Soda Bread Pudding

I have the luck of working in a restaurant owned by an Irish family.  Yesterday was a bit of a soda bread extravaganza and oops, I got overly enthusiastic.  So what's a gal to do?  If you're going to cry over spilled milk, break out the eggs!

The following works wonders on leftover soda bread, but feel free to use your favorite. 

Preheat your nonconvection oven to 325 F.

Blend 4 egg yolks, 1/2 C sugar, and 2 C heavy cream until smooth.  Optional: 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 C raisins.

Cut half of a loaf of soda bread into 1/2 inch cubes, crusts off optional.  You should have about 4 C of bread cubes. 

Place the bread cubes and raisins if using in a buttered 8 x 8 baking pan.  Pour the custard over the bread and allow it to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Bake for 30 minutes, rotate, and bake another 30.  Allow the bread pudding to cool to room temperature before storing it in the fridge.  Serve warm or cool.  This makes an incredible breakfast! 

I feel like spinach tonight

Creamed spinach is one of the mac daddies of comfort food.  It's rich, silky soft, and often just enough fat to make you forget you're eating something that was once healthy.  Stop paying so much for this tasty side at expensive steakhouses and oh, yeah, this also won't break the calorie bank!

"Creamy" Cheesey Spinach

1/2 C cottage cheese (full or regular fat)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 large pinch of nutmeg

2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

1 medium onion, minced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 10oz package frozen spinach, defrosted and drained

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Blend the cottage cheese with the parmesan, garlic, and nutmeg until smooth in a food processor or blender.  Reserve

In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat until it shimmers.  Add the minced onion and cook until just starting to brown, about 4 minutes.  Add the drained spinach and lower the heat.  Slowly stir in the cheese mixture, being careful not to let it start to bubble.  Season to taste.  For a thinner finished dish, add chicken stock or milk. 

This is also great made with a few slices of Swiss cheese mixed in at the end.

Brown Sugar Shortbread

I am a firm believer in simplicity.  If you start with quality ingredients, you shouldn't need to add much to create an amazing finished dish.  Take my recipe for shortbread cookies.  4 ingredients, one bowl, and melt-in-your-mouth cookies at the end.  These are kid friendly, budget friendly, and if used to garnish a frozen dessert, dinner party friendly.

Combine 1 pound of light brown sugar and 4 cups all purpose flour in a large bowl.  Chop 1 pound of unsalted butter into small cubes and crumble into the sugar/flour mix.  Rub the butter bits into the dry ingredients until you have pea-sized pieces.  Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or your favorite flavoring and continue to blend until the dough can be formed into one large clump.  This can also be done in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment.  Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a non-convection oven to 375.  Roll the dough as thick or as thin as you like.  The thinner the dough, the crispier the finished cookie.  If you plan to use these as garnish, roll 1/4 inch thick.  If using as a stand alone dessert, roll 1/2 inch thick.

Cut the dough using a knife or your favorite cookie cutters.  Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet until golden brown using the following guidelines.

For thin, small cookies, rotate after 5 minutes and checking after another 3.

For thicker cookies, rotate after 7 minutes and check after another 6. 

Dust with confectioners' sugar and allow the cookies to cool.  These are fantastic with vanilla ice cream.

Downward Dogs and Marinades

As part of my spring resolution, I started taking yoga and kickboxing classes.  Spring is such a time for rebirth and change that I'd rather start something now then January.  Besides, a girl's got to get out her pent up energy somehow!

So I join a wonderful group of women of varried ages and athletic abilities twice a week.  It's amazing - I'm starting to have abs!  During my first class, it came out that I'm in the food service industry and I quickly became the group's go-to food consultant.  One of my classmates was hosting a birthday dinner for her husband and was looking for quick and tasty grill ideas.  Hopefully, these can become some of your favorites, too!

