Journal of a Poor Culinary Student: Photos

[Ryven]

I think that's a whole different type of cooking! ;D

[Ryven]

With cinnamon raisin bread from work, I was able to make some raspberry bread pudding.  Simple enough with eggs, half and half, spices, raspberries, raspberry spiced rum, and bread.

[Remiel]

Ryven, I'm envious of your culinary skills. *mouth waters*

[Captain Maltese]

But why is the rum gone?

[Ryven]

But why is the rum gone?

It's not. ^-^

[Autumn52]

That bread looks divine Ryven. Will you post a recipe for it? I saw you put some ingredients down but will you post an actually recipe? If you don't have time I understand, but I would love to try and make it. *smiles*

Thanks for showing off the yummies.

[Ryven]

That bread looks divine Ryven. Will you post a recipe for it? I saw you put some ingredients down but will you post an actually recipe? If you don't have time I understand, but I would love to try and make it. *smiles*

Thanks for showing off the yummies.

Sure, dear.  The only reason I didn't in the first place is because I sort of just made it impromptu.


Impromptu Raspberry Bread Pudding

1 Loaf of Cinnamon Raisin Bread, cubed into 1" x 1" cubes (if possible) and allowed to dry out overnight
3/4 cup Half & Half
4 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 - 1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
3 Tbsp Spiced Rum (I used a homemade raspberry infused spiced rum made by friends).  Suggestion: Sailor Jerry's
Pumpkin Pie Spice, couple of dashes or so.  Suggestion: Penzey's
1/2 stick of butter, softened
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of oats

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place cubed bread in very large bowl.  Sprinkle sugar over the bread and add raspberries.

In a medium bowl, place half and half and eggs and whisk until uniformly combined throughout.  Mix in rum and spices, whisk uniformly.

Pour egg and half and half mixture over the bread and stir thoroughly to coat all bread evenly.  Pour into baking dish and gently press in with a spoon.  Don't smash it to bits, but compact it just enough so the bread can soak up the liquid.  Let stand for 10 - 15 minutes and allow to soak.

While that is soaking, place brown sugar, oats, and butter in a small bowl and mash together until mixed.  Crumble over the bread and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.  Serve hot or cold.

[Autumn52]

Thank you so much. I can't wait to try it. I will buy all the ingredients and try it out. I'll let you know how it comes out. Yay I can't wait.

Thanks again.

Hugs

[Ryven]

You're welcome!  I hope you like it as much as I do. ;D

[Ryven]

Leek and Potato Soup on my stove ;D

[Autumn52]

I haven't used Leeks in a long time. Do they kinda have a slight onion taste? If so how many did you use for the soup? and how many Potatos? I have a good potato soup recipe they might be good in.

Congrats Chef Ryven. I think I am just going to start calling you Chef. *smiles*

[Ryven]

3 Leeks, but only the white and light green parts.  About a pound of waxy potatoes (Yukon gold, red, or white.  I'm thinking Russet potatoes would give it a smoother texture after pureeing).

Leeks have a milder onion flavor than an actual onion.  I also used a half an onion as well.  I sweat the diced onion in some bacon fat then added garlic.  Cooked for about a minute then added the leeks and let them sweat on low heat with a lid on for another couple of minutes.  Added the cubed potatoes and let them cook for a minute before adding chicken stock and water until it just covered the vegetables.  Add bay leaves and let simmer for about 30 min.  Puree after that, added a little half & half though cream would work (h&h was all I had).  Seasoned it with salt and pepper.  Didn't quite taste right yet, so I added a squeeze of half a lemon for acid, and it sharpened it right up.

[Autumn52]

That sounds amazing. So you cooked the potatos in the chicken stock which was the base for the soup? That sounds really good. I usually don't puree my pototo soup since I like the added texture that it has. But the bacon grease and everything sounds really good. I also had never thought to add garlic. I normally add salt pepper and celery salt, but my soup is a milk/half and half based soup using a rue to thicken it. I think I will combine the two recipes and see what I get. Thanks for the recipe and the great ideas.

Hugs

[Ryven]

I've come to love more creamy textured soups, at least with this one.  There are some that I enjoy the texture with such as Minestrone or Provencal, but I like a smoother texture with this soup.

There are several ways to thicken.  Pureeing is just one of them.  Adding cream is another, and a roux is the most common because it has the most thickening power with the least amount of effort or material put in.

I'm going to put some blue cheese on top of my soup and see how that tastes.  I'm betting delicious. :-)  So glad you are going to try it.

*hugs*

[Autumn52]

I made the soup Ryven and OMG it is so good I am eating it now. It was easy and it taste soooooo good. I love it. I am going to post exactly what I did in my recipe thread if your interested you can check it out. I did not have any bacon so I used butter but I am going to try it with the bacon next time.

Thanks for the tips.

Hugs

[Ryven]

Where is your recipe thread?  I can't seem to find it.

[Ryven]

I finally found green tomatoes at the farmer's market, so...I had to make these. Fried Green Tomatoes. ;D  They were AWESOME!  I made a mayonnaise based dipping sauce to go with them with hot sauce and chipotle chili powder, garlic, and salt.  It made for a delicious sandwich.

[Ryven]

Something I found and thought was neat.

[grdell]

Something I found and thought was neat.

Awesomecool!

I also notice that the only blue there is blueberries. I remember reading somewhere that blueberries were the only food that was naturally blue. Is that correct, do you think?

[Ryven]

Unless it is done genetically, blue corn exists.

[grdell]

Unless it is done genetically, blue corn exists.

Duh. I totally forgot about that. And blue corn tortillas are my favorite, too!

[Oniya]

Concord grapes are the same sort of bluish-purple that you find in blueberries.

[Skye]

I found a recipe for panda bread, and I thought it was the cutest thing to put in your mouth. :-)

D'AWWWWWWWWWWW! <3

[Ryven]

Orange scones with orange icing for breakfast!

[Ryven]