Hot Dish Review

So I’ve got all this leftover bread from Bakeshop. Time to whip up some more comfort food! Bread pudding is one of my favorite decadent desserts. There are lots of variations so I’m loosely basing mine on Ed Brown’s recipe from his recent Today Show segment.

I froze the date walnut maple loaf for just this reason! Checking out several other recipes I decided to combine them and came up with this:

RUSTIC BREAD PUDDING

4 thick slices of any crusty loaf, cut into 1″ cubes
2 C. 2% milk
2 whole Omega 3 eggs plus one white, beaten
1/2 C. golden raisins
1/3 C. turbinado sugar
1 packet no-calorie sweetener
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
dash nutmeg

Combine milk, eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg and whisk until frothy. Add bread cubes, allowing them to soak up the milk mixture for about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 3 5″ individual ramekins or 1 8″X8″ casserole dish and evenly distribute bread and custard mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until browned. Serve warm with fresh whipped cream or Cool Whip!

Damn, that’s good.

This recipe is courtesy of The Rachael Ray Show. I love the toothsome quality of barley, and paired with pancetta….well, I just had to give it a try! You can access the original recipe that offers some variations via the link above or follow mine below:

MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP

1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 quart low sodium chicken stock
3 cups water
1/4 C. EVOO
1/3 lb. thick cut pancetta, diced
3/4 lb. cremini mushroom caps, cleaned and sliced
1 bay leaf
2 leeks, washed, trimmed, sliced
4 cloves garlic, grated
3 tblsp. fresh sage, very thinly sliced
2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
1 15 oz. can diced, fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup pearl barley
1 bunch kale, leaves thinly chopped
salt & pepper

Simmer dried porcini mushrooms in the water and stock. Meanwhile crisp the pancetta in the olive oil over medium heat, about 3 minutes. Add the cremini mushrooms and bay leaf and cook 10-12 minutes. Next, add the leeks and garlic and continue cooking 5 minutes. Add sage, rosemary and tomatoes.

Remove the softened porcini mushrooms from the stock and chop. Add them along with their cooking liquids to the soup pot taking care to leave behind any grit from the mushrooms. Stir in the barley and kale, bring soup to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

LG joined me for this impromptu hearty soup dinner, perfect for a winter evening! I served it with some toasted country sourdough from Bakeshop.

While writing about Jonathan St. Hilaire’s newest venture, Bakeshop, I was drooling over the menu. One of the breakfast dishes is Eggs Al Forno. Although there was a description, I was unfamiliar with it so I googled it. Turns out it is an egg (or two) baked in an individual casserole dish on top of bread and cheese….how could it go wrong?

With so much bread leftover from my weekend visit to Bakeshop, the ciabatta was begging to be used for a savory breakfast. I found a recipe online, made a few minor revisions based upon what was in the fridge, and voila! Eggs al Forno. It was scrumptious and simple, here’s how:

EGGS AL FORNO

2 eggs (1 omega 3, 1 regular)
1 thick slice ciabatta (or other bread)
1 oz. gruyere, sliced and diced
1/4 C. grated parmesan
1 scallion, chopped, to taste
olive oil
ground pepper and salt

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly oil individual casserole dish with spray. Place bread at the bottom and drizzle with a little olive oil. Scatter the gruyere, most of the parmesan, and the scallions on top of the bread. break the eggs in a bowl. I used the whole Omega 3 egg and just the white from the “regular” one, but you can use two whole eggs if you prefer. Pour the eggs onto the bread and cheese and top with the remaining parmesan, freshly ground pepper and a dash of salt. Bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes.

Be careful, it will come out sizzling! The yolk will be soft but set. Serve with bacon, berries, and coffee. Enjoy!

While Jonathan was packaging up 50 loaves of bread and Brodie was putting multiple pastries and tarts in a box for me to take home my Mom called. She was watching a show on the seven deadly sins, the current segment was on Gluttony. Thanks Mom. Gluttony is my job, hell it’s even on my business card!

After a terrific lunch at Bakeshop, Jonathan St. Hilaire’s brick and mortar venture with the folks at Concentrics, I headed home with a haul of breads, pastries, and a mini quiche to sample. I needed back-up so I called my neighbor/roommate LG.

Once again, I put out some cheeses and unwrapped the breads….country sourdough, date walnut maple, a bacon baguette, a French baguette, and ciabatta. OK, so I exaggerated a little bit, it was only 5 not 50. We tried each one with some butter, cheese, and traditional accompaniments like dried figs, honey, almonds, and olives, and a bottle of Marquis Philips shiraz.

