Aimless thoughts, delicious recipes, and a few of the things that mean something to me.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Chocolate Pudding
Chocolate pudding is just about one of the most comforting things in the world. Yes, chocolate pudding. And I certainly do not mean chocolate pudding that comes in a plastic cup or a box as chocolate pudding so often seems to come nowadays. No, I mean real chocolate pudding, the kind with egg yolks and milk and rich cocoa powder all simmered together until thick and lovely. Its rich and creamy but not-too-sweet and entirely decadent. The good news is chocolate pudding couldn't be simpler to make. Martha Stewart has a perfect recipe that I've used several times before and it takes no more than 20 minutes. Give this delightful treat a try and see why chocolate pudding is not unlike coming home.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Fancy Salted Caramels
I've been holding out on you. I haven't posted in almost three weeks but so much has happened since then, namely, one of the most sacred of food-related holidays ever: THANKSGIVING. And you can bet your bottom dollar I wasn't sitting on the couch watching all the cooking happen. No sir, I was in the heart of the Thanksgiving food frenzy, my arm half up a turkey and all. I enjoyed not one, not, two, but three Thanksgiving celebrations that week, each one more glorious than the last. There was a luscious chocolate pecan pie at two of them, along with a delicious, cinnamony cranberry sauce. And pan gravy with white wine (cue weakening of the knees).
But I'm not going to talk about Thanksgiving today. I may post some recipes later (the chocolate pecan pie is coming soon, I promise) but I've already done a Thanksgiving post and well, frankly, I don't feel that my humble little blog is the first place you're going to run to looking for Thanksgiving recipes.
No, today I am going to share with you a very delicious salted caramel recipe. Now, let me be clear, salted caramels aren't for the faint of heart. It takes a pretty serious foody to appreciate what happens when sugar and salt come together, and to everyone else it just tastes kind of weird. Also, I put way to much salt on these, so they actually were kind of weird, but were easily salvageable with a few salt flakes scraped (or licked, I don't judge) off.
I followed a recipe from Ina Garten that I had seen a while back. We even bought fleur de sel, which is fancy salt from France. Full disclosure, as much as I love pretentious sounding foods, fleur de sel was not worth it ($15?!) for this recipe. I'm not saying you should bring out the table salt, but some nice sea salt would have been just fine. They weren't the biggest hit, but again, you kind of need to have a ridiculous obsession with food to be into the idea salt on candy. And look how cute they look in a little wrapper! Give them a try, they'll make you feel fancy and maybe impress your friends at all of your upcoming holiday cocktail parties (I know my schedule is just booked with them).
More posts to come soon. Things get pretty good, so stick around.
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