Lord my Mama was
a great cook as was her Mama before her, my Nanny … well come to think of it
there isn’t a bad cook in the family, at least on the McKellar side … I don’t
know much at all about the Kincaid side except my Daddy was a great cook but he
learned mostly from watching food shows on television. All of us have a reputation for being great
cooks … from family reunions, to church dinners, to cooking for friends and
family … we always get rave reviews.
Bread Puddin
(pudding to those of you with no Southern blood running through your veins lol)
… now that’s one of those recipes everyone
has a recipe for. There’s some version
of it in most every country: Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, England … I could
go on and on. Most every version calls
for the basics: Milk, Bread, Sugar, Butter, Eggs, Vanilla … the amounts all
vary and the density of the final cooked pudding also differs. Some leave their bread sliced and some
crumble it up … Some add raisins or other fruit … and Some even have a sauce
over them, as the Irish version does (Whiskey Sauce), but in my opinion, and
everyone else who has had my Mama’s version, its not needed.
I don’t keep
Whole Milk in my house unless, of course, I’m making something like my homemade
Mac n Cheese which just cannot be made so delicious without using Whole Milk/Half n Half … sooooooooo for this recipe,
which I usually make when I’ve got some leftover bread of some sort that needs
to be used, I use my Silk Very Vanilla but you can still use Whole Milk as it
calls for … the Silk though works just as well!
As for the bread I use … I’ve used everything from regular sandwich
bread to leftover hamburger buns to leftover artisan bread … the only
difference is, depending on the type bread, you add more or less Milk (or Silk
in my case).
About the
missing measurement for the Milk … that’s because as I’ve just said the amount you
use depends on the type of bread and how dried out it may be (day old, three
days old, whatever). The mixture must be
very wet and really soupy before it goes into the oven … here's pictures showing
the mixture before I popped it into the oven.
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Finally, as for
the optional nuts, I love using Pecans in mine but I sometimes leave them out
because my hubby is not a fan of nuts in his food … something to do with the
texture lol Oh and the Coconut, its kinda optional too but then again ... it wouldn't be my Mama's Bread Puddin without it cause she loooooooved Coconut.
Oh and one more final hint … the key to ‘mixing it up’ is mixing
it with your hands … Mama and my Nanny always said that adds a little Southern
sweetness!!!
So here it is …
my Mama’s Southern Bread Puddin
Mama’s Southern Bread Puddin
Loaf of Bread
1-2 cups Sugar
Whole Milk
2 sticks Butter (melted)
6 Eggs
14 oz Coconut
1 Tbsp Vanilla
Chopped Nuts (optional)
Tear bread up, mix eggs, sugar and remaining ingredients. Add enough milk to make it soupy. Pour into 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees til done.
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