Poverty Food

One of my food fascinations is the concept of "poverty food". These are dishes designed to use up leftovers, or use only a few, very common ingredients. (Common being a relative term, of course. Traditional French casoulet calls for duck thighs, which aren't terribly common in my part of the world.) Very often, this seems to be an iconic dish for that particular cuisine, like red beans and rice for Cajun style food.

I was stuck this week with a large supply of stale bread. I didn't want to throw it out, because I made it. And I was afraid to keep it to the weekend to make French toast with (another type of poverty food) or it would go moldy. But then I had inspiration... Bread pudding.

I made mine with stale white bread, cut into cubes. I left them out all day on the counter to dry even more. Then I let the pieces soak in enough milk to make them good and soggy. Then I made a mixture of sugar, beaten eggs and cinnamon and added that. I smushed it all around, then sprinkled some leftover dried black currants and cashews over it. It baked in the oven until the top was golden brown and the middle was set. Instead of making a glaze, or sauce for it, I drizzled it with local honey from the Riverside Farmers Market.

So, so good.