Ingredients
3 cup bread crumbs, coarse
6 tbsp butter
4 cup onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
2 large eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 tsp sage leaves, dried
1 tsp thyme, dried
1 dash nutmeg, ground
1 freshly ground black pepper
Directions
"This is derived from an old Welsh recipe for steamed leek pudding.
After fiddling around with the ubiquitous onion, I came up with this
richly flavored bread pudding (and several variations). You could, of
course, steam it as in the original recipe if you have a nice pudding
mold, but it's just fine baked in a souffle dish or loaf pan. It's so
good it makes my toes curl. Try it with roast chicken and a spoonful
of pan gravy."
Tear bread on a large, clean tea towel and spread to dry for several
hours. You may speed this process by drying the crumbs on a cookie
sheet in a 300 degree F oven for about 30 minutes, stirring and
turning them occasionally.
Melt 4 tablespoon of the butter and add onions. Cook them over lowish
heat until lightly colored, adding garlic near the end of the cooking
time. When the onions are done, pour in chicken broth, remove pan
from heat, and allow to cool.
Beat eggs and cream together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in sage,
thyme, nutmeg, and pepper. Add cooled onion mixture and bread crumbs
and mix thoroughly. When well blended, press ingredients down firmly
with the back of a spoon and allow it to rest 30 minutes to absorb
liquid and flavors.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Thoroughly butter a souffle dish or loaf pan, or spray with one of
those nonstick pan coatings. Spoon mixture firmly into pan. Bang the
pan bottom sharply on a hard surface a couple of times to settle
ingredients, and finish by pressing and smoothing the top with your
fingers. Strew flakes of remaining butter over the surface.
Place the pan on the center rack of the oven and bake for about 45
minutes, or until firm and nicely browned. Do not overbake--remember,
this is bread *pudding*, not bread loaf. Serve hot or at room
temperature or cold--they're all divine.
AFTERTHOUGHTS: You may make this a day ahead. Bake it in a loaf pan,
chill thoroughly, slice, and saute it in butter to go along with
creamy scrambled eggs and crisp, thick-sliced bacon.
Then again you might layer it with oysters and lashings of dry sherry.
It's no slouch either with ham or pork chops and homemade coarse
applesauce.
Source: "Lilies of the Kitchen" by Barbara Batcheller
Servings: 6 servings
Sage & Onion Bread Pudding Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Bread Pudding; Breads; Dessert; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Written cooking instructions as an idea can be tracked back into ancient history, at least as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and maybe even further. Interesting though that maybe, mostly, these early cook books were just simple hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe discovered, according to food historians is a series of tablets in Sumerian describing the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Later on, in The time of the romans 25BC a man called Apicius created some documents describing recipes prepared by his fellow Romans. In his scrolls, he tells us how the meals were split into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Additionally, he informs us how the Romans were skilled in the use of a good variety of aromatic flavours, including some that we all recognise like bay, rue and parsley. Later on, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many foods and herbs from the holy lands, including spices such as coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new herbs and spices caused an eruption in manuscripts on cookery, the majority of which still exist in private libraries. Over the succeeding few centuries, the rich families of the West competed with each other to serve up the most extravagent meals, and consequentially chefs and their recipes could command a high salary. Even so, it wasn`t until the 19th century that cooking and cookery books became really popular. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, spent years to collecting, trying out, and recording recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. The TV revolution brings us TV cookery programs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which pretty much brings us up to date and the invention of the internet, permitting everybody to access thousands of recipes such as those found on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Sage & Onion Bread Pudding recipe.
