| Bread pudding made in jiffy
Bread pudding doesn't have to be difficult. What started as a budget dessert to use leftover or ``day-old'' bread has become a gourmet, complicated dessert. But it doesn't have to be that way. Even a desperate cook can bake a beautiful bread pudding -- in fact, 12 of them. Today's recipe for Individual Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Puddings makes 12 servings with only about 15 minutes of active work. No double boilers, no standing over pots whisking and stirring, no temperamental, unpredictable maneuvers and no weird ingredients. It's just uncomplicated comfort food that even a novice baker can pull off in a jiffy. INDIVIDUAL CINNAMON-RAISIN BREAD PUDDINGS 1 lb. loaf cinnamon-raisin bread (see note) 4 tbsp. ( ½ stick) butter 2 cups heavy or whipping cream 1 cup low-fat or whole milk, or half-and-half .
Jeff Gordon Trades in Stock Car for Chef's Coat in Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif. – Four-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon traded in his stock car for a cutting board and chef's coat on Sunday at Infineon Raceway.Gordon, a native of Vallejo, participated in a Wine Country Luncheon to help promote the upcoming Toyota/Save Mart 350, June 22-24, at Infineon Raceway. Gordon, who won Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Phoenix, teamed with renowned Bay Area chef Victor Scargle to prepare a gourmet meal at the raceway for Northern California media members.Gordon and Scargle teamed up to prepare poached Alaskan halibut and grilled Bigeye Tuna for more than 50 media members at the luncheon. Gordon helped with the seasoning, tasting and a number of other elements. He admitted that his wife, Ingrid Vandebosch, is more of the chef at home.“This is scary.
Dining, in brief
Here's a reminder of the restaurants we've covered recently. The most recently published are at the top of the list. Rockland
Zzest: A multifaceted Italian restaurant in Suffern that offers something for just about everyone. For traditionalists: veal, chicken or shrimp, prepared in such time-honored styles as picatta, marsala and parmigiano. Or there are more modern and complex dishes, some with Asian influences. Seafood is a particular strong point, ranging from selections from an extensive raw bar that features both Atlantic and Pacific oysters, to yellowfin tuna, expertly poached in olive oil. Wine by the glass at Zzest may be one of the better drink bargains around. They back up the glass with an elegant mini-carafe of wine, so your "glass" of wine is really two or three.
Best Find: Snacks by the lb.
What it offers: Lots of candy stores have nut-caramel turtles and butter creams, but if you're looking for that candy necklace that made your neck sticky when you were 7, Snacks by the lb. is for you. The Feasterville store offers new-school and old-school candy. There are the gourmet chocolate-covered pretzels with toppings such as Oreo-cookie crumbles, but there are also Mallo Cups, Necco Wafers, and the wax bottles with the juice inside. The candy shop stocks sweets that cost between 10 cents and $24, the price tag for a pound of chocolate truffles. There is creamy homemade fudge made by co-owner Tracey Laiken that is decadently rich, and a wide variety of nuts, plain and roasted. There's more: Snacks by the lb.'s inventory goes beyond the sweet. There are greeting cards, gifts, candles, balloons, and jewelry made by Laiken, who studied glassblowing in Italy.
Taste of Crete Participating in Taste of Somerset Culinary Event ...
Taste of Crete, a local gourmet and natural food company that focuses on the healthy foods of Greece, will be participating in Taste of Somerset on April 23 at The Palace in Somerset. Taste of Somerset is being held on Monday, April 23rd at The Palace in Somerset, New Jersey. The culinary event's purpose is to raise funds and awareness for The PeopleCare Center in Somerset County. The Center is a non-profit which provides a physical plant to house non-profit agencies and organizations at below market costs and thus helps maximize community service goals by encouraging sharing of resources. Taste of Crete, a local Bridgewater gourmet food company, whose focus is on importing all natural, organic and artisan specialty foods from Greece will be one of the participants for the fundraiser. Attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy many of their flavorful products.
Sardinian gourmet
At lunch with a newly arrived Italian diplomat in Delhi last week, it emerged that he came from picturesque Sardinia, an island off the western coast of the Italian mainland, with a special status in the Italian constitution. Of course for travellers, it's most famous for the Costa Smeralda, whose beaches are postcard-perfect and waters a rich yet crystal clear green. Sardinia is also famous for prehistoric tower-like buildings called nuraghi, and over 8000 of them dot the countryside. They are shaped like somewhat flattened cones (but some rise up to 60 ft), built with huge monolithic, square blocks of stone which have no foundations but stand by their sheer intrinsic weight! While the diplomat was immensely pleased that I knew of his beloved island, I couldn't but tell him that for me Sardinia only conjured up one image — the smiling visage of Stefano Vallebona.
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