Savory Chorizo and Onion Bread Pudding

Leftover French bread. There is never a shortage of it in our house.
We buy a baguette, gros pain, or campaillette almost every other day and usually don't finish the entire loaf.

So what do you do with it all?
There aren't any village dogs to carry it away since our neighbor's dog, Goomy, passed on. And the village cats don't want it.
There are only so many things you can do with croutons and breadcrumbs.
My New Orleans Bread Pudding is so decadent and rich, and I think should be saved for special occasions. (Husband might disagree. I think he would gladly eat it every day)
And I can't fathom just throwing it away.


My Greens Cookbook has a recipe for Savory Bread Pudding that I've glanced at over the years, and the other day, as I sat there looking at this big chunk of day old gros pain sitting on our kitchen counter and thinking that there was simply no more room in our freezer for more breadcrumbs, inspiration struck.

In the end I didn't use Deborah Madison's recipe. Kevin Weeks had a Savory Spanish Bread Pudding recipe on his blog, Seriously Good, that piqued my interest. I fiddled with it to work with what I had available, and the result was seriously good!


Savory Chorizo and Onion Bread Pudding
serves 4-6

• 6 thick slices French bread (not a skinny baguette - I used gros pain)
  
• 5 eggs
• 2 ½ cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces dried Spanish chorizo, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 cup grated Cantal entre-deux* (white Cheddar would also be good)
  

Set oven to 200 degrees F. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and dry them in the oven, being careful not to brown them. If your bread is day old, this will take less time than if not. Keep checking it.

Heat the olive oil in skillet over medium heat and add the cut up chorizo. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add onion and sauté until onion is translucent. Add minced garlic and cook 1 more minute. Set aside to cool.

Raise oven heat to 400 degrees F.

In a big bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the bread cubes, sautéed chorizo and vegetables, and tomato, and leave it to sit for about 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times so the bread absorbs all of the liquid.

Pour into a lightly buttered, 8x8-inch square baking dish.
Bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for another 20 minutes or until the pudding is puffed up and browned.

Serve immediately.

*I used Cantal Entre-Deux because I had a big chunk to use up. Parmesan or white Cheddar would also work.

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Smashing Through Those Stereotypes

We had some friends around for dinner last night, a French/Spanish couple and a British couple. It was a fabulous evening that culminated in a visit to the local bar for a coffee and to see a group of women who perform a cappella, singing in both French and Occitan.

I made a Greek salad with watermelon, cucumber, little orange tomatoes from our garden, red onion and feta cheese, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt and pepper. That sweet/salty combination is divine!


The main course was jambalaya, which everyone had heard of from the song, but didn't know what it was exactly. We served our precious last bottle of Crystal Hot Sauce alongside and they all used surprisingly generous amounts, then decided that Crystal puts Tabasco to shame. I guess I'll be bringing many bottles back from New Orleans in February.

Dessert was another New Orleans favorite, bread pudding with Whiskey sauce. I haven't made it since our big Easter bash. This is my carefully guarded, secret recipe that I won't give out, not for anything.





So, about that stereotype...
toward the end of his second helping of bread pudding (he had two helpings of everything!) José exclaimed, "I guess it's not true that the Americans can't cook."

So happy to help quash that all-too-common stereotype! Pin It

Happiness is a Nine Hour Lunch

What a day we had yesterday! Nine glorious hours of eating and drinking in the sun with good friends. That's what Sunday afternoons in the south of France were made for!

Our friends were kind enough to host a lunch in the garden of their new house. By new house, I mean they just moved in last week, yet were sweet enough to have eight people over for lunch. Each couple brought a different course to make it a bit easier on the hosts and I offered to bring dessert...New Orleans style bread pudding with Whiskey sauce.



We started the meal with perfectly grilled asparagus wrapped in Jambon de Bayonne and a delicious rice salad with avocado, green olives, red onion and tomatoes in a mustard vinaigrette. Next came garlicky, grilled lamb and involtini (grilled, stuffed eggplant) followed by cheese then dessert and coffee.

We finally managed to drink this Jeroboam from our local wine co-op that was given to my husband as a birthday present a few years ago. It seemed to be the never ending bottle, but we eventually finished it off with the cheese then opened a bottle of Muscat St Jean de Minervois to enjoy with dessert.


It was a perfect day.


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