Bread Pudding

So one day I had three maraquetas (Chilean bread) lying around the house and they were starting to get stale. I knew I wasn't going to eat it as toast or anything but I wasn't about the throw it all away so I decided to make bread pudding.

I cut up the bread into smaller pieces and put them in a 9 X 9 in baking dish.  I chopped up about a 1/2  cup of walnuts and sliced about a cup of cherries (it's cherry season i.e. 3 kilos for a mil which is about $2).

In a small pan I took 1 tsp of nutmeg, 1 tbsp of cinnamon, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, a stick of butter, 1/2 a cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 egg, and a cup of cream and let the mixture simmer.

Pour the sauce over the bread. Make sure it doesn't overflow!!! Put the pudding in a 350 degree oven and bake for about 20-35 minutes. It will be done when you no longer see any of the liquid. Make sure it doesn't burn!!

Raspberry Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 ounce) can  Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Raspberry Jam OR raspberry sauce

Raspberry Jam/Sauce direction: Set aside some fresh raspberries for later. In a skillet mix about a cup of fresh raspberries (crushed a little), half cup water and 1/4 cup sugar. Bring to a boil. Stir constantly. After 3-5 minutes you should turn the flame off.

Cheesecake directions.

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter; press firmly on bottom of 9-inch spring form pan. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs and lemon juice; mix well. 
3. Pour half of the mixture into the prepared pan. Spread half of your raspberry sauce  over  it.  Pour the rest of the cheesecake mixture into the  pan. Drizzle the rest of the sauce on the  top and insert some of the fresh berries.
4. Bake 60 minutes or until center is set. Remove from oven. Cool 1 hour. Chill at least 4 hours. It's actually best if chilled overnight. Garnish with fresh raspberries.
   

Lemon Rosemary Stuffed Chicken

This was a delicious bird. When I initially took it out of the oven it wasn't completely cooked. I think it was because I was cooking a bunch of stuff simultaneously and I didn't want the other food to burn but the following recipe should be correct.

 

Ingredients:

whole chicken

2 shallots

2 lemons quartered

2 sprigs fresh rosemary 

3 garlic cloves crushed

garlic powder  

1 cup chicken stock  

olive oil 

2 tomatoes cut into slices

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Clean out the cavity of the chicken.  

3.. Stuff the chicken with 1 sprig of rosemary, the garlic,

2 shallots and lemons. 

4. Drizzle some olive oil into the cavity. Season with salt and pepper and make sure everything in the cavity is well mixed.

5.  Place the chicken in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Drizzle some olive oil on the chicken.

6. Mince the other rosemary sprig and rub rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic powder on the outside of the chicken. Pour a cup of chicken stock into the pan.

7. Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours. Baste the chicken at least twice. 

8. Take the tomatoes and other vegetables of your choosing and toss it into the baking dish. Switch the oven to broil and broil the chicken for 10-20  more minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, chicken is properly cooked when it hits 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Walnut Brie

Ingredients:

·        Slice or wheel of brie

·        1 cup chopped walnuts

·        3 tbsp brown sugar

·        ¼ cup of Irish Cream Liqueur

Instructions:

1.     Cut off the top layer of brie and place the brie in a small baking dish.

2.      In a skillet mix together the walnuts, brown sugar and liqueur. Let the mixture simmer for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. It should bubble up so that you almost can’t see the walnuts.  Pour the mixture over the brie.

3.     Place the brie in the oven and bake for 5 minutes.

4.     Serve with crackers or granny smith apple slices.

Mango Salsa

This is a deliciously refreshing and simple recipe. Chop up a red onion, 1 cucumber, 1 tomato, 1 bell pepper, 1chili and 1 to 2 mangoes. Toss the ingredients together with some juice from 1 lime, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbp of chopped fresh cilantro, and 2 tbsp orange juice. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Put in the fridge for about an hour.

The salsa goes great with some grilled pork ribs. 

Cranberry Chutney

Ingredients:

• 1 whole pineapple
• 2 oranges
• 1 small red onion
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 chili pepper
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar.

1. Chop up the pineapple into smaller 1/4 inch pieces, avoid using the tough center. Grate the orange so that you have about 2 tbsp of orange zest. Take off the tops of the oranges and chop up the oranges into smaller pieces. Chop up the red onion and the chili pepper.

2. Mix all of the ingredients into a deep skillet and cook for about 20 minutes. Make sure to stir every few minutes so that it doesn't burn the bottom of the pan.

You can serve this dish with crackers, as a side dish to turkey, or with some ham.