect little dessert to bring along to them. Tipsy S’mores Bites – Tiny bite sized s’mores infused with marshmallow vodka! Everyone loves S’mores and these little devils take it up a notch, primarily due to the addition of the booze, but they are not nearly as messy as an actual s’mores and you don’t have to work over the grill or fire pit to make them. They are ready to go. Just grab ‘em and pop ‘em right into your mouth!

Of course this also means you can serve them inside if your party has gotten rained out. They are quite easy to make. In fact I usually make them over a couple of days. The first day I make the graham cracker cookie cups. Once your graham cracker crust is mixed up, fill each mini muffin well nearly to the top. Pat the filling down into the cup. And then use your fingers to shape the cup portion which will hold the chocolate. Or use a wine cork as I do. Once baked, you just fill them with that scrumptious boozy chocolate.

Making Graham Cracker cookie cups using my special wine cork shaping technique!

Now truth be told, you don’t really need a whole lot of that Marshmallow Vodka. My advice would be to try to get ahold of one of those little airplane bottles of the stuff. If you can’t find that, I suppose you could just use regular old vodka, or heaven forbid, eliminate the booze altogether. I will say that if you do buy a bigger bottle of the stuff, mixing it with root beer gives you something tasting real close to a good old-fashioned root beer float. Always a good thing in my book.

Anyway, once the graham cracker cups and chocolate are finished, I store them in the fridge for 1-2 days. On the day I want to serve them, I whip up that marshmallow frosting and pipe it onto them. Then it is time for all the fun with the kitchen torch. Folks really do seem to love them. Have some ready for your next get together!

Tipsy S’mores Bites

recipe inspired by: Teach Eat Love, My Baking Addiction, and Martha Stewart

yield: 36 mini s’mores cookie cups

Ingredients:

For the cookie cups:

• 4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup butter
• 6 Tablespoons sugar
• splash of milk (I used about 4 1/2 Tablespoons)

For the chocolate filling:

• 6 ounces high quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/6 cup heavy cream (1.3 ounces, or 5 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon) heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Fluffed Marshmallow Vodka

For the marshmallow topping:

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Begin with the Graham Cracker Cookie Cups:

That is when I remembered my Mom’s White Wine Cake recipe. It was delicious and really easy to make. I thought perhaps I should cancel out the time intensive, multi-stepped dessert I had planned to do that evening and make that wonderfully easy White Wine Cake instead…but I instantly despaired and thought, “No. That cake is made with box cake mix. I have to do something from scratch.” That was it. The moment of clarity when I recognized the ridiculous cake snobbery that had inexplicably taken hold of me somewhere along the way. Mom had always been lavished with rave reviews whenever she made that cake. Having eaten it before, I knew it was fantastic. Yet I seemed to somehow think it was below me because it was made with a box mix. A box mix which, I might point out, was very convenient, easy and along with a few additional ingredients baked up to be quite tasty! How foolheaded could I possibly be? Surely God put those cake mixes on this green earth to make life a little easier for us poor creatures.?!! Come to think of it, life is too short and way too action packed to turn up your nose at box cake mixes! So I decided right then and there to make it and you know what? Folks couldn’t stop raving about how much they loved that White Wine Cake. It was moist, buttery, white wine perfection! And the glaze you drench it in? Ambrosia I tell you! I could nearly drink it straight from the pan. Not to mention, when I finally got over myself and settled in to making it, I realized how much fun it was, especially after my trying day. It didn’t tax my brain at all. You know….it was a little wine for the cake…a couple glugs (or possibly glasses) for the cook…etc. etc. It was White Wine Cake therapy and it actually went a long way to improving my mood and outlook. Make this cake and soon. You won’t be disappointed, perhaps a little tispsy….but never disappointed!

White Wine Cake

recipe from: My Mom

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 3 oz. box instant vanilla pudding
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 Cup water
• 3/4 Cup Vegetable oil
• 1/4 Cup white wine
• 1/4 Cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 Cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 Cup pecans-finely chopped

Glaze:

• 1/4 Cup butter
• 1/4 Cup sugar
• 1/8 Cup water
• 1/8 Cup wine (possibly more depending on your mood and the day you’ve had)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a bundt or tube pan and set aside.

Place all of the ingredients except for the pecans in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until blended.

Fold 1/4 cup of the pecans into the batter. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup pecans in the bottom of the prepared cake pan and then pour batter over top of them.

Bake cake for 50-60 minutes. Remove cake from oven and cool on a wire rack.

While Cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. Melt butter, sugar and water over medium high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and let boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add the wine, stirring to combine.

Remove cake from pan. Place baking sheet under wire rack. Using a pastry brush or marinate brush, cover cake with glaze. I usually do this in several passes, letting one application of glaze sink in and then going back over the cake with another, etc.

Enjoy!

Want a tasty, crowd pleasing treat that doesn’t take much time or effort to make? Look no further, you’ve found it here with these M&M Cookie Bars. These wonderfully thick and chewy bars are simply delicious, buttery and chocolatey and every single bite is just bursting with M&M’s. And as I’ve mentioned, they are so easy to make I could almost do it in my sleep. (And perhaps I have…though that is an entirely different story) But really, in 45 minutes these little devils are done and dusted with the dishes washed up and everything!

The great thing about using M&M’s in these bars, besides the fact that folks just plain love them, is that it makes the dessert very versatile. M&M’s come in so many varieties these days. You can find bags of them with colours customized for almost every holiday, they come in white chocolate, dark chocolate, peanut butter, pretzel filled, etc. etc. By changing which type of M&M you use, you’ll seem to have come up with a brand spanking new dessert every time. Minimal effort, maximum results. Gotta love that. Bake yourself the first of many batches today!

M&M Cookie Bars

recipe from: What Megan’s Making

yield: 16 squares

Ingredients:

• 2 1/8 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 12 Tbsp butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 1 12oz bag M&M’s, divided ( I used mini M&M’s but regular sized will work fine as well)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Grease a 9×9″ pan and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter and sugars until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in 1 cup of M&M’s and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Sprinkle remaining M&M’s on top and press in slightly.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy!

Here it is, May 3rd and Cinco de Mayo is nearly upon us! But there is still time to make these outstanding BBQ Pulled Pork Taquitos before the big day and I assure you, you will be glad that you did! If you’ll recall, just a few weeks ago I broke out my slow cooker and made some mouth-watering pork carnitas which I used for Carnitas Tacos. Quite unbelievably,  I actually had a bit of that pork leftover and that is what went into these Taquitos.

Now don’t get me wrong, I loved those tacos, but I can see firing up that crock pot again just to make these little devils. Not only are they absolutely dee-lish but they are also easy to prepare. No frying, these gems are baked. And where a lot of recipes I perused called for cream cheese, these little fellows are made with ranch dressing and BBQ sauce. Now you can pick whatever BBQ sauce happens to be your favourite. As you know, if you’ve been paying any mind to us around here, we like it pretty spicy, so I went with a Habañero Hot. But you can customize this recipe to your taste and do whatsoever you please, as far as the sauce goes anyway…sweet, mustardy, vinegary…you name it! I will say though if you are going to follow my lead, you might want to have a bunch of beer iced down and ready to go. (Actually, now that I think about it,  you should do that regardless of the sauce you pick

One thing you should keep in mind is that it does take a while for the slow cooker to work its magic on that pork shoulder, so plan ahead. But once that pork is pulled and ready to go, these Taquitos assemble quickly and easily. You can make up a big tray of them earlier in the day and then just pop them into the oven 30 minutes or so before party guests arrive. Not that you need to have a party to serve these. My husband is already making plans to have the next batch I make all to his self! In fact, I haven’t tried this, but I think you could substitute in some chicken (perhaps rotisserie chicken if you are pressed for time) for the pork and these would still taste superb. So there you have it. I’ve given you a few great Cinco de Mayo recipes now, Carnitas Tacos, Salsa, Guacamole and BBQ Pulled Pork Taquitos. With food mostly covered, you should be well on your way to planning a rocking celebration in just a couple of days. Don’t forget the drinks…oh, and a hot Mariachi Band. Let me know how it goes!

BBQ Pulled Pork Taquitos

recipe slightly adapted from: Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

Yield: 10-12 Taquitos

Ingredients:

• 1/4 – 1/3 cup ranch dressing
• 1/3 cup barbecue sauce  (I used Sticky Fingers Smokehouse’s Habañero Hot sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chile powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• dash of hot sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon packed brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 2 cups shredded pulled pork (I used left-overs from the pork I made for Carnitas Tacos)
• 1 cup shredded  cheese (I used Sargento’s Four Cheese Mexican Blend)
• 10-12 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
• ranch dressing and/or barbecue sauce, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together 1/4 cup of the ranch dressing, the barbecue sauce, paprika, chile powder, garlic powder, mustard powder, brown sugar, salt, red onion, scallions and cilantro. (If the mixture seems too dry, add the remaining ranch dressing.) Add the pork and cheese and stir until evenly distributed. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

Place 2 tortillas at a time on a microwave safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 25 seconds, or until the tortillas are soft and pliable. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the filling onto the lower third of each tortilla, and roll tightly. Place seam side-down on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.

