Thursday, March 22, 2012

Savory Bacon & Crab Bread Pudding Eggs Benedict – Sometimes the Best Recipes Are the Ones You Don’t Make

This incredibly delicious bacon and crab bread pudding Benedict almost never happened. The original request was for crab cake eggs Benedict, but since we’d already done crab cakes, poached eggs, and hollandaise videos, I decided to go in another direction, while still somewhat honoring the aforementioned food wish.

It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and that includes growing the mustache. Not only do I think this is far superior to crab cake eggs Benedict, it’s way easier, and you get a lot more mileage out of the same amount of crab.

I only used four-ounces of crab, which would have made just two small crab cakes. Here it was enough for two large ramekins that seemed to be loaded with crab. Instead of just sitting on top of the English muffin, the crab flavor permeated the bread cubes during the baking time, and the results were spectacular.

This would certainly make any brunch special, especially a Mother’s Day brunch, which will be here before you know it. So, whether you’re desperately trying to finally gain your mother’s approval, or just want something awesome for breakfast, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 2 portions (I used 10 oz ramekins):
3 cups small dry bread cubes or plain croutons
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 strip bacon, sliced
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
1/3 cup chicken broth or water (more as needed)
1/3 cup cream
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp fresh chopped tarragon
1 large egg 
4 oz fresh crab meat
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
2 or 4 poached eggs
1/4 cup hollandaise sauce

View the complete recipe

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Going to enjoy this in bed with my significant other this weekend for sure!

Anonymous said...

Marry me. Please.

Anonymous said...

What size ramekin would you suggest for this?

Thanks

Chef John said...

I believe mine are 10oz ramekins

Lise-Anne said...

Your humour is getting better and better, as well for ur recipes, seriously Chef, I'm a vegetarian mostly scared just by sight of meat and I watch all your videos for your techniques and tricks.

I even add some serious amont of cayenne in my kitchen and when there's none in my recipe I can hear your voice in my mind : Oh Chef! Where's the cayennne?! Have an awsome day!

Kelly said...

Does anyone else REALLY love the way Chef John says "enjoy" at the end of his videos? I always watch through to end for that part. Gets me every time!

Chef John said...

Thanks, you're all too kind!

Pantalone said...

Man that looks good.

Razors Edge said...

Would it fake crab meat from a can be a suitable substitute for this recipe. I'm not sure if that stuff is considered 'sweet' for crab meat.

Majix77 said...

I agree with you Kelly I love the "Enjoy" Cause I always do!

Sarah said...

Wow, Chef John, this looks so scrummy I might have to start looking for that super sweet local crab!
By the way, is it possible to substitute the cream with something else such as milk?

Joel said...

This is some serious crabby culinary cunning. Pardon the alliteration but it deserves no less.

Unknown said...

Chef John makes me drool and laugh at the same time.

recipehoarder said...

You gratuitous ..yolk breaking B***head.
I can't eat this right now due to medical condition. I will find you and beat you with a Chris Lilly Loaf Pan Chicken.
Sorry ..a little out of sorts.
Mike

Emma said...

A classic Chef John recipe if you ask me!

Sidra said...

hello chef john, i am Sidra Humaid from Pakistan, your big fan, i tried to contact you through your blog, but i couldnt send the email dnt know why, thats why commenting here.
i am trying your dinner rolls tonight, they are in the oven right now, i want to share pics with you, coz i think i did something wrong with the rolling part, coz the buns are openning up from inside ... :(

i will definitely let you know about their taste :D

Chef John said...

Yes, you can use milk!

Sidra said...

hey chef, my dinner rolls turned out to be soooo good, couldnt took pictures because my husband was REALLY hungry.


thank u so much for such a nice recipe :)

Wendy B. said...

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.....I have no words. You're my hero--AGAIN! That dish looks so amazing that, even though I just finished a huge meal and couldn't eat another bite without exploding, my mouth is watering while I watch the video. It looks like the perfect marriage of the best breakfast ingredients. I can't wait to try it (okay, apparently I do have words....) :-)

steven said...

why is there no old bay added to the crab mixture?

Steve said...

Chef:

This looks spectacular. One question, though, and one point of mild pique.

The question: do you think lobster stock would be overkill for this? I have some in the freezer that I need to use up pretty soon.

The point of pique: (and this isn't especially about you, since everyone says it) What the heck does "pre-heat" mean? The oven's either heated (at temperature) or it isn't. Can you heat something before you heat it? Is there some ritual involving beads, rattles, and matchsticks? It drives me nuts (and, yeah, I know, it's a short trip -- I really could walk from here).

Karen's Kitchen said...

Chef John,

You have outdone even yourself with this one. Long time follower, new at commenting. Absolutely delicious!

sorry meant to put this one the one with eggs on it.

Chef John said...

Lobster stock would be fine!

Anonymous said...

At 4:40 when you broke that gorgeous poached egg yolk with the fork, I started drooling all over my keyboard.

Remember said...

Chef John!

If I'm making this for around 10 people, would a large casserole dish suffice?

Thanks!

You're the best!

Chef John said...

Yes! A casserole will work!

ChubbyConstance said...

Thank you! My mother loves egg benedict :-)
I love your recipes and videos!

Kt Chauvot said...

This was awesome!!! on a side note though, we didn't pay super close attention to the recipe for hollandaise so we didn't realize it was for 6 people-ish... split the whole amount between two servings of the crab pudding and nearly died from ingesting 1500 calories in saturated fat in under 15 minutes. doh>.< totally worth it though. i didn't mind the extra run i had to put in later:D

Irishpanda said...

I think I want to give this a go as everything about it appeals to me except the crab :\

Any suggestions as to what else might make a good substitution? I imagine more bacon would be fine, or maybe some sweet italian sausage? What else would work well here?

Murple said...

Would this maintain its awesomeness with lobster instead of crab? I'm on Canada's east coast and fresh lobster is easier to get than fresh crab.

Unknown said...

Maybe it's just me, but the video for banana bread is showing up at the bottoms of this!

Unknown said...

can i use microwave oven instead? if so how many minutes? i really love your recipes :-)