Savory Bread Pudding

This was one of those dishes that I created on a whim, not even sure if it would turn out. 

Which means did I measure things exactly?....ummmmmm, no. 

I have had several requests on Facebook for the recipe of this dish since I posted the picture above.
So here goes...hopefully I can recreate the madness that went on in my head last night.

:: Ingredients ::

French bread

Fresh spinach leaves

Bacon crumbles

Canned artichokes

Butter/margarine

2 different kinds of cheeses

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups of milk 

1 tsp red pepper

1 tsp onion salt

Two 9 in. round pans 
One 9 in square pan

Pam cooking spray

:: Directions ::

Turn on the oven to 375 degrees.
Get out one of your pans and cut the french bread into cubed pieces until there is a nice tight layer in the bottom of your pan, you shouldn't be able to see the bottom of that pan!

Mix eggs, milk, red pepper and onion salt together until thoroughly blended. 

Then pour the mixture evenly over the bread and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

While that mixture is working, get a skillet out and melt some butter, like a tablespoon or so.

Grab two or three handfuls of spinach leaves, put them in the pan and let them cook down, stirring the entire time. Reduce heat and add your bacon. Cover the pan.

Pull out your container of canned artichokes, get out 5-6 chokes, then squeeze them to remove the juices. Add those to the spinach and bacon. Cook for another minute or two, then remove from the heat.

Here's where you add one of your cheeses. 

I went with a sharp cheddar that I grated directly into the skillet and folded it into the mixture of spinach, artichokes and bacon. It was probably close to a cup in measurement. I think it depends on the kind of cheese how much you should add. Cheeses that are more powerful in taste you would probably want to scale back a little. 

Now grab a small saucepan and boil 2 to 3 cups of water.  You'll see why below.

Now prepare your other pan with cooking spray. Get your bread, eggs and milk mixture from the refrigerator and add it your skillet. Fold it in so everything is evenly distributed and then add everything to the new pan.

Now it's time add a second cheese to the top. I went with an Asiago cheese and grated enough so it covered the top of the dish.  

Grab your 9 in. square pan and pour in the boiling water. Place your round pan in the water bath and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes. The last two minutes turn the oven to broil to brown it a little.

This recipe will make 4 servings like the one below.

Blueberry Muffins

Today my daughter's best friend's family invited us to go blueberry picking. 

I hadn't done that since I was a little kid. 

We had such a great time and we have tons of blueberries now as the bucket below got filled to the top 

when my daughter's friend decided we needed more blueberries and dumped her bucket into ours. LOL.

So, time for some creative recipe developing by yours truly! Blueberry muffins were first on the request list, 

and they turned out so delicious - I thought I would share with you guys!

:: Ingredients ::

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vanilla soy milk

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) melted

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups blueberries

:: Directions ::

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line muffin pan with muffin cups. Recipe will make about 16 muffins.

In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt - whisk together.

In a separate bowl, beat together milk, melted butter, egg and vanilla until blended.

Add liquid mixture to dry mixture until moistened. Then fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes. 

Immediately remove muffins from pan and let them cool on wire rack.

July 4th, 2012
Made these for brunch today and changed the vanilla extract to almond extract + I added the zest of one small lemon -- so so good!!!!