What to do with leftover bread? Why.. make bread pudding, of course. If it hadn't been shaped so oddly, I might have been able to make French toast out of it too. Because Day of the Dead Bread is a sweetened bread, there is less sugar in this bread pudding than what it traditionally calls for. The first batch just had added raisins, it also used two leftover egg whites plus one leftover egg wash and two whole eggs; the second batch had less bread to work with and used two whole eggs and six ounces of half-and-half cream with raisins and a random tart apple from the fridge.
I suppose I could have taken a picture of it. While bread pudding tastes good, it's just not that sexy to look at.
Ingredients
leftover bread cubes (do not use croutons)
4 large eggs
4 c whole milk (organic or rBST-free)
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c organic granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 organic tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced (optional)
1 tbsp rum (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Cube the bread. Depending on the size of your leftover loaf, you'll have plenty of bread to fill a 2-quart baking dish. You can nest an 8" x 8" baking dish inside a 9" x 13" baking dish for the water bath; but at the time the square dish was in use by another food item. I used a round baking dish inside a rectangular baking dish and that worked out all right.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, beat together sugar, melted butter, eggs, milk, spices, vanilla, and rum (if using).
3. Put the cubed bread inside the smaller baking dish. Add raisins (and chopped apple). Stir to combine. Make sure that the raisins are not on the top layer on top of the bread, otherwise they will burn to a crisp when the dessert bakes. If you don't have enough custard liquid to submerge the bread, then don't put all the bread in. Pour in the custard liquid. Let this sit for 10 minutes.
4. Bake using a water bath method for 45 minutes, up to an hour, or until the custard has set. At the 45-minute mark, you can test doneness by pressing on the bread with the back of a spoon. If liquid comes to the surface, the custard has not set yet.
5. Remove from oven. Serve warm or cold.
Polvorones de Naranja (Orange "Dusts" Cookies)
These cookies aren't quite the same as Mexican wedding cookies and are somewhat more dense in texture. I adapted this recipe from the "Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook", and I must say, 25 minutes is far too long of a cooking time at 400 degrees F for any cookie, which is what the cookbook recommended. Made this for a Halloween/Dia de los Muertos potluck. It's not terribly scary nor is it made to look scary.
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| Orange Tea Cookies |
Ingredients
3 c. all purpose flour
1 c. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into chunks
1/2 c. organic granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar + more for sprinkling
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
2 large egg yolks
zest from 2 large oranges
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg yolks, orange juice, sugar, and zest. On low setting, add flour and unsalted butter. Mix until well combined and there aren't visible chunks of butter.
2. On a lightly floured surface (I used a bit of powdered sugar instead of flour), roll out dough to 3/4" thickness and cut out into 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" rounds.
3. Place cookie rounds on a greased baking sheet, parchment paper, or a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden brown.
4. Let cook on a rack before dusting with powdered sugar.
Pumpkin Fried Rice
This recipe is a homage to a dish of the same name from Ginza, a downtown Bellevue restaurant. I can only hope that I can get the presentation close to how Ginza serves this up (inside a cooked kabocha squash).
From looking and tasting the dish, it has these noticeable ingredients: green onions, bacon, short grain white rice, caramelized onions, and chunks of kabocha squash. It easily serves 2-3 adults. Except for the rind and stem, it's all edible. I only have one sugar pumpkin on hand for this recipe; so no fancy presentation for me. You'll need to have two small sized kabocha squash on hand to replicate Ginza's plating for this dish. I think Ginza finishes the dish in the oven or steamer for the last ten or so minutes of cook time.
I only had five slices of bacon on hand, and while I could have taken more out of the freezer, I didn't. This recipe ratio definitely needed ten slices of bacon for the amount of rice cooked and prepared diced pumpkin. I used 1/4 cup less water when making the rice since I wanted the cooked rice to have more texture when frying. I also stirred the freshly made steamed rice until it cooled.
Ingredients
2-3 stalks green onions, sliced green parts only
1/2 medium white onion, small dice
5 garlic cloves, minced
10 slices of bacon, fried to a crisp then coarsely chopped
4 c. cooked white rice (2 c dried + 1 3/4 c water)
1/4 c. light soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
2+ c. diced sugar pumpkin (or kabocha squash)
Directions
1. With a rice steamer, cook two cups of rice in 1 3/4 cups of water. This will give the short grain rice a firmer texture for fried rice. Long grain white or brown rice can be used, if you prefer.
-or- Have four cups of cooked rice. White rice works better than brown rice. Long grain is the preferred American style of fried rice; while short grain is typically used in Asian cuisine.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, fry bacon over low-medium heat until all the strips are crispy. Pour out all but two tablespoons of bacon grease. Let the cooked bacon cool on paper towels before chopping up.
3. In the same skillet, turn heat to medium and saute onions and garlic until onions have turned translucent and begin to brown; about 5 mins. Add diced pumpkin and stir mixture occasionally until the pumpkin is fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes.
4. If you intend to add a saltier taste to the rice by using soy sauce, add it before the rice and stir until the pumpkin is mostly coated with it; instead of adding it to the rice which gives the rice an uneven color. Then, add the cooked rice and stir to evenly distribute ingredients. To preserve the green color of the scallions, these should be added last and about 10 minutes before serving. Add bacon and green onions. Stir to combine.
