Who doesn't like Chocolate Pudding?

History of Jell-O; In 1845, industrialist Peter Cooper (who built the first American steam-powered locomotive, the Tom Thumb), obtained a patent (US Patent 4084) for powdered gelatin

Forty years later the patent was sold to a LeRoy, New York-based carpenter and cough syrup manufacturer, Pearle B. Wait. In 1897, Pearl and his wife, May, developed a packaged gelatin dessert and named the product Jell-O. Unfortunately Mr. Wait was never able to successfully market his product and in 1899 the Waits sold the business to a neighbor, Orator Francis Woodward, for $450.

In 1902 Mr. Woodward began an advertising campaign "America's Most Favorite Dessert" and the product took off. The Jell-O factory began as the Genesee Pure Foods Company and occupied a factory on North Street in Leroy from the 1910s until 1964.

Remember the Bill Cosby Jell-O Pudding Commercials? So cute!





I have a very personal and proud connection to Leroy, NY because my family founded this area. Between 1800-1820 I have 7 families, Stanard, House, Parmelee, Gordon, Gibbs, Rapp and Warner that migrated from MA to the Leroy, NY area. From Leroy, Genesee Co., NY my families again migrated, this time to MI and founded Flint, Genesee Co., MI. I am still in awe at the guts and determination of my grandparents that would travel to unknown, unsettled areas, clear the land, build a house, start businesses and raise their families...incredibly amazing people!

And not only do I have a personal connection to the hometown of Jell-O, I have to admit I was a closet Jell-O fan for years. And still Mr. Tastebud's would eat the flavored gelatin every day if he could! But Jell-O always makes me smile and brings back a flood of memories of fun times and family pot luck dinners.

But my tastes have changed and I now make puddings from scratch. Pudding is quick, easy and my favorite fallback dessert. And as soon as I make it, I help myself to a warm bowl of goodness.







Chocolate Pudding 101
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use 2 rounded TBL cocoa powder)
Pinch of salt
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt. In a 4-cup measuring cup, combine 1 1/4 cups cream with milk and vanilla. Whisk 1 cup cream mixture into dry ingredients until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Whisk in remaining cream mixture until smooth.

Place saucepan over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add chocolate, and cook, whisking until chocolate is melted, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in butter until melted. Using a 3-ounce ladle, pour pudding into six dessert cups. Refrigerate until completely set, about 1 hour.

Whip remaining cup of cream to soft peaks, and serve with pudding.






All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

TFF - My Big, Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had to do it! I had to make Tyler's Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's so nice out lately and Chocolate Chip Cookies just seemed to fit my mood and our gorgeous sunny weather.

I did make 1 substitution only because J. is on a diet. I used Splenda Sugar Blend in place of the white sugar and I will never do this again. I do not like Splenda Sugar Blend. The Splenda tastes fine in baked goods. But Splenda changes the texture and baked goods become stale super fast. I used it in a batch of cupcakes and the cupcakes were stale the day after I baked them...so disappointing. But I thought it might be okay with cookies and I was wrong. Tyler's cookies were delicious but because of the Splenda the cookies were not chewy and Mr. Tastebud's was not happy. Oh well, I will have to make them again and this time with real sugar! Mr. Tastebud's will just have to eat them in moderation.






My Big, Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) block dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla and eggs. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and continue to mix until a smooth batter forms. Turn off the mixer and fold in the chocolate chunks using the spatula.

To form the cookies, scoop about 1/4 cup of cookie dough into your hands and roll it around into a ball; place them about 3-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets; you should get about 4 cookies on each pan. Press down the tops of the dough slightly and bake until the cookies are light brown, 12 minutes for chewy cookies, or about 15 minutes for crispy cookies.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough/cookie sheets.




Please visit our little group, which is getting bigger each week, of Tyler Fans at Tyler Florence Fridays and see what the other groupies are doing this week.





We're on "Spring Break" from Whisk Wednesday and our group decided to post something that had been handed down through our families. The most precious thing I own is my Great Grama's Cookie Jar. When we moved from Tampa to Chicago, I carried the cookie jar in my lap on the entire flight. I was so afraid it would get broken or lost I could not dare trust it with anyone. Some day I will pass it on but I'm not quite ready to give it up just yet. ;)

If you have an extra minute or 2 I did write up a post on my Great Grama and Grampa and some of my memories. I am so very glad I shared part of their lives.






All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Friend, Financier or Friand

When I first came across a recipe for Friands, I was hoping beyond hope that it had some Swedish roots. You see I do genealogy and I do connect to Nils Larsson Frand/Friend (1630-1686). A Swedish family connection is huge especially in mostly English roots. But no, Friands is a French pastry, so I was a bit disappointed but happy to find something new for me to try.

I did fiddle with the recipe as I needed it thicker. I wanted to bake the Friands in cookie cutters rather then molds and was concerned about the batter staying inside the cutter and not leaking out along the edge. So I just increased the almond meal to 1/2 c. and it worked out perfectly.

