Rachael Ray's Blog, page 93

Summer Coolers – Lassi, The Indian Smoothie

Summer is giving us a sneak preview. As we start swapping out heavy clothes for the ventilating light and airy little numbers, we make other adjustments too, such as, evening summer strolls and a change of attitude towards our food and drink. No longer do we look to food for solace, taking the form of ghastly calories laden with fat. Oh no! The summer empowers us and we make healthier choices.

For me personally, it was tricky to switch my daily afternoon latte with any other drink. Unlike most beverages, the latte doubled up as a drink and snack – keeping that afternoon rumbling stomach at bay. However, a hot milk drink doesn’t make the cut in sweltering heat. It was time to find my replacement. I tried smoothies for a while but the sugar was making me crash-and-die within a couple of hours. Finally, I found my summer love – Lassi, the Indian yoghurt drink.

It is 4p.m on the Indian sub-continent and people throughout the country pull out their blenders, spices and sweet or savory ingredients to make ‘Lassi’. The base of the drink is yoghurt, crushed ice, water and whatever flavor ingredient your palate beckons. Incorporating yoghurt in meals throughout the day is common practice in India thanks to its friendly bacteria, such as L. Acidophilus. It is great for digestion and relieves bloating, leaving you feeling light, fresh and without that afternoon ‘fog’.

lassi-vendor_-by-a-state-of-place

Need a sugar hit? Throw in some ripe mango pieces or a handful of berries and a touch of sugar. For a decadent and dessert-like lassi, add some nuts, cardamom and honey. For a fiery fix, add green chilies, fresh cilantro and tempered mustard seeds. For me, I like the spa-like, low carb version with cucumber, salt, black pepper and a hint of mint. Don’t be thrown off by the last 2 versions. In India, the original lassi was served only in savory form and served that way by design. The salt aids in quenching thirst while replenishing lost minerals.

mango and strawberry-lassis_Necopunch

Try today’s recipe of my Spa-lassi version. With cooling cucumber and mint added to peppery yoghurt you will be hooked!

Ingredients

1 Israeli cucumber (seedless), (you can peel it if you like)
Plain yogurt (whole milk or low fat), 1 ½ cup
Fresh mint, loosely packed ¼ cup
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Jalapeno (optional)
5 cubes of ice
½ cup of water

Method

Blend the yoghurt with cucumber, mint and salt and pepper (if using jalapeno, add now too) and ice.

While the motor is running, stream in the water.

Serve in chilled glasses with a sprig of mint for garnish.

Saira Malhotra is a classically trained French chef and graduate from the French Culinary Institute. A British born Punjabi, Saira has grown up around food which started from her family pizza business in a small suburb of London. Having studied in France and Italy and living in the Big Apple for the past 12 years, Saira has brought her European, Asian and American influences together via the palate and communicated through her food blog ‘Passport Pantry’.

Breakfast Birthday Party!

I am always on the lookout for new kids’ birthday party ideas. With three school-age kids, I have experienced just about every birthday there is - mini golf, lasertron, swim party, rollerskating, ice skating, spa party, bowling, indoor rock climbing, cooking party, bounce houses, horseback riding, Build a Bear, movie theater, slumber party (ugh), beach party, gymnastics, soccer party, good old fashioned home party with pin the tail on the donkey, etc. Phew. And I’m sure I’ve missed some.

My friend had a birthday party for her daughter who was turning 7 and it was an idea I hadn’t heard of before - a breakfast birthday party on a Saturday morning. It sounded so fun, easy, and low maintenance - for the host and guests. It would be great for kids of all ages. Here are the details:

Make it early. Set the party for an appropriate breakfast time - 8:30am - 10:30 am or 9:00 am - 11:00 am. Morning is a good time for younger kids as sometimes things deteriorate as the day goes on and naptime is looming, and good for older kids who may have activities later in the morning. Plus, this time is great for families as the rest of the day is free.

Come as you are. Guests are invited to wear PJs - no need to get dressed!

Bring your favorite doll/stuffed animal. To go along with the theme, the invitation asked guests to bring their favorite doll/stuffed animal to join them for the party. The kids did a craft with their cuddly friend - a painted breakfast plate and cup.