5. Turn off heat and cover until ready to serve.
This is how my version came out. It really did need more bacon; and the pumpkin could have cooked for longer:
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| Ginza's Pumpkin Fried Rice |
I only had five slices of bacon on hand, and while I could have taken more out of the freezer, I didn't. This recipe ratio definitely needed ten slices of bacon for the amount of rice cooked and prepared diced pumpkin. I used 1/4 cup less water when making the rice since I wanted the cooked rice to have more texture when frying. I also stirred the freshly made steamed rice until it cooled.
Ingredients
2-3 stalks green onions, sliced green parts only
1/2 medium white onion, small dice
5 garlic cloves, minced
10 slices of bacon, fried to a crisp then coarsely chopped
4 c. cooked white rice (2 c dried + 1 3/4 c water)
1/4 c. light soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
2+ c. diced sugar pumpkin (or kabocha squash)
Directions
1. With a rice steamer, cook two cups of rice in 1 3/4 cups of water. This will give the short grain rice a firmer texture for fried rice. Long grain white or brown rice can be used, if you prefer.
-or- Have four cups of cooked rice. White rice works better than brown rice. Long grain is the preferred American style of fried rice; while short grain is typically used in Asian cuisine.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, fry bacon over low-medium heat until all the strips are crispy. Pour out all but two tablespoons of bacon grease. Let the cooked bacon cool on paper towels before chopping up.
3. In the same skillet, turn heat to medium and saute onions and garlic until onions have turned translucent and begin to brown; about 5 mins. Add diced pumpkin and stir mixture occasionally until the pumpkin is fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes.
4. If you intend to add a saltier taste to the rice by using soy sauce, add it before the rice and stir until the pumpkin is mostly coated with it; instead of adding it to the rice which gives the rice an uneven color. Then, add the cooked rice and stir to evenly distribute ingredients. To preserve the green color of the scallions, these should be added last and about 10 minutes before serving. Add bacon and green onions. Stir to combine.
5. Turn off heat and cover until ready to serve.
This is how my version came out. It really did need more bacon; and the pumpkin could have cooked for longer:
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| Pumpkin Fried Rice, first attempt |
Toasted Pumpkin and Winter Squash Seeds
Sure, nearly all squash seeds are edible, but some definitely yield larger seeds than others. These are edible seeds worthy of toasting:
butternut squash, kabocha squash, jack-o-lantern pumpkins (the ones that
usually get carved up into scary shapes), sugar pumpkins, and acorn
squash.
Basic Prep Method:
Remove seeds from the squash, and discard any strings or pulp. Wash the seeds and spread them to dry on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. I put mine in a salad spinner and then onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet to dry more. I don't recommend using paper towels or kitchen towels because as they dry, the seeds will stick to the paper or pick up lint from the kitchen towels.
If using flavorings, mix the flavorings with the seeds prior to heating.
Heating Method(s):
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toss in the squash seeds and cook, occasionally shaking or stirring the pan. Once the seeds start to "pop", they are done. Do not let the seeds burn. Remove from heat. If using a spice mix flavoring, taste one before adding additional spices and/or salt.
-or-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake seeds for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the seeds are a light golden brown color. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Flavoring Options:
1-2 tbsp olive oil + spices to taste (cayenne pepper or paprika, sea salt, black pepper)
1 1/2 tbsp butter or olive oil & 2 tsp kosher salt
Basic Prep Method:
Remove seeds from the squash, and discard any strings or pulp. Wash the seeds and spread them to dry on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. I put mine in a salad spinner and then onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet to dry more. I don't recommend using paper towels or kitchen towels because as they dry, the seeds will stick to the paper or pick up lint from the kitchen towels.
If using flavorings, mix the flavorings with the seeds prior to heating.
Heating Method(s):
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Toss in the squash seeds and cook, occasionally shaking or stirring the pan. Once the seeds start to "pop", they are done. Do not let the seeds burn. Remove from heat. If using a spice mix flavoring, taste one before adding additional spices and/or salt.
-or-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake seeds for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the seeds are a light golden brown color. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Flavoring Options:
1-2 tbsp olive oil + spices to taste (cayenne pepper or paprika, sea salt, black pepper)
1 1/2 tbsp butter or olive oil & 2 tsp kosher salt
Zucchini and yellow squash fritters
Aye ya. Two terrible dishes in the same day. I must not be in sync with the universe today. I'm told that if yellow squash isn't ripe (as if anyone can tell just by looking at it), the squash can be bitter. I don't think this would have tasted any better if I made it into something else. Why would it be for sale at a produce stand if it weren't ripe? Maybe farmers can't even tell when the yellow squash is ripe during harvest season...
This is a typical fritter recipe. You have a shredded ingredient, say a potato, zucchini, carrots, or squash, or any combination of ingredients, say clams or crab meat, add it to a flour-based batter and fry it up.
The base of the fritter usually involves some mixture of water, eggs, flour, and sometimes baking powder. The baking powder supposedly makes the fritter more crunchy; though, it didn't do much for this batch. If I were to do this recipe again, I'd definitely omit the yellow squash. Ugh.
Ingredients
2 small yellow squash, grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 carrot, grated
1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg, lightly beaten + 1 tbsp water
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
olive oil, for frying
Directions
1. Grate vegetables and stir in 1/4 tsp of salt. Let this sit for 10 minutes, then with cheesecloth or with your hands, squeeze out and discard the excess liquid from the vegetables.
2. Lightly beat an egg, salt, and freshly ground black pepper; stir this into the vegetables.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder.
3. While stirring, sprinkle in the flour to the egg/vegetable mixture. It should be slightly runny, like a batter.
4. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls into the hot oil. Fry on each side until lightly golden brown. Remove fritter from heat and repeat with the remaining batter.
These would probably taste good with a light sauce or sour cream.
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