New Orleans and Bread Pudding

During my mom’s visit, we were trying to come up with a fun little road trip idea. Last year, we had a great time visiting Savannah. While chatting with my friend, New Orleans came up as a suggestion. Mom was into it so we planned a 3-day girls road trip with my mom and my good friend Anays. Of course, once the trip was officially happening, the first thing I typed into Google and Pinterest was New Orleans food. Because that’s just how my brain works. 🙂

My bucket list included:

Beignets
Muffuletta
Po-Boy
Praline
Gumbo

So here is a look at our culinary journey in New Orleans (or as I now enjoy saying Nawlins)… And keep reading all the way down to find my Maple-Whiskey Bread Pudding recipe inspired by our little adventure.

Off we went. We left Atlanta before the sun was up. We went to Zaxby’s for lunch as I wanted to introduce my mom to my favorite Southern fast food.

Of course we couldn’t walk down Bourbon Street without getting a drink. We had a glass of wine at Court Liquors To Go and went on our way.

For dinner, we checking the first Louisiana dish of our list. We went to the Gumbo Shop and I ordered the seafood okra gumbo. I also couldn’t help myself and ordered the praline sundae (ice cream, caramel sauce and pecans). As I left the restaurant, with my stomach hurting from eating too much, I just couldn’t wait to try making gumbo at home.

We started our first full day in NoLa, just right with breakfast at Café Beignet. I checked two items to my food list: muffuletta and beignets.

After taking the ferry to Algiers Point, we were all getting hungry and I was determined to find a fun place to eat. A quick Google search took us to John’s Seafood where we ordered a pound of shrimp to go. We just sat by the Mississippi river, and I finally had the picnic I had been dreaming about. 🙂

After a stroll through the French Market, I ended up with a glass of frozen margarita and a bag full of praline beignets. Yes, the best two Louisiana treats, turned into one magnificent delicacy. Beignets stuffed with praline cream, filled and fried to order. They were so good, we went back the following day and bought several bags to take back home. Thank you, Miss Loretta’s for turning our worlds upside down, in the best possible way.

For dinner, I wanted to try a Po-Boy so we found a restaurant with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street, Johnny White’s Pub & Grill. The entertaining views from the balcony were the main reason we picked that place. I ordered a combination oysters and shrimp po-boy. I wasn’t quite as big a fan of the oysters but I really wanted the full experience. Also, the po-boy was gigantic and I didn’t end up being able to finish it…a rare thing in my life.

For our last day, we went to the City Park and had breakfast at Morning Call Coffee Stand. Of course, we had beignets again, but I also forced my buddies to try alligator sausage and crawfish bread as well. Because we wouldn’t you? Both were actually really good. 🙂

We ended the day by buying a Muffuletta where it was created: Central Grocery & Deli. We kept this baby packed up and ate it on the way home. In case you don’t know (I didn’t until our trip), a muffuletta is a sandwich with marinated olive salad, slices of mortadella, salami, mozzarella, ham and provolone on a Sicilian sesame loaf.

Once back home, I decided to make some Louisiana bread pudding, but decided to add my Quebec touch…maple, of course!

Louisiana-Meets-Quebec Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Ingredients:

4 cups of cubed stale bread
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 cups of whole milk (or a mixture of milk and cream)
3 eggs
2/3 cup of maple sugar (you could also use brown sugar)
1 teaspoon of maple extract
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup of pecans and/or raisins

Directions:

Place the cubed bread in a baking dish and mix in the melted butter. (This is my lazy way to save a dish to clean :))
In a bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, maple sugar, maple extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Add the bread, the nuts and the raisins to the egg mixture.
Pour everything in the baking dish and bake at 350F for 1 hour, or until the center of the bread pudding is set.
Pour the sauce (see recipe below) over the bread pudding. Serve warm.

Maple Whiskey Sauce

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of butter
2/3 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of maple sugar (you could also use brown sugar and maple extract)
1 teaspoon of cornstarch
1/4 cup of whiskey
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
Pinch of salt

Directions:

In a saucepan, on medium heat, combine the butter, the cream and the sugar.
Combine the whiskey and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Add the mixture to the saucepan. Add the nutmeg and the salt.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour on the bread pudding. Serve warm.