I liked the bacon baguette but the overwhelming favorite was the ciabatta. It was crisp on the outside, light and airy on the inside. I melted some gruyere on toasted slices this morning with my fried egg and bacon breakfast.

To be honest, the dominent flavor of the date walnut loaf was orange, which was a little baffling. I was expecting some chunks of dates and walnuts but could not find any. I think it will make a good bread pudding, however, and will post that experimental recipe when I get the urge to make it.

The quiche had a lot of an herb that I still am unsure of…..dried basil? It over-powered the delicate egg and cheese but was not a total failure. We devoured the flaky croissant with a smudge of almond paste inside. The chocolate graham tart had a thick pudding-like consistency topped with crunchy chocolate cookie crumbs, but I didn’t detect any graham.

Our favorite sweet? The pistachio apricot tart, with a flavor and texture reminiscent of marzipan, it was a real winner. And it was cute too…..green with the candied apricot on top, it looked like a sunny side-up egg.

My Mom’s call got me thinking about the seven deadly sins. What are the other six? With the New Year upon us I thought it would be wise to see if I was guilty of any so I googled them. The other six deadly sins are Vanity (check), Envy (check), Wrath (check), Greed (check), Sloth, and Lust (double check). I don’t know about you but I’m obviously going to hell.

So I took down my pagan Christmas tree and rewarded my effort with the remaining chocolate croissant. It was flaky and full of melted chocolate. Maybe I’ll make a BLT on the ciabatta for dinner. Honey, I’ve got bread for days, for weeks even….come on over and make yourself a samich!

Bakeshop 903 Peachtree Street 404-892-9322 www.bakeshopatl.com

I love bread. And so does Jonathan St. Hilaire, owner of Bakeshop with partners Todd Rushing and Bob Amick of Concentrics, his former employers.

Located in midtown next to the Metropolis, this place is a full-on bakery. Nothing divides the kitchen from the dining area except a big wooden shelf of freshly baked breads. Three communal tables, one of them practically in the kitchen, made of thick solid wood are paired with tall aluminum chairs to provide casual, neighborly seating.

The aroma of baking bread always reminds me of Germany. There, we would walk to the bakery down the street to get brotchen for breakfast every few days. They used to deliver it every morning at 6am but those days are gone, folks gotta fend for themselves now.

Bakeshop offers a wide selection of breads like ciabatta, brioche, country sourdough, French baguettes, and several seasonal specialties like the date and walnut maple loaf I took home today.

In addition to the breads, St. Hilaire is a baker of pastries. Having graduated from the French Culinary Institute in New York City, he is well-practiced in the art of pastry. His almond croissants became practically legendary at the market at Parish. At Bakeshop there are chocolate smore tarts, sweets in jars (more on this later), cookies, and whole cakes.

Stints at Spice, Woodfire Grill, and ultimately overseeing all of the baking for Concentrics, his lofty resume belies his humble persona. It seems he just wants a simple bakery, where the quality reins supreme and the customers leave with a smile. The staff at Bakeshop is genuinely interested in you, the customer. Brodie was on hand today to introduce me to their wares and deliver an excellent lunch experience.

Along with the sweets and breads are delectable breakfast items, sandwiches, and salads. I lunched there today and sampled a variety of offerings starting with the soup special of white beans with a slice of sun-dried tomato bread toast, perfect for dipping. The bread provided the saltiness to the sublime soup for the perfect combination. A salad of mixed greens, walnuts, pear, and blue cheese was dressed with a light champagne vinaigrette. Light and not too fussy. A sandwich of prosciutto, arugula, and parmesan on an apple baguette didn’t deliver the sweet note I was hoping for, but was rather over-powered by the salty prosciutto. The best dish by far was the open-faced goat cheese tartine of walnut pesto, avocado, goat cheese, and watercress on a slice of toasted country French bread….absolutely worth a return visit! Creamy, crunchy, unctuous….man, it rocked!

Other savory sandwiches include a grilled cheese with bacon on sourdough, BBQ pork with cabbage slaw on a sweet potato roll, and smoked turkey with blue cheese and red onion on wheat. Fritattas, ham and gruyere croissants, and French toast and more are served for breakfast.

I topped off my lunch with a dessert in a jar. The espresso pot de creme and a large coffee from 1000 Faces, based in Athens, GA. Light yet rich, delicious.

What I had for lunch was nothing compared to what Jonathan packed up for my take-home goodies: the date walnut loaf, ciabatta, French baguette, bacon baguette, and a loaf of country sourdough. Damn! Even I can’t eat that much bread! Plus, an almond croissant, chocolate croissant, pistachio apricot tart, and chocolate graham tart, and a mini ham and goat cheese quiche to go. What a great guy….no surprise that he’s a Pisces!

To be continued…..