Bread Stuffing and Bread Pudding

Well, some dope allowed her house to run out of potatoes, pasta and rice. Just how difficult is that to accomplish? OK, to be fair, I knew it would happen; I can count, after all. So the plan was roast chicken with stuffing Thursday night. Then I found a recipe for bread pudding in that Fanny Farmer cookbook, and I knew I needed that, too! So, an extra large batch of one kind of bread Tuesday, and a different kind Wednesday were in order.

HARVEST BREAD STUFFING

Toasted Bread Cubes - 1-1/2 to 2 pounds
2 sticks butter
1 large onion, minced
1 large carrot, minced
2 apples, shredded
1 cup chopped walnuts
Poultry Seasoning - 1 or more tbsp
Sage - 1 or more tbsp
Pepper - plenty
6 or more cups chicken broth

I used Italian bread for this (and it doesn't appear I've ever written about it - huh!). Dice the bread into pretty large cubes, let it dry out on a rack overnight, and toast the cubes in the oven. Note: learn from me. Do not become impatient with the toasting, and put the cubes under the broiler. Bad things happen to good bread left too long under the broiler. But I digress.

Melt the butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot, and saute until soft. Stir in the apple, walnuts and seasonings, cook for another minute, then pour in 6 cups of broth, and let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the bread cubes, add more broth if the stuffing isn't wet enough for you, cover and let sit for a few minutes off the burner. This is great for Thanksgiving, and you can bet that's what I'll be serving, although I plan to buy my bread cubes. I figure I have enough to do without chopping up bread. Note that most recipes call for the crust to be removed from the bread. I left it on; no one should object to a little crust on their stale, toasted, wet bread. Although my stuffing was still dark, even after I removed the most offensive over-broiled cubes, I also noted that there was very little stuffing left for Thor.

Which leads us to dessert, and....

BREAD PUDDING

4 to 6 slices of bread, crusts removed, cut into triangles
2 to 3 apples, cored and shredded
1/4 cup sugar
cinnamon to taste
2 eggs
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Grease a baking dish (I used a 7x10 glass dish). Spread the apple in the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon (Grace, use plenty). Arrange the bread triangles atop the apples - create a pretty pattern, if you wish. I used Portuguese Sweet Bread for this; it's dessert, and supposed to be sweet!

In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, 1/2 cup sugar and salt until combined. Pour over the apples and bread in the baking dish. Let it sit for 30 minutes so the bread will absorb the milk and egg mixture. Sprinkle with more cinnamon and a touch of sugar, if desired.
Preheat the oven; after the 30 minutes have elapsed, put the baking dish in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top of the pudding is browned. Let it sit to cool somewhat before serving. This can be served warm or cold, with whipped cream on top.

This is a variation on the recipe I found in the Fanny Farmer cookbook. The recipe was written as I have shown it, without the apples, 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon, with a variation noted that applesauce can be put in the bottom of the pan before putting the bread in the pan. Given our good stock of apples, I created this variation. It must have been good, because my dearly beloved finished it for breakfast, even without whipped cream!