No. 584Recipe Card Posted on Leave a comment

NOLA Bread Pudding

NOLA Bread Pudding | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Let’s celebrate Fat Tuesday in real New Orleans style with the big easy New Orleans Bread Pudding. The newest Little Jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.

NEW ORLEANS SCHOOL OF COOKING

Starting with my story of this recipe I have to go way back to my young days and daily walks around New Orleans to discover the city. I happened to be there on a movie location, way back-when the world was steady-and you could just cruise around the city on your own.I stumbled on The New Orleans School of Cooking on Conti Street and walked in. I met Joe Cahn who opened the original school in the 80’s. I signed up for a class on New Orleans cuisine which included File’ Gumbo (real deal), Jambalaya, Pralines, and of course Bread Pudding.

‘CRAZY’ JOE

That’s what I fondly called him after my first day of cooking class. I remember him teaching us to make the roux for the gumbo, which you must take to a near-burning-smoking dark chocolate brown color, you must be daring!  This is what gives the gumbo its flavor. I knew I was somewhere special and saved my recipe packet, complete with my notes, which I still have to this day.

NEW ORLEANS BREAD PUDDING

The thing is this is one of the easiest recipes and one of the best from the class. The basic ingredients are all mixed together, then poured into a buttered baking dish. A big easy. After baking a puffed, brown sweet pudding emerges. You of course, must complete the dish with Whiskey Sauce.

NOLA Bread Pudding | Bijouxs Little Jewels

NOLA Bread Pudding | Bijouxs Little Jewel

 

 

ORIGINAL NEW ORLEANS SCHOOL OF COOKING

I searched and found about Joe, who sadly has passed. He was a key chef in the New Orleans food scene. In my search I found this photo of the original cooking school location. Just as I remember walking in to a a young bride visiting the city. Joe loved the great culinary treasures of the region and shared so we could take them home and make them our own. My memory was prompted by all the Super Bowl Images of New Orleans, a beautiful city.

 

BREAD PUDDING

Every year, about the time of Fat Tuesday, I get the urge to bake up a real New Orleans bread pudding, via Joe’s recipe. Nothing could be easier and better than this recipe. The only tweak I have made is soaking the raisins in whisky prior to baking-adding a boozy-punch to the pudding. Of course I top it with the whiskey sauce, repeating the flavor.

NOLA Bread Pudding | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Join me in celebrating Fat Tuesday and the cuisine with New Orleans-Bread Pudding from The Collection.

 

No. 456Recipe Card Posted on Leave a comment

Roasted Strawberries Parfait

Roasted Strawberries Parfait | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Strawberry season is here! I now live in strawberry fields along on the California Coast, which means I receive many baskets of berries dropped off by friends.  Here is a great way to preserve the ripe fruit and provide a lovely fruit compote that tops just about any dessert. Roasted Strawberries Parfait is a jewel of a recipe.

ROASTING FRUIT

Roasting makes almost anything taste better, and believe it or not, even fruit is becomes more  joyful when roasted. I have shared recipes featuring roasted pineapple, apples, grapes and of course strawberries. This simple yogurt parfait is layered with spiced roasted berries, vanilla yogurt and a crunchy layer of granola.

Roasted Strawberries Parfait | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Roasted Strawberries Parfait | Bijouxs Little Jewels

 

OTTOLENGHI RESATURANT AND RECIPES

I adapted a roasted fruit recipe from Ottolenghi Simple to create the parfait. I have collected everyone of their cookbooks. I even have their very first cookbook, printed in England with recipes in metrics. The store and restaurant really embraces my mantra “beautiful food by design.” My parfait is an anytime treat as serves as breakfast, a snack or dessert. This makes it a little jewel recipe. 

Roasted Strawberries Parfait | Bijouxs Little Jewels

SUMAC SPICE ROAD

Exploring new spices is a great way to ramp up your cooking game. Sumac is a spice that you may not know about, but it is a little jewel. Once again, Ottolenghi introduces us to this Middle Eastern spice. Sumac are red berries that grow in areas of the Mediterranean which are dried and ground into a powder. It features a sweet and sour taste, quite vibrant with undertones of lemon.

BIJOUXS LITTLE JEWELS FROM THE KITCHEN

Wow! Soon celebrating 10 years of Bijouxs! I began the blog in the “golden age of food blogs”, with a great group of LA food bloggers.  That is when it easy easy to have loyal followers with lots of comments on the recipes, but now food is a VERY crowded space. ALMOST every website has a “recipe” section. For those of us who worked as chefs, the food world has really changed. Please don’t forget to sign up for my recipe newsletter – just the recipes please:) Thank you for your support.