Bourbon Maple Chocolate Bread Pudding

When I first received my legendary bottle of bourbon maple syrup, I immediately thought of making a bread pudding. As I thought about it more and more, this amazing creation began to take shape and I ended up with what, in my humble opinion, is one of best bread puddings I've ever had.

Warning: this one takes a while, but I promise that it's worth it. If you are patient you'll be rewarded with creamy bread pudding and a phenomenal depth of flavor.

Prep time: 10 hours
Cook time: 30-45 minutes

Ingredients:

½ loaf of challah
3 C milk
2 tbsp butter
½ C bourbon maple syrup
2 tbsp bourbon
2 oz dark chocolate chopped into small chunks
3 eggs
2 strips of bacon cooked and broken into pieces

Directions:

Cut the challah into 1 inch cubes and allow them to sit out for 8 hours or overnight to stale and dry. After the bread has dried, put it in a greased 2 quart baking dish.

Next, add the milk, butter, syrup, and bourbon to a medium saucepan and heat on low until the butter melts, then stir in the chocolate, making sure it is thoroughly melted and mixed before removing the mixture from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool before whisking in the 3 eggs. Pour the mixture over the bread and stash in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Remove the mixture from the fridge and allow it to come to room temp while you preheat your oven to 350. Top the mixture with the bacon pieces* before baking for 30-45 minutes or until the outside is set and the middle still has a little wobble. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

*For even more flavor, top with bourbon maple glazed bacon.

Scotch Sour

One of my goals in life is to know a few cocktails that I can whip out whenever company is over or I feel like a drink. I've always enjoyed sour cocktails, especially whiskey sours, but I was out of bourbon so I decided to try Scotch instead. It was delicious. I added a bit of my own flair by making a simple syrup with demerara sugar and created this simple, refreshing, easy drinking cocktail.

Ingredients:

Ice
1 part demerara simple syrup*
1 part fresh lemon juice
2 parts Scotch
Lemon peel (optional)
Maraschino cherry (optional)

Directions:

Fill the bottom of a cocktail shaker with ice and add your simple syrup, lemon juice, and Scotch. Shake for 10 seconds to thoroughly combine the ingredients and lightly aerate it. Strain it into an ice-filled lowball glass or tumbler or straight up (no ice) into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon peel and maraschino cherry.

Raise your glass, toast your friends, and enjoy!

*Simple syrup is made by bringing equal parts water and sugar to a boil and stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Let it cool and store in a squirt bottle in the fridge for up to a month. Simple syrup is better than sugar in cocktails because it dissolves in cold water. I like demerara sugar in this application because it adds a great depth of flavor to cocktails.

Breakfast Burrito

So when I started my diet I wanted to make something that I could consistently make and eat without getting bored. That meant it needed to have meat, it needed to have cheese, and it needed to be packed with flavor. It also helps that I can prefab a lot of the pieces so it doesn't take much time in the morning.

Ingredients:

2 scrambled eggs
28 grams grated cheddar cheese
56 grams cooked turkey sausage
50 grams avocado
⅛ tsp red pepper flake
1 flour tortilla*

Directions:

Right after you finish cooking your scrambled eggs, using whatever method you prefer, sprinkle on the cheese and lay on the sausage. I like to do this while the eggs are still in the pan so the cheese gets nice and melted on top** and the sausage gets warmed through.

In a bowl, combine the avocado and the red pepper flake and use a fork to beat into a paste. Spread your paste on one quarter of your tortilla then lay on the eggs, cheese, and sausage. fold over the sides and one end and roll into a burrito.

Enjoy with a smoothie or some fresh orange juice.

*I love using flavored tortillas for this since it adds some nice color and it's an easy way to work some variety into a routine

**I don't recommend mixing the cheese into the eggs first because it's not much cheese and it can get lost. I prefer the layer of flavor on top. Also, mixing the cheese into the eggs makes the eggs much more liquidy and more likely to make a drippy mess all in your lap, or in my case, my beard.

Maple Old Fashioned

Recently I got to go on vacation and spent a few days with some friends having a blast in Vermont. While we were there, we went for a whisky tasting at Saxton River Distillery where they have amazing maple infused whiskeys and some great gin. I'd been wanting to use my bourbon maple syrup in a cocktail and I think I found a great match in this maple old fashioned.

Because this is a sweeter old fashioned it's not much of an aperitif (before dinner), I'd recommend it as a great after dinner cocktail.

