The year is just 10 days old and I’ve already discovered a wine I can’t live without, and a butternut squash bread pudding, served as an entrée, that is sure to be one of my go-to dinners of 2012.
More about them below.
But before we get any further into the New Year, it’s time to share the best of 2011, a remarkable food year that included everything from the Poquito Picante cocktail (at NYC’s Yerba Buena) and the Pepe Bianco (white clam pizza with bacon and onions at Boston’s Coppa) to shrimp ‘n grits in Charleston and a whopping cut of meat called Stinco de Vitello, enjoyed at a mountain hut high in the Dolomites.
Starting next week, I’ll highlight the most delicious meals I lucked into while traveling in 2011, as well as my favorite restaurants, most memorable hotel experiences, dynamite destinations, captivating cocktails and best new cookbooks of the year. Please come back and check it out.
OK. Back to the bread pudding. Or, to be more precise, the Pumpkin Panade. That’s what Miami chef Michael Schwartz called it when he shared the recipe with the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago. “Panade is just a fancy name for stuffing,” Schwartz was quoted as saying in the paper’s Slow Food Fast column. It’s a rustic French dish that involves stale bread, stewed onion, broth and shredded cheese.
I made it last night and served it as entrée alongside a large green salad dotted with goat cheese and toasted hazelnuts. But the beauty of this thing is that you can serve it as accompaniment to meat (it’d be great with braised pork loin, grilled chicken breasts or even the Thanksgiving turkey) or jazz it up with slivers of prosciutto or chunks of Applegate Fire-Roasted Red Pepper Chicken & Turkey Sausage (a staple in my kitchen; available at Whole Foods) and let it shine as entrée. (The photo is by Justin Walker for The Wall Street Journal.)
It's easy. Saute sliced onion, toss in crushed garlic and cubed pumpkin or butternut squash and cook for about 15 minutes. Add the fragrant mix to chunks of stale bread, fresh herbs and grated Fontina cheese. Moisten it all with hot chicken broth and a bit of heavy cream, then pack it into a gratin dish, top with grated Pecorino or Parmesan and bake ‘til bubbly.
Here’s the recipe from The Wall Street Journal.
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