time for rest

Feeling like nesting up in my room reading blogs. I have lemon saffron chicken cooking on the stove for an elderly friend M. She is ninety one years old and having some leg problems serious leg problems.
There is no salt in this recipe as she can not have one grain it would cause her great harm.
So what better way to enjoy food without salt than to have lemon sauce it up.
She is struggling M such a dynamic woman. She was an artist got her start in the Black Mountain College then headed out to the west after her first husband died in the War.

We met in Yoga. She had been attending the class for twenty years. I admired her determination. She was funny and could handle cussing.

The meeting tonight was serene. I went up to a new woman and introduced myself. It's important to reach out to the newcomer. This is what keeps my program alive sharing  experience strength and hope.
It feels nice to have something valuable to give to others. The only requirement is to have a relative or friend
affected by alcoholism.

I am grateful for my life. It is full and varied. Feeling a full range of feelings is freeing me one day at a time.

Tonight I will pray for M she is a wonderful lady.

Sharing this incredible bread pudding recipe from Tartine.
I believe you will enjoy this recipe yourself!

Brioche Bread Pudding Recipe
Recipe by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson from Tartine, makes 6 to 8 servings

6 brioche slices, cut 1-inch thick
8 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
4 cups whole milk
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

For the Caramel Sauce, makes 1-1/2 cups

2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 of one vanilla bean
1-1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
3/4 tsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp unsalted butter

Making the Brioche Bread Pudding

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9×5-inch glass loaf pan [or an 8x8-inch glass baking pan, which worked perfectly fine].  Arrange the brioche slices on a baking sheet. Place in the oven until lightly toasted. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk until blended. Add the sugar and whisk until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla and salt and whisk until completely blended. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve.

Place the toasted bread slices in the prepared loaf pan, cutting the slices to fit as needed. Pour the custard evenly over the bread, filling the dish to the top. You may not be able to add all of the custard at this point. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, so that the bread can absorb the custard.

Just before baking, top off the dish with more of [leftover] custard if the previous addition has been completely absorbed. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, place in the oven, and bake the pudding for about 1 hour. To test for doneness, uncover the dish, slip a knife into the center, and push the bread aside. If the custard is still very liquid, re-cover the dish and return the pudding to the oven for another 10 minutes. If only a little liquid remains, the pudding is ready to come out of the oven. The custard will continue to cook after it is removed from the oven and it will set up as it cools.

Let the pudding cool for about 10 minutes before serving. You can serve the bread pudding by slicing it and removing each slice with an offset spatula, or by scooping it out with a serving spoon.

As I have mentioned above, the bread pudding can be served topped with seasonal fruits in delicious caramel sauce. While the bread pudding is cooling, peel and slice a couple of peaches. In a medium pan, warm the peaches together with some blueberries and raspberries or other fruits in season in Tartine’s caramel sauce (recipe below).  Top the bread pudding with the warm fruit-caramel mixture before serving.

If you have left over bread pudding, the cookbook suggests chilling it, slicing it, and frying it as you would French toast.

Making the Caramel Sauce

Pour the cream into a small, heavy saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and use the tip of a sharp knife to scrape the seeds from the pod halves into the cream. Place over medium-high heat and bring to just under a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low to keep the cream warm.

In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, water, salt and corn syrup. Use a good-sized pan because the caramel will boil vigorously and the volume will increase dramatically as soon as the hot cream is added. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then let the mixture boil, without stirring, until the mixture is amber colored. Watch the sugar mixture carefully as it cooks to avoid burning the sugar. From the time the mixture started to boil, it took over 15 minutes to reach an amber color. Remove from the heat.

The mixture will continue to cook off the heat and become darker, so make sure to have the cream close by. Carefully and slowly add the cream to the sugar syrup. The mixture will boil vigorously at first. Let the mixture simmer down, and then whisk until smooth. Add the lemon juice and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Cut the butter into 1-inch chunks and add them to the caramel one at a time, whisking constantly after each addition. Then whisk the caramel periodically as it continues to cool.

Pour the caramel sauce in an airtight container such as a glass jar and store in the refrigerator. This will keep for up to a month.