Ingredients:

1 tsp bourbon maple syrup
4 dashes angostura bitters
2 oz maple bourbon
Ice
Maraschino cherry

Directions:

In a lowball glass combine the syrup, bitters, and bourbon and stir well. Add several large ice cubes and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Miso Ramen with Chashu

Here it finally is: my ramen recipe! One of the best things about ramen is how versatile it is. A basic broth with ramen noodles can host a whole bunch of toppings. I'll list out some of my favorites, but it is only a fraction of the whole world of toppings and condiments you can add.

Ingredients:

Base per serving:

2 cups dashi
1½ tbsp white miso
½ tbsp red miso
¼-½ cups of cooked ramen or soba noodles

Toppings:

Chashu
Marinated Tofu
Blanched bean sprouts
Corn
Sliced scallions
Soft boiled egg

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, stir the two flavors of miso into the dashi and bring to a simmer. Place your noodles into your soup bowl, layer on your prefered toppings, and pour on the hot broth. Let the soup sit for a minute to give everything time to heat up before enjoying.

This makes a really great build-your-own meal with plenty of toppings and a big pot of broth for everyone.

Chashu

Chashu is Japanese BBQ pork. It's extremely delicious and tender. It's great by itself, but it's also the perfect pork to add to your ramen. This is the last piece of the puzzle before I put out my ramen recipe. I hope the wait has been worth it!

This recipe calls for using a unique piece of hardware called an otoshibuta. An otoshibuta helps your food cook in a steam environment, but allows enough vapor loss to reduce a sauce. It's placed directly on the cooking liquid, which helps keep big bubbles from forming so delicate foods aren't broken apart.

Don't worry, I don't have one either, but it's extremely easy to make one out of parchment paper and here is a link to the instructions. I don't recommend making one out of tin foil because aluminum and acid doesn't mix well.

Ingredients:

1 lb pork belly
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
¾ c water
½ cup low sodium soy sauce
½ cup sake

¼ cup dark brown or demerara sugar

2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 scallions, sliced
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
2" piece of ginger, sliced

Directions:

Salt both sides of the pork belly. Pour the olive oil into a cast iron skillet and heat over medium-high heat until the oil starts to lightly smoke. Lay the pork belly in the oil, fat side down, and sear for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Flip and repeat. Remove from the skillet and let it rest.

In a heavy-bottom pot, like a dutch oven, add the remaining ingredients and the pork belly. Bring the whole thing to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover with the otoshibuta and simmer for 1 hour, turning the pork over every 10 minutes.

After an hour, you should have a thick sauce. Roll the pork belly in the sauce to make sure you have even coverage on all sides. Take it out of the pot and let it rest for about 15-20 minutes before slicing thin and serving by itself, over noodles, or with ramen.

For some added flavor and color, lightly sear under a boiler or with a propane or culinary torch.

If you plan on storing for later, place your slices in a zip-top bag with the remaining sauce. Make sure you get most of the air out so the slices get good, even coverage. They should keep for about a week in the fridge.

To reheat, just pour your piping hot ramen broth on top or lightly sear in a medium-heat skillet.

Miso Soup

Earlier I wrote about wanting to make my own ramen, which means I had to start with making dashi, a Japanese seafood stock. Once I'd made that, it was just a little bit more to make miso soup so I decided to try my hand at that too.

Like plenty of Japanese cooking, this isn't about using a lot of ingredients, it's about making the most from a few. It's about balance. In miso soup, you are balancing savory with salty and smooth with crunchy.

Serves: 1
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:

2 cups dashi
1.5 tbsp white miso
½ tbsp red miso
1 scallion
3 oz firm silken tofu

Directions:

Bring your dashi to a simmer and pour ¼ cup into a bowl. Add the red and white miso into the same bowl and stir well until all lumps are gone. Pour the miso mixture back into the rest of the dashi and heat on low to keep warm.

Cut your scallions into small slices and your tofu into small cubes and place in the bottom of your soup bowl, mug, or bucket. Pour the hot broth in and let sit for a minute to allow the tofu to warm up before enjoying with some sake or green tea!

Please note: the combination of miso flavors is up to you. White miso is lighter in color and flavor but has good body and mild sweetness. Red miso is much more flavorful, but too much will have your soup tasting like soy sauce. This 3:1 ratio is my preferred ratio, but feel free to experiment to find what you like.