Bread Pudding

Ever since I have known that Roosters and Union Grill offers a tasty caramel bread pudding, I have wanted to try it. But, since I didn't try it before finding out I am a Celiac, I never had the chance to.

I decided to try a recipe for it at home, with gluten free bread of course, and I have to say it was pretty much delicious.
I used the recipe below, but like I said, just exchanged the regular bread for homemade gluten free bread, using Pamela's Wheat Free Bread Mix in a bread machine.
I am sure either one you decide to try will be just as good as the other :)

Recipe from www.momswhothink.com

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk (or 2 cups half & half)
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark, depending on taste preference)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups bread, torn into small pieces (french bread works best)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)


Directions:

1. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat milk (or half & half) just until film forms over top. Combine butter and milk, stirring until butter is melted. Cool to lukewarm.

2. Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute. Slowly add milk mixture.

3. Place bread in a lightly greased 1 1/2 quart casserole.

4. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Pour batter on top of bread.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Serve warm.

If you make the sauce to put on top of your bread pudding, adjust the sugar in the bread pudding recipe, change it to 1/3 cups sugar (the sauce has the other 1/3 cup in it).
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Bread Pudding Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon flour
dash of salt

Directions:

Mix everything together and bring to a boil for 3 - 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside for 5 minutes, then pour on warm bread pudding.

French Pastry Puffs

A friend of mine blogged about these on her cooking website (www.triedandtasty.com ), and I thought they looked tasty and pretty easy to make. I was right. I even substituted gluten free flour for the real deal and they tasted light, fluffy and like a French pastry puff.
Source: The Cook Next Door

4 1/2 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix all dry ingredients together and set aside.

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
3 eggs

In your mixer cream shortening and add sugar and blend well and then add eggs (it is best if you use room temperature eggs, but it will work if you don’t) one at a time until blended.

Then alternate adding dry ingredients to creamed mixture with 1 1/2 cups milk (whole is best). Keep alternating between the wet and the dry…ending with milk until all is blended. Grease mini muffin tins well with shortening. Spoon batter into tins. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. These will not get really dark brown on top so use a toothpick to check if done.

Melt in a bowl 1 cup of salted butter. In another bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and 3 tsp cinnamon. After muffins are out and cooled for a few minutes out of the pans, dip tops in butter and then roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture. This recipe makes 8 doz mini muffins

Hot Fruit Casserole

I don't have a picture of this recipe because by the time I remember that I should take one, it is almost gone! We started using a recipe/shopping list service called e-mealz! I love it so far. This recipe is supposed to be a side dish, but I think it is more of a dessert/cobbler.

Ingredients:

3 large Granny Smith apples, chopped

1 can whole cranberry sauce

Topping:

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c melted butter

1/4 c flour

1/2 c chopped pecans

1 c oatmeal

Preparation:

Mix apples and cranberry sauce in a 9x13 pan

Mix topping ingredients and spread over top.

Bake @ 350, 45 minutes.

Plum Galette

I got this recipe from the September '09 issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. A galette is a free form tart and this one is SO good. And don't worry because it looks a lot more intimidating to make than it really is. To make it way easier, I used store bought Pilsbury refigerated pie crust I already had instead of making the crust from scratch. Nice little shortcut and it turned out great! But I included the recipe for Martha's pie crust incase you do decide to go all out.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup ice water

For the filling:

- 2 T. flour

- 5 T. sugar

- 1/4 cup whole, skin-on almonds, toasted
- 4 to 5 plums, halved, pitted, and sliced 1/4 inch thick (keep slices together)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preparations:

1. In a food processor, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, butter, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 1/4 cup remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Dont overmix. Remove dough from processor and shape into a disk; wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.

2.Meanwhile, wipe bowl of food processor clean and add almonds, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons flour; pulse until ground to a coarse meal.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. (If you are using refrigerated pie crust, lay it on a floured surface and roll out gently to thin out the dough a bit). Transfer dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet; sprinkle almond mixture over dough. With a spatula, transfer plums to dough; press lightly to fan slices out, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold edge of dough over fruit. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Brush crust with cream; sprinkle galette with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until crust is golden and underside is cooked through, about 70 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings

Pumpkin Pie Cake

This recipe is from my friend, Jaime Green. It's delicious and always a huge hit! Mike, who doesn't love pumpkin pie, LOVES this pumpkin pie cake. The picture doesn't do it justice. But it's super easy and super yummy!

