My mother was not a great cook, nor a bad one. She was, I am sure, a very typical 1950s and 1960s, mom in the kitchen. She had a repertoire of a dozen, maybe twenty, recipes and these rotated across the days of the week. Fish on Fridays at first. Roast beef on Sundays. She made a great Yorkshire Pudding.
But making radically different things was, for her, problematical. I remember an attempt at bread pudding that was so ghastly even she stopped after a couple of bites. We all politely went to the kitchen and scrapped out plates. In silence. We never mentioned the incident again.
And I never ate bread pudding again until well into marriage with Suzen.
When she said, “I’m making bread pudding tonight,” I made a face. She reassured me that all would be well. It turns out that chocolate bread pudding was very well. And we have desserted on bread puddings ever since. For her corporate team building events at Cooking by the Book, where corporate teams come to cook and eat together, the dessert team making a bread pudding is always the happiest. There is something just organic about taking bread and soaking it in milk, heavy, cream and eggs. The look of satisfaction at the first bite, hot out of the oven, is awesome. These times, people scrape their plates clean with their fork. [Yes, I do believe some of them think about licking plate very clean.]
Last week, Suzen and I climbed up the ladder of bread pudding sophisticaion. She had bread. She had chorizo. She said to me, “Go google for a savory bread pudding.” I made a face, again. She reassured me, again. And, again, all was lovely.
I found the recipe below on Epicurious. We did not follow it exactly. Suzie had the chorizo to be added, and there was other cheese, lots of cheese. But the core idea is shown in the recipe below which I’m sure is a delight. Thing is, bread pudding is not one of the baking recipes where you have to follow each step and measure to the gram.
No, this is the kind of recipe you might see on a reality food television show. You should feel free to improvise, add, subtract, and personalize this to your heart’s content. You can’t go wrong. So a cup of diced chorizo is a welcome addition.
In this savory form, bread pudding is hearty main course. Just pair with a salad and enjoy every cheese bite.
Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms and Parmesan Cheese
Yield: serves 8 to 10
Ingredients:
1 (1-pound) loaf crusty country-style white bread
¼ cup olive oil
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 large garlic clove, minced
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) butter
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (such as crimini, button, Portobello, and stemmed shiitake), thinly sliced
1 ½ cups finely chopped onion
1 ½ cups thinly sliced celery
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
3 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
8 large eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
⅓ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Cut bottom crust and short ends off bread and discard. Cut remaining bread with crust into 1-inch cubes (about 10 cups loosely packed). Place cubes in very large bowl. Add oil, thyme, and garlic; toss to coat. Spread cubes out on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until golden and slightly crunchy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Return toasted bread cubes to same very large bowl.
Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, celery, and bell pepper. Sauté until soft and juices have evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add sautéed vegetables and parsley to bread cubes.
Whisk heavy cream, eggs, salt, and ground pepper in large bowl. Mix custard into bread and vegetables. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Sprinkle cheese over. DO AHEAD Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake stuffing uncovered until set and top is golden, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes.
Source: Epicurous.com
Photo Information [Top]: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/4.5 for1/50th second at ISO‑2500
Photo Information [Bottom]: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/3.5 for1/40th second at ISO‑2000
