Chocolate Orange Pudding

I'm not entirely sure why, but David looooooves pudding. Or mousse. Or custard. Or panna cotta. Or anything that is cold and smooth and you can slurp from a spoon. He loves pudding the way normal people love chocolate chip cookies or slices of cake. When I say, "I made pudding," there is a spark in his eye that is only ever repeated upon the purchase of a long-desired book or the kickoff of a long-anticipated football game.

"Really!?" True elation. Why don't I make it all the time? It's this easy to make him happy?

In fact, this very evening, as he spooned his dessert, he effused--and I quote--"This is one of the perfect desserts in the world, don't you think?" He didn't even know I was planning on making fun of him later on the blog! He just says that stuff naturally!

Well, anyway, here's a great little chocolate pudding recipe, perfect for two. I happen to really like dark chocolate and orange together, but if you're not an orange person, you can just omit the zest and the juice. Easy.

Chocolate Orange Pudding

serves 2; ready in 2 hours (including chill time)

1 1/2 oz dark chocolate

1 1/4 cup milk (any fat content will do)

1 Tbsp orange zest

1/3 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

2 Tbsp cornstarch or flour

1 Tbsp cocoa

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp orange juice (or better yet, orange liquor of some kind)

1. First, chop the chocolate and place it in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 20 second intervals until you can stir it smooth. (Alternately, melt over very low heat on the stovetop.) Set aside.
2. In a small sauce pan, combine milk, zest, and sugar over medium heat, until scalded (that is, you just start to see tiny bubbles around the rim of the pan). Try not to boil. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, cornstarch, and cocoa. Mixture will be crumbly.
3. When milk is ready, add it in very small increments to the yolk-cocoa mixture, whisking well in between each addition. When all the milk is incorporated, return to pan and heat again, over medium, stirring constantly, until thick--about 2 minutes. Scrape pudding into a bowl to stop cooking. Add melted chocolate, butter, vanilla, and orange juice and whisk until well mixed.
4. To speed up the cooling process, place that bowl inside a larger bowl that you have filled with ice and a little water. Stir constantly for a few minutes until the pudding becomes cool. If you like, you can strain the pudding through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of the orange zest and achieve a really smooth result.
5. Divide between two serving dishes of your choice, cover in plastic, and cool for at least an hour.

Orange-Glazed Tempe

This is a big week for you, yeah? Trying new things. Eating some lentils. Considering a soy product that would have previously skeeved you out but suddenly seems delicious.

Tempe is like tofu, in that it is a kind of cake or block made from soy, and it tastes like ... well ... almost nothing. Similarly, the beauty of both tofu and tempe is that they easily take on the flavors you introduce to them. Their textures, though, are quite different; tempe is thin and dense, and though traditionally made from exclusively soy beans, can successfully be adapted with mixed grains and seeds. My grocery store sells tempe in different varieties: ones with added flax seed, barley, buckwheat, bulgur and brown rice, even vegetables.

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that reducing the amount of meat you eat is almost never a bad idea. (If you DO need me to tell you, just say the word and I will simultaneously bore, offend, infuriate, and worry you with statistics both medical and ecological.) I have to be honest and say that I am a tempe novice, but so far I've liked the results. I must also be honest and say that this recipe was lifted (though adapted to fit my cabinet contents) from 101 Cookbooks, so think about going there--or many, many other places--for more tempe knowledge. In the meantime, this is a pretty quick weeknight fix.

You can serve it with rice or another grain, but since it's kind of made of grains, you could also go with a bed of wilted cabbage, tossed in an easy dressing. I'll include that here too.

Orange-Glazed Tempe

serves 2, but leftovers are great

1 package tempe

2 Tbsp oil

1 cup orange juice

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp honey

1 tsp dry ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

dash hot sauce of your choice

1/2 head green or red cabbage

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp honey

1. Start by cutting the tempe into bite-size pieces. As you can see, we went with triangles. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and add tempe. Saute until nice and brown, about 4 minutes, then flip. Cook another 3-4 minutes.
2. Mix together remaining sauce ingredients (soy sauce through hot sauce) in a small bowl. Add to pan with tempe and reduce heat to medium. Boil until sauce is reduced and thick, 6-8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, slice cabbage thin and steam however you see fit: either in a pot on the stove with a little bit of water, or in a bowl with a little bit of water, covered in plastic, and microwaved for several minutes. Mix together vinegar, oil, soy, and honey, and toss. Serve warm.

Beets, Baby!

Never liked beets. Never ever. They tasted like ground and, what's worse, they were pink -- which made them look sweet, and thus stung all the more when they tasted like ground.

But one day in April, at a delightful bakery in Somerville, I tasted beet and barley salad. It was flavored with vinegar and parsley and other simple elements that turned this ugly root into an edible and enjoyable side.

Turns out beets are sweet and rich, and yes a little earthy, but in a good way if you manage it well. My boss, Greta the Russian, says the best way to cook them is to roast them whole, then peel the skin and prepare as desired. I shortened the process by cubing the beets and roasting them in a hot oven, then while still warm, tossed them in vinegar and OJ. Sweet and tangy.

Golden-Orange Beets

3 medium beets, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 med-large orange, segmented

1 tsp dried basil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp orange juice

1/4 cup hard cheese like parmesan, asiago, or peccorino, grated

S, P & oil

1. Toss the cubed beets in 1-2 tsp olive oil, basil, and plenty of S&P. Roast in a 400º oven for about 25 minutes. Prick them with a sharp knife to make sure they're done before taking them out.
2. Cut orange segments in half, so everything is equally bite sized. Toss cooked beets with oranges and all remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

FYI: Because I had them, I used golden beets and blood oranges, which made a beautiful contrast. But it occurs to me that an equal and opposite contrast would be made by regular old red beets and naval oranges. How about that?

Do you have a delicious beet recipe? Share! Share!