...some things sound so good it would be a worse transgression not to share.
Case in point, Janis Gore's Sweet Tater Bread Pudding, which came to me in an e-mail via Chef Tony, the reading of said e-mail causing me to lick the monitor.
1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2 cups raisins
1/4 cup dark rum
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 quart whipping cream
2 cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons cane syrup
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 (16 ounce) loaf French bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
Rum Sauce
Whipped cream
Arrange sweet potatoes in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and steam 10 minutes or until tender. Set aside.
Combine raisins and rum. Set aside.
Combine eggs and next 5 ingredients in a bowl; add bread pieces, sweet potato, and raisin mixture. Spoon mixture evenly into 2 lightly greased 11 x 7-inch baking dishes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until set, covering with foil to prevent over browning, if necessary.
Serve warm with Rum Sauce and whipped cream. Serves 16.
Rum Sauce
1 1/2 cups butter
1/4 cup dark rum
3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 egg yolk
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; stir in rum. Add confectioners' sugar; stir with a whisk until smooth. Stir in egg yolk; cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until mixture reaches 160 degrees F.
Makes 2 1/2 cups.
That, my friends, is some good food.
Now then, in other matters, since I've got a short week this week and won't be here next week, I want to wish all of you Hebrew folks a Happy Hanukkah, all you pagans Lo Saturnalia, all you Christians a Merry Christmas, all you Constanzans a Happy Festivus, all you African Studies majors a Joyous Kwanzaa, and you atheists a cordial end of December/beginning of January.
Best wishes to all who still come by Possumblog every so often, despite the fact that we're closed and retired and all that stuff, and may the upcoming year be a good one for you all.
Why, pray tell, must you leave me for the year with the vision of you licking a dusty, grimy, un-purelled monitor?
Merry Christmas anyway, and here's hoping you get better food for the holiday.
Posted by: skinnydan at December 22, 2008 09:00 AMIt's not my recipe. I found it here, so feel free to tell everybody you know.
My notes for the recipe include using a food processor to chop the potatoes into irregular chips rather than a fine dice, and using Steen's cane syrup, though I'm sure Tony's dark Karo did fine.
Makes a much lighter, more "custardy" bread pudding than I've usually found.
And you and yours, have a Merry Christmas and otherwise lovely holiday.
Posted by: Janis Gore at December 22, 2008 09:20 AMSkinnydan, why must you assume my monitor is so nasty!?
Is it because I'm from the South, which as every right-thinking person knows is full of knuckle-dragging mouth-breathing semi-human people who never clean their monitors before licking them?
Well, I'll have you all know my monitor is kept in sparkly, tip-top shape by a team of simian attendants who personally keep it and all my computer equipment free of grit, grime, and funk with a thorough tongue-bath and nit-pick every morning.
SO there.
And thanks again to Miss Janis for going out and finding that recipe. I noticed that Tony's version had chopped cherries in addition to the raisins. It all sounds very good and now I'm very hungry.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at December 22, 2008 10:00 AMMerry Christmas to you and your family Terry. That recipe sounds like it would make a tasty treat but I doubt if I can get the BSU to venture away from the cookies that are her holiday norm.
I'm hoping to see a holiday picture of you here on these pages shortly...
Posted by: Nate at December 22, 2008 11:46 AMMerry Christmas to you and your family Terry.
That recipe sounds like it would make a tasty treat but I doubt if I can get the BSU to venture away from the cookies that are her holiday norm.
I'm hoping to see a holiday picture of you here on these pages shortly...
Posted by: Nate at December 22, 2008 11:47 AMThank you, thank you, Nate! And send along BSU's cookie recipe--might as well have a party while we're at it.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at December 22, 2008 11:52 AMYou know, I read that piece by the guy at Salon and decided he must be what Bugs Bunny used to call a "maroon".
Merry Christmas to all at Possumblog, whether author or reader!
Posted by: Stan at December 22, 2008 12:55 PMYep Terry I tinker around w/just about every recipe. Miss Janis I used Karo because Steens is sold out up here in NOLANorth. Nate the things is this doesn't take long to prep so cookies fit in well. Oh, most forgot to tell y'all I'm still working on a Praline recipe for Jim and I'll share it here too.
Now them Terry you didn't wish those who think the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Dread Lord Chuthlu need or want worship happy whatevers. :) Me I just hope y'all each and every one are happy, safe & healthy... warm too. Happy Inclusive Holidays!
Posted by: Chef Tony at December 22, 2008 04:20 PMWell, Stan, as we say, bless his heart. Probably got dropped as an infant or something.
And Tony, I did leave out the various stick-in-the-mud sorts who can't play nicely with others. Then again, what's a holiday without a raging family argument?
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at December 22, 2008 04:21 PMIt's not a holiday.
Although my family does have remarkable peaceful get togethers.
So Merry Christmas to you and your family, I'll eat some extra latkas and doughnuts in your honor.
Posted by: Sarah G. at December 23, 2008 12:58 AMMerry Christmas and Happy Festivus to you and your family. Enjoy your time off.
Posted by: Bill W at December 23, 2008 06:45 AMUmmm, Sarah, I think if you have extra latkes and doughnuts, you're supposed to send them to me. I read it in Leviticus somewhere.
And thank you, Bill--it's been quite a while since I've heard from you! Tell everyone I said hey.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at December 23, 2008 08:24 AMChapter & Verse, please? I grant you there's The Book of Hershey (short for Hershele) in the apocrypha that mentions sharing chocolate, but I'm unfamiliar with the section of Leviticus that mentions fried foods.
Posted by: skinnydan at December 23, 2008 09:01 AMWell, it's not about fried foods per se. I believe it says something like "Sharest thou thy bounty, and thy excess of thy breads, and thy cakes, and all the warm fruits of thy baking ovens and fry pots with the Gentiles, especially them that already may seemest to thee to be fat, because they are indeed not fat, but just look that way because they holdest water in their flesh, and are big-boned."
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at December 23, 2008 09:38 AMAh. It's Leviticus 42XXL, then.
Posted by: skinnydan at December 23, 2008 01:11 PMThat's it--and of course, I was quoting from the King-size James version.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at December 23, 2008 01:27 PMAnd should thou wish fries with that, thou shalt surely have them. And should thee, in thy need, chooseth to biggie size thy fries, thou wilt surely be blessed amongst the nations for but a shekel more.
Lo, there were fried chips of rooted vegetables, and there was sugar and corn syrup-bedecked tomato puree for dipping, and they were good.
Posted by: skinnydan at December 24, 2008 08:57 AMAmen.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at December 24, 2008 12:51 PM