Artichoke Dip and Bread Pudding

I found two great ways to enjoy my French bread! First, artichoke dip. I'd never dealt with cooking my own artichoke before, so this was a new one for me, thank goodness for the internet!


First I trimmed the top, tips of the leaves and stems.


Then I put them in boiling water and simmered them, covered, for about 30-40 minutes.


I peeled off the leaves and saved them for dipping them in a dip for another time.


I gutted the heart of it with a small measuring spoon to get all the prickly fuzzy stuff.


I chopped and mashed to soft inside.


Then I mixed it with a little sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, pepper, and topped it with cheddar. I heated it up for a minute in the microwave and had a wonderful dip for my bread!


I checked out some different bread pudding recipes online and found a great healthy one and an ooey, gooey, very unhealthy one. I wasn't familiar at all with bread pudding, I have just heard about it and people seem to like it. So, I decided to blend the two recipes and see what happened. I made the actual bread pudding part healthy and topped it with the unhealthy sugar/butter sauce.





It was really delicious hot and later cold. I will be keeping this recipe!



Bread Pudding

6 slices of day-old bread
2 T butter
1/2 C raisins or nut (optional)
4 eggs, beaten
2 C milk
3/4 C sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla

Turn oven on to 350. Cube bread and put in a greased 8x8 pan. Drizzle melted butter on top of bread. In a medium bowl mix eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour over bread, push down bread and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake for 45 minutes, or until top springs back.

Sauce

1 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1 beaten egg
2 t vanilla

Mix over medium heat and stir until sugar melts. Pour over bread pudding. Serve warm or chilled.