Root Vegetable Bisque

With fall upon us, root vegetables are available in the height of their freshness. In this recipe, ingredients such as turnips, long since thought of as working mans' cuisine are transformed into a rich and delicate palette pleasing bisque.





Ingredients:
2 lbs turnips
2 lbs yams
1 qt of low sodium chicken stock
2 shallots - chopped
3 cloves garlic - rough slice
3 tbs olive oil
2 leeks, cleaned and cut into circles, some for the bisque, some to garnish.
5 bay leaves
1 sprig of tarragon, plus some additional for garnish
1 tbs maple syrup
Salt to taste
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 lb pancetta


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peel and slice yams and turnips.
Toss yams and turnips on 2 tbs of olive oil.
Place on sheet pan and place in oven until they start to brown
In a large stockpot add 1 tbs olive oil, shallots, and garlic over medium high heat, cook until the onions turn translucent.
Add yams, turnips, and chicken stock. Bring to a high simmer.
Add 1/4 cup of leeks, bay leaves, and 1 sprig of tarragon.
Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until the middle of your largest root vegetable is tender.
Remove from heat and add the mixture to a Food Processor in increments. It will probably take 3 to 4 rounds to puree all the ingredients.
Add the puree back to the stockpot.
Add maple syrup and salt.
In a frypan, add the pancetta and cook until crispy. Remove from heat and place pancetta on a paper towel to dry.
Add the remaining leeks to the frypan, turn the heat to medium/low and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until leeks are tender.
Crumble the pancetta.
Finely chop any remaining tarragon
Just prior to serving add the yogurt to the bisque and stir well.

To serve, add the bisque to your bowl, top with leek rings pancetta crumbles, and finely chopped tarragon.

Notes/Variations:
Any starchy vegetable will work well with this recipe, be it potatoes, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, beets, or parsnips. However, if you use parsnip, be sure to trim out the core of larger roots, as they tend to be overly bitter.

Nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon, in small quantities, can turn this particular dish into a pumpkin pie flavored soup.

In order to be a traditional bisque, it is ideal to use fish, lobster, or clam stock. However, it is not readily available in low sodium varieties. Feel free to substitute ocean based stock if desired.

Sour Creme Brulee

I've always had a love/hate relationship with Creme Brulee. Most restaurants make the same version with little or no creativity. It always ends up a rich vanilla custard covered in burned white sugar. In a nutshell, it's boring. However, by introducing a little sour cream to the custard, it adds an exciting flavor profile brought on by the fermentation of the sour cream.

The trick to making a perfect dessert is using a water bath surrounding the custard and cooking at a lower heat. Experiments have shown that cooking custard at lower temperatures creates a margin of error of almost 10 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas custard heated quickly only has a 5 degree margin of error before curdling. Cooking it slow is like trying to stop a car on a dime while driving at 10 miles per hour instead of 60 MPH.

1 3/4 cups cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange zest
6 tsp Sugar
7 egg yolks
1/4 cup sour cream
6-8 tsp Turbinado/Raw sugar

1 - Preheat oven to 325 Degrees.

2 - Combine vanilla, orange zest and 1 cup cream in a saucepan over medium high heat.

3 - Combine sugar, egg yolks and remaining cream and whisk well. Bring vanilla/cream mixture to a boil.

4 - Slowly add hot cream mixture to cold egg mixture, starting with a small amount of hot mix whisking well and then gradually adding more hot cream, until the two are combined.

5- Add the sour cream to the custard mix and whisk well.

6 - Place 4 ramekins of at least 1 cup in volume each into a larger baking pan. Pour the custard through a sieve into ramekins, filling no more than 2/3rds of the way full.

7- Add water to the larger baking pan, filling until the water level is 1/2 of the way up the ramekins.

8- Bake for 25-40 minutes, until the middle of the custard reaches a temperature of 175 degrees. The edges will be set, but the center will be just slightly jiggly. There is a HUGE difference in time baking as the amount of water added to the pan, and the volume of each ramekin will cause cooking times to vary greatly. On this recipe, "doneness" is more important than the actual time in the oven.

