Noodles and Chocolate Pudding

As you have probably read, we have an abundance of eggs. Using chicken eggs seems easy. Omelettes, fritattas, scrambles, hard cooked, salad, you get the gist. What is more difficult is using the duck eggs. I suppose I should 'man up' and just try one outright, but the thought of tasting too strong of an egg has me hesitant. Instead, I bake with them. Sunday night I wanted something tasty, yet a bit healthy to eat. I didn't feel like meat, so Teagan and I made some semolina egg noodles. The fresh cooked noodles we then stir fried into vegetables with a bit of parmesan cheese. This is one super way to get veggies into my family.

Semolina Egg Noodles
2 Egg yolks (we used duck)
1 cup Semolina Flour
1 cup AP Flour
1 T Good Olive Oil
1 Pinch Salt (we used kosher)
a little water.

I used my Kitchenaid paddle mixer to mix all ingredients together and knead. The mix seemed a little dry, so I added cool water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture was a smooth ball. Then I wrapped the dough ball in plastic wrap and chilled for a couple of hours.
When ready to cook, Teagan and I rolled out 1.4 of the dough at a time on the pasta maker and cut them using the wide noodle setting. 3 minutes simmering in salted water and they were done.

Veggie Stir Fry:
I cleaned the freezer on this one. Broccoli florets, cauliflower, carrots in different colors, pea pods. I steamed the veggies to get the cooking started, then transferred them into a preheated (hot) wide skillet along with 1T olive Oil and a pinch of salt. I added a can of diced tomatoes with the juice and tossed around for abut a minute. Then I added the noodles and tossed it around to coat the noodles with the juice from the pan. Sprinkled a tablespoon or two of parmesan cheese into the pan to heat and served. Yummo. We had enough for 2 servings each for dinner and a lunch the next day.

Dessert Time: Chocolate Pudding A La Teagan
1 cup chocolate milk (she never finishes the little bottles from lunch time
1 cup whole milk (we use organic)
4 t Corn Starch
1/2 - 2/3 cup cane sugar (more or less to taste)
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
a handful of mini chocolate chips - because they were there
1 t Vanilla

Step 1:
Combine sugar, corn starch, 1 1/2 cups milk and the chocolate to a sauce pan. Warm through to gentle simmer

Step 2: beat egg yolks lightly in a bowl with 1/2 cup milk

Step 3: temper egg mixture with hot milk/sugar/chocolate.
Pour 1 - 2 tablespoons of the hot milk into the egg mixture while stiffing/whisking. Continue to add hot milk slowly until about 1/2 of the milk mix is mixed into the eggs. Return the tempered egg mixture back to the pan and bring to simmer stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. The mixture will thicken and coat a spoon. Turn off heat and stir in vanilla. Optionally you can add a butter pat to make it even more decadent and silky.

Pour into either separate bowls (around 6) or a single bowl. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent 'skin' from forming. Chill thoroughly.

Serve either as-is or topped with whipped cream. This stuff is amazing frozen into ice cream. Add slivered almonds for a little texture. Your imagination is the limit.

Enjoy!

What do you do with Duck eggs and a bunch of lemons?

If you've read early posts, you know that we made a home for a pair of Pekin ducks. The lady Pekin, Ming Ming, had begun laying eggs like a little machine. Not having taken the big leap of faith to eat a duck egg straight up, I use them to bake. Christmas week I made banana bread with them. They are marvelous. Today though, I had a different problem.

I need a vessel to hold some leftover Beef Bourguinon from yesterday. I don't want biscuits again, so I thought why not go all out French tonight? I have Crepe batter chillin' in the fridge right now.

Crepe Batter:
1 cup cold milk
1 cup cold water
1.5 cups flour
4 tablespoons warm/melted butter
4 chicken eggs (I used 2 duck eggs - those things are HUGE)
Mix up the mess in your blender. (Don't tell B that I used the smoothie machine. The blender was liberated to bath fizzies)
Let the mix sit in the fridge for a few hours.

Cook the crepes in a large pan (about the size you want your finished crepe to be)
Fill the crepe with whatever you feel like having
Eat (the best part)

So, we'll be having the beef as the main course. You can add a side of boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes. I think I'll stick to a green salad tonight.

Having more duck eggs to use and spying a bag of lemons when I put the crepe batter into the fridge, I thought of something: Lemon Curd. That would make a nice dessert crepe. Diet, Schmiet.

Lemon Curd:
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks (I used 2 duck yolks and one chicken yolk)
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (3-5 lemons depending on size and how old the lemon is)
1 stick butter
lemon zest from juiced lemons (this is simplest before you juice your lemons)

Step 1: Begin the emulsion
Beat the egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl until they seem blended together. I used a whisk. It took about a minute to complete.
Step 2: Gently cook
Place the bowl over a simmering pot of water. The bowl should NOT touch the water. Bad things will happen. Trust me.
Keep whisking while the mixture cools. Some recipes say to heat to 160F. Basically, you'll see the texture lighten up as it nears the right temp. It will coat the back of a wooden spoon. Drag your finger through the coating and your finger path will remain there. This step took me about 5 minutes
Step 3#: add the luscious butter
Add your room temperature butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Whisk it in until you can't see it any more before adding the next bit of butter. Repeat until there's no more butter. This step took about 2 minutes.
Step 4: Add the zest.
Step 5: Enjoy.
Smear it on toast, scones, crepes, ice cream, as a layer in cakes, cookie sandwiches, whatever. This recipe filled a pint sized canning jar with a few good sized spoonfuls for the chef. It's chilling in the fridge now waiting for tonight's dinner to make its entrance. It will thicken A LOT while cooling. Kept in the fridge it will last up to 2 weeks (yeah right this stuff will be gone by tomorrow). You can freeze this stuff too.
To me it tastes like a sour pudding. Work slowly and at a low enough temperature and it will be smooth as silk. Rush it and you'll have lumps. Ick. Take your time, it's worth it.

Happy Food Dreams