Showing posts with label Pudding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pudding. Show all posts

Monday, April 5, 2010

March Catch-up!

I apologize for not updating my Blog on a regular basis. I haven't been too busy to do it, I've just been a bit lazy, that's all. But I did a couple noteworthy food stuff in March (other than Pi Day) that I would like to share.

First up are "Maffles" and "Mancakes". These are Waffles and Pancakes with meat added to the mixture. The assumption is that adding any kind of meat to a meal that doesn't usually have meat in it makes it a man's meal. Therefore it warrants a 'Manizing' of its name (Waffles become Maffles and Pancakes become Mancakes). For these breakfast dishes I went with Bacon, the king of meats, on the suggestion of some friends.

I simply cooked the bacon up to a point where it was cooked but not crispy, still flexible. I suggest using a microwave to cook the bacon because it is much quicker than using a frying pan. I then chopped the bacon into smaller chucks and mixed it in the batter. I tried Maffles and Mancakes (and one botched Mancake that got scrambled).

I much preferred the taste and texture of the soft Mancake to that of the crispier Maffle. It is hard to tell from the outside appearance that there is even any bacon in them but cutting them up reveals the delicious chucks of bacon. I used maple glazed bacon because I figured it would go well with a bit of maple syrup.


Maffle and a scrambled Mancake.


Where's the Bacon?


There it is!
The other interesting food dish I made is what I would like to call a "Pudding Parcel". For the Pi Party my roommate had made a bowl of lemon pudding but didn't serve it because there was already lots of food to eat. We ended up putting it in the freezer because there was no room in the fridge. It froze and we noticed it a few days later and wanted to have some, but of course it was frozen. That's when I got an idea. I had some leftover pie crust dough from a pie I made for the Pi Party and suggested that we combine them to make a delicious treat, my roommate agreed.

I rolled out the leftover dough and cut it into squares (about 5" by 5") . Then I scooped out a chuck of semi frozen lemon pudding and placed it in the center of the square, folding the dough over the pudding to envelope it and seal the pudding inside. I then put the pudding parcels into the deep fryer. I don't remember how long they were in the deep fryer but it was long enough that the dough was crisp and the pudding was fully thawed but not hot. After the deep fryer I patted them down with a paper towel to remove some oil and sprinkled them with a bit of icing sugar. I was very impressed with how they turned out (crispy, sweet, but not hot) and look forward to trying it again with other flavors of pudding.


Lemon Pudding Parcel




Monday, March 15, 2010

Pi Day, March 14, 2010

Chocolate Pistachio, Butternut, Chocolate Mint

'Pi Day', or more accurately, 'Pi Approximation Day', is recognized on the 14th day of the 3rd month; hence 3.14 the mathematical constant used in geometric equations involving circular objects. It is mostly recognized by geeks and people who love pies. Fortunately both of these apply to me.

I have been aware of Di Day for a few years but have never celebrated it in the past. This year I decided to throw a Pi Day Party. I invited some close friends over to enjoy some homemade pie and good company. I have never had so many people over at my place before and it went great. I am glad that so many people had a good time.

For this party I served 4 different pies: Apple, Butternut, Chocolate Pistachio, and Chocolate Mint. I have made the first three but the Chocolate Mint is a new experiment; it uses a pudding base similar to the one found in the Chocolate Pistachio Pie recipe (http://fromthemindofkenneth.blogspot.com/2009/11/chocolate-pstachio-pie.html). The basic pudding pie filling I use includes pudding mix, maple syrup, eggs, and melted butter. Such pudding based pie fillings usually turn out to be moist, spongy and soft. The chocolate pudding filling is topped with crushed King Peppermints that I received from a care package a few months ago (Thanks Mom and Dad!). It turned out pretty good.

Chocolate Mint Pie

1 pkg. Chocolate Pudding Mix
1 tbsp. Maple Syrup
3 Eggs
2 tbsp. Melted Butter
3/4 c. Milk
1 Chocolate Pie Shell
1 tsp. peppermint powder
1/2 c. crushed peppermints
(The last two items can be obtained from crushing 2 rolls of King Peppermints)

1. Crush peppermints, sift out powder and larger chunks.
2. Mix well pudding mix, syrup, eggs, butter, milk, and powdered peppermints into a large bowl.
3. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and sprinkle with peppermint chunks.
4. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 F.