Holiday Stuffing or Dressing? Why not Bread Pudding?

It’s the American age-old question…

Do you call your Thanksgiving turkey “side” stuffing or dressing? Well, my unprofessional, yet logical response is… call it stuffing if it’s baked in the bird and call it dressing if it is baked separately in a casserole dish. It is suggested NOT to cook the stuffing in the bird as it will likely burn or overcook (dry out) since the bird needs to cook longer than the stuffing. However, you can always bake them separately and then stuff the bird with the dressing after all baking is complete. Honestly, I don’t care because I eat something else. That’s right! Why not a savory bread pudding? Forget the age-old debate.

A wonderful and versatile Holiday bake…

Given the holidays and I have already posted my grandma’s yeast roll recipe in the previous post, I wanted to post my updated version of a classic American holiday favorite… the “stuffing”, I mean “dressing”, or whatever you want to call it. I grew up on my mom’s yummy southern cornbread dressing, and have had many others like wild rice dressing, and many bread dressings with chestnuts, sausage, etc. While I have enjoyed all of the dressing variations over the years, since I’m always looking for that “next best thing”, I have fallen in love (yes, it is love) with the savory bread pudding version. If you are reading my BREAD BAKING posts, then I KNOW you will love it too… it’s all about the bread baby!!

While this is not a bread bake, it’s a bake with bread.

It can include a homemade baked bread as one of the recipe ingredients. I am quite pleased with this recipe after a couple of years of modification and excited to share it with you. Like any holiday stuffing/dressing, you can modify the ingredients based on tastes and what you have on hand or can locate in your local grocery store. This version is my preferred variation, but many like substitutes will produce an amazing dish. I hope you try it and have fun modifying it to your tastes.

What’s our history on this one?

No Thanksgiving history here since most are already familiar with the many variations of its origins; however, I think it would be more interesting to touch on the roots of bread pudding, don’t you? So, bread pudding is pretty much stale bread soaked in eggs and dairy, mixed with other ingredients, and then baked to create a dense custard like dish, often resembling a cake. It can be sweet or savory. For the British, it was a cheap and easy way to make a dessert, which included leftover bread in place of a fresh homemade cake. Once considered a frugal dish, the bread pudding is now considered one that is contemporary and trendy.

So, where does the bread pudding come from?

The bread pudding dates back to England during the 11th and 12th centuries and became known as “the poor man’s pudding” by the 13th century. While the traditional recipe is sweet and includes milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and raisins, there are many recipes today that include boozy beverages, chocolate, fresh and/or dried fruits, and other fruit juices.

Since my blog is about the discovery of other cultures through baking, I love the idea of blending cultures through food. I can’t imagine a better way to connect with another culture than to take an iconic dish from one’s own and blend it with that of another. Now that’s what I call a “Thanksgiving of Cultures”. My American roots would like to thank England for the bread pudding… even though my ancestors did what they could to break away (or did they? My roots are everywhere including the Choctaw and Cherokee nations). It appears that sometimes the worst disagreements can produce the greatest relationships OR maybe, it’s just that when it comes to food, we are all alike… good food is good food wherever it originated; that’s what makes us ALL interconnected. Merci England and Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Christmas! 😉

Mushroom and Gruyère Savory Bread Pudding…

This leads us to my Mushroom and Gruyère Savory Bread Pudding… trust me, you don’t want to skip this one. I HIGHLY suggest you give a try for Christmas or Easter, for that matter; you won’t be disappointed. The recipe and video links are below at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

Cut the Bread, Heat Herb in Oil, Combine, & Bake

Cut the Bread

I prefer to buy the loaf a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes. Place the cubes in a freezer bag and freeze until the night before you make the bread pudding. Take the bag of cubed bread out of the freezer and let it thaw overnight on the counter.

Heat the Herbs

Let’s first get the oil mixture going on the stove to add to the bread cubes before toasting. In a small sauce pan on low heat, add 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2-3 tsp of freshly chopped rosemary, 4 tsp of freshly chopped thyme, and 1 minced garlic clove. Heat for 5 minutes… do NOT burn or you’ll need to start over.

