Bread Pudding Soufflé and Whiskey sauce

How to use bread leftovers? Bake a Bread Pudding Soufflé! This dessert is old fashioned light, and fluffy. My recipe includes raisins and pecans but you can replace the raisins with fresh fruits (diced apples and blueberries are my favorites), other dried fruits (cherries, apricots, figs..) use honey, chocolate chips, etc.

Serves 8
Praparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
Soufflé
- 5 cups (about half a medium round loaf) day-old French bread (from a loaf, not a baguette), cut into 2 cm cubes
- 4 eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1 cup (225 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmated
- 4 cups (1 l) milk
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in dark rum (to cover)
- 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
- butter and sugar for the mold

Whiskey sauce
- 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon


Prepare the soufflé first.
Coat a large, deep baking dish with butter and sugar.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar, the spices, the vanilla extract until creamy. Mix in the milk

Place teh cubed bread in a large bowl and pour the milk mixture over it. Set aside for 30-45 minutes.

Preaheat your oven to 350°F / 180° C.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the remaining 1/4 of the sugar until peaks form.

Add the raisins and chopped pecans to the soaked bread and slowly fold in the beaten egg whites with a metal spoon.

Pour the mixture into the preapared mold and bake for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden.

For the Whiskey sauce, heat the cream over simmering water in a double boiler.

In a bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar. Off the heat, whisk the egg yolks into the warm cream.

Return the preparation to the double boiler and cook over simmering water, stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Slowly add the bourbon. Continue to cook until the miwture is lightly thick and smooth.

Serve the soufflé with the warm Whiskey sauce.

Brioche made with bread machine - Try it!

I've had my bread machine for about a year and I only made bread with it until 3 month ago. Then I started making jam (peach, strawberry etc.) and once, I tried to make a brioche. What a nice surprise! It's not only quick and easy; it's also delicious, fluffy and flavorful, like you would expect it from a brioche bought from a bakery. Find some time on a Saturday to try this recipe and enjoy your brioche for breakfast on Sunday morning.... yummm!

Serves 8-10
Preparation time: about 1h30 (with my machine) + 45 minutes to let rise
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup water (at room temperature)
- 1/3 milk
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup (1 stick / 50 grams) butter, softened and cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 bread machine yeast (dry active yeast)
- egg wash

To garnish/flavor your brioche:
- Orange cinnamon brioche: add the grated zest of 1 orange + replace water with orange juice + add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- Dried fruit brioche: add 1/2 cup of dried fruits to the flour + add the zest of 1 lemon
- Chocolate chips brioche: add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the flour
- Create your own!

Place the ingredients in the bread pan in the following order: water, milk, eggs, butter, zest or spices (if applicable), sugar, flour, chocolate chips or dried fruits (if applicable).

With a finger, make a small indentation on one side of the flour and add yeast. Make sure the yeast does not come in contact with the liquid ingredients.

Follow the instructions of your machine for the "Dough" program. When the cycle is complete, remove the dough from the bread pan to a clean, lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. With your hands, roll each piece into a 20-inch rope.

Lightly grease and flour a large baking sheet. Place the dough ropes on the baking sheet, twist them loosely and form a circle. Cover the ring with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place, until doubled in size (about 30/45 minutes). Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.

When the ring has doubled in size, lightly brush it with egg wash, using a pastry brush.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the brioche is golden brown. Let cool before slicing.

Chicken and Peanut Stir-fry

Stir-frying basically means sautéeing and it is used a lot in Chinese cuisine. I like preparing stir-fries : it's quick and easy, and I can use any vegetable I like in this dish. Today, I'll share the recipe of the Chicken and Peanut stir-fry. If you like, you can replace the peanuts with cashews.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
- peanut oil or vegetable oil for cooking
- 1 1/2 (750g) chicken thigh fillets, cut into strips
- 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup cornflour or all-purpose flour
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
- 2 carrots, very thinly sliced
- 1 head of brocoli, cut into small florets
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce or fish sauce
- salt and pepper
- 1/3 cup roasted peanuts

Heat a wok or a large fying pan until very hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl it around to coat the pan.
Dip a small handfull of the chicken strips into the egg whites and then into the flour. Add to the pan and stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes, unti the chicken is golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and repeat with the rest of the chicken strips, reheating the pan and adding a little oil when needed.

Reheat the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the onion, carrots, pepper and brocoli over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the vegetable have softened slightly. Increase the heat to high and add the sauces: soy sauce, rice wine, oyster/fish sauce. Toss well and bring to a boil.

Return the chicken to the pan and toss over high heat for 2 minutes. Make sure the chicken is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Add the peanuts, toss and serve immediately.

Don't forget your chopsticks!

Today is the day of crepes!

In France this Tuesday, every family will make crepes to celebrate La Chandeleur. Learn more on these thin delicious pancakes (Wikipedia). I recommend you to make crepes all year long since it's very easy and can be either sweet or sour. This recipe is for sweet crepes but if you want to try the sour version, do not add sugar and replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. You can then fill the crepes with mushrooms, cream, ham and shredded cheese for instance... mmmm!!

About 10-12 crepes
Preparation: 10 minutes + 15 min resting time
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1 cup/125g all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup/25cl milk
- 1 pinch salt
- zest of 1/2 lemon or orange (optional)
Note: you can add any flavor you want to the batter: grand marnier, vanilla extract, orange blossom extract etc.

Heat the milk in your microwave just a little bit (15 seconds are enough): it will ease the mixing of the ingredients.
Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a hole in the middle and add the egg, the sugar, the salt and the zest or flavour if you are using any. Add a little bit of milk and start whisking. Gradually add in the milk until the batter is smooth.
Let rest for 15 minutes minimum; if you have more time, you can wait up to 1 hour.
Before starting cooking, check the consistency of the batter: if it is too thick, add a little bit of milk.
Cook the crepes for about 2 minutes on the first side, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, then turn and cook the other side for another 1 or 2 minutes.
Serve warm with your topping: sugar, chocolate spread, jam, fruits, whipped cream etc. My favorite is sugar and lemon: sprinkle granulated sugar on your crepe and then drizzle some lemon juice...

"Eggs Mimosa" (Deviled eggs), cute appetizer

This recipe is called "Mimosa eggs" (oeufs mimosa in French), probably because the egg yolk gives the mimosa color to your plate. You probably know it better as Deviled eggs. This appetizer is one of the easiest existing and you need a minimal number of ingredients to prepare it. I usually serve the Mimosa eggs atop a Belgian endives salad because I like the way the egg tastes with endive but any type of salad works.

Serves 2
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon regular mayonnaise or Vegenaise (vegetarian mayonnaise, without eggs)
- salad: Belgian endives, red and green oak salad, spinach salad, or any other salad you like
- paprika (optional)

Boil the eggs for about 10 to 12 minutes. The egg yolks need to be hard.
Let them cool and divide them in two, lengthwise.
Remove the egg yolks and set aside. Fill the holes of the egg whites with mayonnaise and crumble the egg yolks on top of the mayonnaise. You can also divide the yolks in two and place them directly on top, without crumbling them.

Prepare your salad and lay it in your plates. Place the eggs on top and sprinkle paprika over the eggs.
Serve right away.