Bready Things
Mmmm. Bready Things. Panades and bread puddings, especially savory bread puddings, are some of my favorite things to make and eat. The first recipe I cooked out of The Zuni Cookbook by Judy Rodgers was the Chard & Onion Panade with Fontina (pictured in the souffle dish in photo #1). It has since become a family favorite (although, we like it with gruyere).
For Thanksgiving this year I tried out Mark Bittman's directions for savory mushroom bread pudding (photo #2), which appeared in The New York Times as follows:
"Mushroom Bread Pudding: Put 6 cups of good bread (day-old is best) cut into 1-inch chunks into a buttered baking dish. Beat 4 eggs with 2 cups of milk and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and pour over the bread. Sauté 4 cups of sliced mushrooms until tender with a teaspoon or two fresh thyme leaves and mix into the bread. Bake until just set, about 40 minutes."
I used a bit more egg, milk, and parmesan than this calls for because the bread still felt a bit dry to me after adding the initial amount. I sauteed my chanterelles and black trumpet mushrooms in butter with diced shallot and several thyme sprigs until all of the water from the mushrooms had been released and then evaporated. I sprinkled the cooked mushrooms liberally with salt and pepper before mixing them in with the bread soaked in the egg, milk, and parmesan mixture. I finally grated a generous layer of parmesan on the top of the whole thing before baking.
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