Monday, October 24, 2005

Our Daily Bread . . .

PANORAMA BAKING COMPANY
500 Florida Street
San Francisco, CA 94954
415.522.5500
Head Baker: Ruben Barrera

Maddie Barrera-Crum among the tasty offerings. Ana is in the background.

The Staff of Life . . .

Artichoke Focaccia . . .

Mixed Bread Basket . . .

More Tasty Offerings . . .


Hmmm...all that stuff about butter in the previous post. What's the first thing that comes to mind?

B - R - E - A - D ! ! ! But not just ANY bread.

Ander and I stopped by the Windsor Farmer's Market to see what the Fall harvest had to offer. The seasonal table brought forth a myriad of goodies. There were the luscious golden globes of Fuyu Persimmons. Royal Red Pomegranates. Several bushels of apples. Perfumey Muscat grapes. Bright orange pumpkins, in every shape and size. Then, behold! The modest table with cute little Maddie counting out change for a customer.

With a furrow between her brow, concentrating and focused, she lets out,
"... three-fifty, four and a dollar makes five." She looks up to her satisfied customer and flashes her bright smile. "Thank you. Come again."

She adjusts her hoodie on her head and turns to me with her flashy smile. She extends a cheery "Hi! What would you like today?" Her Step-Mom, Ana is in the background waiting to tag team the request. I return a toothy smile. "Everything looks soooooo gooooood." I choose the Chocolate Madeleines. For $3.00, you get 6, fit-in-your-hand, genoise cakes shaped as seashells to please your appetite. Chocolate, because I'm gonna have to share with Ander. Madeleines because they're my favorite guilty pleasure. Now, to hunt down that single-shot latte, low foam.

Before leaving Maddie's booth, I noticed the sky-high bread pudding on the outside corner table. What do you do with an extra loaf? Bread pudding sounds like an easy task. Try this one on for size. I've included a simple Vanilla Sauce to drizzle over the sliced servings. I suggest the "Hard Sauce"for adventuresome palates. (Gets its name from the "hard" liquor used.) Place a pool of the "Hard Sauce" on a serving dish and lay the sliced pudding on top. Serve additional sauce "on-the-side".

Never mind counting carbs. Enjoy! Lift that fork!



OLD-FASHIONED BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients:
• 2 cups milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 slices white bread, without crust
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• dash nutmeg
• 1/2 cup raisins, optional

Preparation:
Heat milk over low heat until hot, but not boiling. In a bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and salt; stir well. Gradually stir about 1/4 of the hot milk to the egg mixture and stir in. Add remaining milk, stirring constantly.
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Stir in vanilla.

Place bread slices in a buttered baking dish, (sprinkle raisins over bread, if used), about 2-quart size. Pour the milk mixture over bread. Combine cinnamon and nutmeg; sprinkle over pudding mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 300° for about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm with vanilla sauce or “hard” sauce, if desired.
Serves 6.

VANILLA SAUCE

Ingredients:
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Preparation:
Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Combine sugar and cornstarch, blend well. Add sugar and cornstarch mixture to boiling water; reduce heat to medium, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add the butter, vanilla, and salt, stirring until butter is melted. Spoon over dessert.
Makes 3/4 cup.


HARD SAUCE

Ingredients:
• 1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons bourbon, whiskey or brandy

Preparation:
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the whipping cream and vanilla, bring just to a simmer. Remove from heat.

Beat together the egg yolks and sugar. Quickly stir 1/2 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks, stirring constantly.

Pour back into the hot cream in the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes, until it just begins to simmer, then stir and cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon, whiskey or brandy. Strain and serve warm. Makes about 1 cup of “hard” sauce.

Adapted From:
Diana Rattray, Southern U.S. Cuisine
http://southernfoods.about.com

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