I'm not sure where I picked up with recipe but I've had it for a while. It is very similar to the Madeleine recipe I use.



Friands

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. almond meal
3 egg whites
8 1/2 TBL butter, melted
2 TBL dark rum

Garnish:

Confectioner's sugar for dusting
20 pitted dark sweet cherries or fruit of your choice

Lightly whip the egg whites and gradually add the sugar. Sift flour and add almond meal. Gradually add flour mixture to egg whites and fold gently. Add melted butter and rum.

You can either bake the Friands in small tart molds or pour the batter into cookie cutters and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet. I used Pam inside each of the cookie cutter and molds and the Friands popped out with no problem. Top each friand with several cherries or fruit of choice.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned on edges and a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.





All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Grama and the Fried Dandelions

I have fond memories of my Great Grandparents. When I was very young, maybe 4 years old, my G-Grandparents managed and lived in a large apartment building in Detroit. I remember going into the apartment basement with Papa Fred and watching, fascinated, as he shoveled coal into the huge furnace. Once when I was in the basement with Papa Fred the coal delivery truck came. I remember hearing the diesel motor and gears grinding and then coal came crashing down a shoot into the basement bin! And I also remember the casts of Dandelion Wine stacked in a dark corner and Papa Fred showing me the golden yellow liquid inside.

I remember Grama, always dressed in a "housedress" and apron, telling me about eating puff balls and picking wild mushrooms and huckleberries. I remember her livingroom with the fancy table lamps and the big windows that I could sit at and look way down at the traffic on the street. And I remember Grama telling me about frying dandelion blossoms.

Fried Dandelion Blossoms
Recipe by Big-Black-Dog in memory of my Great-Grandparents, Fred and Cora Will

15-20 large dandelion blossoms
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. hot Hungarian paprika
1 crushed garlic clove
Oil for frying

Mix up milk, flour, corn meal, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic. You can add a bit more milk if the batter is too thick. Holding the dandelion blossom by the green end dip in batter and place in the deep fryer careful not to crowd the dandelions as they fry. Fry until golden brown and put in a bowl lined with paper towels.

When I read about Sarah's blogging event Tastes to Remember, my Grama's Dandelions immediately came to mind. Thank you for bringing back that long forgotten memory.




All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

The Easter Ham Controversy

I dearly love to bake ham. I love using my imagination when mixing the glaze and try something new each and every time I make it! I do not think there is a more creative piece of meat then a Smoked Ham. You can use jams, fruit juice, honey or molasses, fresh, canned or dried fruit, spices or maybe even a bit of beer, wine or champagne.

BUT I do not like to eat ham and herein lies the problem.

I wanted to have ham for Easter Dinner but my dear husband, Joe, said "No, we still have ham from last Easter in the freezer. And you spend too much money on things for the glaze any how." We debated ham for almost a week and I finally relented.

I thought the week's menu was settled but Thursday Joe came home with a huge ham. Well, the we have a house rule "You buy it. You cook it." So the ham was his deal now.

This morning himself comes into my office, stands there looking sort of lost and says "I can't find the cloves, do we have any?" Cloves!! Good lord, what's he doing in my spice cabinet??? He says he going to cook the ham with cloves...well he might be cooking it with cloves, but I know he is not going to like it. So I asked, "Do you want me to cook the ham?" "Yes" was his answer.

HA...HA...he has no idea what I put up last year during canning season. I've got apples and peaches in the freezer, brandied cherries in the pantry. I had everything I needed, plus some extras to play with, except I had no champagne. I use champagne as the base for my ham glaze. Hmmmmm...what do I use now? I was at the Dollar Store last week and picked up several bottles of Sparkling Apple Cider..sounds good to me!

Well, we just finished our Pre-Easter Ham dinner and you know, it was pretty darn good! It's better with the champagne but the Sparkling Apple Cider was a good substitute.





Ham Glaze in a Pinch
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

2-3 c. Sparkling Apple Cider
2 heaping TBL of Lingonberry Jam **See Note
1 c. unsweetened pomegranate juice
2 TBL grainy mustard
1 apple peeled and cut up into bit sized pieces
1/2 pt brandied sweet cherries
1/2 pt fresh frozen peaches
1 c. pineapple juice
1/4 c. brown sugar


Put first 8 ingredients in either a blender or food processor and process until well blended. In a sauce pan heat glaze and add brown sugar. When brown sugar is dissolved you can start basting the ham. Bake ham according to directions and bast with the glaze about every 1/2 hour or so.

Note: I do genealogy and discovered on my Dad's side we are Swedish. Being that we are mostly English on both my Mom and Dad's sides, the Swedish tie-in was huge!!! I was very excited to research Swedish Recipes and in the process discovered Lingonberry Jam. My entire immediate family is now addicted to Lingonberry Jam and every chance I get I try to include it in my recipes. Gawd, that stuff is so good!


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog