From My Kitchen

::Infamous Bread Pudding::

There is a story behind this recipe, which I think is more special than the actual recipe.

On our first year wedding anniversary, we went to Gettysburg, PA and stayed in a quaint little B&B. It was tucked quietly away in the trees and was on about 25 acres of land. When we arrived at the house, we were greeted by a sweet couple who owned the property for some time. When we walked in the woman began telling the story of the house and how most of the structure was original from the 1700′s building. We were given a small room with a pitched ceiling. We dropped our stuff off and quickly set out to discover the property.

Our day was spent sitting by a running creek, admiring the trees and quiet. We ventured off to a small pond where we sat on a bench and Jon played with my hair. When we decided to go out into Gettysburg we ate dinner at a hole in the wall place with delicious tea. That night we slept among the sounds of the forest.

The next morning we had breakfast with the other occupants. We had blueberry bread pudding, coffee, bacon, eggs, tea, juice, toast and fresh fruit. We were all amazed with the bread pudding and when I got the recipe I started making it pretty often. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. I love making this when we have guests over.

Ingredients:

1 loaf of day old italian or french bread, torn into bite sized pieces.

2 eggs

1 cup milk (whatever you have)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream or half and half (something to make it rich)

3/4 cup sugar

1 package fresh blueberries or 1 bag of frozen (thawed) blueberries

1 tsp vanilla

zest of a lemon

cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle on top.

What to do:

The night before you plan to serve (which is what I like best, just put it in the oven the next morning) Tear up your bread and put into a large bowl. Mix the milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest together in a medium bowl, pour over your bread. Mix gently until the bread has soaked up most of the liquid. Add your blueberries and gently fold in, making sure not to break all the berries (its ok to break a few). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, pour into a greased dish and sprinkle with a little cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 45 mins in a 400 degree oven. Remove, cut into, and devour.

*This is also yummy with raspberries. If you choose to do raspberries, then sub the lemon zest for orange zest.

::Whole Wheat Couscous with Shrimp::

This recipe was inspired by some friends of ours. We went to a vineyard for an an adult day with them and at this particular place, you bring your own food but taste and buy some local wines. Our friends packed lunch, we packed dessert. This is my spin off of their veggie couscous. So yum.

Ingredients

1 box Whole Wheat Couscous (plain)

2 cups chicken broth (or however much you plan to make, I made the whole box which called for 2 cups of broth)

1lb uncooked, peeled, deveined small shrimp

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 yellow onion, chopped

olive oil (I rarely measure, and here, its only for sautéing)

1 yellow squash (or zucchini, whatevs) cut in rounds

1/2 a bell pepper (I prefer any color but green) chopped

salt and pepper

parmesan cheese for topping

Do this:

In a large pan, saute the onion, garlic, pepper and squash in some olive oil until soft. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Meanwhile, cook your couscous as it says on the box, I happen to make mine in broth since it adds much more flavor. Typically it calls to bring the broth, some olive oil and a pinch of salt to a boil, add the couscous and stir in, cover and remove from the heat and let sit for 5 mins. After, take off the lid and use a fork to fluff.

While your couscous is cooking, add the shrimp (or whatever meat you choose, tofu would be yummy in here too!) and cook until they are all pink, then turn on low. After your couscous is done, fluff and add to a larger bowl. Add the shrimp and veggies and toss all together. When serving, add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top! Enjoy! This meal is super awesome because it literally is done in about 15 mins.

::Five Spice Turkey Lettuce Wraps:: (date night)

Click Here.

::Fried Green Beans::

My lovely sister in law gave me this recipe. She said she was sick of having potatoes or rice for a side and ventured for something different. She gave me this recipe with a promise of how good and easy it was. Frying things tends to be a weak spot for me, although they are tasty, I am always weary of the actual event. Either way, they were fantastic AND easy!!

1 lb fresh green beans, ends cut off.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup of beer, your choice. I used an amber beer, it was tasty!

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Frying oil of your choice. I used Canola, I think my sis used Vegetable.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add the beer and stir until everything is mixed. The mix may be lumpy and will be thick. If you want you can add another TBSP of beer to losen it up, but the key to this is a thick batter.

In a large frying pan, heat about an inch of oil. In small batches, toss the green beans into the flour and beer mix until well coated. Add a few beans into the oil, most likely they will stick together, no big deal. When they are finished you can separate them or not. We didnt.

Cook the beans for about 1-2 mins on both sides, until the batter turns golden brown. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to drain the excess. Begin a second batch and so forth until all the beans are fried.

These are testy to dip in sour cream. I also salt them while they are still hot on the plate, but thats because I love salt, to a fault.

Serve and enjoy!!

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