Savory Bread Pudding - Testing

https://foodwastefeast.com/recipes/2018/4/15/savory-bread-pudding-with-greens-and-roast-veggies

The Rough Recipe

Serves 6-8, with sides, and takes about an hour and twenty minutes (only 20 of that is active time though).

You'll need the following:

About 8 cups bread, cut into chunks (the version pictured uses both a slightly stale baguette and some frozen brioche rolls leftover from a dinner party)

Roughly 4 cups whole milk, or 2 cups milk and 2 cups cream, or a combination of milk and stock - enough to moisten all your bread

2 eggs

1 cup (or more, don't let me stop you) of whatever cheese you might have in the fridge, crumbled or shredded

Butter or olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan

About 4 cups of diced vegetables, ideally an allium such as an onion or scallions and a few cloves of garlic, and then any combination of leafy greens, roasted vegetables, fresh herbs, or whatever you like. Keep already cooked items separated from those that need some time to saute. 

Kosher salt and black pepper, if desired

leftover frozen bread, stale bread, leafy green, kale, onions and blue cheese

If you want to add meat, I usually use something with a lot of flavor and some fat, like bacon or sausage. I dice the meat and cook it in the pan first, then remove the meat and saute my vegetables in the bacon or sausage fat. 

Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Whisk the milk and eggs together in a large bowl, then add the bread chunks. Mix in the cheese, and make sure all the bread is submerged so it can soak up the milk.

Heat the butter or oil into a large skillet over medium heat (or cook your meat and remove it from the pan). Once the butter is melted, add your alliums like garlic and onions and anything that needs a while to saute, like kale stems, and cook until softened. This could take 5 minutes, or more like 10 if you have tougher veggies or stems. Once those are tender, add any leaves or already-cooked vegetables and stir to combine and cook another 3 minutes, until wilted and warmed.

You can cook different kinds of veggies separately if you want, just make sure they are all cooked before you add them to the bread. I did the scallions, onions, and kale stems from the below picture together, then tossed in the chopped kale leaves. 

Remove the veggies from heat and let cool a few minutes before adding to the bread mixture. Add a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper and stir to combine thoroughly.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour in the bread and vegetable mixture evenly. Bake until the top is puffed and golden brown, about 50 to 60 minutes. Serve hot. Cool and refrigerate any leftovers – it’ll reheat well in the microwave.

golden brown delicious bread pudding

 

leafy greens, herbs, bread, eggs, milk, cream, broccoli stems, kale stems, chard stems, kale, chard, scallions, onions, cheese

ATTEMPT #1

550g diced bread (buns and baguette)

2 cups milk

2 cups vegetable broth

2 eggs

3 slices bacon cut into lardons

1 leek, sliced

5 crushed garlic

2 broccoli stems peeled and diced

8oz mushrooms, sliced

a few leaves of chard or beet leaves

4 oz cheddar

pinch of salt and pepper

1. Dice the bread.
2. In a very large bowl, whisk the eggs and mix in the milk and broth.
3. Weigh down the bread to keep it submerged under the milky mixture for the next hour or so.
4. Render the lardons until they are perfectly crispy. Remove the crispy lardons and set aside.
5. In the hot fat, cook the leek, garlic, broccoli, mushrooms and chard stems.
6. Once softened, add the leaves and cook until tender and bright green.
7. Preheat the oven to 350F.
8. Allow the vegetables to cool a few minutes.
9. Meanwhile, mix the cheese, salt and pepper with the soaked bread. 
10. Add the vegetables and toss well.
11. Butter a gratin dish and pile in the mixture.
12. Bake in the oven for 1hour 15 minutes or until golden and puffed up and the center has solidified.