The bread pudding throwdown

Since Christmas is fast approaching, I thought that it would be a good idea to share with you more exciting recipes to add a twist to the holiday table.  Have you heard of the show Throwdown with Bobby Flay?  Maybe yes, maybe no.  Anyway… this is a hit show on Food Network where acclaimed chef Bobby Flay challenges absolute masters in different kinds of cooking – award-winning BBQers, bakers, pizza makers and more.  In each episode, one of these cooks thinks Food Network is shooting their profile for a show.  What they don’t know is that Bobby is going to drop in for a surprise visit and challenge them to an unexpected cook-off.  Well, this is a bread pudding throwdown.  

The first recipe is Giada De Laurentiis’ Berry Strata, a classic Italian dessert.  Originally, a strata (which means layers in Italian) consisted of a layer of custard, a layer of bread, a layer of custard, a layer of bread, and then you would bake it off.  This recipe, however, mixes all the ingredients together making the strata similar to a bread pudding, which is very easy to create.  This berry strata is so versatile because you can make it for breakfast or for dessert.  When you bake the strata, the outside turns golden-brown, while the inside stays moist and sweet. This modern version of a strata is just like bread pudding but creamier, silkier and fluffier.  The chunky berries make it colorful and the citrus flavor from the orange juice brightens everything up!     

Berry Strata

Adapted slightly from Berry Strata by Giada De Laurentiis

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients:

·         2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

·         3 Tablespoons honey

·         4 large eggs, at room temperature

·         ½ cup ricotta cheese

·         3 Tablespoons sugar

·         1 cup whole milk

·         ¼ cup orange or lemon juice

·         4 slices of bread, such as white or sourdough bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)

·         1 (12-ounce) bag frozen mixed berries, thawed and drained

Instructions:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.  Turn off the heat, add the honey, and stir to combine.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl beat the eggs with a fork.  Add the ricotta cheese and sugar and mix to combine.  Add the milk, orange or lemon juice, butter and honey mixture, and bread.  Stir to combine.  Gently fold in the berries.

Place the ingredients in a 10x8x2 inch baking dish.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Bake the strata until golden on top and baked through, about 40-45 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  Spoon into dishes and serve.  

The second recipe is based on a dessert that chef Anita Lo serves at her New York restaurant, Annisa.  Anita Lo’s inventive recipes are inspired by her travels and multicultural upbringing, and they also reflect her classic French training.  Although, she likes to bring Asian ingredients to the holiday table, this recipe is more of a spin on the classic bread pudding.  This baked goodness is sweet, custardy, crunchy on top, and shot through with poppy seeds for a stunning visual and textural effect.  The pecans bring nuttiness, while the warn Amaretto sauce is just like velvety caramel bringing more sweetness and moisture to this superb dessert!       

Pecan and Amaretto Bread Pudding

Adapted from Pecan, Bourbon, and Butterscotch Bread Pudding (Bon Appétit, November 2011)

Serves: 10 servings

Ingredients for the Amaretto Sauce:

·         1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

·         ½ cup agave syrup

·         3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

·         1 ½ teaspoons salt

·         ½ cup heavy cream

·         1 Tablespoon Amaretto liquor (optional)

Ingredients for the Pudding:

·         1 pound day-old rustic white or sourdough bread, crusts removed, cut into ½ inch cubes (about 12 cups)

·         ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

·         2 Tablespoons, plus 1 ½ cups sugar

·         5 large eggs, at room temperature

·         4 cups heavy cream

·         1 ½ Tablespoons poppy seeds

·         Pinch of salt

·         3 Tablespoons Amaretto liquor

·         ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise

·         2 cups pecan pieces

Instructions for the Amaretto Sauce:

Bring the brown sugar, agave syrup, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking to dissolve sugar.  Boil until mixture is syrupy and measures 1 1/3 cups, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat; add cream and Amaretto, if desired, and stir until smooth.  Let cool.  Do Ahead:  Can be made 3 days ahead.  Let cool completely, cover, and chill.  Rewarm before serving.  

