Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2004

Prep Time:20 min
Inactive Prep Time:--
Cook Time:30 min
Level:Easy
Serves:10 to 12 servings

Ingredients
  • 3 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 16 fluid ounces (2 cups) half-and-half
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 6 ounces grated Parmesan
DirectionsPeel and dice potatoes, making sure all are relatively the same size. Place in a large saucepan, add the salt, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil. Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.

Heat the half-and-half and the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain off the water. Mash and add the garlic-cream mixture and Parmesan; stir to combine. Let stand for 5 minutes so that mixture thickens and then serve.

 
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Recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell from FoodNetwork.com

Prep Time:25 min
Inactive Prep Time:25 min
Cook Time:1 hr 5 min
Level:Easy
Serves:4 servings

Ingredients

Pudding:
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for the topping
  • 8 egg yolks
  • 12 slices tight crumb white bread (recommended: Pepperidge Farm) crusts removed
  • 1 stick butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup golden raisins, soaked in 3/4 cup Irish whiskey
Whiskey Tea sauce:
  • 4 tea bags
  • 4 cups boiling water
  • 3/4 cup Irish whiskey (reserved from pudding)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 cloves
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
DirectionsPreheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Pudding:

In a saucepan over low heat, add the cream, the scraped vanilla bean and the seeds (or extract) and 1/2 cup of sugar. Whisk to combine. Bring the cream to a boil. While the cream is coming to a boil, whisk the yolks and 1/2 cup sugar together until they are a homogeneous mixture. When the cream comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and whisk in 1/3 of the egg yolk mixture, then immediately whisk in the remaining egg mixture. This is called tempering, it allows you to combine hot cream and eggs without making scrambled eggs. It's kinda fun! Reserve this mixture until you are ready to assemble the pudding.

To assemble the pudding:

Butter 1 side of the slices of bread and cut them into triangles. Butter an 8 by 8-inch square baking dish and put a layer of bread points, overlapping, in the bottom of the dish. Strain the raisins reserving the whiskey. Sprinkle half of the whiskey soaked raisins on top of the bread layer. Pour half of the cream/egg mixture over the bread and raisins. Repeat this process with the bread and raisins and finally finish with bread. Pour the remaining cream/egg mixture into the dish. Press down gently on the whole thing to compress and really compact the pudding. If all of the cream mixture doesn't fit into the pan, wait 10 to 15 minutes and then try again. The bread may need a little while to absorb all the cream. MMMMM& don't skimp on this step.

Set the bread pudding dish inside a 9 by 13-inch baking dish or roasting pan and add hot water until it reaches 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up the sides of the pudding dish. Cover the whole thing with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven until the custard has set, about 1 hour.

Remove the pudding from the water bath and let it cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the custard with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a thin even layer. Put the pudding under the broiler or use a blow torch (This is REALLY fun!) to crystallize the sugar on the top of the pudding. A little bit crusty and burnt and sweeeeeeet! YuuuuuummmY! Serve with the whiskey tea sauce.

To make the sauce:

While the pudding is baking, combine all the ingredients and the reserved Irish whiskey in a small saucepan and let steep for 15 minutes. Discard the tea bags and the lemon half. Bring the sauce to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half. Taste, the sauce should be very pungent, sweet and spicy (cinnamon and clove--not spicy hot) and a perfect accompaniment to the creamy sweet pudding.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM&MMMMMM&.MMM!

This one is a personal favorite of mine. I made it two weeks in a row when I first found the recipe. And the Whiskey Tea Sauce... I know it sounds weird, but it really is amazing. If you're not ok cooking with alcohol, you can use a little extra water with the tea and add a Rum extract. It wont taste exactly the same but its still really yummy. Also, I would highly recommend using Golden Raisins instead of the regular ones. I think the taste of them blends with the recipe a little more smoothly, but that's just personal preference. You could even swap them out for one of your other favorite dried fruits such as figs, apricots or dates. Just be sure to give them a good dice before adding them to the recipe. If dried fruit isn't your thing you could just leave them out entirely. 

 
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Dough Recipe

1 pound (or about 3 1/2 cups) high gluten flour
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
In a heavy-duty stand mixer (e.g., KitchenAid) fitted with dough hook, add the water, oil, yeast, salt, and sugar. Mix thoroughly until yeast has fully dissolved. Add flour and mix on low speed until all of the flour and water have mixed and a stiff dough ball forms, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stop mixing as soon as the dough ball forms as this type of dough should not be kneaded. 
Place the dough ball into a large bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 24 hours in the refrigerator before using. Please note that I cannot over-emphasize the importance of a 24-hour rising time since it is absolutely essential for the dough to develop its signature texture and, more importantly, its unique flavor! Do not skip this step! 


Click on the photo for a link to the website I pulled this from. It has a lot of other tips and tricks on it to help make sure your crust comes out nice and thin.


Sauce

1 can tomato paste
1 standard size can stewed tomatoes, italian herb style if available

Combine half the can of paste with the full can of stewed tomatoes. Simmer the sauce till the tomatoes start to fall apart. Regular tomato sauce can be used if you prefer a non chunky sauce. Add paste as needed to get desired consistency.

Constructing the Pizza

When building a pizza it is important to bake the crust till it is ALMOST done, then pull it out, add on the toppings and then put it back in the oven till the cheese is melted and starting to brown a little. This will ensure that the crust is cooked through. I would recommend Sargento's Italian Blend for the cheese. Any Sargento cheese is going to be a good one. It melts nicely and has great flavor, as well as not being too horribly expensive.