Chef Phillip Plaisance Old Fashioned New Orleans Peach Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

New Orleans Peach Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce is a favorite from Louisiana to Minnesota and beyond. This easy and delicious recipe was given to me by my favorite chef, Phillip Plaisance, of the Ox-Bow Restaurant in Saint Francisville, Louisiana. I shared the recipe with my good friends and fellow caterers, Jon and Kristy Bigalk of Just North of Memphis BBQ in Annandale, Minnesota, and it’s now one of the top items on their catering menu some 850 miles North of Memphis and over 1200 miles from its home in St. Francisville. You no longer need to travel to New Orleans to enjoy this old-fashioned bread pudding. This simple recipe will teach you two things: how to make bread pudding, and how to make whiskey sauce,

John Woods is known as “Mr. Catfish” and is a recognized authority on the subject of cooking US Pond Raised-Catfish. His catfish cooking career has spanned more than three decades. He has cooked catfish and accompanying side dishes for tens of thousands of people across the United States and Canada through his catering company. His restaurants, featuring pond-raised catfish, were highly successful and his recipes are still in demand.

Woods’ series, Fifty Ways to Love a Catfish, is a comprehensive series on the “How to” of deep-frying fish, baking fish, broiling fish, searing fish, steaming fish, smoking fish, stewing fish, grilling fish, air-frying fish, oven fried fish, and even sous-vide of cooking this wonderful and versatile fish. Some have called this series: the video Bible” of cooking catfish.

Recipe

New Orleans Peach Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce compliments of the late Chef Phillip Plaisance of the Ox Box Restaurant in St. Francisville, Louisiana

Degree of difficulty: Easy

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

One medium or large mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
One cutting board
One serrated knife (preferred) or a chef’s knife
One saucepan for making the sauce
One whisk

INGREDIENTS

1 – 12oz French bread, cut into 1” cubes and toasted
4 – cups of milk
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, cubes into ¼” cubes
4 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon almond extract (optional)
1 – 28oz cans peaches in syrup, drained and chopped. Add up to 6 more ounces of peaches if you have them

HOW TO MAKE WHISKEY OR RUM SAUCE INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups sugar
2 cups heavy cream
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ½ tablespoon of butter
5 teaspoons cornstarch
2/3 cups water and 2/3 cups whiskey or rum
A dash of Kosher salt

ASSEMBLY

Place cubed bread into a large mixing bowl
Add milk and allow the bread to absorb for at least 10 minutes.
Put eggs in a bowl and whisk in sugar
Add egg and sugar mixture to the bread
Add the cubed butter distributing throughout
Add the drained peaches and stir
Pour into 12x14x2 Pyrex baking dish (spray first)
Cook uncovered in a 350-degree oven for approximately thirty minutes until firm in the middle. If the pudding begins to brown too much, cover with foil and cook until firm
For the sauce, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cream, vanilla, and butter
Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved
Add the whiskey or rum and allow the alcohol to cook out
Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl until dissolved
Add the cornstarch into the simmering sauce and allow to thicken
Add a pinch of Kosher salt to the sauce. Do not add iodized salt. The salt will kick up the flavor of the sauce