Sunday

Ham and gruyere bread pudding (recipe in the comments)
Haricot vert, wax beans, and baby carrots in Dijon vinaigrette

Hot tea
Thin mints
______________________________________________________________
We're back to the aborted Lenten dinner from Friday. This is from an Eating Well master recipe that had four variations, a regular feature they used to have in their magazine. They don't do this so often anymore, I think because it's hard to flip between the master recipe and the particular version you're making. That said, we made one version of this bread pudding (with chicken sausage and arugula) many years ago and really liked it. Of course, we haven't gotten back to this to make the ham and gruyere version until now, but it's obviously held it's place in our minds. Now that we've had it, the long wait feels like opportunities missed! While I remember liking the chicken sausage version a lot, this recipe reaches a new level of transcendence. The combination of the roasted red peppers and the fresh rosemary works a culinary magic that simply took my breath away. Especially with such easy prep, this is a knock out meal. The only down side is that it cooks for an hour and then needs to rest for about 15 minutes. This makes it a weekend style meal that requires some clever organization so you're not eating at midnight. Overall though a true winner that seems especially well suited to spring.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Very easy prep, but a long cooking time.
Chopping: Ham, gruyere, red peppers, bread, spinach, rosemary
Time: 30 minutes prep, 1 1/2 hours total
Make ahead: This should save very well.

Reaction
J: "One of our best recipes ever."
M: "Savory and satisfying."