Hello Pumpkin...

I’m just in time for the holiday season with this first recipe. The theme ingredient is pumpkin, and in this blog’s long standing tradition of great value, one should get many miles out of this recipe during the holiday time of year. I developed this recipe all by my lonesome. It’s not an “adaptation” or modification of some pre-existing recipe. I had wanted to make a stellar bread pudding. But all bread puddings seemed the same to me. So I created my own recipe in the theme of bananas and chocolate. At the time I was pastry chef at Moose’s in San Francisco. I needed to submit a holiday dessert recipe for a publication and decided to turn the choco-banana bread pudding into pumpkin. Viola. This recipe is so easy, most cavemen I know can do it.

1 day ahead:

Get this stuff:

1 each one pound loaf of Texas toast

-In the restaurant I make my own brioche to use for this recipe, but that’s a different class. Texas Toast= that double thick sliced yellow bread used to make Sizzler’s garlic bread and is also used to make French Toast. (I only know about Sizzler because I used to get to go there on special occasions when I was growing up). Find the bread at Safeway.

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

-In the restaurant I toast and grind fresh cinnamon stick. If you can---do it. It’s sooooo much better quality. Toast it in oven till it starts to color a bit. Cool it, wrap it in an old towel and smash it with a hammer to break it up a bit. Grind it in a coffee/spice grinder to a fine powder. Rejoice. Smells sooooooo good. Not at all like wood!

4 cups half and half

2 inch ginger root, peeled and sliced thin

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

-Purchase “Madagascar Bourbon” beans. Two thumbs down for the overrated Tahitian born bean. They are WAY overbearing. Like sitting next to a woman in a restaurant who's wearing too much perfume--- it’s hard to taste anything else.

8 whole cloves

2 tsp Kosher Salt

-Use only 1 tsp table salt if that’s what you have on hand.

¾ cup granulated sugar

4 whole eggs

- Don’t ask what size. I’m liable to pull my hair out in frustration if you do. Large grade A is the correct answer.

1 can Libby’s Pumpkin. Size of can? Who knows. It's the one in the store---in the can.

- Do not spend the time roasting your own fresh pumpkin. Fresh roasted pumpkin is too watery for this use. A fellow chef once asked me why I didn’t roast my own pumpkin. I pointed out that canned tastes better. It’s more concentrated. It’s cooked a long time to evaporate and concentrate. Sometimes it’s best to put the ego in the pocket and open a can. I’m sure I can ramble on about the benefits of canned goods in the cooking world. In a later post I’m sure the need will arise. I can’t wait.

Turbanado Sugar

-You may know this as "sugar in the raw". I buy it by the fifty pound bag. But this would be a bit much for home use. Just buy it in the little packets that are sold for use in coffee beverages. Have plenty on hand for this recipe. It's the magic touch that makes this pudding extra special.

Got all the goods?

Ok, now do this:

-Cut the bread into cubes. Toss it onto a sheet tray and toast in a 325 F. oven until golden. Cool it completely and place in a 7x11 baking pan. Pyrex is best for this if you have it.

-In a left handed sauce pan heat the next seven ingredients until steamy and sugar is dissolved. Meanwhile, place the eggs in a mixing bowl.

- Whisk the hot liquid into the eggs until well combined. Do not dump the eggs into the hot liquid. This would result in a scrambled oops! Whisk in the PCP. (Previously Canned Pumpkin).

- Strain the mixture. Pour over the toasted bread cubes and refrigerate overnight. Gently stir the mixture once or twice before you go to bed just to be sure all of the bread has a chance to "drink" some of the custard mixture.

To bake:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Stir the bread mixture one more time just for fun. Sprinkle (generously) with the magic sugar. Heavy on the sugar. The sugar is what creates the sexy crust on top of the pudding as it bakes. Toss it in the oven about 15 min. before you sit down for dinner. The pudding will take 40- 50 min. to bake. If the top is not getting nice and brown, turn up the oven a bit and leave it in a while longer. A nice deep brown is desirable here.
Trade secret: To tell if the pudding is done use the "skin test": Jam your finger into the middle of the pudding. If it burns, it's most likely done. Or just use a knife to poke the center and be sure the custard is set.
Serve this dessert warm with coffee ice cream. I'm tellin' ya!
-C

More...

As the title suggests, today's topic falls under the "more" section of this blog. It is my sincere goal to provide an outstanding sense of value to those of you paying zero to view this blog and reap it's bounty. So from time to time I may veer off the beaten path of food and stuffing of the face, to other equally important fee-free blabbery:

Some of you folks may know, that once upon a time I had a really cool job. The funnest! And I had a certain amount of freedom. Freedom to do what I felt was right and good for all. One of my proudest moments in this job was bringing in a band to share their groovin' music and beautiful message with my very special "clientele". (You know who you are). Well, the job may be long gone, but the band is flying high!

So here is your free Alma Desnuda update:

They have a new album out. It's their first full length album and it's called Middleway. I'll let them tell you where the title came from. Middleway can be purchased from iTunes or on cd, at one of their ever-increasing show dates. (A little birdie told me that the band is still working out details on cd distribution). I'll post updates on cd availability as soon as I get the 411. Hope we can get 'em in time for the holidays. What great gifts they'll make!

Meanwhile check 'em out at:
http://www.myspace.com/almadesnuda

Peace out for now,
-C

Inspiration by Lizzy

Ahhhh, the great Lizzy Van Alstine!
It was her new blog, documenting her tireless East Coast pizza and cupcake search, that inspired me to start a blog of my own. At first I asked her if I could contribute to her blog. But that was a silly notion, as I am a bit more than "commute" distance from New York. And I thought to me-self: what if I wanna write about steaks and not cakes? And what if I wanna babble on like I tend to do? Then I should do that all on my own intergalactic space. I mean, ya never know when all the internet servers will get full and we all run out of space. (My Uncle Mike once told me that in the 40's, there was talk about closing the Office of Patents. "Everything had already been invented, they said"). Good thing they kept it open, and it's great that we moved up from Morse Code.

Anyways, the moral of the story is this:
I would never be able to sleep at night, knowing that I had used up an unfair share of Lizzy's cut of cyber pie.
So I'm gettin' my own chunk set aside. Something I can leave my children, should any happen to come my way.

Blah, blah, blah. Let's move on...