Breakfast on the menu. It’s hard to find a kid who doesn’t like breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, french toast, fruit kabobs, even doughnuts or bagels - all favorites with kids, and easy and inexpensive to prepare. You can even do a stack of pancakes with a candle in lieu of a traditional birthday cake, even though it’s hard to get away without cupcakes or a cake with most birthday girls/boys I know.

PJ party games. Pillow fights, the telephone game, a scavenger hunt, and freeze dance are all more fun in PJs. A fun activity for the birthday girl is to have all the guests “autograph”  a pillow case with a non-toxic fabric marker so she can remember her special day.

Parents, hug your children

I have heard some tragic stories recently of parents losing their children. One friend of a friend’s beautiful, talented, popular 14-year old daughter took her own life, bereft  over a breakup with her boyfriend. Another friend’s friend lost their college-age son in a car accident abroad. A 15-year old boy in my city was hit by a drunk driver in broad daylight while riding his bike. In a moment everything can change.

My 12-year old daughter has had a rocky 6th grade year. Her grades have been up and down, her effort has been minimal at times (more like the majority), and  I have been called by her advisor and teachers more than a few times this year. She has dropped some activities, and resists trying something new as she “isn’t good at it.” The logic of “you can’t be good at something unless you try it and practice” is lost on my tween. Her school year ends this week and it was capped off by a call from her English teacher as she inadvertently copied a portion of a research paper (aka plagiarizing). The tip-off that is was pure laziness and not intentional plagiarizing? Her paper was on the March on Washington of 1963 and the two copied paragraphs were suddenly about the March on Washington of 1941. Almost comical. Knowing my daughter, she was copying her notes in a rush to go watch Glee and didn’t think twice in the midst of much copying and pasting from the Internet. The old days of World Book Encyclopedia research made inadvertent plagiarizing a whole lot harder.

Needless to say, my husband and I have had many sit downs with our daughter over the last week over this event at school. She is grounded, no TV, no electronics, all she has done is study. And I worry about her. Just like every parent, I really just want her to be happy and sure of herself. I sometimes laugh when I think about when I was in the moment of parenting three kids under the age of four and how hard I thought it was. Hah. In retrospect those were the days. I think the real parenting starts now. As my husband said to me the other day at the end of a week where our son skipped a sports practice because he was having a melt down, we got a call from the principal of our kids school about our younger daughter who was having a very dramatic conflict with a friend, and the news of our older daughter’s research paper escapade, “Being a parent is hard.”

So while I am worried about my daughter/infuriated by her, I just have to love her, support her, be her biggest cheerleader, show her the way. And hope that’s enough. My heart breaks for these parents who have lost their children too soon, and serve as a reminder to all of us to give our children an extra hug, even when it’s hard.

Home made baking ingredients

I really hate artificial anything, especially knowing what we all know now about the effects overly processed foods have on our bodies.  We also know how much better fresh food tastes-think about fresh from the farm, hormone-free milk in glass bottles as opposed to non-organic milk in plastic jugs from the grocery store.  The low fat organic, antibiotic and hormone-free milk tastes so rich and creamy, it’s better than store bought whole milk.  It’s also sweet and fuller-flavored. I also always like to look for the more economical way of doing things and ones that don’t involve tin cans.

Alas, I decided this weekend to make a few things on my own, starting with Vanilla Extract. This couldn’t be easier.  I had some rum on hand that is 80 proof, but I know you could use other alcohol as well, including bourbon or vodka. I had bought whole vanilla beans not too long ago and they sat in my cupboard because I was too intimidated to use them and they were so expensive that I thought I had to save them for a really special recipe, one where I wanted to see the vanilla bean seeds floating around.  They sat for months until I realized they’d also be perfect for making extract.  In my case, I scraped out the insides of the bean pods and saved it for an ice cream recipe.  I took the pods and stuck them in a mason jar and covered it with rum.  I did use an anejo rum but not a dark or flavored rum as I want the extract to be overpowered by the vanilla, not the alcohol flavor.  It will now sit in a dark place in my kitchen cupboard for the next 6-8 weeks but I will certainly check on it often.  Why do this?  The beans cost me maybe $10-$12 and the alcohol (I used 1/2 a bottle) cost me $10.  So for around $20 I have home made vanilla extract in the amount that would have easily cost me $30 or more. Note, you can make almond extract the same way-throw some raw almonds into a jar and cover with vodka.  Wasn’t that easy?