9- Transfer ramekins to a cooling rack for 1 hour, then cover with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge for at least 4 hours for custard to set. You can keep the custard in the fridge for up to 4 days.

10- Prior to serving, gently blot up any condensation from the surface of the custard with a paper towel, sprinkle 2 tsp of turbinado/raw sugar over each ramekin and then turn the ramekin, making sure the an even layer of sugar is distributed evenly across the top of each custard. Clean the edges of the ramekin of any excess sugar.

11- Using a either a butane "creme brulee" torch or a propane blowtorch (the kind you find at your local hardware store, and also my preferred method) apply heat to the sugar in a circular motion until the sugar is bubbly and brown. Once the sugar is browned, the custard can be stored in the fridge for up to 45 minutes, but best served immediately.

12 - Garnish with chocolate shavings and berry fruit.

Notes: Egg proteins have a very narrow window between setting and curdling, be very careful not to overcook the custard (you'll know it if you do it as the custard will be far from smooth.)

The 1/4 cup of sour cream lowers the pH of the custard, making the cream more likely to curdle, so it is extremely important that your whipping cream is extremely fresh. Fresh cream has a higher pH, and is not affected as much by the sour cream. However, if you have old cream the sour cream will cause your custard to curdle at a much lower temperature.

If you choose to make regular creme brulee, omit the sour cream and increase whipping cream to 2 cups.

Variations include:
Date Creme Brulee:
Use 5 Tbs of date sugar instead of white table sugar. Omit sour cream.
Agave Creme Brulee:
Use 5 Tbs of Agave Syrup instead of white table sugar, Reduce 1/2 cup of tequila by 3/4ths and add during step 5. Omit sour cream.
Almond Creme Brulee:
Reduce 1/2 cup Amaretto by 3/4ths add in step 5. Omit sour cream.
Orange Creme Brulee:
Increase orange zest to 3 Tbs, after bringing cream/vanilla/zest mixture to just boiling, remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes prior to adding to egg mixture. Garnish with orange segments with skin, pith, membranes, and seeds removed (Orange Supreme). Omit sour cream.
Lemon Creme Brulee:
Replace orange zest with 3 Tbs lemon zest, after bringing cream/vanilla/zest mixture to just boiling, remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes prior to adding to egg mixture. Omit sour cream. Garnish with twisted lemon peel and mint leaf.
Pumpkin Creme Brulee:
Add pinch of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and pinch of ginger powder to cream/vanilla mixture After bringing mixture to a boil, let sit for 15 minutes and then strain into egg mixture. Whisk in 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin in step 5 and don't strain the custard mix into the ramekins. Omit sour cream.
Cherry Chocolate Creme Brulee:
Combine 1/4 cup Kirsch (or any cherry liqueur) and 1/4 cup Creme de Cocoa, reduce by 3/4ths. Add in step 5. Omit sour cream.

Pot Roast Nicoise

I LOVE the flavors of a good pot roast. The trick is to let the roast sit at roughly 210 for an hour or so. At this temperature the connective tissues (glycogen) transform into gelatin, coating the long protein strands of normally tough meat, and turning them into tender morsels of deliciousness.

This version calls on French methods to produce an outstanding overall meal.

3 lb pot roast, preferably "chuck" in nature, trimmed of outside fat, reserve the fat for popovers.
2 Tbs cooking oil
1 lb pearl onions
2 lbs peeled carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/3 cup all purpose flour
8 oz crimini/baby bella mushrooms cut into 1/4ths
1 bottle dry red wine (Cabernet, Zin or Syrah) (use 3 extra cups chicken stock if you choose to omit wine)
1 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 cup water
Zest from 1/3 of an orange
3 Tbs anchovy paste
5 sprigs thyme
1/2 cup nicoise olives (kalamata will work too)
2 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 325. Add cooking oil to an enamel coated dutch oven and warm over medium high heat. Once the oil starts to shimmer (but before it starts to smoke) add the roast and brown on all sides. Remove the meat. Add the onions and carrots to the pot and cook until onions turn transluscent.

