Greedy Girl : Savory Bread Pudding

M...eat...less

Recipes have a funny way of transforming themselves. I had every intention of making some savory bread pudding waffles with a pepper jelly glaze ( which was really some store bought pepper jelly melted in the microwave…soooo good) I went to my mother’s house because I did not take the waffle sandwich maker when I moved. We turned that kitchen upside down and we have yet to find the waffle iron inserts. Needless to say, I was highly annoyed. Because bread pudding really need to cook thoroughly, I didn’t think the sandwich press inserts could do the job as well as the waffle inserts. However because I had no other choice but to make it work, I tried cooking this recipe three ways.

I greased up the sandwich press with coconut oil and added the batter and closed it. Then I added some oil to the pan and added the batter similar to pancakes and tried cooking it that way, And lastly I poured the remaining n a pan and baked it in the oven. The results, All three were delicious however, generally bread pudding takes a while to cook and come together so the pan method was out, because the center was uncooked while the outsides were already very brown. The sandwich press method was not terrible, however I left them in there for at least 15 minutes to get the center cooked as much as possible. For me pouring it in a greased pan and baking until a tester comes out clean is probably the safest bet. And I am sure A waffle iron would also be great because it has so much surface area of heat to cook it as well.

The fault I think I had with my original recipe was the batter was too moist. Firstly, I used milk and not heavy cream and secondly I used way too much of it. So my pudding was taking super long to cook no matter what method I used. I tweaked the recipe to that the batter is more creamy and less watery. That way if it goes in a waffle iron, sandwich press of baked in a dish it will not take that long to cook and will yield a more palatable texture. I would also recommend using firm bread not soft mussy slices that will disintegrate too fast when mixed with the liquids.

Now we can put technicalities and methods aside the flavor is quite good. The sage celery carrots and onions really start a good flavor profile. I would have added cheese but we didn’t have any. I think a nice smoked gouda would have been lovely with this. Maybe shredded on top in the last 8 minutes of cooking. It makes a really great side dish. I pan fried the slices the day after and had them for breakfast covered in maple syrup. Yum!

Ingredients (printable recipe)

2 tablespoon Coconut oil

4 sage leaves finely chopped

5 sage leaves chopped

¼ cup chopped Onion

¼ cup chopped Celery

¼ cup chopped Carrot

¼ cup chopped Tomato

¼ cup chopped Sweet pepper

3 cups chopped Bread

1 cup Heavy Cream

1 egg

½ teaspoon Salt (to taste)

¼ teaspoon Black pepper

2 tablespoon Honey

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Chop up the bread into cubes
In a sauce pan with coconut oil sauté sage leaves, celery onions and carrots until onions have softened and they are fragrant
In a bowl combine cream, eggs, salt, black pepper and honey and beat
Combine the milk mixture, sauté mixture, bread tomatoes and sweet peppers in a bowl
Make sure to mix thoroughly to allow the bread to soak the moisture
Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to allow it to soak
Pour into a greased dish and bake for 40 minutes or until a tester come out clean
Serve warm or room temperature with maple syrup or pepper jelly

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