I hate thanksgiving food. I know hate is a strong word but it is how I feel and I just had to get it out in the open. What I love about my family’s tradition is that we go to a friend’s house for a potluck feast where there are items for traditionalists like sweet potatoes with marshmallows and cranberry sauce as well as those for the non-traditionalist like cajun-spiced turducken and my Mom’s incredible spicy broccoli.
Three years ago, our potluck was canceled at the last minute. I seized the opportunity to try and make a stuffing I could actually stand the smell of and possibly even eat! I settled on Thomas Keller’s Leek Bread Pudding, which was quite possibly the best thing I had ever eaten.
Leek Bread Pudding
Yield: 12 side portions
Ingredients
- 4 large leeks – cut in ½ lengthwise and then into ½” thick slices
- 4 tbl butter
- ½ cup white wine
- 12 cups crusty bread – cut into 1” cubes
- 2 tbl fresh thyme
- 3 eggs
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 8 oz gruyere, grated
- 4 oz parmesan, grated
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Clean the sliced leeks and dry thoroughly.
- Heat butter in a large sauté pan. Add the leeks, season with salt and saute over med-hi heat for 5 minutes, until they start to stick to the bottom.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine and scrap up browned bits. Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in thyme and remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, lightly toast the bread cubes in the oven until pale golden (about 5-10 minutes) – toss in a large bowl with leeks.
- Whisk together eggs, milk, and cream – season this with salt and pepper.
- In a 9x13 casserole dish spread ½ the bread mixture, top with ½ the gruyere and parmesan, and then spread the rest of the bread. Pour egg/milk custard over everything, making sure to get all of bread nice and wet.
- Top with the remaining gruyere and parmesan.
- Bake for 1 hr - 1 ½ hrs, until it feels set in the center (springs back slightly) and is golden brown.
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