Sprinkle the flour over the onions/carrots, and stir to combine, making sure that no flour chunks form. Add the mushrooms, red wine, chicken stock and water. Bring to a strong simmer. Add orange zest, anchovy paste, olives, thyme and bay leaves.

Cover the dutch oven with a sheet of aluminum foil, and then place lid on dutch oven. Place in oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until meat is fork tender.

Remove the dutch oven from the oven, and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Carve the pot roast, and plate with carrots and onions, and cover with the remaining pan gravy.

Prosciutto and Sage Popover

This is one of those happy surprises I discovered while playing around in the kitchen. I've always been a big fan of popovers, but struggled to create the right flavor balance. When I add nothing, I get bored. But I didn't want a full meal either. I had some leftover prosciutto from another recipe, and I have a sage plant in the back yard. Voila!

Pop these in the oven about 45 minutes before your guests are set to arrive. They'll have a few minutes to cool, but still possess that fresh baked warmth.

1 1/2 cup flour
1/12 cup milk
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs rendered beef fat from pot roast (optional)
3 oz prosciutto, chopped into small chunks
10 sage leaves

Preheat oven to 425. Combine flour, milk, salt, eggs and beef fat. Stir till just combined. Refrigerate batter.

Heat a shallow frypan over medium heat. Add sage leaves, and roast until nearly dehydrated, remove. Add prosciutto chunks and fry until meat starts to crisp, transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

Mince sage.

Add a small pat of butter to each cup of a 12 cup popover pan (or cupcake pan) and place in oven for 1 minute, until butter just starts to sizzle. Divide the sage and prosciutto evenly in the 12 cups, and then pour batter 2/3 of the way up the pan.

Place in oven for 18-20 minutes. When popovers appear brown, turn off oven, and let popovers sit for 5-10 minutes in oven.

Enjoy!

Easy Peasy Caprese Salad

One of my favorite food experiences is picking and eating a ripe tomato right off the vine in the warmth of the afternoon. Tomatoes in the store are normally picked ahead of their peak, and then ripened with chemicals like ethylene. In addition, store bought tomatoes are usually refrigerated in transit, causing the tender flesh to develop a mealy consistency.

If 4 months ago you had enough foresight to plant tomatoes, this is a great way to use the multitudes of fruit hanging on the vines. For an absolutely delicious treat, pick, chop, and eat as quickly as possible.

Ingredients:

2 large fresh picked tomatoes.
1/4 lb fresh mozzarella (get Mozzarella di Bufala Campana if possible, but cow's milk mozzarella works well too)
1/2 cup of Balsamic Vinegar, reduced over low heat by three fourths and then chilled to room temperature
4 basil leaves, cut into long thin strips ( chiffonade)
1 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Coarse Sea Salt
Cracked Black Pepper

1 Wash and chop the tomatoes into bite size pieces.
2 Cut the mozzarella into small bite size chunks.
3 Combine the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, reserving a few basil strips for garnish
4 Coat with balsamic reduction
5 Drizzle olive oil over salad
6 Sprinkle salt and fresh cracked black pepper
7 Garnish with remaining basil strips

Notes:
-Although the traditional Caprese salad doesn't include Balsamic Vinegar, it really helps call out the sweetness in the fresh tomatoes.
-Local farmers markets are usually a good source of fresh tomatoes. I really like making this with Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Yellow Pear heirloom tomatoes.
-If you don't have fresh mozzarella, you can always use homemade ricotta (see recipe below). I like to create a bed of arugala lettuce, top with tomatoes, then the ricotta, balsamic, basil and olive oil.
-Tomatoes are FULL of lycopene, an oil soluble antioxidant. Studies have shown that a small amount of oil with tomatoes makes the lycopene much easier for your body to absorb.

Homemade Ricotta

Although traditional Ricotta is made from the whey leftover in the cheese making process, this cow's milk version creates a rich and sweet version guaranteed to please. -Makes about 1 cup.

