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Bread and Butter Pudding success
Aug. 29th, 2011 08:42 pmI meant to make a post closer to my poll about chefs, but I got sick. I put my vote in for Heston because he is bloody amazing and inspiring. I would love to sit down to one of his "Feasts" and try every little thing. I can't believe people turn their noses up at his creations just because he pushes the boundaries, it's not like he's going to poison you people! Just eat it!
But in all honesty, Jamie Oliver is an equal favourite, for completely different reasons. Jamie is down-to-earth and tries to design his recipes with families and gatherings in mind. The ingredients are easy to get - well, they are if you're in England, being in Australia I have to substitute a lot. But that's the point, I'm not sure if I've actually followed ANY Jamie recipes to the letter - and I've made a lot of them. His recipes are great for chopping and changing and getting inspired by what you have around the house. I quite often make his cabbage sauteed with bacon and lamb stock - but I do it a bit differently, I don't add as much butter, and come to think of it, I think he uses chicken instead of lamb stock (I usually have both in the freezer, but I found that lamb stock tasted really good). And then there is the breakfast that involves a slice of Ciabatta, asparagus, a soft boiled egg and prosciutto. I use my own homebaked bread and bacon most of the time. Sometimes I don't have asparagus, so I'll use sauteed mushrooms, it doesn't really matter, the end result will be delicious. And the resulting meals are rough and ready (or as Jamie would put it - "Rustic"). You don't have to worry about plating or arrangement, just bung it in a dish, make sure it's mixed decently, then dig in.
For a while now I've been considering making a sweet version of this recipe - http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19395/mediterranean+bread+bake. Again, another recipe I have never made directly to the recipe - it's so easy to just substitute ingredients to what you have. I figured I could use cinnamon and mixed spice and some dried fruit and maybe a fresh cheese and make a version of bread and butter pudding. My main concern was getting the bread moist - I use the crusty ends of homemade loaves for these dishes, and sometimes they are rather thick slices. Maybe I could make an egg, milk and spice mixture and soak the bread in it first? Then arrange it in the dish and bake it. Browsing through cookbooks seeking ideas I found Jamie Oliver's recipe - http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/good-old-bread-butter-pudding-with-a. Considering the dish I intended to use resulted in 4-6 serves, it seemed this recipe used suitable quantities of things. Right-o, I'll make his egg mix and pour it over my arranged leftover bread slices, which I'll butter with his spiced butter - that will soften the bread up a bit.
My bread consisted of white, multigrain, wholemeal, fruit loaf, and even a couple of slices of a yummy cranberry and pistachio loaf I made once (I keep all the endy bits in the freezer waiting for opportunities like this). Lucky I had some oranges in the fruit basket, so the butter got some rind in it.
NINE EGGS! Woah. Okay, I had that many. Hmmm, the recipe only calls for 1 white and all the yolks. Wow, lucky I had my first practice at meringue yesterday! I can see a lot more in my near future with 8 egg whites languishing in my fridge now.
I had a little bit of cream leftover from the Balti Chicken Curry last week. Nowhere near what the recipe calls for. Oh well, I'll substitute the leftover coconut cream from the lemongrass and lime rice a few nights back. Still not enough. Oh well, top up with more milk.
Now I was realising that Jamie's instructions had me making a proper custard, there was no doubt about it. Another thing I have never made before, but always wanted to try. I even checked the temperature with my new food thermometer. Cooking For Geeks tells me that the protiens in egg yolks denature around 67C. So I let it come to that temperature. Still not thickening, but the recipe doesn't mention that it should. (Oh yeah, I also used imitation vanilla essence, no vanilla pods around right now). Shrug and pour the resulting liquid over the bread, which I'd scattered with sultanas and cranberries for good measure. Wow, there is just a smidge too much custard, which I notice has curdled a bit on the bottom - oops. After waiting 20 minutes the bread had soaked up enough liquid that I was able to pour the rest of the custard in and hope for the best. Pudding dish in roasting tray with water in it was HEAVY and I spilled some custard on the way to the oven, but it just ended up in the water so it was no great disaster.
While it was cooking I searched for marmalade. Nope, don't have any. How about this cumquat jam some old bloke gave me when I collected his Census form? Yep! That tastes a lot like marmalade, that'll do nicely!
I was absolutely delighted to find that the custard had set in the oven. The end result looks delicious and I can't wait for dessert.
