Bread Pudding, Swedish Meatballs, Paprika Onions

DEAR SOS: The Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas serves the best bread pudding at their buffet. It appears to be made with a layer of sliced cinnamon rolls instead of plain bread, and it is not dry.

--TERRI

DEAR TERRI: Tropicana Hotel executive pastry chef Leroy King sent this recipe. You were almost right about the type of bread used: They’re croissants.

TROPICANA BREAD

PUDDING

1 quart milk

7 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 dashes salt

8 medium croissants, preferably stale

1 1/4 cups raisins

*

Combine milk, beaten eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in large bowl. Blend well. Cut croissants into thin slices and place half into 2-quart casserole or baking dish. Cover with layer of raisins, then top with layer of remaining croissant slices. Pour custard over croissant slices and press down so all bread is soaked.

Let stand 30 minutes. Place pan in another pan filled halfway with water and bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes or until center of pudding is firm. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

437 calories; 427 mg sodium; 195 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 62 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams protein; 0.27 gram fiber.

DEAR SOS: I would like a good recipe for Swedish meatballs. I don’t seem to have luck adding sour cream to the hot mixture. The cream curdles and looks like a big disaster!

--MAGGIE

DEAR MAGGIE: Fret not. This recipe for Swedish meatballs is made with a flour-based sauce. Still, when you do use sour cream, it’s best to blend the sour cream with a small amount of hot mixture before adding it to the remaining hot liquid. This tempering method helps avoid curdling.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

3/4 pound boneless beef, ground

3/4 pound boneless pork, ground

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 cup milk

Butter

1 medium onion, minced

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon allspice

Dash sugar

Cream Gravy

*

Combine beef and pork in large bowl. Soak crumbs with milk in separate bowl. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in skillet and add onion. Saute until onion is tender but not browned. Add onion to meat along with eggs, salt, pepper, allspice, sugar and soaked crumbs. Mix thoroughly but lightly. Shape into small or medium-sized balls.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in skillet. Add meatballs and brown on all sides, shaking pan occasionally. Add meatballs to Cream Gravy and simmer over low heat 30 minutes. Makes 6 entree or 12 appetizer servings.

Each entree serving contains about:

440 calories; 783 mg sodium; 189 mg cholesterol; 30 grams fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 25 grams protein; 0.15 gram fiber.

Cream Gravy

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups half and half

Salt, pepper

Dash sugar

Brown cooking sauce or concentrated beef extract

*

Melt butter in saucepan, then stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, half and half, salt, pepper and sugar. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Simmer, stirring, until sauce is shiny. Stir in enough brown cooking sauce to make gravy light-brown in color, about 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon.

DEAR SOS: I clipped a recipe for paprika onions from The Times years ago and it has turned brown with age. Would you please reprint the recipe?

--N.V.M.

DEAR N.V.M.: Is this the recipe you want?

PAPRIKA ONIONS

6 medium white or yellow onions

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup tomato juice

2 tablespoons honey

*

Cut onions in halves crosswise. Place in greased, large, shallow casserole. Combine salt, paprika, melted butter, tomato juice and honey in bowl. Pour over onions. Cover dish and bake at 300 degrees 1 hour, or until onions are tender. Serve with roasts or steak. Makes about 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

103 calories; 437 mg sodium; 10 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.76 gram fiber.

Only recipes of general interest will be printed. Send recipe request to Culinary SOS, Food Section, The Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053. Include restaurant address when requesting recipes from restaurants. We are unable to answer recipe requests by mail.