Buttery Crab Bread Pudding

Pretty? Yes.  Labor intensive? Yes. Fattening? Yes. Delicious? Maybe.  I am pretty annoyed that I popped for the expensive crab from the seafood department from Publix, ($26) and the crab tasted weird.  I did get it in a container as opposed to the legs in the case, but I didn't want to have to crack crabs as part of making the dinner and I figured this would taste better than the canned stuff.  I think the canned would have been better.  I think this combination of butter, eggs and crab would have been a stellar meal, but the crab here really killed it. I think I will put this in to the fixable file, but I don't know when I will make it again. Maybe one day?


Buttery Crab Bread Pudding

10    ounces lump crabmeat,picked over
1 T  finely chopped parsley
1 T  finely chopped chives
2 t  fresh lemon juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1    unsalted butter,softened, plus more for greasing the dish
1    24-inch day-old baguette—ends trimmed,bread cut into 3/4-inch  slices
4    large eggs
1 c  milk
1 c  half-and-half
[Note: .  Concentrated white Burgundy.  Our Pairing Suggestion   ]
1. Preheat the oven to 350 and butter a 9-by-13-inch ceramic baking
dish.  In a medium bowl, toss the crabmeat with the parsley, chives,
lemon juice and cayenne. Season with salt and black pepper.
2. Butter each baguette slice and stand up the slices in the prepared
baking dish. Using a spoon, tuck the crab mixture evenly between the
slices of bread.
3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon
of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Pour the custard evenly over
the bread and let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Bake the bread pudding for 30 minutes, until the top is lightly
browned and the custard is set. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.