Janet's Chocolate Pudding Recipe

If you've been following the conversation about chocolate pudding on Facebook, then you will appreciate the following recipe sent to me by Janet Rosen for homemade chocolate pudding. I can't wait to try it! We are leaving in a couple of days to go to my nephew's Bar-Mitzvah in Pennsylvania, so I won't be posting any recipes for a bit. I look forward to posting more when I return. In the meantime, hope your pudding puds!


JANET ROSEN’S VERY OWN ULTRACHOCOLATE HOPE IT PUDS PUDDING

IN A DOUBLE BOILER, SET IN SIMMERING WATER, MELT:
2 TB SWEET BUTTER

BLEND IN A BLENDER:
3/4 CUP UNSWEETENED COCOA
3/4 CUP SUGAR
3 1/2 CUP MILK (REAL OR NONDAIRY)

ADD TO MELTED BUTTER AND HEAT TO NEAR BOIL (DO NOT LET IT BOIL)

MIX TOGETHER:
3/4 CUP CORNSTARCH
1/2 CUP COLD MILK (REAL OR NONDAIRY)

ADD TO THE HOT MIXTURE, STIRRING CONTINUOUSLY.
COOK, STIRRING, X 10 MINUTES
COVER AND COOK ANOTHER 10 MINUTES

LET IT COOL DOWN, MIX IN 2 TSP VANILLA.

Simple Mediterranean Green Salad

The main ingredient is salad greens of your choosing to fill one standard-sized salad bowl. Romaine does not work well unless it is baby romaine. No iceberg. Use baby greens, a spring mix, butter lettuces, a head of red leaf lettuce, or a combination of arugula and baby greens. It is hard to offer a measurement because the amount will vary by how much salad you want to eat and how many people you are serving. For that reason, the ingredients listed below are provided without measurements. Adjust measurements by the amount of salad you want.

Ingredients

Salad greens
Crumbled feta cheese
Pitted Kalamata olives
Sprinkle of dried oregano
Salad dressing as described below under Directions

Directions

Once you have assembled the salad, the trick to loving it, of course, is the dressing. I use either one of two kinds of dressing.

The first is a simple red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing made of three parts olive oil to one part red wine vinegar. Mix it up in a jar or cruet and pour as much as suits you onto the salad (be stingy at first so as not to drown the salad—you can always add more). For additional flavor, if desired, add about a half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard for a tasty vinaigrette.

The second dressing option is a Balsamic vinaigrette made of four parts olive oil to one part Balsamic vinegar. The same preparation instructions as above apply, and you add that half a teaspoon of mustard to make it a vinaigrette.

For those who can’t eat gluten, check the label on your vinegar. Red wine vinegar and Balsamic vinegar are made from grapes, not grains, and theoretically should be gluten-free. However, many brands on the market are not pure and contain traces of gluten that will aggravate those who have high gluten sensitivity.

I eat this salad every day for lunch (in large quantities). It is satisfying and according to research on the subject, it contributes to longevity.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!

Caviar Dip

I should have posted this one last week because for a long time it was my tradition to make this Caviar Dip every year for New Year’s Eve. I made it last year for our inaugural ball. It's usually a big hit at parties. It is a layered dip that can be spread on crackers or cocktail rye breads. It’s a great party treat and it goes well with champagne for any celebration.

Ingredients

6 oz. lumpfish caviar
1 small onion chopped fine or 2 tsp. onion powder
12 hardboiled eggs
¼ c. mayonnaise
juice from one large lemon
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 c. sour cream (or tofutti sour cream substitute)
paprika (to dust the top)

Directions

Hard boil the eggs and combine them with the mayonnaise to make an egg salad. Add the chopped onion and black pepper to the egg salad. If you have trouble digesting onions (like me) then you can use onion powder instead, but this dish tastes better with real raw onion chopped into it. There is no need to put salt in this dish since the caviar is pretty salty.

Spread the egg salad as the first layer in a baking dish or other flat serving dish. Spread the lumpfish caviar in a thin layer over the egg salad. Cover the caviar with lemon juice. Carefully spoon the sour cream over the caviar, spreading it gently with a knife. Try not to kick up the caviar or you will get dark streaks in your sour cream topping.

Once you have an even and complete layer of sour cream, dust the top with red paprika. Chill for at least ½ hour before serving. Serve with crackers or party breads (rye is an especially good match). Break out the champagne!

Eat well, be well, live deliciously.

About Messages from Istanbul and Remembering the Mangoes

My friend Guven in Istanbul emailed me the following message about the Nopales Fiesta Salad this morning: "We love salads and Dilek [Guven's wife] is an expert. For the cactus (fresh) I need to go south to my hometown Antalya but then some of the other ingredients won't be available there. In any case we'll try it at first opportunity." I wonder if the Turkish cactus that they like is the same as the Mexican nopales that I use. An interesting note about nopales: it helps regulate blood sugar and in Mexico doctors prescribe it for diabetics.

The thing about the mangoes is that when I wrote up the Nopales Fiesta Salad recipe I forgot that I love to chop up a fresh mango and put it into that salad. I only use the dried cranberries when I can't find a good mango or don't have one handy. I have revised the recipe for the cookbook, but if you are reading this blog now, please include a mango in the recipe.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously.