Category Archives: Eating

Chomp it up.

baking

Twisters! And bread pudding!

Nichole’s to do list for Sunday

  • Laundry
  • Change sheets
  • Vacuum
  • Make menu/grocery list
  • Go to the grocery
  • Scrapbook

    What Nichole did on Sunday

  • Change sheets
  • Make bread pudding
  • Hide from two tornadoes

    The bread pudding recipe is from Bahama Breeze. I looked up the site for nutrition information (which I didn’t find) and was very surprised to see that they have a lot of their recipes available online. Rockford had wanted to try the Pina Colada Bread Pudding when we were there the other night, but Poppy wasn’t up for dessert.

    I was getting ready to make the sauce when the tornado sirens started up. We had to wake Poppy from her nap and flee our basement-less home. Fortunately, some of our nearby friends had basement to spare. I came back and made the anglaise sauce after the all-clear, then took it back over and shared with our friends.

    Pina Colada Bread Pudding
    1/4 cup butter
    3 quarts Hawaiian bread cubes*
    1 container egg substitute + 2 eggs
    1 1/4 cups sugar
    5 cups milk
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    1/2 cup coconut rum
    1/2 cup shredded coconut
    8 oz can pineapple tidbits
    Coconut Creme Anglaise (recipe follows)
    Toss 3 tablespoons of melted butter with thebread cubes, place on a sheet pan and place in an oven at 350 degrees and toast until golden. Brush a medium sized casserole dish with one tablespoon of melted butter and add the toasted bread cubes. Mix all the remaining ingredients together and pour over the bread cubes. Press down on the bread cubes until they absorb most of the liquid. Bake in a 300-degree oven for 1 hour or until firm in the center. Serve with coconut creme anglaise.

    Coconut Creme Anglaise
    1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
    2 egg yolks
    1/2 cup powdered sugar
    1/4 cup rum
    Add the cream, egg yolks, and sugar in a small sauce pan on medium heat.
    Stir constantly using a cooks spoon until the sauce starts to thicken; about 8 to 10 minutes.
    Add the rum and stir to evenly mix. Place in a clean container and place in an ice water bath.
    Place in the refrigerator to chill to 40 degrees.

    *edited to clarify.

    • Eating

    Candied Sweet Potato Casserole

    Rockford loves sweet potato casserole. He saw this recipe on America’s Test Kitchen and wanted to give it a shot. He cut the recipe in half and served it as part of a Festival of Sides. Mmmmmm … so good. He thought there was too much cumin, but I thought it was perfect.

    Candied Sweet Potato Casserole
    Serves six as a side dish.
    Sweet Potatoes
    4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cut into 1-inch chunks
    2.5 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
    1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
    3/4 teaspoons table salt
    1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
    1/4 cup water
    Pecan Topping
    1 cup pecan halves
    1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
    1 egg white , lightly beaten
    Pinch table salt
    Pinch cayenne pepper
    Pinch ground cumin

    For the Sweet Potatoes: Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and water; bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring often, until the sweet potatoes are tender (a paring knife can be slipped into and out of the center of the potatoes with very little resistance), 45 to 60 minutes.

    When the sweet potatoes are tender, remove the lid and bring the sauce to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer until the sauce has reduced to a glaze, 7 to 10 minutes.

    For the Topping: Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients for the topping together in a medium bowl; set aside.

    Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and beat the oven to 450 degrees. Pour the potato mixture into a 13 by 9-inch baking dish (or a shallow casserole dish of similar size). Spread the topping over the potatoes. Bake until the pecans are toasted and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately. 7 Points per serving.

    Eating

    Chili challenge

    We tried Wild Caribbean Black Bean Chili tonight. I wasn’t crazy about it; Rockford gave it a B and dubbed it “Margarita Chili.” There was a bit too much lime for my taste. I plan to stick with my Queen City Chili recipe.

    QUEEN CITY CHILI
    1 medium red pepper
    1 medium sweet onion
    1 can mushrooms
    1 can corn
    1 can kidney beans with jalapeños
    1 can hot chili beans
    1 9-ounce can tomato paste
    1 14½-ounce can diced tomatoes
    2 tablespoons chili powder
    2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
    2 teaspoons garlic powder
    ¼ teaspoon salt
    ¼ teaspoon pepper
    Grated cheese
    Sour cream

    Sauté onion and pepper with Cajun seasoning until onion is slightly translucent.

    Add tomato paste and diced tomatoes to slow cooker, stirring until smooth.

    Stir in corn, mushrooms, beans and pepper and onion mixture. Do not drain vegetables. Add chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook for six to 10 hours in a Crock-pot on low heat. Serve with cheese and sour cream.