Mint Chocolate Chip Pudding

I got a craving for something chocolatey today. Since my husband has insisted that we remove anything remotely fattening from our home (unfortunately, this included ice cream), we no longer had any pre-made chocolate goodies. Although I am typically annoyed that I have to suffer for his lack of willpower, I must say that it is better for my waistline if I only enjoy goodies when I want them badly enough to actually cook them myself.


So, in my effort to find some form of chocolatey goodness that I could make out of the current contents of my pantry, I pulled out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and turned to the chocolate pudding page. Turns out, I already have all of the ingredients to make chocolate pudding from scratch right in my own cupboard. Nothing too incredibly strange (and by "strange," I mean anything I wouldn't find in my not-so-culinary-inclined Mom's home), except possibly the cornstarch.


Now, Betty Crocker is one heck of a cook, don't get me wrong. But I couldn't exactly get overly enthusiastic about her plain old chocolate pudding recipe. I decided to mix it up a bit...and by that, I mean adding alcohol. Can't go wrong there.


I added Creme de Menthe liquer to my version, as well as some extra chocolate chips. It would probably be equally as delicious with Frangelico, Bailey's (their flavored mint chocolate or caramel versions would be excellent), Grand Marnier (which I love, primarily due to its name being so close to that of my lovely sis, Marnee), Godiva liqueur, or even 99 Bananas (although that may take an extreme banana lover). I'm beginning to sound a bit like a lush here, so I'll continue on to the recipe...



Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
2 large egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 tsp. of your favorite liqueur (or simply vanilla, if you're not feeling overly adventurous)
1/3 cup chocolate chips, chopped

Directions
1. Stir together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a smallish to medium sized saucepan. Set the saucepan over medium heat, and stir in the milk.

2. Keep stirring, and stirring, and stirring (a whisk comes in handy here), until the mixture comes to a boil. It takes forever. Well, maybe more like 6 or 7 minutes, but it feels like forever with the steam coming off the mixture onto your hand. After it starts to boil, stir it for another minute.

3. Add at least half the mixture into the egg yolks. Be sure to add the milk mixture to the yolks, not the other way around. This is called "tempering," which allows the yolks to gradually heat up (be sure to stir the yolks quickly while adding the hot mixture). If you try to rush this step, you'll end up with scrambled eggs in your pudding. Tasty.

4. Add the tempered yolk mixture back to the rest of the milk mixture, and continue to stir for another minute.

5. Remove from heat and add the liqueur. Pour into a glass bowl, cover, and refrigerate until chilled. If you don't like the skin that forms over pudding (which I actually enjoy), you'll want to press some plastic wrap right onto the top of the pudding. Although it will take the top portion of the pudding with it when you remove it, there won't be any skin. :)

6. After the pudding is chilled, stir the chopped up chocolate chips into it. Serve it in pretty glasses, and garnish with whipped cream and mint (if you've got it...otherwise, add more whipped cream!).

Black Bean Salsa

This "salsa" is actually what I typically just call my black beans, since I prepare them this way every time I boil up a batch o' dried black beans. I've moved to the dried version in the past few months as a small way to save on my weekly grocery bill. Here's the conversions between canned and dry:

15-oz can beans = 1 1/2 cooked beans, drained
1 pound dry beans = 6 cups cooked beans, drained
1 pound dry beans = 2 cups dry beans
1 cup dry beans = 3 cups cooked beans, drained

I know this involves math, but I readily admit that my frugality wins out over my hatred of basic math. Therefore, let's analyze this a bit. One can of black beans will run you about $0.89 at the grocery store, while a pound of dried black beans goes for about $1.69. Since you get the equivalent of 4 cans of beans out of a one pound bag, that would make the dried beans the equivalent of $0.42 per can. Not much, but it adds up.

Since I personally had no idea what to do with dried black beans, and hence resorted to purchasing the canned version, here's the scoop. You'll need at least two hours; 12 hours is preferable. To make 3 cups of cooked black beans, take 1 cup of dried black beans and spread them out in a shallow dish (a 9x13 pan works well here, or even a pie dish). Sort through them and remove any beans that appear to be shriveled or not bean-like (odd shape, discolored, etc.). Put them in a saucepan big enough to accommodate them and some water should they triple in size (which they will). Add enough water to cover them by two inches. If you have 8-12 hours, let them soak in the saucepan (overnight is fine - this is the longer "soak" period). If you only have two hours, bring the beans to a boil, turn them off, cover them, and let them sit for an hour (the "soak" period). After the beans have either soaked 8-12 hours or boiled and soaked an hour, drain them and add new water to again cover them by two inches. Bring them up to a boil and then turn the heat down to low. Simmer the beans for about an hour, or until you try one and it smooshes against the top of your mouth. They are ready to use in a recipe, or you can refrigerate them for up to about a week, or freeze them for a couple of months.

This recipe is good as a dip for tortilla chips, or as a base for Black Bean Patties or Rice and Black Beans (recipes to come). The quantities mentioned are approximate; feel free to adjust as necessary to fit the amounts that suit your taste or that you have on hand.

Ingredients
3 cups cooked black beans, drained (or two cans of black beans...but why spend the money? Didn't you read my novel above about the cost effectiveness of dried beans?)
1 cup sweet onion, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (or 1 Tbsp dried cilantro)
2 Tbsp lime juice

salt to taste (kosher salt if you've got it - about 1 tsp)

Directions

Stir ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate.