Makes: 6 to 8 servings
Time: About 1 hour, largely unattended
The ultimate safety net for bread bakers, ensuring that your day-old loaves will never go to waste. It’s good with any hard, semihard, or crumbled cheese, herbs, or cooked meat, and it’s a wonderful repository for leftover cooked vegetables; stir in up to 3 cups along with the cheese. Plus, any bread you like will work, just as long as it’s neither overly crusty nor overly soft. If all you have on hand is fresh bread, dry it out first: cut or tear it into pieces and put it on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake it in a 250°F oven until dried out but not browned, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the bread. If it starts to brown, turn your oven to the lowest temperature or turn the heat off entirely but leave the bread inside.
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and put a kettle of water on to boil. Warm the milk, butter, herbs, and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper in a small saucepan over low heat just until the butter melts. Meanwhile, butter a 1½-quart or 8-inch square baking dish (glass is nice) and cut or tear the bread into bite-sized pieces—not too small.
2. Put the bread in the baking dish and pour the warm milk mixture over it. Let it sit for a few minutes, occasionally submerging any pieces of bread that rise to the top. Beat the eggs briefly and pour them evenly over the bread mixture. Sprinkle the cheese evenly on top. Set the baking dish in a larger baking pan and pour the hot water from the kettle into the pan to within about an inch of the top of the dish (see illustration, page 338).
3. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean or nearly so; the center should be just a little wobbly. Run it under the broiler for about 30 seconds if you want to brown the top a bit. Serve hot or store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To reheat, cover with foil and heat in a 325°F oven for about 15 minutes; remove the foil and heat for another 5 minutes or so for a crisper crust.
BACON BREAD PUDDING Begin by cooking about 8 slices of bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon with tongs or a slotted spoon and roughly chop it. Use the rendered bacon fat in place of half of the butter. Stir in the chopped bacon along with the cheese in Step 2.
JalapeñO CORN BREAD PUDDING Skip the herbs; use day-old corn bread (page 71) as the bread and cheddar or Jack as the cheese. Stir in 1 or 2 chopped jalapeños and ½ cup chopped scallions along with the cheese.
BLUE CHEESE AND WALNUT BREAD PUDDING Especially nice with Multigrain Bread: Use 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary as the herb and blue cheese (no more than 1½ cups) as the cheese. Stir in 1 cup roughly chopped toasted walnuts along with the cheese.
RYE BREAD PUDDING WITH PASTRAMI AND SWISS Like a deconstructed Reuben sandwich: Skip the herbs; use rye bread and Swiss cheese. Stir in 1 cup chopped pastrami along with the cheese, and if you really want to channel the Reuben, stir in some sauerkraut as well.
SAUSAGE AND OLIVE BREAD PUDDING Begin by sautéing 8 ounces hot or sweet Italian sausage (removed from its casing) with a little olive oil, breaking up the meat as you go, just until cooked. Use 3 tablespoons olive oil in place of the butter, parsley as the herb, and Parmesan as the cheese. Stir in the sausage (along with any rendered fat) and ½ cup chopped pitted olives along with the cheese.
WHOLE GRAIN BREAD PUDDING WITH SQUASH AND SAGE Begin by roasting 3 cups cubed winter squash that you’ve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper at 350°F until just tender, around 40 minutes, depending on the squash. Increase the milk to 3½ cups, use 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage as the herb, and stir in the roasted squash and a handful of cooked wheat berries, farro, rye, or other chewy grain along with the cheese. Use Multigrain Bread.
BREAD PUDDING WITH DRIED TOMATOES AND MOZZARELLA Use a good white or semolina bread: In Step 1, add 1 cup chopped dried tomatoes to the milk when heating. Use chopped fresh basil as the herb and substitute slices of fresh mozzarella for the grated cheese.