Savory Bread Pudding with Demi-Glaze Drizzle

One of the rewards for being a Foodbuzz featured publisher is being a taste tester. We get the awesome opportunity to taste products and review them. So I give a BIG thank-you to Foodbuzz and Nature's Pride for giving me the chance to sample one of this delicious product, Hearty Wheat with Flax Bread.

I wasn't sure at first what I wanted to create. And naturally, my mind went to bread pudding. But this needed to be a savory bread pudding. So I searched and found the near perfect recipe. The original had ingredients that I didn't want to use so I changed things to suit my liking. And as a delicious extra, I wanted to use some of my frozen demi-glaze to drizzle over the top. In my opinion, this rich, custard-like stuffing was super delicious.

The original recipe is listed below. I changed things by cutting the recipe into fourths. It's just Pap and I after all, we don't need a huge amount that will take us days to eat. And besides, I have to many other recipes waiting to be made. Anyways, I used two small casserole dishes and it was perfect.

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients
1 (1-pound) loaf crusty country-style white bread (I used Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat and Flax)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (I didn't have fresh thyme so I used dry)
1 large garlic clove, minced

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (such as crimini, button, portobello, and stemmed shiitake), thinly sliced (Pap doesn't like mushrooms so I didn't use any)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced celery
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

3 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
8 large eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (I didn't use the Parmesan cheese because I used the demi-glaze drizzle)
Demi-Glaze

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Cut bottom crust and short ends off bread and discard. Cut remaining bread with crust into 1-inch cubes (about 10 cups loosely packed). Place cubes in very large bowl. Add oil, thyme, and garlic; toss to coat. Spread cubes out on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until golden and slightly crunchy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Return toasted bread cubes to same very large bowl.

2. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, celery, and bell pepper. sauté until soft and juices have evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add sautéed vegetables and parsley to bread cubes.

3. Whisk heavy cream, eggs, salt, and ground pepper in large bowl. Mix custard into bread and vegetables. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Sprinkle cheese over. DO AHEAD Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake stuffing uncovered until set and top is golden, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes.