Mushroom and Gruyère Bread Pudding
Bread pudding is my go-to alternative to traditional stuffing, which tends to dry out your turkey. To make bread pudding, you need to dice the bread, season it and bake it until the cubes are nicely toasted. Here, I start with Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned cubed stuffing mix — be sure to buy the cubed mix! — and then add lots of fresh ingredients. Delicious bread pudding in half the time!
- Total:
- Serves: 8 persons
Ingredients
- 7tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 ½cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
- 2teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
- 12ounces cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed, caps sliced 1/4-inch thick (see Tip)
- ¼cup cream sherry (I used Harvey’s Bristol Cream)
- 2teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
- 1(12-ounce) bag herb-seasoned cubed stuffing mix (about 7 cups), such as Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned
- 3cups grated Gruyère (8 to 10 ounces), divided
- 5extra-large eggs
- 2 ¼cups half-and-half
- 1 ¼cups chicken stock (I used College Inn)
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9- by 13- by 2-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside.Step 2
Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat in a medium (10-inch) sauté pan. Add the onion and sauté for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, the garlic and mushrooms, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms start to brown. Add the sherry and rosemary and simmer for 2 minutes.Step 3
Meanwhile, put the stuffing mix into a very large bowl. Stir in the mushroom mixture and cool for 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cups of the cheese.Step 4
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, chicken stock, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pour the custard mixture over the stuffing mixture and stir well. Set aside for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bread has absorbed most of the liquid. Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle evenly with the remaining cup of cheese.Step 5
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the custard is set in the middle. Serve hot.