FOOD LEAGUE

I haven’t always loved bread pudding. But there’s a simple reason why — I’d never had great bread pudding.

Even though I’ve spent five years  trying to hone my instinct for casseroles (both sweet and savory), I knew that this one deserved a recipe. It’s just close enough to baking that I wanted to start with the science. And when I need peer-reviewed recipes, I tend to go for Cook’s Illustrated. They had just published a Classic Bread Pudding recipe, which I followed down to the little t in each teaspoon. It was wonderfully creamy, the bread and custard mixture had a perfect texture, and the flavor was balanced between egg and cream. But no nutmeg?  Why, CI, would you eliminate the spices?  I wasn’t invested in their interpretation of classic, so I aimed for delicious by adding spices and apples.  It worked — I was trying to be sneaky about nabbing a bite after it had been out of the oven for  only six minutes. Which begs the question: for whom was I so delicately covering up the evidence of my nibble?

If you’re in Portland, I recommend the rotating flavors of bread pudding at Crema. They use chocolate a bit too much for my taste, but I’m inspired by their other flavors. Upcoming variations will include pecans, figs, berries, pears, and/or ginger. Check out the recipe after the jump.

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Cooked this up randomly one night. Not bad.

Directions:

Pour desired amount of balsamic vinegar into small sauce pan and simmer on low until it turns into a viscous and slightly syrupy deliciousness. Saute yellow squash with salt and pepper until soft on the inside and medium soft on the edges. Transfer yellow squash to plate, sprinkle with goat cheese (Cypress Grove recommended), and drizzle balsamic reduction on top.