The Flavors of Ham and Cheese in a Savory Bread Pudding
For this week's Chopped Dinner Challenge, the chefs of Food Network Kitchen chose to feature the basket ingredient Camembert. Inspired by a cheese plate of ham, cheese and fruit, the chefs came up with this savory bread pudding. With the characteristic texture of a quiche, this recipe for Camembert and Ham Bread Pudding makes an ideal brunch, lunch or dinner dish when paired with a simple green salad. It's also a good use for leftovers — think bread and ham remnants from this past holiday. With the familiar flavors of ham and cheese, it'll be a sure-fire hit with your family any day of the week.
To start this recipe, you'll want to preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and set up a water bath on the lower rack — this ensures the bread pudding will bake up fluffy and moist. Next, butter 8 ramekins and set them on a baking sheet. Cut up the cheese into cubes and set them aside, making sure they don't stick together. Whisk together the heavy cream and eggs, and season with salt and pepper. Add the cubed bread and ham to this mixture, then combine.
Melt some butter in a large saute pan. Add the shallot, fennel and thyme, and cook until the vegetables have softened, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add the apple and cook until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook until it has absorbed into the vegetables. Discard the thyme sprigs. Add this mixture and the cubed cheese to the cream-and-egg mixture and stir together to combine. Divide the mixture among the ramekins and bake for about 18 to 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of a bread pudding comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with a lightly dressed green salad.
The Chopped Dinner Challenge is a series of recipes showing you how easy it is to cook like a winning Chopped competitor. Every week, FN Dish will showcase a recipe created by Food Network Kitchen that uses at least one of the Chopped basket ingredients from an episode, plus basic grocery goods and simple staples. Consider it your very own Chopped challenge. Just take this frequent tip from the judges: Don’t forget to season!
