Cornbread and Maple Sausage Pudding

Cornbread and Maple Sausage Pudding
Macy's Culinary Council
Makes 6 servings


Pudding:
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter plus a little
more for buttering pan
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• ¾ pound maple sausage breakfast links,
cooked, cooled, and sliced (see note on back)
• ¾ cup grated dry jack cheese
(or substitute regular jack or sharp cheddar)
• 2 teaspoons chopped flat leaf parsley
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2¼ cups heavy cream
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cornbread:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup cornmeal
• ½ cup grated jack cheese
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 4 tablespoons unsalted
butter, melted plus a little
more for buttering pan

Instructions:
To make the cornbread, preheat the oven to 425°F. Butter an 8x8-inch baking dish.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, cheese, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and honey. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter and stir into the mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake about 15 to 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cut into one inch cubes. You should have about 8 cups of cornbread cubes, but you only need one third of the cornbread cubes (about 2²/³ cups) for this recipe. (Note: freeze the extra cornbread for future batches of pudding.)

To make the cornbread pudding, lower the oven temperature to 350ºF. Put the 2²/³ cups of cornbread cubes in a buttered 8x8-inch baking dish. Set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan on low heat and very slowly sauté the onions until soft and golden brown, at least 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Scatter the onions, sausage slices, cheese, and herbs over the cornbread cubes. Whisk together the cream and eggs with the salt and pepper and pour over the pan of cornbread cubes. Let sit 10 minutes so the cornbread cubes absorb some of the custard. Bake about 40 minutes or until set and golden. Serve warm.

Note: Cook sausage links in a skillet over medium high heat until browned, about 5 minutes, turning often. Reduce heat, add a little bit of water to the pan, cover, and simmer until sausages are cooked through, about 10 more minutes.