S3 E43 Croissant Bread Pudding w/Bourbon Creme Anglaise

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hello and welcome to Perfectly Seasoned, the podcast about all things culinary. I'm your personal chef, Greg Strom. Today on Perfectly Seasoned, don't know what to do with that stale croissant? Here's an idea. Stay tuned to find out. And one of my favorite desserts growing up was my grandma's bread pudding. She used to be able to make the most amazing things out of the simplest ingredients, and bread pudding was one of my favorite, favorite things that she made. And all it was was stale bread, eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and raisins, and vanilla. How simple could that be? It was just it was one of those flavors that you close your eyes and you can still taste. And of course, that's what grandma's food always was, anyway. She's one of those that never measured, but it came out perfect every time. So I did actually learn how to make it by watching her, and I was able to translate a little bit of this and a little bit of that into a written recipe, and over the years made a few changes and additions. I created my version as an homage to my grandmother Zender's bread pudding. Joining me today on the phone from Wheeling, West Virginia is a good friend and fellow foodie from a long time ago, Donna Glass. She's we have a history that goes back to, I guess we started doing cooking classes at Ogleby in like I guess maybe 2003 or four. And yeah, and it's been a while. It's been a while. And so I thought I would, I would, I would uh lure her into the podcast by uh letting her try this recipe and see what she thinks about it. So what were your thoughts about this, Donna?

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Well, it was simple to make. I mean, bread pudding is one of those comfort foods that as you're making it you just feel good. Because you know the end product is gonna make you so happy. So I thoroughly enjoyed making it. I mean the hard part in the whole thing is the freshly grated nutmeg to not you know lose a fingertip.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

That's the tricky part.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Uh well, you know, you can use the regular nutmeg, but it just doesn't taste the same. I think grated nutmeg just tastes better.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

I thoroughly agree. And I mean any kind of grater will work that you have with a nutmeg. So if you just have the nutmeg seeds, yeah, you can do it very easily.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

I I actually haven't bought nutmeg in a jar for I don't know, 30 years maybe. I I I oh I have I I always have I always have that. And also the other one that I like is Allspice. I like allsplice berries. I grind the it tastes so much, tastes so much better than the the jarred allspice. But I digress. I'm sure of all of the things you've made over the years, bread pudding has been one.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

It has been one, and it is a favorite of mine as well. My grandmother did not make bread pudding, but I can pretend she did. Okay. She was from North Carolina, they just used up all the bread, they ate it all. There was never anything left.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Well, I'll lend you my grandmother if you want to say that's fine.

unknown 4:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

So I made this on Wednesday and I took it to a dinner, and there were ten of us. So because I wanted to have a lot of critics tasting it and giving me their feedback. And it was such fun, and I got some vanilla ice creams go with it, and we just had a lovely time, but this recipe serves easily sixteen people.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Yes, it does. I don't know if you remember, but uh at one of the the opera brunches that I did at the uh mansion, and when we did the the brunch outside, the opera brunch, that was that was one of the years I I did the uh chocolate croissant bread pudding.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Because it is it's l pretty inexpensive uh to make for a lot of people. Exactly. It is it it it worked very well. Now the the option of ice cream is the creme anglaise. Did you you you just did the ice cream?

SPEAKER_02 5:27

I had spent as much time in the kitchen as I seem to do these days, so I opted for the ice cream.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Nothing wrong with that.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

I I Well it was Tillamook, so it was good ice cream.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Oh yeah, yeah. Well, I don't I don't buy ice cream anymore. I make my own. You've had it.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

I've had it. I I have to admit I continue to buy ice cream. It's one of my dinner favorites if I don't feel like cooking, actually, Greg.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

I I just want to catch up a little bit because I haven't talked to you for so long.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

I know. It's been it's quite a while. Quite a while.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Are you are you still doing some cooking at the mansion?

SPEAKER_02 6:06

I'm doing cooking. Mainly it seems to involve church these days. Not doing as much at the mansion, just for the antique show. So that I mean that's once a year, so that's that's easy. But I seem to be doing a lot with church things because we have a new minister and have a lot of conferences, and so it gives you a chance to experiment and do some things that you you want to do, but you need a number of people to be present because it makes so much.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

I have to tell on you a little bit because Donna is the queen of serving thousands.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Yes, I do like to serve thousands.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Oh my gosh. And uh I will tell you, one of the most favorite things that you taught me how to make, I still make. It's a deconstruct, it's a deconstruct, it's basically a deconstructed Ruben sandwich in a bowl bread bowl.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

And it's addictive, it's totally addictive.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

It is, it is. Donna is she's taught me a lot over the years, all the years we were there, and uh she was always sitting in the front row of my cooking class, I'll tell you that.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

That's right, that's right. Taking notes.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

So on a scale, we have the scale, I call it, it's the golden fork. On a scale of one to five, how many forks would you give this recipe?