Next up, Condensed Milk.  I love condensed milk and sweetened condensed milk, but really?  How hard could this be to make, I wondered.  Not hard at all as it turns out.  So once again, you can start with your own choice of milk, I like to use whole but you don’t have to by any means.  You simmer it on the stove until it reduces by half.  Most recipes you will find on the internet use powdered milk (no idea why), sugar and margarine or butter.  I can not find any need for the margarine or butter, although some say it helps thicken it and I suspect it just makes the ingredient that much richer and more delicious.  But I chose to left it out of my experiment.  I also left off the sugar because I don’t understand why the milk has to be sweetened when you could just add sugar or whatever sweetener you choose to your recipe.  Of course I had these grand visions of making so much condensed milk that I wouldn’t need to buy any ever again, but the truth is, it only keeps for about a week so you really should just make this as needed.  Some love the sweetened version as a nice addition to their morning coffee or tea, which I think is just brilliant.  But in my simple experiment, to be used for baking, I started with the basic but could see adding vanilla, cinnamon, or other things.

Here are a few other quick ingredient ideas, good to know because you may not have these on hand all the time.

Baking Powder

Combine 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon of corn starch.  The cornstarch is important because it helps keep everything from clumping and keeps the mixture dry, which is important.  You know how they say cooking is intuitive but baking is scientific?  This is what they mean. Baking powder starts working when it is wet, which should be when you combine it with your wet batter.  Both baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents, but they work differently-soda neutralizes acids in recipes that have things like citrus or vinegar, but also works to leaven when heated.  Baking powder works when wet.  Here’s a really helpful page about these two ingredients on the Joy of Baking.

Cake Flour

For every one cup of cake flour you need, take one cup of regular flour, minus two tablespoons.  Replace with two tablespoons of corn starch.  Sift this so it gets well incorporated. Done.

Buttermilk

Place 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (strained) or white vinegar into a cup and fill the rest of the cup with regular milk.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  It will curdle.  Use immediately or store.  If you don’t need a whole cup, then just cut the recipe down to your needs. I loved it when I learned what really made buttermilk buttermilk-it’s curdled milk, full of acidity, which can do all sorts of wonderful things to your food.  It makes sense why you hear of buttermilk chicken-the acid is working to make that chicken more tender and when used in baking it not only extends the shelf life of the baked good but it adds a richness to the end product.

Confectioner’s Sugar

This couldn’t be easier-you take regular sugar (I use evaporated cane juice) and blend it or put it in a food processor or coffee grinder until it becomes powdered sugar.  Of course it yields more in volume because air is incorporated, but wasn’t that easy?  If you are storing, add one tablespoon cornstarch to the blender so it doesn’t clump while it hangs out in your cupboard.  This is optional, but recommended if not using immediately.

Butter

This is a fun little exercise I like to do with my kids once in a while, which of course happened to me by accident the first time.  I have been whipping cream by hand since I was a child-my grandmother used to have one of those hand cranked beaters and I loved being the one in charge of whipping cream.  Now I use an electric stand up mixer, which actually means I need to keep an eye on things as the cream whips rather quickly.  I just take heavy cream and stick it in my stand up mixer and whiz away. If I am making whipped cream for a dessert, I often add a touch of vanilla or sometimes powdered or brown sugar.  However, by accident once, I let it go too long and it turned to butter!  So if you want to do this intentionally, you can take the opportunity to add all kinds of mix-ins like chives, salt, lemon zest, or other herbs.

I’m not done with this idea, just done for now!  Maybe next I’ll make pickles!

Rosemary Maggiore is our Last Minute Lady. A single mom of two kids plus a full time job (she runs this website!) keep her busy and usually pushing things to the last minute. Somehow she manages to keep her cool and her sanity while she enjoys good food, wine, friends and most importantly, family.

For more Ro, see:

Mom Talk

Follow me on Twitter at @lastminutelady

My Big Beautiful Blow Dry

The real solution to getting a big beautiful blow dry is to live with a hair dresser. Although, I must confess it’s been many years since I’ve styled my wife’s hair…actually never. Here’s a do it yourself guide to recreating a salon quality blow out.

