Happy Monday

I have a fun photo for you today, that I took at the Renaissance Festival yesterday after my shift ended.

A true Scotsman (with a red ribbon under his kilt) and his wench.  :)  

Mugs found in the Tri Canis Nox shop, owned by Don Lewis, a great guy.  

Food Friday--Bread Pudding with Butter Rum Sauce

This is not "normal" bread pudding, though it could easily be made into normal bread pudding by using the more traditional French bread.

When I got the desire to make bread pudding, I had everything I needed except the French bread, so I searched around my kitchen to find an acceptable substitute.  I discovered a loaf of cream cheese Povitica in my freezer that needed to be used as it had been there for several months.  I wasn't sure at first if it would make good bread pudding or not, but decided to give it a try anyway.  I'm glad I did.  It was good.

For those who don't know, Povitica is a type of Eastern European dessert.  I get mine from Strawberry Hill.  I am fortunate to live nearby their store, so I can just go in and purchase it, but they do ship it, too.  It's expensive, yes, but totally worth it every once in a while.

Bread Pudding with Butter Rum Sauce

What you need:

1 loaf cream cheese Povitica, cubed (or 7-8 cups of torn or cubed French bread)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup raisins
4 beaten eggs
Rum

For the sauce
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup rum, or to taste
What you do:

First thing, grab a bowl and put your raisins in it, then cover them with rum.  Let them soak until they are plump and filled with rum, several hours to as long as overnight if you wish.

Once the raisins have plumped to your liking, cube your Povitica, or French bread into pieces and place in a large bowl (or if you are lazy like me, just put the bread into a nonstick sprayed 13 x 9 baking dish and do everything right in there).

In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the brown sugar, milk, butter, cinnamon, vanilla, raisins, and 2½ tablespoons (or to taste) rum. Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved, then pour the mixture over your bread and allow to soak for 30 minutes.

While the bread is soaking, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick spray (if you are not already using it to soak your bread) and beat the eggs.

Add the 4 beaten eggs to the soaked bread and stir gently. (The bread should be completely saturated with the egg and milk mixture.)  If your mixture is not already in a 13 x 9 baking dish, pour it in now, and bake for 40-50 minutes until the top is browned and the middle is set. Do not overbake or the bread pudding will be dry.

For the sauce, melt the heavy cream, white sugar, and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Do not let it come to a boil or the mixture will crystallize and your sauce will be crunchy. Once the sugar has dissolved, add 1/4 cup (or to taste) rum and stir it in.  At this point, my sauce kept separating, so I took my stick blender and used that to help combine the ingredients into a nice, smooth sauce.  Running the sauce through a blender or a food processor for a few seconds would work too, if necessary.

 Pour the warm sauce over each slice of bread pudding before serving.  The sauce should be stored in the refrigerator, but tastes better warm, so reheat it in a microwave or a small saucepan before serving.

Cream cheese Povitica, yummy as is.  Better as bread pudding.

Raisins in rum.

Butter, stubbornly not melting.  

Yes, it looks gross now, but later it will be good.  

Baked bread pudding.  

The sauce before I took the stick blender to it.

Yum.  :)  

Happy Monday

I present to you this morning two gentlemen who were golfing their way around the Renaissance Festival grounds with stuffed hedgehog toys instead of golf balls.  The dad has an amazing Scottish accent.  :)

Food Friday--Red Velvet Brownies

I know a few weeks ago I said that I don't like brownies, and it's true.  I really don't.  But I had a craving for a certain texture one day (oddly, I do crave textures sometimes.  I am a very tactile person, I have to touch everything, and there are some foods that I really like the way they feel in my mouth-like shortbread-and other things that I cannot stand the way they feel in my mouth-like oatmeal.)

So, in my texture craving adventures, I determined that I was actually craving the texture of a slightly gooey brownie.  Not liking the flavor or brownies makes it difficult to satisfy cravings sometimes, so I decided to experiment a little.

The result of my experiment was a batch of red velvet brownies that came out pretty tasty, however,  I still don't like the edge pieces.

Red Velvet Brownies

What you need:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ounce red food coloring
2 tablespoons milk
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add in your food coloring, milk and vanilla and mix until the color is fully incorporated. Mix flour, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl, set your mixer speed to stir, and slowly add the flour mixture to your mixer bowl, scraping down the sides as necessary.  Stir just until combined. Don't worry, your batter will be thick.

Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes. 35 minutes (in my oven) gives a brownie that has a nice thin crust on top and is gooey underneath.  You may want yours more done than that.

Set aside to cool, cut into bars and enjoy.

Sides scraped, ready to go into the baking dish.

Cracked, but still good.

Ready to eat.  :)

Gratuitous clouds.  

Happy Monday

So, instead of only working a morning shift at the Renaissance Faire like we had intended, we were actually there all day.   I did manage to get a few photos of kilted persons, but there were a number of people who refused to let me photograph them.  I was honestly surprised.

However, there were a few who were happy to be photographed, and it is these intrepid adventurers that I will be sharing with you.  :)

Gypsy piper?  This gentleman was actually quite young, and very good.  