Spray the tops of the taquitos with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tortillas are crisp and golden. Serve with salsa and/or barbecue sauce.

Enjoy!

Yuuuuummm! Guacamole!!! I’ve recently been blogging about some great Mexican style dishes in preparation for Cinco de Mayo, which will be here before you know it! First there was the Carnitas Tacos and just a few days ago, I shared my favourite homemade Salsa recipe. Up next is Guacamole, that delicious avocado based sauce. It seems that in addition to Salsa, the Aztecs are also the folks who gave us “ahuaca-mulli” or avocado mix, which we know as Guacamole. Like Salsa, this dish is easy to prepare, with just a small amount of chopping, no food processor is necessary here. The big difference between the two sauces is that Guacamole must be made the day it is to be served. You really can’t refrigerate the stuff long before that yummy vibrant green begins to take on a very unappetizing brown hue. One fun trick I’ve learned is that you can save the three avocado pits and place them on top of your finished Guacamole while you are waiting to serve it. This will actually slow the oxidation which results in the unfortunate color change. The Guacamole recipe that I am sharing today is really more of an El Salvadorian style Guacamole, than Mexican. However, I’m sure you can still serve it on Cinco de Mayo without too many folks getting their panties in a bunch. Though you never know…last year I shared a recipe for one of my favourite dips, Santa Fe Dip and said it would be a great dish to serve at a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Next thing I knew I got a snippity comment informing me that I needed a geography lesson and that Santa Fe was in the United States. Clearly a dish with Santa Fe in the name could NOT be enjoyed on Cinco de Mayo a Mexican holiday!….Really?!! Perhaps we could relax a bit, it’s just a food blog here… Anyway…

I say this is an El Salvadoran style Guacamole because it has chopped hard-boiled egg in it. I first encountered this type of Guacamole at my favourite Mexican restaurant, DiOGi’s. They serve up amazing latin style cuisine there. If you ever find yourself in Fayetteville, West Virginia, you must pay them a visit! The chef and owner, Oscar Aguilar, is from El Salvador and told us that the egg bit is an El Salvadoran thing. Now don’t scrunch up your nose like that until you try it. It is really good and while pretty subtle it really adds that extra layer of flavour. Bursting with freshness, this Guacamole is great with a basket of tortilla chips, on a taco or even a burger. It easily puts any store-bought cups of green stuff called guacamole to shame. Make a batch up today!

Guacamole

recipe adapted from: Alton Brown and Oscar Aguilar

Ingredients

• 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 hard-boiled egg, chopped

Directions:

In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, jalapeno, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic and chopped egg. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.

Enjoy!

Cinco de Mayo isn’t far off and I just shared a great recipe with you for Carnitas Tacos, which I’m sure would be warmly welcomed at any Cinco de Mayo celebration. One of the fixings you will definitely need to have on hand when you make up a bunch of those afore-mentioned Tacos is a spicy fresh salsa. So I thought I’d go ahead and share my favourite salsa recipe with you. Salsa is easy to make, especially if you have a food processor. But even if you don’t, it is still pretty straightforward, just requiring a bit of chopping. And it tastes fantastic. Wonderfully fresh! So different from that stuff you find on supermarket shelves you’ll be wondering what in the world it was that you were eating out of those jars for all those years. Salsa which simply means “sauce” in Spanish has been around for a long time. In the mid 1500′s, Spanish Franciscan missionaries mentioned it in their writings as a dish the Aztecs enjoyed. And it is still being enjoyed today all over the world. As it turns out Americans have been eating a whole lot of Salsa. In 1991 it overtook ketchup as the top-selling condiment here! This homemade version goes along great with any mexican dish or simply on its own with a big old basket of tortilla chips. Make up a batch for any Cinco de Mayo celebration and you will be the talk of the town. But remember, it takes a little while for all of the lovely flavours to come together, so it is best if you can make this salsa at least 12 hours before you want to serve it. I usually make it the day before. So what are you waiting for? Get chopping!

