Savory Bread Pudding with Asparagus, Gruyere and Fines Herbes

Happy New Years Eve!  As 2010 slowly winds down, I've decided to spend the last day of the year cooking and baking up a storm for a New Years Eve party tonight.  This should be a low-key evening filled with lots of bubbly, board games and laughter.  Everyone is bringing a dish or two and I decided to make a savory vegetarian bread pudding.  After doing some research, I found this fantastic recipe on Epicurious for Savory Bread Pudding with Asparagus, Gruyere and Fines Herbes from September 2002's Bon Appetit.

To start, I picked up all of the ingredients at Whole Foods on Thursday evening.  I laid out slices of an already-sliced loaf of French bread on two baking trays and stored them in the oven overnight.  This morning, the bread was nicely staled for the savory bread pudding.

This morning, I prepared the other ingredients, which included grating two cups of gruyere cheese and two cups of Swiss cheese.  I also added one cup of previously grated Parmesan cheese to this cheese mixture.

I then roughly chopped up 1/3 cup each of fresh chives, parsley and marjoram.  I added these herbs to the cheese mixture and set this bowl aside.

I then whisked up six large eggs, two cups of whole milk, two teaspoons salt and one teaspoon ground black pepper.  I also set this egg mixture aside.

I then put a pot of water on the stove to boil and generously salted the water.  While the water was heating up to a boil, I washed and cut one pound of asparagus in 1 1/2 inch lengths.  I also cut up the stale bread into 1 1/2 inch pieces.  When the water got to a boil, I placed the asparagus in a fryer basket and placed the basket in the water for about three minutes.

When the asparagus was cooked al dente, I removed the basket from the water and rinsed it quickly under cold water to cool and stop the cooking process.  I then got started on putting together the bread pudding.  I sprayed the inside of my Le Creuset Dutch oven with baking spray and first put down a layer of half of the stale bread.

I then sprinkled the bread with half of the asparagus.

I added half of the cheese mixture.

Finally, I poured half of the egg mixture over the bread, asparagus and cheese mixture.

I repeated this one more time with the remaining bread, asparagus, cheese and egg mixture.  This filled the Dutch oven all the way to the top! 

I let the bread pudding sit for about twenty-five minutes and I pressed the bread pieces down using my fingers.  The bread pudding compressed a few inches below the top of the Dutch oven by the time it was ready for baking.

I preheated the oven to 375 degrees and baked the bread pudding for about forty minutes until it was golden brown.

It is still cooling in my dining room as we speak and I can't wait to serve it tonight!  I can tell you that our place is filled with the unbelievable smell of baked cheese!

What are your plans for tonight to help ring in 2011?

Fun and Fearless Reader Discount at Overstock

I was recently contacted by the folks at Overstock about providing a discount to my readers.  If you're not familiar with Overstock already, it is an online shopping site that offers lots of different items at discount prices.  This includes a wide variety of items, including anything from kitchen appliances to golf equipment - two things that I personally spend a lot of money on!  The best part is that the shipping cost is always $2.95, no matter what it is that you purchase!  

I've shopped on Overstock a few times before and I've always been really happy with the results.  Most recently, Bret and I have been searching for some new sheets for our bed.  I've taken a look at Overstock and found some great deals, like these:

Combed Cotton Jersey Sheet Set

Satin Sheet Set

So, Overstock wants to offer my readers a 10% discount on almost all Overstock products (excluding movies, books and electronics).  Just plug in 121745 in the discount section when you are checking out to redeem your 10% discount code.  While the discount code never expires, it can only be used once for each email address.

All the ideas and opinions expressed are my own.  No monetary compensation was received for doing this post, however, I was provided with a discount code.

Working Out and Wine - Both Better with Friends

Last night, I headed home after work to get in a nice long ride on the indoor bike.  Since a lot of people take this week off of work, I knew that the gym would probably be empty.  Still, I chose to work out at home because I didn't want to deal with shoving all of my winter wear (boots, winter jacket, etc.) along with my gym bag into a tiny locker and changing several times into and out of multiple layers.  The idea of just de-stressing at home on the bike seemed way more appealing.  Plus, I didn't have to work out alone!  My friend Kim came over for dinner and she decided to bring along her TRX equipment so that she could also work out before dinner.  It was like a mini-gym in our apartment.

