Savory Bread Pudding, Artichoke, Swiss Chard, (Milk,Butter,Cheese) It’s National Dairy Month
Dairy makes everything better. Does that sound like a commercial sound bite?
Truth is, many varieties of dairy products that we take for granted each day not only add value to our diets but also elevate flavors, add complex dimensions, even provide the base or complete certain dishes, such as today’s savory bread pudding of Swiss Chard and Artichoke. How could we have a bread pudding without milk or cream, cheese, a bit of butter?
Realizing National Dairy Month falls in June, I couldn’t help but be sure and recognize it. Having always been a fan of dairy, well, how many kids growing up as baby boomers with the not uncommon minimum of five kids each family didn’t go through at least a gallon milk a day?
Milk was part of the meal, part of the snack, and the best filling alternative if ones favorite meal wasn’t served up at the family table any given evening.
Halfway through college I developed a more educated enthusiasm for dairy and it was a bit of default I ended up being an agriculture major happening upon the recommendation of a former student government advisor who knowing how much I loved food thought it was also a great route to later go into the Peace Corps which had been my plan.
Following the agriculture studies route ended up to be something I really loved, so much so, I wished I might have begun it even earlier then combining it with journalism, but my college transitions were rather tumultuously dictated by my father striking ill just prior to my university years so lots of things rocked my world in terms of choices and direction and I made the best I could during that time.
I couldn’t help but reflect on this past recently, when I saw the American Dairy Association Mideast was one of the sponsors at the BlogHer 2014 Food Conference in May.
With no internet at the time, I’m not sure how it even happened when moving to Philadelphia out of college I connected with the Dairy Association. But I do remember being part of a team in a main city square giving away dairy products, including ice cream cups, and promotional brochures, same as today’s National Dairy Month, we were celebrating the dairy community, honoring the nation’s dairy farmers acknowledging the daily nutritiously produced milk, and dairy foods.
Next thing I knew (and I’ve no idea how I successfully arrived at these farms without a GPS!) I had the opportunity to visit some dairy farms, interviewing dairy farmers on current industry topics then writing them for the tri state dairy magazine.
One such cover story I wrote was about improving the dairy herd through computer selection. I can’t help but chuckle on this particular article referring to the uncommon combination of “down home” style with the “future age- computer technology.”
But in fact, this was indeed what one of the Pennsylvania Dairy Farmers was introducing into his farm early in 1981. In one way this relates to today, for in fact, our dairy farmers are not just waking up to the crow of the rooster and milking cows, the mere idea of addressing the benefits of ranking sires to a computerized selection early on in the evolution of technology- if nothing else shows how there is so much more involved among dairy farmers in the production of these important products for our daily use including improving quality, performance indexes, butterfat, repeatability, and consequently a dairy farms income differential.
Shortly after writing a half dozen or so of these magazine features I then began working at the largest regional newspaper in Philadelphia at the time. After paying my dues, I then moved into making additional contributions toward developing a small food section. I thought it would be good to include some farm and food pieces. Now this is how times have changed, I had to do some serious negotiating with the paper to interview farmers for articles, and it was hard negotiation, really, really hard.
Fortunately today, through so many various facets of increased awareness and interest in food that have gradually swept the country sharing the well-deserved acknowledgement of farms and farmers along with learning and appreciating more about the foods we consume has become much more common.
But just like in a family where we celebrate each individual upon their birthday, in this month of June what a better way than to singly honor our dairy farmers whose daily toils and expertise produce those very foods that provide nutrition, elevate flavors, and complete many of both our daily and specialty dishes products during National Dairy month?
So whether you are enjoying milk or cream in your morning coffee, or similar to my home welcoming my grandson at the table each morning at breakfast and again at evening dinner, always with a glass of milk, this month in particular is a perfect time to give a nod to dairy farmers, for we all know, ‘Milk Does a Body Good.’
And then, from sandwiches, to casseroles, taco and chili toppings, lasagne, soups, cakes and sweets, and bread puddings too, the wholesome product, milk, produces countless wonderful dairy foods we enjoy each day, nutritional cheeses, sour cream, yogurt, creamy butter, you just know don’t ya, ‘Milk’s Got More!’
“Got Milk” ?!!! Yes, we do. Thanks US Dairy Farmers, Happy National Dairy Month!
Savory Bread Pudding, Artichoke, Swiss Chard, (Milk,Butter,Cheese) It's National Dairy Month
Notes
Since this is a savory bread pudding, the short soaking time should soften the bread, but not make it too mushy as a sweet bread pudding.
Celebrating National Dairy Month, and like today's dish among the many ways dairy not only provides nutrition and flavor, but enhances the preparation of foods we prepare
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter, plus more
- 1 inch thick slices stale baguette from one long baguette
- 2 1/4 cups milk
- 5 eggs,lightly beaten
- one pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 1 large bunch of Swiss chard, washed well, stems separated from the leaves, stems chopped into half inch pieces and the leaves removed from center stalks then chopped into small bite sized pieces
- 1 onion, halved, sliced into half moons
- 6 ounces cremini mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
- 14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained, cut in half
- 1/8 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 6-8 stems fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems
- coarse kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Grease a casserole dish with a tablespoon of butter
- Cook Swiss chard stems for five minutes in salted boiling water, drain, rinse with cold water, dry lightly, transfer to a large sized glass bowl
- In a large heated nonstick saute pan with 2 tablespoons butter, cook Swiss chard leaves until wilted, drain, cool, squeeze out all liquid, season with a pinch each of salt and pepper, reserve a few small dollop pieces for topping the pudding at the finish then stir the remaining with the chard ribs in the glass bowl, wipe out the pan
- Using the same pan, on medium high heat, drop in 2 tablespoons butter and swirl to cover all around, tumble in the mushrooms, cook for two minutes to sear, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, stir, cook another two minutes until tender, sprinkle in the parsley and thyme, stir through, add to the bowl with the Swiss Chard, wipe out pan
- In the same nonstick pan on low heat melt two tablespoons of butter, tumble in the onions and cook for three to five minutes until tender, sprinkle with a pinch each of salt and pepper, stir into the bowl of cooked vegetables
- Sprinkle the drained, halved artichokes with a small pinch each of salt and pepper reserve a few pieces for topping the pudding at the finish then fold the remaining amount into the vegetable bowl
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Line the stale baguette slices in a long dish, pour milk over the bread and let soak for five minutes, turn over for another few minutes before pressing lightly down on the bread to remove excess liquid, transfer bread to another platter before pouring the milk back into a measuring cup, add extra milk into the measuring cup to yield 2 1/4 cups
- Whisk together the milk with the beaten eggs, sprinkle with a pinch each of salt and pepper, add in the nutmeg
- For the Assembly: This dish has three layers including the top
- Line the bottom of the greased casserole dish with a layer of the soaked bread slices, arrange half of the vegetables across the top and one third of the mixed shredded cheeses
- Add another layer of bread slices topping with the other half of the vegetables and one-third of the mixed cheeses
- Top with the final layer of soaked bread, scatter over the final third of the mixed cheeses, decoratively arranging the reserved vegetables on top
- Ladle the milk and egg mixture over the casserole evenly letting the liquid soak into the dish before adding more until finished
- Dot butter pieces all across the top
- Set casserole dish onto a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with aluminum foil and bake forty-five minutes, or until cooked through, remove foil and cook another ten minutes until golden brown on top. Let sit for ten minutes before slicing
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