Thursday, September 02, 2004

from the golden land

okay, so i'm away so the blog is gonna go quiet. but i didn't want anyone complaining (nell) so here's a little something to keep you going. other people should hassle nell to start her own blog which will be much more interesting as she is all into etymology and bondage and budgies.

so.. travel is normally a good eating time. but i seem to be stuck in some kind of tourist ghetto with restaurants that charge $15 for a curry. and unadventurous eating companions. it's weird - i never hang out with people who want to eat hawaiian pizza for dinner!

between the dinner options and the dodgy conference lunch (evil coleslaw with curry powder in the dressing, stodgy risotto in a bainmarie) i really miss cooking my own food. like the awesomely rich mexican chocolate custard bread pudding i made the night before i left. i was trying to make sure my housemates missed me but it was so rich that they all turned into groaning zombies... not sure if they'll miss feeling like that. needless to say i loved it and was the only one who went back for 2nds. if you too are at a film shoot and get sent home with heaps of spare bread you should try it. this recipe is from memory and might be slightly off.

250g old white bread - fluffy is best.
125g butter, melted
3 eggs
2 cups soy milk
1 cinnamon stick
180g dark chocolate, broken up
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1 apple, chopped up

preheat oven to 180 C and butter your pudding dish.

first tear the bread into small chunks (roughly 2 inch cubes). put them on a baking tray and pour the butter over. bake for 15 minutes, turning often and not letting them brown.

meanwhile, heat the milk with the cinnamon stick in it - until almost boiling. add the chocolate and stir until it melts. remove the cinnamon stick.

beat the eggs in a big big bowl and add the milk mixture. once the bread is baked add it to this mixture and leave it to soak for 10 minutes. add the nuts and apple and pour it into the baking dish.

cover with aluminium foil, poke some holes in for steam and bake for 40 minutes. remove the foil and bake for another 10 or until it's kind of glossy on top and not runny looking.

serve with cream and expect your housemates to zonk out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

hi esti

i went round to your house the other day and dug out the bottles of wine that i hid in your garden (heh heh cleverly concealed in the lavender bush). they were yum thank you, i had never drunk organic wine before. also your housemates rock, if i had housemates that cool i would make them fancy desserts too.

i am very interested in this bread and butter pudding dealio but having trouble visualising it... what dish did you use and how deep did the pudding end up being? i am kind of against really shallow bread and butter puddings as i find they can go a bit dry, but also cannot help but feel that too deep a pudding creates a displeasing stodginess; where do you stand on this issue? so many questions. kate sez it's good to ask lots of questions, apparently it is called active listening and it shows that you are paying attention and not just waiting for your turn to talk.

if you come home soon i will let you read my new book called 'a basque history of the world', it is very interesting. also i will introduce you to my new lover if you promise to be nice to him. (okay i know you stopped being mean to boys in 1998)

you rock lady

love nell xx