Vanilla-Scented Rhubarb Bread Pudding

In a recipe feature in the current issue of Edible Seattle, author Lara Ferroni complains about the abundance of rhubarb in her garden, calling it "a monster not easily tamed." She tries to trim it back, and it just "cranks out more stalks." She tries to give it away to her neighbors, but they "have rhubarb of their own to battle."

Seriously, these people in the Northwest are so crazy. Next thing you know, they'll be complaining about an abundance of blackberry bushes! Ha, can you imagine? Why, just the other day, Dara and I discovered our own blackberry bush peeping its head through the fertile soil in our backyard. We can't wait to coax it along and harvest our own fruit. I'll be sure to water it well and pat it gently with organic fertilizer.

(For those in other locales: This is irony, and people from the Northwest will find it very amusing, perhaps jabbing me in the ribs for making such a funny joke. Blackberry bushes are considered a weed here. They grow wild everywhere -- in vacant lots, on the side of the highway, through the cracks of the sidewalk and the slits in the floorboards. People go to great lengths to tame them, but God forbid, not with toxic chemicals -- more like with goats. All of which is charming and adorable, don't you think?)

Back in Chicago, I paid big bucks for rhubarb and could find it only for the briefest of times in the fanciest of markets. So, I consider it precious and honor it as such. I spotted it last week at my new Seattle farmers market -- so many stalks for just $2? -- and can fathom no better foil to the vanilla-scented custard in this toasty bread pudding. Come on now.

VANILLA-SCENTED RHUBARB BREAD PUDDING

Serves 8-10

1 pound red rhubarb, sliced into 1-inch pieces

1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

3 tablespoons melted butter, divided

12 slices stale country white bread

4 large eggs

2 cups cream

1 cup milk

The seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean, or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream to accompany

Toss rhubarb with 1/4 cup sugar and set aside to macerate for at least an hour (or overnight is fine).

Preheat oven to 325 F. Brush an 8-inch square baking dish with 1-2 tablespoons melted butter and set aside. Using hot water from the tap and a larger baking dish, prepare a water bath in which to bake your bread pudding and place it in the oven. (Specifically, that means placing the empty dish in the oven and then using a pitcher to fill it halfway with hot water.)

Cut bread into cubes the size of rustic croutons. Beat eggs in a medium bowl, and whisk in 3/4 cup sugar as well as cream, milk and vanilla. Add bread cubes and stir gently to combine. Place a layer of the bread mixture in the buttered baking dish; follow with a layer of rhubarb, and then with another layer of bread mixtures. Brush the top with the remaining 1-2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Set in the water bath and bake for about 1 hour to an hour and 10 minutes, until the top is golden. Carefully remove the dish from the water bath and let it cool a bit. (Deal with discarding the water bath later, once the oven has cooled down.) Serve the pudding warm, with lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream.