Friday Five: Hasty Pudding Edition

Songbird, pinch-hitting at RevGalBlogPals, says: "Our regular poster, Sally, having been oppressed by Blogger today, I bring you a hasty Friday Five on the subject of pudding. If you are not a fan of pudding, then you will feel solidarity with Sally, except that you will be oppressed by pudding instead. ;-)"

1) First of all, thumbs up? or thumbs down? Do you like pudding?
Yes, I love pudding, just about any kind I've ever had except Grape-Nut Pudding. (It's a New England thang.)

2) Instant or cooked? (Does anyone make pudding from scratch?)
I like just about any pudding but I do, in fact, sometimes make chocolate pudding from scratch, and it really isn't that hard. I have also made bread pudding, rice pudding, and Indian pudding from scratch.

3) If you had to choose, would you prefer corn pudding or figgy pudding?
I have just been thinking about corn pudding, which my mother used to make toward the end of the month with hot dogs cut up in it. (My father got paid once a month). There's a good recipe in my Thanksgiving cookbook, which I don't make then because of lack of oven space; I should make some soon! So, corn pudding it is. A savory pudding.

4) Have you ever finger painted with pudding?
No, that would be playing with your food.

5) Finally, what is the matter with Mary Jane?
Even something as wonderful as rice pudding can get tedious if too often repeated!

Bonus: Share a favorite recipe that includes pudding!
I'll come back and do this later, I'm going to have green pepper karhi, rice, and jalebis for dinner at my niece's house! Probably no pudding, though. OK, it's the next morning, here's how to make chocolate pudding from scratch:

Real Chocolate Pudding

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk (I usually use 1 1/2% but it probably works with whatever you have)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually stir in about half of the milk until smooth, then stir in the remaining milk.

Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat, until the mixture is thickened and comes to a boil, for about 5 to 8 minutes. Cook, stirring, one minute more.

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla and butter until smooth. Pour into four individual dessert bowls or a larger serving dish. If you don't like "skin", place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent it from forming. Chill until ready to serve, at least 30 minutes. (Large bowl will take longer to chill, small ones less time). 

Garnish with whipped cream and shaved semisweet chocolate or what have you. In my childhood we just poured milk on it. See, that wasn't so hard, was it?