Decadent and Easy Chocolate Bread Pudding

 I know that this is a wonderful comfort food for a lot of people, but to be honest I have never heard of chocolate pudding bread before. I was Googling bread with chocolate and Chocolate Bread Pudding popped up which totally peaked my interest. So I jumped around on the net to check out various recipes and finally I decided to give it a whirl and come up with my own version of this favorite dessert. This was also really easy to make with simple ingredients you probably have already in your pantry.

All you need is the following...

3 cups of day old bread, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 cups of half & half

2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup dark rum (optional)

whipped cream and chocolate syrup to top off your pudding

In small saucepan heat the half & half on medium heat just til it begins to boil. Remove from heat, add the chocolate to the pot and let melt. In the meantime place the eggs. vanilla, brown sugar and salt in a good sized bowl and beat til blended. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat.for about one minutes. Add the rum at this time if you are going with the "big girl" version of this recipe. Toss in the bread and make sure you coat it well with the chocolate mixture. Let the mixture stand for about 15 minutes. Don't worry  if it looks a bit soupy, this is what will give the bread a pudding like quality. 

Pour into a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray or into ramekins for individual servings like I did. Place in oven preheated to 325 degrees and bake for 45 minutes.

Note...I did not change the cooking time using the individual ramekins versus putting it all in one baking dish. The original recipe made it in one dish with this cooking time.

 Serve warm or at room temp. Top with whipped cream and chocolate sauce drizzle.

Makes 4 servings.

Enjoy!!!

XO

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Double Feature

I am beyond thrilled today not one but two of my salad submissions from last week over at The Daily Dish Magazine's Foodie Friends Friday, party have been chosen a Hosts Favorites.

The salads they liked were my Limey Roasted Corn Salad...

...and my Caprese Tower Salad.

Thank you so very much ladies of  "The Dish" for the two very generous nods.

Hop on over to the Daily Dish Magazine to check out the other wonderful salads being featured this week! To get there just click here.

And have a great day!!!

XO

Edamame Crostinis with a Smokey Shrimp Topping

Let me start by saying...I LOVE EDAMAMES!
(I also like saying the word EDAMAMES too!)

Whew now that I got that out my system I can go on. Anyhow this recipe was originally done with fava beans still in their pods and the process was to grill the pods and then remove the beans. While I am sure the beans were as yummy as can be, I decided to go with edamames or soy beans, already shelled and found in my grocer's freezer section. I also made a few other changes to the original recipe due to my own personal taste and availability of ingredients.

The original recipe is over at one of my favorite food blogs Spoon Fork Bacon.

To make the smokey shrimp:

About 1/2 lb of raw shrimp, cleaned and shelled with tails still intact

2 T. liquid smoke (you can find this in the BBQ sauce section of your local grocer.)

1 T ground cumin

1 Tsp. Hungarian Paprika

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 cloves of crushed garlic

2 T extra virgin olive oil or EVOO

salt and pepper to taste

The Edamame Mixture:

12 oz. frozen shelled edamame beans, prepared according to package directions

5-7 cloves of garlic, roasted 

3 T. of toasted sliced almonds

1/3 cup of EVOO

juice of one lemon or 1/4 cup lemon juice from bottle

1/4 cup pf shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

And one large baguette, sliced thin and toasted either on the grill or in a hot oven. 

Start by adding all of the shrimp ingredients to a bowl and let marinate in the frig for at least 1/2 hour.

In the meantime add the edamame ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend. The consistency will depend on your preference. I personally like it a bit more on the creamy side so I adjust the recipe by adding a little more of the liquid ingredients. 

After shrimp is done marinating saute it a pan sprayed with cooking spray until they just turn pink. Don't overcook or your shrimp will be rubbery. Spread the edamame mixture onto toasted bread and top with the smokey shrimp.

I hope you enjoy them!!!

XO

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