Tart Cherry and White Chocolate Bread Pudding

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When I want a hamburger, I want a hamburger, and for me that means a hamburger bun. But I can’t buy buns in packages of one or two. Now, I know what you’re thinking, why not go to the bakery section of the local supermarket, pick up tongs that God knows who have touched, grab as many large, dried out, flavorless buns from the bin that God knows who has breathed into, bag them up and bring them home. Umm, no.

My solution was to find something else to do with those buns. So, with the three brioche hamburger buns that remained from the four-pack that I’d bought, I made this sweet and tart bread pudding that soothed my soul. Bread pudding is on my top 10 list of comfort foods, and boy did I need it today. If you have some old buns hanging around (nothing personal, you understand), and need some soothing yourself, give this a try.

Tart Cherry and White Chocolate Bread Pudding

3 day-old brioche hamburger buns, cubed
½ c. white chocolate chips
1 3-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Dried Tart Cherries
½ c. sugar
½ T. cinnamon
¼ t. freshly ground nutmeg
3 large eggs
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. whole milk
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. almond extract
4 T. unsalted butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray an 8” x 8” baking pan with PAM; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, toss together the buns, white chocolate chips, and dried cherries; set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, reserving 1/4 cup of mixture. Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, milk, vanilla and almond extracts. Pour cinnamon and sugar mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour this mixture over the bread/chocolate mixture, and fold to incorporate.

Pour mixture into prepared pan, and sprinkle with reserved sugar mixture. Scatter butter cubes over the top and bake for 50 to 55 minutes until the top is golden, and edges are bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.

Summer Pasta Salad

Last week was a crazy one. I’m not going to get into the details, but I will tell you that at one point, I decided to touch up the woodwork in the bedroom, and ended up painting it all! That was a lost day. At any rate, the deck garden is doing well, and cucumbers and green peppers are ripening in leaps and bounds. In addition to dicing and slicing the peppers to freeze for use during the winter, I’ve also used them just serve pasta salad with great results. Look how cute these are. It serves a dual purpose of using up one of my many (way too many) peppers, and saves me washing a dish, not to mention delighting my lunch guests with this clever edible “bowl.”

I had intended for this post just to be a brief one on a rather unique use for green pepper, but I thought I would toss in my recipe for pasta salad as well. I liked this one in particular, because I found the addition of dried cherries to be quite a pleasing one. I tossed them into the salad dressing to hydrate them a bit, and then mixed everything together. Wonderful!

Summer Pasta Salad

4 whole red, yellow, or green peppers

Dressing

1 T. Melissa’s Dried Tart Cherries

2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ cup olive oil

½ t. kosher salt

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

½ t. dried oregano 

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 c. tri-color rotini, cooked according to package directions

½ c. cherry tomatoes, halved

1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 English cucumber, seeded and diced

12 pitted Kalamata olives

½ cup diced red onion

1 c. feta cheese, crumbled

½ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Cut the tops off of the peppers, as well as a tiny bit off the bottom to allow them to stand upright. Seed and remove any white pithy parts. Rinse and invert onto a paper towel to dry while you make the salad.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic until thick and creamy; add cherries and chill. In a large mixing bowl combine pasta, tomatoes, green pepper, cucumber, olives, red onion, feta cheese, and parsley. Toss salad ingredients with dressing gently to coat. Scoop into hollowed out peppers and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6

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