New Orleans Inspirations: The Fried Bread Pudding Po’ Boy

September 6, 2014

Welcome, my little bunnies, to my post about – without a doubt – the most gluttonous, glutenous thing I will make and eat probably EVER.

We are going to have to listen to this while we work, because it’s the only sound I can think of that properly captures both how ridiculous this is and how my friend and I felt when we didn’t have to eat any more of it.

If you read my New Orleans general food guide, you know that during our epic eating week I came across this hilarious, unbelievable, obviously non-vegan gem of a food item that apparently people actually eat:

A fried bread pudding po’boy. That means people have eaten a pile of bread pudding used as sandwich filling on a French baguette. And what’s fried? Is it the bread pudding hunk that is fried into a patty then placed on the bread? Is the pudding placed on the bread as is, and then the whole baguette is fried? ARE BOTH THE PUDDING AND THE SANDWICH FRIED? Yes. Yes, is being my answer. Easy question. Let’s make this!

FRIED BREAD PUDDING PO’ BOY

PART 1 – THE BREAD PUDDING

First, we make the bread pudding. This turned out to be a delicious recipe and you should definitely make it, even if you don’t have the strength to move on to part 2. I used Ezekiel’s Cinnamon Raisin bread, which was invented for the sole purpose of using in bread pudding, but you can use any bread really. I’d add a teaspoon of cinnamon if you use regular bread, because who doesn’t want cinnamon bread pudding?

Ingredients:

About 12 slices sandwich bread, preferably cinnamon raisin
1/4 C white sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
3-4T liquid sweetener (maple syrup, agave, bee-free honey, brown rice syrup)
2 C almond milk vanilla
½ t vanilla
1/3 C chickpea flour
pinch salt

Directions:

Most bread pudding recipes will tell you to start with stale bread, but I don’t like having stale bread around because it gets moldy, or at least I fear that it will. I freeze my bread and then put it in the oven to get warm. If you are like me, put your 12 frozen slices in the oven at 200F for 10-15 minutes, until toasty. (This also helps the bread keep its shape and bite instead of getting too…well…puddingy.
Turn up the oven to 350F when you remove the bread slices.
Break the bread into bite size pieces and put into a large mixing bowl.
Mix in the sugars and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix the chickpea flour and the almond milk until well mixed. Add the vanilla and maple syrup to this separate mixture.
Pour the vanillad mapled chickpead milk into the bread bowl and mix everything really well.
Pour it all into a pie dish and bake for 30 minutes. Then, cover the dish with aluminum foil (to prevent excessive browning) and then cook for about another 20 minutes.
Eat some because it’s yummy, but not too much because we are going to destroy some in Part 3, infra.

I believe this is what’s called raw food?

LEANING TOWER OF BREADDDD

This is what’s left of the 6 pound bag of besan I bought on Amazon

Sugared

Not raw food

PART 2: THE VANILLA SAUCE
I don’t see how the restaurant’s prize-winning po’ boy would have won anything without a really good sauce.

Ingredients:

½ c cashews, soaked if you planned in advance, boiled if you didn’t, used as is if you have a high-powered blender
¾ c vanilla almond milk
½ T vanilla extract
3T maple syrup
2T agave

Directions:

Mix everything in a blender until super smooth

“Hey there pudding I’m coming for you! Yayyyy!”

Part 3: THE FRYING AND THE ASSEMBLING

Ingredients:

1 batch of Bread Pudding
1 batch of Vanilla Sauce
1 French Baguette, sliced down the middle (you need about a 5-inch baguette)
1 teaspoon Earth Balance or your favorite vegan butter. (Serious side note, the only reason I did New Orleans week first during this VeganMOFO was so that I would still be in America when I needed to make this po’ boy. Otherwise, I would not have had access to the glorious Earth Balance because the company doesn’t have a presence in London yet. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon sugar (mix 1/4t cinnamon and sugar if you don’t have a fancy cinnamon sugar grinder but if you don’t you should get one)
2 T canola oil

Directions:

Take about 1 cup of the bread pudding and squish into a ball, then flatten into a patty.
Pour 1 T of the oil into a frying pan over medium heat and let it get hot.
Fry the pudding patty in the oil for 3 minutes each side, making sure it doesn’t burn…or let it burn. Let it all burn.
Next, butter your baguette with the Earth Balance and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the bread. I know.
Put the fried pudding patty inside the baguette.
Pour about 3-4 T of the vanilla sauce over the patty and over the inside of the bread.
Pour the other 1T of canola oil into the frying pan.
Fry the entire po’ boy in the oil for 2-3 minutes each side.
Pour another tablespoon of vanilla sauce over the fried monstrosity.
Then, dip your po’ boy in the remaining sauce (it’s au jus!) and EAT IT.
Repeat?

so many hand pictures

OBVIOUSLY, if you own a personal deep fryer, drop that entire sandwich into that bad boy. Oh man, I DARE ANY OF YOU TO DO THAT. Please tell me about it if you do and we’ll post pictures.