Step 1- Prepping

After shampooing and conditioning the hair, towel dry and section the hair. Take large sections of hair (4-5 inches) starting at the bottom working upwards. Apply a small amount of product (either a volumizing/holding spray or foam, for example Redken Guts for maximum volume) in your hands using your fingers to comb the product through the hair from roots to ends.  Continue up the head until the hair has been properly saturated with product.

Step 2- Pre Dry

Grab your blow dryer and begin rough drying. Starting at the crown and work your way outward drying the roots first in an upward 90 degree angle. This will begin creating volume and help work out any cowlicks or strong growth patterns.

Step 3- Blow dry

Begin drying, with mild tension on your brush moving upward and outward. Make sure you are rolling the brush in and out going back to the roots each time to create movement and volume. Pull the hair off the brush and twist the section with your fingers keeping the shape created in tact.

When moving into the crown section make sure the hair is over directed forward (out of its section) and rolled back down onto itself. This will create maximum volume.

Step 4- Final Touches

Use a Mason Pearson or Boar Bristle “flat” brush to smooth out the surface of the hair while maintaining your beautiful blow dry. Finish with a light hair spray for hold.

How to Settle Your Dog’s Stomach

Look at that sweet girl Chloe - with a stomach ache. One day last week she was crying all day. I thought it was because it was 90 degrees and we have no air conditioning. Then at dinner time she ignored her food and I knew something was wrong. She is a lab and typically wolfs down her food in about 10 seconds. I knew she hadn’t eaten anything bad (that I knew of) and then remembered she had jumped into this not-suitable-for-swimming-lake in our neighborhood (it smells horrible) when she was chasing a duck the prior day. The next day additional evidence of her upset stomach was all over the yard - and house. Yuck.

I figured her upset stomach wasn’t that serious but wanted to help her along to feeling better. Chloe had started by helping herself and skipping her dinner - smart girl. I laid off food for 24 hours to help her stomach calm itself and made sure she had lots of fresh water. After the 24 hours I gave her some plain white rice mixed with plain cooked chicken which seemed to agree with her, and tried her regular dried food on day 3. Some people also treat their dog’s upset stomach with canned pumpkin. It’s very important to hydrate your pet during this kind of illness as well. She was back in action in no time - and no lake swimming for her again!

Remember to check with your dog’s vet for any concerns such as this.  As your dog’s “parent” you know when something isn’t quite right!

Quick and Easy Savory Tarts

This snack couldn’t be easier.  I was tinkering with puff pastry and crab meat making a crab puff appetizer when I realized how much I love puff pastry in general.  So I decided to try a few alternate uses and they were all heavenly delicious. Inspired by Pepperidge Farm’s own website, here were my variations:

Roasted Tomatoes

Take cherrys or plums and cut them in half, toss with EVOO, sea salt and pepper and roast on a baking sheet, along with sliced onion for about 1/2 hour.  Check them at this point as I let mine go too long and they not only burned but ruined the sheet pan.  If you want them a little drier, keep going but don’t overdo it.

Sauteed Baby Bellas

Chop your favorite ’shrooms and saute them in EVOO with freshly chopped rosemary, salt and pepper until soft and cooked completely.

Asparagus

Trim the woody and pale ends and then cut the asparagus in half so it fits.  Blanch the asparagus for just a few minutes to soften, then proceed.

Caramelized Onions

Slice sweet onions in half and then into thin slices.  Saute in EVOO and a touch of butter until extra soft and light brown in color.

Basic recipe:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Unfold the defrosted puff pastry and separate into three long pieces based on the creases. Then cut those in half so you wind up with six even pieces.  Grate your favorite hard cheese, in my case Pecorino Romano, on to the puff pastry. Add your topping of choice-there are some suggestions above but the possibilities are endless.  Place on a baking sheet that has been covered with a sheet of parchment paper, sprinkle a little s&p and pop in the oven for 20 minutes.  When you remove, you can drizzle a little balsamic reduction over the tarts.  Wait 10 minutes before diving in-I found they were much better this way than right out of the oven.

