Savory Rosemary Gruyere Bread Pudding

Back when the Food Channel still had cooking shows, I remember watching an episode of Emeril Live where he made savory cheesecakes.  And I thought, "we need to tell the Cheesecake Factory, they're sitting on a gold mine".  While I have still never seen one in person, I started questioning all of my dessert beliefs: can I eat this earlier in the meal, before I hate myself?  Can't I find a way to avoid a diabetes-inducing amount of sugar and still have a delicious baked good?  And, most importantly, can I find a way to put more bacon in this?

And now, you can.  As I was staring down about $5 of unused, questionable rosemary bread from the farmer's market, The idea struck me like a stale loaf of bread to the dome.  This was not to be another farmer's market total loss.  So I sliced the bread up into large cubes in anticipation of my further pleasure.

What ensued was, quite possibly, one of the most delicious things I have ever made.  Crispy, rich, smoky, and with that pine forest smell from the rosemary both baked into the bread and freshly added to the dish, you could easily get lost in this "pudding", which I would describe as either the best stuffing you've ever had, or a meal that combines the best of breakfast, dinner, and dessert.

I will confess that I lifted a few components of this recipe from a fellow blogger here, but then went and updated with a better process and a few ingredients, not the least of which is bacon.  I highly recommend you do two things - use stale bread (slice it up one day before it's too hard to slice, then cube it and leave it in a bowl to dry), and let the custard mixture soak into the bread for at least 8 hours.


Rosemary-Gruyere Bread Pudding

• 5 cups of cubed, stale Rosemary or French bread, crusts removed
• 1 tablespoon butter, plus more for greasing pan
• 3/4 cup chopped sweet yellow onion such as Vidalia
• 1/4 cup of chopped shallots, or 1 large
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, about 2 cloves
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 healthy pinch of black pepper
• 2 thick-cut slices bacon, preferably applewood smoked
• 1.5 cups of milk (I used 2%)
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 4 eggs, beaten lightly
• 1 cup of coarsely grated Gruyere cheese, separated in half

A few days to a few hours before, cube the bread into 1" cubes and place in a bowl to dry.  Toast bread cubes just before using to remove remaining moisture and brown slightly, and place in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs and add in milk and cream.

Toasted bread cubes, next to the egg custard soak.  Treat this as you would a delicious pan perdu, or French toast

In a large saute pan, melt butter and cook onion and shallots over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3-5 minutes.  Add some of the salt partway through to pull out some moisture.  Now add rosemary and garlic and stir in for 1 minute.  Remove all from pan, and cook bacon until slightly crispy.  Drain on paper towels, then chop bacon into 1/4" pieces.

Into a large bowl, place toasted bread cubes, vegetable mixture, bacon pieces, egg - milk custard mixture, and half of the cheese.  Toss well to combine but don't stir so aggressively that you break up the bread cubes.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 1-8 hours.

Before the long rest and soak

After an 8 hour rest in the fridge.  Totally soaked up the egg mixture, fat and happy and ready for the oven

When ready to cook, grease an appropriate casserole with butter, and heat oven to 350 F.  Lightly spoon in bread pudding mixture into the dish (do not pack this in tightly, it will get mushy), and place in oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes.  After 40 minutes, top with remaining grated cheese, and return to oven for 10-15 minutes longer, until browned and melted.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes and serve.

Served simply, where the bread pudding can be the star