Sweet and Savory

1 medium flank steak

1 C Olive oil (Pomace, a cheaper and fruitier oil works well!)

1/2 C balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic, sliced

4 sprigs of fresh thyme or 3 sprigs rosemary

Zest of one lime

1 tsp whole peppercorns

Blend all in a zip top plastic bag or glass baking pan.  Let marinate at least 4 hours to overnight in the fridge, turning the meat once.    Allow the steak to come to room temperature and salt liberally.  Preheat grill to high heat.  Char steak 3-4 minutes each side for medium rare, allowing the meat to rest at least 15 minutes prior to slicing.

Variations:

Substitute soy sauce for the balsamic and ginger for the zest and herbs for an Asian twist.

Use a bold red wine (red zin or cab sauv) in place of the vinegar, add 1 sliced onion and omit the lime zest for a French inspired steak.

These will also work for chicken and veggies, but may be too strong for delicate fish, depending on your taste.

If you're like me and think joining a mainstream industrial type gym won't keep you motivated, research dance studios in your area.  Many are starting to offer yoga and other types of fitness classes.  These classes are seriously one of the few things I will drag myself out of bed early for!

Redefining Salad

Up until this past year, when I thought of the term "salad," my mind filled with images of crisp romaine, carrot curls, some sharply tangy dressing, and maybe a nice piece of grilled fish to round it out.  Sure, I've made other types of salads, plenty of dressings, and used every fat-loaded condiment known to minimize any aspect of health associated with salads.  But recently, when changing the dessert menu for spring at the cafe where I work, I returned to the faithful idea of salad.

One of the new items on my menu is a mango cheesecake.  Light, creamy, tropical, perfect for the warmer weather.  But, this wasn't enough, oh no.  What could make something so simple pop without compromising the mango flavor?  A fresh and fat free dessert vinaigrette!

As a chef, the idea of simplicity appeals to me.  As a writer, I return to a line from Shaw's Pygmalion: alliteration is natural to a poet.  So mango cheesecake gets topped with mango mojito salad.

You can use this basic and versitile dressing for savory salads, too.  Chop some romaine, slice in some mango and avocado, and maybe add some grilled shrimp, and you've got an amazing late spring meal.   Or, drizzle over your favorite fruits for a refreshing dessert.

Mojito Vinaigrette

3 limes

1 lemon

1/3 C granulated sugar

10 mint fresh leaves

Zest 2 of the limes into a small bowl using either a rasp or peeler and knife.  Combine with the juice of the 3 limes and the lemon.  Blend in the sugar and allow to stand if needed.  Don't worry, all of the sugar will dissolve.  Finely mince the mint and add it to the dressing.  The dressing will be better after sitting for an hour.  Over time, the mint will discolor, but the flavors will be unaffected.

Mango Cheesecake Awesomeness

I've had a few requests for this recipe and I'm happy to oblige!

First, this recipe in its original form appeared on Epicurious.com, but I've tweaked it a bit.  This is super simple, just make sure to bring all of your ingredients to room temperature before starting.

The Epicurious recipe calls for making a graham cracker crust as the base for this cake, but the graham flavor takes away from the delicate floral quality of the mango.  I've been using a basic lady finger batter as a base, but honestly, you could save the steps and do a crustless cake.  Just make sure to line the outside of your springform pan with foil before baking the cake.

Hardware: 1 12" springform pan, 1 sheet of parchment paper, 1 cookie sheet large enough to hold the springform, hand or standing mixer, basic measuring tools.

Preheat oven to 325

24 oz of full fat cream cheese

2 cups granulated sugar

1 pinch of salt

4 eggs

2 cups of mango puree, homemade or packaged

2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbps lime juice, your choice

Line the springform pan with a circle of parchment and spray with nonstick spray.  Line the outside of the pan with foil, being sure it comes at least an inch up the sides of the pan.

Blend the cream cheese, sugar, and salt until no lumps remain.  Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl between eggs.  Fold in the mango and extract/juice.  As extra insurance, I strain the mix before adding it to the springform.  This is optional. Pour the custard into the pan and bake for 40 minutes in a water bath.  Rotate the pan and bake another 20 minutes.  The cake is done when it puffs slightly and barely jiggles when moved.

Let the cake cool at room temperature for at least an hour.  Chill for at least 2 hours before removing the cake from the pan.

Serve with diced mango tossed in the mojito dressing from my previous post.