Rosemary Maggiore is our Last Minute Lady. A single mom of two kids plus a full time job (she runs this website!) keep her busy and usually pushing things to the last minute. Somehow she manages to keep her cool and her sanity while she enjoys good food, wine, friends and most importantly, family.

For more Ro, see:

Mom Talk

Follow me on Twitter at @lastminutelady

Moldy cheese - toss or save?

Dear Cooks:

I bought a beautiful hunk of Cheddar cheese from my farmer’s market and kind of forgot about it. I went to pull it out a few weeks later, and there was some visible mold. Is it safe to cut off the mold and eat the rest? It was expensive! I remember my mom doing this when I was little but I’m not sure. Can you advise? Thanks!

Sincerely,

Anne in Rochester

Dear Anne:

It depends on the type of cheese - when soft cheeses like cottage cheese or cream cheese, or shredded, crumbled or sliced cheese, grow mold, they should be discarded as the mold can grow root threads throughout the cheese. Plus harmful bacteria like e coli or salmonella can grow along with the mold. As for hard or semi-soft cheeses like Cheddar, Swiss, Monterey Jack, etc., mold can’t penetrate very far into the cheese so you can cut off the mold with a 1-inch border around the moldy spot and eat the rest. Be sure the knife doesn’t penetrate the moldy spot as it could spread it when you make the next cut. Of course, some cheeses are made from mold - like Brie or Camembert.

So use your best judgement but the old rule also applies - when in doubt throw it out!

A Wood-Burning Oven In Every Backyard

There are many prizes granted to the super-rich, almost none of them wholesome. Designer hallucinogens, buxom stewardesses, concept cars: these are the playthings of the 1% and beyond even my most fevered imaginings. (Well, almost.) The one truly dope thing that the rich have which I aspire to an almost daily basis, though, is a wood-burning oven. As it is, I have to make do with a makeshift solution via my Weber grill, and I am happy to share the trick with my fellow proletarians.

That said, it’s no substitute for the real thing. Slowly, and without anybody noticing, wood ovens have become the centerpiece of contemporary cooking - although this is misleading, because it is precisely their timeless quality that makes them so appealing. You take a beautiful, wholesome, fresh piece of meat or fish, or a nice chicken, and you rub it with some olive oil and some salt, or maybe a little rosemary, and in it goes. The heat cooks it through, and the smoke scents the skin; the dry heat pulls away all the steam from the fat and skin, and renders it out onto a roasting rack or sizzle pan, possibly there to bathe crusty new potatoes, brussel sprouts, or sweet little onions.

Of course, it’s a dream if you don’t have a wood oven, an immense, unwieldy, and laughably impractical appliance for anyone that doesn’t own a Marin or Columbia County farmhouse. Which I don’t. So the best you can do is to find a way to burn wood directly inside your Weber, without the fire going out. Wood, you will note: not charcoal, either of the lump or briquette variety. It doesn’t really matter what kind: most of the hardwood chunks and chips available at big-box stores like Lowes or Target will do fine. (I myself prefer hickory, if I can get it.)

There are two basic options if you want to wood-roast in a Weber. One is to simply burn an open fire on one side, and to periodically rotate the food around. This isn’t a good method. Uncovered, the air doesn’t get dry, and moist air doesn’t have the evaporative effect that is the hallmark of wood-fire cookery. Worse still, without a lid, all the heat gets out. So this is only really an option for fish on sizzle platters. A second approach is to burn a small pile of chunks, keeping the fuel supply more or less steady, and the partially cover the grill. For years I did this by simply setting the lid askew; I got enough air to my fire for it to keep burning, but not enough to whisk away all my heat and moisture. It did have a tendency to fall off, though, and I didn’t have tight control of my air drafting, which is the key to all natural wood or coal cookery. So I now have three inch-thick pieces of stone tile, bought at Lowe’s for something like $1.28 total, which are stable, flat, and impervious to heat. They keep the lid lifted an inch, and if the fire gets out of control, I adjust the drafting wheel on the top.

This technique takes some getting used to, but it’s really much more effective than buying a giant farmhouse in the countryside. At least, it is if you aren’t rich. If you are, you are probably out with stewardesses anyway.

There’s Always Room For Dessert! Delicious and Easy Summer Desserts

This past weekend, I made a few of my most requested desserts for a party I was having, plus I threw in a chocolate pudding when I needed another dessert at the last minute.  All were delicious and so easy.

