Savory Bread Pudding

This is a recipe from my dear friend, John Brosnan. I make this a couple times every winter. It is delicious and makes great leftovers. Perfect for a larger gathering because it serves 10-12 people.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. french bread, crusts removed, shredded
3 large onions, sliced
Butter, at least 1 stick
1 lb. crimini brown mushrooms
1 T. fresh thyme
2T. fresh parsley
1 head spinach
2+ cups Gruyere
2+ cups swiss, any kind
1 cup parmesan
2 cups whole milk
6 eggs
Cayenne
Garlic
Salt + Pepper
Cornmeal or crushed pecans (optional)

preparation

Shred bread into 13" x 9" pan. It should be filled to the top. Saute onions in 3 T. butter, over medium-high heat, 20 minutes. Keep stirring until browned. Set aside. In sauce pan, saute mushrooms with sliced garlic, 1 tsp. thyme, and 2 tsp. fresh parsley, for 15 minutes. Set aside and cool. Saute spinach in butter. Add chopped garlic + salt after cooked. Mix whole milk, eggs, 2 tsp. salt + pepper, remaining thyme, parsley, and 1 tsp. cayenne. Add cheeses. Mix all ingredients together, in 2 batches if necessary. Butter 13 x 9 pan and add crunchy texture like cornmeal or pecans, if desired. Put mixture in pan and sprinkle with extra cheese + herbs. Bake at 350˚ for 45 minutes (20 minutes with foil, 20+ mins. without). Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

note

I often add pimentòn (smoked Spanish paprika) to this dish for a smoky flavor. You can also add sausage if you like.

The best grilled cheese sandwich I ever ate

I haven't had grilled cheese sandwiches in years, but this version has made me a true believer again. This is the grown up version - with olive tapenade - but just like the kid version it is still fast and easy to prepare.

The olive tapenade takes about 10 minutes to prepare, but in our highly scientific taste test, we found that it was fresher and tastier than what we usually buy at Trader Joe's. It keeps for quite a while in the fridge and is really easy if you have a food processor. The recipe calls for nicoise or gaeta olives, but I used kalamata because they were easier to find and less expensive than buying the other varieties at the olive bar. I have recently found that you can buy kalamata olives at Costco and they are perfect for this recipe.

To make the tapenade, combine the following in a food processor and pulse, leaving a little texture: 1 cup olives (see comment above), 2 T. rinsed capers, 2 garlic cloves, grated zest of 1 small lemon or half a large lemon, lemon juice to taste, 1 T. chopped parsley, freshly ground pepper, and 4-6 T. olive oil.

To make the sandwich: Slice 2 pieces of rustic whole wheat or italian bread. I used sourdough from my local bakery. Cover one slice with a thin swipe of tapenade, then add sliced cheese over that. The recipe calls for carmody or teleme cheese because they melt well, but I used marinated mozzarella and it was super yummy! Top with the second slice of bread and lightly butter it or brush the outside with oil. Set the butter side down into a hot skillet. Butter the top of the second piece. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until crisp and golden. Cook on the other side. Take your time so that the cheese melts without burning the bread.

Add some greens and a glass of wine and you have an excellent meal.

Cost to make the tapenade. This really depends on where you get your olives. I made a double batch because the container of olives I got was about 2 cups. I also recently got kalamata olives at Costco for $5.99 for a 1.5 liter jar. I think there are about 4-5 cups of olives in the jar. If you buy olives at your local olive bar, they'll run you about $10/lb which I think is about $5.00 per cup. I get my organic, extra-virgin olive oil at Costco. It has an excellent flavor and costs $21.00 for 3 liters. This makes it $7.00/liter or about $1.75 per cup (about 11 cents per tablespoon). Capers are also widely variable in price. For the batch I made with the 2 cups of olives costing about $5, here's the cost:

2 cups kalamata olives - $5.00

4 T. capers - $.50

1 lg. lemon - $.50

2 T. parsley - negligible

4 garlic cloves - $.50

6 T. olive oil - .65

fresh ground pepper - negligible

TOTAL - $7.15 for 2 cups, so about $3.60 per cup

Trader Joe's costs $3.00 per 8 oz. jar. I think it's definitely worth making your own for the really fresh flavor.

The cost of the sandwich is also highly variable depending on the kind of bread and the kind of cheese you use. The marinated mozzarella cost $5.50 for an 8 oz. braid. I used about 1/8 of it, so that's 69 cents. I get 12-16 slices of bread per loaf, so at $4.50 per loaf, that's .28 - .37 per slice. You're supposed to use very little tapenade, but I love it so I probably used 2 t. per sandwich. That still makes each sandwich about $1.00 - $1.25. Not bad for the best grilled cheese sandwich ever!

Wine-Braised Lentils

I normally think of lentils as being pretty bland, but these are full of flavor and they make excellent leftovers. This recipe comes from the "supper sandwiches" section of the cookbook. Although it features something over bread, it certainly didn't seem like a sandwich.

The red wine in the lentils, along with aromatics and tomato paste really give these lentils a wonderful flavor. The recipe called for french green lentils, which I decided to try even though I had regular lentils on hand. The green lentils are smaller and they have a firmer texture. They were super yummy, but I bet plain lentils would be fine in this, too. The red pearl onions are really tasty with this dish, but too fussy for me. In the future I will just used sauteed onions, or better yet, caramelized onions. The recipe calls for chard, spinach, or other greens. I happened to have spinach in the fridge, so that's what I used. This would also be fine without the greens, though they lend flavor, color and nutritive value.

This dish didn't take long to cook. Here's how you get started.

Rinse 3/4 cup french green lentils (or other lentils). Parboil them for 5 minutes, and drain.

Dice 1 large carrot, 1 small onion, and 1 or two celery ribs (about 1/3 cup each). Heat a little olive oil in a sauce pan and saute the veggies over medium-high heat until browned a little. Add one crushed garlic clove and 1 T. tomato paste, mixing well. Add 1 1/2 cups dry red wine and 1 t. dijon mustard. Add 1 1/2 cups water, 1 t. salt, and the drained lentils. Simmer covered 30-40 minutes until the lentils are done.

While the lentils are cooking, blanch 12 red pearl onions and peel off the skins. Saute them in olive oil for about 5 minutes or until they begin to color. Add a splash of wine or water toward the end to deglaze the pan. Season with salt and pepper.

Wash one big bunch of greens. With the water still clinging to it, wilt the greens in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Stir the cooked greens into the lentils, add a tablespoon of butter or olive oil, taste and season.

Toast 4 slices country bread and rub each slice with halved garlic. Spoon the lentils over the bread and garnish with the onions.

Things I'd do differently next time: Start one or 2 onions cooking over low heat before starting the lentils. Let them caramelize while the lentils are cooking. Use the same pan for cooking the greens to cut down on dirty dishes.

Approximate cost to prepare:

3/4 cup french green lentils (organic) - $.75

1 onion - $.20

1 carrot - $.10

1/3 cup celery - $.10

1 1/2 cups red wine - $1.00

12 red pearl onions - $.90

1 bunch spinach - $2.00

4 slices country bread - $1.50

TOTAL for 4 people = $6.55