Spectacular Swirly Bread Pudding

Thanks to Molly, a co-worker of Dylan's at Children's Hospital, for introducing us to the wonderful bread pudding that forms the foundation of this recipe. We've made only a few minor changes to give it a little less sugar and a cinnamon swirl.

8 Eggs
2 Cups Milk (we use 2% Organic)
2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1/4 Cup Amaretto (yes, that's liquor in your pudding folks - go Molly!)
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Loaf Semifreddies Cinnamon Swirl Bread (if you don't have this or something similar in your area you can substitute 1 loaf of Challah bread but you won't get the swirl)
Cocoa powder


You will need a 9x13 glass pan. Prep the pan by spreading a little canola oil over it and dusting it with sifted cocoa powder.
In a large sized bowl, rip the bread into pieces.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, amaretto and vanilla thoroughly.

Pour this mixture over the bread and let sit for 30 minutes.


Bake in 350 degree F oven for 40-50 minutes. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled, whatever you prefer. Enjoy!

Easter ramblings

What do vegetarian's eat for Easter dinner? I have no idea. Fortunately, Dylan and I will be working (this is what happens when you work at a hospital, they tend to be open 24/7) so I won't have to figure out what to cook. Growing up it was always HAM on Easter. The kind that had pineapple rings on it and cloves stuck between the criss cross slices, oh and a maraschino cherry in the middle of each pineapple ring. Mmmmm.

And anyway, how on earth did Easter get here so quickly? We just celebrated St. Patty's day! And vegetarian or not I tried Tamara's corned beef and cabbage which was slow cooked in Guiness beer. Tender and quite good. And this was served with Mushy Peas, not Irish but rather British, and not as bad as they sound.

We had my son over to dye eggs, a tradition. That translates to deviled eggs, egg salad and potato salad this coming week. This year there were rubber bands used to wrap around the eggs before they were dipped into the dye, markers, ink bunny stamps, the ever popular clear wax crayon and even scotch tape. Also new for us was using some brown eggs which created a more intense color than the white eggs.

Oh and I found my chef coat and pants for culinary school. I thought this would be fun but it was really quite stressful. The men's pants were baggy beyond belief and the coats were also too big. The women's selection was quite small compared to the mens but I was able to find a pair of black pants (will have to be hemmed) and a white chef's coat with knotted buttons. I am so glad I didn't try to order online, it would have never worked.

I will be seeing my brother for a couple of days when he visits San Diego in April. He is a chef and owns the Hungry Bear Restaurant in Winter Park, Colorado. He has been cooking for what seems like forever and it always makes my mouth water when he rambles off his latest creation. Don't ask him for a recipe though, he just composes things like a musician writes a song and has yet to give me an exact recipe. I hope to help out with some of his catering events when I am done with school.

Culinary school starts April 1, be sure to follow along as the adventure unfolds!

What to bring to the Potluck Orzo Salad

You know the problem. There's a potluck at work or a baby shower or something of the sort and you're supposed to bring a dish. Someone beat you and signed up for "chips and salsa" first. Someone else signed up for your back up plan of "plates and napkins." Okay, you're going to have to cook. These potlucks often have an abundance of sweets but not enough "real food." Not to worry, we have the ideal recipe for you. You don't have to heat it up, it's "real food" that everyone will love and you will be praised for months to come going down into the history of pot lucks as "Remember when Jill brought that fabulous Orzo Salad?" Yeah baby, that's you!

This is Dylan's recipe which was inspired by a rice salad in The Silver Palate Cookbook which both of us love.

Orzo Salad

3 cups of dried orzo
1 sweet red pepper, chopped into small pieces
6 scallions, cleaned and finely sliced, white and light green parts
1 cup dried currants
1 shallot, peeled and finely diced
2 cups frozen peas
1 medium sized carrot, chopped into fine dice
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Organic Feta
Pine Nuts, toasted

Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Cook the orzo in boiling water until just tender and firm to the bite. Drain and run under cool water for a minute to stop the cooking. Set aside in strainer.

