BILL CHERRY, DALLAS REALTOR BROKER
MY 43RD YEAR REPRESENTING TEXANS
972 380-7347
If you've been to New Orleans, you're bound to have eaten at the Commander's Palace in the Garden District. It's owned by the aunt of Alex Brennan-Martin, whose wife, Jane, and I have been friends for a long time.
Alex is the owner of Brennan's Restaurant in Houston, and he frequently shares recipes. This is the best bread pudding I have ever made. And since many of you not only like to cook, but also share recipes, here's the recipe for Brennan's Creole Bread Pudding and Whiskey Sauce:
CREOLE BREAD PUDDING
3 cups of packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 eggs slightly beaten
1 quart milk
2 cups whipping cream
5 teaspoons vanilla
14 (1 inch thick) slices of day of French bread
1 cup raisins
1 12/ cups pecan pieces
Heat the oven to 315 degrees. In a large bowl, blend sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then whisk in eggs, milk, cream and vanilla.
Tear bread slices into big bite size pieces and place in a lightly buttered 9x13x2 inch pan. Pour custard over bread pieces and allow to soak for at least an hour, then stir in the raisins and top with the nuts. Bake uncovered for an hour. Let cool then refrigerate for two days so that the flavors will fully combine.
JIM BEAM WHISKEY SAUCE
2 cups whipping cream
9 tablespoons of sugar
1 ½ tablespoons of corn starch
2 tablespoons of cold water
2 egg yolks
¼ to ½ cup of Jim Beam Whiskey
Heat cream and sugar, stirring occasionally, in a medium saucepan until the mixture starts to boil, then reduce to a simmer. Mix cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until smooth. Then slowly whisk the mixture into the simmering cream. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Beat egg yolks in a small bowl then slowly add about a cup or so of the simmering cream mixture, whisking all the while. Then whisk the yolk mixture into the cream mixture and cook until it is thick and creamy (140 degrees). Remove from hear and whisk in the whiskey. Refrigerate until ready to use, then reheat.
Warm the servings of Creole Bread Pudding then plate. Pour a couple of spoons full of the Jim Beam Whiskey Sauce over the pudding on each plate, then "bam it" with a decoration of powdered sugar.
MISS NICOLE,
Even though I'm not from New Orleans, I went to Tulane and while I was there I did a nightly radio program for WWL in one of the store windows in the furniture store that's across from the Monteleon. (I can't remember the name of the store) It was called "Music 'til Dawn," and American Airlines was the sponsor. That radio program became my ticket for membership in the Radio Hall of Fame in 2005.
And I had a friend who was a waiter at Antoine's. Lots of people back then ordered escargot just to be smart. As soon as they'd see them, they couldn't eat the little creatures. My friend, Bill Porter, would wisk them off of the table and send a bus boy with them down to me at the furniture store studio, I'd tip the boy a buck, and I'd have fresh escargot. Yum, yum!
So if you'll make this bread pudding, I promise you'll agree with me. It is absolutely the best ever created. And you'll know that God has sent you a powerful message from home.
Thanks for your comments, and I hope you'll be able to move home soon where the smell of melted butter and beef stock cooking in the pots draws diners in from everywhere, and lets the rest of us know that we're home.
Bill Cherry - My 43rd Year Representing Texans
Bill, would you put this over in the Recipes group, please, sir?
Bread pudding is one of my favorites. An Austin restaurant that I thought was defunct, but has simply moved and changed names (YAY!), served bread pudding with Chantilly cream sauce that was simply amazing. Louisiana Longhorn, a current favorite, has a bread pudding with Bourbon sauce that is a religious experience in and of itself.
And, no, I've been in New Orleans often, but never to Commanders Palace. My places I must go are Court of Two Sisters and Mothers, and then there's assorted dives we go to (experience having taught me the best food is most often found in places I wouldn't go into without my large husband in attendance).
Hey, is there anyplace in New Orleans - heck, in Louisiana - that doesn't serve superb food? (One of my life goals is to eat my way from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.)
Tricia, I have no clue how to put this in the recipe group. In fact, I didn't even know there WAS a recipe group. Maybe you could do it for us?
Your ambition to eat you way from Baton Rouge to New Orleans is a great one. Get one of those tour buses lined up and my friends and I will join you. And you MUST eat at the Commander's Palace the next time you're in New Orleans. Tell Miss Ella Brennan that your friend Bill Cherry sent you when you call for reservations. It's just a bit off of St. Charles.
I'm sorry, Bill, I meant to link to Recipes in my prior comment! Done now, and if you'll pop over I think you'll find some sympatico people there who are all about the food.
My theory on Baton Rouge to New Orleans was that I'd have to ride a horse from restaurant to restaurant just to give me time to digest between meals, because I'm certainly not going to hold back at one just because there's going to be another one coming up soon!
Well, Krissy, I don't know how I messed that up. Everyone knows Krissy is a girl's name, and a cute one at that.
You make that bread pudding, girl, and you're going to put the best tasting thing in your mouth every.
Bill