Buttery Crab Bread Pudding

By danyell923

In this recipe from the River Cottage Fish Book, chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall layers baguette and lump crabmeat, then pours custard on top.

Ingredients

• 10 ounces lump crabmeat, picked over
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the dish
• One 24-inch day-old baguette—ends trimmed, bread cut into 3/4-inch slices
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup half-and-half

Details

Servings 8
Cooking time 75mins
Adapted from foodandwine.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350° and butter a 9-by-13-inch ceramic baking dish. In a medium bowl, toss the crabmeat with the parsley, chives, lemon juice and cayenne. Season with salt and black pepper.

Butter each baguette slice and stand up the slices in the prepared baking dish. Using a spoon, tuck the crab mixture evenly between the slices of bread.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Pour the custard evenly over the bread and let stand for 10 minutes.

Bake the bread pudding for 30 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the custard is set. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.