Lasang Pinoy Sundays: BREAD-y Or Not

I love breads specially sweet ensaimada, brioche, and challah, all very yummy, crusty rustic bread simply dipped in olive oil, and of course my favorite of all, hot pan de sal with lots of butter or filled with cheese pimiento and pancit guisado. I know I shouldn't be eating too much bread because the calories go straight to my arms and hips but I could care less, I can't live without bread.:-)

Sweet Potato Challah Bread Pudding3 cups milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
6 tablespoons sugar or to taste
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups cubed sweet potato challah, recipe here (or plain challah, pan de sal, brioche, French bread)
1 cup coarsely chopped candied ginger, golden raisins, or dried fruit of your choice
powdered sugar for dusting

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl, beat eggs with sugar until light yellow in color. Add milk, butter, and vanilla extract, mix well.
• Place half of the bread cubes into a baking dish or individual ramekins. Sprinkle with half of the candied ginger, repeat with the remaining bread cubes and candied ginger. Pour the milk mixture all over, press down so that the custard covers the bread completely. Place the baking dish or ramekins in a large pan. Carefully fill the large pan with hot tap water halfway up the sides of the baking dish.
• Bake ramekins for 45 minutes, baking dish for 1 hour or until tops is golden brown. Gently press down the middle to check if the custard is fully cooked. Remove from oven, cool slightly before dusting with powdered sugar. The pudding is also good cold.

Lasang Pinoy Sundays hosted by SpiCes is a weekly photography meme. Click on the yellow button to view more BREAD-y Or Not entries.

Upcoming Concerts In Washington, D.C.

Keiko Matsui: March 22, 2009 at 3 PM as a guest performer at the US Air Force Band concert series. Free admission, details here if you live around here or will be in this area that week.


TURANDOT: The Kennedy Center, May 19 - June 4, 2009. My daughter and I have been waiting for this show for almost a year now. We heard that one of the sopranos sharing the role is younger than previous performers who IMHO were too old and scary-looking rather than the beautiful ice princess that a long list of men lost their heads (literally) for.

THE BAD PLUS: March 26, 2009 at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately for us, they will be accompanied by Yoko.....I mean Wendy, so no, we're not going. They are also scheduled to perform without her on March 29, 2009 at Ramshead Tavern in Annapolis, MD but somehow I have lost my enthusiasm for TBP. I also have a bad feeling she will appear there as well. I shudder at the thought of seeing and hearing her. Meh.

Kare-Kare

oxtail kare-kare
The beautiful bright uncluttered photographs in the KULINARYA cookbook are so inspiring I want to prepare our everyday Filipino dishes looking as clean and appealing. Many delicious Filipino dishes specially the stews are usually not photogenic with their dark sauce. One such dish is Kare-Kare, a meat stew with peanut based sauce, served with an assortment of vegetables and eaten with bagoong alamang (shrimp paste). In restaurants this very flavorful and colorful dish is served in a native terracotta pot but the presentation is somewhat ugly with the meat and vegetables all smothered in sauce. There is nothing wrong with that but I would like to see an easier on the eyes Kare-Kare dished up in a more appetizing way where you can see the contrast of greens, purples, and whites against the orange sauce. I'm glad to learn that a few notable restaurants in the Philippines are now plating better looking and appetizing Filipino dishes.

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Chocolate Pudding

creamy yummy chocolate pudding
People love to "Frenchify" everything to sound sophisticated, for example, haricots verts when they can simply say green beans. Recently the word cremeux has been popping up in restaurant menus and blogs. One recipe I saw was Chocolat Cremeux and when I read the recipe it is simply chocolate pudding and nothing else, extra creamy perhaps, but it is just good old pudding. Reading the recipe made me crave for chocolate crem...er..pudding.

The chocolate pudding I prepared does not have egg yolks and is sort of healthier because it has cactus honey powder which is supposed to have less calories and carbs, and low glycemic index, but I am not 100 percent sure about its healthy claim. This pudding also has plain soymilk which does not alter its deep chocolate flavor nor its creamy consistency. Preparing the pudding is very easy and the snack is ready to enjoy in less than 2 hours.

Chocolate Pudding
½ cup cactus honey powder (or raw sugar)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1½ cups whole milk
1½ cups plain soymilk
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
shaved or chopped bittersweet chocolate for garnish

• In a medium saucepan, mix the cactus powder, cocoa powder, salt, and cornstarch with a wire whisk. Gradually add ½ cup of the milk, whisking constantly until smooth and lump-free. Add the rest of the milk and the soymilk and mix well.
• Turn heat on to medium high, bring mixture to a boil while whisking. Lower heat to medium and cook until the mixture has thickened, about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a heat-proof spatula. Turn heat off and stir in vanilla extract.
• Divide pudding into 4 glass or clear plastic containers and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Garnish each with ½ teaspoon shaved chocolate before serving.

no one will ever guess these have soymilk