Bread Pudding - White Chocolate Cherry Flavor

So here is the bread pudding recipe I promised. It's in "kitchenspeak" so you might have to translate a little.

Yield = 1/2 hotel pan (about 14 x 10 x 2 inches)

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
6 yolks
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
Zest of 1 orange
2 cups dried cherries, soaked (soak in cherry liquor if you have it)
1 cup white chocolate chips
croissant or brioche cut in very small pieces. enough to fill the hotel pan.

Grease the ramekins or hotel pan very well! Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Scald milk/cream mix.
Whisk yolks and sugar until ribbon stage.
Temper the cream into the eggs and let cool to room temperature.
Add vanilla and orange zest.
Add drained Cherries and chips to bread cubes. if you used the cherry liquor, add a little of that to the mix.
Mix custard into bread cubes in batches and wait for the bread to absorb the custard.
The consistency should be like gooey oatmeal. pour into ramekins or into the hotel pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 and check for doneness. the puddings should puff up a bit and be GBD. (Golden Brown and Delicious!) Maybe another 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. The recipe is forgiving, but don't overcook it.

Serve warm with some whipped cream or ice cream.

You can unmold these from the ramekins and serve on a plate or serve them in the ramekin. If you make this in a pan, you can cut squares when its cold, and then reheat before serving.

Enjoy!

shiner and a busted shoulder

It's been almost two weeks since my mountain bike crash, and I'm doing better. I can now drive short distances, stay awake for a full day and I am off the painkillers.

I had just finished my triathlon season with a 2nd place AG finish and a 9th place AG finish at the Chicago Triathlon. I was very happy and riding high on these two personal bests. Then, I got on a mountain bike. My friends all made it look very easy...well its not. I crashed by making a dumb decision and now have a broken collarbone, some awesome bruises on my leg and hip and a shiner. I lost a bit of memory and still have no recollection of the crash, getting up and walking back to the parking lot.

So how does this relate to food? Since I can't work out like I was, I have to cut back on my calories. So far my weight hasn't gone up. I'm still holding 134 lbs. I'm really happy about that. When I train a lot and race a lot, and all of a sudden that is taken away from me, well it can get depressing. When I get depressed and bored, which I am, I eat. So I have been coming up with menus and dishes to keep me satisfied, full and keep my weight under control.

Since I am starting a personal chef business cooking for athletes and people who want to make healthy eating a priority in their lives, I am having fun being my own guinea pig. I have always experimented with food and cooking, but now I can see the direct results of diet and being sedentary and how to control your weight and be happy.

Now I just need to go get some clients and use myself as an example. The proverbial making lemonade out of lemons, no?

So would you hire a personal chef with a shiner and a busted shoulder?