Asparagus And Morel Bread Pudding Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan or casserole with nonstick cooking spray.
• Using a serrated knife, cut the bread into 3/4-inch cubes and put all of the cubes in a large bowl.
• In medium bowl, whish together the milk, broth, eggs, salt, pepper, and dill until combined. Pour the mixture over the bread.
• Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus and cut the spears into 1-inch pieces. Add them to the bread along with the mushrooms and shallots.
• Fold everything together well to combine the ingredients. Spoon them into the prepared pan and pat down the top to compact the ingredients. Sprinkle the cheese evenly ever the top.
• Bake the pudding for 45 minutes, or until the top is browned and crisp and there is no liquid in the center. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting into portions.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk, butter, vanilla, sugar and salt. Continue cooking just until butter melts; cool. Meanwhile, butter a 4-to-6-cup baking dish and fill it with cubed bread.
• Add eggs to cooled milk mixture and whisk; pour mixture over bread. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until custard is set but still a little wobbly and edges of bread have browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Put morels, porcinis or both in a bowl with very hot water to cover; soak until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain morels and reserve soaking liquid. Cut morels in half; if porcinis are large, chop them roughly.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; when butter is hot and foam has subsided, add shallots and reconstituted and fresh mushrooms to pan. Cook until shallots soften and fresh mushrooms have released their liquid and it has cooked off, about 10 minutes.
• Add asparagus and 1/2 cup reserved liquid to pan. Bring liquid to a boil, cover, reduce heat so mixture simmers, and continue cooking for another 2 to 4 minutes, or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Add cream and tarragon or chervil and continue cooking, uncovered, until sauce thickens slightly and asparagus is tender, about 4 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish, and set dish aside. Snap off and discard tough ends of asparagus. Using a vegetable peeler, carefully peel outer layer from bottom 2 inches of asparagus spears.
• Fill a large straight-sided saute pan with salted water, and bring to a boil; prepare an ice bath. Add asparagus, and cook until bright green, about 1 minute. Transfer asparagus to ice bath, and let cool. Drain, transfer to a clean kitchen towel, and pat dry. Set asparagus aside.
• Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, and cook, stirring once or twice, until mushrooms turn golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a plate; set aside.
• Melt remaining tablespoon butter with remaining tablespoon oil, and add onion. Cook until onion is soft and translucent, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from heat, and set aside.
• Randomly arrange half of the bread pieces on bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle half of the rosemary over the top. Place half of the asparagus, onions, mushrooms, and cheese on top. Make a second layer with remaining bread, rosemary, asparagus, onions, mushrooms, and cheese.
• To make custard, combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan, and set over medium-high heat; cook until mixture is hot. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, hot-milk mixture, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until combined.
• Pour custard over pudding. Press down on pudding, completely soaking top layer of bread, and place a plate on top. Weigh down the plate with a can or other object. Let pudding stand 20 minutes.
• Bake pudding until custard has set and top is golden, about 45 minutes. Remove dish from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-by-12-inch baking or gratin dish.
• Combine the garlic and milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then remove from the heat and set aside to steep (5 to 8 minutes).
• If the bread is not stale, lay it on a large baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until crisp (but not hard, or the pudding will be mushy). Put bread in a large dish. Pour the milk through a strainer over the bread (discarding the garlic) and let it sit while you prepare the vegetables, turning the bread occasionally so that it soaks up as much of the liquid as possible.
• Fill a large skillet 2/3 of the way with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Lightly salt the water and add the asparagus pieces; cook about 3 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
• Melt half the butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook for 1 minute, stirring, then add the mushrooms. Increase the heat to high and cook for several minutes, stirring, until the mushrooms brown in places and exude their liquid. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Break the eggs into a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the parsley, tarragon or marjoram, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Add the soaked bread and any liquid left in the dish, the asparagus-mushroom mixture and its juices and 2/3 of the cheese, mixing well. Pour into the prepared baking or gratin dish and use a spatula to even it out. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and dot with the remaining butter.
• Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until puffed and golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.