Recipe Review 2/12/07

I had plans to be in the Cities last week for a yoga workshop, which fell through in a spectacular fashion which included, no less, getting stuck in a snowstorm in rush hour traffic...precluded much in the way of new recipes. I consoled myself with another batch of homemade pudding. This time, appropriately, it was chocolate.

Chocolate Pudding (Ckng Lght Annual 07, pg 293) 7
This was another recipe from the pudding article from what was the August issue. This was also incredible easy to make. Boil some milk, add a mixture of sugar and eggs, boil again - at this point I was dancing around the kitchen because the time to bring the mixture back to a boil was almost instantaneous and it threatened to overflow - and add semi-sweet chocolate and vanilla. I think I'm missing a couple of ingredients in my description but you get the gist. It was tasty warm, and good after a couple of hours chilling though super rich. After sitting overnight it was darn tasty. I topped it off with some Reddi Whip and we were good to go!

And once the weekend rolled around and life calmed down, I fit in two more quick recipes:

Catfish Amadine (Eating Well, Jan/Feb 07, pg 17) 6
I was in the mood for something other than stew, risotto, or other creamy casserole-ish type dishes and this one fit the bill. A very quick recipe to assemble: slivered almonds and thinly sliced garlic are sauteed until nicely browned in olive oil and butter. A catfish fillet (I quartered the recipe) was dipped in egg and lightly dusted with a flour, salt and cayenne pepper mixture then lightly pan fried. The almond mixture was gently re-heated with a splash of lemon juice and sprinkled over the top of the fillet. The result was very satisfying. I would have had an accompaniment but I had a pudding recipe going on my second burner and thus, no veggie for me.

Vanilla Bean Pudding (Ckng Lght Annual 07, pg 293) 7
I'm still on my pudding kick - this is what happens when one doesn't have an oven, you get creative in the desert department! Saturday's selection was Vanilla (who doesn't like a good old fashioned vanilla?). Assembly was the same as the chocolate - bring some milk and vanilla bean seeds and bean to a boil, add a mixture of sugar, egg, cornstarch and half-n-half, bring back to a boil, quickly cool, then cover and put in the refrigerator. I chose this recipe in part because I actually had some vanilla beans in the cupboard. I had bought them for an angel food cake that never got made -in many ways, it's almost been more fun picking out other recipes where this rather expensive spice is required. I would also like to say this pudding was absolutely divine warm.

For those of you following my stove drama, I have an update! The new stove was ordered and I got the call on Friday that it has arrived at the store! Stay tuned for further updates.