Bread & Butter Pudding

Serves about 6

Ingredients

A few-sliced white bread, crusts removed

55g of butter, softened

140g caster sugar

seeds from 1 vanilla pod

8 free-range eggs

500ml double cream

565ml milk

a few shots of Baileys(or as much as you can take)

handful of raisins and currants

5 tablespoons flaked almonds, toasted until golden

icing sugar to dust

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

Flatten each slice of bread down as flat as possible. Butter each piece thinly but thoroughly with the softened butter, then cut the slices of bread in half and put to one side.

In a bowl whisk together the sugar, vanilla seeds and eggs till pale and fluffy, then add the cream, the milk and the Baileys and whisk until smooth. Lightly toast your almonds in the preheated oven. Take an appropriately sized baking dish (or you could do individual ones) and rub the sides with a little butter. Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture then begin to layer the bread, the raisins, currants and the almonds in the baking dish. Repeat until everything has been used up, ending with a top layer of bread. Pour over the rest of your egg mixture, using your fingers to pat down the bread to make sure it soaks up all the lovely flavours.

Generously dust the top of the pudding with icing sugar and bake in the oven for around 35 minutes or until the custard has set around the outside. Allow it to cool and firm up slightly. Some people like to serve it with ice cream or double cream.

Braise Sea Cucumber

Ingredients
300g sea cucumber, sliced
2 thin slices old ginger
1 tsp Shao Hsing wine (optional)
3 pairs pre-fried chicken feet, chopped into halves
8 dried mushrooms, soaked
50g dried fish bladder (yi peow), soaked until soft
3g fatt choy, soaked
2cm piece young ginger, sliced and cut into desired shapes
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp oil
1 tsp sesame oil
700ml chicken stock 



Seasoning (A)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/8 tsp salt or to taste
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp sugar or to taste
¼ tsp thick soy sauce
1 tbsp Shao Hsing wine (optional) 


Thickening (combined)
2 tbsp sweet potato starch
2 tbsp water

Method

Heat wok and fry sea cucumber with old ginger till fragrant. Splash in a teaspoon Shao Hsing wine, if using. Dish out sea cucumber and discard the ginger.
Heat a clean wok with oil and sesame oil, add seasoning (A) and put in mushrooms and chicken feet. Stir-fry well. Pour in chicken stock and add sea cucumber.
Braise for 10 minutes. Remove sea cucumber from wok and add fish bladder and fatt choy. Continue to simmer for 20 minutes. Return the sea cucumber to the wok and add thickening to the gravy.