When I was a little girl, my home was somewhat of a mini farm. We always had chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits, pigs a cow and an amazing garden and fruit orchard. My parents always had a plentiful garden full of wonderful tomatoes, couves (Portuguese collard greens), squash, grapes, and beans. Anything that could be grown, my Dad could grow. On the out skirts of the garden were always chives, parsley and mint. The smell of mint hit you long before you found where it was and I loved it. There was so much mint in fact that I was allowed to use it for my mud pies and fun projects. Memories of growing up in the country hit me every time I bite into a fresh cucumber or smell the parsley to tell the difference between it and cilantro in the grocery store. Funny how food connects a person to their past and bridges generations all at the same time.
One very vivid memory is of my mother taking day old Portuguese Popo Secos (rolls) and a bunch of mint from the garden and making bread “pudding”… pudding is in quotes because unlike traditional pudding there is no milk in this dish. I fell in love with this “pudding” as a child and added my own spin to it as an adult adding a little savory in to balance the sweet. Today, my husband loves when he wakes up to the smell of mint and caramelized sugar and my children are starting to understand the connection between growing something in the garden and it making it onto the dining table.
***note – I consider this a Portuguese dish not because of it being a traditional dish, but because it was made by my Portuguese mother.
One or two day old bread is best used for this recipe. These are Portuguese Rolls known as Popo Secos. They are individual rolls with a moderately crusty exterior and a very soft and airy interior. They are best served fresh and day of baking… Which is why this recipe is great to use up bread you got earlier in the week. (If you don’t have Portuguese bread readily available in your area, try this with a crusty italian… you will want about two large loaves)
Rip up bread into large bowl filled with water.
It will look like it won’t fit… but, it should if your bowl is big enough… I use a bowl that can accommodate about 10 cups and fill it with 6 cups of water.
Submerge your bread in the water.
Grab about 6 sprigs of mint, these are fresh from my garden… if you don’t have a mint garden, it’s really the easiest herb to start with, it’s almost like a weed, you actually have to contain it so that it doesn’t spread to your entire garden. If you don’t have a mint garden, then you can get this at your local farmers market or even grocery store.
Pick the leaves off each stem, you don’t want the stems as they are a bit too woody.
Roughly chop your mint leaves.
Add your chopped mint to the soaking bread.
Mix mint in and submerge. Allow to soak for about 15 minutes at minimum and up to an hour.
Mince one medium onion or large shallot.
Add one stick of salted butter to a large non-stick skillet.
Add your onions into the pan with the butter over medium heat.
Saute onions in butter until golden.
Ring out bread and mint so that you have damp bread.
Add damp bread and mint to the onions.
Saute bread in butter and onions turning every few minutes until the bread starts to dry out a bit and you can see it browning.
Keep working at it, this will take a good 5-6 minutes over medium heat.
Add in about 3/4 cup of sugar. I like to cover the entire top of the bread, spread the love.
Once bread gets to a browning point, cover in a layer of sugar and continue to saute.
Recipe for Pan-Fried Mint Bread Pudding (Pudim de Hortelã):
(serves 4)
6 Papo Secos (Portuguese rolls), torn
6 sprigs of mint, chopped
3/4 C. sugar
1 stick salted butter
1 medium onion, minced (or 1 lg. shallot)
6 cups water
Directions:
Add bread to water in a large bowl. Add mint, mix. Allow to soak for 15-60 mins.
Add minced onion to large saute pan with the melted butter. When color on onions comes to a light golden brown start squeezing water out of the bread and add dampened bread to the skillet. Once all the bread makes it into the skillet, saute until the bread firms up a bit and looses some of the moisture. Then add the sugar in an even layer over the top of the bread mixture. Continue to saute. When sugar has fully caramelized onto the bread mixture.
*note – this “pudding” is dairy free.