I've missed you. You will have to forgive me for being such a lazy food blogger and neglecting you. As to be expected, you've missed a lot of good eats. I'll fill you in as best as I can.
Yours,
C
What was that about dessert every night? Well it almost happened -- like this tasty bread pudding. I used this recipe from Bon Appétit for a bourbon glazed bread pudding with pecans.
Bourbon Glazed Bread Pudding
adapted from Bon Appétit
1/3 C plus 3 tblsp bourbon (I used Knobcreek)
12 ounces French bread, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 C milk
1 C sugar
3/4 C whipping cream
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 C toasted, chopped pecans
1/2 stick butter
Soak the pecans in 1/3 C of bourbon a little in advance.
Cut up the bread and toss them in a bowl with the milk, cream, 3/4 C sugar, eggs, 2 egg yolks, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add the drained pecans to the mix. Let it sit for a bit to absorb all the liquid then pour into a 9x9 dish, cover with foil, and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes (probably a little less). To make the sauce, in a double-boiler, melt the butter, stir in 1/4 C sugar, and add 1 egg yolk. Add the bourbon and whisk until the egg is cooked (when it coats the back of a spoon). Pour the glaze over the finished pudding and serve.
I liked this 'ok.' The next bread pudding I make will definitely have pumpkin! Maybe I didn't cook my glaze long enough, but I thought it was too alcoholic. To make it taste better we decided to pour a tad of espresso liqueur over the top.
Of course bread pudding traditionally has raisins and the recipe called for golden raisins steeped in bourbon, not nuts. My hatred for raisins goes way back to my pre-school days and I haven't been able to overcome it yet. It was just too much for my young tastebuds to have a little box of raisins every-single-day of pre-school at snack time. I don't remember if we were 'forced' to eat our boxes of raisins or if I was just embarrassed not to eat them like all the other kids. Needless to say, after my pre-school graduation, raisins were cast out of my diet permanently.