Ingredients:
1 quart whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp coarse salt (I prefer sea salt)
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar

1 Combine the milk, salt, and cream in a saucepan and place bring to a simmer over medium/high heat, stirring to prevent scalding.
2 Cover a colander with cheesecloth, and place over a large bowl.
2 Add lemon juice and stir quickly (but gently) to blend.
3 Turn heat down to medium/low and watch until all the ricotta curds have separated from the whey (about 1 minute)
4 Pour the curd/whey mixture into the cheesecloth covered colander and let drain
5 If you won't be serving immediately, refrigerate in a covered container.

Notes:
The age of your milk will have a big impact on when the milk starts to curdle. Older milk that has started to sour will curdle without the use of lemon juice or vinegar. Not a problem, if that happens, just omit the lemon juice/vinegar.

Concord Grape Sorbet

With the grape harvest rapidly approaching, it makes sense to find a use for these delicious grapes, commonly referred as "Foxy", due to their musky flavor, particularly in fermented products. If you're planning on making grape preserves, it's best to start this recipe at the very beginning of the day, and update it as you go along. When all the mason jars have been pulled from their water bath, you'll have this delicious frozen treat waiting for you after a long day's work.

Ingredients:
2 quarts concord grapes, stemmed
1/2 cup sugar
Juice from one lemon
1 Tbs white rum (Optional)

After washing and de-stemming all the grapes, separate the grapes into 2 or 3 batches, and add each batch to blender. Blend each batch at high speed until broken down, pour the mixture through a strainer, removing all the grape solids. Repeat for all batches. You should have about 2 cups of raw grape juice.

Add sugar, lemon and rum (optional) to the grape juice, mixing well until the sugar is dissolved.

Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Add the grape mixture to a 2 quart ice cream maker, and mix according to the manufacturers instructions.

Once the sorbet has properly set, remove from the ice cream maker, and transfer to a freezer safe vessel. Cover, and let freeze for at least 2 more hours.

Notes:
Although this recipe is designed for a 2 Qt ice cream maker, it only makes about 3/4 of a quart of sorbet, -a larger cooling surface is required to quickly freeze the juice, and reduce the formation of ice crystals, resulting in a silky smooth mouth feel. If you have a larger ice cream maker, feel free to increase the recipe accordingly, remembering that your final product should be no more than 1/2 the capacity of the ice cream maker.

The rum's sole purpose is to lower the freezing point of the sorbet, thereby improving the texture.

To make Grape Lime Ricky Sorbet, eliminate lemon, but increase to juice from 3 limes.

Grapes are FULL of pectin, so the time in the fridge is absolutely necessary. The sugar will bind up some of the water, and allow the pectin to create a stiffer grape gel. This helps to create a smooth sorbet.

Chocolate Gelato

In late summer, nothing beats cooling off after a hard day's work with a thick chocolate gelato.

3 Cups Milk
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Cup Sugar
6 egg yolks
12 Oz Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Tsp Vanilla

Combine the Milk, cream and sugar in a saucepan over high heat. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks in a small bowl, and place the place the chocolate chips in a large bowl (you'll be adding all the ingredients in this recipe to this bowl down the road).

Bring the milk just shy of boiling (scald), take 1/2 cup of the milk and add to the egg yolks. Add another 1/c cup of milk to the chocolate chips.

Whisk the eggs well. Once the milk is incorporated into the eggs, slowly drizzle the milk/egg mixture back into the saucepan, whisking the milk while drizzling. Don't allow the milk to boil, your goal is to keep the milk between 150 and 160 degrees F. A candy thermometer helps a LOT here. Once the eggs are completely incorporated, and the milk/egg has reached a temp higher than 150, but not higher than 160, add vanilla, and remove from heat.

Mix the chocolate chips and milk mixture well, all the chips should be melted.

While mixing the chocolate chips, slowly add the egg/milk mixture to the chips. Mix well.

Cover the gelato base, and put in the fridge until the base is cooled throughout.

Add to an ice cream maker, and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Once the gelato starts to set up, place in freezer for two more hours to solidify.

