Vanilla Rum Bread Pudding with Vanilla Rum Crème Anglaise and Golden Raisins

As a child I detested bread pudding. To this day, the name sounds unappetizing. I typically have to trick the guys at the tattoo shop into eating it, by making up some other name for it. Bread and pudding does not sound inviting, and there’s no way around it. However, this bread pudding is a little more sophisticated and a little more adult than your grandma’s mush.

Truthfully, this dessert accidentally wound up being far more festive than ever anticipated. The golden raisins turned just as the leaves in autumn, and the warm spiced rum and vanilla are so incredibly comforting. I made this for Thanksgiving, and it was requested to be made for Christmas as well. I absolutely found my new favorite winter dessert.

Vanilla Rum Bread Pudding with Vanilla Rum Crème Anglaise and Golden Raisins (makes 8 heaping portions) *emphasize heaping adapted from my awesome boss, Jodie.

Vanilla Rum Crème Anglaise

•2 cups half-and-half

•½ vanilla bean

•5 large egg yolks

•¼ c sugar

•2 Tbsp spiced rum (or to taste)

-In a small saucepan bring half and half just to a boil with vanilla bean and remove pan from heat.

-Scrape seeds from bean with a knife into half-and-half.

-In a bowl whisk together yolks, sugar and a pinch of salt and whisk in

hot half-and- half in a stream.

-Return custard to pan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thickened (170 degrees on a candy thermometer), but do not let boil.

-Pour sauce into a bowl and cool in an icebath, stirring occasionally.

-Stir in rum. Chill sauce, covered, until very cold, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Golden Raisins

•2 c golden raisins

Prepare a 2x batch of Simple Syrup (recipe below).

Add around 2 cups of golden raisins to simple syrup in saucepan and boil rapidly for about 7 minutes, until raisins are plump. Remove from heat and allow raisins to cool and rest in syrup until ready to use.

•Water 7oz

•Sugar 6 oz

•Vanilla bean, split 1

(Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved)

(Remove from the heat and allow the vanilla to infuse for 30 min)

Bread Pudding

•1 loaf of butter split top white bread (or whatever white bread you prefer)

•1 pint heavy cream

•1 pint half and half

•6 ounces sugar

•pinch of nutmeg

•pinch of salt

•5 large eggs

•¼ cup vanilla

•¼ cup spiced rum (more or less to taste)

*few tablespoons butter for buttering ramekins

*cinnamon for garnish

-Gather 8 large baking dishes and 2 13x9 baking dishes, (I found GIANT cordon bleu ramekins at Gordman’s for 1.30 each I believe. It took a lot of self-control to not buy everyone they had in stock. They’re cute and will be great for potpies, cobblers, crisps, soups, everything! If you have a Gordman’s in your area I’d definitely check it out) and butter them liberally.

-Place 4 buttered ramekins in a 13x9 dish and fill halfway with water and do the same with the remaining 4 ramekins and other 13x9 baking dish. Water baths are CRUCIAL in moist bread pudding.

-Chop bread into large cubes.

-Fill ramekins with equal amounts of bread and set aside.

-Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine cream, half and half, sugar, nutmeg, salt, eggs, vanilla, and rum until fully mixed.

-Pour mixture into each bread filled ramekin equally. Smoosh (technical term, eh) bread into liquid cream mixture so the bread can absorb the liquid. Bread should be moist, but not floating.

-Cover 13x9 dishes with foil and cut slits for venting.

-Bake at 200 F for about 30 mins. Uncover and allow to bake another 15 mins until bread is golden brown and liquid is no longer runny.

Run knife around each bread pudding. Carefully place serving plate on top ramekin and flip upside down. Give it a good shake until you feel the bread pudding has released. Drizzle liberal amount vanilla Rum Crème anglaise on top bread pudding and top with a few tablespoons of plump raisins. Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

Spiced Rum Pecan Tart with Whole Wheat Crust

My father LOVES pecan pie, however, no one else in the family shares his adoration of this sickeningly sweet… sweet. Truthfully, I never really knew what pecan pie was all about, until a year ago when I started making them at work. Realizing pecan pie is sugar, sugar, pecans, and well more sugar, it became quite clear why I always found it disgustingly sweet. However, after making this classic in tart form, I changed my (and my family’s) opinion on pecan pie. I decided I do in fact like sweetness and crunch of pecan pie, just not as a pie! The tart is just as gooey and sweet as the traditional pecan pie, just not as intense as biting into a 2-inch thick slice sugar coma! Also, the whole-wheat crust and splash of spiced rum add a nice twist on this straightforward classic.

