It's hard to imagine a sweet bread pudding made with pumpernickel. Maybe if it was a savory dish though... How about something with ham, cheese, onion...

Jim

Thanks, that's a good idea - what would you specifically suggest doing? (It could have a couple eggs if needed, but not a lot like a strata, as my son is sensitive to eggs, but he tolerates small amounts in things like pancakes, etc.)

Here is a link to a thread by tracey not that long ago. She had an excess of rye bread. With pumpernickle you could make similar things. The picture of the dish Tracey ended up making looked delicious.

If you like split pea soup - rye bread croutons make a nice addition to it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Leftover Rye Bread

I wonder if this might work with pumpernickel....
I've made it as written and it's really good!

Ham, Fontina, and Spinach Bread Pudding
Recipe courtesy Gourmet Magazine

1 large baguette (about 3/4 pound)
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound cooked ham, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 large eggs
4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
6 cups spinach leaves (about 1 bunch), coarsely chopped
3/4 pound fontina, grated

Preheat broiler.
Diagonally cut baguette crosswise into 3/4-inch thick slices and brush both sides with butter. Toast on a baking sheet under broiler 3 inches from heat until golden, about 30 seconds on each side. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook onions in oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden. Add ham and cook, stirring occasionally, until ham is lightly browned.

Whisk eggs in a large bowl and whisk in milk, salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Add toasted bread and toss gently. When the bread is saturated, transfer it to a shallow 3-quart casserole, slightly overlapping slices. Add any remaining egg mixture.

Tuck spinach and ham between slices, reserving a little ham to sprinkle over top. Sprinkle cheese over pudding, lifting slices with a spatula to allow some to fall between them. Sprinkle reserved ham over pudding and bake in middle of oven until puffed and edges of bread are golden and custard is set in middle, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Cooks' note: Bread pudding can be assembled 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Increase baking time to 1 hour and 10 minutes if bread pudding is cold when put in oven, and cover top with foil after 45 minutes to prevent over-browning.

Linda

Thank you! Sounds like ham, cheese & onion are natural parings for this. I will get spinach too & make something that uses only a couple eggs. I try to never waste food, so this is great. I had some whole slices of pumpernickel left over as well, so last night, I microwaved the rest of the fondue for a minute and made grilled cheese paninis on the George Foreman grill - easy, good, took 2 minutes!

Here is a recipe I clipped from the Raleigh NC News & Observer newspaper. Since it's just the two of us I make half the recipe and still have leftovers. It is very rich, but delicious. The original quantities are in parentheses. It says it serves 6 but more like 8 in the original. I do leave out the salt, but doubled up on the pepper.

Rabbi Reuben Casserole
2005 N&O Newspaper

Half Recipe - Full recipe in (parentheses):

Cut off crusts, cut into cubes, lay out 3 hours to dry:
3 (6) slices Pumpernickel Bread
Whisk together:
1 (2) egg
1 tsp (2 tsp) sharp coarse-grained mustard, like deli-style
2 tsp (4 tsp) butter, softened
1C (2C) milk
Add and stir well:
1/4 (1/2) of a medium onion, chopped
1/4 C (1/2 C) sauerkraut, squeezed dry (do not use canned)
1/4 tsp (1/2 tsp) salt (I do not add this extra salt since other ingredients are already salty)
1/4 tsp (1/4 tsp) freshly ground pepper (or more)
Optionally - add to mixture:
1 to 3 cubed, partially cooked, peeled white potatoes

Lay half the mixture in bottom of shortening-greased casserole dish, put cubed or slices on top:
1/4 lb. (1/2 lb.) cooked, cubed corned beef (or, better if sliced fresh from deli)
Cover with the remaining mixture. Dot with cubed bread that you push down into the mixture. (Optionally: Mix all together and put in casserole dish.)

Cover and chill 2 hours, or up to overnight (not more than 12 hours).
Bake, covered loosely with foil, at 350F for 30 minutes. Remove foil and top with:
2 (4) slices Swiss cheese
Bake another 15 to 20 minutes until puffed and golden.
Cool 10 minutes and serve hot.

This is also terrific leftover, divided into portions, and reheated in the microwave. It does not freeze well.

Nancy

My go to recipe when you say savory is Savory bread pudding with asparagus gruyere with fine herbs. I make it in the spring when asparagus and chives are plentyful in the garden hope you try it. Patty

Here is a link that might be useful: Savory bread pudding with asparagus, gruyere, and fine herbs

Thanks so much for the additional recipes! My son loves saurkraut - might have to go back to the store & get some (I already bought Fontina cheese, though - I don't know what it tastes like). I will definitely save the one with asparagus as well - spring will be here soon (says the groundhog, never mind the blizzard on the way lol)!

Actually, pumpernickel (sweet) bread pudding would be wonderful. I often make cinnamon bread with pumpernickel--it's far superior to white bread for that. And a number of bakeries I know make pumpernickel raisin bread.

And, of course, chocolate bread pudding made with pumpernickel makes sense--there's cocoa in good German Pumpernickel bread, when you really stop and think about it, you can taste the chocolate.

Of course, the savory ideas sound wonderful, too, I'm just saying that pumpernickel goes wonderfully in sweet applications, as well.

This is excellent! Before this thread I had not thought about making savory bread pudding, which I guess is also called strata. Now my interest is piqued and I will make it soon.

It is a timely topic because I was planning to make regular (sweet) bread pudding within the next few days. I love the stuff.

Thanks for the thread, Elbal.

Jim

Got the saurkraut, failed to see the "cover & chill 2 hrs or overnight" until it was too late. I will fix it in the morning for tomorrow's supper.
Good to know the pumpernickel would also be good for a sweeter bread pudding - might have to get another loaf soon!
Jim, be sure to post what you end up doing too.

The pumpernickel I make is sweet (and has cocoa in it), and so I think it would be good for a sweet bread pudding. However, Linda's recipe also looks very good, and I would especially like the Reuben Casserole. My Reuben sandwiches tend to fall apart, and so the casserole sounds like a good alternative. I have some leftover sliced pumpernickel in the fridge that needs to get used, but I did not make the bread myself, unfortunately.

Lars

It was good! Thanks so much for the recipe Nancy. We did halve it. I'm glad you mentioned skipping the salt also, which I did, and I threw in some extra saurkraut. I would definitely make this again.
Believe it or not, I still have some sliced pumpernickel left over (it was a REALLY big loaf). I put it in the freezer and might try one of the other recipes in a week or so.

It was good! Thanks so much for the recipe Nancy. We did halve it. I'm glad you mentioned skipping the salt also, which I did, and I threw in some extra saurkraut. I would definitely make this again.
Believe it or not, I still have some sliced pumpernickel left over (it was a REALLY big loaf). I put it in the freezer and might try one of the other recipes in a week or so.