Lemon Custard Bread Pudding with Sauce

This recipe is adapted from one in a favorite cookbook from the 1970s – Redbook Cookbook (1976), offered as a premium with a subscription to Redbook magazine.  This was originally a custard bread pudding recipe which I adapted by adding lemon extract and by making a favorite sauce with lemon juice and grated lemon peel.  It’s lighter than most bread pudding with a delicious custard.  Heavier bread like Italian, French or sourdough would be the best to use for this.

The pudding is baked in a deep casserole dish which has been placed in a shallow pan of hot water.

LEMON CUSTARD BREAD PUDDING AND SAUCE

• Servings: 6
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4 cups day-old bread cubes
3 cups milk
¼ cup butter
½ cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp lemon extract

Heat oven to 350.  Grease a deep 1-1/2 qt. baking dish.

Place bread cubes in a large bowl and set aside.  Heat milk in a saucepan over low heat until little bubbles form at pan edge.  Remove from heat, add butter, sugar.  Stir and pour this mixture over the  bread cubes.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, beat eggs well and add salt and lemon extract.  Slowly stir tje egg mixture into the bread/milk mixture.  Pour into greased dish.  Set dish in a baking pan and add one inch of hot water to pan.  Bake for 55 minutes until set.  Let cool in dish on a rack.

LEMON SAUCE  (1-½ cups)
½ cup granulated sugar
2-¼ Tblsp. cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup cold water
2 Tblsp. butter
½ cup lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon peel

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt and water.  Stirring constantly, heat until mixture boils.  Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice and lemon peel.  Serve warm over bread pudding.  Makes about 1-½ cups.

Refrigerate leftovers of pudding and sauce.  Bring to room temperature or heat briefly in the microwave to serve.

 

Beef Stroganoff and Rice Pudding

My youngest daughter is a busy stay-at-home mom who always finds time to get together with me on Fridays for lunch.  I try to make meals that are tasty, quick and easy, and reduced in fat and calories.  Here is the meal we had this week.

I first made this Beef Stroganoff in 1976 and it became one of our family’s favorite dishes.  In moderation and using low-fat ingredients, it’s also a good entree  when one or more of us is trying to lose weight.   The original recipe was from a Crisco cookbook, but over the years I eliminated the Crisco altogether and lightened anything I could.  It’s a traditional meal after having roast beef on Sunday.

MY ROAST BEEF STROGANOFF

• Servings: 4
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• 1 can low-fat cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 2 Tblsp. catsup
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1 Tblsp. dried minced onions
• 1 cup leftover roast beef, cubed

In a large skillet, place soup, sour cream, catsup, Worcestershire Sauce, pepper and onions, stirring well, and bring to a simmer.  Add leftover roast beef and continue simmering until mixture is bubbly and heated through.  Serve over noodles.

Yield:  4 servings 

Based on 4 servings of Stroganoff and 1/2 cup of cooked noodles per serving, the nutrition count per DietPower software is:  209 calories, 8.74 g fat, 49 mg cholesterol, 276 mg sodium, 615 mg potassium, 15.2 g carbohydrate, 1.44 g dietary fiber, 2.5 g sugars, 14.4 g protein.

Weight Watchers Points Plus:  5

My mother’s rice pudding was not only a childhood favorite, but an essential dish when I was sick or pregnant or otherwise indisposed.  I could eat this pudding when I couldn’t eat anything else.  I liked it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of evaporated milk (or cream for everyone else).   My youngest daughter loves anything with lemon, so now I make a lemon sauce to spoon over the rice pudding.  Delicious and not too bad calorie-wise.

GRANDMA MARTHA'S RICE PUDDING & LEMON SAUCE

• Servings: 6
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• 2 cups cooked medium grain white rice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 beaten egg

In a medium saucepan, place the rice, salt, sugar, milk and egg and mix together well.  Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat and continue to cook for one minute, stirring constantly.

Spoon pudding into 6 dessert dishes.

LEMON SAUCE

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tblsp. cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 4 Tblsp. butter
• 3 Tblsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan.  Add water and heat mixture, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If mixture appears lumpy, whisk until smooth.

Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice and lemon peel.  Serve warm  over Grandma Martha’s Rice Pudding (warm or room temperature is best).

Sauce will be quite stiff when cool.  It can be warmed in the microwave or in a pan over hot water.

Yield:  1-1/2 cups sauce.  Also good over pound cake, apple cake, pie, etc.

A note in my recipe binder reads:  “From Favorite Recipes for Quilters.  We like this with Grandma Martha’s Rice Pudding.  First made 2/23/95.”

Nutrition count per DietPower software based on 6 servings of pudding and 2 tablespoons of sauce per serving:  228 calories, 5.7 g fat, 40.1 g carbohydrate, .8 g dietary fiber, 4.4 g protein.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus:  6