SPEAKER_02 7:34

I'm gonna give it four and a half. I found the bourbon was a little too present. And I I would cut it back just a little tiny bit or switch it to rum for me. My that's my personal preference.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

I'll tell you what I have done with that is I've used spiced rum.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Oh, I could have done that.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Yeah. Now, you I I just want to let you know that one of the the only rule in being a guest home cook on perfectly seasoned is you have to follow the recipe exactly the first time. After that, yeah, after that, the bourbon can be totally optional if you want it. You don't really even need to have it. I mean you could up the vanilla a little bit, or you can use the spiced rum, which I've done in the past.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

I I think spiced rum would be perfect for my palate. And of course, I used a really good bourbon. I don't know if that makes a difference or not. If I maybe used less potent bourbon.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

But well, a very cheap dessert just became very expensive.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Well, it did. I I had looked in there and I really didn't have any inexpensive bourbon. And I thought, okay, nobody's looking as I put this whistle whistle pig in there.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Well, last question I have how different was this recipe from the traditional bread recipe?

SPEAKER_02 9:00

What it was richer, far richer than bread pudding just made with still bread. And of course the heavy cream in there. And with the chocolate, I really enjoyed having the chocolate in there.

unknown 9:16

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

I mean, well, I enjoy having chocolate in anything, but just the chocolate made it very special. But it was so enjoyed by everyone.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Well, I have a story about the chocolate. When I came up with this, the the recipe, because my my grandma she didn't use cream heavy cream and stuff like this. I mean, it was just stuff that on the farm, they had milk. They had milk, you know. Right. But she put raisins in her bread pudding. And I happen to like raisins, but I've made I've made the bread pudding, the croissant bread pudding before I did the chocolate with raisins, and I got some feedback that, you know, I don't I don't like raisins. I a lot of people don't like raisins, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

I know, and that that puzzles me because I think they're just wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Well, that's when I decided, well, I see, what looks like a raisin? A chocolate chip. And lo and behold, chocolate croissant bread pudding was was born. So uh and and that's all I do now. I don't I don't I don't use I try not to use raisins in in anything recipes only because I don't know what it is. People just don't like raisins for some reason.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Well, and if you're going to serve it to people that you you're not quite sure, you have to leave things like that out. I don't put nuts in most things like cookies, and unless it really calls for it. Just for that reason, you don't know about allergies these days, as well as likes and dislikes. So you have to keep that in mind when you're going to make a recipe.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Absolutely. One of the things that I like about these old-fashioned simple recipes is just that they're simple. And the nothing is hidden. The ingredients you can act, they all come through. There's not that many ingredients in it, so you can taste them all. And bread pudding is true. It's one of those things that is it's always been one of my favorite. It's one of my favorite desserts. And every time I eat it, I close my eyes and I see my grandmother or so.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

And uh don't you just love dishes like that? I do that with I do that with apple pie.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

It just it just brings back wonderful memories.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Yeah. Did you serve this at the dinner? Did they have like champagne or anything, or was this just like a dessert and coffee?

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Oh no, there was drinking involved.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Alcohol, yes. All right.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

There was drinking involved, but there was no special beverage served with it, but everyone just absolutely enjoyed it. But I I was surprised at how much I had left. But then several people said their husbands would thoroughly enjoy having it. So it was packaged up and went home with other people. So all of it was enjoyed.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Listen, we're gonna head over. We have the segment called Wine O'Clock, and we resident Somalier, Cynthia Tosh, and she'll she's going to tell us what she would pair with this. I know what I would, I know what I paired with it. There's a wine that it's from Italy, it's called Vinci. You might have you might have heard of it, I'm sure you've uh it's it's a sweet dessert wine, and usually what they do with it is it's served with biscotti and you dunk the biscotti into it. And how perfect. It is, and this was that uh the the taste of that with the the the bourbon sauce and the the the the chocolate, it would it just worked very well. So I'm kind of hoping that this time she's gonna side with me. We'll see what happens. It's always I have a 50-50 chance. So, but I want to thank you so much. I've enjoyed, I've enjoyed having you on the podcast. And I next year, season four is coming up, and I have some other recipes that I'm gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Well, that's good. My my daughters are very impressed that I'm doing a podcast. They've never done one, so I have I'm ahead of them in something in the modern world.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Do they want to be guest home cooks? I got plenty of slots open.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

I will ask them.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

I've actually had Kurt on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Have you?

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Yes, and he never cooked anything before. It was his first time.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

What did he cook?

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Pork carnitas in a slow cooker.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Oh, he could do that.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

Yeah. It took five minutes to put together, and you just let it cook for like seven hours. So he was a good sport about it. So I'm always looking for people who are they don't have to be great cooks. They don't they they might be their first time, and uh that's I I it's it's it's about the food itself and about the the memories that food have and and create. So I'd love to have them on spread the word.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

I will spread the word because I think you're right. It's the memories that you get as you're cooking and when you're eating. And it just makes the whole experience more special.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Yeah, yeah. I I although I'm retired, I I am retired, I'm not fully retired. I still helped him with projects for appraisal, but I have since I've retired, I've started the podcast and it's really starting to pick up, and I'm having the best time of my life.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Well, it sounds like a perfect segue into the next segment of your life.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Yes. Well, I call this part of my life act three. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Yeah, yeah. Well, listen, I will be talking to you again, and I hope you have a good summer, and you too. I really appreciate it. And it was terrific catching up and and and talking to you. So I will be talking to you again.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

I will talk to you, and our entire committee at the mansion sends their best to you.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Oh, thank say hello, thank you so much. Thank you, thank them so much.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Okay, bye. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Welcome back, Cynthia.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Good to be back.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

How was your week?

SPEAKER_01 15:55

It's been a busy week, but a good week. A lot of good meals, so always a good week.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Uh yeah. Okay, well, today's recipe was an homage to my grandmother's classic bread pudding. So, what to drink?

SPEAKER_01 16:12

What to drink. Now, you're having this for dessert after dinner, let's say. So maybe the wines you were drinking with, you know, a heavy cabernet or something, but you still want to have wine. So I'm gonna move you to a couple of options. Dessert wine. Usually these come in 375, so you know, and they last a long time once opened, if kept, you know, in the right conditions. But the first one I'm going to suggest is bagnoules, which is a French floridified dessert wine produced in Roussillon, where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean Sea. Beautiful, beautiful area. And Banyules is made primarily from Grenache grapes, and they halt the fermentation. That's what you do in these kind of wines to preserve all the grape sugars, which results in a very complex, sweet wine, usually about 16% ABV. So you get baked strawberry, black cherry, dark cocoa. It's kind of the ultimate chocolate pairing, you know, in terms of wine. Yeah, really, really delicious. Have you had that before?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I have not had that, but I've had something similar, which it is a Vinsanto.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

They are both renowned sweet dessert wines, but you know, different, completely different regions, different countries, and different methods. So bagnoles, French fortified red wine made by stopping the fermentation to retain that sweetness, while Vinsanto is an Italian unfortified, let's say holy wine made by drying harvested grapes. So very different styles, but they both kind of do the trick, right? They do.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

I am not much for a sweet wine, but the Vinsanto is one of those uh they they dunk biscotti in it. And it goes it goes very and it also goes very well with chocolate and the the richness of the custard. So one of the things that you have made me aware of and is doing the research on these to find out where they come from, how they're made, and interesting about this, these two wines you're talking about, a similar end product with two totally different uh ways of of making it. And I I would have thought, knowing that Vinsanto is made from like raisins, basically, uh that the other one would be the same so because of the sweetness that comes out of it. But stopping the fermentation, how do they do how do they do that? How do you stop the fermentation?

SPEAKER_01 19:03

So a neutral grape spirit is added during fermentation to halt it, and then that preserves the natural sugars. So, but but so with Vinsanto, they use the pasito method, which is dried grapes. So grapes are dried on like straw mats for months before pressing and slow fermentation. So, you know, you get that honey, caramel, dried apricot, toasted almonds. That's where the almond biscotti dipped into the glass of the Vinsanto comes into play. Whereas with banyols, when you do that, you get a ruby red, rich, full-bodied, you know, forward wine that goes really well with chocolate desserts or even like blue cheese.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yeah. But I do have a question about Vinsanto, about the the making of it, because it's dried fruit. Where does the liquid come from? You you can't get liquid out of a raisin.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

I like that. That's really funny. I mean, you're right. That is true.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

So it's the curse of being, it's the curse of being logical.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

It's right. So the grapes sit on mats for months and the water evaporates during drying, right? Which is why the grapes dry up and only thick sugary juice remains, and that does yield like little liquid. It's very science forward, and I'm probably not going to explain it very well, but it gives you that super concentrated and sweet juice. You know, something else that's really fun about Vincento that I do know is that they age it in tiny casts that are sealed with wax for like a decade. So it's really, it's very, a very unique process that I even have not dove into very much.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Well, that's why I do deep Google. Sometimes it's it's gratifying and sometimes it's just very disappointing because I don't get an answer. But hey. So those are both good choices. I I I I definitely want to try the the what was the first one called? If you could set if you could text me that, that would be terrific because I'll add it into the into the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

And I I'm all for trying it because I don't like a lot of sweet wine, but certain dessert wines, just you know, after trying Vinsanto, I I would be willing to try some like uh like a good French dessert wine because uh Yeah, you know, like I love sauternes, and that's the white dessert wine with semillon and savion blanc.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

And that goes through the process of noble rot or botrytis. Which is completely different than than Vin Santo or than Vanyol. So there's just so much to explore with that. And Sauternes is absolutely one of my favorite dessert wines. But I must say I must plug my favorite option of them all, which is Taylor Fladgate port. I will always do a 20-year, I mean, I would do a 40-year if I could. 20-year Taylor Fladgate port with some chocolate at the end of an evening. It's just the perfect match.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Yeah, I have to admit, I'm I'm not much of a port person. I've tried a number of them, but there's just something about it that I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

You know, I wasn't, I wasn't either. I really wasn't years ago. And I sell, I sell a lot of port. I sell wears, I sell Dows, I sell Croft, Taylor Fladgate, and I went out there two years ago, if you remember. I went out as a guest with Taylor Fladgate, and they took us around and to the duro and we were in the vineyards, and I tasted more port in that one week than in my entire life, that I will probably have in my entire life. And I just had a newfound respect for it. They taught us how to drink it, they taught us how to pair with it, all about the production. We met, we met the winemakers, we stayed on the properties, and I mean that certainly helps. You you fall in love with it. And I definitely gained a newfound appreciation for port. And it's something that the people in my circle they like to drink. Actually, one of my friends, Jimmy, owns a restaurant in town called JJ's, and they have the biggest port collection outside of Portugal. In fact, we've had people from Taylor Fladgate come that work for the company saying, you know, the owners of Taylor Fladgate don't even have, don't even have some of these vintages. Like you have more port than they have, which is quite extraordinary. So I'm surrounded by some port fans, and they've really educated me on it. And I've gotten to try 50-year-old port, which is outstanding, late bottled vintage, uh, you know, different, different vintage ports, and uh 80-year-old port, and it's truly something very special. So, you know, it's just something that you have to want to develop your palate for, but when you pair it with the right dessert, it's like changes the game. It's completely it's a just a beautiful experience, truly.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Okay, well, I I do have a surprise for you though. Are you sitting?

SPEAKER_01 24:46

I'm sitting.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Okay. I actually drank my favorite white wine, and it turns out it's a Chardonnay.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

It's a Pui Friday.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

What's the date today? My gosh.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

And I never even thought about it. It's my it's been my all-time favorite white wine.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

I'm so proud. I feel like a proud mama right now. This is amazing news.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

I had to give you that news because I thought, oh my god, I can't believe this. All these years I've been drinking Chardonnay and didn't even think about it.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

Oh my gosh. And you were naysaying it here everywhere. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

We're going to be going out to Napa in August. Tim's doing an appraisal out there, but we're taking a few extra days and heading up to the wine country. So we're looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

I'll have to give you some places to go.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

Yes, you will. And we'll hit every one of them.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Yes, I have a long list. So I will certainly do that.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

Well, thanks. Thanks again, Cynthia. If you have any questions about today's recipe or if you would like to be a guest home cook on Perfectly Seasoned, please email me at info at the SilverChef.net. And you can listen to Perfectly Seasoned on my website, thesilversh.net, my Facebook page, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify. This is your personal chef, Greg Strom. Thanks for joining us today on Perfectly Seasoned, and remember to always eat fresh. May the fork be with you, and may all your days be perfectly seasoned.