Prune Apple And Chestnut Bread Pudding Food

GRAMMA'S APPLE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish.
• In a large bowl, combine bread, raisins, and apples. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 cup margarine. Cook and stir until margarine is melted. Pour over bread mixture in bowl.
• In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Pour bread mixture into prepared dish, and pour egg mixture over bread.
• Bake in preheated oven 40 to 50 minutes, or until center is set and apples are tender.
• While pudding is baking, mix together sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup margarine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve over bread pudding.

HERB & APPLE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large (12-inch) saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the pancetta, raise the heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Stir in the onion, celery, and apple and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the sherry, rosemary, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper and cook for 5 minutes, until most of the liquid is gone. Off the heat, stir in the parsley.
• Meanwhile, beat the eggs, cream, chicken stock and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese together in a very large mixing bowl. Add the bread cubes first and then the vegetable mixture, stirring well to combine. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the bread to soak. Stir well and pour into a 2 1/2- to 3-cup gratin dish (13 x 9 x 2 inches). Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of Gruyere and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is browned and the custard is set. (Insert a knife in the middle to check.) Serve hot or warm.

PRUNE, APPLE, AND CHESTNUT BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• For bread mixture:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Place bread on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until almost firm, about 7 minutes. Cool on sheet. Whisk remaining ingredients in large bowl to blend. Stir in bread. Cover and chill until bread absorbs custard, at least 3 hours.
• For filling:
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Sauté bacon in large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until fat renders, about 7 minutes. Drain all but 2 tablespoons fat into small bowl. Add onions to bacon and fat in skillet and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes.
• Add apples, chestnuts, celery root, and thyme. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté 5 minutes to blend flavors. Add Sherry. Boil until juices thicken to syrup consistency, about 2 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Place skillet in oven and bake uncovered until apples and celery root are tender, about 20 minutes. Mix in whole prunes and 2 tablespoons of reserved bacon fat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Bread mixture and filling can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep bread mixture refrigerated. Cover filling and refrigerate.)
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread filling in 3 1/2-quart ovenproof casserole or 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon bread mixture evenly over, covering completely. Bake pudding until puffed, golden brown, and firm to touch in center, about 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

BREAD PUDDING WITH DRUNKEN PRUNES

Steps:

• Place diced prunes in a small jar or bowl, pour Comfort ove rtop; let sit about 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350. Brush 2-quart baking dish with 1 T. melted butter, set aside.
• In a large bowl, drizzle remaining butter over bread cubes. Scatter cubes on a baking sheet and brown lightly in the preheating oven. Remove and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine milk, cream and vanilla. Add eggs, yolks, sugar and salt, whisking until smooth; set aside.
• Dump bread cubes into prepared baking dish. Remove prunes from liquor (or it might all have soaked in) and toss with cubes. Pour egg-mixture over top of cubes and prunes; cover.
• Place baking dish in a water bath (water should come 3/4 of the way up the sides of the dish), in the oven. Bake for one hour (or until "set").
• Remove dish from water bath, chill for two hours in refrigerator before unmolding from baking dish (or leave in the pan if you're not doing a fancy presentation).
• If you prefer to serve the pudding HOT, let it rest only until it is unpuffed--but do NOT unmold to serve.
• Serve with "butter-rum" sauce (1/2 cup each melted butter and powdered sugar with 3 T rum splashed in--heat briefly in the microwave) OR vanilla ice cream OR whipped cream.