Combine Bread Cubes & Herb Oil

Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and mix in the heated, herb-infused olive oil. Mix well so the herb mixture coats the bread.

Bake Coated Bread Cubes

Spoon the cubed herb bread on a large rim baking sheet covered with foil for easy clean up. Place in a 375-degree oven for 20 minutes stirring occasional to allow for crusty pieces all over.

Clean the Leek

The easiest, cleanest way to remove all sand and dirt particles from a leek…

Combine All Veggies & Sauté

In a skillet, place 6 tbsp of butter and melt before adding in the mushrooms, leek, celery, and peppers. Sauté all of the veggies for about 15 minutes until they are soft and the juices have evaporated…

Stir in the fresh parsley. In another bowl, whisk together the half and half, broth, eggs, salt, and pepper…

Butter a casserole dish… I use a 10.5×14.75×2 (a little larger than a 9×13, but this should also work)…

Suggested substitute ingredients as well as ingredient descriptions…

• In case you are unaware, leeks are in the onion family and are much milder in flavor (no crying eyes while cutting ). If you are not an onion fan, please try the leek, you might be surprised!
• I’m not a fan of green bell pepper pretty much anytime. I prefer the tri-color peppers, but you could use a simple green instead.
• While this is a meatless dish, try adding in cooked ground pork sausage (or chicken or turkey).
• If you have the time, consider making your own bread. I would imagine that a homemade white bread with dried cranberries would be good in this dish… hmmmm… I make cranberry loaves this time of year… I should do that!
• For the liquid… you could use heavy whipping cream exclusively, or a mix of whipping cream, half and half, and broth… your pick!!
• I wouldn’t recommend taking a short cut and using dried herbs… fresh herbs add so much flavor. However, you could if you have no other option.
• Gruyère cheese is native to Switzerland, nutty in flavor, and the closest to Swiss than any other American type of cheese. I would not suggest substituting Swiss for Gruyère in this dish because the cheese is pretty defined. I highly recommend going with Gruyère; you can usually find it in local grocery stores, but it will be found in the “fancy” cheese section of the store. It will also be a lot more expensive, but worth it in this dish. On a side note, Gruyère makes amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and is a great cheese for Mac N Cheese dishes… it melts well.
• Be sure to use good quality Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses that you grate yourself… pre-shredded/grated cheeses are not the same as companies add anti-caking agents making it difficult for cheese to melt smoothy… BUT if you have no other option… go with what you have.

Final thoughts… This dish is rich and herbaceous. Although, I haven’t tried it YET, for you carnivores, I imagine adding cooked ground pork sausage when mixing it all together before baking would be AMAZING. I love the shiitake mushrooms as they add an elegant, woodsy taste and meaty texture to the dish along with the nutty Gruyère cheese. The sautéed veggies add freshness while the thyme and rosemary scream fall and holiday time. I really can’t say enough about this dish… I wish I could give you all a spoonful to taste right now.

If you haven’t decided on a new dish for the remainder of the holiday season, give this one a try and leave a comment. If you decide to make the dish and have questions, please let me know.

For the rest of the holiday season, I have decided to make a slight modification to my normal posts. While I will still bake a bread, I will likely not add other dishes. I have a couple of breads in mind that I will connect with the “international” idea. I intend to go back after the holidays and revisit the countries I touch on for holiday baking and focus on traditional daily bread and dishes.

Check out my updated commentary on this recipe entitled “Gluten or Gluten-Free Rich and Flavorful Stuffing Alternative“.

Mushroom and Gruyère Savory Bread Pudding Recipe Click HERE!

Looking for additional breads to bake this holiday season? Check these out.

Mexican Pan de Muerto

American “The Berry Rolls”

German Stollen

Thanks for taking the time to read my posts. I appreciate your continued support in liking, commenting, and the reading of my blog posts. Happy holidays! More to come… Preview Friday is coming soon… Stay tuned.