Bread Pudding

Lindsay here!

Thursday was an unusually chilly day and I had a craving for something warm, comforting, and homemade. First, I thought about vegetable soup. Then after thinking through the preparation process I decided that all the chopping and dicing required for this dish was too much work for me. Not to mention, the root veggies I would need to buy for the dish are no longer in season and therefore pretty expensive here. So, I moved on.

I was flipping through my beloved source of vegetarian food inspiration, The New Moosewood Cookbook, and came upon it. "It" was Bread Pudding. . . and oh. my. gosh. . . scrumptious! This "poor man's pudding" was just the thing to warm us up inside and fill our home with the aroma of Christmastime (without emptying the wallet!).

This is a fantastic vegetarian cookbook with recipes that focus on whole and local food that are simple, healthy, and sustainable. (If I can follow the instructions, anyone can!)

First time really baking in our convection oven. Sure, we've heated things up using the microwave, grill, and oven functions, but this was the real test. Everything worked flawlessly.

For my Austrian friends: I couldn't find vanilla extract at Billa, but I did find this vanilla Bourbon sugar packet. It was either this or scrape a real vanilla bean. I decided to make things interesting and throw the sugary-whiskey packet into the mix (I compensated and used little less sugar).
I must say, the combination aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, and Bourbon was almost as good as the taste. Let me know if you want the recipe!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Added on June 13, 2011

I've had a couple of requests for the recipe. It's posted online here with permission from the author. I encourage you to consider buying the book, though. Mollie Katzen has beautifully illustrated and hand-written each recipe herself. Just flipping through it makes me want to sit down and doodle. The book also makes for a very special gift. (Mine was a gift and I think of my friend every time I use it.) And, if that doesn't convince you, maybe the fact that the book was listed by the New York Times as one of the top ten best-selling cookbooks of all time will.

Guten Appetit!