"Why, Gary? Did your favorite college basketball team win?"
Actually, they did in fact, and made it way too exciting (and frustrating) in the process. But the really cool thing happened over about an hour before! I actually got to cook with my wife, and what we made was pretty damned fantastic!
For anyone who is reading me for the first time, I'm a massive fan boy of Amanda Bloom. Her food is incredible (and not just the pastries). She's also out there, building up this amazing business, and it's why I do the majority of the cooking in our house.
Yesterday, however, she was off. And she got a cool idea. And she invited me to join her, which is pretty neat, because I genuinely like learning from her. Not me asking a random question about something I'm making, but legit following instructions to do something I've never done before.
Quick digression. There is a place in town named Side Hustle Bread Company. They make artisinal bread, from sour dough to olive loaf, and other fantastic stuff. It's always wonderfully crusty on the outside, but so textured but soft on the inside. Delicious stuff. If you live on Long Island, or know people who do, make it a point to get some of this bread. (317 Main in Farmingdale sells it).
The owner gave my wife a couple of stale Prosciutto Breads to work with. You see, most folks hear "stale bread" and move to throw it out. Amanda knows, however, when it gets a little stale, it's time to make bread pudding. And a savory bread pudding? That means time for a lot of good stuff...
So there I was, dicing onions and mushrooms as Amanda cubed up the breads. We got garlic and red pepper into the mix, and she sautéed it. That smell... garlic and onions cooking together, it's hard to beat!
We actually made two (one for us, one for the owner). Chef (yeah I said it) saved half that onion/garlic/mushroom/pepper mix for me, and did some stuff, then got the oven preheated. My turn.
I'm cracking eggs! (More than a dozen) I'm whisking in milk! I'm combining my half of the cubed bread together with this egg mixture and all the joyful goodness of the sautéed veggies, and twisting in black pepper grinds, and sprinkling salt like they do on TV. And every step of the way, there she is, guiding me, patiently explaining, and smiling because I'm getting it.
Then, after sitting for a while to soak and absorb, it goes into the oven for a while, with the one she made. When it came out, it looked like this:
She decided that the one we'd have for dinner was the one that I had made. Very cool that she trusted me more than I trusted me, but a good teacher knows things, right? So we cut it up, and dished it out for dinner.
Holy cow and all other things holy!
It was good. No, seriously, not only didn't I screw it up, it was good! Harken back a few paragraphs and you'll see where I mentioned how good Side Hustle is. Well, the Prosciutto Bread is easily the tastiest thing he makes. My wife had to specifically say, even after telling me she got a pair of stale loaves, not to eat it. Because I'd have devoured one quickly.
Well, all that goodness came through. That egg mixture, which she also had me add some spices to, soaked into every crevice, and the bread pudding was moist and soft. On top, she'd had me spread a bunch of grated parmesan cheese, so it had that nutty overtone that I (and probably you) love. And having the Prosciutto baked with all of the extra mushrooms, garlic and onions? Flavor explosion sounds like something Guy Fierri would use, but I'm swiping it now.
I can't even think of the last time we got to really cook together. Maybe not since we made empanadas for our friends' engagement party. That was years ago. This was so much fun. And so delicious. I can't wait for her next day off!!!
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