Holiday Sweet Stuff, Mmmmmm

During the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons there is all kinds of great sweets around. We went to one of our favorite restaurants on Thanksgiving Day, Copeland's. They had a White Chocolate Bread Pudding that was amazing. I found a recipe for a version of this dish. It isn't exactly the same but it is very good none the less. It is a little time consuming but it wasn't bad. Lots of ingredients that you probably don't need to have a lot of but what ever. This stuff is good we can get back to eating better after the holidays. Here is the recipe that I used.

24" loaf of some type of sweet bread (I used a french bread, all I could find)

4 1/2 cups of heavy cream

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

15 oz. white chocolate (I used chips)

3 large eggs

12 egg yolks

dash of nutmeg

cinnamon to your taste

Sauce: 1/2 cup oz. heavy cream and 8 oz. of white chocolate.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Cut bread into 1" slices discarding the ends. Place the slices on a pan standing up. put them in the oven for 15 min. or until dry but not brown.

Turn oven up to 350 degrees. Place bread in the bottom of a 13x9x2 baking dish.

In a bowl combine eggs and yolks. Combine cream, milk, and sugar in a sauce pan. Heat on medium heat stirring constantly. Heat to just before steaming. Remove from heat and mix in white chocolate until smooth. Pour a very slow stream of hot cream mixture into the eggs whisking constantly. This must be done very slowly with small amounts to bring the eggs up to the same temp as the cream. If you combine to fast you can end up with scrambled eggs (yuck).

Once incorporated mix in nutmeg and cinnamon.

Pour mixture over the bread to cover completely. Use it all the bread will absorb most of the custard mix. Let sit for 20 min pressing occasionally into the dish to keep everything submerged.

Cover with foil and put in the oven for 60 min. Then remove foil and let go for another 20-30 min. until lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and let sit for a min. of 20 min., longer if possible.

While the pudding is resting put the 1/2 cup of heavy cream in a sauce pan and heat to a boil. Remove from heat and combine the white chocolate until its smooth. drizzle over the top of the bread pudding. Serve warm. Amazing.

Pork Chops and Gravy

I know its been a while since I posted anything to my Blog, so here is something new. One of my favorite dishes is pork chops smothered with gravy. Not any of that store bought, out of the jar, stuff but real home made gravy. This is an easy dish just takes a little assembly and time for cooking. Probably about 1 hr 15 min to 1 and 1/2 hrs. This makes the most tender pork chops you will ever eat and the taste is out of this world.

I started with good center cut pork chops about 1/2" thick. Thicker could be used with additional time in the oven. I dredged them in flour with my seasonings (season salt, onion powder, garlic, salt, and pepper). Just a dredge no other liquid. I wasnt building a breading for a thick crust. Brown them off on both sides in oil on the top of the stove. Once browned nicely but not completely done remove them and let them drain. Pour off the oil except for about 1/4 cup to make the gravy. In the oil mix in 1/4 cup of flour and cook until combined and starting to brown. Keep stiring it or it will burn. when it gets to a light golden brown add 1 cup of water and one cup of milk. I mix 2 cups of each in a 4 cup measuring cup and start with half of it. Once the liquid is added to the flour/oil mix also (called a roux) you have to keep stirring it bringing it to a boil. The mixture will start to thicken once it is boiling. As it cooks it may get to thick, if so add a little more liquid a little at a time stirring it in completely and allowing it to return to a boil. I use a slotted spatula to do my stiring with sitting it flat in the pan and lightly keep it moving. The way I tell when its getitng close to right is when I can lift the spatuala out of the gravy and it leaves a light coating on the spatula. To thin and it runs right off, to thick and it leaves a heavy thick coating.

Place the pork chops in a cassarole dish evenly spaced out. I had 4 porkchops they almost completely coverd the bottom of the dish. I cut up 1/2 onion and placed on top of them. Pour the gravy over the pork chops and cover with aluminum foil and place in a 350 degree oven. Close the door and leave them alone for about 1 hour. Longer for thicker chops. At 1 hour take a fork and test to see how tender they are. I stick a fork in the center of my thickest peice and lightly twist. They should be very tender at this point and ready. Take them out of the oven and leave them covered on the counter for 10-15 min. They will continue to cook for a little longer even after they are removed from the oven. Serve with cream potatoes and other side of your choosing, or however you want to serve it. Doesnt get much better, dont forget a big glass of sweet tea.