Challah Bread Pudding

Challah Bread Pudding

Black Tea 1 bag
Water 2 cups
Raisins and candied orange peels 1 cup
Challah, diced 4 cups
Whole Milk 3 cups
Vanilla Bean, split 1 ea.
Sugar 1 1/3 cups
Cinnamon ¼ tsp
Nutmeg ¼ tsp
Eggs 2 ea.

1- Brew the black tea in the 2 cups of water, and then soak the raisins and candied peels in this for 4 hours or overnight.

2- Toast the diced challah in a 275 degree oven until very dry (approx 15-20 minutes).

3- Add the vanilla bean to the milk and bring to a simmer for 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

4- Strain the hot, sweetened milk mixture over the toasted bread in a large bowl, and allow it to cool to near room temp.

5- Stir in the eggs, and then pour the entire mixture into a greased, 9” cake pan.

6- Bake at 350 degrees for 35- 45 minutes, or until set.

7- Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Challah

Challah

Bread Flour                                           12-14 oz (plus more for kneading)
Active Dry Yeast                                   0.25 oz
Salt                                                       0.30 oz
Honey                                                   3 fl oz
Eggs, Large                                           2 ea. (plus one for egg wash)
Water, room temperature                      7 fl oz (plus 1 Tbsp for egg wash)
Unsalted butter                                      melted 2 oz
Sesame seeds                                        As Needed to Garnish



1- In a large mixing bowl, combine 12 oz of the flour, all of the yeast, and all of the salt.

2- In a second bowl, combine the 7 fl oz of the water, the honey, two of the eggs, and the butter.

3- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix together using either a wooden spoon or your hand until a thick dough forms.

4- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead. Add remain flour to the dough as necessary while kneading. Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.

5- Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with either plastic wrap or a wet clothe.

6- Allow the dough to double in size (1-2 hours), and then punch it down.

7- Divide the dough into equal portions, and form into a braided loaf, turban loaf, or knot rolls.

8- Allow the dough to rise again until almost doubled in size (40 minutes to 1 hour).

9- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

10- Combine the remaining Tbsp of water with the remaining egg and whisk thoroughly. Gently brush this mixture over the loaf (or rolls).

11- Top the loaf (or rolls) with sesame seeds, and place in the center rack of the oven.

Bake for approx 40 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when gently thumped. Turn as needed for even brownin

CarbonnadeBacon, diced                                                                  5 oz
Vegetable Oil                                                                 as needed
Chuck roast, diced                                                         1 ½#
Yellow onion, sliced                                                       8 oz
Garlic, sliced                                                                  2-3 cloves
Salt and pepper as needed
Flanders Red or Trappist Ale                                         12 oz
Corn Starch slurry                                                         (approx 3 Tbsp)

1 Brown the bacon in the bottom of the pressure cooker, then remove (leaving the grease in the pan).

2 Brown the beef in the bottom of the pressure cooker, adding vegetable oil as needed, then remove.

3 Sautee the onions in the bottom of the pressure cooker until lightly browned and semi-translucent (adding oil as needed).

4 Add the sliced garlic and sautee for 2 more minutes.

5 Deglaze with the beer, then add the beef back to the pot and bring all to a simmer.

6 Cover the pressure cooker and process according to the directions specified for your unit (mine takes approx 12 minutes to cook).

7 When finished, uncover the pot and bring the contents back to a simmer.

8 Thicken the stew with a cornstarch slurry to the desired consistency, then add the cooked bacon back to the pot.

9 Serve over (most traditionally) mashed potatoes or (less traditionally) biscuits.

Candied Pecans

1 ea. Egg whites
2 tsp. Water
¾ cup Sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. ginger
1# halved pecans
1 Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2 In a bowl, whisk egg white until foamy.

3 Add water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to whites and whisk until thick and opaque.

4 Add pecans to mixture and toss to coat.

5 Spread pecans on a sheet pan (treated with non-stick spray), and bake for approx. 30-40 minutes, or until well browned.

6 Allow pecans to cool completely before eating.

Doug’s Bruschetta

Foccacia 1 cookie sheet
Garlic Cloves, whole 3 ea.
Cherry Tomato Chutney 2 ¼ cups
Crumbled blue or Gorgonzola Cheese 2/3 cup

1 Slice the foccacia in half as if to make a giant sandwich, and then cut into 3” x 3” squares.
2 Toast the cut side of the bread on a griddle, a grill, or a cast iron pan.

3 Cut the cloves of garlic in half and, while the bread is still warm, rub the grilled side of the bread with the cut side of the garlic.

4 Top the squares of bread with the cherry tomato chutney and blue cheese as desired.

Memphis-Style BBQ Sauce

(With heavy influence from the work of Bill and Cheryl Jamison)
Smoked butter 2 Tbsp
Yellow onion, minced 1/3 cup
Garlic, minced 3 cloves
Cider vinegar 1 cup
Tomato sauce 1 cup
Worcestershire sauce 3 Tbsp
Dark brown sugar 1 Tbsp
Smoked salt 1 ½ tsp
Black pepper, ground ½ tsp
Smoked paprika 1 tsp
Chili Negro, dried, seeded, stemmed, finely ground ½ ea.
Hot Sauce (I use Marie Sharps) 1-2 dashes

1) Sautee the onions and garlic in the smoked butter until translucent.

2) Add all of the remaining ingredients and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir frequently.

For the Vegan variation:

Substitute vegetable or canola oil for the smoked butter. Substitute 2 Tbsp vegetable stock, 1 more Tbsp cider vinegar, 1 tsp ground mustard, 1 tsp ground ginger, and ½ tsp ground cinnamon for the Worcestershire sauce.

Bacon

Bacon

Kosher or Pickling Salt                      4 oz
Tinted Curing Mix**                         0.5 oz
White sugar                                       1.5 oz
Molasses                                           0.5 oz
Cracked peppercorns                        2 tsp
Fresh bay leaves (very thinly sliced)    2 ea.
Pork belly                                          2 #

1 Place all ingredients except pork belly in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined to form the cure.

2 Rub 2 Tbsp of the cure onto the pork belly and let rest for 4-7 days in a 1 gallon ziplock bag in the refrigerator.

3 Once belly is firm and pink, rinse off excess cure with cold water, and pat dry with a paper towl.

4 If smoking the bacon, hot smoke to an internal temp of 150 degrees (smoker temp between 200 and 250). Or, simply roast the cured pork in a 200 degree oven for 2 hours or until the pork reached approx 150 degrees.

5 While bacon is still hot, remove the skin using the same method that one would use to skin a fish.

6 Slice bacon into desired shapes and sauté as desired.

** TCM, or Prague Powder 1, or Pink Salt all refer to a mixture of salt, sodium nitrite, and pink dye. This product is dangerous if consumed directly, handled excessively with bare hands, or measured carelessly when using, so please be careful. This mixture is sold retail through a variety of online vendors, including The Sausage Source. If you do not intend to smoke the bacon and do not particularly mind gray bacon, then you do not need to use TCM.