Aunt Rachel’s Rum Cake

My Aunt Rachel used to make this cake all the time when I was growing up and I would devour it.  It is so sweet and salty at the same time and deliciously moist.  You really do need to use a dark rum to make it taste best.  The recipe originally came from Bacardi, so if you can, use their dark rum, 80 proof.  Here is the recipe from Bacardi:

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 package  yellow cake mix **
1 (3 3/4-oz.) package vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum (80 proof )

Glaze:

1 stick butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum ( 80 proof )


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour 10-inch tube or 12-cup Bundt pan.

Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan.

Mix all cake ingredients together.

Pour batter over nuts.

Bake 1 hour.

Cool; invert onto serving plate. Prick top with fork.

Spoon and brush glaze evenly over top and sides.
Glaze:

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar.

Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, and remove from heat.

Stir in rum. You may decorate with whipped cream before serving.

** If using yellow cake mix with pudding already in the mix, omit the instant pudding, using 3 eggs instead of 4 and 1/3 cup oil instead of 1/2.

Banana Pie for Kevin

My boyfriend Kevin loves Banana pudding, like the one he gets sometimes from Magnolia Cupcakes in New York.  I made him that dish once, but I wasn’t that interested in the flavors of boring old vanilla pudding, bananas and wafers.  I also refuse to use any sort of banana flavored pudding so I decided to come up with my short cut version of a Banana Cream Pie, ready in no time.  This was adapted from epicurious.com.  I wish they would show me who created this recipe originally because whomever it is is a genius!

Ingredients

1 graham cracker crust or make your own:
a full sleeve of cinnamon graham crackers
5 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 brick softened cream cheese
5 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 bananas, not too soft
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or paste
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F

If making your own crust, grind the crackers in a food processor along with the extra cinnamon, two tablespoons of brown sugar and a pinch of salt until smooth.  Pour into a bowl and work the melted butter into the mixture with a fork until completely combined.  Press up the sides and all around a pie plate until evenly covered and bake for 10 minutes.  When done, remove and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, in one bowl, beat whipping cream, rum, vanilla and confectioner’s sugar until firm peaks form.  In another bowl, beat together cream cheese and the rest of the brown sugar.  Fold these two mixtures together.

When the crust is cool, slice bananas right into the plate and spread out evenly.  Add the cream topping and spread out to fully cover.  Stick in the fridge overnight to set.

Chocolate Pudding

I needed one more dessert as my crowd of guests was ever expanding.  I wanted to make something quick and I don’t know why but my mind went to Chocolate Pudding.  Maybe because I had just bought some decadently rich cream and milk from the farmer’s market and I always have really fine chocolate on hand, exceptionally dark I might add.  This recipe could not be easier and it is a total crowd pleaser when also served with fresh whipped cream on top and a little extra shaved chocolate.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

8 egg yolks, make sure they are the best quality you can find and organic
1 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup corn starch
6 tablespoons raw, organic, unsweetened cacao powder
4 cups whole milk
3 ounces chopped dark chocolate (not chips as they have wax and don’t melt as well)
4 tablespoons salted butter
3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
4 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

Bring the milk to a low boil on the stove in a medium sized sauce pan. As this is heating up, start your next step but keep an eye on the milk and whisk frequently so it doesn’t burn or boil over. Meanwhile, beat in a bowl the egg yolks and sugar until light in color.  Add the corn starch and cacao and mix.  Once the milk boils, whisk the egg-sugar mixture into the milk, constantly whisking until smooth.  After a few minutes, it will start to thicken.

Once thickened, remove from heat and while still hot, add the chopped chocolate, the butter, the vanilla and the cream and stir with a wooden spoon until everything has melted and is well combined.  Then pour into individual ramekins and cover with plastic wrap so a skin doesn’t form.  Stick in the fridge over night.

Rosemary Maggiore is our Last Minute Lady. A single mom of two kids plus a full time job (she runs this website!) keep her busy and usually pushing things to the last minute. Somehow she manages to keep her cool and her sanity while she enjoys good food, wine, friends and most importantly, family.

For more Ro, see:

Mom Talk

Follow me on Twitter at @lastminutelady