While we were busy working up a sweat, Bret whipped up a yummy dinner that included baked penne with Italian sausage, salad and roasted garlic bread.  Bret is still on vacation so he worked out while I was at work and picked up the ingredients to make us dinner.  Isn't he the best?

P.S. Thanks Kristen for the awesome salad serving spoons!  They were so pretty and I was happy to finally have an excuse to use them!

After dinner, we also enjoyed a large glass of wine and over lots of conversation, this eventually turned into three bottles of wine.  It was one of those perfect relaxing nights filled with a little healthy working out, a yummy dinner and lots of laughter.  Who could ask for anything more?

How is your week going so far?

Snowed in with Jajangmyun

On Sunday, I gave Bret a few different options as to what I could make for dinner.  Since we were getting snowed in, I was craving something warm and hearty.  Much to my delight, Bret picked one of my favorite Korean dishes - jajangmyun!  I last made this dish for Project Food Blog but in my haste, I didn't give great photos or instructions so I thought that I would go through the steps to make one of these classic Korean dishes.

First, I washed, peeled and diced four small potatoes.

I then roughly chopped up one large sweet onion.

I had purchased a little over a pound of sirloin tips and I cut those down to bite-sized pieces.

I then warmed up a pan on the stove with a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.  I first added the onions and cooked them until they got translucent.

When the onions were translucent, I added the diced potatoes to the pan and cooked those for about three or four minutes.  The potatoes were definitely not cooked through yet but I removed both of the potatoes and the onions from the pan and set them aside.

I then warmed up a large sauce pan on the stove with the remaining vegetable oil from the vegetables and added another tablespoon or so of fresh oil to the pan.  I added my sirloin tips to the pan and browned them.

I then added my potatoes and onions to the pan, along with two cups of water to continue cooking the beef and vegetables in the water.

This is when I added the ingredient that really makes the dish - black bean paste!

Since I had a lot of vegetables and beef, I added four heaping tablespoons to the sauce pan and gave everything a stir.  I put a lid on the pan and allowed this entire mixture to continue cooking until the liquids in the pot came to a boil.

Jajangmyun is supposed to be a thick sauce and the trick is to add cornstarch to thicken the sauce up.  I added a few tablespoons after the liquids came to a boil.  Once this happens, I lowered the heat to let the stew simmer while I boiled some water.  I found this package of bean strips at the grocery store and I decided to use these for my noodles.  I put about half the package in the water and I found that these bean strips cook really quickly so just a minute or so in boiling water did the trick!

Afterwards, I plated the noodles.

And then topped it with the hearty jajangmyun sauce.

This dish really hit the spot as the snow was falling and the wind was howling.  We had plenty of leftovers for dinner the next day (over rice) and I'm looking forward to having some for lunch at work today.

What dishes warmed you up during this recent snow storm?

Recharging with Christmas Breakfast

I've taken a few days off from the internet and it has been fantastic! I have forgotten how wonderful it is to ignore emails, voicemails, text messages, Facebook, Twitter and blogs.  But, as the snow is falling outside, I'm ready to get back into it and I wanted to share one of the fantastic meals I've had this weekend.

Bret and I decided to start a new tradition and whip up a feast of a breakfast on Christmas morning.  It was wonderful to listen to Christmas music as we worked together in the kitchen.  Of course we had to start Christmas morning off right with mimosas...

Our menu included fresh fruit, scrambled cheesy eggs, oven-cooked bacon, toast, homefries, and ebelskivers.  What are ebelskivers?  They are Danish pancakes that are sphere-shaped and filled with sweet or savory fillings.  We received an ebelskiver pan and mix for Hanukkah this year and this was the perfect excuse to make them!

Most of the dishes were fairly easy to make but the homefries and ebelskivers took a lot of our attention.  I was on homefries duty while Bret focused on the ebelskivers.  Some of the ebelskivers were filled with nutella, while others were filled with raspberry jam.  Here are just a few photos:

This resulted in a huge feast of a breakfast!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend thus far and has fully recharged to start the week!

Date Night at Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar

Although Bret has been on vacation all week, I have been working all week and I was ready to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas long weekend with a date night.  After reading this review, Bret and I eagerly decided to head to Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar for dinner. 

When we arrived, I was really shocked at the change in atmosphere.  I have eaten at its predecessor - Papa Razzi - countless times and Lolita Cocina could not have been more different.  The restaurant is more sleek and sexy with dim lighting, red hues, candles and roses.  The music is loud and gives the restaurant more of a lounge feel, which is exactly what the place is looking for.

We were first seated at corner table that was right under one of the many speakers in the restaurant.  Bret and I were yelling to speak to each other and we asked if we could be moved to another table.  Our server, Dorina, was incredibly gracious and made the move as seamless as possible. 

Lolita really focuses on presentation just as much as it focuses on its food and beverage.  You felt this from the very minute you sat down when a bowl of grapefruit granita arrived in a bowl atop of dry ice and drizzled with tequila.  This is meant as a palate cleanser but also puts on a fantastic presentation.

While Bret and I perused the menu, we munched on the complimentary bucket of warm, crispy tortilla chips and trio of salsas (tomatillo, crema and roasted red peppers).

We were also presented with a bottle of habanero hot sauce and we were warned that it was incredibly spicy.  Bret and I both have a high tolerance of heat and we found this sauce to be a little mild.  It starts off with a sweetness and then a slow burn.  It wasn't as hot as we expected but it added a nice flavor to some of our dishes.

I was in need of a cocktail so I decided to start out with the Rubio Sangria, which contained rose wine, orange blossom, mandarin napoleon, silver rum, raspberries, grapes and strawberries.  My sangria wasn't overly-sweet and would probably be perfect for a hot summer day.

Since we were enjoying our chips and salsa, we decided to just order a side of guacamole to go along with our chips.  We decided to go with the Picante Guacamole, which contained chile oil and fresh green chiles.  While the guacamole was good, it was definitely lacking in heat and we both thought it was over-priced at $10 for such a small serving.

By this time, I was ready for another cocktail and I decided to try the Te Dulce, which contained Jeremiah sweet tea, peach liquer, fresh muddled lemon, strawberry, mint and soda water.  I asked for the cocktail to go easy on the peach liquer.  This cocktail was sweet and refreshing but I lost the muddled lemon and mint flavors to the sweetness of the tea, peach liquer and strawberries.

For my entree, I decided to go with the Blackened Mahi Mahi Tacos.  This was an excellent choice as the fish had a nice crispy exterior but still tender and flaky inside.  I found the chipotle crema to be addictively spicy and I really enjoyed this dish immensely.

Bret ordered the Carne de Vaca Enchiladas, which contained slow cooked short ribs.  He loved this dish but probably loved the side order of Zocalo Corn even more.

Finally, we decided to indulge in dessert.  I first decided to go for a liquid dessert and ordered a Tequila Cafe, which included Patron XO Cafe, Stoli vanilla vodka and topped with cream and cinnamon.  The presentation was beautiful!

But...Bret convinced me to split the chocolate and espresso bread pudding with him, which was topped with coffee ice cream and drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce.  Um, wow.  This dessert was rich and dense.  Despite our best efforts, we could only tackle about half of it together.

Finally, after several hours, we were ready for the check and we laughed as it arrived with some cotton candy topped with pop rocks.  While I am convinced the cotton candy was watermelon flavored, Bret thinks it tasted like blue raspberry.  Either way, it made for a unique ending to a lovely meal and some funny photos.

Finally, I must mention that our server, Dorina, was incredibly pleasant the entire evening.  She made great recommendations, talked to us about different tequilas, explained the delayed opening of the restaurant, and more.  It honestly felt like we were dining with a friend and she made this meal so much more memorable.  Her service is a huge reason why I seriously can't wait to return here again.

Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar is located at 271 Dartmouth Street, Boston, MA.