Notes:
The egg/milk/custard mixture is commonly referred to as "Creme Anglais." It's a light pudding usually used as a sauce. The egg yolk proteins thicken the milk. In this recipe, the thickened milk makes for a decadent ice cream base. You could skip the chocolate, and go for strawberries, peaches, cherries, raspberries.... any fruit flavor you desire, just follow the preparation steps up to the point that you start adding the milk/egg mixture to the chocolate. Hold off on adding your fruit to the mix until after the custard has a chance to cool.

This will freeze up the best (and fastest) if you put it in a 4 qt ice cream mixer. A 2 qt mixer takes too long, and ends up creating ice crystals, so your gelato is less than smooth. If you have a 2 qt mixer, just cut the recipe in half and you'll be VERY pleased.

-For extra chocolate flavor, add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the milk/cream mixture prior to heating. Chocolate and coffee share a LOT of similar flavors, and a tiny bit of coffee tricks your mouth into thinking the chocolate is MUCH more prevalent.

Peach and Apple Chocolate Tart

When tree fruit season hits, this little recipe makes an amazingly decadent dessert.

1 ½ cups of crushed Graham Crackers
6 Tbs melted butter
¼ cup of sugar

6 Tbs of Heavy Cream
1 Tbs of Butter
¾ cup of Semisweet chocolate chips

2 ripe apples, cored and sliced
2 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

¼ cup of orange juice concentrate
¾ cup water

4 Tbs of Cornstarch
1 egg yolk
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the graham crackers, butter and sugar and mix well. Press into a 9” spring form pan. Place in oven for 8-10 minutes, until edges start to brown. Remove from oven and cool.

Put apples and peaches into orange juice/water mixture immediately after slicing and let sit.

Put chocolate chips in a stainless steel bowl. Add cream and butter to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour cream/butter over chocolate and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Whisk mixture until all chocolate is melted. Pour chocolate mixture over the top of the graham cracker crust and spread evenly.

Remove the apples/peaches, being careful to keep as much OJ as possible. Push the fruit with skin side up in the chocolate mixture. Mince any remaining apples/peaches, and add back to the OJ.

Add OJ and water mixture to a saucepan over high heat, reserving ¼ tsp of liquid. Add cornstarch and egg yolk to the reserved ¼ tsp of liquid. Once the OJ starts to boil, take a ladle of hot OJ and add to the cornstarch/egg/reserve mixture and mix well.

Slowly add the cornstarch/egg mixture to the boiling OJ, mixing well as you add. Bring to a boil one last time, remove from heat, and pour over the top of the chocolate/fruit/graham cracker.

Place in the fridge for 1-2 hours to cool. When it’s time to serve, place the pan on a plate larger than the pan, remove the outer ring of the spring form pan, the OJ glaze should fall down around the tart. Cut into pieces, and top with whipped cream.

Quantity vs. Videos

You may have noticed I've been a little short on instructional videos lately. There is a project I've taken on that requires 30 original recipes by the middle of October. Unfortunately, I'm spending all my time developing recipes, with no time to shoot videos. The good news, is that you're getting the benefit of all the dishes. The bad news, you have to READ how to make them (Rough, I know).

Don't worry, once the project is over, I'll resume my regularly scheduled video tapings!

Olive roasted Almonds

The initial roasting of the almonds in the pan does a great job browning the exterior. When followed up by the slow oven roast, it reduces the moisture content of the almonds to almost zero. When that is combined with the warm olives the fried rosemary, and the dried flavor from the juice the olives were stored in - WOW... It's like eating a grown up version of popcorn.

This makes for a great appetizer, as you can make it ahead, and then just pop it in the oven at 325 for 15 minutes prior to serving.

2 Tbs Olive Oil
3 inch sprig of Rosemary
8 Oz Raw Whole Almonds
1 Tbs Sea Salt
4 Oz of assorted Greek Olives in red wine vinegar
¼ cup of “olive juice” from the Greek olives

Preheat oven to 325 Degrees F.
Preheat olive oil in an oven safe frying pan over medium/high heat until the oil starts to shimmer.
Remove leaves from rosemary, and place leaves in oil, tossing until all leaves are coated.
Reduce heat to medium
Add almonds and salt and toss in oil, let roast for 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes (almonds will start to make a popping noise.
Add olives and olive juice to the almonds.
Transfer entire mix to the oven and roast for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and serve while still warm.