Rum Pecan Tart with Whole Wheat Crust

Whole wheat pâte sucrée
•Butter, softened 7.5 oz
•Powdered sugar 3 oz
•Salt 1/3 tsp
•Vanilla extract ½ tsp
•Eggs, beaten 3 oz
•Whole wheat pastry flour 12 oz

-Cream together the butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla until the mixture is smooth and pale.

-Add the eggs a little at a time and beat well between each addition.
-Add the flour, creating a soft dough.
-Wrap in plastic and flatten. Chill until firm before use (at least 30 mins).

Pecan filling:3 eggs
•1 c sugar
•1 c light corn syrup
•1 tsp vanilla
•1/8 tsp salt
•1 stick butter, melted
•1 Tbsp spiced rum (feel free to be heavy handed)
•¼ c light brown sugar (for toasting nuts)
•1 ½ cups of pecans, chopped and toasted

-Pour 1 ½ c chopped pecans on a parchment lined baking sheet, and sprinkle with brown sugar. Place in 350 F oven for 6 minutes, or lightly toasted.

-After pâte sucrée has chilled, lightly flour your workspace and rolling pin.
-Roll dough into a circle formation about 11” in diameter.
-Carefully roll dough onto rolling pin so it’s easy to move, and gently unroll onto 9” tart pan.
-Make sure dough pressed down into the bottom, and firmly push against edges.
-Roll rolling pin over top of tart pan, to trim and remove excess crust.

Take a portion of foil, butter the shiny side, and mold onto crust (buttery side down) wrapping excess around edges, so that the crust is fully covered. Add pie weights, rice, beans, pennies, whatever you use on top foil and bake for 20 mins. Remove foil, and with a fork, gently pierce crust several times and place tart back into oven for about 10

mins, until golden brown.

Now the reason pecan pie is so simple?

Throw all ingredients (minus pecans) in a mixer and mix on low until fully combined. Throw in toasted pecans and pour into pre-baked tart shell.

Place tart in 350 F oven, for 25 minutes (I suggest putting a cookie sheet on a rack beneath your tart to catch any drippings, as burning sugar in the bottom of your oven is a MESS). Let cool entirely before serving, and store in refrigerator!

*Also, many people have problems deciding if pecan pies are done. I suggest tapping the tart while in the oven; if the edges stay put and the center jiggles a bit you’re set. The middle will finish cooking on its own, while cooling.

(this was all that was left by the time I got around to photographing it, sorry!)

Andes Creme de Menthe Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Often Gabe will say, "I want something..." and insert whatever random adjectives his taste buds exclaim. Well, last night he declared it was "chocolate-y, minty, and cookie-y". I'm always in search of great chocolate chip recipes, so after perusing many blogs I had found a recipe that I was planning on trying out this week, so I thought I'd try it out with some "minty" morsels too.

This cookie is great because it's the absolute champion of dough for rolling in parchment paper, slicing, and baking as needed. They bake BEAUTIFULLY, and well... could be a twin brother of Chips Ahoy cookies. Typically, I'm thrown into the category of " Sara, did you bake this cookie", when it comes to chocolate chips (which disgusts my poor parents since they cannot properly dunk my cookies in their coffee), but these are far from that. These cookies are firm with crisp edges, but still soft enough in the center that you aren't obligated to soak them in a beverage for them to be safely digestible.

Andes Creme de Menthe Chocolate Chunk Cookies

-1 1/2 cups All purpose flour

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

-1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces

-1/2 cup sugar

-3/4 cup brown sugar

-1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

-1 egg, at room temperature, slightly beaten

-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

-3/4 cup Andes Creme de Menthe morsels

•Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, in medium sized bowl, and set aside.

•Cream together on medium high speed butter and sugars for roughly 3 minutes.

•Add vanilla and egg and allow to combine for about 30 seconds. Don't over mix!

