The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [136]
After a light meal, a sweet bread pudding makes a substantial and nourishing dessert, and no apologies. Savory puddings can be just as delicious; taking the place of a grain casserole, for example, they make a hearty foil for green vegetables, soup and salad.
Sweet Bread Pudding
4 slices of light bread, buttered and cubed
2 cups of warm milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
¼ to ½ cup honey or other sweetener
The recipe in Laurel’s Kitchen is still the best we have come across, but here is a much simpler one that you can vary endlessly with raisins, cinnamon, fruit, nuts; top with toasted coconut, cinnamon, date sugar, or what have you! Use plain or somewhat sweet bread.
Put the bread in a baking dish. Mix the milk, eggs, and sweetener and pour over the bread. Bake at about 325°F an hour, or until brown.
Simple Cheesy Bread Pudding
1 tablespoon butter
4 cups of cubed light bread (about 4 slices, ½ to ¾ inch thick)
2 cups warm milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
⅓ to ½ cup grated sharp cheese
This is a standby for us. Vary it as you like to suit the rest of the menu, and the mood of the bread that wants using. (Sweet or fruity breads aren’t well suited to this recipe.) Bear in mind that the bread “slices” we use are good hefty ones. If you’ve got really thin slices left over, you’ll need more.
Use part of the butter to grease an 8″ 8″ inch pan and put the bread cubes into it. Mix the milk, egg and cheese and pour them over the bread. Dot with the remaining butter. Bake in a moderate oven, about 350°F, until the custard is set and the top nicely brown.
Let it cool before you eat because it is incredibly hot when it comes out of the oven.
FANCIES
Sesame bread is wonderful in this dish, using cheddar cheese—top it with a tablespoon of toasted seeds.
Rye bread, especially sourdough, is particularly good with an aged Swiss cheese. Add a sautéed onion and a half cup of chopped celery for a delicious casserole.
Croutons
The best croutons come from bread that is airy and not too sweet—light sourdoughs are superb.
For croutons in a hurry, toast bread slices in a toaster, butter them, and cut into cubes. Croutons made in this way will be soft in the middle and are not meant for storing but for eating up right away.
To make plain croutons that will keep a long time, cut bread into ½- to 1-inch cubes, trimming off the crust if you think it is necessary. Spread the cubes on a shallow pan and keep an eye on them while they bake very slowly until they become 100 percent crunchy. (Chomp on one: no other way to be sure that I know of.) If the bread contains milk or much sweetener, take care when toasting it to prevent its getting too brown. Cool thoroughly and store airtight.
Just plain, good crunchy croutons add extra interest to soups or salads. Or you can flavor them either before or after the toasting, to complement whatever you will serve them with. The traditional method uses considerable fat: either spread slices of bread with herbed butter, cube, and toast in oven or skillet; or toast already cubed bread in a skillet with herbs and olive oil or garlic and butter or whatever suits. Usually a little extra salt is welcome, but keep a light hand.
Whether the bread is already cut and toasted or not, you can flavor it using a whole lot less fat, sometimes none at all. Select savory flavorings: sautéed onion, garlic; herbs like celery leaves, parsley, thyme, or dill weed; salt, soy sauce, lemon juice or peel—to mention just a few possibilities. Blend the seasonings with a compatible liquid—water, broth, milk, tomato juice, whatever, allowing about half a cup of the flavoring brew per quart of croutons (four