Four-Star Chocolate Bread Pudding (and Steak, Salsa, Pasta & Salad)

I’m going to start with the pudding which hails from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours. I only received this book a couple of days ago, but I had to cook something from it NOW!
It is a truly fabulous baking book, the pictures are simply amazing. There are lots of stories, good introductions and fabulous looking recipes. I can see myself cooking from this one for years to come.

Four-Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

Anyhow, I really wanted to try something as soon as possibe, but I’m pretty short on time this weekend, so I picked this pudding four-star no hassle. Dorie said it was best cool, but I served it about 40 minutes out of the oven when it was warm but not roasting hot. I think if I served cold bread pudding my family and friends would think I had lost the plot! We loved it warm with a little cream. It was really no trouble, chop brioche, make a custard mix, soak and bake. The result is good, chocolate to comfort and make the world good once more. There was some leftover, so I tried it myself cold later and it is so very chocolate-y, I might try and serve the leftovers cold tonight and see how it goes! I like it cold as well anyway.

I’m hoping soon to manage to fit in some of the more time consuming recipes like Bbbbbb-Brownies (mint brownies), Applesauce Spice Bars, Snickery Squares, Perfect Party Cake (this one is so pretty), Caramel-Peanut Topped Brownie Cake, Chocolate Armagnac Cake – The cake That Got Me Fired, Chocolate Whisky Cake, My Favourite Pecan Pie, The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart, Banana Cream Pie, Tropical Crumble and Unbelievably Good Chocolate Blueberry Ice cream. This isn’t a conclusive list, as I haven’t finished reading the book yet (it’s a big book!) – so I have a few nights of sweet reading and daydreaming left.

Sicilian Pasta

South American Beefsteak with Chimichurri Salsa with
Avocado, Orange and Watercress Salad

This was what we pre-ceded the pudding with and because I didn’t dish up too much pasta it was a light main course. The beef, salsa and salad all come from Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home by Rachel Allen. The beef was good, marinated in garlic, chilli, orange, lemon, parsley and olive oil. The salsa was also good, the pasta was okay, but I like a Giada (De Laurentiis) version that I’ve tried before of the pasta better. The salad on the other had was magical. I only made enough for two, and I would have liked a lot more than I had. We have not tried the avocado and orange combination before and it’s a match made in heaven, made sing by some lime juice and olive oil. I cut down the amount of watercress a bit (from six handfuls to two) and it worked for me! If you haven’t tried this mix of ingredients give it a go.

Avocado, Orange and Watercress Salad

50ml olive oil
juice of ½ a lime
salt and pepper
1 orange, peeled and chopped
2 avocados, peeled, stoned and roughly chopped
two handfuls watercress sprigs

Mix everything except the watercress, then add it in and gently toss.