Jolane’s Café, a European-style restaurant in Glenview, has recently expanded with a 100-seat conservatory-style bar. With savory fare like chicken potpie, cedar-planked salmon and brie and ham crepes, not to mention sweet stuff like a four-layer chocolate tower cake, we’re betting on a holiday rush. Their mushroom and Gorgonzola bread pudding (pictured here) is perfect for a yuletide feast.
Mushroom and Gorgonzola Bread Pudding
6 slices sourdough French bread
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 oz. shitake mushrooms, stemmed and chopped
6 oz. crimini mushrooms, stemmed and chopped
1 tbsp porcini powder
2 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 oz. chives, finely chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 300° F. Lightly toast the bread. Divide the butter in half and use half to spread on both sides of each bread slice.
2. In a large sauté pan, melt remaining butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, mushrooms, thyme, porcini powder and salt and sauté until onions are soft, about 10 minutess. In a medium bowl, combine the Gorgonzola, eggs, milk, and pepper. Stir to blend.
3. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Place half of the bread mixture and cover with half of the onion and mushroom mixture, followed by half of the cheese mixture. Add remaining bread mixture and top with onion and mushroom mixture, followed by the remaining cheese mixture.
4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil. Increase the oven temperature to 350° F and continue baking for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Garnish with chopped chives and serve.
Abt Design Center, 1100 N. Milwaukee Ave., Glenview, 847-375-6986