Blanch the frozen peas in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water, drain again. Set aside.

In a good sized bowl add the red pepper, the scallions, the currants, the shallot, the olives, the carrot and the parsley. Mix. Now put in your peas, mix gently. Add the orzo and mix again. Set aside and make the vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons prepared Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (add up to 1/2 tsp as desired)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup olive oil

Measure mustard into bowl. Whisk in vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and parsley. Whisk in olive oil and adjust seasoning to taste.

Now, let's finish the salad that's going to make you famous. Add about 1/2 of the vinaigrette to the salad and toss. It should be moist, not wet. Add your feta and toss again. Transfer to a nice serving dish and cover. Sprinkle pine nuts on top before serving and bring extra dressing with you. This salad is best served at room temperature so the flavors explode in your mouth. Remember to let us know how it turns out and don't forget the little people when you're famous.

Who Stole the Vegetable Tian?

Admit it, you steal recipes from magazines you find in waiting rooms. I know I'm not the only one because I've seen the half torn pages in the food section while I'm passing time in the doctor's office, the dentist's office, waiting for my car to be serviced... I feel a little guilty when I do it but something comes over me and I just HAVE to have this recipe AND the picture that goes with it. I try to be subtle, to make sure no one is looking directly at me, to crease the page well before tearing it and then quickly shoving it into my pocket. What I really find annoying is that after I've been waiting in the lobby for 30 minutes and finally decided that YES I DO want, no need, that recipe and just as I am about to make my move the nurse calls out my name. Rats! Or when the recipe begins on page 51 and is continued on page 123 so I have to tear out multiple pages. This can only be done by experienced recipe bandits.

So here then is a recipe, yes shamefully taken from a magazine. And sin upon sin it's Martha Stewart.

This is a recipe for Vegetable tian and it's one we make we make again and again finding

something comforting in the flavors. We serve it with a rice pilaf and a glass of chardonnay. It's soft but not mushy. The use of a food processor (or mandolin I suppose) makes the vegie prep quick. Allow an hour for baking.

Vegetable Tian

original recipe martha's, adaptations by drake and dylan

Makes one 9 inch tian, serves 4

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 leaks, white and pale green parts only, halved, fanned and rinsed well and cut into thin slices

2 garlic cloves, minced

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 medium or 2 small zucchini, unpeeled, very thinly sliced

1 medium or 2 small yellow squash, unpeeled, very thinly sliced

2 plum tomatoes, very thinly sliced

1 small Italian eggplant, unpeeled, very thinly sliced

6-8 crimini mushrooms, cleaned, thinly sliced (can substitute shitake or use a mixture)

1/4 cup dry white wine (I use a nice Chardonnay, you know, some for me, some for the recipe)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (can substitute 1/2 tbsp organic dried oregano)

Grated Parmesan, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat 3 tbsp oil in large skillet over med heat. Add leek and garlic, season with some salt and pepper, and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Spread in a 9 inch gratin or round baking dish (a glass pie pan works nicely).

2. Arrange vegies on top of leek mixture in slightly overlapping circles, alternating them as you go.

3. Top with wine, 1 tbsp of oil, oregano, s and p. Bake 30 minutes. Drizzle with remaining oil. Bake until vegies are tender, 30 minutes more. Serve with Parmesan.

Chop! Chop! Culinary School Starts Soon

I don't look good in hats. That's going to be a problem because we have to wear one for chef school. I hope they're not too picky at Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts.
They have sent me a list of supplies I need:
-8 inch Chef knife
-3 inch paring knife
-vegetable peeler (apparently no chef should be without one of these)
-hard, closed toe shoes or "professional chef shoes"
-chef coat
-hair wrap (cap, hat or scarf)
-white shirts
-chef pants
-chef gear bag (not really sure what that is and haven't found one online either)
-instant read thermometer
and some computer software called Master Cook.

I like wearing a uniform. When I was a kid I was a girl scout and I had my little green polyester uniform that proudly pronounced, "Hey, look at me, I've got the cookies!"

Yesterday there was a post card from a personal chef on my car window. Basically it states that if you're tired of grocery shopping, hate to cook and never have time to make a decent meal you should hire this guy and he will do it for you. I respect his right to market this way however that is soooo not my philosophy about all of this.

First I am doing it for the experience. I have a handful of experiences in my life that I look back on and say were totally worth it and very rewarding. For example, the time I bought an old Victorian house in Denver and totally renovated it from the ground up. What an amazing experience (though mind you it was a lot of work and I would never do it again!). I want culinary school to be like that...just in and of itself a totally cool, fun, and engaging moment in my life. When I told my co-worker this he said I sounded very "Oprah-ish."

And, unlike the guy marketing on my car window, I come from an empowerment model. I want to teach people to cook. I want to help them have fun with it and reclaim it and nurture their bodies with it. And while I do understand how busy we can all be, I wonder how much of it we have been programmed into believing. Manufacturers came up with prepackaged food during the war for the soldiers. The question was how to market it to consumers post-war. It's interesting to think about these words from the book The United States of Arugula by David Kamp, "...the packaged-food companies would abandon any pretense of claiming their processed and frozen products were superior in taste, instead stressing their convenience. Cannily (and often with canned foods), these companies' advertising campaigns actually stigmatized the experience of spending hours in the kitchen...an ad for Minute Rice that sounds like it was written by someone hopped up on Dexedrine: 'Baby fussing? Dinner to get? When baby wants attention and Daddy wants dinner, your best friend is quick-quick Minute Rice!" could it be that on some level we are at least in part victims of marketing and rather than enjoy the preparation and dining experience with food and conversation we've been programed to think it a drudgery?

When my partner and I got together she would come to my place and we would have "The Kissing Lounge." We would have a cocktail called a French Kiss along with a plate of cheese, crackers and fruit. We would sit and sip our drink and eat and talk about our work day. Then we would go make dinner. We had a one drink limit so that we would not cut off a finger.

Ah well, I digress. So school starts April 1 and I will be spending the next few weeks checking off items on the list. Stay tuned for class updates...

Drake's Colorado Cowboy Cookies

I lived in Colorado for over 20 years so I feel a connection to anything with a name like Colorado Cowboy Cookies. The original recipe can be found on epicurious.com but I've made a few modifications that I think you'll like. One is the switch from all purpose flour to whole wheat pastry flour, which yielded wonderful results.

The other modifications have to do with the sugar. The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp dark brown sugar. I have made these cookies many times but I always use light brown sugar because that's what I have around. However, after making the Pots of Gold recipe on Orangette's blog (absolutely to die for!) I had some dark muscovado sugar left over so I used 2 tablespoons of this for a really tasty result. If you can't find it at a local grocery you can order it online at indiatree.com. Lastly, I did not use white sugar -- instead I used cane sugar (a sort of light brown colored sugar you can often find in the bulk section).

Actually, now that I'm looking at the recipe I realize I also changed the nuts, I don't chill the dough for an hour and I don't bake them the way they say to. The baking modification has to do with this very finicky antique -- read: OLD -- stove we own (which I cannot stand beyond words but oh let's save that topic for another day).

So, I admit to having turned the recipe inside out but hey, that's the fun of cooking -- being creative and in the moment and ending up with something that goes down really well with a glass of milk...and a pair of cowboy boots.


Drake's Colorado Cowboy Cookies
Original recipe from Bon Appetit: inspirations theirs, modifications mine.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup cane sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (depending on how much you like chocolate)
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (can substitute walnuts if you prefer)

Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and all sugars in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating to combine. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients and mix. Repeat with other half just until blended.