Salsa

recipe adapted from: Alton Brown

Ingredients:

• 6 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 seeded and minced jalapeños
• 1 red bell pepper, fine dice
• 1/2 red onion, fine chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (We love cilantro, but if you don’t, you may want to reduce this a bit)
• Chili powder, salt, and pepper, to taste
• 5 Fresh scallions, chopped

Directions:

Get a large bowl out and set aside. I use my food processor to chop the tomatoes, red pepper, garlic and onion. I process each vegetable individually (with the exception of the garlic and onion which go in together) so that I can get them to the texture I prefer. As you finish chopping each vegetable, add it to the large bowl and then add in the olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, scallions and spices. Stir to combine. Place in refrigerator for up to 12 hours for optimum flavour infusion.

Serve with tortilla chips.

I gotta tell ya’ll, we LOVE any sort of Mexican/Tex-Mex food around here. I’m always more than happy to try out any such recipe. And on Friday night, one of the bands my husband plays in usually arrives here to rehearse. (yup…we have a rehearsal space/recording studio in our basement.) Which is great because it gives me a captive audience to try out new recipes on. And they went absolutely wild for these Carnitas Tacos! What really made these tacos stand out from the run of the mill ground beef tacos was the delicious, spicy, melt-in-your-mouth-tender yet crispy at the edges pork. And the truly wonderful thing about these carnitas is that I was able to make the dish with very little fuss. No really, I kid you not and I’m not even exaggerating the least little bit! You see they are crock pot carnitas. I don’t know about you, but I seem to have some strange ideas about how one gets pulled pork. Perhaps it is a bit of the southerner in me, but I instantly think of a whole pig over a spit and some poor sweltering soul that is left to turn the crank on the spit for the days it takes it to cook. Of course, I fear that I’m going to be that poor soul, so I tend to shy away from any pulled pork recipe. But do you know what I’ve come to realize? You don’t need to man a spit. In fact, you can make some heavenly pulled pork in a crock pot. Go figure! So, this is what I did. I got up the day before folks were going to arrive and put a big old pork shoulder into my crock pot with all the appropriate spices, some lime juice, orange juice and beer and then just turned it on and let it do its thing for 8 hours. When it was all done, I removed the meat, shredded it and popped it into the fridge. The next evening, I got all my taco fixings ready to go, you know the grated cheese, shredded lettuce, salsa, guacamole, diced onions and tomatoes, fresh chopped cilantro, sour cream and tortillas both soft and crispy. Then, shortly before I was going to serve dinner, I put the shredded pork in the broiler to warm it up and get it a little crispy around the edges.

It was really easy and incredibly tasty! And the other amazing thing is that there were left-overs! On band rehearsal evenings I’m usually feeding six hungry musicians, so more often than not the only thing I bring back into the kitchen are dirty dishes. However, this time I knew I’d be able to get at least one more meal from these carnitas. Hmmm…there are so many possibilities, we could do more tacos, or a tamale pie or pulled pork sandwiches. You’ll have to check back to see what I actually came up with, but I’ll tell you it was just as good as these stop-you-in-your-tracks Carnitas Tacos and that is saying something! But don’t let folks in on the secret, let them imagine you out there toiling endlessly over that spit!

Carnitas Tacos

recipe from: Pinch of Yum

Yield: 10-12 servings

Ingredients:

• 4-5 lbs. pork shoulder
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon chipotle hot sauce
• juice of 2 limes
• ½ cup orange juice
• 12 ounces beer
• ½ cup salsa

Taco Fixings: whatever your favourites are, but here are some suggestions

• tortillas, soft or crispy – your choice
• lettuce, shredded
• tomatoes, diced
• guacamole or sliced avocados
• onion, diced
• cilantro, freshly chopped
• sour cream
• shredded cheese
• salsa
• hot sauce

Directions:

Place the pork shoulder in the slow cooker, fat side up. Roughly chop the garlic and place in the slow cooker (I actually kind of rubbed it onto the meat to get as much garlic flavor as possible, but you could just toss it in, too).

Sprinkle the meat with salt, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, oregano, cinnamon, and cayenne. Rub seasonings onto the pork.

Add lime juice, orange juice, beer, and salsa. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove pork from the slow cooker. Shred meat with two forks. Reserve the sauce separately. The meat should fall apart easily. At this point, you can either place the meat in the refrigerator if you are serving at a later date. Or if you are ready to serve it right then and there, preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the shredded meat on the cooking sheet and pour a few spoonfuls of sauce over the top. Broil for 5-10 minutes or until you get browned edges on the pork.Serve on tortillas with fresh cilantro, avocado, and all the fixins!