But before that, dinner, which is Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic - a recipe in the latest Super Food Ideas magazine. And another substitution - I couldn't find tarragon in the 3 stores I went to, so I subbed with some fresh marjoram growing outside and a sprinkle of fennel seeds.
Forgot to take a photo before serving up. We've eaten half of this already.
But in all honesty, Jamie Oliver is an equal favourite, for completely different reasons. Jamie is down-to-earth and tries to design his recipes with families and gatherings in mind. The ingredients are easy to get - well, they are if you're in England, being in Australia I have to substitute a lot. But that's the point, I'm not sure if I've actually followed ANY Jamie recipes to the letter - and I've made a lot of them. His recipes are great for chopping and changing and getting inspired by what you have around the house. I quite often make his cabbage sauteed with bacon and lamb stock - but I do it a bit differently, I don't add as much butter, and come to think of it, I think he uses chicken instead of lamb stock (I usually have both in the freezer, but I found that lamb stock tasted really good). And then there is the breakfast that involves a slice of Ciabatta, asparagus, a soft boiled egg and prosciutto. I use my own homebaked bread and bacon most of the time. Sometimes I don't have asparagus, so I'll use sauteed mushrooms, it doesn't really matter, the end result will be delicious. And the resulting meals are rough and ready (or as Jamie would put it - "Rustic"). You don't have to worry about plating or arrangement, just bung it in a dish, make sure it's mixed decently, then dig in.
For a while now I've been considering making a sweet version of this recipe - http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19395/mediterranean+bread+bake. Again, another recipe I have never made directly to the recipe - it's so easy to just substitute ingredients to what you have. I figured I could use cinnamon and mixed spice and some dried fruit and maybe a fresh cheese and make a version of bread and butter pudding. My main concern was getting the bread moist - I use the crusty ends of homemade loaves for these dishes, and sometimes they are rather thick slices. Maybe I could make an egg, milk and spice mixture and soak the bread in it first? Then arrange it in the dish and bake it. Browsing through cookbooks seeking ideas I found Jamie Oliver's recipe - http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/good-old-bread-butter-pudding-with-a. Considering the dish I intended to use resulted in 4-6 serves, it seemed this recipe used suitable quantities of things. Right-o, I'll make his egg mix and pour it over my arranged leftover bread slices, which I'll butter with his spiced butter - that will soften the bread up a bit.
My bread consisted of white, multigrain, wholemeal, fruit loaf, and even a couple of slices of a yummy cranberry and pistachio loaf I made once (I keep all the endy bits in the freezer waiting for opportunities like this). Lucky I had some oranges in the fruit basket, so the butter got some rind in it.
NINE EGGS! Woah. Okay, I had that many. Hmmm, the recipe only calls for 1 white and all the yolks. Wow, lucky I had my first practice at meringue yesterday! I can see a lot more in my near future with 8 egg whites languishing in my fridge now.
I had a little bit of cream leftover from the Balti Chicken Curry last week. Nowhere near what the recipe calls for. Oh well, I'll substitute the leftover coconut cream from the lemongrass and lime rice a few nights back. Still not enough. Oh well, top up with more milk.
Now I was realising that Jamie's instructions had me making a proper custard, there was no doubt about it. Another thing I have never made before, but always wanted to try. I even checked the temperature with my new food thermometer. Cooking For Geeks tells me that the protiens in egg yolks denature around 67C. So I let it come to that temperature. Still not thickening, but the recipe doesn't mention that it should. (Oh yeah, I also used imitation vanilla essence, no vanilla pods around right now). Shrug and pour the resulting liquid over the bread, which I'd scattered with sultanas and cranberries for good measure. Wow, there is just a smidge too much custard, which I notice has curdled a bit on the bottom - oops. After waiting 20 minutes the bread had soaked up enough liquid that I was able to pour the rest of the custard in and hope for the best. Pudding dish in roasting tray with water in it was HEAVY and I spilled some custard on the way to the oven, but it just ended up in the water so it was no great disaster.
While it was cooking I searched for marmalade. Nope, don't have any. How about this cumquat jam some old bloke gave me when I collected his Census form? Yep! That tastes a lot like marmalade, that'll do nicely!
I was absolutely delighted to find that the custard had set in the oven. The end result looks delicious and I can't wait for dessert.
But before that, dinner, which is Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic - a recipe in the latest Super Food Ideas magazine. And another substitution - I couldn't find tarragon in the 3 stores I went to, so I subbed with some fresh marjoram growing outside and a sprinkle of fennel seeds.
Forgot to take a photo before serving up. We've eaten half of this already.
