"Hidden Treasure" Bread Pudding

hi foodie followers!   I realize I've been neglectful of the Blog lately...  but don't you fret!  we have been eating (though mostly on the go), and have been relying on faithful recipes (or take out).  what I'm saying is, there's been nothing to blog about.  well, there is one thing to blog about, but that's for another day...

ANYWAY. let's get to the task at hand and discuss the fact that I made pudding.  homemade.  with my own hands.  no boxes involved!!!  it was really easy and adding rum to it made me feel classy.

the recipe:

2 eggs

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups half-and-half

1/2 c plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tbsp Rum

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 c firmly packed stale 1/2 in. croissant cubes

so, you basically combine all of the ingredients then let it sit. place the chocolate chips in the bottom of the ramekins, add the bread cubes, fill the ramekins 3/4 full of the liquid then let it soak for 20 min. bake in a water bath (boiling water) for  20 min. let sit for 20 min. then let cool on a wire rack before serving.

obviously you can see it was A LOT of waiting around. this is not one of those desserts you want to make when you're really hungry (I was) or impatient (I am).

the verdict: I'm undecided.  for one thing, I didn't ruin it. I really loved the croissants and loved how they smelled baking in my oven.  I can't tell if the chocolate added something special to it or took away from it.  I also should add that I sprinkled in some fresh grated Nutmeg and a splash of Cinnamon. (in my opinion if you're going to heat Rum you need those 2 things with it.)

I wish I would've just used raisins like I originally wanted to instead of the chocolate, but I really thought my husband would enjoy the chocolate...  until he got stuck at work and won't be able to eat it now...

any takers?

~pam

Simmering Tomato Sauce with Butter

I was perusing my cookbooks on Saturday trying to figure out what to make the kids for dinner.  Normally I wouldn't have a problem deciding on one recipe however nothing was sounding good with my current list of recipe requirements.  Mind you, I have a 15-month-old son that will eat anything and everything under the sun - except lately because he's teething and his mouth is sore when he chews.  I also have a 4-year-ol daughter that doesn't like anything she hasn't tried before and apparently doesn't trust dear old Mom and Dad to assure her that whatever we give her will be really good.  We promise.  Isn't she supposed to stop trusting us when she's 16 and finally realizes we've been telling her lies all these years just to see her reactions?

So, mushy food and something relatively similar to meals we've had in the past.  And it must be quick.

Awesome.  That makes for an exciting dinner from one of my cookbook recipes.

So I decided to skip dinner for the time being and focus on dessert.  We normally don't have dessert but I was in "a mood" and wanted to cook or bake something sweet.  That reminded me of an amazing recipe at Smitten Kitchen that was recommended to me from Violet, and if my memory served me correctly the recipe was both easy and quick. Perfect!

Now that the dessert is out of the way, back to the main course.  I decided to scroll through some of the other recipes at Smitten Kitchen and I came to a rediculously fast, easy recipe that catered to all of my meal requirements.  Four ingredients with one of them being pasta?  Heck yeah!

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions

Serves 4 as a main course; makes enough sauce to lightly coat most of a pound of spaghetti

28 ounces (800 grams) whole peeled tomatoes from a can (San Marzano, if you can find them)
5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan (it fit just right in a 3-quart) over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you didn’t need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

Serve with spaghetti, with or without grated parmesan cheese to pass.

 
I followed the directions and it took literally 3 minutes to get everything into a saucepan and the temperature to medium-high.  And then I was done.  I stirred it every once in a while and broke up the tomatoes but that was it.  I actually made my dessert while dinner was cooking because I felt lost just standing there.

When I was done both Kate and Oliver decided that they wanted only buttered noodles instead of having sauce with it but I'm sure it was just because the noodles were so cool to look at.

Overall, I felt it was a good recipe to have when the summer days are long and there are too many tomatoes in the garden to know what to do with.  Although this recipe called for a can of whole tomatoes and the sauce ended up being a tomato-y sweet goodness, I have the idea that fresh tomatoes are going to make it taste even better.  Next time I'll also add italian seasoning and maybe some fresh garlic to cater more towards the family's tastes.  Nevertheless, this recipe was a great, fast, easy addition to my growing collection of "good 'uns."