The trick to this dish is getting the almonds nice and brown before putting them in the oven. The heat of the pan while on the stove causes all sorts of chemical reactions, creating some pretty great flavor compounds. However, if you were to keep the almonds on the stove, they would burn before the moisture in the middle was gone. By using a two step browning/roasting strategy, you get the intense flavor of the browning process, with the light texture that comes from evaporating off the moisture in the oven. This is a GREAT appetizer that will go fast. Make extra.

Orange Creme Eclairs with a Bittersweet Ganache

I have yet to shoot the video for this recipe, however the results are SOOOO excellent that I couldn't wait to post the recipe. The richness of the orange pastry creme, combined with the bitterness of the ganache make for a decadent treat that will leave your mouth watering for more!

Pate Choux/Eclair Dough

1 cup milk
14 TB unsalted butter
1 TB Sugar (for sweet éclairs)
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cup all purpose flour
5-8 large eggs

Preheat oven to 425 F

Combine milk butter in a saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Bring mixture to a full boil.

Keep milk and butter over heat and add sugar, salt, and flour, continuously mixing (a wooden spoon works best)

Continue stirring over heat until dough forms ball and sticks to the wooden spoon. At this point, if you sample the dough, there will be no flavor of starch. If there is still a starchy flavor to the dough, keep cooking.

Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and let cool to below 120 F.

Combine eggs one at a time, incorporating each individual egg before adding the next egg using a paddle or wooden spoon (don’t use a whisk). Keep adding the eggs until the dough adheres to the beater, pulls away back into the bowl and forms a slouching peak. The amount of eggs that need to be added will depend on the size of the egg, and the relative humidity of the room.

Transfer the entire dough into a pastry bag equipped with a ½ inch nozzle.

Cover baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pipe 2” long dough for cream puffs, or 5” long for éclairs onto parchment paper.

Place baking sheet into 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes – until the puff/éclair has risen and started to turn brown. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Pastry is done when it turns a light brown, and feels hollow.

Transfer parchment and pastry to a cooling rack and let cool before filling.


Orange Pastry Cream

3 cups milk
4 TB unsalted butter
8 egg yolks
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
½ cup corn starch
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp Orange Oil (If orange oil is not available use 4 tsp orange extract)
2 drops red food coloring
4 drops yellow food coloring

Add 3 cups milk to a saucepan and place over high heat. While this is heating, combine egg yolks, 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, and ½ cup cornstarch and whisk well until completely combined/smooth.

Once the milk/butter mixture comes to a boil, temporarily pull the saucepan off the burner and slowly add ½ of the egg/milk mixture, mixing well while adding. Return the saucepan to the burner and slowly add the remaining egg/milk mixture, stirring the entire time. Cook the mixture, taking great care to stir throughout the cooking process. Be sure to stir all the way to the bottom of the saucepan to prevent scorching. Once bubbles start forming in the pastry cream, remove from the heat, add vanilla, orange oil, and food coloring. Mix WELL to combine.

Pastry cream should be cooled before piping into éclairs/puffs. To cool, transfer cream from saucepan into fridge worthy bowl and place piece of cling wrap directly on the surface of the cream.

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache
4 Oz Bittersweet Chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) (or 3/4 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips)
1 TB Butter
1/4 cup plus 2 TB heavy cream

Chop the chocolate into ½ inch or smaller pieces and transfer to a stainless steel bowl.

Combine butter and cream in a saucepan and heat until butter is melted, and mixture comes to a boil.

Pour the butter/cream mixture over the chocolate pieces and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir the mixture well, making sure that all chocolate is melted, and no chunks remain.

If any chocolate remains unmelted, put 2” of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Rest stainless steel bowl over saucepan and stir the ganache until all chocolate chunks are melted.

Eclair Bread Pudding

Éclair Bread Pudding

It’s inevitable when making éclairs to have a few that don’t rise. This easy recipe is a great way to use up the rejects.

