Bread Pudding (and other creative ideas for transforming loaves into meals)
One of the items on a Chef’s job description is managing inventory. Taking care of the items you have on hand and utilizing them to their best potential (not to mention utilizing the dollars and cents spent on them). This expectation goes for the cooks in a restaurant and for every home kitchen manager too. Part of this is aided by purposeful purchasing, and part of it is just pure creative flexibility and resourcefulness.
Whether it’s a bag of spinach that you grabbed on a whim, or a loaf of bread just not getting eaten, food waste management is a responsibility we all hold. We all eat. Waste management must be taught and demonstrated to our children as they learn about portions and eating what’s on their plate, and also must be understood by the cooks doing the prep for meal service. Until you have thoroughly appreciated the full spectrum of production, from planting, growing, feeding, nurturing, harvesting, sorting, washing and even butchering to get to all the components of a meals onto the table, we cannot fully comprehend the importance of managing our fridge well.
Today I am focusing on bread. Great bread. Amazing bread that has roots which I really understand. One of our food partners is Hildegard’s Bakery in Winnipeg. As a grain farmer’s daughter from southern Manitoba, ‘rescuing’ and distributing (thanks to partnership with the bakery through Second Harvest) bread on a weekly basis resonates, and sharing a resource with others goes beyond providing daily bread for those in need.
Bread Pudding … French Toast
Serves: 4-6
Pan size 8x8
200g Thick cut country bread/cinnamon buns
2 cups Milk
1/2 cup Sugar
4 Eggs, large
1 tsp Vanilla
Whipped cream
Fruit compote
Select baking dish and turn oven on to 300F. Brush sides and base with butter.
Cut bread into 1- 1 ½ ” slices. Remove crusts if desired. If using cinnamon buns that are very large, slice into 1/3’s.
Place sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl and whisk well to dissolve the sugar. Add milk and vanilla.
Strain the custard using a mesh strainer, overtop the bread. The custard should cover or just cover the top of the bread. Let the bread soak in the custard for at least 15 minutes (or overnight covered in the refrigerator) before wrapping with tin foil and placing in the oven.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the center of the custard is firm and reaches the internal temperature of 165-175F on an instant read thermometer.
Remove from the oven and let rest a few minutes before cutting into squares.
Serve hot with whipped cream and a cooked fruit sauce/compote, sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
Cool and refrigerate any of the leftovers. OR:
To serve as French toast (pictured above), cool and refrigerate overnight. Cut/slice and pan-fry in butter on both side and serve with fruit compote and whipped cream or a crème anglaise sauce. Serve up to two days after being made.
Just need one serving? Reduce the recipe to what you can fit in a small ramekin, just be sure there is plenty of room for the bread to expand, otherwise it’ll overflow!
Savory Bread Pudding
Serves: 6-8
Pan size: 9x13
240g Country bread/Sourdough cut in 1 ½” cubes
1 Tbs Bacon grease
90 g Bacon (cooked), ham or sausage, chopped
1/2 cup Onion or leek, diced and sautéed
45g Cheese, shredded (cheddar)
3/4 cup Swiss chard, chopped and cooked/drained
4 Eggs, large
3 cups Milk
1 tsp Thyme leaves, dry
1/4 tsp Black pepper
Select baking dish and turn oven on to 300F. Brush baking dish with bacon grease, about 1” up the sides as well as the bottom.
Cut bread into 1- 1 ½ ” cubes. Use crusts. Prepare the garnishes, making sure all moisture is squeezed out of the cooked chard/kale. Smoked cheddar is my first choice for cheese type.
Crack eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk well, adding thyme and pepper. Add milk and whisk well.
Add the bread, bacon/ham, cheese, and Swiss chard to the custard and toss to coat.
Pour into baking dish and even out. The bread should not be fully covered by the custard. Cover with foil.
Bake for an hour, or until the center of the custard is firm and reaches the internal temperature of 165-175F on an instant read thermometer.
Remove from the oven and let rest a few minutes before cutting into squares.
Serve hot with pan fries and a green salad.
Cool and refrigerate any of the leftovers. This can be heated up to serve for up to two days after being made.
The custard doesn’t need to fully cover the bread for this style of bread pudding. That allows the top to become crusty and crisp!
The final recipe today is a classic Italian bread salad that is delicious served in the summer with fresh garden vegetables.
Panzanella Salad (tomato and bread salad)
Makes 4 servings for a meal portion, or serves 8 as a side dish
Ingredients:
220g bread, crusts removed & cubed
6 ripe tomatoes, large dice
1 red onion, dice or sliced
1/2 cucumber, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
6 leaves of basil, julienne
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tsp red wine or balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
Directions:
Prepare the ingredients as directed.
One way to prepare this, is to pan fry the cubes of bread in additional olive oil, before tossing them in with the vegetables and dressing. This adds some nice flavor.
Place ingredients in a serving bowl. Toss well and taste for seasoning. It is best if this salad sits for about 10-15 minutes, to soften the bread and draw out some of the moisture of the vegetables. So, give it a toss with the dressing just as you’re starting to get the table set and dinner plated up and it should be just right.
“See you in the kitchen”
