alcohol plus cooking = fun :)

The kitchen for me is a fun place to escape and leave all worries behind. I am in total control in the kitchen...my cutting board is at my mercy and my cooking ingredients are my tools to create something delicious made with a true passion and understanding of the zen of cooking. Sometimes I enjoy silence, but mostly I enjoy music in the kitchen...the music is not only a back drop of flavor, but a layer...a component of whatever it is I might be cooking. For this dish, The Ramones were my pick because of the happy musical energy they induce! This recipe is a dessert, but can also be consumed for breakfast...best of all, it has chocolate!

Semi-sweet chocolate chips have a perfect balance of sweet and bitter, they are my favorite baking chip. Originally I bought a bag of semi sweet chocolate to bake a chocolate torte from Emeril’s show, however didn’t realize that I’d be using almost an entire dozen of eggs for one (one layer) chocolate torte.

Instead of the torte, I decided to use my semi –sweet chocolate to prepare a chocolate bread pudding with some day old French bread I had sitting on the counter. After seeing chocolate bread pudding being prepared on television, I wanted to attempt the dish on my own…it looks so delicious. Instead of following a recipe I tried my own version since I am familiar with bread puddings and custards, I figured I’d just melt the chocolate down and mix or fold into the custard. Here is my recipe (not exact measurements). Let me add that while preparing the bread pudding, I had a few sips of brandy and listened to the following tracks: My Way (Frank Sinatra), So Lonely (The Police), Go with The Flow (Queens of the Stone Age) and some Ramones ~

Chocolate Brandy Bread Pudding
1 loaf of French bread (stale) and cut into cubes
Butter baking dish and place cubed bread in dish
Heat oven to 375

In a separate pan, pour 2 cups of milk and slowly whisk in 3 large eggs one at a time. When the eggs and milk combine add 1 cup of raw sugar mixed with 1 tspn of cinnamon and 2 tspns of fresh vanilla then whisk until dissolved. Add ¼ cup of brandy and mix until mixture comes to a near simmer, then lower heat and continue to whisk, slowly adding semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup) whisk until completely melted (add a big pinch of kosher salt to bring out the chocolate flavor), then pour custard over the bread, (custard should be a medium thickness), dot with butter and bake at 375 for 40 min.

Because it was so late, I decided to skip the bread pudding, hit the Brandy and watch David Lynch's Lost Highway