Chocolate Pudding

Mmmmmm....chocolate pudding.  It's one of those tasty treats that my mom would make every once in a while and something which, for the longest time, I didn't realize most people just bought from the grocery store.  It's a great dessert for a dreary winter day, only takes a few minutes to make, and is very easy.  I once made this right after getting my wisdom teeth out completely high on oxycodone (I didn't realize just how fast it would take effect) and it still came out great AND I didn't burn the apartment down.  You'll need: 3 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of butter.

 

Beat the egg slightly and in a large saucepan, combine that, the milk, sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt.  Heat this slowly over low to medium heat, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom of the saucepan.  And I really do mean constantly; if you don't it'll stick to the bottom of the saucepan and you'll end up with some very lumpy pudding.  It'll start out very liquid at first, but once it starts to thicken, it will do so pretty quickly.  Keep it on the heat until it becomes very bubbly; kind of like the Bog of Eternal Stench from Labyrinth, only much better smelling and, presumably, tastier.  

Once it starts bubbling away, turn off the heat and stir in your vanilla and butter.  Once the butter has melted in, pour your pudding into a large glass or metal bowl through a fine mesh strainer.  This will get rid of any errant lumps.

Begone, foul lumps!

Ta-da!  You now have a large, steamy bowl of delicious chocolate pudding!  Now, you should probably put some plastic wrap on top of it; this will keep a skin from forming on your pudding.  Just put the wrap directly onto the pudding, it's fine that you're doing this while it's still hot.

That's pretty steamy

Now, chocolate pudding is fine all on its own.  But you know what makes it really great?  Topping it with homemade whipped cream!  This is another recipe that'll only take a few minutes to make.  You only need: 1/2 pint whipping cream, 3-4 tablespoons of sugar, and a dash of vanilla.

Just this

Pour the whipping cream into a large glass or metal bowl (if you can chill it and a set of beaters in the freezer first this will go faster) and beat it on high until it starts to thicken.  Add in your sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

All done!

Bam!  You're all done!

Caramel Corn

I've posted autumn recipes a couple times before and although fall is well passed, thanks to my parents' generosity and their freezer, I'm still getting to enjoy some fall goodness.  While I was in NY for Christmas, they gave me 1 1/2 gallons of apple cider.  And not that swill you find in the grocery stores.  Oh, no, this is some of the best damn cider you'll ever come across, from the Burrville Cider Mill (luckily they're waaaaay better at making cider than at making web sites).  One of my favorite things to go with this delicious apple cider is my mom's homemade caramel corn, which she'd typically only make for Halloween.  Since I was neither in NY nor even had any apple cider at Halloween, I figured it was a good time to make up for it.

This is a fairly simple and quick recipe; all you need is 1/2 C molasses, 1/2 C light corn syrup, 1 tsp vinegar, 1 tbsp butter, and plain, unbuttered popcorn.  My parents always buy the jar of popcorn and make it on the stove, but I'm lazy and use the microwave kind. 

Go ahead and get your popcorn all popped.  Make sure you get rid of any unpopped kernels since you probably don't want to chomp down on one of those after you get everything covered in caramel.  Now, in a large-ish saucepan, combine your molasses, corn syrup, and vinegar.  Put this on medium-high heat and let it come to a boil, stirring constantly.  Once it starts to boil, it'll bubble up pretty quickly, so keep a close eye on it.  Keep it going until it thickens up a bit, which should only take a couple minutes for a single batch.  You'll know it's ready when you can dribble a bit into a glass of cold water and form a ball with it with your finger.  Once it's ready, turn off the heat and drop in your butter, stirring until it's all melted.  Now pour it over your popcorn and stir it all around until the popcorn is completely coated.  And you're done!  See?  Quick and easy.  And very very tasty (way better than that crunchy stuff in the grocery store).  And sticky.  But no worries on that account; just let your dishes soak for a bit and they'll be extremely easy to clean.  This will keep very well for a few days at room temperature when kept in an airtight container. 

It uses plain popcorn, so it's healthy...right?

Mushroom Puffs

I bet you were thinking all I knew how to make are desserts.  Well guess what?  I can make other things too!  Today's recipe is a tasty little hors d'oeurve that you can make for parties or for a snack when you can't think of anything else for dinner (they freeze really well, too). 

The ingredients you'll need are:

This recipe guest-stars my parents' kitchen!

1 8-oz package of cream cheese (softened), 1 1/2 C plus 2 tbs flour, 1/2 C plus 3 tbs butter (softened), 8 oz mushrooms, 1 large onion, 1/4 C sour cream, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1 egg, beaten.  First up, we'll make the dough for the little puffs.  In a large bowl, beat together your cream cheese, 1 1/2 C flour, and 1/2 C butter until it's smooth.  Then shape it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for about an hour.

I am jealous of my Mom's Kitchen Aid.

Mom has some nice pans, too.

While the dough is sitting in the fridge, you can start on the filling!  Mince your mushrooms and your onion.  If you have a food processor, you can use the shred blade to make this go much, much faster than if you have to cut them up by hand (luckily, Mom got a food processor for Christmas!).  In a 10-inch skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat, then toss in the mushrooms and onion and cook them until it's tender.  Now stir in the sour cream, salt, thyme, and 2 tablespoons of flour.  Turn off the heat and set this aside.

If making the filling took you less than an hour, this might be a good opportunity for some doggie time!!!


D'awwww!  Cute lil' Ndnd! (not a typo)

Martha, Neela, and Grammie!

Well, now that puppy-time is over, the dough should be ready to work with.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut out circles with a 2 3/4-inch round cookie cutter.  Brush your circles with your beaten egg and place about a teaspoon of mushroom mixture into the center of the circles.  Fold the dough over the filling, press the edges together with a fork, and prick holes into the tops.  Brush them with more egg.  Put them on a cookie sheet (which I recommend lining with parchment paper) and bake for 12-14 minutes or until they're golden brown.  This recipe supposedly makes 3 1/2 dozen little puffs, but I've never been able to make that many.  And like I said up top, these freeze really well, just do so before you bake them.  Enjoy!

Mmmmmm.....