Another bread pudding

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Yes indeed, I do love bread pudding a lot! And now that I discovered bourbon sauce, I like it even more! 

I made this bread pudding for breakfast the other day, and I was looking for something to make it even better, and stumbled upon this amazing sauce, so simple and fast to make and so delicious. I would put this on everything!

To make the bread pudding :

Ingredients for 4 servings
-2 cups brioche bread, cut in 1 inch cubes. 
Cut the bread and let it stand on the counter for few hours, or over night,  and if you have stale bread is even better. You can actually use any kind of bread, if it is not with olives, rosemary or any savory ingredient. Any regular bread will do. Or croissants, and various pastries that are getting old, you can use them in this recipe. Isn't this great? No more waist, and more yumminess in your life!
-4 whole eggs, beaten
-2/3 cups granulated sugar
-2 cups of milk
-1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick or 4 tablespoons) softened, and some more for greasing the pan
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (skip it if you want)
-1/2 cup slivered almonds (or any other nuts you like)

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C)
In a big bowl beat together eggs and sugar, add the milk, vanilla and nutmeg, and mix well. Drop in the cubed bread, mix gently, and let sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. I actually prep everything the night before, and let it in the fridge over night. Pour everything in the pan you will bake it in. i like to use individual ramekins, but a deep dish or other deep pan should work just as fine. Mix the butter and nuts and sprinkle on top, then bake the pudding for 40-45 minutes (30-35 if you use ramekins).

While the pudding cools slightly, make the sauce

Ingredients
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1 stick butter (8 tablespoons) melted
-1 egg , beaten
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-3 tablespoons bourbon or brandy , even rum (I don't have bourbon in the house and used some champagne instead, and it works great too)

Method
In a sauce pan beat the egg and sugar, add the melted butter and vanilla and mix well. Put on medium heat and whisking continuously let it cook for 5-7 minutes, until the sugar melts, and it starts to thicken just a little. To be more precise use a thermometer, and wait for the sauce to get to 150 degrees F. Add the brandy and mix well, keeping on heat for 2-3 minutes, for the alcohol to evaporate a little. If you want a stronger alcohol taste you can skip this step. 

Pour the hot sauce over the bread pudding, and serve. I served it with a dollop of whipped cream on top, fresh mint and a cherry.  
Recipe adapted from Paula Deen. 

Yayla corbasi - Yogurt soup

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In our culture yogurt has a very important role, and we do incorporate it in almost all of our dishes, even if only as a wash for various doughs, combined with egg,  or as a drink, like the refreshing Cacik or Ayran ( will tel you about those in a future post ) . We love yogurt so much that we even make a soup out of it.
This yogurt soup is easy to make, you need very few ingredients, and makes a very refreshing, healthy and light dish.

Ingredients for 4 portions:


1/4 cup rice
4 cups water ( you can also use meat stock )
1 tablespoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups plain yogurt - room temperature if possible.
2-3 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons dried mint


Method:


Wash the rice and put it to boil with the water and salt, until it gets very soft, 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat well the egg with the flour in a medium bowl, add the yogurt, mix well, and then add some water, about 1/4 cup, to make it thinner, and put in a pan over low heat, letting it cook for 10-15 minutes. It is important to have the heat on low for the yogurt not to curdle.
When the rice is cooked, pour everything (water too) on top of the yogurt, mix well, and let it cook on low for another 10-15 minutes.
In a small sauce pan melt the butter, mix it with the dried mint, but careful for the butter not to be very hot and burn the mint. Pour the butter on top of the soup, and serve hot.

See, I told you this was simple!