Let's Pretend I'm Domestic

I’m the child of Ellen “Martha Jewart” Silverman - hostessing comes easy for me.

I hosted Shabbat for 25 people on Friday night without breaking a sweat (that’s a lie, I was drinking vodka and that always makes me overheat). But seriously, throwing a party is fun for me, and it’s very easy to feed 25 people with something very important taken out of the equation - FOOD. I know my limits in the kitchen, so I NEVER cook. I ordered an Italian feast for Friday night’s main course and had a house full of happy campers.

I don’t order EVERYTHING, though. I am great with appetizers (on Friday I served vegetables and hummus, a cheese tray, and a killer baked brie). But what I’m most famous for is my chocolate chip bread pudding. YUM.

I cannot tell a lie - this is really my mom’s recipe that I have stolen for my own. She got it here, but slightly modified it, so that’s the one I typically use. I’m including all modifications below for all of you:

A DELICIOUS BREAD PUDDING SITUATION

1 1-pound loaf brioche or egg bread with crust, cut into 1-inch cubes --> Silverman secret = we use HOT DOG BUNS :) one package will do just fine

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 1/2 cups half and half

1 cup sugar

6 large eggs

4 large egg yolks --> important step, do not fuck this up

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place bread in large bowl; pour 8 tablespoons melted butter over bread and toss to coat. Add chocolate chips and toss to combine. Transfer mixture to prepared dish.

Whisk half and half, 1 cup sugar, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and salt in large bowl to blend. Pour over bread cubes in dish. Let stand 30 minutes, occasionally pressing bread cubes into custard. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter over pudding; sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake bread pudding until puffed, brown, and set in center, about 1 hour, and then VOILA!

I love how I’m bragging about my delicious bread pudding skills when in reality, the one I made on Friday SUCKED. It’s my own fault - I was distracted while I was baking it and screwed up the eggs so the consistency was off.

So that is my tip to you - don’t chat with your friends while you’re measuring things, and your pudding will turn out wonderfully :)

It’s seriously such a great dish - a total crowd pleaser. Hope you all enjoy!