Enjoy!

Since I just shared that wonderfully spicy Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya recipe with you, I thought you might like something with a bit of a Creole flavour to serve for dessert. New Orleans Bourbon Bread Pudding is just such a dessert. Usually this bread pudding would be made with a French baguette or other egg rich bread like brioche or challah.But I had just made a huge batch of Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday. Those Buns were deeee-lish!

The best Hot Cross Buns I have made to date. However, there were quite of few of those gems sitting around here. Even after the husband and I had eaten our fill, and I’d set one aside for its good luck/medicinal value, we still had quite a few and they were rapidly heading towards a very stale state. Perfect for Bread Pudding! Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding!

Oh and don’t forget that I’m putting some Bourbon in the mix as well. That is always a good thing! I had made Dorie Greenspan’s Bourbon Bread Pudding before and knew it was a winner, so I just made her Bourbon Bread pudding using my Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns for the bread. I decided to make up a bit of Bourbon Syrup to drizzle over the pudding as well. Oh yeah…and we might have added a little scoop of ice cream on the side. Let me tell you, this bread pudding is just da bomb! I hope you won’t wait until next Easter to make it!

Bourbon Apple Cinnamon Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding

Recipe slightly adapted from: Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces left over Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Demerara sugar to sprinkle over top

For the Bourbon syrup:

• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Bourbon ( I like Knob Creek)

Directions:

Butter a 9×5 inch loaf pan ( Pyrex or ceramic will work well. I had so many Buns left over to use, I doubled the recipe and made mine in a 9×13″ pan). Line a roasting pan big enough to hold the loaf pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

Cut the buns into 1″ cubes and remove the cross from the top of the bun as it tends to have a tough texture. If the bread is stale, put it into the loaf pan. If it is not stale, spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchments and bake it in a 350° F oven to “stale” it for 10 minutes. Once finished, place the bread in the loaf pan and set the loaf pan in the middle of the roasting pan.

Bring milk and cream just to a boil.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl. Still whisking slowly drizzle in about one-quarter of the hot milk mixture-this will temper, or warm the eggs so they don’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining milk. Add the bourbon and vanilla and whisk gently to blend. Rap the bowl against the counter to pop any bubbles that might have formed, then pour the custard over the bread and press the bread gently with the back of a spoon to help cover it with liquid. Cover the pan lightly with wax paper and leave it on the counter, giving the bread the back-of-the-spoon treatment now and then, for 1 hour.

Center a rack in an oven preheated to 350°F.

Discard the wax paper. Sprinkle Demerara sugar over the top of the pudding. Cover the loaf pan snugly with a piece of aluminum foil. Poke about 5 holes in the foil. Slide the roasting pan/loaf pan into the oven and very carefully pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. Bake the pudding for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for 15 minutes more, or until the pudding is puffed and golden and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and cool the pudding until it is just warm, or reaches room temperature.

While pudding is baking make the Bourbon Syrup. Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil for about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Bourbon. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.

Once you a ready to serve the pudding, sprinkle powdered sugar over the top and serve with a Bourbon syrup drizzle. Or you could go even one step further and serve it along with a scoop of ice cream.

Enjoy!

The other day I thought I might like to make a big old pot of that Classic New Orleans dish Jambalaya, so I began searching around for a recipe. When I thought of Louisiana chefs and Cajun and Creole style New Orleans cooking, the first to come to mind was Emeril Lagasse. No I lie. Truth be told, the first was actually the Cajun Cook Justin Wilson. What a hoot he was! But Emeril’s name followed quickly behind and I was able to find this great recipe of his for Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya. I did find quite a few others that included shrimp or some other seafood. But that is a big “no-no” in this house. Indeed you may have noticed I’ve never blogged any seafood recipe, which might seem a bit weird considering I hail from an Island in the Chesapeake Bay. My father is a 6th generation commercial fisherman (“waterman” as they are called on the island) and I grew up eating seafood for dinner at least a couple of times a week. More shellfish, crabs, clams and oysters, than fin fish, but I’ve eaten and watched my mom prepare a whole lot of seafood. So why the scarcity of it on my blog? My husband is allergic to seafood. Yup. All of it. Fish and shellfish. I remember when I told my parents of his “condition” they kind of looked at me blankly and said “Well what does he eat?” Somehow he has managed to get by and before you start feeling too sorry for him, he doesn’t really know what he is missing. Rather than acquiring the allergy later in life, he has had it from the get go. So he doesn’t feel deprived in the least and associates eating seafood with unpleasant things like projectile puking. So…..no seafood is happening around this place!

