Mushroom Bread Pudding and Pork with Port Wine and Cherry Sauce

There are a lot of blogs I love to visit.  I really could care less about the photography.  Just give me some good recipes.  And, tell me a great story.  Three of the bloggers are really special to me.  Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake, Christiane at The Mom Chef and Debra at Eliots Eats.  Now, I don't very often leave messages when I visit their blogs.  My bad.  But, I do love their stories and their recipes.  Tonight was a trifecta.  I finished up Split Pea Soup for lunch tomorrow, courtesy of Christiane.  Our salad was dressed with a fabulous Honey French Dressing from Debra.  The color was so gorgeous that I had to pour it into a glass and take a photo. 

One of the best parts of the dressing?  The honey from our friends John and Jackie.  It's positively amazing!!

And, our dessert?  My favorite Mounds Bars from Liz.  Ahhhh, you know what?  It just doesn't get much better than this! 

Yes, we did have something other than salad for dinner.  I'd found a mushroom bread pudding in the Tasting Along the Wine Road Cookbook.  Had to try it.  OMG!  It was a five.  I'm going to be surprised if all of it is still there tomorrow evening.  My guess is that Connie will make a midnight run on the bread pudding.  Then, there was the pork special.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We really do try to cut down on meat.  So, I cut a pork special in half and pounded it and made a port wine and dried cherry sauce that was pretty darned good. 

The other thing that made our dinner tonight fabulous was our wine glasses.  A couple of months ago we went to a Reidel class at one of our local liquor stores.  And, we each left with a Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cab glass.  And, yes, there is a BIG difference between how the wines taste in the various glasses.  Connie chose a Pinot Noir for dinner tonight,  It was perfect.  I particularly enjoyed the I Love You I got in sign language as I was taking the photo :-)

Savory Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

2 T unsalted butter, melted
1 lb mixed wild mushrooms, chopped
2 large eggs
1/2 c milk (I used 2%, the recipe called for whole)
1/2 c cream
1 t kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb brioche or challah loaf
2 oz Gruyere cheese, grated
1 sprig thyme leaves or 1/2 t dried thyme
1/4 c finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Saute the mushrooms in the butter until they're lightly browned. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and cream  Add in the salt and pepper, bread, Gruyere and sautéed mushrooms.  Allow to sit for 30 minutes.  Spread the bread pudding in a lightly butter baking dish.  Top with the parmesan.  Bake for 30 min at 400F.

Pork Specials with Port Wine and Dried Cherry Sauce

Ingredients:

pork special, cut in half and pounded to about 1/4" thick
salt and pepper
light olive oil or canola oil
1/4 c port wine
1/4 c dried cherries
1 T grainy mustard
1/2 t dried thyme
1 T butter

Directions:

Soak the cherries in the port. 

Pound the pork to about 1/4" thick.  Salt and pepper it.  Heat the olive oil to shimmering in a small skillet.  Add the pork and cook on both sides until lightly browned. 

Remove the pork from the skillet. Put it on a plate and tent it with foil to keep it warm.  Add the port and cherries to the skillet. 

Stir until the port is reduced by half.  Add the thyme, mustard and butter.  Cook until slightly thickened.  Serve over the pork

Whew!

Here's where to find the split pea soup and honey French dressing and Mounds Bars recipes;

Split pea soup

Honey French dressing

Mounds Bars