Chef Paul Prudhomme Dies at 75

I don't know if the name is familiar across the water, but he was a very popular US chef in the 70's and 80's and is credited with introducing the foods of New Orleans to a wide audience. From the humble crayfish to homey bread pudding he added flair to every recipe. We met Paul Prudhomme twice, his wife too. She was the Kay in his restaurant K-Pauls.

My husband had and still has all his cookbooks. When we had our honeymoon in New Orleans K-Pauls was the first place we went for dinner. Paul and his wife were there that night. Hubby was so happy I thought he was going to kiss his feet. They both were gracious hosts. The second time was when he had a kind of pop up restaurant in New York. Once again he was there and greeted us warmly, autographed a bunch of cookbooks too.

That was many years ago...jeez our honeymoon was 1988. Seems like a lifetime ago, makes me sad indeed but time goes on. He was an incredibly big man. Like four Mario Batalis rolled into one but oh my the recipes. After Kay passed away he wrote "A Fork in the Road". The recipes were more scaled down in calories and I would imagine he was trying to lose weight himself by that time. I'm including his recipe for bread pudding. My husband is gifted in the kitchen and for holidays he would make this to take to work as well as a pan for us. I guarantee if you serve this to a spouse or romantic conquest they will love you forever!!!

Bread Pudding with Chantilly Cream

Makes 8 Servings

ingredients
3 large eggs
1¼ cups sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups milk
½ cup raisins
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans, dry roasted
5 cups very stale plain white bread cubes,
Chantilly Cream (recipe follows)

how to prepare
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs on high speed until extremely frothy, about 3 minutes (or with a metal whisk for about 6 minutes). Add the sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and butter and beat on high until well blended. Beat in the milk, then stir in the raisins and pecans.
Place the bread cubes in a greased loaf pan. Pour the egg mixture over them and toss until the bread is soaked. Let sit until you see only a narrow bead of liquid around the pan’s edges, about 45 minutes, patting the bread down into the liquid occasionally. Place in a preheated 350° oven. Immediately lower the heat to 300° and bake 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 425° and bake until pudding is well browned and puffy, about 15 to 20 minutes more.
To serve, spoon in ½ cup hot bread pudding and top with ¼ cup Chantilly Cream.
Chantilly Cream

Makes about 2 cups



��" cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon brandy 2 tablespoons dairy sour cream
Refrigerate a medium-size bowl and beaters until very cold. Combine cream vanilla, brandy and Grand Marnier in the bowl and beat with electric mixer on medium speed 1 minute. Add the sugar and sour cream and beat on medium just until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Do not overbeat. Overbeating will make the cream grainy.
Copyright© 1995 by Paul Prudhomme

Re: Chef Paul Prudhomme Dies at 75

That sounds absolutely magic - have kept a copy to try later.

I love tasting new foods and the first one of Paul's that I ever tried was his Chicken and Fish Jambalaya - it nearly blew my head off - so I reduced the amount of peppers next time round!