New Orleans Bourbon Bread Pudding

My husband loves Jim Beam Bourbon.  I am not a big fan of hard liquor. But since it is Father's Day, I wanted to make him something special.  I recently bought The Complete Cook's Country TV Show Cookbook  and I found this recipe - just what I was looking for.  My husband loves bread pudding and he LOVES his bourbon - what a better combination!!

This does take a little work, it is not something you can just whip up.

Ingredients

1 18 to 20 inch baguette torn into 1 inch pieces
1 cup golden raisins (I didn't have golden raisins, so I just used plain ole raisins - LOL)
3/4 cup bourbon (use his or her favorite brand -Jim Beam here!)
6 T unsalted butter
8 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 T vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 T sugar

Heat the oven to 450.
Arrange the bread pieces on a baking sheet and bake until browned - about 10 to 12 minutes.  You want these to just be toasted lightly.  Remove from oven.

.
Reduce oven to 300.
Pour 1/2 cup of the bourbon into a saucepan and add raisins.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

Strain the mixture, reserving the bourbon and the raisins separately.

Whisk the egg yolks, brown sugar, cream, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg together.  Add 1/4 cup bourbon and the reserved bourbon.  Mix in the bread and toss to cover.

Let sit for 30 minutes.You want the pieces of bread to be soft.  If still hard, let them stand another 15 minutes
Butter a broiler proof baking dish.
Pour half of the bread into the dish, sprinkle with half the raisins.  Pour the remaining bread and sprinkle with the remaining raisins.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Oh how I wish you could smell how wonderfully my house smells - HEAVENLY!!

Remove the foil and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove from oven.

This is where the recipe should have stopped BUT it didn't.  It said put the broiler on and broil for 2 minutes.  Which I did - DO NOT DO THIS!!!!  It burns the top of your pudding and it is not pretty!!!  Omit this step (I can not emphasis this enough!!!).  The pudding was still good, but it came real close to ruining a whole lot of work!!

Bourbon Sauce: (for children, omit this and just use vanilla ice cream)

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup bourbon
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 T sugar
2 tsp unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

Whisk the cornstarch and 2 T of the bourbon together in a small measuring cup, set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the cream and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until the sauce begins to thicken, roughly 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and 2 T more of the bourbon.

Drizzle the warm sauce over individual servings of the pudding.

YUM!!

VERDICT:

This was definitely a winner recipe (despite almost burning the pudding!).  My husband LOVED it.  I have to agree, it is good!!

Enjoy!!

Entire Recipe:

New Orleans Bourbon Bread Pudding

Ingredients

1 18 to 20 inch baguette torn into 1 inch pieces

1 cup golden raisins (I didn't have golden raisins, so I just used plain ole raisins - LOL)

3/4 cup bourbon (use his or her favorite brand -Jim Beam here!)

6 T unsalted butter

8 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 T vanilla

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 T sugar

Heat the oven to 450.

Arrange the bread pieces on a baking sheet and bake until browned - about 10 to 12 minutes.  You want these to just be toasted lightly.  Remove from oven.

Reduce oven to 300.

Pour 1/2 cup of the bourbon into a saucepan and add raisins.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. 

Strain the mixture, reserving the bourbon and the raisins separately.

Whisk the egg yolks, brown sugar, cream, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg together.  Add 1/4 cup bourbon and the reserved bourbon.  Mix in the bread and toss to cover.

Let sit for 30 minutes.You want the pieces of bread to be soft.  If still hard, let them stand another 15 minutes

Butter a broiler proof baking dish.

Pour half of the bread into the dish, sprinkle with half the raisins.  Pour the remaining bread and sprinkle with the remaining raisins. 

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Oh how I wish you could smell how wonderfully my house smells - HEAVENLY!!

Remove the foil and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove from oven.

Bourbon Sauce: (for children, omit this and just use vanilla ice cream)

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup bourbon

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 T sugar

2 tsp unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

Whisk the cornstarch and 2 T of the bourbon together in a small measuring cup, set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the cream and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until the sauce begins to thicken, roughly 3 to 4 minutes. 

Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and 2 T more of the bourbon.  

Drizzle the warm sauce over individual servings of the pudding

ENJOY!!

Strawberry Goat's Milk Ice Cream - YES!!

What a better way to spend a HOT and HUMID day in Ohio than making Strawberry Goat's Milk Ice Cream!!  And strawberries are in season now and they are DELICIOUS and WONDERFUL and . . . simply the best thing on earth right now!!  And farmer's markets are back in season, so run yourself down to your nearest farmer's market and buy yourself a pint or two or three - LOL!!!

These strawberries came from a local farmer - aren't they gorgeous!!

The recipe I am going to use to make the ice cream comes from the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream & Dessert Book.

You need one pint of strawberries.  To prepare the strawberries for the ice cream, I rinsed them first.

Roughly chop the strawberries and put them into a bowl.  Add 1T of lemon juice and 1/3 cup of sugar.  Mix to combine.

Store in the refrigerator for one hour before using in the ice cream.

You can use your favorite vanilla ice cream recipe or the one I always use (which is another Ben & Jerry's recipe), BUT I substitute goat's milk for the milk in the recipe.

After an hour, if you want a "chunky" ice cream, drain the juice into your ice cream base.  (You add the strawberries the last 2 minutes of the freezing).

The recipe I use for the ice cream base is;

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup goat's milk (or regular milk if you don't have a goat - LOL!)

Whisk the eggs until they are light and fluffy.
Add the sugar into the eggs a little at a time.

Add the goat's milk (or regular milk) and the heavy whipping cream and whisk to combine.  Take the strawberries out of the refrigerator and drain the juice into the cream base.

Pour into your ice cream maker and freezer according to the manufacturer's directions.

Two minutes before the ice cream is done, add the strawberries.

OH MY!!!  Is this EVER sinfully delicious!!  You can't buy this in the store!!

Put in freezer containers.  Will store in the freezer for about a week or two - trust me!! It doesn't last THAT long!!  ENJOY!!