Law-abiding lawyer by day, renegade chef by night. Food-obsessed at all times. I've dabbled in a lot of things over the years, but one thing stays constant. I need to feed people almost as much as I need to eat.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Wine-braised oxtail stew
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Birds, beets, beans, chocolate bread pudding, and buying big appliances

But I digress. People have been asking for recipes... here's one in its finest glory.
Pistachio Chocolate Bread Pudding (sorry, no photos... it got eaten too quickly)
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound French or Italian bread (approx. 1/2 loaf), cubed
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/8 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons pistachio extract
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated
- 1/2 cup roasted pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
- Whipped cream with pinch of sugar and a couple drops of pistachio extract (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the bread in a 9" x 6" dish. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, and liqueur. Using another bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder and mix well. Add the sugar mixture to the milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla and pistachio extract, and cinnamon to the beaten eggs. Combine the egg mixture to the milk mixture and mix well.
Stir the grated chocolate into the mixture. Pour the mixture over the cubed bread in the pan. Let the mixture stand, stirring occasionally for 10-20 minutes or until bread absorbs most of the milk mixture. Sprinkle chopped pistachios over the mixture. Bake pudding for 50 minutes or until set. Check pudding by inserting a knife through the middle and it should come out clean
Serve the pudding warm, or refrigerate and serve chilled with whipped cream if desired.