4 cups of reject éclairs, torn into ½ inch or smaller pieces
4 cups milk
4 eggs
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 whole peaches chopped into bite size pieces
1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine milk, eggs, cardamom, salt, sugar and vanilla and mix well – until the egg is well incorporated into the milk.

In another bowl, mix peaches and lemon juice.

Generously butter/grease an 8” X 12” baking pan

Layer ½ of the reject éclairs onto the bottom of the pan.

Add ½ of the milk and egg mixture, pressing down on the éclairs to make sure they are saturated with the liquid.

Layer the entire peach mixture over the top of the éclairs.

Add the remaining éclair rejects over the top of the peach mixture.

Add the remaining milk/egg mixture, and press down on the éclairs, making sure they are soaked.

Place the baking dish inside a jelly roll/cookie sheet and put it in the oven. Add hot water halfway up the side of the cookie sheet so that the bread pudding pan is resting in water. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the bread pudding comes out clean.

Top with caramel ice cream topping.

A few notes on this recipe:
Egg custard is notoriously famous for overcooking, and the egg yolks turning into a rubber, curdled mess. Therefore, it's usually better to cook it low and slow, thus the need for the double boiler. The double boiler method doubles the temperature window before your bread pudding starts to curdle. -from a 5 degree window to a 10 degree window (seriously!) The pudding should thicken at 180 F. Whatever you do, don't let the bread pudding exceed 190 F, or you'll get curdled custard. You might lose some crunchiness on the surface of the bread pudding due to the lower heat and higher humidity, but it's a small sacrifice to pay for a rich, creamy custard!

Some great variations include:
-Substitute the peaches for 1 cup of dark chocolate chips.
-Use day old croissants, or crusty french bread instead of eclairs.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Although "hate" is a strong word, I really hate most sandwich cookies. The filling is usually sweetened shortening and vanilla. This white chocolate filling really improves the overall flavor and makes for a much better dessert! The cookies in this recipe are delicately crunchy, and the whipped white chocolate is outstanding!

Cookie Dough:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup unsweetened Dutch Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar and cream together until light and fluffy, and the egg and mix until it is incorporated. Add the cocoa and mix until consistent.

Add the flour and mix in by hand. You want to mix the minimum amount and still get the flour incorporated.

Turn the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, wrap tightly and place in the fridge for two hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

After removing the plastic wrap, sprinkle confectioners sugar on rolling surface. Turn the dough onto the sugar and then roll the dough into a consistent 1/4 thickness. Using a 2-3 inch wide circular cookie cutter, cut as many circles as possible. Place the circles on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Take the unused dough, and reroll it to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut more circles, each time putting them on the parchment covered cookie sheet. Continue the process until all dough is used.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 11-12 minutes. Transfer parchment paper to a wire cooling rack.

Let cool completely before filling.

The Filling:

1/4 cup plus 2 TBS heavy cream
1/4 stick butter (2 Tbs)
1 1/2 cups White Chocolate chips

Place the chocolate chips in a stainless steel mixing bowl.

Combine the cream and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure the butter is completely melted.

Pour the cream/butter mixture over the white chocolate chips and let sit for 2 minutes.

Mix until all the white chocolate chips have completely melted, and then let it rest until room temperature.

Using a whipping attachment on your mixer, whip until medium peaks form.

Place a reasonable amount of filling between two cookies and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes to give the white chocolate a chance to set.

Orange Meringue Cookies

Delicious!!! This cookie is light and airy, with just a hint of orange.

2 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
2/3 cup sugar
2 drops of orange oil (or 1/4 tsp of orange extract)

Make sure your mixing bowl is absolutely clean.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Beat egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar until mixture forms soft peaks.

Add the sugar in small batches, beating till stiff peaks form

Add orange oil (or extract) and mix using a rubber spatula

Place on a parchment covered baking sheet using a rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until firm, and the bottom is lightly browned.

Transfer parchment paper to a cookie rack and let cool.

Makes about 15 cookies.