Leek and squash bread pudding

 

This recipe used up the last of my fairly minimal leek harvest. Need to grow more next season -- which could apparently be any day now: Last week I got my first 2018 garden catalog the same day as I got the first holiday card of the season. 

And no, I'm not just being politically correct in not calling it a Christmas card: It was in fact a happy solstice card. Besides, if I'm going to be PC about this extended festival that happens in the darkest time of year, does that mean I have to give up glitter to save the ocean? Say it isn't so. Clearly I need comfort food.

Fall squash and leek bread pudding

From Bon Appetit, November 2017, a recipe requested by a reader from Quality Eats in New York.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter

12 cups 1-inch pieces of brioche

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½-inch chunks

2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into ½-inch pieces

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided

2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 large eggs

3 cups heavy cream

3 cups whole milk

1 teaspoons sugar

1½ cups grated cheese such as a mix of aged Gouda, Gruyere and Emmenthal

Method

In a 350-degree oven, toast brioche crumbs on a rimmed baking sheet until golden. It takes 20-25 minutes, and toss them part way through and watch them closely toward the end since they go from golden to cinders pretty quickly. Let cool.

Heat 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook squash, leeks and thyme until squash is tender, stirring occasionally. This will take about 15 minutes or so. Add 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper and season with a bit of salt. Remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk eggs, cream, milk, sugar, 2 teaspoons salt and another 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper in a large bowl.

Add brioche cubes to vegetable mixture in skillet. Stir in 1 cup of the cheese.

Put brioche and vegetable mixture into a greased 13-by-9 pan. Pour 5 cups of the egg mixture on top and press down to coat. Pour in remaining egg mixture and let set for 15 minutes. (Or cover and refrigerate at this point for baking the next day; just bring it up to room temperature before baking.) Scatter remaining ½ cup cheese over the top and bake until puffed and custard is set in the middle, 60-75 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing or you’ll have a mess on your hands.

Makes 8 reasonable servings.

Rating: Nice, but needs something is the entry I put in my food diary for this one. Brioche makes a nice strata, but it's sweet and all those ingredients are pretty mild. Perhaps a touch more cayenne? It seemed to taste a bit better reheated as leftovers, and I don't think that was just because I was happy to have a reasonably tasty meal that I didn't have to fix on a work night. It's close, at any rate; just needs something to kick it up a notch.