Food Friday--Cheesy Corn Bake

I adore Catherine Newman.  I have been following her writing for over 10 years now and will continue to follow her until she stops writing.  She has a blog that you can find here if you want.

So you may be wondering what Catherine Newman has to do with my recipe this week.  Well, to be perfectly honest, it's not my recipe this time.  It's hers.  And it's really good, as are all of her recipes that I have tried.

This one was so good, though, that I had to share it so that more people can enjoy it.  :)  I hope she doesn't mind.  (Also, I fiddled with it a bit to use some things that I had on hand, and of course I eliminated the salt.)

Catherine Newman's Cheesy Corn Bake
Here is a link to her original recipe

What you need

1 ½ tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
6 ears sweet corn, cut from the cob (I didn't have any corn on the cob, so I used frozen kernels--3 cups.)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cream, evaporated milk, or whole milk (I used cream)
1 cup grated or crumbled cheese (I used mild cheddar)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped marjoram (or another herb of your liking--I used oregano because it's what I had)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or half as much table salt) (Of course you all know by now that I didn't add any)
Freshly ground pepper
Paprika

What you do

Heat you oven to 350 degrees and non-stick spray a 6-cup baking dish.
Melt your butter in a skillet over low heat and cook the onion until it’s soft and lightly colored, about 10 minutes (or get busy making ren faire garb and let the onion cook so long it becomes caramelized)

Before accidental slight caramelization.  

Now add your corn to the pan and cook for another minute or two, until it is tender (if you use frozen corn, thaw it before you add it to the skillet).

So very corny.  

Next, beat the cream and the eggs together, then stir in the corn and onion, the cheese, herbs, and the pepper and salt (if using).

Say cheese!  I just mixed everything in my baking dish because I am lazy.

Finally, pour the mixture into your baking dish, sprinkle some paprika over the top, and bake until puffed and golden, around 45 minutes. Serve warm.

YUM!!!

Happy Monday

Yesterday we spent the better part of the day in the 100+ degree heat at the Renaissance Festival near our home.  There were so many people in kilts, it was worth the heat exhaustion.  Next weekend is Scottish Highland Games weekend, so there will be even MORE kilts.  :)  Granted, I will be working and only able to enjoy the fun after my shift ends at 3:00, but I will try to get some pics of some hot kilted persons for us to enjoy.

Today, however, I present to you my own son, none too happy about having his picture taken. 

If I stretch like this, I mess up the front of my kilt!

Food Friday--Slow Cooker Peach Butter

A couple of weeks ago, I got a craving for scones (not the weird triangular American scones, I mean real, Scottish scones) with peach jam.  The problem is that I don't like jam (I told you I was weird).  I do like fruit butters, though, and so I set out to create peach butter.

I had never had peach butter and wasn't even sure peaches would work, but I figured I would give it a try.  The results are too sweet for my taste, but good.  Unfortunately, I discovered just a few days after making the peach butter that I may be allergic to peaches, and so can't eat it.  :(  Fortunately, my teenager thinks this stuff is The Best Thing Ever.

Peach Butter

What you need

4 1/2 pounds fresh peaches
2-4 cups granulated sugar, to taste (I used 2.5 cups and it's too sweet for me.  Some people like things much sweeter than I do.)
1 teaspoon Almond extract (optional)

What you do

First, wash your peaches, then cut an X through the skin on the bottom of each one.  While you are doing that, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, and prepare a large bowl of ice and water.

Place three or four peaches into the boiling water at a time, and boil for about 30 seconds.  Remove them from the boiling water and place into that bowl of iced water for 1 minute.  Remove from the ice water and the peach skins should easily peel off.  Please note:  The peaches will be SLIPPERY, so be careful.

You can't tell, but the water really is boiling.  

Chillin'.

Easily peeled, slippery peaches.  

After you get them peeled, carefully cut them in half and remove the pits, then slice each peach into eight smaller chunks, then put them into your slow cooker.

Just peachy!

Add in a teaspoon of almond extract if you like (or you can add cinnamon or cloves or allspice if you want.  I just wanted peach.  I did add in the almond extract, though.  I think that it makes the peaches taste better.)

Next, add in your sugar.

Too much sugar!  

Then stir gently, pop on the lid, turn your slow cooker on low and walk away for about 10 hours.  

When you come back, take the lid off and let the peaches continue to cook for another hour or two, or to your desired consistency.  There will still be a lot of recognizable peach bits, so you will either need to run the peach butter through a food processor, blender, or use a stick blender to get it smooth.  A potato masher does not work.  Just trust me on this one.

After pureeing.  Oh, it smells so good!!

Now, all you have to do is put the pureed peach butter into containers and let it cool.  I put mine into 5 and a half 1 pint canning jars, then put in the freezer.

We are 3 of 5.5.  You will be assimilated.  Resistance is futile.

This one went into the refrigerator.  :)  Even though I paid for it later, it was very tasty.  

Happy Monday

It's early Monday morning for me, I need to get to sleep, but I just can't quite bring myself to go to bed yet--there are kilts to look at!  :)

Happy Monday.