Bagel "Bread" Pudding

Alright, I'm back! Back into the swing of things, I just finished up my first week back to school, and I can't back out or back up, so make sure you got my back. Though things have been hectic, I have been cooking...oh, I have been cooking. Though I have managed to snap a couple culinary photos, I must admit that I have been too lazy to write any posts. In my defense, as if it weren't mad enough, I managed to catch a cold for my first day(!) back with my high school angels. Nonetheless, I will let you in on a glimpse of what's been on for dinner...

Calamari Steaks Doré a la piccata with a green salad and nasturtiums, Vinho Verde...












Brined Pork Tenderloin with Carribbean Spices, turned Pork Tacos with Peach Salsa for leftovers, buttery rice and cabbage salad with cumin dressing...











Ground Beef Patties with Pecorino Romano, Chives and Preserved Lemon, served with Oven-Roasted Rosemary Yam Fries and cabbage and fennel salad...








So, at any rate, I am now back, and I have mustered up the gusto to tell you about a fabulous dessert I made tonight. Lissa bought some bagels for her students the other day, and they didn't all get eaten. I had one for a snack that first afternoon, but by the next day they were petrified. I wanted to do something with them, and instead of making bagel crumbs, bagel pudding sounded much more exciting! So, first things first, I cubed them babies up. Sawing through dense-ass three-day old bagels is indeed a task. I started to cramp up and blister. (No, not really, I's just being dramatic). If you have never made bread pudding, or any other bread-like pudding, you should give it a try! It's quite easy, and oh so delicious. Cut up some stale bread-product, beat eggs with milk and spice, bake, then spoon massive amounts into your pie hole. So simple!

I almost threw in the 7 huckleberries that I just harvested from our little fairy garden, but decided against it. I planned on keeping it fairly simple...about three cups of milk, three eggs plus one yolk, a cup of sugar, cinnamon, and a tablespoon or so of vanilla we that brought back from Veracruz (Papantla is the birthplace of vanilla...we paid 75¢ for a 12 oz. jar). Once I poured the liquid in to the buttered baking dish filled with the bagel bits, I realized it was quite wet. I poured in an additional cup of panko bread crumbs along with a cup of shredded dried coconut, tada! Let soak for at least twenty minutes. Because bagels are so dense and crusty this pudding was never going to be as moist and, well, puddingy as it would have been had I used some good ole' stale white bread. But it still turned out great. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side, I was very happy with the end result. While it was certainly moist, there was still some chewiness to it that I really enjoyed. Not a goal for every pudding occasion, but I loved my chewy here (cue Wookie groan). I look forward to a more classic bread pudding soon, but I will definitely rock me a bagel pudding again.