NONE of these guys or any of his little sea dwelling friends!

As I set out to making this dish, I started wondering what was the difference between a Jambalaya and a Gumbo. After a bit of research I found that although they both come from Louisiana there are several distinguishing characteristics of each one . Gumbo is a thick soup or stew, often made with a roux, and according to many can not be considered gumbo unless okra is one of the ingredients. It is served over or along side of rice. Now Jambalaya, on the other hand, is more of a casserole in which the rice is cooked in the same pot as the other ingredients. If the Jambalaya has tomatoes in it, as this one does, it is Creole Jambalaya. If there are no tomatoes, it is considered Cajun Jambalaya. Now, what about that name? It is certainly fun to say, but where in the world did it come from? Turns out they don’t really know, but there are a few myths and legends surrounding it. One is that it is a combination of the French word for ham “jambon”, “à la” (with) and “ya” which is an African word for rice. So,  jambon à la ya, or ham with rice. Then there is the story that says it comes from a misunderstanding. Apparently, so it goes, there was a traveller who arrived at a New Orleans Inn long after dinner hours, but was hungry. So the Inn keeper shouted to his cook, whose name was Jean, “Jean, throw something together.” Except he said it in the local speak of the time, so it was a bit more like “Jean balayez” , which the late dinner guest interpreted as a request for a dish called Jambalaya. But perhaps it has a Native American origin. The Atakapa Indians have a saying which is their equivalent of the French Bon Appetit.  It means “Be full, not skinny. Eat up!” and is said “Sham, pal ha. Ya!” Hmmm…which is your favourite?

Well you won’t have long to ponder it, because this delicious seafood free Jambalaya is easy to make, only dirties one pot and doesn’t take very long to cook at all. I only made a few alterations from Emeril’s original recipe. He calls for Green Pepper, which I do not care for. I like red peppers and yellow peppers, but something about those green ones just bugs me. So I used a red pepper instead. Another big difference is that the original recipe calls for leaving the chicken thighs whole in the finished dish. So when you serve, each guest would get their own piece of chicken. I decided I would rather have the chicken off the bone and shredded. I noted in the recipe below at which point you could do this if you would like. Whether you add this step in or omit it altogether, you will be thrilled with the finished dish, full of tender chicken, spicy sausage and vegetables. Real Creole comfort food. We like it really hot around here, so I served mine with lashings of Tabasco sauce and a side of cornbread. Whooeee…. I guarantee it will put a smile on your face!

Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya

recipe slightly adapted from: Emeril Lagasse

yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, about 6, trimmed of excess fat
• 2½ teaspoons salt
• 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1½ pounds smoked andouille sausage, cut into ½ inch dice
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 4 medium ribs celery, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch scallions, finely chopped, green and white parts reserved separately
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles, with juices
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crumbled between your fingers
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ½ teaspoon Tabasco or hot pepper sauce
• 1½ teaspoons Creole Seasoning
• 4 cups chicken stock or canned, low-sodium chicken broth
• One 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with juices
• 3 cups long grain white rice
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Season the chicken on both sides with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1 teaspoon of the black pepper. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add the chicken to the Dutch oven and cook until browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side, working in batches as necessary. Transfer the browned chicken to a platter and set aside.

Add the sausage to the Dutch oven, reduce the heat to medium high, and cook, stirring until the sausage is browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the sausage to the same platter with the chicken. Add the onions, celery, bell pepper, scallion bottoms, garlic, and tomato paste to the Dutch oven and sauté over medium heat until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the green chiles, thyme, bay leaf, crushed red pepper, hot sauce, and Essence. Return the chicken and sausage to the pan, along with the chicken stock and diced tomatoes and bring to a brisk simmer. Cover and reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is nearly tender and the broth has absorbed the flavor of the sausage and the seasonings.

Once the chicken is tender, remove it from pot and set aside to cool to the point that you can handle it. Remove meat from the bones and shred it. Add shredded meat back to Dutch oven. (This step can be skipped if you prefer to have whole chicken thighs in the jambalaya.)

Increase the heat to high and add the rice, the chopped scallion tops, and the remaining salt and pepper. Stir well and return to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the rice is cooked and has absorbed all the liquid, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, gently stir in the parsley, cover, and let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!