Xanthe’s Savory Bread Pudding

Into the oven with you

Today marks the debut of a new type of column, a little something I like to call I’ll Make My Famous…

Every month, I’ll go into somebody’s kitchen and help them prepare their trademark dish - an old family recipe, something they invented themselves, or something they found in a cookbook a long time ago and made it their own.

At best, this’ll be a fun way for you to learn some new techniques and to get exposed to something new; at the very least, it’s a home-cooked meal for me.

First up, my friend Xanthe, whom I’ve known since high school and is going to make something I’ve never had before: a savory bread pudding.  It was delicious, different, and satisfying in that way unique to old-school comfort food.  Xanthe found the recipe in a cookbook about 15 years ago and has been perfecting it since then, leaving the original recipe in the dust.  It has some ingredient combos that I’ve never seen before and was fun to make.  Video recipe follows.

Watch it real quick like, because I just received a notice from YouTube that I may not get away with using the Deee-Lite Theme as a soundtrack for very long before record companies go bananas and make me pull it. Which is a pity.  Once again, record companies can’t get it right.  I’m sure it would be terrible for Deee-Lite to get a few extra listens.  Especially when hearing poor-quality, difficult-to-copy streaming audio might remind people of how awesome Deee-Lite’s first album, World Clique, was, and as a result someone might even decide to buy it or one of their other two excellent studio albums, Infinity Within and Dewdrops in the Garden. Or perhaps you might become alerted to Lady Miss Kier’s website, where you might find out that she is performing at a Haiti Benefit at Le Poisson Rouge in New York on February 4, which may, again, eventually lead you to buy a copy of one of Deee-Lite’s albums. Ridiculous.

Want to make it? You’ll need:

3 lb. good-quality bread (we used sourdough and pumpernickel)
2 lbs Jarlsberg cheese
About 1 lb. mushrooms (we used portobellos)
A large bunch of rainbow chard
3 oz. spinach
1 leek (white and light green parts)
Butter, for sauteeing the mushrooms, chard stalks, and leeks
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 lb)
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups cream
2 eggs

This should be enough to serve 10-12 easily.  It’s worth making a lot, as it makes for perfect leftovers – just stick some in the oven.  I had some a few days later with a salad and it was excellent.

Many thanks to Xanthe for letting me do this.

One more thing: it’s damn near impossible for me to think about pudding without thinking about this.  And now it will be for you, too!

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