Instructions for Pudding:

Toss bread, melted butter, and 2 Tablespoons sugar in a large bowl and set aside.  Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and remaining 1 ½ cups sugar in another large bowl until pale yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add cream, poppy seeds, and salt; beat to blend.  Place Amaretto in a small bowl; scrape in seeds from vanilla bean (reserve bean for another use).  Whisk to distribute seeds, then add to egg mixture, whisking to blend well.  Pour egg mixture over bread mixture in bowl.  Add pecans and toss to coat well.  Transfer mixture to a 13x9x2 inch glass or ceramic backing dish, spreading out in an even layer.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. 

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Remove plastic wrap and bake until top is browned in spots and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hours.  Serve bread pudding with Amaretto sauce.  

These two different takes on the traditional bread pudding are tasty and easy to make.  However, at the end of the day, you’re the judge and you get to pick the winner of this bread pudding throwdown.  Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!) 

Back to breakfast

I hope that you all had a satisfying Thanksgiving!  I know I had!  And now, I’m recovering…  Although, every year I try to avoid overeating at Thanksgiving, I always end up doing just the opposite…yes, overeat.  So, after an entire weekend of overeating, I’m trying to manage my eating habits a tiny bit (I’m already wondering how long that will last).  And for me that starts with the basic breakfast. 

I’m not a devoted breakfast eater, unfortunately.  Most of the time, one or two cups of coffee in the morning will do the trick and fill up my tummy for a couple of hours.  I know what you’re thinking… not a healthy breakfast!  I agree.  And the funny thing is that I do feel much better if I eat something in the morning, but what can I do?  I think it’s called laziness…  So, as I said, after a long weekend of indulgence, I’m trying to follow a healthier eating pattern especially since I have the perfect morning treat – ricotta parfait! 

I love parfaits!  They are creamy, crunchy, sweet, and, most importantly, they fill you up.  Not to mention that they look very pretty with those layers of colors and abundance of flavors.  For me, a parfait represents the perfect boost of energy to get my morning started.  Of course… coffee, too.  What I also like about this particular Ricotta Parfait recipe is that one of the main ingredients is jam; and I love jam.  I don’t like to make it myself, although I probably should, and I’m convinced it would taste so much better, but I do love Sarabeth’s preserves.  Adrian might even say that I’m obsessed with Sarabeth’s.  He’s probably right, but I can’t help it.  

These jams are phenomenal!  From strawberry-raspberry and strawberry-rhubarb, to pineapple-mango and peach-apricot, they are all superb.  I buy my Sarabeth’s preserves from Marshalls, TJ Maxx or HomeGoods stores.  In fact, every time I walk into one of these stores, I look for a Sarabeth’s jar.  The scary thing is that I feel just like Mel Gibson in the movie The Conspiracy Theory – whenever he sees a copy of The Catcher in the Rye book, he has to buy it.  I feel the same with the Sarabeth’s jams – whenever I see one, I have to buy it.  The problem with me, as opposed to Mel Gibson’s character, is that I don’t stop with one jar of jam; I buy them all (the good thing is that they don’t get too many jars).  So, you can easily imagine that I have enough jam to last me for at least six months.  Anyway…I think you get the picture!

Ricotta Parfait

Adapted from Ricotta Parfait by Giada De Laurentiis

Serves:  4 servings

Special equipment:  4 parfait or sundae glasses

Ingredients:

·         1 cup ricotta cheese

·         ½ cup plain yogurt

·         ½ cup jam, divided (recommended: Sarabeth’s Strawberry-Raspberry)

·         2 cups granola, divided

·         ¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Instructions:

To toast the sliced almonds, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 6 to 8 minutes until lightly golden.  Cool completely before using.    

In a small bowl, whisk the ricotta cheese and yogurt together until smooth.  In each parfait glass, layer 2 Tablespoons of the ricotta mixture, 1 Tablespoon jam (please use any kind of jam you like; I found that a tart berry preserve works well with the creaminess of the ricotta and yogurt mixture) and ¼ cup of granola.  Repeat the layers.  Spread the remaining ricotta mixture on top and garnish with toasted almonds before serving.