•Crank the mix down to it's lowest speed and slowly add the dry ingredients. Allow to

incorporate fully.

•Finally, add your chunks and morsels.

•Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour. I suggest making a log out of it, storing in parchment, and slicing the cookies the next day.

•Bake at 350 F for 13 minutes, allow to cool, and enjoy!

slice

and

bake!

Tattoos, cheesecake, and bananas... typical.

Today was Kyle’s birthday (of Ironage Tattoo in Saint Louis Missouri, check

him out!!), and he was in town tattooing at the shop (Hollywood Reb

el, Columbia Missouri), so clearly birthday treats had to be made. I made Martha Stewart’s cookies and cream cupcakes (with Oreo crusts) , and garnished them with fresh whipped crea

m and a mini oreo.

Also, no birthday at the shop is complete without

my reese’s filled cheesecake with graham cracker crust, and a reese’s on top. (A Paula Deen classic)

After delivering the birthday goods I decided I needed to formulate some banana bread, since I had three aging naners on my counter. So I made some

banana nutless bread [adapted from sophistimom]:

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tbsp baking soda

3/4 tbsp salt

3 large ripened bananas

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 tbsp real maple syrup

I simply mashed up my naners, added the sugar, butter, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and syrup until it was smooth with a few banana bumps.
Then I added the flour, salt, and baking soda.
Filled up greased petite loaf pans half-full, and sprinkled brown sugar on top. I also sprinkled my “cinnamon maple” mixture on top.

(I think I picked this cinnamon maple sugar up at Target and I love it. The fabulousness that is cinnamon paired with the warmth of maple. Pick it up!)

Bake at 350F for 30 mins!

[world] famous chicken fingers

[Okay, so maybe these chicken fingers are not world famous (yet), but they are definitely moving mountains in my group of family and friends.]

As a child, snubbing prime rib and other choice cuts I constantly unhinged my father by implicitly ordering chicken fingers at every dining establishment whether it be fine or fast.

Though my tastes have cultivated, I will never be too sophisticated for my beloved chicken finger.

After playing around with different spice medleys I finally found the perfect formula. The key to these chicken fingers is to soak them in my special buttermilk marinade for at least 8 hours to ensure no matter how fried, they will remain succulent. After taking them out of the deep fryer I was overcome with excitement as I realized for the first time I wanted no dipping sauce for these tenders. The spices were perfect and well, if your palette cannot handle heat you might want to pass on these smokey chicks.

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 c Tabasco Brand CHIPOTLE pepper sauce

10 chicken tenders, trimmed

1 c panko bread crumbs

3/4 c crushed Jalapeno kettle cooked potato chips

1/2 c all purpose flour

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon corn starch

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

•in a medium bowl mix buttermilk and chipotle tabasco. soak chicken in the mixture to coat, cover, and let drown at least 8 hours.

•Mix the remaining ingredients together in shallow dish to toss tenders in. thoroughly coat the chicken in the bread crumb/potato chip mixture, twice if needed (make sure they're super coated!).

•place chicken tenders (no more than three at a time or less you have a huge fryer) in (hot oil at least 375) deep fryer until golden brown. place on paper towel to shake excess grease. *if you don't have a deep fryer you could absolutely pan fry these guys in a skillet and finish them in a 350F oven.

•Enjoy! If you MUST use a dipping sauce I suggest a chipotle bbq sauce or of course some Ranch dressing in a delicious club wrap (of course I suggest Ranch dressing I am in the MIDWEST!).

I've never kept a consistent blog. However, I love writing and photography, and well, I cook more than your grandmother. So let's see how this goes.

Posh, provocative, and pompous pastries and desserts all have their place, but let’s be real for a moment. Sometimes, nothing is more gratifying than a glass of cold milk and chocolate chip cookies. However, nothing is more disappointing than a sincere mutilation of the chocolate chip cookie. Personally, a “good” chocolate chip cookie has these traits:

1. crisp edges

2. soft-chewy center

3. height

I’ve tried many different recipes— many different chocolates, flours, butters, etc… and when it’s all said and done, I’ve found myself loving a recipe from the one and only, Alton Brown. Mr. Brown has several chocolate chip recipes, but this is deemed, "The Chewy".