Savory Bread Pudding

How great does this recipe look for savory bread pudding? It's from Daily Candy and originally from a great bakery in SF called Tartine. Not quite sure what you could serve this with...

Hmmmm. Maybe a flavorful fennel and mushroom cold salad for lunch or I think it would be really nicely paired with short-ribs and a deep red wine for a cozy winter dinner. Sounds delicious right?

Country whole wheat day old bread with butter, leeks, mushrooms, lots of cream, cheese and herbs. Yummmmmmy. Check out the recipe below from Daily Candy http://www.dailycandy.com/san-francisco/article/89289/Savory-Bread-Pudding-Recipe-from-the-Tartine-Bread-Cookbook

Living on Bread Alone
Savory Bread Pudding Recipe from the "Tartine Bread" Cookbook

Savory Bread Pudding

Serves four to six

Note: You can assemble the dish a day ahead and store it in the refrigerator, letting it come to room temperature before baking. Bake the pudding an hour before you want to serve it.

Ingredients

For the filling
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 leeks, white parts only, finely chopped
½ c. dry white wine
Olive oil
2 lbs. assorted mushrooms (like chanterelles and porcini), stems trimmed and caps halved
1 head Treviso or other radicchio, leaves separated

For the custard
5 large eggs
½ tsp. salt
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. whole milk
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
2/3 c. grated Gruyere or cheddar cheese
3 oz. smoked ham, chopped

2 slices day-old Basic Country Bread (recipe in book), torn into large chunks
½ c. grated Gruyere or cheddar cheese

1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and saute until soft, 6-8 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the wine evaporates, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is smoking, arrange the mushrooms cut-side down in the pan and cook without stirring until seared and caramelized, about 1 minute more. Stir the mushrooms, add the radicchio, and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Season to taste. Remove from heat.

3. Preheat the oven to 375º.

4. To make the custard, in a bowl, whisk the eggs and salt until well blended. Add the cream, milk, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, cheese, and ham, and whisk to combine.

5. Place the bread chunks in an 8-inch souffle dish and add the leeks, mushrooms, and radicchio. Pour in the custard so that it comes all the way to the rim. Sprinkle evenly with the grated cheese. Let stand 8-10 minutes until the custard saturates the bread.

6. Bake until the custard is no longer runny in the center, about 50 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Tartine Bread is available online at chroniclebooks.com, $40.

Photo: Eric Wolfinger / Courtesy of Chronicle Books