Fresh grated nutmeg (about the same amount as the cinnamon)
Zest of 3 Meyer lemons
2-4 stale croissants
Preheat oven to 350°
Cut croissants into bite-sized cubes and place in baking dish.
Whisk remaining ingredients until thoroughly combined. Pour over croissants. Press croissants down into liquid and let sit at least ten minutes.
Place baking dish in to larger pan and place in oven. Pour hot water into larger pan up to an inch or so of the height of the baking dish.
Bake until custard is set (40 – 50 minutes) and remove baking dish, but leave pan of hot water in oven. Allow pudding to cool at least 20 minutes before serving. Remove water filled pan from oven when cool enough to handle safely.
Cook Better, Eat Better, Taste Better, Live Better.
For the record, I have a perfectly adequate range. It is probably much like yours. This perfectly adequate GE Profile gas range is white, with four burners and a convection oven. It even has a warming drawer. But still I am discontent.
Issue One:
Anytime I break out a large pan on the stovetop, it gets crowded. (Can’t use my 15” cast iron skillet AND my pasta pot at the same time.) Right now I have a 12” skillet, a pasta pot and a chef’s pan on the stove and it is a balancing act.
Issue Two:
There is only one oven. Don’t get me wrong, I am pleased as punch to have a convection oven. Still, sometimes I want to cook more than one item at more than one temperature. I have worked around this by adding a counter top convection/toaster oven (which I love!)
Issue Three:
I have room in my kitchen for something bigger!
So you can see why I find myself researching ranges. It all started when I was at Sears and saw a Race Car Red range that got me all hot and bothered. The price startled me. I had only bought a range once before, and it was much more budget friendly. So, now that I had an idea that one could spend $5K on a range, I branched out my research with the usual suspects (Wolf, Viking, etc.) I started digging around to see what brand of range the Food Network chefs had on set. Then I found some home decorating/remodeling websites that mentioned European brands of which I had never heard.
I requested catalogs. (My husband called them Kitchen Porn.) What these ranges have in common is they are well made, expensive, and worked in a way that was familiar to me. And then there is Aga.
The Aga Cooker is like nothing I had ever seen. Big, heavy, enameled cast iron and always on. Yes. You heard me right.
This cooker stays hot all day, every day and is ready to cook when you are. When you aren’t cooking, it just sits there, insulated and holding in the heat, and creating a gathering place for the whole family.
Why are these people so cultish in their adoration?
The people who own and Aga are a little different. Not only is there a lifestyle magazine, Aga Living, but there are user groups and online forums. There is a consistent sentiment from them of “Once you live with one, you can’t imagine living without one.”
I have to admit that I had a tough time wrapping my head around the whole concept. Why is it on all the time? How hot is it in the kitchen when it is on? How much does it cost? How do you pronounce it?
Well, my little kumquats, the answers to all these questions are available at an Aga Demonstration. Because this is different from what most of us are used to, the authorized dealers have small demonstrations in the store. They keep a Cooker running in the store and a trained demonstrator comes in and cooks a variety of items for the 10-12 people in attendance.
I went to one last week at Sutter Home & Hearth in Woodinville, WA. The other attendees were a diverse group. There was a middle-aged couple who had purchased a Cooker at a different vendor and had challenges (that vendor is no longer an authorized retailer and the unit they purchased was a floor model, etc.) An older couple who lived in a remote location where power went out frequently was there to get an idea of how much power was required and if a generator would be able to keep up with the draw. The couple sitting next to me was the least vocal also seemed the most interested. I think they may have been seriously ready to buy. The oddest group was a family with children. The father was British and had grown up in a home with an Aga Cooker and I think he was there to convince his wife that she needed this item in their American home.
The demonstration did a great job of explaining how the Cooker works in a regular family. The woman teaching us was not a chef, just a mother & grandmother showing us basic, everyday foods. I got my questions answered, and the sales pitch was effective, because while I went in with only the idea that I wanted a new range, I left wanting an Aga Cooker.
Pros:
Ready when you are
Warming plate and warming oven
Blazing hot boiling plate
Great customer support before & after purchase
A warm & welcoming kitchen that is truly the heart of a home
Makes you want to cook
Cons:
Takes 12 weeks to arrive from the UK
Limited color choices (they think they have lots of color choices, but I kept finding Cookers online in more appealing colors that must have been discontinued.)
Some of your favorite cookware may not fit
Price (in my region, with installation & sales tax, I would be looking at about $25K. Don’t get me wrong. I still want it.)
