Fruit Salad

Fruit Salad

I grew up with fruit salad that had a little bit of orange juice stirred in.  However, if you are using oranges in your fruit salad, you can just cut the orange segments out for one of them instead of the larger orange slices, and then squeeze what's left and you have enough fresh orange juice to help out your fruit salad!

Butterscotch Pudding

Butterscotch Pudding

Barbuzzo in Philadelphia has an amazing dessert that has me searching for the right layers for my own layered dessert.  I made the pudding that is from their dessert to test it out.

Recipe from:

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/09/caramel-budino-with-salted-caramel-sauce

The pudding part of the recipe is copied and pasted below:

Budino

• 3 cups whole milk, divided
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 5 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons dark rum
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• Whisk 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside. Heat remaining 2 1/2 cups milk in a small saucepan just to a simmer; set aside. To make caramel, stir sugar and 3/4 cup water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; cook without stirring until an instant-read thermometer registers 210°–220°
• Line a sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth and set over a large pitcher. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in hot milk, then cornstarch mixture. Slowly whisk in caramel. Return mixture to saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens and a thermometer registers 175°, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in butter, rum, and salt. Pour through prepared sieve.
• Pour 1/2 cup budino over crust in each jar. Cover; chill until set, 4–5 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Chicken

I baked a whole chicken.  Stuffed it with half a small Gala apple, half an onion, and half a lemon.  Rubbed it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary.  Baked it in the oven at 425? until the thermometer read 165 degrees.  Best chicken I've ever baked!  I baked it uncovered and there was no "steam" from another pan of water underneath.  The skin really kept the chicken tender.

Super moist piece of flavorful chicken!

I used the carcass to make stock.  Simmered the carcass with carrots, celery, onion, for about 4 hours.  All the chicken from the baked chicken disappeared fast.  I needed more chicken for the soup so I poached two chicken breasts in some chicken stock and then shredded it for my Chicken Noodle Soup.  Delicious with parmesan.