What I sometimes like to do is to substitute the layers of granola with layers of toasted almonds.  The parfait gets a nutty aroma from the toasted almonds, which I love.  And, by the way, almonds are very good for you, too.  Also, having a layer of granola, one of almonds, and finishing with more toasted almonds, is another good option.  In the end, whichever combination you choose, it will work beautifully.  Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!) 

P.S.:  Happy National Day, Romania!

Nutella: The European peanut butter

I grew up eating toast with Nutella every morning as a kid.  Nutella is for Europeans what peanut butter is for Americans – a staple food.  The only difference is that Nutella is a chocolate-hazelnut spread.  Just like with peanut butter, you can indulge yourself in Nutella straight from the jar – a very dangerous thing to do!  For that reason, I try to store my Nutella in the very back of my pantry so that I don’t have easy access to it; otherwise, I could devour it in one sitting, and then go to the store and buy a brand new one.   

I was in middle school when Nutella became extremely popular in Romania.  At first, my mom didn’t really understand what all the fuss was with this new chocolate spread on bread.  She thought that the two didn’t go together at all and hoped that my fixation would just go away.  It didn’t.  In fact, my love for Nutella continued throughout high school.  Every morning, it was the same – toast and Nutella with a cup of tea or cocoa.  This was my ultimate breakfast.  I still love Nutella to this day, although my breakfast choices have evolved since.  However, from time to time, I still like to make myself a nice cup of cocoa and enjoy it with toast and Nutella.  It immediately brings back childhood memories.  

But aside from eating the hazelnut spread from the jar with a spoon or on toast, I also like to make sweet, rich, decadent treats with it.  Anything tastes better with Nutella!  So, when I found Giada’s recipe with Nutella I was immediately hooked, intrigued and ready to try it.  I’ve always loved calzones.  I’ve had calzones before at various pizzerias, like I imagine many of you have, but I’ve never had a dessert calzone, or better said a Nutella calzone.  Let me tell you, these ricotta and chocolate-hazelnut calzones are over the top!  

Ricotta and Chocolate – Hazelnut Calzones

Adapted slightly from Ricotta and Chocolate-Hazelnut Calzones by Giada De Laurentiis

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients:

·         ¾ cup ricotta cheese, at room temperature

·         ¼ cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

·         1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

·         2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting

·         8 ounces frozen strawberries or any other berries you prefer, thawed (I used 16 ounces of frozen strawberries and it worked perfectly)

·         2 Tablespoons sugar

·         2/3 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella), at room temperature

·         3 Tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

·         6 (2-ounce) pieces homemade or purchased pizza dough, cold

·         1 large egg, beaten to blend

Instructions:

Blend the ricotta, mascarpone, egg yolk, and confectioners’ sugar in a food processor until smooth and creamy.  Transfer the ricotta mixture to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, blend the strawberries and sugar in a clean food processor until smooth.  Transfer the strawberry sauce to a small bowl and set aside.

Whisk the chocolate-hazelnut spread and cream in a medium bowl to blend.

Position the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450°F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Roll out each piece of pizza dough into a 7-inch-diameter round.  Spoon the ricotta mixture atop the center of the lower half of each pizza dough.  Spoon the chocolate-hazelnut mixture atop the cheese mixture.  Brush the upper edges of the dough with egg wash.  Fold the plain dough halves over the filling, forming half circles.  Pinch the edges of dough firmly together to seal.  Using a pastry wheel, trim the edges to make them look pretty.  If you don’t have a pastry wheel, don’t worry, just use a fork and press on the edges – that’s what I did and I was pleased with the final product.  Transfer the calzones to the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.

Brush the tops of the calzones with more egg wash.  Bake until the calzones puff and become golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool for 15 minutes.  Transfer the calzones to plates and dust with the confectioners’ sugar.  Drizzle the strawberry sauce around the calzones and serve.  

The sweet cheese mixture is light, the chocolate is rich and creamy, and the strawberry sauce is tart and brightens up the flavor and color of these sweet pockets.  They are unique, chocolaty, totally different, and a definite must-try!