My deli bread

Savoury bread and butter pudding with fig and chilli jam

I have a soft corner for day-old breads. Especially if they are organic and made with whole wheat flour. With time, day-old loaves develop a beautiful crustiness on the outside. These work perfectly when turned into puddings and that’s why I let my bread sit in the fridge for days when a  pudding is on my mind.

For me, bread pudding is comfort food. Be it rich with chocolate or plain pudding infused with Tahitian vanilla extract – if it is cooked well, it never fails to warm you up.

Though dessert puddings are my weakness, this time I gave the conventional  recipe a miss and went for something more daring. The result was a savoury bread pudding. Buttery, with a brown glow, filled with finely chopped veggies, topped with a spicy fresh fruit jam.

Ingredients for savoury bread butter pudding

¼ cup leek (finely chopped)

¼ cup zucchini (finely chopped)

1 cube mature cheddar cheese (grated)

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup milk

¾ cup cream

1 loaf of bread, 6 tablespoon butter

1 pinch nutmeg powder

salt and pepper as per taste

Method

Slice the bread and slather it generously with butter. Roughly tear small pieces with your hands and keep it aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil and sauté leek and zucchini until the vegetables are soft. Season it with salt and pepper and keep the
mixture aside to cool.

In another pan, heat milk and add in cream and cheese to it. Season it with nutmeg, salt and pepper and let it simmer until it reduces to
half. Remove from fire and keep aside.

Line a muffin tray with muffin papers and fill them ¼ with the zucchini and leek mixture.

Top it with the bread and butter pieces, followed by milk and cream custard.

In a pre-heated oven, bake the pudding for 30 minutes at 250 degree Celsius.

Once baked, remove the muffins from the tray and let it cool on the rack.

Ingredients for the fig and chilli jam

1 kg fresh figs

3 cups brown sugar

½ cup water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tea spoon red chilli powder

Method
In a vessel, heat 1 cup of water until it reaches the boiling point. Remove from fire and add the fresh figs to it. Cover the vessel and let it
rest for 7-8 minutes.

Drain the figs and skin them completely. Chop them into small pieces and keep aside.

In a pan, heat ¼ cup of water and tip-in the sugar. Keep stirring the sugar continuously until it reaches a two-string consistency.

Add the figs with lemon juice and keep stirring the jam until the figs have softened. This should take about 15 minutes.

Remove the jam from fire and add chilli powder to it. Let the mixture cool completely. Grind them in a blender to get a smooth consistency.

Serve the jam with the savoury muffins and store the rest in sterilised air-tight jars.

(This recipe first appeared in Green Life magazine’s May issue)