Step 1
1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 Egg
1/2 stick of butter - melted
*Save 1 cup of the cake mix (to use later)

Mix remaining cake mix, egg and margarine. press into 9X13pan.

Step 2
1 Large Can of Pumpkin
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2/3 Cup Canned Evaporated Milk
3 Eggs
*Combine and pour over pressed cake mix.

Step 3
1 Cup reserved cake mix (from step 1)
1/4 stick butter - melted
3/4 Cup of sugar
*Mix and sprinkle over pumpkin mixture.

Bake approximately 55 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with whipped cream

Stawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb isn't loved by everyone but I definitely LOVE rhubarb. It's easy to bake with and definitely easy to freeze. I recently made a crips with strawberries and rhubarb - a common combination.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Topping (recipe fro America's Test Kitchen)

6 tbs flour (I used whole-wheat)

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

5 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3/4 c coarsely chopped nutes (I used almonds)

Note: I doubled the recipe because I like a lot of topping. :) I also added ground flax seed.

Preparation

Place flour, sugars, spices, and salt in food processor and process briefly to combine. Add butter and pulse 10 times, about 4 seconds for each pulse. The mixture will first look like dry sand, with large lumps of butter, then like coarse cornmeal. Add the nuts, then process again, four or five 1-second pulses. The topping shoud look like slightly clumpy wet sand. Be sure not to overmix, or the mixture will become too wet. Refrigerate the topping while preparing the fruit, at least 15 minutes.

Filling (my own eye)

Strawberries (quartered) and rhubarb (1/4 inch pieces) nicely coated with honey

Preparation

Fill 8x8 pyrex pan 2/3 way full of strawberry and rhubarb mix, and 1/3 with topping mixture

Bake @ 375 degrees for 25 minutes

After 25 minutes, raise temp to 400 for another 5 minutes; fruit should be bubbling

Total baking time = 30 minutes

Let cool and then serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Jello Salad

I love this salad because it's easy and it's a great side to any meal (I think so at least!) It's also really good to double so it can last longer and feed more mouths! Again, no nutritional info or picture...sorry!

1 (3 oz.) Jello (any flavor)

16 oz. 7-Up, divided

1/2 container Cool Whip

Heat 12 ounces of 7-Up to boiling. Add Jello and remove from heat. Stir until dissolved. Refrigerate until wobbly, but not set. (This usually takes about an hour in my fridge (when it's doubled)-just to give you an idea.) Add remaining 4 ounces of 7-Up and whip with mixer. Add Cool Whip and mix until well blended. Pour into bowl and refrigerate until set.
*Side note: If you double it, it's always fun to mix flavors. For instance, instead of using one 6 oz. box of a flavor, use two 3 oz. boxes of different flavors-like lime and cherry. It's just fun to create a flavor that sounds good to you!

Berry-Peach Cobbler w/ Sugared Almonds

I thought I'd start us off with a new delicious cobbler recipe I tried from the July 2009 issue of Cooking Light. Great tasting and low calorie? Score! I made it for a BBQ and it was devoured quickly. I think I might add some raspberries next time I make it and see how that works. Happy eating!

Ingredients
Filling:
3 (6-ounce) packages fresh blueberries
3 (5.6-ounce) packages fresh blackberries
3 medium peaches, peeled and sliced
Cooking spray
2/3 cup granulated sugar (I used a little less and it was still good)
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Topping:
1 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup sliced almonds (I used more almonds because I love them)
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar (the bigger crystals of sugar)
1 egg white

Remaining ingredient:
4 cups vanilla fat-free ice cream

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. To prepare filling, combine blueberries, blackberries, and peaches in a 13 x 9–inch baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, juice, and 1/8 teaspoon salt over fruit; toss gently to combine.

3. To prepare topping, combine flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, baking powder, and 1/8 teaspoon salt, stirring well. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add half-and-half; gently knead dough just until moistened. Drop dough by spoonfuls evenly over top of filling. Combine almonds, turbinado sugar, and egg white; sprinkle over top. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until topping is browned. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Yeild:

12 servings (1 c. cobler & 1/3 c. ice cream)

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 321
Fat: 8.9g (sat 4.5g,mono 2.7g,poly 0.8g)
Protein: 5.3g
Carbohydrate: 58.9g
Fiber: 4.2g
Cholesterol: 19mg
Iron: 1.1mg
Sodium: 147mg
Calcium: 101mg

Enjoy!