From my kitchen to yours Holiday strokes and heart

From my kitchen to yours: a holiday favorite

By Shelly Stone, Silverado’s Restaurant & Tavern

Late fall is the perfect time of the year for pecans. With that in mind, I’ve decided to share one of my favorite recipes—and one that customers always ask me for—that includes pecans. It’s nice, too, that the other ingredients are things most of us already have on hand.

The recipe is easy and a great way to get rid of extra bread. Here at the restaurant, we don’t serve the bread heels, so at any given moment, I have half a loaf of heels lying around and nothing to do with them—except make bread pudding. I’ve probably made bread pudding a thousand different ways, but this is a favorite of mine when the holidays come around. I usually double or triple it when family or friends are in town.

PECAN PIE BREAD PUDDING

1 loaf of bread 5 eggs 3½ cups whole milk 1 cup sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract ½ cup butter 1½ cups brown sugar 1½ cups pecan halves 9” x 13” pan Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cube bread and put into a 9” x 13” baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix the eggs until they are combined. Add the milk, sugar, and vanilla and stir until combined.

Melt butter in a small microwave-proof bowl. Stir in the brown sugar until dissolved. Stir in the pecans.

Pour this mixture over the bread and egg mixture, and gently fold. Don’t mix it in thoroughly, just fold so the pecan mixture forms into clumps.

Bake for 45 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick or knife comes out clean from the middle. I like my bread pudding a little more done than most people, so if you’re one of those who likes runny bread pudding (again, not me!), 40 minutes may be enough.

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