Indigo Grill, San Diego, Recipe

This should make 2 pans, though I don't know what size pans you'd use.

1/2 gallon cream
1/2 gallon milk
1 cinnamon stick, ground
peel of one orange
1 vanilla bean
2 1/2 c sugar
4 eggs
9 yolks
2 loaves brioche, cubed

Soak the following in whiskey or bourbon overnight:
8-9 apples, peeled, cored and sauteed
1 1/2 c dried cranberries
3/4 c dates
3/4 c figs

Caramel sauce (no recipe given)
Apricot puree (no recipe given)
Lemon curd (no recipe given)
Blueberry or raspberry sauce (no recipe given)

Bring milk and cream to a boil. Steep the next 3 ingredients for more than 10 minutes and strain. Ribbon the sugar, eggs, and yolks together and add to the liquid. Pour over the brioche and soak overnight.

Grease pans thickly with butter and brown sugar. Layer the bread mixture with the fruit and
caramel sauce. Repeat. Finish with apricot puree.

Bake at 300-325 degrees in a water bath until fully set. Top with caramel, lemon curd and raspberry or blueberry sauce.

Flavor, Flossmoor

Flavor is one of the best places I've ever been for breakfast and their lunches aren't bad either. If you think you don't like grits, wait to be sure until you try the creamy offerings at Flavor. Oh yeah, but I'm supposed to be talking bread pudding. Well, if you have a plate of jerk chicken and grits or chicken and waffles and still have room for dessert, the BP is pretty good. It had good texture and flavor, though it was slightly soggy at the bottom. I ate it while watching the Anita Baker tribute on the Soul Train awards so I forgot to take a photo. Really, that tribute was so amazing, that I almost forgot to eat, too! Did I mention the red velvet pancake? My goodness, the menu is ridiculous.

Price: $5
Raisins: Yes, lots, but they were easy to remove
Sauce: Chantilly cream and lemon
Ice cream: No
Visited: January 2011, and a few other times

Flavor Restaurant
3315 Vollmer Road
Flossmoor, IL 60422
(708) 798-3220

Indigo Grill, San Diego

This should get MORE than 4 thingies. What can I say about this BP that isn't clear from the photo? It's a succulent melange of flavors and textures. It is humbly described as "Indian Bread Pudding - sundried cranberries, dates, granny smith apples, figs, wojapi blueberries and warm caramel." I say, "Thank you, native people who inspired this lusciousness!" I can't do it justice describing how absolutely fulfilling it was to share this HUGE gorgeous plate with a friend, so I'll just tell you the name and say, "GO NOW!"

Price: $9.95, but they could have charged me more and I would have been happy. It's definitely enough for two people

Raisins: No

Sauce: Caramel

Ice cream: Yes, vanilla on the thinnest slices of apples drizzled with caramel

Recipe: The chef gave it to me! I'll post if I find it.

Visited: January 2011

Indigo Grill

1536 India Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 234-6802

Crest Cafe, San Diego

I got a Groupon for the Crest Cafe, again WAY far north of downtown. I cabbed up and was blessed with a bus for the trip back ($2.25). I was torn between breakfast and lunch because it all looked so soothing and satisfying, but I went with breakfast. On a recommendation, I had the creme brulee French toast and spicy chicken sausage. The FT was very good (orders of magnitude better than what I got that morning from the Embassy Suites breakfast buffet) but not extraordinary. For it to say creme brulee, I wanted to be wowed, instead of just filled.

But this blog is about BP, so I ordered their croissant BP. You know I wanted to really be wowed by this. I mean, that's one step below the elusive donut BP I've heard about. Well, I took it back to the hotel eventually and refrigerated it. I finally ate it at the airport the next day many hours later, and it was a soggy mess. First, I don't believe it was made with croissants because I didn't notice the layered flakiness. Admittedly, eating the BP 24 hours later after being treated ungently did not make for the best experience, but I question whether it would have been that impressive if I'd eaten it at the restaurant. Maybe. I'll give it a 2 because I don't know.

Bottom line is this diner is wonderful and quirky and maybe the BP is ok, but it's worth a $10 cab ride to try the rest of the food.

Price: around $8.00

Raisins: Yes, yellow mixed with chocolate chips. Ick

Sauce: Yes, unknown

Visited: January 2011

Crest Cafe

425 robinson ave
san diego, CA 92103
(619) 295-2510

Analog Bar, San Diego

Nope, this isn't BP. I'm breaking my own rule because sometimes, a good dessert deserves a few accolades. This chocolate brownie pot du creme, cutely called the Pot Brownie, was just what I needed on a night when I was so exhausted my eyes were bleary and crossing and my feet didn't want to walk any further in shoes (low-heeled, but still). The amount of whipped cream on top of the pot du creme was obscene, but it cut the richness of the chocolate on the bottom and the chewy brownie accessory just right. I also applaud this very hip joint for the chopped brussel sprouts flash fried and salted like popcorn.

Price:$5

Nuts: No (sadly)

Visited: January 2011

Analog Bar

801 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101-6107

San Diego BP hunt

I looked on Yelp to find BP. I knew I wouldn't have time during this work trip to delve deeply into San Diego BP culture. Many of the recommended restaurants were WAY outside of downtown. In fact, Cafe Chloe was the only one that wasn't a $10 cab ride away. So I had a few mediocre samples, and one that blew every other out of the water, from Indigo Grill.

Visited: January 2011

Cafe Chloe, San Diego

I guess I'd give this a 2, though it deserves a three just for being intriguing. This isn't the most appetizing photo, but the BP was interesting. It was pistachio-laden, with what tasted like a coffee-infused light sauce. The BP wasn't sweet nor did it have a pistachio flavor, but the wealth of pistachio bits made it worth at least finishing. And the ice cream helped make it desserty.

Price: 8.50

Raisins: No

Sauce: Espresso caramel (duh, I didn't remember that in the menu)

Ice cream: Yes, vanilla

Visited: January 2011

Cafe Chloe

721 Ninth Ave #1, San Diego CA 92101, 619.232.3242

Silver Palate BP, thanks to KMG and DB

This stuff is absolutely marvelous. The texture is smooth and just firm enough. The bourbon sauce is delicate, though you definitely know there's a little something extra there. Even with the raisins, I fell in love. I am surprised I hadn't heard of this Silver Palate dynasty in cookbooks in the 1980s, but better late than never, right?

Price: It was a gift

Raisins: Yes, but I forgive them, and since I have the recipe, I can eliminate them.

Sauce: Lovely bourbon