Monday, January 27, 2014

Lousy Weekend. Exchange.

Sorry, not much to write. Had a migraine since the early hours of Saturday morning and although it’s not so bad now, it’s still there. So bad I couldn’t drink wine on Saturday nor champagne on Sunday. Now that’s bad. Not only that, Friday and Saturday the wind blew and the snow flew making it miserably cold in our apartment again necessitating the use of the stove again. We have got to get ourselves a heater for times like this. So, basically, I don’t feel up to much writing at all.

It was also pointed out to me that the Canadian dollar has been dropping lately so that, right now, it would cost us $20 to buy $100 US. Depressing because that may mean our US vacation would be too expensive. Although Matt did get a pension increase last week, a whole $3.88 a month! Meanwhile Canada’s premier, Stephen Harper, has promised billions to the Palestinians.

Can you tell I’m fed up?

This pudding from Food & Wine would make me better now wouldn’t it?  I have got most of the ingredients on hand to make this, but no cream and no cooking chocolate.  I’ll probably end up with soup in fact.

Double-Chocolate Pudding

Contributed by Richard Sax
  • SERVINGS: 6 double-choc-pudding
This recipe from the late, great cookbook author Richard Sax has everything one could ask for in a chocolate pudding—an intense flavour and a silky texture that's still firm enough to stand a spoon in. For the best possible pudding, use top-quality cocoa powder and chocolate.
  1. 2 1/4 cups whole milk
  2. 1/2 cup sugar
  3. Pinch of salt
  4. 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  5. 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  6. 1 large egg
  7. 2 large egg yolks
  8. 5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  9. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  10. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  11. Lightly whipped cream, for serving
  1. In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of the milk with 1/4 cup of the sugar and the salt and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the cornstarch with the unsweetened cocoa powder and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar until blended. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of milk and whisk until smooth. Whisk this mixture into the hot milk in the saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to moderately low and simmer, whisking constantly, until the pudding is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk the whole egg with the egg yolks. Gradually whisk about 1 cup of the hot cocoa pudding into the eggs until thoroughly incorporated, then scrape the pudding back into the saucepan. Cook the pudding over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until it just comes to boil, about 2 minutes.
  4. Strain the pudding into a medium heatproof bowl. Add the chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla and whisk until the chocolate and butter are melted and incorporated and the pudding is smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer the pudding to six 6-ounce ramekins and refrigerate until chilled. (If you're not in a hurry, press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding in the bowl and refrigerate.) Serve with lightly whipped cream.
Make Ahead The chocolate pudding can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Hope you have a great day.
Jo

13 comments:

  1. Wow, that dollar ratio is really pathetic.
    Sorry you felt so bad this weekend.

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  2. $3.88. Woo-hoo. Don't spend it all in one place.

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  3. mmmmm, chocolate pudding. Yummy! Hate to hear you had a migraine. I've popped a Relpax for three consecutive days now trying to stave one off. I genuinely hate migraines.

    Hope the exchange rate equalizes a bit before vacation time! (They're calling for more NC snow tomorrow--even at the coast, I think.)

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    1. Unfamiliar with Relpax. Hope it helped.

      L. Diane Wolfe (Spunky) says they are forecasting 8 inches for Goldsboro. Unheard of.

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  4. Cooking chocolate? Get a bar of Ghiardelli or Callebaut 60% cocoa. Just what is cooking chocolate anyway?

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    1. I meant that the only chocolate in the house at the moment is in candy form. and not suitable for cooking. We mostly buy Lindt 95%

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  5. Migraines are the pits. I've found Relpax good too. Unfortunately it doesn't deal with the other issues like nausea and the "hangover" that always follows for me but, hey, pain relief is good.

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    1. Interesting, I've never heard of Relpax before. I wonder if it's available in Canada. I usually use Tylenol 3. I have a friend, by the way, who has had a constant migraine for many years.

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    2. It's one of the triptan drugs, Jo. Another is Imigran but I can't use that because of a sulphur sensitivity. There are also preventers which you take daily. I take Sandomigran but there are others. For me it doesn't stop the migraines completely but they are less frequent and less severe. For people with chronic migraine I think it's worth going to a migraine specialist because they are much better informed than GPs.

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    3. My mother had migraines, she called them sick headaches, but as she got older they got fewer. I appear to be the same, I very seldom have them any more although they haven't disappeared completely.

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  6. Really very interesting and very valuable information about the LOUSY WEEKEND nice work.


    A long delayed second vlog

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