Saturday, April 02, 2005

Bread Pudding

A very tasty way to use up slightly stale white bread.


8 tablespoons golden raisins
10 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing pudding basin
16 ounces white bread, sliced
1 1/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cup cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Soak raisins in very hot water for 10 minutes, and then drain. Butter the bread. I would leave the crusts on, personally, but this is a matter of personal preference. Arrange in a pudding basin or casserole dish at with sides of at least 2 to 3 inches of height. Bring the cream, milk, vanilla, and sugar to a simmer. Add milk mixture to the eggs. Pour the egg-milk mixture onto the bread, leaving to soak for a bit. Cover with aluminium foil and cook for approximately one hour after reducing heat to 350 degrees. As the hour draws to a close remove the covering and allow the top to crisp a bit. This is very nice with brandy sauce, should you happen to have some left over from your Christmas festivities.

Colcannon

For those who love the humble potato......


6 large all purpose potatoes
1/2 head of kale, chopped small
1 1/2 cups milk
5 scallions, minced
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 tablespoon parsley
9 tablespoons butter, divided

Peel, boil, and mash potatoes. Boil the kale until tender. Over low heat, heat the milk with parsley, thyme, and scallions. Strain the kale, add to milk mixture, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add mashed potatoes and 5 tablespoons of butter. Place into a warmed serving dish and place remaining pats of butter on the center.

Salmon Kedgeree

This is very nice, even when reheated.

1 pound of salmon (poached and flaked)
1 box Uncle Ben's Wild Rice
3 hardboiled eggs
1 ounce butter
1/3 pint cream
pepper and salt to taste

Cook the rice and hardboil the eggs. Cut the eggs into smallish pieces. Heat the butter and cream, along with pepper and salt in a large saucepan until hot. Add the eggs, rice, and salmon to the butter and cream mixture, being careful not to bruise the eggs and salmon overmuch. Serve on a warmed plate with buttered whole wheat bread.