SKAGIT BREAD PUDDING

Adapted from Joy of Cooking

This is a perfect use for the ends of the loaves of our wonderful local bread, mixed with the fine local Golden Glen Creamery dairy and local farm eggs.   It's sweet enough for dessert, but not too sweet for breakfast.

The recipe called for a 2 quart baking dish.  My old 10" x 10" x 2" corning seems to make the right proportions of bread to liquid.

Ingredients:

Good bread, day old, or more, cut into large cubes.  Leave the crust on.  The recipe had quantities, but I just cut the bread into the baking dish until it is overfull.  That's about a half loaf of baguette, and a half loaf of potato bread, or a little more.  If it's too fresh, cut the bread an hour or so in advance & spread on a baking sheet.

3 cups whole milk (I mix 2% and 1/2 & 1/2, because that's what I have)

4 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup raisins

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

orange zest from about a third of an orange (organic peel, please)

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix the milk, eggs, sugar, raisins, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and orange zest with a whisk. 

Add the bread cubes, and toss to mix. 

Leave the cubes to soak in the milk mixture for at least an hour, stirring often to get the big cubes to absorb the liquid.

Butter the baking dish and preheat the oven to 350.

Bake for less than an hour, until a knife in the center comes out clean.  The bread cubes on top should be brown and crunchy.

Serve warm, with cream.

from Carol Havens

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