Creme Brulee

 I married a creme brulee loving maniac.  It's his dessert of choice, and one that I never understood.  He would ask if I wanted a bite, and I look, think 'no chocolate? No thanks!".  Despite the alarming lack of anything chocolate, I purchased a creme brulee set for Christmas, with the promise of making him many over the years to come.

I made this for the first time last week, and man, I'm converted! They just melted in my mouth, and were utterly and completely satisfying, and that's when I finally learned a great lesson. Life isn't all about chocolate. !!!

Bring to a boil 2 cups of heavy cream, 1/4 white sugar, and a pinch of salt. Remove from heat.

In a mixer combine 4 egg yolks and 1 tsp vanilla.  Slowly incorporate/temper the cream mixture into the eggs, making sure to not scramble the eggs.  Beat well for a minute or so.

Pour your mixture into individual serving dishes.  Place these dishes into a 9x13 pan, then fill the pan with water until the dishes are half submerged.  Bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  They should be firm, but slightly jiggly...imagine all the jokes I could've made with that last statement.

Once they are done baking, place them in the fridge to cool for about 2 hours.  When ready to serve, sprinkle liberally with white sugar, until the entire surface is coated.

Burn baby burn! Flame those bad boys!

Savor each bite, then go and flame yourself up another one!

Candied Walnuts

 Candied walnuts are an easy way to dress up many meals, and Steven and I love them to death.  Especially in salads! And since they are so quick and easy to make, it's a sure way to impress even the most skeptical of guests. 

Add 1 cup of whole walnuts, 1/2 cup of white sugar, and a dash of cinnamon to a hot pan.

Constantly stir so the sugar wont burn.  The sugar will quickly melt, and make sure each walnut is well coated.

Once all the sugar is dissolved and coated on the nuts, place on tin foil to cool.

Bacon Wrapped Peppers

These little appetizers are delicious. Steven and I first had them at a friend's engagement party, and we instantly fell in love.  They are so easy, and people are always impressed with how 'fancy' they are. Sssh, just don't tell them how easy they really are!

Take however many jalapeno or yellow peppers that you want (just get any pepper that is about two bites, and it will be great) and slice each one in half lengthwise.  De-seed the peppers, especially if they are jalapeno to help remove the spicy bite.  Take a room temperature block of cream cheese, and stuff each half with the cream cheese.  Now here's the secret ingredient: dates. Place a whole date on top of the cream cheese, and then wrap the whole concoction in a slice of bacon.  Bake all of the prepared peppers at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pudding

I adore pumpkin pudding, and nothing screams 'fall' more like a big bowl full of it! It is like eating the inside of a pumpkin pie...but better!

I boil and puree my own pumpkins, so I had to defrost my bag of pumpkin.  I would guess that you should use about 3 or 4 cans of pumpkin if you go that route.  You may need to adjust the spices. Bring the pumpkin to a boil until it has thickened.

 

Add one can of evaporated milk.

In a separate bowl combine 2 cups of white sugar, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 heaped tsp of flour, 1 heaped tbsp of cornstarch, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ginger, and 1/4 tsp allspice. Mix well.

Add the spices and mix with a hand  mixer.

Your mixture will turn darker, and should look like this.

This is the patience step, and I don't have much patience.  Crack 3 eggs in a separate bowl and SLOWLY add some of the hot mixture to the eggs.  If you add the pudding too fast, it will scramble the eggs.  Once the eggs reach close to the same temperature as the pudding, add the eggs and immediately whisk.

Ad a dollop of fresh whipped cream and voila!

Raspberry Freezer Jam

Raspberry Freezer Jam

Raspberry's were on a great sale this week, and there's nothing that I love more than fresh jam! One trip to buy pectin and BAM! Freezer jam. 

Combine 4 cups of washed berries, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and one packet of pectin.

Stir like crazy.  Now calmly stir for three minutes.

Pour into your container and let it set up for thirty minutes. Freeze, or put in the fridge!

Whole Wheat Bread

Everyone and their dog was making wheat bread this week, and the pressure got to me.  This is something that I've been meaning to start doing for awhile (bread making that is), following the example of my mom.  She made bread almost every week of my life, and I hardly ever remember eating bread from the store.  The bread here has been found lacking for the prices they charge, and after a pep talk from the sis, I pulled out the wheat flour.  Steven loves this stuff (as do I) and I think I'd have a revolution if I were to go back to store bread.  Here's to a lifetime of making bread! (Note: I halved the amounts I wrote in the recipe below.  The recipe below yields 5 loaves, I made three with half the ingredients. Also, do not attempt the full recipe unless you have a bosch mixer.  I have a kitchen aid, and the engine is not as big as a bosch, so can't handle the large amounts of dough. Thus, I halved the recipe.) 

Step one: Mix 8 cups hot water, 10 cups wheat flour, 2 tbs salt, 1/3 cup oil, and 4 tbs *brown sugar in your mixer on low for 3 minutes.  Turn off the mixer, place the lid on, and let it sit for one hour. (The sitting for one hour is the secret folks! It lets the wheat flour absorb the liquid and get nice and moist) *You can use honey and sugar, or just honey instead of sugar.

Add 5 level tbsp of instant yeast and mix for a couple of minutes.  I didn't have any instant yeast on hand, so I did it the old fashioned way and had to adjust my water amounts, etc to allow for the extra water I used to activate my yeast.  See my yeast rising? It turned into a monster.

Turn off your mixer and add 4 cups unbleached white flour. Mix for a few more minutes, then add 2 more cups of wheat flour.  Mix on the highest speed for 10 minutes. After five minutes of your ten, turn off the mixer and add one more cup of wheat flour.  Mix some more.  At around 7-8 minutes of the ten, turn off the mixer and punch the dough to check how sticky it is. If it sticks to your hand, then add 1/2 cup more of wheat flour.  Finish off the 10 minutes of mixing and turn off your mixer. 

Take your dough out and place on a greased and floured surface.  Form into 5 loaves and place in greased loaf pans.

Place your loaves in a warm, dry place to rise until they have doubled in size.

They doubled! Now cook at 325 for 35 minutes.

When they are done cooking, take the bread out and let cool IN the pans for 5 minutes. Knock them out of the pans and let rest of their side to finish cooling. Note: Don't put them on a granite counter top, because they will sweat while cooling. You don't want your bread to sweat and get soggy. Gross. Place in bags and freeze everything you are not currently using.

Take a slice of the fresh bread and slap on some of that jam you just made and enjoy!