I line my baking sheets with parchment paper, which is the cooking god's gift to mankind. Drop healthy tablespoons of dough onto the sheet leaving a little room between them (they don't spread a lot) and flatten them just a bit with your fingers. Bake about 8 minutes at 350 degrees F, longer if needed to get golden brown on the bottom and just around the edges. Remove from pan when done. I always put my cookies on a cut up paper bag to cool. Enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Sherry Maple Vinaigrette & Croutons

In case I haven't mentioned it yet, my partner, Dylan, is a nurse in the ICU at Children's Hospital. On this rainy Saturday she happens to be working and I was wondering what I could make her for dinner. She loves salad but on this cold evening that didn't really seem fitting. I went thumbing through some cooking magazines and various cook books for inspiration and came up with this combination. Her response? "Wow, I feel like I'm at a restaurant!" We probably won't get to make this again until next fall, but if you hurry you can squeeze it in before squash goes by the wayside. This salad has some wonderful surprise flavors...raisins soaked in port, sweet maple syrup and spicy Dijon mustard in the vinaigrette oo la la.


Menu: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Sherry Maple Vinaigrette, Homemade Garlic-Parmesan Croutons

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
adapted from The Best of Fine Cooking Fresh, Fall 2007

1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup port
1 butternut squash (about 2 lbs.)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. real maple syrup
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium head frisee, trimmed, leaves torn into bite size pieces
4-6 cups mixed fresh organic salad greens, rinsed clean and spun dry

Cover the raisins with port and let sit for at least 3 hours. I used a 1997 Zinfandel Port from the Napa Valley. I felt kind of guilty opening it for some raisins of all things, but truth be told I don't drink port (obviously, since it's been in my liquor cabinet for, oh, 11 years now).

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and then (and oh how I hate this part) peel the squash and cut it into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes. Feel free to cheat and use the pre-cut squash you can find in stores these days. You can really use any kind of squash that you have on hand as long as it is flavorful. I cut open an acorn squash and it was pale, pithy and bland -- yuck! That went into the compost pile.

In a medium sized bowl toss the squash and onion with the olive oil and maple syrup. I use a grade B organic maple syrup, which has a nice flavor without being overpowering. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet (good idea to put some parchment paper down first) into a single layer and sprinkle on a little salt and pepper. Roast, stirring occasionally, until the squash is just cooked through and it and the onions are browned -- approximately 20 minutes. You can do this step in advance if you'd like and then just microwave it before adding it to the salad.

Toss the greens and frisee together in a large bowl with about 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette (recipe follows). Plate individual salads and add some of the still warm (not hot) squash and onion mixture. Drain the raisins and sprinkle some on each salad. Serve with garlic-parmesan croutons (recipe follows).

Sherry Maple Vinaigrette

1/3 cups sherry vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbs. real maple syrup (I use Grade B - very mellow)
1 Tbs. finely chopped shallots
1 cup grapeseed oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine the vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and shallots in a bowl and whisk in the oil in a slow, steady stream. Season with s & p to taste.

Garlic-Parmesan Croutons

These croutons are easy to make, hard to mess up and they taste really good. These can be made using the bread of your choice. Tonight I used 5 slices of some ciabatta we had on hand and a few slices of sour dough bread stolen from the loaf we had in the freezer. The garlic is subtle so as not to overpower your salad or dressing.

6 cups bread, cut into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed, chopped up
sea salt
parmesan, finely grated

Put your oven to 400F and get out a 9x13 baking sheet with edges

Pour olive oil into a bowl and stir in the garlic. Allow to sit for a few minutes.
Add the bread to the bowl and toss until all of the pieces get a little oil. Spread the bread onto your baking sheet. I then use my microzester, holding it over the bread and lightly grating some parmesan onto the bread squares. Lastly sprinkle the bread, again lightly, with salt.

Bake for 5 minutes, turn, and bake for another 5 minutes, watching carefully so nothing burns. Remove from oven and place on paper toweling, allow to cool. If needed add another sprinkling of salt. Store in airtight container.